Kevin Keegan has talked after the disastrous display and result at Anfield today.
Kevin Keegan – we’re not sure we agree with Kevin we will survive
Keegan told Sky Sports News after the game:
“When you have got a bad result you hope everyone else has, but that won’t keep happening,”“We are still in charge of our own destiny and we can’t expect everyone to lose every game.â€
“You’ve got to win games in this league and put points on the board and get to around 40 points.â€
“Other results haven’t helped us today, but the one result that always matters is your own and that’s the one that has helped us least.â€
Other results shouldn’t help us. We’ve gone 12 league games and managed just 3 draws. We wonder what our players are up to but it’s obvious they are not earning their wages – that’s for sure.
We’re sick of them being wrapped in cotton wool and it’s about time they did something for this club and at least played to their potential. Reading’s win against Manchester City today didn’t help us – that’s because it helped them. But they played with spirit and guts and deserved everything they got. We also deserved everything we got from our display today – nothing.
We couldn’t care a hoot if the players lack confidence – poor souls – it’s their job to find that confidence, and it’s also their job to perform a lot better than they’ve done these last 3 months.
They are taking this club down and it looks like a lot of them couldn’t care less.
We have two players – Viduka and Emre, who have been nursing slight strains for many weeks – it’s about time they got fit and got out of the injury room and started earning their wages. We don’t hear them knocking Kevin’s door down to play.
Keegan added:
“We have got more than enough in the dressing room to get the necessary points and with a few additions we can take this club forward at pace. Nothing has changed there.”“I was a little bit disappointed with the performance,” “We didn’t show enough courage and self belief to pass the ball when we had it.â€
“When you come to Liverpool you have to compete when you have not got the ball and get some respect when you have.â€
“Every game is important. We have got less to build on today because our performance wasn’t good enough.”
We’re not sure we do have enough in the dressing room to save us, after today’s display. Yes we’ve got enough skill – but the Chairman pays an awful lot of money for that skill. But the real question is – do we the players who have the heart for the fight?
We’re beginning to doubt they do – and that will surely ensure relegation. We don’t mind players having poor games but when they lack spirit and guts – that’s completely unacceptable.
When people in the real world earn the wages our players do, they’ll often be CEOs running large companies with revenues in the billions. They have responsibilities for thousands of workers, nit to mention their business responsibilities. If they lack confidence in their jobs, that’s hard luck, because they’ll probably not perform too well and be sacked. I worked in that type of environment and ran a $2B business for IBM, so I know of which I speak.
But that’s the real world.
These footballers have no responsibilities at all – and they cannot even take it, when the club they play for, Newcastle United, are perilously close to a relegation disaster this season. They still get their wages and if the club gets relegated they’ll move to another club in the summer who can continue to pay their obscene wages.
That’s how it works in the unreal world of football, isn’t it?
As you may suspect, we are just fed up to the teeth with their under-performing ways and their lack of any fighting spirit, not to even mention guts.
A couple of them even think it’s safer to stay in the injury room, during these difficult times.
How’s that for courage?
96 comments so far
Penalty-Spot
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:23 PM
Comment #1Many players these days don’t mind if they go down or not. They can just pick up another club at another vastly over inflated wage. Sigh….
I still think we’ll stay up. No finger nails left, no nerves left, no swear words left, but I think we’ll stay up.
ronaldeano
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Comment #2You are absolutely, spot on right Edd.
The players we have KNOW, that they will be sold at the end of the season. They think……..
Why do I give a flying FOOK if Newcastle stay up, or go down?
There is no fighting spirit, no determination, no heart?
All they give a shit about is how much money they will get in there bank account EVERY FRIDAY.
The teams who are in the same shit as we are all DO give a fook about what league they will be playing in next season, thats why they are getting results.
