Want-away French midfielder Moussa Sissoko has attracted a lot of attention from the media recently after proclaiming that Arsenal is where he’d like to be playing his football next season.
Unless Moussa had his head in the clouds this year (he definitely did), he seems to have forgotten the small matter of Newcastle’s relegation and his arguable contribution to it. But come on, let’s not stifle his dreams.
Much like Sissoko, I of course am looking to better myself. For example, in recent times I have decided that a single life dating medicore women is no longer for me and have decided that Kate Upton will be my next fling (or Jennifer Aniston, I’m not too fussy).
But in all seriousness, a player who can’t acknowledge that he is partly to blame for the Magpies’ demise (although he wasn’t the worst offender it has to be said) and instead of atoning for his lacklustre form by ‘sticking it out’ with a manager who has won everything there is to win in football, makes bold claims of where he’d like to ply his trade next, is not a player we want at St James’ Park next season.
But who am I to dictate who signs who and what player plays where? Let’s say what a small sub-section of Arsenal fans have to say about Sissoko’s desire to play for the North London club.
@JayFerGaming I’m a Arsenal fan and normally I mown about lack of signings but I’ll pass on Sissoko ???
— Jack Sparshott #44 (@JackSparshott12) June 8, 2016
‘He wouldn’t get into their development team!’ Neither Arsenal nor Newcastle fans want Moussa Sissoko – TalkSport https://t.co/xyFEqkFjWN
— ArsenalNewsWire (@TheArsenalWire) June 8, 2016
Aubameyang going to City, Bailly and Zlatan to United, Higuain wants Liverpool, It’s alright lads Sissoko wants to join…FS #afc #arsenal
— Alexis Xhaka (@CoqBlockd) June 7, 2016
You was one of the best of an awful bunch that got embarrassingly relegated at NUFC, and you have the cheek to talk bout AFC move. Behave.
— – (@simply_arsenal) June 7, 2016
Sissoko trying to worm his way in at AFC reminds me of Serge Aurier doing the same 2-3 years back. Go home fella
— – (@simply_arsenal) June 7, 2016
Well done Ireland, nice goal
Kimtoon(Quote)
I have just been thinking about McClaren’s excuses. He got what he wanted. He got a centre forward, Mitro, and got two new centre backs, MBemba and Lascelles. Plus he retained Coloccini which at the time he said was his best piece of business.
So, what compromises did he make?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – but on top of that mate, even if he says the summer signings were in place before he got there – he still oversaw the Jan signings as a board member!!! – 3 midfielders & a CF on loan. If he was so desperate for a CB & CF why didn’t he get it sorted then?!.
Oh, and I would predict that he knew NUFC were wanting him shortly after Pardew left us. He knew he’d be leaving Derby for us whatever happened. I don’t believe for a second that he didn’t cast his eye over us or speak to people in & around the club.
But basically his comments are an admission that he was a willing puppet & his place on the board was absolutely meaningless.
Sharpy17(Quote)
And McLaren is making stuff up. Of the traditional “big” teams we managed to beat Liverpool and Spurs under him. That was it. We also got hammered by Man City 6-1 and Chelsea 5-1. He is making stuff up that we were better against the better teams. We were equally **** during most of his games and could just as likely lose 5-1 to Palace as Chelsea.
If I can be bothered, I might add up the points accrued against top half and bottom half under McClaren and I bet it is about equal.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I was wrong 🙂
It was 14 points against the top half and 7 against bottom half in 28 games.
That is quite amazing, that we only managed 7 points in 13 games against bottom half teams!!!! That is even more damning about his management skills than what he is trying to say – that the players only turned up for the big games. Which is also NOT true, as we only got 14 points in 15 of those FFS.
