Dr Gloom

the roeder honeymoon officially ends with the toffemen grinding out a one nil away victory.... with toon looking toothless in attack.

being a good chairman doesn't just come down to choosing the right manager and backing him with cash. a good chairman knows when to sack a manager. a bad chairman sacks his manager a handful of games into a new season after letting him spend money over the summer....or a day after the transfer window shuts. a good chairman stays out of team affairs and lets the manager identify his own transfer targets. a good chairman doesn't get stung by a notw fake sheikh slagging off the club, the players and the fans a good chairman doesn't mouth off to the media all the time bringing further embarrassment to his club. a good chairman doesn't rape his club financially when he isn't producing results on the pitch. etc etc rick parry and steve gibson to name just two are far better chairmen than the fat twat that runs our club.

it would be a gamble. could jewell handle the pressure?

to be fair, howaythelads is the first person i've ever spoken to (either on message boards or at the match) that thinks that robson should have been sacked the season after we finished 3rd. i know a lot of people wanted him out the season after we finished 5th but i can't remember talking to anyone at the time who thought he should have gone the previous summer.

Are you not pleased we kept him? I know he's injured constantly, but I think if (huge if) we can get him playing regularly he's a big player for us. We look a totally different team when he's on song. 99906[/snapback] Gemmill, he's on song as you put it twice a year on average and has been for the 8 years or so. We were mad to renew his contract. 99910[/snapback] he's one of our best players when fit but his injury problems are so bad, he should have blatantly been offered some kind of appearance-related contract.

Ok, how about I explain that it's a team game, you don't just pick your favourite players or leave out those you 'hate'. In a standard 4-4-2 one of the central midfielders must get beyond the strikers, neither Parker nor Emre do this naturally. Rob Lee was strong in the tackle but he still got forward into the box, one of those two has to start doing that. They may well be better footballers than Bowyer, but the balance is wrong. In my opinion, like. 99358[/snapback] While I agree having one of Parker or Emre getting ahead of the strikers would be nice, I think if you remove Parker you are taking away our best player and the only one in the squad who can break up the opositions play and win us back posession and if you remove Emre you take out the one player who can spray the passes around and pick out any other runners. Bowyer compensates for none of this as he cannot pass to save his life and his tackling is awfull (though certainly commited). Add to that his shooting boots seem to have been missplaced this season, so I see no reason to bring him back into the team. 99382[/snapback] was going to reply but you said pretty much everything i was going to say. all i'd add is that bowyer hasn't had his shooting boots with him the entire time he's been at newcastle let alone this season. it's all very well getting into the box, but it helps if you can hit the target once you get there...something bowyer seems to have forgotten since he left leeds.

So, to be clear. You reckon we turned in better performances the season we were 3rd compared to when we were 4th? That's what you're saying? We scored less goals, lost more matches and you think we were better because we went up one place? Were the Liverpool fans up in arms when they sacked Hoolia? They'd won 5 trophies. Perhaps their supporters have greater ambition than the likes of some Newcastle supporters, Dan. 99404[/snapback] no. what i'm saying is that you don't sack a manager who has taken you up a place in the league even if overall performance levels have marginally dropped. bear in mind that we also played a in long and relatively successful european campaign that season that would have had some impact on our league performance.

No room for sentiment mate. Liverpoo got rid of Hoolia despite winning 5 trophies. The signs were there and this is one thing I do blame FS for, he wasn't ruthless enough. 99363[/snapback] i don't agree with that like. 99381[/snapback] Which bit........ 1. No room for sentiment mate 2. Liverpoo got rid of Hoolia despite winning 5 trophies 3. The signs were there 4. this is one thing I do blame FS for, he wasn't ruthless enough. Just so I know, like. 99384[/snapback] i don't agree that we were in a position to sack the manager after he'd taken us up a place in the league. i agree about there being no room for sentiment but it's not is af we were stuggling at the time is it? under bobby we had enjoyed our two best seasons since keegan. we were winning games, playing attacking, attractive football and it was actually fun to go the the match again for the first time in years. i don't agree the signs were there. we were played good football that season, if not quite as good as the season before. and if shepherd had sacked robson the summer after we finished 3rd he would be even more unpopular than he is now.....FACTizzle my nizzle 99389[/snapback] 1 - He would be if he'd appointed Souness, but if he'd appointed the RIGHT man to take us forward why would FS be unpopular???? 2 - I think your memory is showing signs of failure, Dan. We weren't as good when we finished 3rd as when we finished 4th. 99393[/snapback] 1 - because he would have sacked our most successful and charismatic manager since keegan, a man who had just taken us to 3rd in the league. can you imagine the uproar if fat frad had sacked sbr then? no one would have stood for that. 2 - my memory's fine mate. i just don't agree with you.

