Newcastle General Discussion 23/24

[murf]

Consortium seemingly can’t make a collective decision on the easiest one of all, getting rid of Bruce. Doesn’t bode well, does it…

They've made that decision.

Just not acting on it until decision 2 is made. New manager....

[blahblah]

So she can't have a piss without having a shit?

[forestfan]

Consortium seemingly can’t make a collective decision on the easiest one of all, getting rid of Bruce. Doesn’t bode well, does it…

They've made that decision.

Just not acting on it until decision 2 is made. New manager....

Yeah, but the lack of agreement seems to be on timing.

Surely just say giving Shearer a few games as caretaker would make sense (I know, they tried that before and went down, but slightly different atmosphere to the place this time…)

[blahblah]

Shearer to repeat the relegation would be

Bruce is a Pullis-lite for me and is their best chance of staying up. The more cash they splash in January the more likely they are to go down, and having a manager not used the relegation battles in the Prem will just make them worse.

[forestfan]

Then they’d probably get 120 points in the Championship next season. How about Sterling, Coutinho and Hazard on a wet Wednesday night in Stoke?

A year ago, sticking with Bruce might have made sense but now they need a change to freshen things up and draw a line under the Cashley era. Agree it needs to be someone who knows the league though. The problem for them could be that there’s only one really bad team in the PL this season so it’s going to be a very competitive relegation battle. A new manager bounce could quickly have them looking upwards though.

[raoul]

Mark Hughes?

Been through the relegation stuff and also the transformation stuff.

An 18 month contract with a clearly defined purpose, heavily incentivised to meet targets in terms of progress.

[forestfan]

They could do a lot worse… wouldn’t excite the fans, who would probably see him as Bruce mk 2 without even the Geordie credentials, but he did do a lot of the ground work at City before being pushed aside for more glamorous options.

[raoul]

Bruce has gone.

Shocker.

[Smurphy Paw]

Didn’t see that coming!

[forestfan]

Bruce: “The Man Utd job that becomes available tomorrow was too good an opportunity to turn down… failing that, there’s always Watford”

So… quick appointment for Newcastle, or muddle on with a caretaker?

[raoul]

No need to rush. But equally don't want to dither more than a week or two.

[blahblah]

I've still not been contacted by them

[murf]

I've still not been contacted by them

It would have been impolite to tout potential candidates while Bruce was still employed and the new owners are surely decent folks. So expect a low key call in the next 24 hours.

I wonder what severance he got....

[blahblah]

I've still not been contacted by them

It would have been impolite to tout potential candidates while Bruce was still employed and the new owners are surely decent folks. So expect a low key call in the next 24 hours.

I wonder what severance he got....

More than enough for me to be happy

[forestfan]

Probably enough to never need to manage again… though another relegation candidate will surely come calling soon enough. Finishing on a nice round 1000 is not implausible though, the old British firefighter managers seem very much out of fashion (Allardyce, Pulis, Hughes and Pardew all currently out of work as far as I’m aware!)

The crowd reaction and result at the weekend probably sealed his short-term fate, he was a toxic link with the past regime that needed breaking quickly, whether the permanent successor is lined up yet or not.

[forestfan]

Actually Pardiola currently has an advisory role at CSKA Sofia…

[blahblah]

Probably enough for me to never need to buy a Lottery Ticket ever again…

Corrected

[jimmy ching]

Everybody will be stunned when they appoint Helena Costa.

[SUZYKINS]

Bruce has gone.

Shocker.

Bye Fat Head

[raoul]

I note that Saudi finance minister has commented on the decision by 18 PL clubs to ban sponsorship deals by owners.

But don't worry. Saudi government definitely not involved in running Newcastle.

[raoul]

"If people are worried about competition amongst clubs, and particularly now we have invested in one of them, possibly it's a good sign that there is a potential serious competitor coming their way, which is good for the whole football community," he said.

Now WE have invested in them...

