When you are managing something and especially when you are leading people, it’s always necessary to be positive and upbeat about things – but you also have to be down to earth and realistic too.
If you are too positive all the time – like John Carver was as one example last season – you get to be seen as a pollyanna when everything is great all the time – and we all know that’s not true.
So if you in trouble you have to say that – but also talk about how to get out of the situation – that’s being both realistic and positive too.
Steve McClaren at Aston Villa
Some of Steve McClaren’s comments yesterday verge on bring overly positive about a number of things and he made one or two strange comments to the press.
There’s no doubt that Steve is now under pressure after collecting just one point from the last three games – which were all winnable games for us against average side – especially after we had just beaten Liverpool and Tottenham.
This is some of what Steve said yesterday:
“Believe me, under the surface, I am paddling like mad,” “But we have a little bit more information than everyone else. We know what we have got and what we are trying to do.”
“We feel as if we are getting there after a tough start. That is the first half of the season gone. 2015 is about to end — good. We cannot wait for the next year.”
“It would worry me if they weren’t giving attitude, effort, weren’t being bright around the place, weren’t playing as committed as they were, weren’t creating chances as we are, playing the football that we are.”
“We are just not getting the results from that. That will have to turn, that will have to change and, with 19 games to go, we will have to do it very quickly..”
“I’m quite a realist. I do know what’s happening and I try not to pull the wool over too many people’s eyes. I’m very positive with this group and this squad. I always have been.”
“We had a tough start, but since then we have collected points and shown we can compete with anyone on our day.”
It’s just that it’s not too many times that it is our day. and it becomes a (very) hard sell over time when you keep saying the team is playing well but we are just not getting the results we deserve.
And we have no idea what Steve really means by I try not to pull the wool over too many people’s eyes – but it’s probably tongue in cheek.
Steve has to show the likes of Mike Ashley that he knows what he’s doing and better things are on the horizon.
But on the other hand, we’ve been waiting for better things to come all this season – especially after last season’s absolute and complete nightmare.
Steve will be given time to put things right, but we don’t think Mike Ashley will wait and stick with him if it looks like we are going down.
Ashley will most likely bring somebody else in to attempt to preserve our Premier League status if at all possible.
Whether that happens or not depends on the results and maybe on how we do in the four games in January against Arsenal, Manchester United, West Ham and Watford – all top eight clubs at the moment.
So the way we have been playing this season – very well against the good clubs – we could even do OK in January.
But the sad truth is that Newcastle have plummeted as a club over the last two years and smaller clubs are now doing so much better than us – and they are also above us in the Premier League.
Who would have thought that Leicester City, Crystal Palace, West Ham, Watford and Stoke City would be in the top eight going into 2016?
Comments welcome.
100 comments so far
Our Toon
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:04 AM
Comment #41TS
I agree on Ashley leaving soon, the money generated from TV deal will see to him getting big money for the club
Might sounds a bit bonkers but I think we’ll beat the drop, there’s always 1 team that gets sucked into it late on. Villa and the mackems have gone in my eyes so 1 spot up for grabs
firebug666
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:04 AM
Comment #42Sage
Him leaving will not be the problem, it’s what he leaves behind, how tightly has he got his SD hooks buried into the club? And would any prospective buyers be put off by that?
What he leaves behind could still damage the club for years to come.
Charlie in the Gallowgate
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:05 AM
Comment #43Ron Knee
He is a gambler and might have a gamble on going down for a season to come straight back up! – Big Big Risk!!!
Transfer
Hopefully he does spend and bring in 3 players – 3 quality players would make a hell of a difference to the team/squad.
tudor
God knows what happens at the TOON
optimistic prime
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:06 AM
Comment #44Transfer
I hope you’re right regarding the slug leaving.
He’s a slimmy twat and I honestly worry how he’ll stitch us up when he leaves, he’s not here for NUFC or our benifit!
lesh
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:06 AM
Comment #45Ffs Sage!
Lighten up man. Ashley here for another five years mean that some of us won’t be around to wave him off.
Give us old pharts a break, something to look forward to.
optimistic prime
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:07 AM
Comment #46Firebug
Morning lad, I see we’re signing from the same hm sheet again 🙂
optimistic prime
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:08 AM
Comment #47Singing
lesh
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:08 AM
Comment #48Jay
SUTTY1978
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:10 AM
Comment #49Armstrong seems to have gone off the boil recently, not sure you could hang your hat on him doing anything for us in the second half of the season if he did come back
lesh
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:10 AM
Comment #50Jay
Shelvey’s reporter as telling Swansea he wants to stay there.
