Alan Curbishley , Charlton`s manager dropped Scott Walker (MOM) -v- Newcastle and Shaun Bartlett replacing them with Mark Kinsella and JJ.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

Answers

Newcastle a bigger club Bobby?, attendance wise yes , get a grip,its the managent who have got it wrong, I said on here at the start of the season we should reserve judgement on the South American contingent until they had got thro a typical North East winter period,for La Manga insert Tallin, have they the appetite?, have they the feeling?, Bobby I respect you but drastic measures are needed , broken outfit excuse is sounding like a broken record, While you still have the support of the the fans, just do something now , make it happen now, people are getting wise to the one good result , they expect more now, we will encourage you in anything you attempt, the team requires a big kick up the arse, there is no one including yourself in the management team it appears capable of doing it.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

I feel your remarks are close to the mark Buff. However, where we would disagree is in your comment that the players need a "big kick up the @rse".

This works if used very selectively; however, I've come to the conclusion that the 'attitude', 'heart' and 'committment' criticism has at this point been overplayed - there is more than that to the present malaise.

In the Eye Witness thread I've commented that I felt there was a apparent lack of urgency today, but that isn't intended to imply a bad attitude or a lack of committment - it's almost as though they it was the game plan to play at a low tempo, almost like the away team. However, looking at the players today I didn't particuarly sense a general lack of committment or an attitude problem.

The Club and team are clearly going in the wrong direction, and where our thoughts converge again is in the view that this is a situation where concerted management action is urgently necessary to reverse that direction, and stop it from becoming a very deep spiral. More than ever Bobby needs to take charge and take decisive action to dictate the future course of events - IMO he is the only one capable of doing that, but obviously needs the support of his bosses. My own view, for whatever it's worth, is that the injection of a couple of new quality players is needed to give the Club a lift - but I've been saying thay now for at least 3 months.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

bollocks... this is pure out and out lack of depth and quality in our side as I have noted in the "exposed" thread we've got too many players playing premiership football who shouldn't be.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

Welcome back Clarky, Barbados eh !, was always my No 1 run ashore , I would think by now much to Gav`s chagrin (where the hell did I get that word from >> hope it means what I think it means) that Sam`s Nighterie is no longer there , tourists have a lot to answer for after the good ol Navy had done the spadework!! , feel so frustrated with Newcastle it would need a good slice of the famed Bajun Breeze to cool me down . I used to collect swizzle sticks in those far off day`s whats the market like for them now?

"Kick up the Arse", you are right, I am wrong , it works at times but not always, I should have been up to speed on that one!! What I am sure of however and please people do not quote SAF, Uncle Bob Paisly and others, is when you reach a certain age after a lifetime in football that the ability to inspire in all probabability a much younger set of players is no longer there. The person himself will never admit it, its his life , take it away and he has nothing. The players under his wing will respect him for what he has done in the past, his treatment of them but to get them to go that extra mile becomes harder. You lose the ability to communicate on the training pitch, in the dressing room, 40-50 years is a big age gap and when the banter is flowing you can be isolated and not part of the set-up. When they are newsing about M and M slipping a aside in that Geraldo was some group , enough said, I wish that Bobby was Director of Football now and someone younger was in warts and all. Bliddy football, just had my manager on the phone, we were winning 2-1, 18 mins to go, when the ref abandoned game cos this sent off player would not leave touchline, appeal to claim the game is no 1 priority, 72 hours, see ya. BTW SAF had Kidd now McLaren, Wadsworth!

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

What I write may very well be 'bollox' sparxx - but perhaps you can tell me what is required to bring about an improvement in the depth & quality of our playing squad? The answer my friend is MANAGEMENT ACTION.
If you put your frustration on hold and think about it for two nano-seconds you will probably realise we are saying approximately the same thing.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

Thanks Buff - we had a fabulous time in Barbados. Nice hotel, good food, great climate, rum a plenty, and friendly people. Can't ask for more.
Didn't get round to checking whether Sam's Nighterie was still there, but Gav is heading to the island next week so perhaps he'll check that for us.
I can vouch for the fact that the rum is still excellent. I was pleased to see there is still a major sugar-cane industry, so the supply of rum should be secure for some time yet.

Your thoughts on management effectiveness are unnervingly plausible, and I also worry about Wadworth's effectiveness. The problem is that from going to the Riverside now and then, Bobby seems to see himself as the coaching guru, so I feel it is difficult to really assess Wadsworth - for all we know, perhaps he doesn't have a significant enough coaching role. He is certainly much closer to the players in age.
I certainly agree with you that we should be getting into a situation where Bobby is delegating the coaching duties to his eventual replacement, otherwise when he goes he will leave a big void.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

Appeals lodged , should get us into next round, easy aint it.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

I think you guys are right with the management issue. Ok, we don't have top class players, but for the most part, none of them are any worse than those at clubs like Charlton, Ipswich, etc...and they are managing to get results. What does it take to get our lot to learn to scrap for results?

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

Good question Ciara, `What does it take to get our lot to scrap for a result!, the only answer I can give is a miracle , it is totally alien to them. Hate this but compare our midfield with the Hackems, Hutchinson (Geordie from the Teams,nuff said,downtown Gateshead Ciara Rae a confirmed thug, looks like one, plays like one,

McCann, has football ability but needs to prove himself after Everton Swarthy Swarz has played the same uncompromising way for years, You gotta win a battle before you can win the war ,problem is our lot are under the impression that their skill factor and well documented technical ability will see them through without soiling their kecks WWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG tHAT IS JUST THE MIDFIELD PET, Dis you realise what you were getting into when you joined the Toon Army , It can only get better,please !!

