Appointed as Director of Football, it was the task of Joe to look after the football side of things and, in particular, to assist in transfers into the club.
The anger to his appointment was met with some bullish claims by the former Wimbledon man who even claimed that he could call up any manager he liked and they’d all answer the phone to him. He also asked to be judged on his signings so, after adding no new permanent faces over the summer, is the time for judging now? Or would we, as Joe says, just be looking for something negative to chew on like we always do according to the man himself?
In terms of signing players he has failed at his job miserably. That is in the terms that I, and probably most of us, thought that he would be utilised by the club. However having pondered things these past few days and digested what has come out of the club prior to the window closing, I’m now wondering if Joe has failed at his job at all?
Take Alan Pardew’s statement for example, released the day after the transfer window closed. Read it below and see what you think:
“We are delighted to have brought Loic Remy to the club in this window and we believe he will form an exciting and effective partnership with Papiss Cisse.
“Joe has worked hard on numerous targets, particularly an additional offensive player. However some of the options that were available within our financial means were not as good as the players we already had and there is no point bringing in new players unless they can improve us and take us forward.
“We did the majority of our business in the January window, signing five excellent first team players.
“With the strong squad we have we should all approach the season in a positive, optimistic frame of mind.”
Now from that it looks as though we were never really interested in anyone over the summer so was Joe’s job to deflect some of the attention from a lack of activity? Is he being used as the fall guy?
Like I said in the last article, I’m angry we’ve not signed anyone but I’m not disappointed. It’s hard to be disappointed abut something you’ve half expected all along. I don’t like the waffle that comes out of the club, I don’t like who they have waffling at us so as a result I don’t believe anything until it happens any more.
It’s just a shambles that is in danger of turning toxic just like what happened in the relegation season. Fan unrest is at a high level and whilst I agree that a stand should be made I’m also mindful that the backing for players during matches still needs to be there. After all, they’ve not been helped out either.
So among all of these claims that Kinnear is just a Director of F**kall, just spare a moment to think of the possibility that perhaps he’s not the inept halfwait he makes out to be and has instead done what he was hired to do in the first place.
Just a few thoughts…
I’d also really like to know the situation with Remy’s contract. When we got him JFK said it was with an option to buy. Then recently he said he’d go back to QPR if he was a success. Which is it? Do we have an option to buy? If we don’t we’re plain stupid!!! If he has a good six months his value will rocket.
georgio(Quote)
Santii@72. I agree mate, but there are still some good conversations on here. You just have to sift through the other to find them
MDS(Quote)
Santii/MDS – I’m sure things will get better when we win the FA cup lads 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
There a few positives knocking about:
The squad and bench will look healthier with Cabayes dummy back in, Remy, Tiote and Jonas fit again and Saylor suspension done.
We have attempted fewer long balls per match than anyone else in the league.
We pressed fulham right to the last and looked like we could have played for another hour, Probably down to the pre season work with Faye Downey.
We kept three clean sheets in the space of a week and won twice.
Some of the young lads have looked the part this season, Particularly Good, Dummett and Sammy.
We probably created more chances from corners in the last fortnight than we did in the previous season and a half.
Kinnears contact is a week closer to expiring.
CC(Quote)
Santii – if the club had any sense, following the failure to sign anyone this summer, they’d be working on Ben Arfas new contract during the international break.
They can’t improve the negative feeling amongst the fans playing well and winning games at the moment ( 😳 ). But they could make things a bit better by getting our ‘maverick’ pinned down on a new deal. It still won’t be enough for some, but it would be a step in the right direction.
Sharpy17(Quote)
CC – yeah I’d go with that – bar the return of Tiote, Jonas and Saylor – unless Pards has the balls to have them on the bench and keep a with a winning team – or should I say his strongest 11.
Anita would definately be in that 11 and I posted a link on here which showed he positive impact on the Fulham game, and for me he didn’t put a foot wrong against WH either. My team would be:
—————— Krul —————–
Debuchy – Colo – MYM – Santon
—————– Anita —————–
—— Cabaye —- Sissoko ——-
—————- Benny —————
——— Cisse —- Remy ———–
Elliott, Dummett, Saylor, Tiote, Jonas, Gouffran, Shola.