Another one they’ll not get over the line.
Our Toon
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:11 AM
Comment #51Lesh
When he has had the options available to him he still plays lads out of position, especially on the left wing. Move Gini inside behind the striker he’d score more than Perez in that position. McClaren has to take the blame for this, I don’t mind 2 holding midfielders in away games but at home the moron still persists with 2 holding lads.
Yes the squad isn’t great but on paper it’s better than some of the teams above us….is he getting the best out of that squad, no he isn’t, the only player he’s getting the best out of is Elliot in goal!! He pissed about pre season with no plan in any friendlies and it’s costing us to this day. What did he learn by playing Bigi in defence and Ferguson.
Why did he decide Abeid wasn’t upto to it when clearly it’s an area of the pitch we are most vulnerable? We all agree the Ashley is the main problem but as a manager you have to get the best out of the team you have, that’s what you essentially get paid for and in this he’s failed big time
hibbitt
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:13 AM
Comment #52sage even if he leaves he will have us by the balls just like rangers
firebug666
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:14 AM
Comment #53OP
Aye it’s common sense mate, Ashley will have SD tightly tied to our club in so many ways, that any knew owner will be lucky to have control over cutting the grass.
Hope your well, Me and our lass are going out tonight for the first time in over a year, should be in a suitable state for the match tomorrow. pmsl!
lesh
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:14 AM
Comment #54And in the meantime, it looks as though Everton’s agreed to let Naismith go to Norwich and are on the point of signing a young lad – Tarashaj from Grasshoppers Zurich.
Meanwhile on the bridge of the good ship NUFC, Charnley’s supervising the rearrangement of the deckchairs!
Clueless, money grabbing clowns
Our Toon
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:14 AM
Comment #55I’m not sold on Armstrong yet, leave him at Coventry to continue his development. If we get relegated then he can play for us in the championship and build from there much like Carroll did. In the long term if the kid is good enough it’ll benefit us more than recalling him now
optimistic prime
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:16 AM
Comment #56The Ghost of Christmas past must have visited Ashley, he’s giving his SD employees a raise.
There’s hope yet 😉
lesh
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:17 AM
Comment #57Our Toon
If memory serves me well, McClaren had little if any involvement in pre-season games.
firebug666
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:19 AM
Comment #58OP
He’ll take that payrise out of the NUFC parachute payment, The only spirits that fat tw@ see comes out of a bottle.
optimistic prime
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:19 AM
Comment #59Firebug
Hope you’s have a good one.
I’ve already had a starring completion with the Stella in the fridge, it’s gota be ok to have a early beer on NYE 🙂
I’ll be good and wait until 11
Our Toon
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:19 AM
Comment #60Does Charnley exist? He obviously does but for all we know he’s still the teaboy. Ashley’s puppet and face for when all things go wrong. There is now way in hell he’d leave any negotiations in the hands of that bloke, if he does he has a lowest and highest offer pre negotiations. Ashley is the board.
Btw what’s Moncur’s role on the board? Sold his sole did that bloke, tarnished his reputation for me…..will never consider him as anything other than an enabler for this regime
Jib
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:20 AM
Comment #61Mag52 — Ashley has been f@cking around with this club for far too long and there has to be an end to it.
I agree with that statement,
However I believe an end to it came last Summer.
Just because it’s not going at the pace we would all like probably because the problems with the club were more fundamental than suspected doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
It’s interesting that someone brought up Mark Hughes’ name.
There are more similarities between him and McClaren than you would think.
Similar Ages
Both managed their national teams (not very well) about 15 years ago
Hughes managed
Blackburn
Man City
Fulham
QPR
They both won the League cup ( 2 years apart actually) with the first club they managed.
Until now apart from his early success Hughes has been nowt to right home about but now Stoke have become a force to be reckoned with.
The reason ?
The Coates family (owners of Bet365) leave him the f@ck alone and let him get on with it !
Our Toon
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:20 AM
Comment #62Lesh
Really? Why would you say that mate? Surely he took training worked on things in ore season amd selected the squads for games?
optimistic prime
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:22 AM
Comment #63Leah
Most of our senior players had little or no involvement in our pre season.
Our new CB pairing never played a minute together if memory serves.
Not sure on Mc total involvement, but from outside it looked poor prep and poorley planned.
