After the game today, when Newcastle United should have won and have been comfortably ahead at half time, the club are now in serious danger of bring relegated from the Premier League for the first time ever.
Newcastle Chairman Chris Mort – must have plan in case club relegated
Newcastle are now only a slim 3 points above the 3rd bottom placed team Reading, who beat Middlesbrough at the Riverside today.
The alarming thing for the Newcastle hierarchy is that Newcastle are in a massive slump with just 3 draws in their last 11 league games, so they are showing their bad form at very a critical time of the season.
This confidence thing, about the players losing their confidence because we haven’t won is sounding too much like an excuse – and should stop.
We pay these players huge wages and they just haven’t delivered all season. The other way of putting it is that they are the biggest under-performing team in the league and they haven’t earned their wages this season.
It’s hard to point to one player in the squad who has fully played up to his capabilities this season. It’s about time they did, and it’s also about time they upped their confidence themselves without having to be wrapped in cotton wool.
Who on earth would have thought Newcastle United would be fighting for their lives in the Premier league – when things looked so positive last August?
But one thing that Mike Ashley and Chris Mort will need to do now is have some kind of plan as to what happens if indeed we do get relegated. That’s now a distinct possibility, however unbelievable it may be to the loyal and long-suffering Newcastle fans who hardly deserve this nightmare of a season.
Call it disaster planning, but it’s more of a possibility now than ever that we’ll go down, and the longer we keep losing the worse it will become.
What do you think?
What’s happened to the club this season?
All comments welcome – but please the language decent for the bairns.
44 comments so far
Dragoner
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Comment #1team played well, but were let down by awful finishing from michael owen, smith and duff who cant find the back of the net.
GP
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Comment #2We’ve been in a relegation fight for the last 3 games, what the f*ck are you on about.
alex scott
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:07 PM
Comment #3If we go down it will take years to get back in the top flight. I still hope in my heart it doesn’t happen but if keegan plays smith and barton we will go down. We are now a national joke.
What a mess.
Yorkie Dave
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:07 PM
Comment #4toon4lyf no way this is a game imo that we cannot win we are not good enough. a team that lacks this much confidence will not beat a liverpool side that are chasing for CL. my personal team for next week has to include edgar, carrol, lua lua, tozer, kadar to name a few give these lads a chance with harper, beye, faye, milner, duff, martins, owen, emre,
GK-Harper
RB-Beye
LB-Tozer
CB-Edgar
CB-Faye
DM-Emre (could spray the ball about and tackle)
AM-Duff (run off the strikers)
RM-Milner
LM-Lua Lua
ST-Martins (out and out striker to shoot from anywhere, even shoot from goal kicks hehe)
ST-Carrol (drop abit deep to nod on)
Subs – Forster, Owen, Kadar, Smith, Butt.
if by anychance we get in front and looking ok bring Carrol off for Butt and play martins up alone and have 5 in midfield as one option to close out the game.
No one should of expected keegan to turn around these ULTRA LOW confidence players. i dont expect a result next week apart from a loss. We will be pulled further down next week but the games against Fulham, Sunderland (makcam f**kers), Birmingham, Reading are the key games and need from the others a few good performances.
a-liverpool 0pts
a-birmingham 3pts
h-fulham 3pts
a-tottenham 1pt
h-reading 3 pts
a-portsmouth 0pts
h-sunderland 3pts
a-west ham 1pt
h-chelsea 0pt
a-everton 0pt
thats best case scenario and would give us 14 points from our remaining games but i think that is being optimistic. birmingham more like 1 point, spurs 0, reading 1pt and west ham 0pt that would give us 8 pts on what we have and i think that could still be a problem!!! i think 36 points for our season is the least we can expect but anyworse and we are definately gone.
m. stockley (nicky butt is crap)
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:08 PM
Comment #5well what is scary is we played well today but still couldnt turn it up that extra notch and score goals… so by this seasons stsandards if thats us playing well and still losing…. well i dont need to spell it out! i have this horrible feeling!
shay is shit
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:09 PM
Comment #6good team i would go with that one we need some youngsters out how else will thay get experiance
Lenny
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Comment #7Martins should have started instead of Owen… Martins has the ability to pull something spesh out of the bag when you least expect it where as Owen just looks tired and a shadow of his former self, granted i know Martins aint the best finisher in the world but im sure he would have put atleast one of the chances we had in the back of the net.
