No quotes please, we're not good enough
Crisis. There's no other word for it. If TDH were standing in Freddy Shepherd's size 11EEE shoes, even a win on Saturday might not be enough to rescue Souey. The club couldn't beat Everton. The club hardly showed up for a welcome chance to avenge their controversial loss at Wigan. Injuries continue unabated. New coach, new physio, new attitude - what will it take?
One must look back and wonder why it was that Sir Bob was shown the door. He got results, of that there was no doubt. The problem was that his young tyros seemed to be losing the plot, with the Bowyer-Dyer brawl perhaps a holdover from that era. The summer clear-out seemed like a great idea, in principle. (Though, funny enough, the only ones left were Bowyer and Dyer.)
But back at that pre-blog time, TDH pointed out that the players Souey shipped were responsible for exactly half of the Magpies' goals in all competitions during 2004-05. He got rid of 42 of 84 goals, if TDH recalls correctly. How many has Souey replaced? Owen, Emre, Solano and Luque seemed likely to chip in, but 42 would have required all of them to stay healthy and succeed. And let's face it, more goals - not fewer - were needed to improve on last year's 12th-place finish.
Souey took a gamble, and it didn't work. The physio should be fired, and Souey should be next. The Toon need a Milan-style fitness regimen with computerized training, special diets and the rest. And then they need to find a tactical genius who can add some value to the talented but disjointed side currently in residence at St. James's Park. It's time to stop the rot.
One must look back and wonder why it was that Sir Bob was shown the door. He got results, of that there was no doubt. The problem was that his young tyros seemed to be losing the plot, with the Bowyer-Dyer brawl perhaps a holdover from that era. The summer clear-out seemed like a great idea, in principle. (Though, funny enough, the only ones left were Bowyer and Dyer.)
But back at that pre-blog time, TDH pointed out that the players Souey shipped were responsible for exactly half of the Magpies' goals in all competitions during 2004-05. He got rid of 42 of 84 goals, if TDH recalls correctly. How many has Souey replaced? Owen, Emre, Solano and Luque seemed likely to chip in, but 42 would have required all of them to stay healthy and succeed. And let's face it, more goals - not fewer - were needed to improve on last year's 12th-place finish.
Souey took a gamble, and it didn't work. The physio should be fired, and Souey should be next. The Toon need a Milan-style fitness regimen with computerized training, special diets and the rest. And then they need to find a tactical genius who can add some value to the talented but disjointed side currently in residence at St. James's Park. It's time to stop the rot.
posted by Daniel Altman at 4:13 PM
7 Comments:
A tactical genius? perhaps one who can rectify the following faults the Chelsea have identified:
http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1656120,00.html
What? Swansong a weakness? My gosh, they're insightful. Though they do make a good criticism of the lack of pace on the right side. And the poor positioning on the left. Coupled with Boom-shakalaka and Shitus in the centre, does that leave the Toon with a defence at all? Oh.
Newcastle have no tactical flexibility during a match. When things are going badly Souey lacks the tactical nous to be able to turn things around. United's shortcomings are glaringly obvious to even the casual observer, and Mourinho's chalkboard told us nothing we didn't know already. No one in the back four has any idea where the other is when the ball comes into the box, and Boumsong (our vice-captain!)has neither the ability nor talent to marshall them. I have to defend Titus Shambles though. He's a good player. If he had the right partner he'd be fine. He's actually a great passer of the ball and his distribution from defence is usually pretty good. Of course concentration is a problem but remember for a period last season before injury he was a rock at the back. When Taylor gets back, stick him in with Bramble and we'll be alright. Babayaro is a terrible footballer mind. A proven bottler and the first one to lose confidence and go into hiding when things get tough. I hate him. I could go on and on about our problems but like i said they're glaringly abvious to everyone. Maybe even Souness. Although we're getting worse not better. Someone has to go.
Oh and Nobby - Stay out on the bloody wing.
Is time running out for Sounness? Well if we can be outplayed by Wigan's reserves to the extent that only another heroic performance from Shay keeps the score in single figures then something is badly wrong. I didn't catch the game but note that the influential nufc.com (how about putting a link up to Niall and Biffa's site by the way- it's the one the fans read, not the official propaganda at .co.uk!) are pulling no punches in their reaction to the Wigan debacle. This starts to feel like the start of another in the long, long list of those St James' crises so beloved of the national media- Emre's free-kick against the Mackems seems a long time ago all of a sudden, doesn't it?
The question is whether there is anyone available right now who can right this situation. The talent in the team is going to win enough game to be mid-table even if there was no manager. But there seems to be an inbuilt indiscipline and lack of backbone in the side, with some notable exceptions. The kind of manager who could make these individuals into a top level team is a Capello or a Mourinho, both clearly unrealistic targets. Who's available who would be any better than Souey? If I was a toon, I'd probably be after someone who's got a record of organising teams into efficient units. Moyes could probably work wonders with it. He'd keep them in a decent shape, and the talent is so much better than the crap he took to fourth last year.
Freddy Shephard has to aim high. The fat controller let us all down with the appointment of Souness last time, even when Big Phil Scolari and Hitzfield had reportedly submitted their resumes to St James's. Moyes? I think 3 sour-faced Scots at the helm in 8 years is a bit much. I do feel for Souness (just a bit). He's had just extraordinarily bad luck with injuries. And I don't believe indiscipline is that much of an issue. Lack of backbone certainly is. I just can't believe Shay has sayed with us this long (and he is the best keeper in England, yes even better than Cech. ).
A couple of responses. I agree that Bramble does well with a good, commanding partner (see Woodgate). And I also think that Ramage is a very promising player, whatever Jose says. Given is the best keeper per inch, but he's not tall enough to be the best in England. Still, he has saved our bacon many a time.
My point is that the coach matters in this situation. We have more talent than Wigan, yet we can't play with the same organization or intent. Injuries have hurt us, sure, and we could use another half-decent striker. But we are being hampered by Souey. Even if we only get a transitional manager, we need a change to someone who will work harder on tactics for the team. I'd take one year of George Burley if it was a good step to somewhere else. And who knows, Burley might even prove to be a winner.
NUFC.com link posted, Jonathan. You're the second one to suggest it, so I'll consider the motion passed by acclamation....
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