Taking the positives – From the departure of Kinnear

Premandup

Mike Ashley I had drafted a post transfer window analysis and assessment of the squad when events started to overtake us.

First there was the derby defeat and then Joe Kinnear’s resignation. Since then fights have broken out on the ‘blog.

It does beg the question of what happened and why? The match I think has been answered by the apologies of the players, and Pardew’s habit of losing it if he does not have enough preparation time. The “resignation” of Joe appears to be down to the fact that Yohan Cabaye went too cheaply and before a replacement had been signed. This has cost Ashley money. An unforgivable sin. So where now?

There are calls for the head of everybody associated with the club, Owner, Manager, etc. Life has a habit of unpredictability and surprises so we may have new owners and a new manager before the end of the season.

However, we can see from the experience of other clubs that the chances of getting good new owners who are prepared to splash the cash and hang in for the long term seem to be two out of dozens. Having an owner who wants to keep a tight ship in the upper reaches of the Premier League might not be the worst position to be in. After all NUFC has seen the top ten all too rarely and perhaps a bit of stable top ten would make a nice change. And if that were the limit of our owners ambition he has the right manager in place to keep delivering it.

It would appear that the only reason to change things would be if we were to radically change our ambition. In my opinion that would require a change of owner as the bedsheet brigade has ensured that our current owner has little empathy left.

Despite what some appear to profess changing owners is a high risk strategy. Not to be undertaken lightly, or seen as a magical solution to all our perceived woes.

On the positive side the departure of both Llambias and Kinnear may well indicate that Ashley will not tolerate incompetence if it costs him money. So I would hope to see better run transfer windows in future. But who will make the decisions? Ashley has not wanted a manager with sole authority and he is therefore unlikely to give Pardew that role.

So will we get a new Director of Football in or indeed a new Chairman? Crony-ism might indicate the arrival of El Tel, Glenn or ‘Arry. Whereas professionals such as Nicholas Cortese, Damien Comolli or Christian Purslow are all out there. Not that they are to the taste of everybody, and of course there are other managers out there too. Few that have achieved more than Pardew in the Premier League but plenty with experience at higher levels abroad. It is interesting to see the shortlist for the Swansea Job.

If I had had a five year plan when we were promoted I would have suggested a year avoiding relegation, a year establishing ourselves in the top ten and then a year qualifying for Europe. All of which we have had, but in the wrong order.

To consolidate where we are, which in my view is best of the rest knocking on the door of the top six, I think we would need to tie down our loan signings and buy a few more players so that we have a bench that gives options so that we don’t just play the same formulaic subs every week. It’s not rocket science and it’s not much.

I don’t buy this asset stripping theory. The more successful the club, the higher the profile, the more it’s worth when it’s sold. However it’s not worth throwing the hundreds of millions it take to challenge for top four.

So here we are with not much to play for this year, a decent starting 11, not much depth and a few kids who may develop. I don’t think an analysis is relevant at this point to be honest. I’ll save that for the end of the season. It looks like there is not much excitement left to look forward to until then.

Would somebody switch off the lights on their way out.

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225 thoughts on “Taking the positives – From the departure of Kinnear”

  1. Toby – I have to be honest, I only saw the clash between Remy & Johnson and haven’t seen the aftermath. Maybe Norwich had more players or bench staff involved than us. Just wish we had Remy for today that’s all.

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  2. Give your heads a shake you bunch of snivelling neggers. As the happy clappy mob point out we are 8th in the league, what have you all got to whinge about ? No relegation worries, no pesky trips to Wembley, Brugge, Lisbon etc to distract us… Do we need to be competing in cup finals and championships for the football to be exciting?

    Pardew’s master plan of us exiting cup competitions early to concentrate on avoiding relegation has been pretty much an unblemished success.
    Cabaye has wanted out for years, good riddance to him, if he didn’t believe in Project Ashley and with it, by default, the well being of the Geordie Nation, then good riddance to him. We’ve made a huge profit on him, a percentage of which will be reinvested in the squad for next season. Krul, Tiote, Santon, Cisse or any other of those other glory hunters who don’t buy into Project Ashley, get rid of them. We only want players at the toon who believe in the master plan.

