I was hoping to keep football, and Newcastle United in particular, from these pages but recently this has become an increasingly frequent source of my misery. So I'm going to have a big rant about it to make me feel better. Yeah, that should work.
Newcastle United have seen many ups and downs in their history. Currently they lie 14th in the Premiership. They have been in far lower positions in the past so why does this seem worse than all of that? Perhaps it's just the frustration at knowing that things could have been much better if it weren't for the myopia that seems inherent among those who manage the club.
In 1995/96 season Newcastle just lost out on winning the Premier League to Manchester United. They had led by 12 points at Christmas but were unable to sustain the momentum that had kept them ahead of the pack and eventually finished the season in 2nd place. Ten years later and they're 14th with just 7 points separating them from the drop-zone. They're 11 points off a UEFA cup slot and 15 points away from the season's target of a Champions League (qualifier) spot. Championship football is more likely next season than Champions League. So what has happened?
Shortly after the 2nd place finish the then Newcastle manager, Kevin Keegan, apparently walked out on the club. His reasons for doing so were somewhat vague but one rumour was he refused to sign a long term contract just before the club's stock market flotation and was forced to resign. His successor, Kenny Dalglish, inherited a squad rich in attacking talent and led by the then England number 9, Alan Shearer who had joined Newcastle for a then world record fee of 15 million pounds. Dalglish's Newcastle finished in 2nd place behind Manchester United. The summer came along and the clearout of attacking players began. Dalglish himself was cleared out that season and Ruud Gullit took charge.
After a poor start to the following season Mr Gullit was himself disposed of and in his place was appointed Bobby Robson, at the age of 66. During his years at the helm Newcastle finished 11th, 11th, 4th, 3rd, and then 5th. The following season, just four games into the season, on the eve of the end of the transfer window, Sir Bobby Robson's services as Newcastle manager were severed.
From taking the club from the bottom of the Premier League into two Champions League campaigns (and making them the first club EVER to qualify for the second group stage after losing their first three games) and embedding them into the top six of the country to the sack. Why? It is generally rumoured that Bobby Robson lost control of the dressing room, that there were too many unruly players who were bringing the club into disrepute. The failure of the club to consolidate their position by investing and strengthening the squad following their 3rd place finish and Champions League campaign is forgotten about now. The fact that they failed to qualify for the Champions League by being knocked out of the qualifiers by Partisan Belgrade is a distant memory. At the time, UEFA cup football was a disaster. Today it would be a bloody miracle.
Apparently, following Robson's dismissal FOUR GAMES into the new season, the search for a replacement was bearing no fruit so the club chairman decided to search around for any low hanging specimens. He found one. Graeme Souness was manager of Blackburn who were currently below United in the league and struggling with injuries. At first things seemed quite rosy as Newcastle went on a run of 5 wins in row. But by the end of the season the charismatic Scotsman had fallen out with at least two players and had sent them out on loan, never to return to the club. He'd brought in 3 new players in the January transfer window costing a total of 11 million pounds. That season Newcastle finished 14th.
The summer actually looked quite promising with Scott Parker joining from Chelsea for 6.5m, Nolberto Solano returning from Aston Villa for 1.5m, a Spanish player arriving from Deportivo La Coruna for 9.5m and the coup of the season, Michael Owen from Real Madrid for 17m.
However, things had not started too well. The first four games of the season were without a goal, never mind a win. Remember, 12 months earlier Bobby Robson had been dismissed for going four games without a win. Newcastle registered their first win of the season at Blackburn, with Michael Owen taking one of the 3 goals as his first for the club.
SO what has happened to cause so much grief? Souness has spent 45 million pounds and has managed to send the club backwards. The season is past halfway and yet he's still in command. The club has Michael Owen injured, out until April apparently, and have failed to sign anyone in the transfer window. The defence is at best a bundle of nerves and at worst a shapeless rabble of headless chickens. The football is dire - ten outfield players running about not quite knowing what they're supposed to be doing by the looks of it. Souness blames the injuries, bad luck, bad refereeing, everthing apart from his ineptitude. The man should never be allowed near a football club again!
And what about the chairman, the man who sacked Bobby Robson four games into a campaign? How can he stand by and watch the club spiral down the toilet? Well apparently to sack Souness he'd have to pay him a hefty whack - 5m is reported - in severence pay. According to reports the club's coffers are empty and so they can't afford to rid the club of the nuisance that will surely end in relegation.
People are sympathetic towards Souness because of the injuries. Well how many of these injuries are down to his piss poor 'tactics'? The last few times I saw Newcastle play (yeah, on telly. So what? ) I was amazed at how many players were stationary when another player had the ball. It's as though they're told their zones and told never to leave them. So what we get is players making 40, 50, 60 yard passes across the pitch with the recipients stretching to reach them. Or suddenly having to run somewhere. All of this causes strain on muscles and injuries are more likely to occur. Injuries like hamstrings. Sound familiar?
Players who run into trouble end up stranded and end up dispossessed or making stray passes that the opposition intercept. This is because nobody is going to them to help them out. Everyone seems to stand in their own zones. How many times has the ball entered the box only to be met by nobody running from midfield? When we do manage to make a cross (about twice per game) there's never anybody there. There is no width and the centre of the park is too crowded. The game plan is, to be polite, static. And it looks like this is going to be the way it is for the rest of the season.
Well done Freddy Shepherd. The blame must lay firmly with you. You have taken up the positions of Executive Chairman AND Executive Director at the club making you autonymous so therefore you're the only one to blame. You appointed the crappest manager in the history of football. He caused the injuries and spent all of the money so you couldn't sack him. Look what you've done - you've ruined the club with your myopic idiocy. I hope you're satisfied. Now step down and let someone with a clue take over before it's too late.