I’d consider dropping Jonas again and having Marveaux on the bench – but I know Pardew wouldn’t – which is why I put Jonas there.
If we can keep those 18-19 players fit for most of the season, then I don’t see why we can finish 10th and should be competing for 7-8th spot with that starting 11 IMO.
But we all know football isn’t played on paper and we have already suffered injury and suspension this season – which is why we needed that strengthening last week.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I saw loads of positives v Fulham. Benny and Marv tracking back, Benny playing the full game. Remy being fit. Another clean sheet. Defence looked solid & Cabaye returned.
This all because Remy came on with Goofy and Pards changed the shape, which was nice to see.
But…an injury to Remy and we’ll be up **** creek because of our failure to secure players 👿 👿 😆
mark(Quote)
sorry for the late response but had to get some work done 😛
@Kim CC answered that question for me i could add a few others though. Ben Arfa has had a very good start to the season. Santon has been very good as well as Coloccini and Mbiwa. Debuchy had a mare at City but has looked solid ever since. If we can keep that back 4 plus Krul fit all season we will easily keep more clean sheets than last season.
I could also argue our team has improved since the end of last season. Though really we should be judging our team on what it was like at the start of last season and it is far better than it was then thanks to all the good signings in January.
@CC good to see someone is keeping track of the positive stuff at our club 😀 I wonder how our shot count compares to other teams in the league.
Sharpy @ 80 We have been pretty good when it comes to securing our best players onto long term deals these past few years. So i wont worry to much about that until it draws a little closer (He has 2 years left right?)
@81 I dont think Pardew will ever play with a narrow formation like that i think Remy and Arfa on the wings with Cisse up front, with the rest of your team as it is, will be the way we line up.
Cisse needs to sort himself out cause he has looked lost since the start of the season. I hope the Remy competition will give him a kick up the ****. I think he will have more chances with Remy in the team.
Santii(Quote)
I notice our club’s name didn’t appear on the least of 8 bargain buys that were made in the just closed transfer window. Names like Canas, van Wolfswinkel, and Toure. So we definitely don’t have an eye for shrewd buys then? Wouldn’t that have been in Joe’s mandate? We couldn’t use a shrewd buy to reinforce the squad? Hmmm. The smell coming of the club is bad again.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
That smell usually comes from brown piles coming out of the back end of cows but with our club it comes from people like Joe and Alan. Swansea have reinforced brilliantly, as have several other clubs who will end up in mid table because of it. What did we do Joe?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Injuries are again going to play a crucial role for us this season because of our thin squad. I don’t believe players like Sammy, Obertan, or Jonas can play an impact role if we get injuries in those positions. It’s very unlikely Willo could either. We just don’t have enough quality depth and will pay for it again. Sorry Joe but you failed miserably and the club is going to pay for it. That means your boss Mike failed miserably as well of course.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Good thoughts there CC @79. Especially about Joe’s remaining contract time getting shorter. 😆 If we are low in the standings by December what will his mandate be? Rescue us with some shrewd signings or is he up to it? I’m not sure but having him in that position doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence mate.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Santii – yeah mate, 2 yrs left but that’s generally when they look to renew a contract or sell on for as much as we can coz you know yourself as has contract runs down now so will his valuation.
I agree tho, the likes of Krul, Colo, Tiote and Jonas were all sorted so hopefully Benny will be keen to stay and it will be done nee bother.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I see Newcastle and Sunderland got a special mention from Gregg **** regarding the lack of English players in the PL.
Sharpy17(Quote)
G2@87 ,Yep that’s what concerns me mate. If we get injuries as most clubs especially us do , and we suffer with a dip in form that sees us sinking down the table. Will Joe be up to getting n the right players if any in January?. It isn’t nice knowing our fate could be in the hands of someone seemingly out of his depth if this window is anything to go by.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Will Ashley actually monitor Kinnear’s performance Kim? Or is it just a case of “I trust him to get on with it. I know he’s excellent at his job.” I wouldn’t be too sure of that now Mike. The man has been out of touch for a long while now. How many connections does he realistically have in European football? Pardew is probably thinking “why have we got that useless twit in here?”
GeordieTwo(Quote)
@Kim we had a much worse window last season considering we had europe. I am sure people said the same about Derek.. In fact most wanted him out of the club.. im sure they are happy to have got their wish.