well i maintain it was the wrong decision, despite being in the minority among posters on the old toon-chat forum. i always felt he deserved to see out his contract with dignity after he took us from mid table nobodies to top 5 regulars and the brink of the champions league knock out stage. he'd finished 5th and had a nightmare in the champions league, which was a disappointment after the previous two seasons but hardly enough to warrant sacking the man. another scandalous decision from the fat controller. shepherd and souness have put us back 5 years and undone all sbr's good work. 99376[/snapback] I agree with most of what your saying Dan, I just think that season we finished 5th by the skin of our teeth after some truely awfull performances and he should have been moved upstairs then. He certainly should have been allowed to leave with more dignity than the fat man allowed. 99391[/snapback] aye. either the summer beforehand (with sbr's blessing) or the summer his contract ended. i think the problem was that sbr was too proud to move upstairs when shepherd wanted him to so the fat twat bottled the decision and sacked him 4 games in to the new season instead.

No room for sentiment mate. Liverpoo got rid of Hoolia despite winning 5 trophies. The signs were there and this is one thing I do blame FS for, he wasn't ruthless enough. 99363[/snapback] I don't think it's being sentimental to allow someone who took us from relegation fodder to a second consecutive top four finish, another season just because he had made some iffy decisions. What he had done before suggested he could get us back on track (especially as we were hardly off it in the first place). What was sentimental was allowing him to continue on the begining of the season after when he had allowed the team to fall well below the standards he had set and after he had shown that he had little idea of how to put things right. 99371[/snapback] I'm not saying he made some 'iffy' decisions. Where do you get that from? What I'm saying is that the evidence on the pitch during the latter stages of that season showed that Robson could take the club no further. The following season proved it for god's sake. If the Chairman had recognised that and kept Robson on for the reason you state, then that IS sentment. Everybody I know believes that when we finished 3rd the performances generally were poorer than when we finished 4th the year before. Surely you remember that period? Everybody I spoke to on match days thought this, and people were banging on about it on nufc boards all over the shop at the time. 99378[/snapback] maybe performances were slightly poorer, but we finished a place higher. you don't sack the manager after he's taken you up a place in the league unless you're real madrid. 99383[/snapback] They were more than slightly poorer and there's no reason why the club can't change manager after finishing 3rd. If the ambition is to finish 1st and it's believed the current manager can take the club no further............ As I say, Liverpool won 5 trophies yet still sacked Hoolia. They wanted to move forward in the league, he wasn't the man and they recognised it. 99385[/snapback] well i don't think many people thought that, hence the reason why he kept his job. at the time there was an optimistic feeling around st james. we were in the champions league qualifyers for the second consequitive year running. i can't remember anyone on any message board or at the match calling for sbr's head (that started the season after when we fucked up against belgrade). and i don't know about you but i was buzzing after we finished 3rd. one of the best times to be a toon fan since the keegan days. i'd gladly swap the last two years worth of dross for a replay of the sbr days.