We need to get it sorted ASA FOOKIN P, otherwise we will realy be in the shit.
adam
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Comment #3we have too many players who have won things long ago with previous clubs and now not giving a damn about us.
it shows every week
Ashton
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:32 PM
Comment #4We are in deep shit !
daiv
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:40 PM
Comment #5Ed,
Nice to hear you having a go at our socallled underperforming players. But Ed, they are not underpeforming. They are just very poor. Four points off the drop last season. Now they have a manager who cannot perform unless given multi millions to spend on stars. he thinks Smith is golddust. because of the manager, the team is doomed. He should be bollocking the players in public instead of wrapping players pn £100k a week incotton wool. They and him are pathetic. We deserve to get relegated. Bring back the triers on £5K a week. I’ll be there. Get rid of Smith, Butt, Barton, our illustrious and caring £11oK captain. I’ll be there supporting the youngsters next year. Clear out the leeches. I’m feeling better already… bring on the championship.
Mad_Magpie
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:47 PM
Comment #6daiv – relegation certainly has its strong points, but I’m afraid to say that going down is good for us is just plain wrong. It could take a long time to get back up again, and who knows we could slip further! Even if it causes Owen, Barton etc. (you know the rest) to stay, premiership survival is absolutely vital.
ronaldeano
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:50 PM
Comment #7I agree with you Daiv.
But only about ONE thing you said on that last comment.
You ALWAYS sprout pessamistic BULLSHIT mate.
WHY?
Are you a stinkin mackem?
Cos if you are……
GO AND POLUTE A RED N WHITE BLOG.
PRICK
ronaldeano
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:53 PM
Comment #8KK SHOULD be bollocking the players.
THEY DONT SEEM TO GIVE A FOOK IF WE STAY UP, OR GO DOWN.
There WILL be a MASS exodus in the summer and i cant fookin wait to see it happen
The wankers can take a massive pay cut
TOSSERS!
big pea ov the weab
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:55 PM
Comment #9bang on there ronaldeano m8 its looking like were doomed but never say never in this great game
big pea ov the weab
Mar 8, 2008 at 9:58 PM
Comment #10massive cull is wots needed we dont need players who couldent giv a fook about the toon my list for cull is as follows
carr
barton
gerimi
roz
owen
butt
smith
amiobi
ronaldeano
Mar 8, 2008 at 10:01 PM
Comment #11You are spot on Big Pea mate
Mad_Magpie
Mar 8, 2008 at 10:04 PM
Comment #12I don’t think many if any of those players will leave, (let’s face it, who wants them and their high wages?) but when we bring in some quality players (if we stay up) and create more competition for places they will be pushed to one side, no longer assured of a first team place they have now with our small squad. KK really needs to give the younger lads a go, even if it is one or two. They can prove how useless some of our current crop really are. Role on prem survival and the summer.
ronaldeano
Mar 8, 2008 at 10:06 PM
Comment #13Fookin spot on Mad Magpie
nate dawg
Mar 8, 2008 at 10:09 PM
Comment #14did anyone really think we would get anything from the game today? a better performance would have been nice and keegan dropping smith and butt , but birmingham is when we have to start playing .
i think we should scrape it but only just and with luck. bolton have some real hard fixtures in line and most of ours are gone
i think we should get the following results
Birmingham,3, Fulham,3, Tottenham,1, Reading,3, Portsmouth,0 Sunderland,3, West Ham,1, Chelsea,0 & Everton,0
even if we dont pick up the draws birmingham, fulham, reading, and the mackhams are deffinatly winnable that would give us 12 and well safe in time for chelski and everton
ronaldeano
Mar 8, 2008 at 10:11 PM
Comment #15As long as we are safe before Everton and Chelsea
toonpolo
Mar 8, 2008 at 10:20 PM
Comment #16Why does everyone keep criticising Butt and Owen, those two care about Newcastle. We wont go down if we get a win in the next two matches so we have the confidence to actually play. KK needs to play Edgar etc. if he does want us to stay up. Unless goung down is some sort of master plan to make us great again.
Given/Harper
Beye
Taylor
Edgar
Kadar
Milner
Butt
Emre
N’Zogbia
Owen
Martins
If we cannot win with that team then we are goin down.
Mad_Magpie
Mar 8, 2008 at 10:27 PM
Comment #17I’m just so relieved that generally the teams in the bottom half of the league have been complete kack this season. If we were in this position in previous seasons we would be in so much more trouble than we are now. At least we know in terms of quality we don’t have very far to go to get into the top half of the league next season. Europe seems light years away though. Lets just keep our prem status first!
