June to July 2020 - NUFC

[Nukehasslefan]

I don't think your view is that different. I live in Gateshead. Most of my friends are massive Newcastle fans. Some of them are stereotypical Rafa and others share your views. Its simple really, there is nowt between their performances as manager of Newcastle in the top flight but Rafa is a name that some fans feel is deserving of their club so they build a case to support him rather than judge objectively.

I agree on that.

 

[The Fish]

Bruce came in 3 weeks before the season started had his forward line taken off him and was presented with Joelinton the following day. I'm not sure what was reasonable to expect early on. What we do know is that the team has improved over time and he has got improvement out of Almiron and excellence out of ASM and got you a decent points haul. If you remember Rafa's early games he went to Aston Villa, played for a draw at a team that were utterly hapless, lost at Norwich conceding 3 and got you relegated.

A little homework on Joelinton would tell you he's never in his life been a target man. But we persisted with him in that role for months. It lead to fans asking if there was some kind of clause in his contract to guarantee him starts!
The defence was our strength in the previous season, but we've been worse this season from the off and on that front we've not improved at all. We've already conceded more goals than we did last season.
You criticise Benitez for his early form but he had less time to change things and no break to work with the players at all.

The team has improved, but it's folly to ignore that for the overwhelming majority of the season Newcastle have been poor.

 

[Banks]

We finished 3rd, 6th and 2nd without him tbf.

All spells pre Shearer. You also finished 13th two seasons in a row where he missed a number of games

 

[The Fish]

I don't think Leicester will be up there permanently to become established. Without looking too much into it, I think they have been helped by scouting some good players but can they do that permanently without having to spend big to get more established players to maintain the level of performance? Schmeichel possibly only has a few seasons left in him also and he'd done well for them. Regardless of what now happens, Leicester fans have the memory of a lifetime and given what they did and what they were up against, it will be a f***ing class memory!

I think what's impressed me most about Leicester after the unbelievable title is that they've not lost their mind and brought in big names on big money, they've consistently recruited well and appointed a good manager.

Yes, you're right is it a worst case scenario for the Mags. Sensible fans will know this is the risk of chasing 'success' as it could be a far higher fall these days and do far more damage than it did to Leeds in the 90's. As Sima says, it may well be something worth risking to get the success and memories but the potential short term and long term cost is unknown at the moment.

Personally, I'd rather we went the Wolves/Leicester route and spent within our means to scout and recruit well in search of progress. I think throwing money at players is dangerous and it's much more sustainable to incrementally improve the squad and the club. gone are the days of a midtable club throwing hundreds of millions around, Chelsea and Man City put pay to that.

 

[Anthony From Blue]

No news again today, gents? Such a shame

 

[Sabre Mag]

I don't think your view is that different. I live in Gateshead. Most of my friends are massive Newcastle fans. Some of them are stereotypical Rafa and others share your views. Its simple really, there is nowt between their performances as manager of Newcastle in the top flight but Rafa is a name that some fans feel is deserving of their club so they build a case to support him rather than judge objectively.

You know I kind of agree with you to a certain extent. On a personal level getting Rafa felt amazing, and in my view was better than any of us could have expected. I will always disagree that we have delusions of grandeur as that’s just an argument that will never end between our fans, but yes Rafa made me feel excited about a manager for the first time in years.

But I also think Rafa earned that excitement because of his career success. The man has an aura and a gravitas that no manager we have had for years has had. And to a degree maybe that does blinker me in terms of what Bruce does or doesn’t do. I just trusted Benitez whereas I’m fairly confident we will get relegated or be very close with Bruce in charge.

 

[Sima]

All spells pre Shearer. You also finished 13th two seasons in a row where he missed a number of games

Have you even read what I quoted in bold?

Maybe you have a different interpretation than I do, I guess...

 

[rentaghost]

A little homework on Joelinton would tell you he's never in his life been a target man. But we persisted with him in that role for months. It lead to fans asking if there was some kind of clause in his contract to guarantee him starts!
The defence was our strength in the previous season, but we've been worse this season from the off and on that front we've not improved at all. We've already conceded more goals than we did last season.
You criticise Benitez for his early form but he had less time to change things and no break to work with the players at all.

The team has improved, but it's folly to ignore that for the overwhelming majority of the season Newcastle have been poor.

You know I kind of agree with you to a certain extent. On a personal level getting Rafa felt amazing, and in my view was better than any of us could have expected. I will always disagree that we have delusions of grandeur as that’s just an argument that will never end between our fans, but yes Rafa made me feel excited about a manager for the first time in years.

But I also think Rafa earned that excitement because of his career success. The man has an aura and a gravitas that no manager we have had for years has had. And to a degree maybe that does blinker me in terms of what Bruce does or doesn’t do. I just trusted Benitez whereas I’m fairly confident we will get relegated or be very close with Bruce in charge.

To be fair you have summed it up better than I ever could and its more powerful coming from a Newcastle supporter. Its exactly how it is and exactly what some people like 'Fish' and others on here cant accept.

