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Sorry it's long but I was in agent provocateur mode in the Mag this month. I nicked a few views and analogy's from this board...

It was about the time when the Mag first appeared around the ground when I started to question the ability and even the integrity of the board of Newcastle United. I had good reason, we had just lost Gazza & the money appeared to be spent on financing the new (old) Milburn stand and a few cart-horses. We were still getting rained on in the Gallowgate end & the Leazes had become a pale imitation of it’s former self.

In hindsight, the criticism of the McKeag board should not have been the lack of investment (after all they didn’t have any money to invest) but the reluctance to pass over power to a man who was willing & more importantly, able to invest. The Mag at the time was lending it’s support to John Hall. His vision of investing heavily in the team would reap it’s rewards with big crowds & success, all the fans thought he was right. In those early editions of the Mag, Hall would never stop telling us that he didn't want to own a football club, he saw it as a business. He would gain control & start the process then invite us the fans & other investors to take our slice of the club to become a PLC. As a PLC the club would raise enough funds to get the bandwagon rolling. We all could see the logic & vocally supported him al the way.

The problem in Hall’s plan was us, the fans. In ’91 when we were offered the chance to buy a slice of the club & his vision we kept our hands in our pockets. We were asked to save the club we say we love, we said we’d rather go down the pub. Ironically, many of those shouting sack the board would have been those who wouldn’t put their money where their mouth was back in 1991.

What I find strange is that Hall et al’s money delivered, we blame them now for making a few quid out of having the courage of their convictions. A contributor (Big Al) last month was moaning about the ground, yes it looks silly, those of us who detached themselves from the emotion of NUFC’s spiritual home were all for the Board’s plan to move away from SJP. Those “utterly clueless” “morons in charge” drew up numerous plans to move away but came across an unwilling City council, selfish do-gooders and fan-power demanding that we stay at SJP & develop a lop-sided half super-stadium. It was the likes of Kevin Miles and others who no-doubt kept their money in their pockets rather than support the club who campaigned that NUFC’s home should remain at SJP and SJP should be developed and the board decided if feelings were that strong, they would do so.

Big Al talked about the training facilities. Sure, they aren’t that great & the plans in place are taking a frustratingly long time (see unwilling city council & selfish do-gooders again) but to complain a) that fans are able to just turn up & watch or b) Chelsea’s are better is ridiculous. I played football a few years ago against a Middlesex team where Chelsea train (at least did at the time) & I can assure you, it was no better than Chester le Street. He also complained of public relations. He recounted his visit to the club shop and parked right outside the door in the director’s place, a “jobsworth” told him he couldn’t park there. For me, a “jobsworth” would have watched him park & then clamp the bugger. I own shares in M&S but I don’t park on the pedestrianised Northumberland street or in the loading bay at Eldon every time I go shopping (I live in Leeds for a start). I wouldn’t park in the Head Teacher’s spot at Big al’s school just because I was on the PTE, so why should Big Al think he is entitled to park in Mr Shepherd’s?

David Stonehouse has received a backlash to his comments in the Telegraph after he said we could achieve mid-table safety & didn’t need European football. If that is the long term plan we are right to question the ambition of the board but I suspect he meant something else. Is he not saying that, as we are recovering from the excesses of our last two managers we do not want to get ourselves into a financial mess? When we do not need Champions league football, I am sure he compares ourselves to Chelsea & Leeds who’s budgets are dependant on the income from the champions league. There really will be panic in the Chelsea boardroom if they fail to get into Europe, when property takes a plunge then the whole Chelsea village thing will be in the clarts. I for one would have a little chuckle as they desperately sign another ageing superstar for megabucks who fails to gel (do they want Shearer?). Next season, we need to get back into the UEFA spot and aim for season after for success. It is then when the English teams get four Champions League places and then when we should be flexing our budgets.

On one the toon websites recently there was the usual debate on what we’d like the board to do, one contributor gave the analogy that football's a bit like surfing, in that it's all about timing. There's no point thrashing around using all your energy if you can't see a decent wave building up. You need to bide your time, but be ready for it when it comes. Then start paddling like mad at the right time, throwing everything into it so that you can stand up serenely on the board and ride the wave to glory. I would suggest that if we had gone out spending huge amounts on a stop gap striker, midfielder & defender (a bit better than Quinn please) we would merely be flapping about on a duff wave only to find ourselves on the beach when the big one comes along.

