If, as I expect, Newcastle land O'Neill, then their future in the Prem is guaranteed. Hughton may have kept them up this season anyway, but I would have invested a lot on the Magpies suffering second season syndrome with the likeable ex West Ham man in charge. He lacks the presence to attract quality players and his one hour lock in yesterday secured his fate. It was the over reaction of a man cracking under the strain.
Newcastle have used Hughton in a shockingly Machiavellian way. He was a cheap option to get them back up and the Board have been happy to leave him in charge during the adrenaline driven early months of the season. But it gets really tough from December onwards, and you don't want a rooky pilot in charge of a 747 when you hit turbulence.
I'm sorry to see Hughton sacked but for entirely pragmatic and selfish reasons. Had he stayed in charge, Newcastle might have been sucked back down into the relegation dog fight. With O'Neill in charge, that aint going to happen.
But then again, Turds is being linked with the job - and we know what happened between December and the following April when he took charge, around about this time, of West Ham!
13 comments:
What makes you think O'Neil would go for a non-spending club like Newcastle, when he walked out of Villa for the same reason.
The problem with the internet is that every twat wants his voice heard. Worry about Uncle Avram, because if he goes, who would want to manage your relegation fodder.
Can you imagine an Olympic Stadium being given to a second division team like yours??
Your porn star owners have been snorting waaaay too much Charlie.
I may be wrong, let's see shall we? O'Neill left because Randy sold Milner against his wishes. Newcastle may not be a buying club but I don't envisage them being a selling club either.
I agree with what you say about the internet 1902, after all it's let you have a voice hasn't it?
Normally agree with you, HF, but not this time. What exactly has Hughton done wrong? Very little. On the contrary, his achievements have been spectacular. Just remember what a mess Newcastle were after relegation. He steered them effortlessly to promotion and then to 11th - yes 11th (what wouldn't I give for that position! Will we ever reach 11th again?? Doubt it) If you have an incumbent who is doing well, leave him well alone.
Cant understand the panic. If they look down the table they know 100% cert us and Wolves wont be catching them!
keegan left the toon as we sold milner to o'neills villa, o'neill will not go to toon, just hope its not JFK, cheers Chris and good luck to you
We made that mistake Luke when we left Zola in charge. Hull made the mistake with Brown. Middlesborough made the same mistake with Southgate. And so it goes on. Some would say we made the same mistake with Pardew. I think Newcastle have been clever - they have anticipated the tide turning. We gave a 3 year contrcat to Zola; Newcastle have had more sense!
What does it take really these days for the bosses at West Ham to realise that they need to get a new manager? Don't they realise that it will be too late to change things if they don't act now? A new competent manager (O'Neill preferably) should be by next week so as to take advantage of the January window to reorganise the team. You can't just sit back and hope against hope that things will change. They do not! The manager is not the right one. He can't motivate or organise the players. Now is the time to act! If Newcastle thought it was necessary to change Houghton then Christ what needs to happen to take similar action. The reluctance to take action tells the good players such as Parker that they have nothing to hope for by staying on with West Ham. And how the hell does such a pathetic stance tie in with their strategy for winning the Olympic stadium? It beats me. It beats common sense really.
I'm not convinced we need a change of manager Sav. Sunderland had three shots all game and rarely threatened. We looked tight defensively and Obinna hit the post and Cole fired one narrowly wide. It could easily have finished 1-1 and that would have been an ok result. Look at the players missing through injury: Hitzlespurger, Jacobsen, Collison, Noble, Ilunga, Da Costa, Stanislas, Behrami. How many sides would get a result with that many players ruled out? I was disappointed with Grant's selection and tactics on the day but what options did he have open to him? As my son said to me today, Faubert may have given some width but we would have conceded more had he played at right back. Apart from picking Piquionne ahead of Cole and Barrera ahead of Dyer, what could Grant have done differently? I think he got those two big calls wrong, personally, and I thought his substitutions were dreadful, but his changes against Stoke were inspired and on Tuesday he conjured up a great performance from a team stripped of the lot listed above plus Parker!
I accept there were a lot of excuses for Grant. Yes, all these first team players not being available is enought to make any team lose a game. But, I am not judging Grant on that basis. Like you, I am saying that he did not make the best of he had available. Piquionne, Barrera and Hines should have started. Spector has not all of a sudden become a super attacking midfielder (just because he had a good game and a lot of luck midweek). We needed a strong midfield and we didn't have one because of bad selections by Grant.
I am also not judging on the basis of yesterday's game just as Houghton was not fired simply because Newcastle lost to West Brom yesterday. The reason I think he must go is because it is beyond clear to all now that he can't motivate and he can't select or organise a winning team. Moreover, I urge that this should happen now because we will get no other opportunity to fix things later on. It will be too late if we leave like this for another month!
Hines? For who? We need Obinna up top and Hines is NOT a midfielder or winger. We know 4-3-3 doesn't work so are you suggesting that, after his MOTM performance against the Mancs, Obinna be dropped or played out of position? That would have been crazy!
Grant had a whole load of square pegs for round holes: 4 centre backs (5 counting Reid) and no full backs; and four strikers and nobody, apart from Barrera and Dyer, to offer width in midfield. He should have used Barrera IMO but the Mexican hasn't looked very good has he, so he has hardly pressed his claims.
I can't see how Martin O'Neill is a perfect match for Newcastle, they never accepted Sam Allardyce's long ball, ugly and utterly dreary style, why will they accept O'Neill's long ball, ugly and utterly dreary style?
Very harsh on Hughton imo.
Hines could have been on for any other if Barrera was to be used in midfield instead of Spector. Hines definitely not instead o Obina. But you are missing the point of my argument HF. I repeat: Grant has lost the plot! Don't talk to me about tactics and formations. He can't motivate, he can't select and can't organise. His record is so bad as no-one else's in the Premier League. He has been in the relegation place for almost 2 years - continuously! This is the time to bring in a new manager to keep some of our good players and add to them in January. You are talking about trees and I am talking about the forest!
Funny how people are so quick to forget Grant was a penalty away from WINNING the Champions League a few years ago. He's a good manager, the problem is the players. Apart from a few West Ham have a pretty poor team.
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