    All this peripheral stuff, stadium name change, the JFK coming…and going… banning of the media, fans groups, singing sections, back stabbing and stuff… is that really sooooo important at the end of the day ? We could have been a Leeds United or a Portsmouth don’t forget …

    Really, some people are never happy. In Ashley we trust.

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  3. I also wish we had Jonas for today!. I’d have him man mark Hazard and follow him everywhere to try and stop that threat. As we haven’t, I’d probably set up this way:

    ——————— Krul ——————
    Debuchy – Saylor – Willo – Dummett
    —— Anita — Sissoko — Santon —–
    —— Marveaux — Ben Arfa ——-
    ————— De Jong ————–

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  5. Toby@150, yes that’s right but it still begs the question ,if they are guilty of not controlling their players then how the hell did Johnsons red get overtuned 😕 baffling , but then nothing the FA do makes much logical sense.

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  7. Sharpy, Jonas is still with me, he’s Mr February on my table top diary 😀 Oh and another player who isn’t ours, Remy is Mr February on my wall calendar . 🙄

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  8. Munich :mrgreen: That could have been one of my articles 🙄 Trouble is people much prefer to ***** and be angry than chilled. 😈

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  9. Prem you are dead right mate, I’m curious as to the percentage split between the people who are “angry and *****” and the people who are “chilled”. NUFC obviously means more to some people than others, whether it is in the form of purported lack of ambition, investment, asset stripping, stability or whatever.

    I suppose at the end of the day the punters living in the UK, spending thousands of pounds on season tickets, replica strips, memorabilia and stuff are the ones who may tend to be more outspoken ? Whereas there does seem to be a large group complaining, they are outnumbered by the ones who believe in Project Ashley..it’s just of course that the bitchers and moaners are louder…

    I suppose at the end of the day, as an ex-pat I’m not confronted with the decision whether or not to buy a season ticket, and to invest my hard earned money in Project Ashley, though I pretty much know how I would react.

    Whereabouts is your season ticket mate…or failing that where do you normally sit on match day ?

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  10. Eminem, some people naturally whinge more than others, you need to consider that. It is not all about geography. I spend a small fortune so I can watch all the Toon games on tv. And I buy the kits.. Spending money doesnt entitle someone to be a bigger whinger.. The chilled thing comes down to personality type more than anything.. Saying that, all the hard core whingers on here are entitled to an opinion so, go for it! 😛

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  12. why no Big Match Preview then ❓
    Is the blog going the same way as the club ❓
    Has Toonsy lost all interested ❓
    Do we let one fat bastid destroy everything we love about NUFC ❓
    NO WE DONT
    So we most likely gonna take a royal humping today, and Southampton are most likely to nick our 8th place.
    The fact we can hardly find 11 players to make a team, is irrelevant.
    In Pardew we trust – the best manager we can get under this Regime, apparently 😕 .
    **** them all.
    HOWAY THE LADS

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  13. Munich. Without going into too much personal stuff. I’m not in the North East and a trip to SJP would cost far more in train fares, hotels etc than I as a retired gentleman with a young family can afford.

    Yes I accept that distance at least in a metaphorical sense may well have a chilled or angry effect. but as Oz says personality is a big thing.

    This blog was originally a haven from all the shouty negativity that was happening elsewhere. It is still more balanced than most.

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  14. Of course we are glory hunters.
    All I’ve ever wanted is glory for NUFC.
    I certainly wont go glory hunting anywhere else tho.
    Like the plastic mancs – both colours.
    Toon Toon
    Black and White Army.

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  15. AMF, that some people whinge more than others is clear mate. Whether or not to pour cash into Ashley’s coffers is also a personal choice, but he aint getting any of my cash…

    That’s the choice we have at the end of the day…to follow the happy clappy route in Ashley we trust, or the hard core whingers who are sceptical of the blokes intentions.

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  16. It’s good to have diverse opinions , the blog would be boring otherwise. It’s also nice to see the mass euphoria when things go really well, like a blinding result , fab goal scored, great signing or a Derby win, remember them 🙄 . Can you imagine what it would be like if we won a cup ! , I know we are more or less safe and that’s very good but part of me envies the Scum with their trip to Wembley , it would be just like them to win as well the feckers.