We not on a wave right now, indeed, there isn’t one on the horizon and really we didn’t need to buy in mid season because we were never at the races to take the gamble. The cost of a player is always higher in the middle of the seaon, relegation strugglers don’t want to sell there star players when they are in the mire & the top team will not let good players go if they have a sniff of Europe. A big purchase in the close season creates enthusiasm for the start of the season & prompts season ticket sales, a panic buy that turns into a flop (Gary Speed when he first arrived) merely dulls the passion

The last time we rode a wave, we could see it coming, a good set of youngsters was needing a little bit of quality. Keegan may have spent a fair bit but he earned his right to do so. Killer, Sheedy then Vennison & Bez all came in at bargain prices. As he proved he could spot quality he was authorised to get Rob Lee & then Andy Cole. The point is, the club have come unstuck since as subsequent managers have not needed to prove the quality of their purchases before being handed the chequebook. Think what a better position we’d have been in if Daglish hadn’t been allowed to dabble in the transfer market until he proved he could be trusted. The same goes for Ruud and alas Bobby. Ok we don’t know about Cort yet but of Cordone, Acuna, Gavilan, Bassedas & Quinn, only Acuna looks like he has half a chance of making the grade. On that record should we let Bobby spend anymore? It was only pure luck that we didn’t spend £6m on Bellamy who’s really set the world alight. We can all remember the Keegan days & the media laughing at the tactical naivety. How naïve to think that having a fairly safe keeper, ball playing defenders, a speedy winger balanced by a craftsmen on the left feeding a lone striker with a footballing magician behind him would ever amount to much. We didn’t even know if we would play down the wings or quick pass it through the middle. What we have seen over the past 5 years apparently passes for tactical awareness and has left us with the option of playing it down the right and swinging in for our ever-present? Centre forward who thrives on crosses. I wonder if we could have naivety once more.

All is not lost but we have to build on what we’ve got. It annoys me to hear fans criticise Nobby & Dyer, the latter was playing with a broken leg yet we accuse him of lacking commitment. Commitment is not every thing, Warren Barton gets applause because he plays like anyone of us if we wore the black & white shirt, with blood sweat & tears, unfortunately he’s only a little better than us in the quality dept wheras Nobby & Dyer have it in abundance. There will be a few players available this summer that are worth a shout. I assume Lee Clark was part of the Goma deal (should not have been sold), we could have Sir Les on a free, Robbie Elliott on a free, Ginola for £1.5 mill, Stevie Watson £5m, Dewbury from Leeds on a free and Thompson being up for grabs when Coventry go down. That gives us a starting line up of:

Given / Harper Watson/ Griffin Cladwell/ Dewbury/ O’brien Hughes Robbie Elliot Thompson Lee Clark Solano Dyer Ginola Sir Les

All financed by the sales of Speed (to Fulham) & Shearer (to Spurz)

Give us the likes of Prutton form Forest and Keith Andrews from Wolves & we add some young sparkle in midfield. Bring in Barry Vennison & maybe Johnny Beresford to assist wor Bobby with Terry Mac as a sounding board, get rid of Wadsworth & we’re nearly there.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2001

Answers

I haven't got time to go in depth at the moment, but I don't think we should be looking to bring in former players.

Let Bobby build his own team, it may take a few years. Look at Man Utd. Ferguson was nearly sacked because they were struggling, but he just made it into a cup final and won the FA Cup which started the trophies coming. Even then, it took 4 or 5 years for the first cup to arrive, so the team had to be built.

In a sense, that's what Dalglish and Gullit were doing before they left. You can argue all you like about the quality of their signings, but they were both building their own teams. I personally am in the minority when I think Dalglish should have been kept on a bit longer thaqn he was, but Bobby Robson is essentially left with the scraps of Gullit and Dalglsih's team building.