Our Toon
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:23 AM
Comment #64Jib
Are you sure that both didn’t manage national teams very well, I seem to remember Hughes making his name for doing very well with a very poor Welsh side
firebug666
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:24 AM
Comment #65OP
Most defiantly ok for early beers, Having a massive hangover for the match tomorrow will have me in tune with our players, lacklustre, can’t be bothered, and couldn’t give a fcuk what anyone says.
Rotonda heights
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:29 AM
Comment #66Firebug
It’s worse with SM. We kind of knew the football would be and was largely dire under AP, despite his hilarious ” my teams always play on the front foot”.
But SM actually tried to give us the spiel that we would play pass and move, progressive modern attacking football.
In my eyes that’s almost worse than AP’s blatant b–ls–t.
SA, AP, JC and SM have all played defensive long ball with a huge fear factor and a plan B being a distant cousin, not on speaking terms.
optimistic prime
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:29 AM
Comment #67Firebug
If you have their mindset before you go out you’ll never get a drink, you’ll be to scared of someone bumping into someone at the bar.
banjax
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:34 AM
Comment #68When Newcastle get beaten at Arsenal, will Schteeve be sacked, doubt it. Will Lee Charnley lose his job, doubt it. So the question is how long will this sad state of affairs be allowed to continue ?
Jib
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:36 AM
Comment #69Our Toon
His most succesful time with Wales was as a part-time manager whilst still playing.
He fell out with the Wales set up over losing to Russia to miss Euro 2004 and signed as Blackburn manager
Wales Record
G W D L
41 12 15 14 29.27%
jimiley
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:36 AM
Comment #70Very positive stuff from McLaren. We need cheering up after 7 SEVEN wins in the whole of 2015. Thats the worst in the clubs history. Good to see Steve still in control and no sign of panic by the big boss. Continuity is very important.
Jib
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:39 AM
Comment #71Banjax
He has a 3 year contract 😎 (until June 2018)
jimiley
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:40 AM
Comment #72If the big boss does not panic after the worst year in the clubs history (in terms of results) he never will panic. Steve is here for the duration . Continuity is very important
Ron Knee
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:41 AM
Comment #73jimiley
We’re consistent. That’s the main thing.
Our Toon
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:43 AM
Comment #74Jib
That Welsh side was very poor though, he over achieved for them to narrowly miss out on the euros, since then the Welsh side has kicked on with the likes of Bale and Ramsey etc. I might be wrong but didn’t he lose to Russia in a playoff?
Think in 2004 they had Earnshaw playing upfront
Jib
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:48 AM
Comment #75OT
Yup ’twere a play off you is right
optimistic prime
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:50 AM
Comment #76The silly season is here, lots are saying Sunderland and Villa are worse than us and a cpl throw in Norwich and Swansea.
My problem ATM is Sunderland will definatley strengthen as will Norwich and Swansea, that leaves us and Villa who are likely to do nowt.
It’s going to be a nervous jan especially as the others in the relegation fight already have players lined up, the mackems have players taking medicals and Mc is talking about Rivierre being like a new signing!
Last one pssssed stinks!
Jib
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:53 AM
Comment #77Supermac’s England record
G18 W9 D4 L5 50.0 %WA
Hughes’ WA was 30% ish
Yet if you were to ask folk who was most successful 90% would say Sparky.
Just shows the value of stats I guess 😀
Transfer Sage
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:55 AM
Comment #78Jib
I think hughes has blackburn 6th for 3 successive years, quite a good achievement. He id pretty well at fulham too.
QPR was a right, every manager has proved the same there in recent years.
You’re right about leaving him to get on with it and buying the players he needs.
Transfer Sage
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:57 AM
Comment #79our toon
Earnshaw is the only player to score a hattrick in all top 4 english divisions and international football.
Not saying he is good, just giving you a pointless fact.
firebug666
Dec 31, 2015 at 10:57 AM
Comment #80Rotonda
I agree mate, SM is probably the worst head coach the morons in charge could have brought in.
The lies we are told are sometime unbelievably stupid.
This is a club that tell it’s supporters it wants to be successful, and that it will give the supporters a team they can be proud of…..pmsl….. The results show the truth, we have a team that cannot be bothered to put in the required work for 90+ minutes, and a head coach who tells us they are doing well.
We are told we are wanting to finish in the top eight, and that we are going for a good run in the cup, what they mean is top 8 in the championship, and a run in the Johnson’s Paint Trophy.
The pathetic idiots who claim they run the club, don’t realise that they are doing exactly that, with the addition of one word, they run the club ‘DOWN’.
OP
I ain’t going out if I cannot get drunk.