But he only managed 7 points against the bottom half in 13 games. He is trying to spin this into a positive, that the players didn’t turn up!!!! Even when we had relegation form during all of the other games as well. This guy needs to get a job as a carnival huckster. Aren’t the hoppings on this week. Three card monty Schteve will be there.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
It is actually quite amazing that McClaren can be trying to spin that record as something other than ****. We all know he was Carr’s boy and was appointed to the board. So to have that sort of audacity is beyond belief.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
SCHTEVE GOT 7 POINTS FROM 13 GAMES AGAINST THE BOTTOM HALF TEAMS. How is that possible? And how is he spinning it that it was not his fault?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Steve McMuffin. The only question is: “could he possibly have been a worse manager than Carver for us?” I think the answer is yes.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
When McClaren was first hired I looked at the first 8 games and thought it would be very difficult for him to get us even in points to games – he managed fckin 3 🙂 But now, I wonder how he could only get 7 points from bottom half teams and think that no matter if our start was easy or hard he still would have messed it up.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Two great managers appointed by the board: Steve McMuffin and Johnny C. What a board we have! They must really know their football.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I hope Rafa isn’t having to deal with too much drivel from Charnley and his pals at the club. Just ignore them Rafa, they know nothing about football whatsoever. Charnley’s main task is to wipe the drool off of Mike’s face every now and then.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Equally bad G2. The players didn’t trust Carver and thought he was an idiot, as anybody who had watched a press conference must have known. McClaren said some of the right things. It turns out that they were both much more bluff and bluster than substance.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Gotta love the Italians 😆
I’ve always had a soft spot for them when it comes to tournament football.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Boy do Italy know how to defend as a team
Icedog(Quote)
Me too, is there anything more joyful than their national anthem too. 🙂
They sure do Ice, our Toon lads should sit and study them
Kimtoon(Quote)
Lukaku was ***** tonight, also nice to see Fellani get no joy, can’t stand the ******.
Kimtoon(Quote)
KIM he was ***** another one that cannot play with his back to goal or hold the ball up in fact there was a number of players right off their game but a lot of it was down to good play from Italt
Icedog(Quote)
Kim – I think I kind of fell in love with Italy’s national footy team during Italia’90. Players like Baggio, Del Piero & Pirlo but as a defender I just loved to watch the likes of Maldini & Cannavaro.
All my mates favourite 2nd team was Brazil for the Samba footy, but mine was Italy for their art of defending 🙄 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
I didn’t mean all of those players I named were in the ’90 side, just players who I’ve admired over the years. They did have a forward called Schillaci who was like a one tournament wonder.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, when Australia played Italy in 2006 they were down to 10 men and although we were robbed with a bullshit penalty late in the game, we could have played for another 6 hours and not broken down their defence.. What a combination that was.. As for that diving c*nt Grosso … well that is another story all together 😈
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
I copied this from an article on the Football365 website about Russian officials:
“A senior Russian police official has claimed his French counterparts were unable to handle Russia’s “normal” football fans in Marseille this weekend because they are more used to policing “gay pride parades”.
Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia’s equivalent of the FBI, made the comment on his verified Twitter account.
His comment follows an earlier outburst from a senior Russian football official and leading politician, who apparently praised his country’s hooligans for defending Russia’s honour.
“I don’t see anything wrong with the fans fighting,” read a post on Twitter on an account in the name of Igor Lebedev.
“Quite the opposite, well done lads, keep it up!”
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Aussie – yeah they always knew how to dive as well. I imagined as a youngster that there was a session built into their training dedicated solely to diving 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – WOW!! – the 2018 WC should be a very interesting one mate 😯
Sharpy17(Quote)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbeN9qrJrOs
Here you go Sharpy.. hopefully it will play… Bit of a parody from a couple of Aussie lads…
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
The board keep getting slated for their transfer mistakes with Schteve joining in even though he was on the board and seemed to be the main driver in buying Shelvey and Sissoko. However, there is a bit of logic to what they did. Mitro and MBemba were playing Champions League at a very young age. We were all crying out for a centre forward and a centre back and that is what they were. Just untried in the PL, but all of the PL teams were doing the same thing: plundering foreign markets because of all of the money in the PL.
The biggest mistake was Carr’s man-crush on Thauvin. Even there though there were mitigating circumstances. My suspicion is that the loan-to-buy deal for Cabella would not have happened without Thauvin coming the other way as Marseille were skint. Also, he was a top prospect in France who Marseille had paid quite a bit of money for and there were precedents of his type of player doing well in England. Robert Pires for example.
People talk like this stuff was totally stupid, but the individual deals do make sense. You just might not have wanted to be loading your club up with young and untried players and bought a bit of experience instead.
Which brings me on to Coloccini. Even that deal may not have been as stupid as it looks (although I think it was 🙂 ). I assume their logic was the market for centre backs was expensive so why not save the transfer fee and have him mentor young MBemba for a year and have Taylor and Dummett as backup. There is no denying Coloccini was probably our best footballing centre-half of the last 10 years before his pace went. Admittedly, he didn’t have much competition.