Why is supporting Newcastle so hard?? lol
m. stockley (nicky butt is crap)
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Comment #8its not just giving the young lads experience its for the fact our senior players arent goodenough! to be honest our kids would make our seniors look worse! but yes indeed this is a complete mess!
GP
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:13 PM
Comment #9Keep dreaming Dave.
a-liverpool 0pts
a-birmingham 0pts
h-fulham 3pts
a-tottenham 0pt
h-reading 1 pts
a-portsmouth 0pts
h-sunderland 1pts
a-west ham 0pt
h-chelsea 0pt
a-everton 0pt
So 33 points. I hope that will somehow be enough.
m. stockley (nicky butt is crap)
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:17 PM
Comment #10gp has it accurate there i think.
Jamie G
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:18 PM
Comment #11kev is the kind of manager who will instil a feeling of encouragement after today’s performance. we got beat. all we have to do is win our home games against sunderland, reading and fulham. the chanes are we will pick up other points, but i beleive if we win these 3 games we will be fine as it will give confidence. i believe we can do it, so can keegan, so can the players. good performance today lads, just need to be tight for 90 plus minutes, and it will be a lesson which we will surely learn from.
John
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:20 PM
Comment #12GP thats exactly what i think we’ll finish on aswell.. I cant beleive some of the people on here still think were better than we actualy are..
Were the shittest team in the league..Look on the form table were proping it up….
no way will 33 points be good enough either
Telboy
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:23 PM
Comment #13Does anybody else think that Joey Barton should not be allowed anywhere near the team? He cannot tackle, pass or shoot.
Obafan
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:25 PM
Comment #14Let us hope that the last 2 games:
1. we are safe OR IF NOT
2. Chelsea and Everton reached what they wanted and don’t play at 100% anymore.
That could give us a bonus of a couple of points. That is the way I see things, which is really low standard. Hoping other teams will not play at their best to get us points is so bad.
Graeme
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:25 PM
Comment #15Ed, we saw how effective their planning was when they sacked BSA – not an effing clue, nothing planned, just sack him then think of something!!! Then they came up with Muppet Redcrapp who told them to sling it, a complete and utter shambles!!
If thats an example of their forward thinking, what on earth makes you think they have thought things through about getting relegated??
If thats having a plan, being organized, then yes, we are royaly screwed, from the top down.
They had the chance to bring in one of the top coaches/managers in europe at the time; there were 3 superb ones available and as far as we know, they ignored them all.
This is fast becoming our worst nightmare.
Macca
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:26 PM
Comment #16It’s one of those times when nothings working, when luck is going against you and it just looks so so dark and that there’s no light at the end of this very long tunnel.
It’s at that time when you’ve to look around you and think who do I want in my corner, when it comes down to the crunch. You look at players and you try to think of ones who’ve never you down, but there’s a problem when I do that, I can only think of 2 and both of them are keepers.
Given and Harper have been there done that and remained loyal for 10 or 11 odd years.
So that’s a sad story so then I think what can Keegan do when no one else seems to be interested, so what does he do , what can he do, give youth ago? Or is it too late for that? Keegan has got to ask himself, he’s really got to ask himself who he thinks will really fight it for the club, and that might leave him making some hard decision, cutting some of the “big” names. Cause well, we’ve tried everything else.
Either way he needs to produce some sort of “Keegan magic” to get us out of this but looking at the current team’s form you’ve got to start thinking that it’s a miracle he needs, because we are playing some of the worst football in the premiership.
ObaFan2
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:26 PM
Comment #17Although I didn’t see todays game I think Beye has been our most consistent player.
All others should be looking at themselves to improve and provide SJP with a good end to the season and stop the relegation worry.
Unfortunately Liverpool isn’t an easy game but the next few after that should give us a chance for some valuble points………….
Now plz don’t start shouting down the manager and owners etc as this has been a terrible season for us and not just because KK has re joined.