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  18. Id drop Santon today and play Dummett, Better defensively and a natural balance. Id also give De Jong an hour at least to get him up to speed. The lad at 50% would be as effective as Shola is these days.

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  19. So,if you choose not to support the club financially, can you then turn around and demand that the club spends money on players?

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  20. 3-0 to Chelsea. 😥

    So Pardew says it 1-0 to him v the Special one this season. so he does keep count. I wonder if anyone’s mentioned recently, Poyets score over him:oops:

    Now we’re saying we deserve 3-4 great players in the summer. 😳 does this inc Remy and Cabs. So perhaps 1 new arrival? anyway I’m not believing a word of it..

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  21. Prem@163, I can appreciate where you are coming from mate. I suppose the gist of my argument is that there are tens of thousands of fans living on the tyne, and of course world wide, who due to the fact that they are unfortunately lesser beings don’t fall into the “chilled” category 🙂

    They are the fans who due to a genetic defect love the toon through thick and thin. It’s just a pity that they are occasionally treat like **** and forced to take it up the karki button, when all they want at the end of the day is to see thir beloved Toon doing well 🙂

    I also agree with you regarding the blog, this is by far the best blog for a balanced outlook on the toon. That we all have differing opinions about our common cause is what makes this place so much fun….. It also stands to reason that the negativity increases a tad when things don’t go according to plan. In that respect Ashley isn’t completely innocent in what he provokes in the minnions…I strive to achieve ambivelence and acceptance of what Ashley is creating but unfortunately I haven’t managed the step up to AMF’s level yet …. 🙁 ..it’s down to me being docile I suppose 😆 😆 😆

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  22. AMF@169, if that question is aimed at me… yes mate…I suppose I can demand what I like because I have invested in the club over the years, it aint gonna be granted anyway 🙁

    Since you do invest in the club, are you happy the way Ashley is managing the thousands you put into his pockets ?

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  24. great article btw Premup

    I agree, a change of Chairman could be a bad idea. If only Ashley showed more ambition, seemed interested in cups / Europe, spoke to the fans more and didnt hire buffoons.. I’d be happy.
    We seem to be going well and he messes things up. Losing Cabs isnt the end of the world but the message it sends to our players isnt good.

    I also agree we don’t asset-strip. If we did we would of sold, Collo, Krul, Tiote, Santon (to name a few, ages ago).

    Lets hope (again) we strengthen in the summer.. 😳

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  26. Aussie, Yes you can, why should we invest when he apparently won’t. He bought the club, for what? who knows, was he a fan who wanted us to do well and win something?. Was it a advertising vehicle for Sports Direct?. Was it to immediately to sell on for profit as some have suggested but failed due to lack of DD?. Nothing is clear anymore, then there is the parasites that are WONGA, the reason I don’t buy a shirt anymore 🙁 . If he would only communicate with us as to what he really wants for the club, his true intentions, the reasons for weird choices of employees ( JFK ), the situation regarding the debt, the lack of interest in the cups and so on , the never ending press ban which looks more and more petty by the day. Really as much as we are making profit on transfers and have a healthy balance sheet , we look a very dysfunctional club to the outsider, a laughing stock at times and that is not what I wish for the club I support. If all that makes me a whinger then so be it, I know I’m not alone.

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  28. Kimtoon@176, you should be more “chilled” mate … oooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmm 😆 😆 😆

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  30. Mark we maybe able to barely survive on free transfers in the summer but all that does is convince me that Ashley is selling up. I’m hoping that Newcastle while visiting Dhabi bumped into some billionaire that’s willing to buy the club ?

    Chelsea 5-0 Newcastle sorry but we will get owned today.

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  31. Kim, that is fair enough but I dont subscribe to the theory that the money I spend goes directly into Ashleys pockets!

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  32. Aussie ,time will tell on that I suppose mate . Like I said it’s all clear as mud, the wall of silence from him and the club combined with the press ban is very frustrating to say the least.