Benitez has shown in his short time here that the main problem was organization, not personnel. Which brings me full circle to McClaren’s recent excuses where he was saying if he had more control things would have turned out differently. I don’t think they would, I think we would have been stuck with a few cloggers that Steve identified and the results would have been the same because his coaching and “management” team were the biggest problem. He was too weak and we saw that every week.
However, the next job he gets I am sure his buddies will all be lining up to say what a great coach he is even though the evidence is starting to point out that perhaps he isn’t.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
*Townsend, from the 1st sentence above. I have Sissoko on the brain because there is so much talk of him leaving.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Of course, I still want old man Carr to be retired because he was responsible for McClaren and also Carver. He was also too much in the pocket of the sports Agency Mondial. But to say all of his deals were ****, is an over statement and most were young and playing for their countries so the upside seemed to be there. Wijnaldum was actually a bit of a coup at the time.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon put up an article earlier where readers of the Chronicle put up valuations of our players and I think they were pretty accurate. For the most part they would be around what we paid except for Cisse who has played a bit ***** and got older and also Colo who just got older.
People accuse Carr of NOT buying for need, but is that true? I mentioned earlier that he got us a centre forward and 2 centre backs – Lascelles and MBemba. Some were touting the 3 of them as possibly our best players last season, along with Elliot.
I think it is a bit lazy to say Carr did not buy for need. I think we will walk The Championship with our current players and should never have been relegated in the first place. Which again brings me back to what I always rant about – BAD MANAGEMENT.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Aussie – do the Socceroos do much advertising over there?. The likes of Joe Hart does Head & Shoulders over here – with his baby hair he should be doing Johnson & Johnson.
There’s also the Liverpool lads doing Nivea skin care products – Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson & believe it or not Martin Skertal – now at a risk of sounding like Eric for a second – that has to be the ugliest bloke in the PL!!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I remember Big Al doing Macdonalds ads one tournament, always sat uneasy with me that. Junk food, and it is junk, has no place connected with sport, likewise coke and pepsi .
Kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy, now, now! Maybe nivea could get some before and after pictures of the pickled walnut with hair. That might get me to buy their product if it worked and wasn’t just photoshopped.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy, Tim Cahill has done some breakfast cereal ads in the past. Most are ads containing players for the shirt sponsors etc.
Apart from that, not a lot.
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Uncle Ed is going to have to get a room with Rafa if he keeps putting up his 17 article a day man-love pieces. And if he puts up an “In Rafa we Trust” t-shirt similar to the “In Carr we Trust” one he had for 3 years, then I am boycotting.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I agree that if you look at each individual signing on paper, then yeah they are good signings – even the likes of Lascelles & Darlow were arguably good signings (young English players with loads of potential & not crazy fees).
But it’s no good looking at signings that way, because it’s a football team they are building – not a collection of panini stickers.
It’s more than just buying good young players, it’s about buying the right player for what your team needs.
For example – how many sides would have bought Robert Huth. But Leicester saw he was exactly the CB they needed & he fit into their little jigsaw perfectly.
The players we bought are good players but needed time. We needed age & experience brought in around them to make life easier for them. It wasn’t fair to expect Perez & Mitrovic to carry the team at such young ages. Look at the difference between Newcastle & Sunderland this season – Defoe had the experience to keep them up.
A good recruitment team buys players the team & manager needs – not just good players.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy – good comments re the Italians and defending. They are the absolute masters of it with a list of top class CBs too long to name. The mentality is so strong and they’ll do anything for an advantage. That’s where Rafa should be looking for defenders even if he has to dip into Serie B.
Georgio(Quote)
Georgio – I know mate. If you watched the game last night, they were picking up yellow cards left right & centre – not for leg breaking tackles though, but for pulling forwards back who if they hadn’t, would have been through on goal.
Not only did it stop attacks, but it frustrates the **** out of the opposition.
I know they don’t play the free flowing samba style of the South Americans, but I’m a big fan of the Italians.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: I sort of agree with you and was playing devils advocate to an extent because the recruitment policy has been given so much slagging off lately and especially from people like The Chronicle who never said a dickie bird at the time.
I totally agree that when it works a team is more than the sum of its parts – like Leicester. You know me though, I like to get on my high horse about how management is the biggest culprit 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Oh, and Sharpy. It would have been difficult to predict exactly how **** Cisse would be for us this season. He started off gangbusters when he first arrived but even last year did OK and scored quite often based on minutes played. This year he has been totally ****.
