It’s not rocket science after a six goal humiliation to suggest that Newcastle head coach needs to sort out his defense, especially when the team have conceded 190 goals over the lat three seasons and have already conceded 17 goals in just eight Premier League games this season that has Newcastle rock bottom of the league table.
Steve McClareen – strengthen the defense
But that’s the advice that former Arsenal player Charlie Nicholas has given on Sky Sports after the game on Saturday.
It’s like a financial “expert” telling a client who has big loans that he should move them elsewhere to lower interest rates.
This is what Charlie said:
“There was some bright stuff but there’s so many mistakes – bad defensive mistakes.” “There was some good finishing. City got out of a mess.”
“Of course you should be despondent if you’re a NUFC fan. Going forward they were alright but I’m sorry, you need to change this defense.”
“As soon as questions are asked it happens. This defence is not right. He needs to change it. Even the goalkeeper, who has been relied on. He’s spilling everything.”
That advice would have been good advice ever since August of 2012 at Newcastle and why the defense hasn’t been strengthened sufficiently is a mystery to us.
Something is very wrong about the way Newcastle are being run – we’re not sure what it is – but ever since Alan Pardew left it’s been a living nightmare.
If Steve McClaren cannot turn this situation around (we hope he can) then other folks at the club will be in trouble too – with Lee Charnley in some jeopardy after his two decisions for head coach made over these last ten months have not been good.
The John Carver appointment turned out to be a complete and utter disaster and almost got us relegated.
It was an embarrassment for Newcastle United.
So far the appointment of Steve McClaren who was sacked by Derby County two weeks before he got the Newcastle job, doesn’t look much better – not at this point in any case.
No wonder he looked so worried in the stand at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday with Mike Ashley having given Lee the job of running the club for him as Newcastle’s top executive.
We are in big relegation trouble twice since the beginning of the year and that doesn’t reflect well on Lee Charnley.
Not well at all.
Comments welcome.
43 comments so far
Blofal
Oct 7, 2015 at 12:13 AM
Comment #1It may be a point. Perhaps we need to offload Krul too. Cleanse the defence entirely and build a new relationship. Keep Janmaat and Mbemba but replace the rest.
brklyngeordie
Oct 7, 2015 at 12:29 AM
Comment #2First and foremost ASHLEY OUT!!
After that
Colo OUT!!
Sissoko OUT!!
Haidara OUT!!
Taylor OUT!!
Obertan OUT!!
Goufftan OUT!!
Cisse OUT!!
Tiote OUT!!
Elliot OUT!!
pretty sure this would remove much of the cancer im sure others may feel i missed a few so sure I will get some responses players i want in from youth
Arma IN!!
Roberts IN!!
Gilliead IN!!
Woodman IN!!
Toney IN!!
Satka IN!!
may have missed a few here as well but feel free to add or subtract
sickandtired
Oct 7, 2015 at 12:30 AM
Comment #3Pardew didn’t leave in 2012 and these and many more issues were well known then.
Why Dr Ed still reckons he isn’t sure what the problems are is the biggest mystery of this site.
The problem is very simple – it’s Ashley, a completely broken ‘model’ and staff appointed to ensure compliance with it.
Tsunki
Oct 7, 2015 at 12:40 AM
Comment #4Ashley Out!
Tsunki
Oct 7, 2015 at 12:41 AM
Comment #5Ed how refreshing that you got your shotgun polished for another Carver broadside. I think we all get it you don’t rate the guy. 🙂
Tsunki
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:01 AM
Comment #6I’ve looked supported Ed for his dedication to the running of the blog but
“Something is very wrong about the way Newcastle are being run – we’re not sure what it is – but ever since Alan Pardew left it’s been a living nightmare.”
…makes me wonder just how far from Newcastle he really does live. Not sure what’s wrong? Eh?. A nightmare SINCE Pardew left? Eh?