We are in a far far better position than last year. I also get the feeling the Gomis deal will go through in January only for a lot less money. Exactly like the Sissoko deal.
We done the best business in January. Some of our fans ignore that and say panic buy even though we were linked with most of the players for a couple of windows its laughable really.
Santii(Quote)
Interesting points there Santii @92. I guess the proof will be in the pudding mate. If we are in the top 10 by the end of December I will be very pleasantly surprised. If that is what happens the pressure will be off Joe and Alan and the supporters will be much happier. Let’s hope it happens.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Alan Pardew will hold talks with Yohan Cabaye to try to get the midfielder’s Newcastle career back on track.
Above quote from the Mirror. Shouldn’t the lad already be completely self motivated to get his career back on track? Does he want back into the French national side? Does he want to leave Newcastle eventually to go to a “bigger more ambitious club”? If so he better play like he can. If he needs a pep talk from the manager then that would be very strange. Sounds like we’re running a day care.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Just watching the U-21s on BT sport with Stu Pearce as one of the co-presenters. He’s a man I’d find a role for in our club, without doubt.
Santii – why the **** pantomime mate. That’s what pisses people off. If they kept their gob shut or said they are happy to see how things go with what they have then fair enough. People may not like it but at least we know not to expect anything. But JFK gave it big when he came in and AP was saying after the Fulham game he wanted additions. So it’s inevitable that fans will be disgruntled or feel let down when nowt happens.
Sharpy17(Quote)
G2 we could very well be top 10 by the end of December IF the first 11 stay fit until then . Our Defence on paper at least , is stronger in quality than the defence which had a great start the season we finished 5th . ALOT depends on them staying fit ,i am hoping and looking forward too seeing more of Anita in the side than Tiote add in Sissoko and our midfield is stronger than that season also . The strikers are like for like compared too that season with Remy in for Ba . The trouble is in January if we are top 10 and going for a top 6 place and needing reinforcements we wont get them . Why ? because Ashley has learned from last season , getting into Europe means more reinforcements or a struggle too keep ourselves in the premiership . We wont get a CL place and the EL costs more than its worth unless a team gets to the quarter finals at least . Ashley will not fund a launch into the CL its out of his budget and wont fancy us in a relegation battle again so will not want that 5th or 6th place and the EL , so we can all look forward and hope for a cup run and do a Wigan or swansea and win the cup , or can we ? that brings Europe and the costs as well ,so will Ashley want us to win a cup? maybe i am looking at things a bit too somber but with this bunch of idiots running our club i see not alot of joy coming soon .
Axel(Quote)
Woah, why does everybody on here seems to have low expectations of where we’ll finish?
I’m expecting at least a top 10 finish from Pardew and quite possibly 7th.
The reason i want us to get rid of Pardew is because a better manager could get us challenging the top 6 with the current set of players we have.
KK(Quote)
Sharpy17 – what do you think Stuart Pearce could bring to the club?
KK(Quote)
Please don’t attack me but……
I actually don’t think we should keep blaming Ashley. We know that money is available for the right player at the right price.
He’s already proven that as we’ve built a very good squad since we came back into the Premier League.
KK(Quote)
Mike Ashley’s problem is that he doesn’t know enough about football to appoint the right people.
He has in the past done things to make the fans happy:
Sacked Allardyce
Brought in Keegan
Brought in Shearer
Those three managerial changes were to make the fans happy.
KK(Quote)
7th KK? Which of the following teams are we going to beat out for 7th mate?
Chelsea
Man City
Man U
Arsenal
Liverpool
Spurs
Swansea
I just can’t see it. Possibly 9th or 10th if we have very few injuries. Competing with the likes of Southampton, Everton, West Ham, Norwich, and possibly even Villa!
GeordieTwo(Quote)
His problems at the club started soon after he became owner. He should have appointed SBR and let Bobby take charge of ALL footballing matters.
If that had happened, in all honesty i think we would have already returned to the Champions League as well as have had a fantastic setup behind the scenes (academy, coaching, scouts etc).
The problem is who is the next best person to advise Mike?
KK(Quote)
And Swansea are competing in Europe without even a single whinge from their manager. Yet I’m fairly certain they will finish at least 2 or 3 places above us. Why? Because they have intelligent ownership with football ambition. Shocking to think of isn’t it?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
@GeordieTwo
Player for player, we have a better team than Swansea.