No room for sentiment mate. Liverpoo got rid of Hoolia despite winning 5 trophies. The signs were there and this is one thing I do blame FS for, he wasn't ruthless enough. 99363[/snapback] i don't agree with that like. 99381[/snapback] Which bit........ 1. No room for sentiment mate 2. Liverpoo got rid of Hoolia despite winning 5 trophies 3. The signs were there 4. this is one thing I do blame FS for, he wasn't ruthless enough. Just so I know, like. 99384[/snapback] i don't agree that we were in a position to sack the manager after he'd taken us up a place in the league. i agree about there being no room for sentiment but it's not is af we were stuggling at the time is it? under bobby we had enjoyed our two best seasons since keegan. we were winning games, playing attacking, attractive football and it was actually fun to go the the match again for the first time in years. i don't agree the signs were there. we were played good football that season, if not quite as good as the season before. and if shepherd had sacked robson the summer after we finished 3rd he would be even more unpopular than he is now.....FACTizzle my nizzle

No room for sentiment mate. Liverpoo got rid of Hoolia despite winning 5 trophies. The signs were there and this is one thing I do blame FS for, he wasn't ruthless enough. 99363[/snapback] I don't think it's being sentimental to allow someone who took us from relegation fodder to a second consecutive top four finish, another season just because he had made some iffy decisions. What he had done before suggested he could get us back on track (especially as we were hardly off it in the first place). What was sentimental was allowing him to continue on the begining of the season after when he had allowed the team to fall well below the standards he had set and after he had shown that he had little idea of how to put things right. 99371[/snapback] I'm not saying he made some 'iffy' decisions. Where do you get that from? What I'm saying is that the evidence on the pitch during the latter stages of that season showed that Robson could take the club no further. The following season proved it for god's sake. If the Chairman had recognised that and kept Robson on for the reason you state, then that IS sentment. Everybody I know believes that when we finished 3rd the performances generally were poorer than when we finished 4th the year before. Surely you remember that period? Everybody I spoke to on match days thought this, and people were banging on about it on nufc boards all over the shop at the time. 99378[/snapback] maybe performances were slightly poorer, but we finished a place higher. you don't sack the manager after he's taken you up a place in the league unless you're real madrid.

No room for sentiment mate. Liverpoo got rid of Hoolia despite winning 5 trophies. The signs were there and this is one thing I do blame FS for, he wasn't ruthless enough. 99363[/snapback] i don't agree with that like.

well i maintain it was the wrong decision, despite being in the minority among posters on the old toon-chat forum. i always felt he deserved to see out his contract with dignity after he took us from mid table nobodies to top 5 regulars and the brink of the champions league knock out stage. he'd finished 5th and had a nightmare in the champions league, which was a disappointment after the previous two seasons but hardly enough to warrant sacking the man. another scandalous decision from the fat controller. shepherd and souness have put us back 5 years and undone all sbr's good work.

i always said sbr should have been given the chance to see out his contract and leave the club with dignity after the way he transformed us into a top 5 club. i always suspected that the grass wouldn't necceserily be greener if we got rid of him. sadly i was proven right.

i'd be interested to see if they can do a job together. might be a bit toothless though....and not the quickest front two the world has ever seen.

Still suspended. So it's Robbie Elliott's chance to see if he can pass it straight for once. 99215[/snapback] fat chance. just as long as he doesn't attempt anymore cruyff turns on the edge of the area

hamstring tear i believe. fantastic player when fit but getting £14m for him was the best bit of business fat fred ever did.

dunno - there's feck all about this match anywhere online. anyone know the latest on the injury front? both are in the provisional squad but i reckon dyer has to start if he's fit after saturday's performance. agreed about luque. it seems the perfect game to ease him back in. i reckon he did enough on saturday to deserve a chance.

with all the champions league hype it's difficult to remember that we've got a game on tonight. what lineup would you like to see for charlton? i see the chronicle are talking up bowyer's chance of a recall - do me a favour tbh. shola looked like he was struggling with his hip against saints and luque looked as sharp as he has done for us so i'd rest shola and start start the spaniard up top alongside dyer. the rest as you were. if dyer is fit i fancy another 3 points. he was buzzing on saturday. hopefully those hamstrings can hold up to another game.

could do worse tbh. i've lost hope of getting one of hitzfeld, o'neil or hiddink. allardyce could do a job

too funny

gooners madrid was the bigger game three years ago but not today. chelsea's 'dirty tricks' campaign is cracking me up. not only does their pitch already resemble whitby beach - they've given it a watering overnight.

got a link? can't see it on icnewcastle.com