Tsunki
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:02 AM
Comment #7Just roll out an Austin article it’s like blog alka seltzer ha ha
Mister Tuff
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:04 AM
Comment #8Tubbs………………………………..OOT
Penfold………………………………OOT
Wally…………………………………OOT
Moncur………………………………OOT
Permed hair…………………………OOT
Ian Toons triple tag team…………OOT
Ian Toons Bwave new world……OOT
Ian “I met a West Ham Fan” Toon..OOT
Residents of the Bates Motel……OOT
Ian Toons bwave wawiors……….OOT
Ian Toons bwave soldiers……….. OOT
Momma Bates……………………….OOT
Other knackers……………………….OOT
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:09 AM
Comment #9Some “Reports” going around claiming SM has just the games to save his job at NUFC!!!
If, and it’s a big if, he is sacked, surely that means that both Carr and Charnely are also in line to receive their P45’s? As they are the two men responsible for hiring SM and his staff and are also responsible for the shocking player recruitment in the summer (shocking in terms of the fact we did not sign a proven, leader for our back line)
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:11 AM
Comment #10*three games to save his job*
mindshaft
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:27 AM
Comment #11Not sure Collo is to blame although as a captain he’s terrible – mbabu and Mbemba totally lost it in second half, hsnmaat list his man – who knows where Anita and Gini were – the whole squad is a mess
jimmysmith
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:32 AM
Comment #12Hopefully it’s been made clear to Carr and Charnley that this is a make or break window for their careers at the club. Probably not though, knowing howAshley has operated in the past. Loyal to his trusted lieutenants. But the time is clearly at hand.
davis_toons
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:37 AM
Comment #13Carlo Ancelotti / FDB / Jurgen Klopp
If you are serious. Take your pick.
lesh
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:40 AM
Comment #14Jack
You’ve started something with your three games or he’s out rumour.
Now that Klopp’s out of the running, who’s favourite for the HC job? Ancelotti? De Boer? Allardyce? Kinnear?
davis_toons
Oct 7, 2015 at 1:53 AM
Comment #15im just joking..most of us knows the problem..where are the replacement for Cabaye and Jose Enrique. (forget about Colo, until the board decided to replace him)
I really hope we are can someone in the mold of Patrick Vieira / Steven N’Zonzi in.
Someone of at least 1.90m tall.
The last person was Dietmar Hamann pouch by pool.
davis_toons
Oct 7, 2015 at 2:02 AM
Comment #16“In those moments, it’s very important to have a lieutenant. Someone like Yohan has a technical ability to dictate the pace of the game and there’s not many players that can do that.”
Who do we have for now? to dictate the play?
jimmysmith
Oct 7, 2015 at 2:09 AM
Comment #17A fit and motivated midfield pairing of Tiote and Cabaye would make a massive difference to this side. Throw in Enrique, we’d be flying. I don’t buy this it’s a shit squad line. It’s always been a couple of players under cooked ,now is little different, and that’s done all the damage.
The overrated Frenchman
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:20 AM
Comment #18We put in some – plenty, actually – of the most miserable performances I’ve ever seen in the PL under Pardew. The mistake wasn’t letting him go, it was not replacing with someone better. His arrogance and ridiculous behaviour on the sidelines are not missed, except by Ed it seems. Personally, I’m not big on managers who curse at their opposite number, shove linesman, and head-butt opposition players. But that’s just me….
Ron Knee
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:36 AM
Comment #19overrated
The problem is no decent manager is willing to work under the current setup. That’s why we get all these failures: Percy, Carver and McClaren.
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:44 AM
Comment #20Ron…I wonder if anyone decent was asked, or those making the decisions actually think / thought Pardew, Carver and McClaren are decent?
…and good morning to you 🙂
Ron Knee
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:55 AM
Comment #21Morning, jesper
I was just reading Mick Quinn’s prediction in The Chronic:
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mike-ashley-sack-steve-mcclaren-10207896
I’ll never understand on what basis Percy was given the job. JC, I assume, was only seen as temporary and McClaren is a pal of Graham Carr.
