Malcolm MacDonald has taken a cheap shot at Chris Hughton in today’s Sunday Express.
Malcolm Macdonald – Chris’ team selection was resignation letter
MacDonald has criticized the team selection that Chris made against Arsenal last Wednesday night, when we were beaten 4-0.
It was almost the same side the beat Chelsea 4-3 at Stamford Bridge in that terrific game and wonderful performance by the Newcastle youngsters, and we didn’t see much criticism from the former Newcastle striker after that game.
But Monday morning quarter back is so easy to be – you’re never wrong – about anything.
This is what Malcolm said today:
“It wasn’t a team sheet, it was a resignation letter. It was sheer madness and I’m still trying to make sense of it,” “Chris has put himself under immense but unnecessary pressure and I’m not sure why.”“To me his team selection was a dereliction of duty.”
“It’s like Sports Direct shutting their stores at lunchtime, saying they can’t be bothered. The previous three games at St James’ Park – against Blackpool, Stoke City and Wigan – saw Newcastle take just one point. Now after Arsenal, it’s four home games without a win.”
That’s a load of nonsense from MacDonald, and of course it was after the event, and until just before half time the lads had held their own fairly well.
Chris will get to know who his true frioends are at and around the club in these tough days, and it doesn’t seem like Malcolm is one of them. The old adage of a friend in need is a friend indeed is so true.
Malcolm continued:
“Steve Bruce and his Sunderland team must have been watching the game and laughing their socks off. This was the best build-up that Sunderland could possibly have had. If I was the owner of the club, I wouldn’t be happy that in these hard financial times the chance of progressing in a cup competition has been lost,”
The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and it will depend on how we do this afternoon that is now all important. And then our next league games at Arsenal will be all important since it’s our next game in the league – and so on throughout this season, as we try to stay up.
Blackburn and Fulham are two home games after that – and both those can be won by the team.
We think this criticism form Malcolm Macdonald is both unfair and unwanted at this time for manager Chris Hughton. We’ll leave it at that – but of course everybody has a right to their own opinion and to express it too – we know that.
Comments welcome.
25 comments so far
Thump
Oct 31, 2010 at 8:30 AM
Comment #1Supermac needs to f’ off. He talks a load of shite 99% of the time trying to live off his former success. He knows nowt about management (as he has proven) otherwise he would still be doing it so he takes to being edgy in papers – who of course lap up the negativity.
At the end of the day, MM is a Cockney and since we went down his true colours have been showing.
Thanks for what you did for us Mac – now do one.
Hugh Jorgan
Oct 31, 2010 at 8:37 AM
Comment #2Malcolm MacDonald wants to stick to his cheap shots …
Of vodka.
Captain Beefheart
Oct 31, 2010 at 8:39 AM
Comment #3Not as many cheap shots as he took in the ’74 FA Cup Final, where he was absolutely hopeless. Trust me, I know, I was there…
Toonmania
Oct 31, 2010 at 8:43 AM
Comment #4i’ll repeat what i said on toonsy’s blog:
supermac for me is nothing more than supermouth i can’t stand the man (although i admire him for what he did for newcastle in his playing days) the mans views just annoy me.
you only have to listen to supermac doing a commentry on the radio it’s like listening to Sir Murry Walker on heat at least Walker was funny, and after listening to 1/2 hour of supermac it’s no wonder that other supporters call us deluded this bloke invented the word!!
murvar
Oct 31, 2010 at 8:53 AM
Comment #5I arrived in Newcastle not long after Macdonald signed for us and watched nearly all his home games and quite a few of the away ones. My analysis: powerful left foot. No right foot. Average in the air. Head down and unaware of the players around him. His chances to goals ratio was appalling. Big mouth, small brain.
leedodd
Oct 31, 2010 at 9:12 AM
Comment #6I Think Supermac is Hurting Because Sunderland Didnt want Him ???? I Think He Needs To Speak to His Mate in a Bottle and get Lost !!!!!!! Chris Will Shut Him Up When We Beat the Scum Today !!!!!!
Scotty
Oct 31, 2010 at 9:13 AM
Comment #7It has been over a year since i’ve posted on this blog. I still regularly read Ed’s post and all the bloggers comments.
This article that Supermac has produced about Hoots is absolutely obsurd. He should be backing Hoots – not stamping on him while the gutter press of the south are trying to trip him over!
I don’t even know why people are talking about replacing the manager? Has he not done an outstanding job so far? Even if we get beat today – there is no way i’d want to replace him.