Under Pardew we have no hope of competing with the rest of the teams but….another manager could
KK(Quote)
There is nobody i can think of that would (selflessly) do a better job at NUFC than SBR. He’s not around anymore so who could help Mike?
Who would we replace Joe Kinnear with?
I already know who we could replace Pardew with.
KK(Quote)
Axel @96 that is a very shrewd analysis of wor Mike mate. He is a slippery devil and he will aim for mid table. Nice easy place to be in. Supporters somewhat happy because they get the odd entertaining game, money pouring in from the TV contract, no need to make big signings to get into CL. Not a huge chance of winning a domestic cup and getting into Europe that way. For Ashley perfect. For us: mediocrity and beyond.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
New article in yr intray Toonsy
Premandup(Quote)
Sad to say KK @104 I don’t think Pardew will have us competing with the likes of Swansea for 6th or 7th place. 9th or 10th at the very best with Pards in there. And if we slip much lower it could be somebody even worse (shudder) as recommended to Ashley by our brilliant DoF.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Mike Ashley would want us to be in a European competition. He has more at stake at the club than the rest of us.
The problem is the people he has got running the club. They are ****.
KK(Quote)
KK I think you are 1 step beyond even me. I doubt that even Bielsa could get top 6 without one of the big six having a bad year. Pards is good enough for top ten though.
Premandup(Quote)
I think Pardew is a **** manager but when things are going well he does ok.
Hopefully things go well (less injuries, players hit form)
KK(Quote)
Premandup – I think Man Utd will have their worst season since Ferguson was in charge.
I also think it’s quite possible that things won’t click at Spurs or Liverpool (or both) with all of the players they’ve signed. It’s almost been a complete overhaul at those two clubs.
It all comes down to whether we can compete against any team in the league. I think under the right manager we could beat anyone enough times to finish high up the table.
KK(Quote)
Premandup – Can’t we just buy the club from Mike Ashley in the same way as the Glazers did with Man Utd?
KK(Quote)
Swansea have added some excellent players and have a very decent manager. He really knows what he’s doing. They are clearly after staying in the top 7 or 8 clubs and will probably do it for several seasons now. That’s part of what ambition can bring. A tat shop owner who is aiming for mid table doesn’t bring that. It’s unfortunate for us that things went so badly last season. I was hoping for around 8th place, but the summer was a disaster and Pardew clearly started losing his confidence. He looked very shaky indeed by the end of the season with those last 3 home losses. It really hasn’t improved much. He looks like he’s sweating bullets so far this season. Even games against poor sides (Hull at home) are big games for us now with a lot of pressure on Pards.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I also think we can beat anybody on our day, but not over a season.
Premandup(Quote)
Geordie 2 given that Swansea have spent less than us on assembling and paying their squad. Why do you say that they have shown more ambition than us.
Premandup(Quote)
G2 @ 106 spot on mate he has no ambition for us at all, all we are to him is a massive advertisement hoarding for SD, as long as we stay in the Prem and keeps getting the big money he is happy.
It appears that a lot of our fans have the same ambition as him as they seem happy enough with how he is running the club. Some even think he is doing a good job, but for me to be doing a good job at a football club the results on the pitch are what really counts not the finances.
All this money talk about how we will get players cheaper etc and save money 😯 TBH I don’t give a fuk about the money I want to see decent footie with the chance of winning something, I or anybody else doesn’t need to worry about Jabba’s money because you can be assured he won’t leave himself short and will have his own financial advisers to make sure of that.
I have never came across any other teams fans that care so much about their owner’s money 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
@GeordieTwo
We finished 8 points away from 8th which is pretty close.
I was more annoyed at the utterly rubbish way we were playing!
KK(Quote)
KK @ 118 how many points did we finish from 17th ? I think that was close ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
🙄 18th even 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Premand I think Swansea are more ambitious than us mainly because of the type of manager they hired and his relationship to the club. He clearly has a big say in who they bring in (excellent continental players). Their owner was very shrewd hiring him. Our owner has a completely different plan. Lie low in mid table, collect as much money as possible and finally sell for a profit in a few years time. None of that has anything at all to do with football ambition or winning anything. It’s not so much how much the squad costs but what you plan to do with it mate.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
@BigDave
I honestly don’t think Mike is able to tell the difference between a good manager and a bad one. Or a good director of football and a bad one.