 

[The Fish]

To be fair you have summed it up better than I ever could and its more powerful coming from a Newcastle supporter. Its exactly how it is and exactly what some people like 'Fish' and others on here cant accept.

I think you're confused, I see Benitez' faults. I have spoken about them on here. I trusted Benitez because he came with a great reputation and then I could actually see what he was doing with the players on the pitch. We were organised, we were good defensively and efficient (if not stylish) up front. If he'd turned up with a great reputation and rolled out disorganised, shit, ineffective football I'd have lost faith in him. But he didn't.
I can see what Bruce has got right, I'm not blind to his strengths. But up until recently the football was terrible, disorganised, unsustainable shit. It'd be dishonest to now say I'm a Bruce fan, but I've given him praise before and I will again.

 

[Sima]

Aye same, you have to give him some credit for getting us to 43 points as he has instilled a certain level of belief in the players (see the comeback against Everton for instance).

There's no structure to the play though with the attacking tactic being either lump it forward or give it to one of the wingers and hope for something to happen. Whereas the defence looks nowhere near as drilled and as organised as it was last season.

I'd like to think our current goal difference backs both of these judgments up.

 

[Metro Man]

What I find frustrating is the way they fart about at the back, for minutes at a time, thinking they are Barcelona, then eventually, panic, pass the ball back to Dubravka who then hoofs it up to our none- existant target man. Why don't they just hoof it forward themselves?

 

[Smartie]

What I find frustrating is the way they fart about at the back, for minutes at a time, thinking they are Barcelona, then eventually, panic, pass the ball back to Dubravka who then hoofs it up to our none- existant target man. Why don't they just hoof it forward themselves?

That sounds like us under Poyet. Fairly tidy, tippy-tappy stuff with no real penetration or end product. Then back to the keeper and give them the ball.

 

[Banks]

Have you even read what I quoted in bold?

Maybe you have a different interpretation than I do, I guess...

The previous posters point alluded to how he carried a weak side to the top 6 for a number of years.

You then strangely quoted periods when Cole and Ferdinand were at the club.

 

[Sima]

The previous posters point alluded to how he carried a weak side to the top 6 for a number of years.

You then strangely quoted periods when Cole and Ferdinand were at the club.

Just pointing out that we were capable of finishing in the top 6 without him tbh.

Our resurgence under Bobby Robson was more due to Bellamy and Robert imo. We were transformed in summer 2001 when those two signed.

Yes, Bellamy's legs allowed Shearer to adapt his game to what it become in his later years but to say he carried that side is disrespectful to the rest of the squad, in particular the attack.

 

[kingkeane]

We finished 3rd, 6th and 2nd without him tbf.

Pre-Shearer you certainly had the Leicester City boom following promotion. Cole being the 'Vardy', followed by Ferdinand (correct me if I am wrong). Leicester had that season where you were close to the league title but obviously won it. You've always had that one player that's carried a good team in terms of goals. Cole left for Man U and Ferdinand to Spurs. Shearer would have had numerous opportunites to leave and even carried Newcastle through the Ashley years. You can't disagree when he retired things got worse.

 

[Banks]

Just pointing out that we were capable of finishing in the top 6 without him tbh.

Our resurgence under Bobby Robson was more due to Bellamy and Robert imo. We were transformed in summer 2001 when those two signed.

Yes, Bellamy's legs allowed Shearer to adapt his game to what it become in his later years but to say he carried that side is disrespectful to the rest of the squad, in particular the attack.

Without shearer you are nowhere near top 6. That is carrying a side. He scored 23 goals that season. You can argue without Bellamy he might have only got 15 goals. But without shearer you'd have been mid table.

 

[Sima]

Pre-Shearer you certainly had the Leicester City boom following promotion. Cole being the 'Vardy', followed by Ferdinand (correct me if I am wrong). Leicester had that season where you were close to the league title but obviously won it. You've always had that one player that's carried a good team in terms of goals. Cole left for Man U and Ferdinand to Spurs. Shearer would have had numerous opportunites to leave and even carried Newcastle through the Ashley years. You can't disagree when he retired things got worse.

I'd say we were a bit more consistent than Leicester were a few years back but yes, ultimately Leicester won the league. Without being too much 'if me uncle had tits...' if we had the luxury of not having a rampant Man U on our tails we would have won it too.

Robson wanted to sell Shearer to Liverpool iirc, but it was blocked by the board. Michael Owen claims he could have gone to Italy as well iirc.

Shearer retired before Ashley took over. Well, outside of the management relegation but I don't think you're going down that road.

 

[The Ghost of Arca]

Afternoon shift in full swing

 

[Sima]

Without shearer you are nowhere near top 6. That is carrying a side. He scored 23 goals that season. You can argue without Bellamy he might have only got 15 goals. But without shearer you'd have been mid table.

'nah '

 

[Roker Mackem]

Imminent