Chris – you have done a fantastic job so far, if you get replaced by a so called “top manager”, i will be bitterly disappointed with Ashley. The bridge building exercise he has undertaken will have been all in vein – and NUFC will be right back to the JFK stage – and that’s a scary thought.
sjc07
Oct 31, 2010 at 9:17 AM
Comment #8What a load of rubbish that man talks, it seems to be a regular thing with him at the moment! Goo way to damage you legend status, maybe he wants a big role at the club and he is always overlooked!
geoff777
Oct 31, 2010 at 9:30 AM
Comment #9I know a similar team beat Chelsea, but Arsenal have been fielding stronger teams in the CCup this year.
If Hughton really wanted to win this game he should have included a few more first team regulars.
Hughton seems honest and humble great qualities in any human being.
Hughton is cheap – Ashley knows if he hires anyone else they’ll want a guaranteed transfer budget. Unless he finds another tired washed-up manager who wants the job more than money (JFK).
2-1 to the Toon … unwashed to score first.
Ashley out!
North Atlantic Magpie
Oct 31, 2010 at 9:38 AM
Comment #10Easy guys !!
dave 1961
Oct 31, 2010 at 9:45 AM
Comment #11super mac is spot on Chris ballsed it up, let’s hope he finally learned a lesson. you don’t prepare for a game like today’s by playing such a weekend team in the cup, when I seen the team I was in a rage, in a bar full of cockneys too, it could have caused an international incident if anyone had tried to take the “p”, luckily they seemed to realise I was in a rage, because they did not even cheer when they scored, just a short applause, let’s hope Chris gets it right today, I never wanted Chris as the manager, but unless he takes us down I will give him 100% support, like I have always said this is the place to moan. come on the toon.
ash1001
Oct 31, 2010 at 9:59 AM
Comment #12Not a MM lover by any means, but yes have to agree, we should have fielded a better team against Arsenal. the game was there to be won just like any other game, 33,000 approx supporters felt the same, it was a trophy if nothing else that was available, and if we had of progressed and won it, we would have lost that tag of never having won anything for more years than I care to remember, which it turn would have stopped certain publications from reminding us at least once a week.
Rotonda heights
Oct 31, 2010 at 10:12 AM
Comment #13I don’t know why CH had to be quite so over cautious, we had another day to recover, not playing till today and Ben Arfa wasn’t injured in a cup game.
Davy Craig
Oct 31, 2010 at 10:41 AM
Comment #14I have to say that I agree with Malcolm Macdonald. I don’t think it’s a cheap shot at all, he’s just saying how he sees it.
No one gave us a hope in hell of beating Chelsea away and the selection was expected. Having beat them though we found ourselves in the last 16 and a chance of getting somewhere in the competition. Malcolm had stated earlier in the week that he couldn’t see why Perch was at centre back (he had a nightmare again) and Kadar, who’s a centre back , was at full back. Ranger and Lovenkrands up front were never going to do the same job Ameobi had done at Chelsea.
I could go on.
I personally don’t go with resting players and thought it would be better to get a good game with plenty of time to recover and go into todays game on a high rather than after a bad defeat. If you’re going to rest players because of possible injury or sending off why play Williamson and Krul? Then why bring on Jonas, Barton and Carroll when the game was just about lost?
I like Chris Hughton but don’t agree with all of his decisions.
Let’s hope he gets it right today! 🙂
g.s.tooner
Oct 31, 2010 at 10:59 AM
Comment #15I just hope that Chris doesn’t think that these ridiculous allegations and reviews of his actions and the performance of the club are accepted by everyone. I wish there was a way where we could register support to Christ, in a similar way to Ben Arfa after his leg was broken. It would make me feel more comfortable if I knew that Chris was getting positive feedback from the fans as well as being falsely slated by the press.
I just don’t know how they can criticise…. he took a broken, relegated club with no spirit from the championship up to 9th place in the premiership (from before saturday) in a year. Its just crazy!
Jarra
Oct 31, 2010 at 11:02 AM
Comment #16What I always find strange is that teams not just us play weakened teams prior to more improtant matches in their calander.
I can understand that with the likes of the top teams who play in Europe and have many international players who may if they played all games would play around 50 plus games a season.
But in our case play your best team each week, playing matches and winning is a bloody good habit, it also is far better than training.
Be honest in effort and committment or don’t enter the competition and allow the supporters who dig deep in their pocket the respect so they do not purchase tickets when we have no intent to win.