When things don’t go right we blame Mike Ashley straight away. It’s almost like a pantomime!
Performances on the pitch are down to Pardew. Lack of transfers are down to Kinnear. These are the people we should blame.
Once Mike get’s rid of those two we should tell him who to hire. The guy really has no idea!
KK(Quote)
You make some good points Big Dave mate. I think KK is clearly hoping for the best possible outcome for us. I can’t see it personally because of the personnel we have, from owner on down to manager. Just not good enough or ambitious enough to consistently finish in the top 10.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
KK – sorry mate been getting the boy off to bed.
Re Pearce, he could certainly work with our full backs to strengthen the defensive side of their game if nowt else.
I think he will offer alot in the way of technical and tactical development having worked with the FA and probably has good knowledge of younger English players coming through who aren’t gonna cost the mega millions that the likes of Zaha and Ince and such like would.
I think he’d bring a better level of coaching and maybe just install that steel in some of our players.
Head coach working directly under Pardew I reckon and move John Carver to oversee the reserves.
Sharpy17(Quote)
@BIGDAVE
Fair point 😳
The point i was trying to make was that even though we had a terrible season last year, we weren’t that far away from having a decent finish.
If we have a season even slightly better than last year then we would expect to easily finish in the top 10 and i expect 7th.
KK(Quote)
To be frank, I think the majority of fans are far too eager to push the blame onto Kinnear for our lack of summer signings. Ashley is a devious c*nt, and I honestly think he’s brought JFK in as a ****-sponge. A scapegoat. Soak up all the flak and divert it away from the root cause of the problem – the fat ******* in charge. Divert it away from our feckless manager who is nothing but a bullshit media *****. Nobody knows what Kinnear’s ‘task’ was during this window. To point the finger at him after 3 months and ONE WINDOW is somewhat naive, given our illustrious owner’s past record.
JFK – Director of Media Smokescreens. Yes Sir, No Sir, Two Bags Full Sir. Paypacket, in the bank. 😎
Rodzilla(Quote)
…forget about Fatboy doing the dirty on Pardew. It’s quite the opposite. Kinnear is the master ****-sponge.
Rodzilla(Quote)
@GeordieTwo
I am hoping for the best but i also fully expect a better season than the last one and a comfortable top 10 finish (7th):
No Europe = Fewer games = More time to prepare = Better results
We also have a stronger squad than at the start of last season.
Sure a lot of teams have ‘strengthened’ but have they actually improved or is it just that they have same quality but different players?
KK(Quote)
KK
September 5, 2013 at 20:45 (Edit)
@BigDave
I honestly don’t think Mike is able to tell the difference between a good manager and a bad one. Or a good director of football and a bad one.
KK how’s fault is that then ? should he not try to appoint someone with a proven track record or someone that is well thought off in the game that would give him the right advice, rather than give the jobs to his mates ?
Big Dave(Quote)
Rod @ 126 is he not diverting lots of abuse away from our feckless owner aswell ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
@Rodzilla
I’ve been pointing the finger at JFK from the day he was appointed.
What makes him more qualified than me to do his job?
KK(Quote)
But when it comes time to actually make good signings (say we are struggling by the end of December) is Joe up to it Rodz mate? It sounds like you don’t think so. And then we’re in even deeper trouble as Ashley finally realizes this and has to hire someone else. It just doesn’t look good at all to me. Really bizarre and clueless hire from Mike.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Your points are well taken KK @128 mate. I’ve outlined why I don’t think we’ll manage it. We’ll all have to wait and see. I see us as built for self-destruction from the top down again. A very shaky house of cards indeed.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Prem – Swansea are more ambitious because they see playing in Europe as a good thing, where we see it as a strain on our squad.
I’ve never known any other club speak of not being in Europe in such a positive way.
They play a positive style of football and despite being a small club in terms of fan base and finance, they have a squad of players who WANT to play for them.
Sharpy17(Quote)
@BIGDAVE – 129
Spot on. He needs to hire people with a track record (a recent track record!).
I just think Joe Kinnear and Alan Pardew told him how awesome they were.