They obviously prefer working with failures because they are more pliable!
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Oct 7, 2015 at 6:00 AM
Comment #22Ron…I just wonder how the board will determine who has failed to deliver this time around!
Who’s head(s) will roll? Surely if MaClaren is sacked the Charnley will be shown the door as well. Then there is the question of the two other board members and what Carr’s really is!
The Carr MaClaren relation has been deemed an urban legend mate!
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Oct 7, 2015 at 6:11 AM
Comment #23*Carr’s role
Ron Knee
Oct 7, 2015 at 6:15 AM
Comment #24jesper
It’s a conundrum. The parasite needs to make only three changes at board level – Charmless, Carr and McClaren – but where will he get his advice from? Knowing Cashley, he’d probably appoint three equally useless people. Is any change better than no change?
I think the Carr/McClaren relationship is a little more than an urban legend!
The overrated Frenchman
Oct 7, 2015 at 6:26 AM
Comment #25Ron@19. I take your point. Probably we can’t attract a decent manager under the current set-up. The landscape might look different if we had someone competent in the job rather than Charnley. This Pardew revisionism is getting on my nerves though, I have to say.
Ron Knee
Oct 7, 2015 at 6:34 AM
Comment #26overrated
Do I miss Percy? Not one bit! Chris Hughton should never have been sacked.
firebug666
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:02 AM
Comment #27I think McClaren’s job is safe at Newcastle, in fact he has the safest job in football just so long as he doesn’t rock the boat.
The only way to get sacked is to speak out against Mike Ashley, Sports Direct, or the idiots running the club.
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:05 AM
Comment #28Ron…I have got to tell you when that board was announced I was just shaking my head in disbelief!
…I have never seen a scout and coach take up half of a board…and don’t get me started on the other two 😉
Jail for Ashley
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:07 AM
Comment #29Ron Knee,
Even Mclaren didn’t want to work under our shit set up but it was either that or Doncaster Rovers for his sacked sorry ar$e !
Lilongwe Geordie
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:19 AM
Comment #30Yeah, I doubt McClaren would have taken the job had he not been sacked by Derby and the board set up is laughable.
I’d be very surprised if McClaren had been given three games to avoid the sack, that would suggest some kind of forward planning on Ashley and Charney’s behalf. If the football board decide all things football, are they currently conspiring behind McClarens’s back on who to bring in?
The whole thing is rotten, but the players should be good enough to pull us away from our current position under better and stronger leadership and instruction.
I’d be less surprised if McClaren hasn’t said that he will walk if things don’t pick up, that has been his style in the past when things are too much for him.
Jail for Ashley
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:21 AM
Comment #31Yes Ed, looking back now, wasn’t life such a pleasant dream while Alan Pardew was here doing Mike Ashleys bidding, Stevenage, Brighton and Cardiff just fill me full of nostalgia, along with those 1-0 wins against Norwich and QPR on our way to finishing fifth with the worst GD by a fifth place team in the history of the PL.
Jail for Ashley
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:36 AM
Comment #32Lilongwe,
I think it was apparent that he was prepared to have another go with Derby rather than get involved with us, can you ever recall a sacked Championship manager getting a gig with a PL club because he couldn’t manage promotion with his former club ?
Lilongwe Geordie
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:42 AM
Comment #33Jail,
Not a Championship manager, but I remember a sacked League 1 manager getting appointed to a Premier League club…..
martoon
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:43 AM
Comment #34Ron Knee @21 – I have to say Quinn makes some good points. Whatever you think about Ashley he has stood back from the football, left it to so called football men to run the club and given them £50m to spend. As Mick says he must be thinking “but they’re not doing any better than last year”. Sooner rather than later he is going to have to step back in and do something!
BandB
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:46 AM
Comment #35Yes the whole thing is rotten, and the players know that.
What is missing from the players is not confidence, but self-respect. Most of us will know that if we have no pride in the outfit we work for morale and motivation has to come from within.
