NUFC: Still no decision on a head coach.I couldn’t help feeling there was something odd about the story of Patrick Vieira coming to Newcastle, as there is about most unsubstantiated football stories.
Some fans seemed to believe it though, even embroidering it further to their own tastes as it gathered a momentum of its own in a few short days. My curiosity piqued, I looked but I couldn’t find any real evidence that Newcastle United made an approach for Patrick Viera to be the next ‘head coach’ at St James’ Park. Even the guff I’ve read about Steve McClaren coming to Newcastle (and I’ve read alot) seems to be based on the same kind of unsubstantiated “it is understood / sources say” style drivel we see so much of nowadays in the media. Concentrating on the Vieira story first though, I traced the threads of it back to the beginning as I usually do, and in this case it was ‘broken’ by North East Sky Sports reporter, Keith Downie with two tweets below on 30th May, though it seems like longer: (more…)
Carver: The crisis continues Of course, if you are a Newcastle United fan, you cannot fail to have noticed the huge dip in form under John Carver, which has been so bad it could still see the Magpies relegated for the second time in six seasons after their final game against West Ham tomorrow. But how bad has it really been?
Worse than Alan Shearer and Iain Dowie’s catastrophic eight games in charge when the club were relegated in 2009.
As bad as the team were back then, they were better than the current side, winning an average of 0.62 points per game under Shearer. This compares against Carver’s 0.5 points in his games. Where Shearer got at least one win in those eight games, the current side managed to lose eight in a row, the worst losing streak since PE teacher Richard Dinnis led the side to 10 consecutive defeats in 1977. However unlike Carver, Dinnis actually had a very good spell with the club, finishing fifth in the old First Division and qualifying for the UEFA Cup as Caretaker Manager in the previous season. (more…)
Is Carver under orders like McDowall?By his own admission, Rangers’ current caretaker head coach, Kenny McDowall, has been told not only that he has no say in the players they sign, but also that he will only have a limited input into team selection too.
According to McDowall himself, he has been ordered by Mike Ashley and his henchman at Rangers, Derek Llambias, to play ALL of the five new Rangers players (Vuckic, Ferguson, Bigirimana, Streete and Mbabu) on loan from Newcastle. Speaking in an interview at Rangers’ Murray Park training centre, McDowall, who wants to leave at the end of the season said:
“When I was given the job I was told players incoming and outgoing wouldn’t be my responsibility. I take the team and coach the team and I am more than happy to get on with it.”
Which is hardly news to both Rangers and Newcastle United fans. However when pressed on whether he was obliged to play them, he dropped his bombshell, replying:
Plymouth Argyle's Home Park Stadium.What better way to recover from your post new year celebrations than an 800 mile round trip down to the West Country, when Newcastle United face Plymouth Argyle in the 3rd round of the FA cup this Saturday?
As a previous six times winner of the competition, albeit the last time over half a century ago, the FA cup still brings out a sentimental streak among many Toon supporters. Who could forget that 1974 cup campaign when Tyneside well and truly had cup fever? Despite being a child at the time I remember the highs (Supermac’s goals, amongst others) and lows (team performance in the final) and the excitement of the build up to Wembley.
Sadly the competition no longer has the same kudos, and of course successes and failures in other areas can have such a dramatic financial impact on football clubs today. With so many teams willing to sacrifice progress in the FA cup to a greater monetary god such as promotion / avoiding relegation / Champion’s League success etc. Who can blame them with the cash implications of any of those having such a major impact on their football clubs? (more…)
Old boy makes PilgrimageOur path to FA Cup glory could be thwarted by an old acquaintance, if reports are true that former Newcastle United coach John Carver is back in football. It’s been mentioned on .com that JC is going to be assistant to Paul Mariner at Plymouth Argyle, who has taken charge after Paul Sturrock was removed from the Home Park hotseat.
Carver coached our reserves and academy sides, before being promoted to assistant to Sir Bobby Robson, and stepped in as Caretaker when Robson was sacked. When Souness got the job, he then moved onto Leeds as first team coach before once again stepping in as Caretaker for Kevin Blackwell, who he then followed to Luton Town before taking up the role of head coach at MLS side Toronto. (more…)