Gooderz
Mar 8, 2008 at 10:27 PM
Comment #18It’s yet another reason to bring through a couple of the kids. They’ll inject a bit of passion and then the remaining players should up their game, or risk being definitively found out as the slackers they are.
Milner went off today. If he can get back quickly then play him centrally. He’ll give a bit of grit (even if his tackling isn’t great), he’s got the energy and can pass, and not afriad to try things. He’s also able to keep hold of the ball. Butt lacks these skills. This should then allow Lua Lua a route into the side. If we can get Emre in as well then great, otherwise push Faye forward, and pray Cacapa and Diatta remember their old partnership.
Michael
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:03 PM
Comment #19Ronaldeno, the Barcelona forum is on another page. Initially I questioned your choice of alias and did not bother in trying to deduce from where you come. Your language is so distorted it may as well be a foreign tongue to me.
Keegan again is useless but everyone seems reluctant to point the finger at him, you are even willing to point the finger at Sam, Roader and Souness sooner than you would acknowledge that Your Messiah, Kevin Keegan is tactically inept.
“attack attack attack” is a Kevin Keegan philosophy. In this modern age of football we cannot have 10 men heck, 11 men all charging forward toward an opposition.
Lets use our brains a bit here Keegan.
BILLY - B
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:39 PM
Comment #20THE PLAYERS DONT CARE WHY SHOULD THEY,THEY DONT COME FROM THIS PART OF THE WORLD NEVER MIND THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY.WIN LOSE OR DRAW – HAVE AN INJURY ANY ONE DOES – MUSCLE STRAIN – HAMSTRING WHATEVER IT DOSENT MATTER THEY WILL STILL GET THERE OBSCENE WAGES. AND THEN WHEN FOUND OUT MOVE ON TO SOME OTHER TEAM (AND THERE WILL BE SOME OTHER TEAM) AND DO IT AGAIN. LETS FACE IT THE FOOTBALL INDUSTRY IS THE ONLY INDUSTRY IN THE WORLD WHERE IT PAYS TO BE A FAILURE. SAM ALLARDICE (JUST TO NAME THE MOST RECENT) SIX MONTHS OF FAILURE NETS £6 MIL AND THEN SOME OTHER CLUB WILL TAKE HIM ON. HOW MANY PLAYERS ARE THERE THAT HAVE FAILED AT A CLUB BEING PUT UP FOR TRANSFER AND PROFITED FROM THAT TRANSFER. I LOVE THE GAME OF FOOTBALL BUT THIS PROVESIONAL NEPOTISM IS BEGINING TO SICKEN ME.
I THINK SUNDAY MORNING YOUNGSTERS LIKE MY GRANDSONS TEAM IS LOOKING MORE AND MORE LIKE THE GAME I LOVE.YES I KNOW IM SHOUTING AND AFTER ALL THAT I WILL BE BACK NEXT WEEK PROBABLY
Toon_Boy
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:40 PM
Comment #21Just go Michael, please. Yours comments are about as much use to me as a chocolate teapot! Goodbye!
CJ
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:44 PM
Comment #22Billy B – 100% agree and that i think will be the feeling of many people absolute sickening.
Gooderz
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:48 PM
Comment #23Michael, we played two solid banks of 4 against Liverpool and frustrated them early on up until that absolute fluke of a goal. That kind of discipline helped us deal with Liverpool today, and it is something we haven’t had this season, or the previous few campaigns. This change could be down to Hughton, brought in by Keegan.
We were then undone by two good passes onto two great displayes of movement from two of the best players in the world. If that was done by Fulham or Derby, then I’d be worried.
There are positives that can be taken from our defensive game today, and positives came from creating chances against Blackburn. Keegan should take those and gear the squad up for the Birmingham game and make sure we get a result there, where Martins must have his name firmly stamped on the teamsheet over Smith’s name.
richie
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:52 PM
Comment #24hello all, irish geordie fan, d happily tae4th from bottm now.allardye ignings terrible,,
outs:
beye
capaca
butt
smith
zog
duff
ins
bentley
mcgeady
barnes
noble
bridge
brown
crouch
and most importantly atop tall comanding midfielder
wat do u all think??