So McClaren has a job on his hands with players who have no stake in the club beyond it being a vehicle for a move.
The people who really can give them rocket are the fans. But the fans too are afflicted with gnawing, silent ambivalence…..seeing something is clearly not right, but desperate to entertain no other idea than that somehow in some mysterious way the club must be trying to move in the right direction.
ToonDownSouth
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:48 AM
Comment #36Overrated Frenchman
Agreed, I feel like those that still idolise Pardew either never watched the matches, or simply don’t care about the clubs image. The manager is the face of the club (to the media), and if my boss behaved the way Pardew did he’d have been sacked years ago. He was an embarrassment, and it’s only the fact that he’s English that has ensured it all gets swept under the rug.
How anyone can berate the Newcastle fans for wanting rid of a manager who can’t control his aggression, to the point where he’s getting in physical altercation with opposition players and shouting vile abuse at old men, is completely and utterly beyond me!
JamesToon
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:53 AM
Comment #37toondownsouth
Totally agree with that, can’t understand why so many have jumped on the pardew bandwagon. When he was here so many people hated him due to his behaviour, his ego, and the constant defensive long ball style that was horrible to watch. At least under mcclaren we have a bit of professionalism in the coaching staff, and results aside, i think we are much more attractive to watch.
BandB
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:55 AM
Comment #38Martoon,
Given the glaring and obvious weaknesses in the squad, what motivation would the “football men” have had for continuing with the policy of buying young players with high sell-on potential in positions that aren’t necessarily a priority?
cyprus
Oct 7, 2015 at 7:56 AM
Comment #39Ed, ED,
Pardew was pants here. Visit the site of that crowd and you will see, lest you forgot. True, we may reaching new heights yet, but Pards had some pretty admirable ones himself 🙂 Get over it man, it’s not like we lost Fergie.
Now, this defense thing IS serious stuff. In order to win we need to score at least 2 because we are bound to be shipping at least 1. Our defense sucks: Janm may be good going forward but he’s decidedly average in back. Mbemba is still learning, although I really like him. Responsible for some goals, still. Left back is an eternal problem too. Colo has been roundly criticised and it may well be him. I’m not so sure myself. I see him babysitting all those positions actually.
Dam it, NUFC have ALWAYS been poor back there! Can only think of a couple decent ones…
Wayayman
Oct 7, 2015 at 8:04 AM
Comment #40Morning fellow masochists.
Why do we put ourselves through this? It’s sooooo frustrating to see the same mistakes being made (and i’m taking off the pitch) time and time again. For a billionaire businessman with a fierce reputation, Ashley certainly does things differently with NUFC doesn’t he? The one MAJOR mistake and common thread in all of this is the alarming lack of a proper football MD in charge of the club. Lambias the casino manager was a joke and we all know the contempt he had toward us. No need to discuss Kinnear but Charnley is just out of his depth and I wish he’d have the bollocks to admit it and ask for help or resign as the outcome will be the death of this club as we know it.
I KNOW the manager is struggling and I don’t think he’s the right person for the long term future of the club. I KNOW the players need to perform consistently well – even just for two halves of the same match would be a start. I KNOW the ‘football board’ is an absolute joke and no way to conduct football business and I KNOW Ashley is responsible overall for everything that goes catastrophically wrong with our club BUT he could make a massive change almost overnight by getting rid of Charnley and replacing him with someone progressive and aggressive. That would have a knock-on effect as Schteve would suddenly realise that he has zero job security and migh, just might signal to the players that the club really give a toss and want to get us out of this deep dark hole we find ourselves in.
Look at what Sam Rush at Derby did last season. An amazing start, dropped off alarmingly at the end and pedalled McClaren asap to bring in a very young yet very experienced coach who could prove to be a future managerial star. Oh and also Rush’s first job at Derby was to sack a relatively successful Nigel Clough. Who knows if Paul Clement will be a success but I’d have loved us to have that sort of vision.