    Stem@180, Yep, think you are right mate sadly. 🙁

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  33. Sharpy @ 153

    Today is the sort of game when Jonas was invaluble. Doubling up with his full back, Drawing free kicks and getting us up the pitch

    Still Obertans fit 🙄

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  34. The only thing that will get us out of this coma is change of doctor. The current doctor is too fat and unprofessional. If we’re not careful we’ll die.

    Bye Jabba

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  35. Stuart79
    The doctor puts his faith in Pardew.
    Pardew puts his faith in Shola.
    It’s killing us. 😀

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  36. Stuart79@184, you should be more “chilled” mate … oooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmm 😆 😆 😆

    by the way the current doctor isn’t too fat, he just isn’t as thin as other doctors 🙂

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  41. That’s a disgrace Mark. Any pub in the U.S. can show every PL match for a monthly fee of about $10 per month

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  42. See Beardsley has got Donachie’s job until the end of the season , Shame i would of liked someone new in .I read this week Ginola wants a go at coaching and was hoping for a job at Spurs ,i reckon we should make a move for him that would at least please the French players after the exit of Cabaye and Ginola did love his time in Newcastle .Hoddle is out of a job as well he would be a good coach to overhaul the Academy as well .

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  44. I’m optimistic that we could get something out of the game. Perhaps even a surprise win!

    Pardew will likely setup as follows:
    ———————-Krul——————
    Debuchy—Williamson—STaylor—Santon
    Ben Arfa—–Sissoko——Anita—Sammy-
    ————-De Jong—–Ameobi———-

    2 physical centre forwards with lots of crosses coming in from the wingers.

    Anita shielding the centre backs & Sissoko doing a box to box role.

    Typical old school 442 really. We’ll most likely lose the midfield battle because we’ll be outnumbered.

    The hope lies with the ball being hoofed up to Ameobi & De Jong. They will hold it up & play it out wide.

    Ben Arfa or Sammy will cross it in & we’ll score.

    Alan Pardew is one of the best managers in the league – Jose Mourinho said so we can expect a good win today

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  46. I’d prefer us to go with Kbiwa at the back alongside Williamson. At the very least he’s quicker than STaylor.

    The only other change i’d make is to swap Sammy over for Marveaux & play 433.

    Sammy, De Jong & Marveaux do not have the match fitness to last the entire game.

    Pardew had no control over De Jong but he could have kept the fitness level up for the other two by rotating the squad.

    Now we have players like Gouffran & Tiote out (overplayed?) Whilst the players that are supposed to fill in haven’t been given the chance to stay match fit.

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  48. Bloody hell what a shot , Suarez 😯 hits the bar but deserved to go in, Arsenal a bloody shambles 😳 2.0 should be more

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  57. 4-0….

    😆 😆

    Wenger must bring back Newcastle memory on how to draw back 4-4…. 😎 😎

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  59. Kim. To be honest, it’s going to be really tight and go down to the wire. I still tip City though. Although I can see us handing Chelski top spot today if City don’t win.

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  63. I mentioned after our loss last week that somtimes you just have bad games and there is not much that can be done about it on the day.. Arsenal are having one of those games… I did get shot down for those comments mind you.. 😯

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  64. Not quite sure what many see in Anita. For me he is a terrible footballer. Can’t pass, can’t tackle doesn’t run about. Weak in defence and offers absolutely nothing in attack

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  65. Remember them arrogant twats singing you might as well go home after 20 minutes at SJP a couple of years back, Not so nice with the shoe on the other foot…

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  67. Toby – look at Anita’s pass completion before slagging him off. He probably has the highest of all the players.

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  69. Well the Chelsea players will be watching the game and licking thier lips and smelling blood ,they do us and they could be on top spot tonight .

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  72. Arsenal look like they can’t be bothered. So many of the players just standing around whilst Liverpool have the ball.

    I think Wenger is to blame for not sending the team out with the same desire as Liverpool.

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  75. Can’t complain about the result or Pardew. He sent out a decent side. Some great goals from Chelsea.

    If there were any complaints, Mbiwa should have played in place of Taylor. But I said 3-0 before the game.

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