Allardyce - In less bitter times.Sam Allardyce has take another opportunity to talk of his Toon hell and blame anyone but himself for his failure whist in charge of Newcastle United.
Allardyce was only the manager for eight months, yet it appears that losing his job on Tyneside has hurt his feelings a bit as he takes another opportunity to stick the knife into us fans. He doesn’t blame his awful football that was a success at Bolton, but only yielded only eight victories at Newcastle. He had nothing to do with a string of poor results including the title of being the only team to be beaten by Derby County – the team that got relegated with a record low points total of 11 that season. It wasn’t his fault that some players didn’t want to play for him and were considering leaving in the January window. None of that was his fault apparently, it was the fans who were too expectant that were to blame. (more…)
Both good and bad?When Mike Ashley rode into toon he took the Freddy Shepherd Gang by surprise. Shepherd claims he was ambushed while he lay incapacitated on a hospital bed and before we knew it rumour quickly became fact and Ashley had bought Newcastle United, not exactly with a suitcase full of money but without any of the this due diligence nonsense that troubles most businessmen.
Thus began a new era in the club’s history and it’s one that has managed to divide fans almost throughout. The partisan divisions – often drawn along the lines of Ashley v Keegan – are, in my opinion, unnecessary. I believe it’s perfectly possible for a person to do some good things and some bad things and I don’t believe Mike Ashley is any different in that respect. With rumours once more circulating about the sale saga nearing a close I wanted to try and take a balanced view of Ashley’s time at Newcastle.
One of the main things I thank Mike Ashley for is prising the club away from Freddy Shepherd. I’ve heard arguments suggesting that we wouldn’t have been relegated if Shepherd had remained in charge and maybe that’s true, but I believe the club would have been in dire straits financially. (more…)
Smith to Blackburn?The Chronicle reports that Big Sam might be taking Alan Smith off our hands. However, he may only take him on a season long loan at Blackburn because he’s nervous about Smith’s £60,000/week wages, which is annoying because it was Big Sam who signed him for us on that wage.
At the bottom of The Chronicle’s article there’s a quote from Jonathon Brill, Ashley’s PR man, about the sale of the club: “There are a number of interested parties and there are no deadlines imposed by anybody,” he said. If Ashley is hoping his PR man is enhancing his image with terse statements like that, he’s wrong.
A club spokesman apparently also added: “I’m afraid there is no further news regarding the sale of the club.”
Today’s player complaint is from Steve Harper who tells The Journal:
“The players are very disappointed with the situation. Obviously what happened at the back of last year, to fall a goal short was demoralising.
“Players like structure and discipline and at the minute the structure is up in the air. The players don’t know whether they’re going to be here or elsewhere come the start of the season – none of us know at the moment.(more…)
Scene 1: Rome 44B.C. Julius Caesar was fighting off an attack by a murderous group of Senators – “Et tu, Bruté?” (meaning “and you Brutus?”) were the words uttered by Caesar to his closest friend Marcus Brutus – when Caesar saw that he too was involved with the murderous group. Caesar lost his will to fight back on seeing the betrayal and allowed the Mob to cut him and kill him. It was the ultimate betrayal by a man who Caesar had loved as a brother.
Scene 2: Newcastle 2007
Mike Ashley buys Newcastle and appoints Dennis Wise as a club Director: (more…)
Scene 1: Rome 44B.C. Julius Caesar was fighting off an attack by a murderous group of Senators – “Et tu, Bruté?” (meaning “and you Brutus?”) were the words uttered by Caesar to his closest friend Marcus Brutus – when Caesar saw that he too was involved with the murderous group. Caesar lost his will to fight back on seeing the betrayal and allowed the Mob to cut him and kill him. It was the ultimate betrayal by a man who Caesar had loved as a brother.