Here to save the world!With the air thick with takeover talk, real or imaginary, now feels like a good time to throw in a spanner, or two. It is widely acknowledged that, under impossible circumstances, Chris Hughton and his staff have done an astounding job thus far managing Newcastle United. With a pre-season filled with doom-laden mutterings of “Doing a Leeds”, crashing though the divisions and into financial meltdown….while nothing of the sort has transpired. There’s still time yet, of course, but to the untrained eye all in the garden looks rosey.
Let’s make an assumption. Let’s assume that Barry Moat’s bid goes sailing through and, within minutes, we have the mighty Alan Shearer at the helm. How do the collective feel about that? Is he a white knight riding in to save us or an egomaniac sating his need for attention, and doing us more harm in the process? As Stardust (and David Frost on ‘Through the Keyhole’ ) would say….”Let’s look at the facts”.
His managerial record:
Played 8, Won 1, Drew 2, Lost 5.
….it’s not great, it’s not even mediocre. But, is he really to be judged on eight, end-of-season, scrambled bunfights with a dispirited squad, and a ton of behind-the-scenes pressure? Arsene Wenger said, at the time of Shearer’s appointment, that any manager coming in, with 8 games left, and expected to turn things around. Well that man wouldn’t be a manager, he’d be a magician. (more…)
Nile hopes to impress.Yesterday’s biggest news is of course our 2-0 win at Crystal Palace, which puts us in second place, behind ‘Boro on goal difference. Hughton, reflecting on the game, said:
“It was very pleasing to get the three points, and especially the clean sheet, away from home.
“We said to the players before the game that we expected a tough match, and that’s what we got.
“But to get a goal after just two minutes was a dream start – it gave the players and the fans a massive lift.
“It was then a very good time to get the second goal and again, like Kevin’s, it was a very good finish.
“We had to defend a little bit more after the break but I felt were always in control.
“I thought the effort and desire was tremendous.
“We’re going very well at the moment but we have to keep that going because all of the hard work is in front of us – but it’s been a great start.” (more…)
'Sebastien was the player to take'Harry Redknapp has made a sensational claim that it was Iain Dowie who recommended to Harry Redknapp that Sebastien Bassong would be ripe for a move to Tottenham Hotspur if he and Shearer were to vacate the managers position at St James Park. According to Harry, he also picked Bassong for Redknapp as the best player to pick for ‘Spurs out of the Newcastle squad.
Harry said:
“When we played Newcastle last year I spoke to Iain Dowie and Alan Shearer after the game and they spoke about the team, they were in desperate trouble,” Redknapp said.
“Iain said if they didn’t stay at the club and one player did become available, Sebastien was the player to take. They couldn’t have recommended him any higher. (more…)