Gloryhunter
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Comment #25The problem BB is that other teams in the same boat are doing just great. If we were doing great no-one would give a toss about the dosh, BSA or uncle tom cobblers and all.
Toon_Boy
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:54 PM
Comment #26Gooderz i can see where you’re coming from but it was an awful display aswell!! We had no creativity and didnt threaten all game. Have you just seen match of the day or did u watch it? Our defence looked ok until the first goal then it just lost all shapre etc.
Toon_Boy
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:57 PM
Comment #27tbh richie we need to make sure we will even be in the same league next year before starting to look at other players!! Positive thinking i suppose lol
Dragoner
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:58 PM
Comment #28so glad we only got chelsea left out of the top 4
richie
Mar 8, 2008 at 11:58 PM
Comment #29toon boy i thought we did ok up till the freak goal, but its central midfield where we are being bullied and this is why teams are dominating us, is there even any youth we could put in there cos its got that bad
Toon_Boy
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Comment #30Thats quite a reserved comment from you dragoner, you usually have alot more to say about how awful things are going?
Dragoner
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Comment #31i do not count everton as top four, it would be such a waste of a place if everton get into champions league, they are not good enough for europe
richie
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:01 AM
Comment #32ye i know im thinkin we might get 38 points and that could b enough, its not nice to see likes of jenas at spurs and even bowyer truckin for westham when weve got nothing going for us in the middle
Punk Skunk
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Comment #33OH MY GOD!..
Mat
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Comment #34Viduka- the scapegoat. “Ship him out he’s not good enough…�?? Ed, how can he not be good enough when hasn’t even played?
‘He’s always injured, doesn’t want to play, ship him out…�??
Last game we saw him, he was on the bench, (obviously fit then). He also looked mightily pissed when he didn’t get a run, (obviously wanted to play then). Hasn’t played since coz of a ‘niggling injury’. That’s a KK euphemism for won’t play him cos he’s too fat and slow.
So, we haven’t seen him since because Keegan won’t pick him. Rumours are that they had a run in over tactics, (well Keegan’s hardly impressed there) and that he’s too old and slow to start, (ffs, he’s 32 and has never been able to run – hasn’t stopped him scoring a 100 goals in the prem) He got offered the same money at Boro but came to Newcastle because he wanted to win trophies, but no, all he cares about, according to you Ed and fans looking for a scapegoat, is money.
The truth is, Keegan’s not playing him because he’s too slow nothing more… and in KK’s simple mind that means he doesn’t get a game. The fat f*cker could still score half a dozen to a dozen in sh*tfull team to keep them up, has a track record of doing just that with Boro and yet one-dimensional simpletons like KK and others can’t get their head around that possibility.
Dragoner
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:02 AM
Comment #35calmed down a bit, im not normally as pessimistic as i have been the last few weeks, just been gettin to me alot how badly we have been playing
Punk Skunk
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Comment #36Aye dragoner, neverton aren’t good enough for europe, they got well & truely found out last week!..
Pele's Big Toe (right foot)
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:04 AM
Comment #37And why do the players get obscene wages?
It’s all down to us – the fans. We are the idiots that pay to whatch this drivvel (and before anyone says it I am one of those idiots & have been a Season Ticket holder for some years now).
If people voted with their feet then the board, manager & eventually the players would realise that we are not going to stand for this shit any more.
It’s not just us but when you look at our squad & the wage bill & the full ground every home game why should they try – win or lose, play well or play shit, there will always be a full or nearly full ground.
I wonder what Ashley, Mort, Keegan or the players would think if at the next home game less than 40k fans turned up.
Somehow I think then they might sit up & listen…
Toon_Boy
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:05 AM
Comment #38Think we will have 37 max Richie, just cant see any point apart from Mackems, Fulham & Reading. And Reading will be awkward at that!! And yeah i know what you mean about the central mids, we could do with barton back in there next week, not cos i rate him that much but hes got a little bit more pace than smith as well as being able to pass a ball.
richie
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:05 AM
Comment #39cahill and arteta would b nice summer sigings alright!!
Toon_Boy
Mar 9, 2008 at 12:08 AM
Comment #40If only. . .if only!