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

Well I did sign up under the last of TSM's dark days. Certainly can't be accused of being a glory hunter. ;-))

After Charlton's FAC loss to Spurs, Curbishly had the team watch tapes of that match in the build-up to ours. I think he said, or possibly one of their players said, that it was a factor in getting them geed up for us. I wonder if a similar tactic, but showing not only our worst performances this season, but also our best and get the players to really think about what they did/didn't do. And to try remembering how they were feeling and thinking at the time. Maybe too psychoanalytical(ooo, it's too late to be spelling out these big words), but psychology seems to be the only approach we haven't tried yet.

-- Anonymous, February 24, 2001

It's surely only experience that stopped Bobby speaking his mind about the players yesterday and drumming out the injury yarn again, isn't it? If he had said what we all saw (cowardice, woolly- headedness, cluelessness, shirking, ineptitude, irresponsibility) he'd have found himself where Gullit ended up as outside the team.

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001

hello all.

Firstly i'd like to apologise. Two weeks ago i put in a particularly shameful performance on the BBS matchday thread. Suprisingly, everyone still insisted I fly to a small, sunny place called Te Manga in the South Island of NZ for a short ten day break.

I have just returned and on my first day back on the BBS matchday thread, i again put in a shameful performance as i missed the game by breaking down miles from anywhere. Nothing has been said so far but i can feel my confidence to post draining away by the day. Lots of people seem angry.

I'm sorry for going AWOL lads and lasses. Seems the players went with me....

To the rest of the players i say: AWWW, DON'T WORRY WE'LL WIN A GAME SOON - or - GET A BLOODY GRIP AND START FIGHTING FOR YOUR SHIRT.

[feel better now, ta]

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001

It is not a pretty picture, but with two thirds of the season gone, the Division Table does not lie. We have a mediocre team, destined to remain in the bottom half. Bad management decisions of the past have resulted in the acquisition of players who were overpriced and are now overpaid. Our efforts to offload them have, for the most part, proved ineffective. These decisions, coupled with the outflow of potential capital to the principal shareholders and the cost of expanding the stadium have severely limited our ability to acquire players of the highest calibre. I have severe reservations concerning the coaching staff. Mr Wadsworth's prior achievements hardly qualify him for a club of our size and professed ambitions. His main qualification seems to be that he is a friend and confidant of the manager. Years of exxperience in business taught me to avoid cronyism, and i brought in to senior management positions young turks with good records and obvious potential who did not hesitate to disagree when they thought I was wrong. I thought Hoddle was wrong to drag his erstwhile assistant around with him, and I had similar fears when Robson recruited Wadsworth. Solution? I am afraid thre is not one on the immediate horizon. But as a starting point, I would husband the funds until such time as we have enough to acquire two top class midfielders. In a previous thread, I agreed with Dougal that this is where we win the battles, and ultimately the war. Dacourt -- a grafter and inspirational leader like Wise is the sort we need. The defence is not the problem -- its problems are created by the midfield and the lack of any real disciplined approach. I have been waiting seventy years for the penant to fly over St. James Park -- I suppose, if I am spared, I have to remain patient.

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001

it'll happen. one day it will happen. and we'll be there to witness it in all it's glory.

I'm not sure it's just TWO players we need. We lack a SPINE to the team - in personnel and attitude. Barthez-Stam-Keane-Takeyourpick versus Given-Goma-er...-whoever's fit. no comparison.

There's a real hardening of attitudes like i've not known for a long time. Not directed at YBR but, quite rightly, at the players. The main reason is because we know who is faking it. Some 'senior' players have done a decent job of papering over the cracks but it's now apparent for all to see. One season you can put down to bad luck. Two, eyebrows start to get raised. Three and Four voices get raised, fingers get pointed and blame gets dished out along with convenient scapegoats.

they need to shape up or ship out.

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001

ah...just saw McB's 'backbone' posting on the 'exposed' thread...

That's the word: backbone = spine, mettle, guts, determination, FIGHT.

-- Anonymous, February 25, 2001

What doesn't help is that English football is reverting to type - all cloggers and hoofers and battlers.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

I said this a while ago. All this negative criticisim and bad feeling has put huge amounts of pressure on the players to perform. Several on here have already commented that some players were afraid to make a decision in case in turned out to be a mistake. No one relaxed and played the game. Everyone was too scared to make a mistake. After all the pressure out there on the lads to win, it was certain we would lose. I am not surprised at all. Bobby has done wonders in some departments but he has so far failed to bring in any quality that would make a difference in the team. Instead it looks like he has bought players that have potential, not what we need when we struggle. Before I even found out the result I was thinking to myself how much I am looking forward to the end of the season.

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001

I was sitting in the stand at the Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks rugby game. My mate gets the results through on his mobile so I asked him to get the latest score. The bastards at Orange must be mackems because all he got was Charlton 2 Newcastle 0!!

By the time I was in the beer tent celebrating a good afternoon's rugby (Well done Falcons) it finally came through that we'd lost 1-0. Obviously going to happen I thought!

-- Anonymous, February 26, 2001