Joe Kinnear has won a manager of the year award.
Alan Pardew has taken a team to the cup final.
KK(Quote)
I honestly think with our best 11 we are a top 10 team but I am 100% sure that we will have injuries and if they are in the fragile areas we could well be screwed
Big Dave(Quote)
@GeordieTwo
I hope you are wrong but my head is telling me that you’ve probbly clled it right.
Please, please, please don’t let this be a rubbish season! 😥
KK(Quote)
KK @ 135 then to me that says that he has to take the blame, as you cant blame JFK or Pards for taking a well well paid job when it’s offered to them. It also says to me that he isn’t doing that good of a job at running our football club, yeah he might have the finances running well enough to be able to start taking money out of the club, but that wont help us the fans or the team to win something 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
KK –
“Mike Ashley’s problem is that he doesn’t know enough about football to appoint the right people.”
And
“I honestly don’t think Mike is able to tell the difference between a good manager and a bad one. Or a good director of football and a bad one.”
Why buy a fecking football club then?! 😆 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
Super Sammy coming on for England u21’s
Santii(Quote)
I’ll be very sorry indeed if I’m right KK @137. 😥 Sharpy mate @134 that has to be one of the most bizarre aspects of having Pardew as manager. Who else would complain about being in Europe? Partly I understand it because he gets no support from Ashley. But it’s something he should have never said to the press. Absolute madness. And now it comes back to haunt him over and over again. Another example of us looking like a laughingstock. And now we have the world’s foremost expert on buffoonery back with us – Joe Kinnear.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Good to see Sammy get some game time for the 21s . But I thought Redmond had another very good game – god I wish we had got him at £2.5m – he’ll be worth alot more than that in the years to come.
Sharpy17(Quote)
@Sharpy
Did you see that miss after Sammy’s awesome pass?
Santii(Quote)
Dave@130, that’s exactly what I meant by a ****-sponge. He diverts the bile away from the owner and manager.
KK@131…”What makes him more qualified than me to do his job?”…well I don’t know who you are, or your CV, but that’s missing the point anyway.
As I said, he’s not been hired as a trouble-shooting master of football knowledge and key to our future signings. He’s their to soak up all the **** and take the pressure off the manager.
Rodzilla(Quote)
G2, no I don’t think ANYONE is up to a DoF role at the club while we have Fatboy in charge.
…maybe in 6 years time when his fkn loan is payed off, or whatever 🙄
Rodzilla(Quote)
No point having a ‘top class’ DoF; as a ‘top class’ DoF will go after ‘top class’ players.
And they cost ‘top class’ money. Money which we don’t have. Apparently. 🙄
Rodzilla(Quote)
Have to agree Rodz. It isn’t going to happen with Ashley. If Kinner left Ashley would bring in another clown. Strange. It’s like Ashley lives down the rabbit hole. It must be very bizarre inside his mind. Ashley to self: “you’re doing a great job Mike. Keep it up. If we have collapsed by December blame it on Alan and put Joe in the firing line for a few games and see what happens.”
GeordieTwo(Quote)
…you knows it G2 😆
Rodzilla(Quote)
G2 – with comments like that I just don’t see how we can possible seen as an ambitious club.
Swansea loose Brendan Rodgers and have a big decision to make – take a Mark Hughes or an Alan Pardew – someone safe like that. But no, they invested money on a manager who as a player experience a wealth of success and was a winner at Bronby. Young and tactically astute.
We got rid of Hoots, and replaced him with Pardew – Ashleys mate who owed him gambling money and he was cheap – not for footballing reasons. Also hardly the mark of an ambitious club is it.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Some good discussion going on here as per usual.
It is absolutely clear, that there never was a plan to finish 5th.
Pardew even managed to **** that up.
I am sure it has been made crystal clear to him that it should NOT happen again.
Likewise, he should talk up a good cup run, get the fans all hyped and up for it. But under no circumstances are we to win anything, as that could end up getting us into Europe again.
We will spend the bare minimum necessary for mid table mediocrity.
Suck it up and get used to it.
I am happy for him to keep repaying the “debt” to himself. The sooner it’s done the better.
After which he will either invest in the squad or he will get the sale he craves.
I reckon that should be in the region of another 5 yrs.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)