If he would have played to his reputation he could have mentored Mitro and seen through a transition. I think that was their plan, I mean, Carr’s and Charnley’s. That’s what I am getting at about the recruitment, that they did actually have a plan and are not idiots. It didn’t work out, but I think they had a plan.
On the other hand, they should never have have been given the control they were at NUFC as neither Carr nor Charnley had proven themselves in the roles they were given. One of them, maybe, but not both together making a power grab.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And… their plan was pretty close to working out. They just chose the wrong Manager. TWICE.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I would love to know just how on board Graham Carr has been with this transfer policy?.
As chief scout, I would love to know whether these players would top his list, or whether they would even make his list if he had no restrictions.
I would say that most of the players he’s brought in have either retained their value or increased in value. There’s been a few duffers, but no club gets it 100% right all the time.
He’s in a position where he’s not really held accountable for anything either, which makes it easier for him to go along with policies he’s not totally comfortable with either.
Here’s the thing though. It’s not the players he recruited I have so much of a problem with – it’s Steve McClaren!!. I guess he couldn’t have predicted just how badly he would have failed – and again, was that Carrs first choice or was it who the board agreed with coz of finances.
The fact Rafa had these group of players achieving mid table form in such a short period of time shows to me that they aren’t bad players – it just proves that if you are putting such transfer restrictions in place you need to invest in top managers & coaches to make it work.
Sharpy17(Quote)
If we insisted on young talent to maximise profit then we simply had to hire a top coach to bring that plan to fruition. We didn’t until it was too late and paid the price. Stupid transfer policy which meant we bought for profit rather than for the squad. I just pray that Rafa is able to instil some common sense to the board regarding recruitment .
Kimtoon(Quote)
Changing the subject a bit, with what uefa have imposed on Russia, does this put their hosting of the World Cup at risk? Surely it has to
Simon(Quote)
Sharpy: I posted an article a while ago that said Carr had been after McClaren since he was at Twente first time around. I will try to find it if you didn’t read it.
I think it was true though as he assumed a lot of power once Charnley was given the keys to the castle. I think they envisaged the two of them in their own little fiefdom (as I have said before). It didn’t work out and now they have to give all of that power back to Rafa.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Simon – it really has to, but legistically there aren’t many Countries who could take on hosting a WC with 2yrs notice.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Simon: I don’t think UEFA have any say in the World Cup, that is FIFA. And, we all know how corrupt they are as well. I don’t think there is any chance of them taking the tournament away as it is too close for that. They will insist on tighter security and it wont make a **** bit of difference and we will be seeing the same scenes again in 2 years. Remember what their “fans” were doing in Ukraine?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy: I totally agree with you about the logistics. Except England, Spain, Italy or Germany could host. Two years is enough with the stadiums they all have in place. But it wont happen.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I honestly think McClaren knew Carr had a love in for him – which is why he came in with such a lax attitude. He thought he was safe with being on the board with his pals & having money to spend. All he had to do was avoid relegation battles & he kept his job just like Pardew did.
He came in thinking he was King **** & the players would bow to him. The fans had it **** under Carver, would see he was the chosen one & would give him time coz they’d spent a few quid.
His was a different type of arrogance to Pardews & he deserved the sack far sooner than he actually got it.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – it would be enough for Putin to declare a war mate 😈
Sharpy17(Quote)
Britain could easily host the World Cup with the following stadiums:
Wembley
Etihad
Emerates
Old Trafford
The newly extended Anfield
Saint James’ Park
Stadium of *****
Millennium Stadium Cardiff
Whatever West Ham are calling their freebie stadium
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The US could do it in a heartbeat as well Sharpy. Now that might get comrade Putin a bit upset 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – trouble with that though mate is that our fans were also involved. If the boot was on the other foot no way would I see that as right or fair.
Sharpy17(Quote)
And I am being facetious when I call Putin “comrade”. He is about as much of a socialist as Donald Trump is. He has enriched his cronies and beat down his people.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Could you imagine that Eric. If the WC was given to the US and Trump gets in – who presses the button first on that one 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
It really is crazy how lax McClaren was when he first came in.
He took his eye off the ball with Derby and ultimately failed there. Then he comes in at NUFC with such a flippant attitude that he failed badly here too. It’s been disastrous for his managerial career really.
Any ground he made up going abroad and rebuilding his reputation over there has been destroyed really.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Oh ****. I forgot Antonio Conte will be managing Chelsea next year.