My Honest opinion is that Ashley is keeping CH in place as he is getting very good value for money, I also think he will end up promoting a coach already on the books due to low wages offered.
Loan players will be bought in January to keep us a float and then he will look to sell the club for profit at the end of the season.
It will then be up to the next owner to decide if CH will deserve his support but without finacial backing CH is doing the best he can and deserves better than the owner is giving him.
But if we lose today real pressure will be on CH to deflect from the owner, and I will be terrified who he would call in to replace him.
Win toady pressure is off, thats the fine line between survival and redundancy in this game.
Like it or not true, and in MHO that is the game CH is in, and the only one to blame if CH is sacked is the owner for not supporting him.
geordie jock
Oct 31, 2010 at 11:05 AM
Comment #17i completely agree with everything Supermac said, Chris has left himself open for all sorts of trouble if we don’t beat the mackems. We should be trying to win in the cups as it brings in extra money which we do need and at the end of the day a chance to get back into europe. God knows what the fat controller is thinking about this.
xfer
Oct 31, 2010 at 11:08 AM
Comment #18Get real! Could we have beaten Arsenal even with our first team? Can we even afford to take the chance? Priority is to stay in the EPL!
CT
Oct 31, 2010 at 11:26 AM
Comment #19MM is the reason I stopped listening to the legends and switched to total sport. He`s a bitter man, last season kept saying Carrol no chance of being premiership quality.
moonraker
Oct 31, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Comment #20Supermac was spot-on with his comments. We could have beaten Arsenal and maybe gone on to win the cup with a stronger team on wednesday night!
I’ve followed Newcastle for nearly fifty years and was disgusted by the team selection. The manager has a duty to try to win every game and when you put those kids in against Arsenal it’s not fair on them either! Their confidence will be so low now. Against Chelsea we had Tiote holding it together! not similar team at all!
Now we have to beat the Mackems or else there will be a huge inquest, Hughton having rested the stars; but the problem is he has wiped out the confidence gained by the win against West Ham.
Good luck today but the Mackems will have noticed how vulnerable we can be; but the real problem for Hughton is that he has given everyone a big stick to hit him with. 🙁
ginkoh
Oct 31, 2010 at 4:04 PM
Comment #21Now He should see himself and shame !!
rwpoynter
Oct 31, 2010 at 4:30 PM
Comment #22MacDonald was a good player in his day, but always one with far too big an ego. He thought the whole club revolved around him.Frankly it didn’t, and neither should any club succumb to that sort of cult. No player is bigger than the club, ask Beckham. Today we have shown what we are, a very good premier side, not the best yet, but Chris picked a good team today and having watched the match, the Mackems were never really in it. I hope this silences the gutter press for a few weeks, because all he wants to do is get on with the job. Maybe the anti Kev and anti Strolla brigade will shut up too.
Sav
Oct 31, 2010 at 5:12 PM
Comment #23Rubbish from Supermac or not – and it wouldn’t be the first time – he is not the only ex-pro to indicate there’s more to this than meets the eye. At first it seemed these rumours and knives were just down to smb Louise Taylor and some geezer in the Daily hate Mail, picked up by some betting sites and so it grew legs (bowlegs in Supermac’s case). But both Moncur (whom I respect) and Lawrenson (I don’t) have said this week Hoots was for the chop if we had lost to Wigan. That is not right.
All three live in the NE and are surely privvy to more of the truth than your average fan or pundit. Is there smoke without fire? Today hairy hands Keys said openly the club want an nsider appointed as no.2 while Hoots wants some new blood (and someone he can trust?) so what is the truth? Are Ash and Llambias f…..g us over again? – They’ve got history.
BlacknWhite Barmy
Oct 31, 2010 at 5:32 PM
Comment #24Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Humble pie by the bucket load.
Lets remember Macdonald couldnt wait to leave for his beloved Arsenal and yet now makes a living out of being a plastic Geordie.
Its the same with the likes of Gazza and to a lesser ectent Waddle – we owe these guys nothing as they couldnt wait to turn their back on the club – unlike the vast majority of supporters!!
dak76
Nov 1, 2010 at 7:40 AM
Comment #25Wonder if this muppet thinks yesterdays team and result was a ‘dereliction of duty’ and a ‘resignation letter’ by Hughton… The guy is living off his own self inflated ego from time gone by.
Hughton IS the best manager at this club since SBR, he is by no means the finished article but he is learning every game…. it’s the only way you become a great manager.
Ed, you need to stop writting articles and commenting on muppets like this, it only fans the crap comming out of the london papers (ie the mail and express etc)