We had some great chances today and it’ll just be a matter of time before we start winning again.
Mad_Magpie
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:28 PM
Comment #18Agreed Jamie G. I don’t see us getting anything from our remaining away games- maybe scrape a point, but it is at home that we can save ourselves. Repeating the way we played today, plus more luck and we will be safe. However, I don’t see any visiting teams, especially Sunderland as it is a derby, playing as poorly. 3 points were really there for the taking, and I doubt we will have a better opportunity for the rest of the season. You can see in Keegan’s post match interviews that he is always positive, which has already and will continue to rub off on the players hopefully. Morale is already so low, and Keegan is the type who can pick it back up, like he has showed already.
Macca
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:32 PM
Comment #19Ya but one worrying thing is that Reading didn’t play well today but they got their points, Sunderland played a boring game today but they grinded out a draw. We don’t seem able to do that.
We can never hold a lead, or like we saw today hold the draw. We’re the masters of our own downfall. That’s what’s so worrying and that’s the last thing we need to be doing, gifting goals against the likes of Chelsea or Everton and the rest of the tricky teams we’ve left.
Lenny
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:32 PM
Comment #20I feel confident that if we win:
H – Fulham
H – Reading
H – Sunderland
We will be ok… fingers crossed
MiMo
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:34 PM
Comment #21Team performed well today, and this was an unfair result. The problem is that this is the equivalent of quick sand and we are now in it up to the neck. Wins against the Mackems, Fulham and Reading will put the team on 37 points. After Birmingham today I’m now seeing West Ham as our best chance away from home but 3 points might just about do it. Funny enough the performance today left me more confident than I was before kick off, but the players will have to continue the level or they are down.
ToonKing
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:34 PM
Comment #22the fixture list for 2008/2009 is out
Aug 23
Newcastle – Hull City
Sept 1
Preston – Newcastle
Sept 8
Newcastle – Barnsley …….
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
🙁
ronaldeano
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:35 PM
Comment #23Ive just got back from the match and i feel sick to my stomach. 3 pts above the drop zone is going to make me sqirm in my sleep tonight, not just because we got beat, but because WE WERE THE BETTER SIDE BY FAR and we could not convert ‘one’ of the many chances we had, it’s so fustrating,no, ENFURIATING, ITS FOOKIN ENFURIATING. We can take a lot of positives from this game tho, we started creating chances and put in a good performance. I hope wor lass puts in a good performance when she gets in from clubbing just to cheer me up!!! 🙂 KEEP THE FOOKIN FAITH LAD’S, WE WILL GET OUT OF THIS SHIT
toon4lyf
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:37 PM
Comment #24a-liverpool 1p
a-birmingham 0p
h-fulham 3p
a-tottenham 3p
h-reading 0p
a-portsmouth 1pts
h-sunderland 3pts
a-west ham 1p
h-chelsea 0pt
a-everton 3p
we shud definetly beat spurs there season is over they have already secured europe and are safe from the drop
Mad_Magpie
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:39 PM
Comment #25Wins at Spurs and Everton? I would love it if you’re right mate but I just cant see it happening. I pray that you’ll be spot on with those predictions
toon4lyf
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:42 PM
Comment #26spurs have nothing to play for
Bert Shaft
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:42 PM
Comment #27Its easy to blame Sam Allardyce for the clubs precarious position but it is also correct.
This duffer built a team of one paced plodders and played people out of position so often that the players did not know wether they were coming or going.
The bright ray of hope is that if Newcastle can continue to play like that until the end of the season, they will surely gain enough points to survive.
Srky
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:42 PM
Comment #28Sad… What else to say…
GP
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:43 PM
Comment #29toon4lyf, are you pissed mate?