I was already thinking that even with Rafa we would have a hard time with Pep, Poch, Claudio, Wenger, Mourinho, Klopp and Bilic managing on almost unlimited budgets.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I am not Joey Barton’s biggest fan but this is quite interesting:
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/joey-barton-tells-marseille-terror-11470285#rlabs=2%20rt$sitewide%20p$1
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – yeah but as a NUFC fan I think Rafas name & ability sits comfortably amongst those that you’ve listed. But if I were a current NUFC player, I’d be desperate for pre season to start so I could start working with Rafa.
Sharpy17(Quote)
http://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/2/835188484?-11058:809:0
Love this from Mitro!!! 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
Apparently, and I can’t remember where I heard this but it’s Ashley who’s the big McClaren fan. Bloke knows nothing except tat.
Want to see a fun video? The Carlsberg ad featuring SBR, Beardsley, Waddle etc is on the Chron’s website. Good clean fun.
The Russian hooligans are vegetarian, non drinkers, martial arts experts who are training themselves to be the best ultras ever seen. They’l probably ruin the whole tournament this week.
Georgio(Quote)
It just shows how corrupt the game is and been run by crooks,Blatter has now said that some Europe draws were fiddled (Fergi once said it), Blatter said how it was done they put some balls in the heat and put some balls in the freezer so when guy put his hand in he could tell which balls were cold so the games were fixed,the swines should all be jailed
Icedog(Quote)
Agree Sharpy and Eric, think England would be perfect to take over at short notice, but way England fans have acted, no chance, can see it being Germany, Spain or USA
Simon(Quote)
Simon , Anywhere but bloody Russia mate, I can see very few England fans going over there for the WC due to those thugs, and their police can’t be relied on to protect you. If only other countries would all threaten a boycott FIFA would have to act. It’s the same with the world cup in Qatar that should be boycotted on health and safety grounds because of the heat.
Makes me laugh how UEFA are disgusted with our fans yet feel little to no disgust at the cost to life building those stadia in Qatar.
Kimtoon(Quote)
So why are Russia allowed to compete in a European footy competition?
Hungary playing Austria off the park today.
Shamrock(Quote)
Russia. Their fans are organised hooligans, their athletes are drugs cheats, their leader is a war criminal, their police and ministers are corrupt. So… let’s give them the World Cup.
Shamrock(Quote)
Sham, Russia is considered part of Europe even though a lot of it is in Asia, strange isn’t it.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Are the club planning on releasing anyone else? I suppose it would have been done by now. What about Manny Riviere? Can we get anything for him? He’s 26 and looks like a billy goat. Is anyone interested in a non goal scoring striker? If so please contact the club immediately……
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Yeah it’s weird. Geographically 75% of it is Asia. It’s almost on the west coast of the Americas ffs!
Shamrock(Quote)
We don’t want them over here either. Sarah Palin thinks she can see Russia from her upstairs window. That’s how close she thinks it is. Russian ultra hooligans. Who would have imagined it? Is Putin in that bunch?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
How about a straight one for one? Manny Riviere to Millwall for Shane Ferguson. Joe Kinnear thought he looked like a decent player after all…..
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Sham, I remember Hazel saying that when she flew to New Zealand that flying over Russia went on for ever. It is absolutely huge, massive country. Full of massive nut jobs too by looks of things 😆
Kimtoon(Quote)
Gigantic country with gigantic resources. All being wasted by corruption. China is about the same. Huge kleptocracies. No hope without revolution in both.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I wonder if The Chronicle will keep us updated about the pickled walnut with hair? They had a first installment today and I hope they continue. He said all of the usual things, and didn’t make a fool of himself, so that is a good start. They are skint though so it will rely on his coaching for them to do well. That’s a maximum of 6 months as manager then!!!!
And on the Clarky-O-Meter, he managed to keep Kilmarnock up in a playoff. I think his win % was about 20%, so that’s better than Ugly John at least. When he took over they were 2nd bottom and when the season ended they were…er…second bottom. I see a future NUFC manager there 🙂 Did I mention Troy Stavers had touted him as interim manager before Rafa arrived. Also, Stavers tried to claim we would get Rafa as well. It was some random post, of the thousands he had made over the years, but that is enough for the Troysta to claim he told everybody so.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Just checking to see if Troy is still alive 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
He may be hiding knowing he tipped England to win. Of course he does have a get out, in so much that if England get disqualified due to the fans he’ll say we’d of won if we’d stayed 😉
Kimtoon(Quote)
Agree Kim, anywhere but Russia
Simon(Quote)