[blahblah]

"If people are worried about competition amongst clubs, and particularly now we have invested in one of them, possibly it's a good sign that there is a potential serious competitor coming their way, which is good for the whole football community," he said.

Now WE have invested in them...

Interesting use of "they" for the rest of Prem etc and then Citeh.

[bluenosey]

I feel for Bruce. Think he was treated disgracefully to be honest.

Years ago a mate of mine got married. Massive Birmingham fan and fellow season ticket holder at the time. We sent a card to St Andrews kindly asking Alex McLeish to sign and anyone else at Blues, with a covering letter. We had no response, until the very morning of the wedding, when finally and at the last possible minute, the card arrived back with Big Ecks signature on it.

At the same time, we wrote to Wigan with a similar card asking if they could arrange for Steve Bruce to sign the card. Not only did he sign it, but he also wrote a really nice, heartfelt message. The card arrived back almost immediately and hats off to Wigan and the staff there, who made my club look an utter shambles....

So cheers Steve. Some may hate your guts for finishing 15th or 16th each year but I would happily take that. And 4 victories against the Villa to boot. Happy days. The guy has had a tough couple of years so time for him to put his feet up and relax.

[forestfan]

So, Eddie Howe in… thoughts? Ticks a lot of the right boxes at this stage - has built a club up before (admittedly starting at a much lower level), plays an attacking style that should go down well with the fans, and unlike a lot of the overseas contenders he knows the league, and even has first hand experience of working with a few current players.

There’s a few red flags, notably whether he can organise a defence or grind out the results you need to when at the wrong end of the table. Needs a good start and a few results on the board because if they’re mired in the bottom three at Christmas and beyond I think he’ll find it a struggle to dig them out. But someone they could stick with even if they do go down, though not sure the owners or fans will have the patience at this stage.

[murf]

They should have appointed him (or someone like him) before. He is what they needed when they were skint and mid table more so now than when they are rich and in relegation trouble.

Can he do the houdini thing like a Big Sam? Not much of that on his CV.

Will he attract the megastars they think they can get?

To be fair he has 27 matches and doesn't need that much of a pick up to make 17th and he can go from there. But will c.11th in 22/23 be good enough for the journalist murderers? Probably not.

[blahblah]

I think that I'd rather be a Journo assigned to them, or embedded to write a book on the next few years, although it be could be a tad risky ie death; but it would be fun.

Didn't Dick (Emery for you young people - go Google) refuse the job due to termination for nowt if they get relegated? Ignoring all the reasons why they wouldn't have bought Bournemouth 3 years ago: would they have sacked him if they had? Yep, I think so too.

Was Eddie actually any good in the Transfer Market? I remember him paying Lpool loads for a waste of space, but he must have bought some good ones? While I doubt that he'll be doing much buying, he best make sense etc to the DoF or he'll be out before May?

They need a point a game plus at least 6 to stay up, which could get worse before it gets better.....

[forestfan]

Yeah, transfer record at PL level does raise a few questions, they seemed a bit keen on Liverpool youth system rejects (Jordan E-bay etc.) which cost them eventually. Prospects who don’t cut it at a top four club don’t necessarily become stars at the next level down, but probably come with a sense of entitlement that they should have such a status.

[Darbyand]

Some discussion of Howe's transfer misses here....plenty of people taking issue with some of these names plus the fact there were plenty of hits too:

https://twitter.com/joeyjjjnrshaba/stat ... 84992?s=20

[blahblah]

Should I be able to scroll down the list? I see a few OK ones among the nondescript and downright bad.

I don't think he (and his transfers) ever moved them up a Prem tier as they were always in the Relegation group, albeit at the top. I assume that most of us hope they don't have a smooth transition to a top Club?

[Darbyand]

I assume that most of us hope they don't have a smooth transition to a top Club?

It's not a long list.

Good question above. I think most people are pretty keen to see it go horribly wrong. Forestfan will be cheering them on though, he loves a Sugar Daddy story