Here and now

[Barney 0]

I'd have him here too. We're desperate at the minute. Rossi was all over the place on Saturday, as he wants for too many touches and isn't used to a team just booting the ball at him and expecting him to do something with it. Atarget man, ANY target man would actually get us a good few goals, as all we have at the minute are players who thrive on knock downs.

[Barney 0]

Dunno if this has been posted, decent report of the aftermath of Saturday's game :

 

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/newcast...-name_page.html

 

 

Newcastle United 0, Sheffield United 1

Nov 6 2006

 

 

 

By Paul Gilder, The Journal

 

 

Hoisted aloft from the midst of the seething mob that gathered outside St James' Park on Saturday evening was a T-shirt that depicted Freddie Shepherd as Oliver Hardy.

 

Like the garment in question, the mood at the foot of the Milburn Reception steps was black. The slogan under Shepherd's likeness read: `Another Fine Mess'. No one was laughing.

 

As mounted police dispersed the demonstrators, Glenn Roeder and his players sat in the dressing room and listened grimly to their angst-ridden chants.

 

It should have served as a lesson in passion for those who had shown little for the Newcastle cause during an embarrassing 90 minutes in which their shortcomings were laid bare.

 

Perhaps Roeder should have sent his side out to face the protesters whose patience has snapped following decades of underachievement from those who have done little to justify their handsome salaries. Maybe then they would have realised what it means to wear a shirt of black-and-white stripes. On this evidence, it seems they have no understanding whatsoever.

 

 

A fine mess this certainly is for a club that is kept off the bottom of the Premiership table by goal difference alone. Had Sheffield United scored a second - and Alan Quinn struck a post with four minutes remaining - Newcastle would be at the foot of the standings. It would have been impossible to argue it was an unjust position.

 

 

Consider the facts. Roeder's team have not won a league fixture for seven weeks. They have collected a mere two points from their last seven matches. Having played Wigan, Fulham, Everton, Bolton, Charlton and Sheffield United on home soil, they have won just once - and that was almost three months ago. That is indefensible. A run of positive results in other competitions has papered over the cracks but Newcastle supporters will care little about the club's exploits in the cups should they find themselves watching Championship football next season.

 

 

Roeder has insisted talk of a relegation battle is premature but, given the scale of his team's troubles, he should realise the realities of the situation. This was the performance of a team heading downward and, with the likes of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United to play between now and January 1, the dramatic improvement required to steer the Magpies clear of danger is difficult to envisage. Should Newcastle continue to perform as they did against opponents whose spirit shamed the hapless hosts, their problems will persist. Sheffield United's players are fighting for their lives, Newcastle's appear to have given up.

 

 

What other conclusion can be drawn from this most miserable of matches? The Gallowgate faithful have found some comfort in positive performances in recent weeks, yet there was no such solace on Saturday evening.

 

 

It is little wonder they are seeking someone to blame. Shepherd, barracked for the second time in less than a fortnight, has attracted the greatest criticism but an embattled chairman is not alone. Roeder has insisted he should carry the can and his under-performing players cannot escape censure. Where the buck stops is a matter of debate but those who lingered long after the final whistle to articulate their anger appear to have made their minds up.

 

 

The visitors were worth their win against a lamentable home team with problems at both ends. Danny Webber's 68th-minute goal was scored too easily against a defence that stood and watched, while Newcastle posed a negligible attacking threat, with Giuseppe Rossi, one of the smallest players on the pitch, unable to make use of the stream of hopeful high balls that were pointlessly pumped in his general direction.

 

 

Newcastle's striking problems have been well-documented and Roeder's men have now scored just twice in their last seven league matches. Yet the United manager chose to drop Albert Luque, whose goal secured an uplifting Uefa Cup triumph at Palermo less than 48 hours earlier, and when he did decide to introduce the Spaniard it was at the expense of James Milner, who had been the most threatening player in Magpies colours.

 

 

It was a decision greeted with derision by supporters who applauded sarcastically when Milner was named man-of-the-match by the sponsors. As the announcement was made, scarves were flung towards the home dug-out. But it was the mutinous chants that were flying around outside the ground that were the most accurate barometer of fans' feelings, with the goodwill generated by that heroic win on Sicilian soil having evaporated in rapid fashion.

 

 

As Neil Warnock delivered his post-match verdict, the protests were audible in the media suite. The visiting manager spoke of the last time he brought his team to Tyneside, recalling how Sir Bobby Robson's team had barely allowed the Blades a touch of the ball during an FA Cup tie in 2000 in which Newcastle won 4-1.

 

 

How sharply things have changed. United's supporters have not forgotten and, interspersed with their demands for change at the highest levels of the club, were affectionate songs about their revered former manager. Robson, it must be remembered, was dismissed having finished fourth, third and fifth in the Premiership. Simply surviving is the objective at present. It will be four years ago next week that Newcastle recorded one of the finest results in their recent history, Robson's men completing a momentous comeback to beat Feyenoord in Rotterdam and ensure continuing participation in the Champions League.

 

 

Given the speed of the club's alarming decline since, where United might be four years from now does not bear thinking about for those of a black-and-white persuasion. Should Roeder's players continue in this manner, their destination is depressingly easy to predict.

 

 

Newcastle are in deep trouble. This mess has gone beyond a joke.

Edited November 6, 2006 by Barney

[Renton 21052]

That's actually a decent article by the Journal.

 

God I feel more depressed than usual, think I'll pop over to Dr Gloom's to cheer myself up.

[Barney 0]

Yeah, decent assesment of the situation. He sez it like it is. Better that the other ugly tart who just panders to the fat man at every opportunity.

 

I still don't understand how AO has an article in the match day programme.

[Bombadil 0]

A director of football is a must, but I honestly don't know if it will help us stay up this season. It should have been done years ago.

 

The biggest problem now is that not only do our poor performances put us in an extremely dangerous situation on the pitch; I also imagine that potential investors will wait to see what happens (i.e. if we stay up) before deciding on a take-over.