Mort silent on Big Sam

[Jimbo 175]

Dec 27 2007 by Alan Oliver, Evening Chronicle

 

NEWCASTLE United chairman Chris Mort was tight-lipped when he left the JJB Stadium after the dismal defeat by Wigan Athletic.

 

But in contrast, a lot of supporters were up in arms against manager Sam Allardyce after what can only be described as a wretched performance and result by United, coming hard on the heels of the embarrassing 2-2 home draw with Derby.

 

United had a magnificent and vocal 5,000 following at the JJB Stadium – but their chants after Wigan took the lead left nobody in any doubt what they thought of the team.

 

And they also included calls for Alan Shearer to be brought into the St James’s hotseat.

 

A grim-faced Mort sat at the front of the directors box, but the man who makes the big decisions – owner Mike Ashley – was right in the middle of the Toon Army once again, wearing his black-and-white strip.

 

Nobody knows what Ashley is thinking, but Allardyce still has two-and-a-half years of a £3m-a-year contract to run, and there is also the little matter of the 20 or so backroom staff who have joined the club recently, and who are presumably under contract.

 

When I approached Mort after the game he was friendly and affable, but he refused to make any comment.

 

To be fair to Allardyce, he did not duck the situation and he told me after the match: “It’s the same old story isn’t it?

 

“You lose a game – and lose it badly – and you are under the cosh, especially if you are the manager.

 

“I cannot blame the fans for what they were singing. We weren’t good enough and you don’t need to be an expert to see that.

 

“They spend their hard-earned money and they want to see us fight and do an awful lot better than we did here today.”

 

It was noticeable at the JJB yesterday that, unlike 11 days earlier at Fulham when there were chants from the United fans of “Big Sam’s black-and-white army”, there was no support for the manager.

 

This was probably payback time for Derby when United’s loyal fans must have thought things could not get any worse – until yesterday.

 

I watched United file off the bus at the JJB Stadium and they looked a beaten team before the game.

 

I hate to think what they will be like when they arrive for Saturday’s game with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge – a ground where they have never won in 14 visits in the Premier League.

 

After that United’s next four away League games are at Manchester United, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool, with a potential banana skin in the third round of the FA Cup at Stoke City a week on Sunday.

 

By then Oba Martins, Geremi, Habib Beye and Abdoulaye Faye will be heading to the African Nations Cup, and Alan Smith’s booking yesterday means both the stand-in skipper and Nicky Butt are now both just a couple of yellow cards away from a two-match ban.

 

On a rare bright note, Michael Owen was at the JJB Stadium in the company of Joey Barton yesterday, and when I asked him about his fitness he said that he expected to be on the bench at Chelsea on Saturday.

 

Indeed, Allardyce added: “Michael has not had enough match practice under his belt and it’s the same with Damien Duff – he’s not fully match fit yet, but he’s back in where he wants to be.

 

“Joey Barton has a bit of an ankle problem. He could have started at Wigan, but another knock might put him out for a while, and we want to make sure he’s free from any pain he might have.”

 

Chelsea are having their problems for the visit of United, where they are protecting a run of 72 matches unbeaten in the Premier League.

 

They are without injured pair John Terry and Didier Drogba, while Ashley Cole and Ricardo Carvalho were sent off in yesterday’s thrilling 4-4 draw with Aston Villa and face suspensions, although Cole has appealed.

[TheMoog 0]

If we beat Chelski I'll eat my hat... but not my Toon beanie.

[Kid Dynamite 7320]

United had a magnificent and vocal 5,000 following at the JJB Stadium – but their chants after Wigan took the lead left nobody in any doubt what they thought of the team.

 

Tbf the first 15mins were awesome but there were large parts of the second half where you could have heard a pin drop.

[The Fish 11080]

as long as we show the same spirit we produced against Arsenal I'll be content. I'm not expecting any points, not even a attacking display, I want grit and I want fight against a team who are footballing lightyears ahead of us.

[Jimbo 175]

as long as we show the same spirit we produced against Arsenal I'll be content. I'm not expecting any points, not even a attacking display, I want grit and I want fight against a team who are footballing lightyears ahead of us.

 

agreed, but I wanted the same against Derby and Wigan.

[Sima 0]

Oliver seething that he is now out of the loop

[tinofbeans 91]

as long as we show the same spirit we produced against Arsenal I'll be content. I'm not expecting any points, not even a attacking display, I want grit and I want fight against a team who are footballing lightyears ahead of us.

 

agreed, but I wanted the same against Derby and Wigan.

qouted for truth.

 

what makes these selfish cunts that we have playing for our team, one game against arsenal they play their socks off, the next few they think they can just turn up .

 

wankers the fucking lot of them.

[East Stander 0]

Oliver seething that he is now out of the loop

 

Yeah, especially the bit about looking beaten already coming off the bus. A whiff of hindsight in the air Anal??

[Baggio 0]

as long as we show the same spirit we produced against Arsenal I'll be content. I'm not expecting any points, not even a attacking display, I want grit and I want fight against a team who are footballing lightyears ahead of us.

 

agreed, but I wanted the same against Derby and Wigan.

qouted for truth.

 

what makes these selfish cunts that we have playing for our team, one game against arsenal they play their socks off, the next few they think they can just turn up .

 

wankers the fucking lot of them.

 

I remember under Souness when Parker had his teeth knocked loose against Arsenal, the lads grafted their bollocks off that day but it wasn't much good when they couldn't raise their game for the rest of the teams.