Obafan
Mar 1, 2008 at 6:43 PM
Comment #30Wigan is holding for a draw at the mioment. All the teams behind us have taken vital points, we have once again lost our vital points. Worrying times at St James.
stumpofthetoon
Mar 1, 2008 at 7:03 PM
Comment #31nobody seems to mention about how bad barton was today hanging around getting balls taking of him he put 1 good ball through for owen. but apart from that him and butt have been crap. and that is the reason i think we have leaked so meny goals. P.S BARTON IS SHIT
Scott Hodge
Mar 1, 2008 at 7:11 PM
Comment #32I still dont think we’ll be relegated. I’d love to see at least Caroll, Edgar and Lua lua get a few games but I doubt its going to happen. I’m sure these kids will pull us out of the shit. All three will end up leaving and end up being great players elsewhere, whats the point of having an academy if they never get a chance or is it just there to make a few bob for the club?
milnerfan
Mar 1, 2008 at 7:55 PM
Comment #33it seems like the players have decided that no matter how they play they lose. I think it is confidence. But likr you say ed, they get paid to play and there not playing.
I think the youngsters should be brought through, a gamble? maybe but it will prove if they can cut in the hardest league in the world.
At the end of the day the senior players aint doing there day job, get rid, bring in the young hungry players. Tell em to cement down starting 11 for next season!!!!
jordi
Mar 1, 2008 at 8:10 PM
Comment #34Listened to the game and it sounded like we were unlucky (and Friedel played a blinder) today.
I’m wondering if anyone has seen the stats for the game (shots + shots on mainly) ’cause I’d love to know how many we wasted. 🙁
Any news how long Butt might be out for? With Barton banned from the Anfield game it gives someone a chance to prove their midfield credentials…
Michael
Mar 1, 2008 at 9:07 PM
Comment #35We are more likely to concede a goal than we are to score. Forget about the 90’s please. We do not get points for how swashbuckling we played in the 90’s now.
Keegan cannot get us out of this mess. Fact. This players are lacking confidence is an excuse for this rubish he has broght.
Plyers do not know what they are supposed to be doing. where they are supposed to be playing purely because they is no plan in a game. A Plan are tactics, a structured way in which we are to go about our game both attacking and defending. Keegan does not do tactics, so no one knows what to do.
Look we are not working with graduates on the football pitch, they need structure to make their talents manifest. With no structure to play how is it possible to know what to do?
I do not agree about a lack of talent in the team, no confidence, all these abstract things we cannot see. Staying in the premier league is motivation enough. Doing what they are talented at should comes naturally whether confident or not.
CRAIGG
Mar 1, 2008 at 10:04 PM
Comment #36Well i just got back God watching that today hurt
i think had that been the start of the season we would have won 4 or 5 nil the confidence is shattered owen would usually have had 3 or 4 of those chances we played really well virtually everyone Butt included
Just when you couldnt be any more depressed we have the usual C**t brigade on this site
Kevin Keegans magic is beginning to work and we will stay up swear down
3 points= Fulham, Reading, Sunderland.
1 point= Birmingham, West Ham.
39 points maybe more if Chelsea havent anything to play for when they com to toon.
Michael go and play with your trainset
HOWAY THE LADS
LONG LIVE THE KING
Gareth
Mar 1, 2008 at 11:49 PM
Comment #37Less gloom please. Reading were the one team with worse form than us, and they won today and all of a sudden they will fancy their chances – the point being that they could lose 8 games in a row and still only be a gnat’s breath from safety. We are no different – and despite the 3 point gap between us and relegation all we have to do is get more points (and not even that) than 4 out of 5 other teams below us. Anyone really think that won’t happen? Given that we came out today against a club many points and places above us in the league, and on the back of a terrible run of form, and played really well. This barely affects our run of form overall, so I expect the same response in the next few games, and better luck.
Gareth
Mar 1, 2008 at 11:50 PM
Comment #38Sorry, we only need to get more points than 1 out of 5 teams below us. So it’s even better!
Ant (Smith and Barton are SHIT)
Mar 2, 2008 at 1:26 AM
Comment #39I;m still hopeful the toon can make it onto the top 6…It’s not impossible 🙂
Glenn Roeder anyone?
p.s the Glenn Roeder thing was just for an example and I do think wor Kev will sort us out…When we beat Liverpool we can all be happy that Emre, Martins and Charlie will still be here next season 🙂
NewcastleJoker
Mar 2, 2008 at 5:43 AM
Comment #40“This barely affects our run of form overall, so I expect the same response in the next few games…”
That’s just classic…!