It's already plain to see that Bobby's ideal team is different to Dalglish's and possibly Gullit's. As for players like Acuna, Bassedas, Gavilan etc - Acuna and Bassedas aren't going to be sold so give them a chance. Sometimes with foreign players it takes a while to settle into the side, eg. Dabizas, Goma.

I'm not sure on the Gavilan situation, but to me it looks as if he's still there as a backup for the first team, perhaps breaking into the team next season. Cordone will move on as expected with Gallacher, Glass etc.

The surfing analogy is a good one though, although some of the injuries we've had this season have prevented us from being able to take the chance. Bobby simply didn't have the cash to spend on 10m players, so had to make do with cheaper ones. What sometimes happens though, is that you wait for a good one, and then you get knocked off your surf-board by a series of crippling injuries and international call-ups that break up the team just before the vital moment arrives.

If Carl Cort had been fit all season (hopefully he'll make up for it with a hat trick today and a 40 goal season next term) we could be looking at a much higher league position, but it's all ifs and buts.

We are essentially a team in transition which is unfortunate for the fans in that the football may not be as good it is could have been.

Shearer himself said that his knee has been in pain when he kicked a ball for about 2 years, which suggests that if we got him fixed and fit, it could be like buying a new player. I know you can say all the great teams should have strength in depth, but Beckham, Keane, Scholes and Giggs - the main power behind Man Utd's team - have hardly missed a game all season. Speed picked up an injusry after Christmas and hasn't shown the same form as before that time. Dyer of course has missed a large chunk of the season with injury.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2001


Agree with much you say but buying back old Newcastleplayers will not solve any problems. Sir Les for free maybe but we must keep the quilty we have in Shearer, Dyer and Solano. These are our best players and why sell them when we cant but any better?

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2001

Well constructed article Dave - 'reet rivetin read'.

BTW, wheez 'Big Al'? It's not 'al-k-traz' by any chance is it? Could be because I've moaned about just about everything.

I was one of those who sent my cheque to SJH when he tried to deliver on his promise to give the Club to the fans: I was one who bought a Bond to secure my seat, and help the Club raise a few bob. I was one who bought a few shares in the flotation to finally own a very small piece of MY Club.

Despite buying my Bond, I was one who was evicted from the Milburn Stand, long before the SOS lot. In my case it was to permit "essential safety work" that proved to be simply providing another 'buck-shee' for the Board's marras right up until this season.

I was one who argued long and hard, that the new SJP should be built at Castle Leazes, alongside the City Freemen and the Police who wanted that piece of wasteland and the under-invested, run- down Park next to it developed to rid it of the prostitutes and drug- pushers who still frequent it to this day.

I'm one who has moaned about the pathetically inadequate training facilities - the provision of which was promised 10 yrs ago when Rob Lee signed, and 3 yrs ago when Gary Speed was signed. I'm one who has complained about the ongoing failure to invest in the kind of Youth Academy that really could safeguard our future at the top, and the one who, following the last AGM, highlighted the Board's ludicrously short-sighted attitude towards investing in this critical facility because of lingering uncertainty over the transfer system, and also their pathetic, petty- minded blocking of the formation of the Shareholders Trust.

I was one of those who called out for the Club to make a couple of short- term signings in December when we were in pole position to qualify for Europe, possibly even the CL, when it was painfully obvious that the squad would not be able to sustain our league position because it had been decimated by injuries. I was being practical and entirely realistic - I wasn't looking to spend 20 million on players at that point, but a couple of players of the likes of Colin Hendry and Dean Sturridge, who could have been brought in for a combined 300,000 and made a meaningful contribution. I was one who warned that without this minimal investment, in addition to jeopardising an incredibly lucrative European qualification, we could be sucked into the relegation struggle - and we damned near were.

I'm the one who frequently criticises the Club's public relations, because they are dire and entirely unprofessional - just take a look at their web- site. I'm also one who frequently writes to the Club pointing out these problems, often constructively suggesting solutions.

So, could Big Al really be 'moi'? Nah, I'm just a B&W nut - one who cares passionately aboot the Toon.

BTW Dave, I'm also one who believes you must create your own waves. If you wait for someone else to create them for you, you might just wait for ever.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2001


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