A theory behind Graeme Jones’ appointment after this comment set alarm bells ringing…

Six coaches and a manager.

No, this isn’t a film from the 1980s but the current situation Newcastle find themselves in with the appointment of Graeme Jones as “assistant head coach”; something he makes clear is his “official title” and makes me wonder what his “unofficial title” is…

The quote from his first interview (which was NINE minutes long on NUFC TV) certainly sounds like management talk to me:

“We’ve got some good players who didn’t start the other night, it’s about getting the best players on the pitch in a system that suits us.”

This doesn’t sound like the sort of speech you’d normally get from a coach coming in to “assist” a manager. Picking players to start and creating a system is something that the manager decides, is it not?

I really can’t remember any time that there was such a big deal made of a back room staff appointment. I tried looking for it too! I searched through the archives of NUFC TV and the best I could find was a small segment in July 2015 when Paul Simpson and Ian Cathro spoke on episode one of the long-running and much-loved “Magpies 24/7”.

Simpson and Cathro certainly weren’t dressed up in their best, formally informal attire either, like Jones is. They were spoken to during a training session and were given about 4 minutes to share.

This appointment should be done in the same fashion of McClaren’s appointments of coaches, where fans were simply informed by email. There’s normally no fanfare in the appointment of a backroom staff member.

I’m not sure, but this ‘show of faith’ in Bruce really doesn’t look like there’s much faith there, when this new man talks about how he’s here to offer a “neutral opinion” and will “always tell the truth”… If this is true, then maybe Graeme can neutrally and truthfully tell Steve how awful he is?

In all honesty, this appointment reminds me of the film Scrooged, when John Glover’s character is brought in to help Bill Murray but is really just there to usurp him.

There are lots of red flags here in this appointment from a Bruce perspective and this swish interview doesn’t do a lot to squash any rumours.

It needs to be noted, as I firmly put my tinfoil hat on, that before taking the job, Jones wanted assurances over his future from Newcastle if Bruce were to be sacked. What does that tell you? Well, it certainly tells you that he doesn’t see his long-term future with Bruce. He’s not coming to Newcastle to help Bruce, he’s coming to help himself and, you’d hope, the club. He’s not joining Bruce’s management team, he’s joining Newcastle’s coaching team, and I think it’s important to note the distinction there.

If Graeme Jones is assured of a future at the club then that means, if Bruce resigns or is sacked, then he will remain and would presumably become caretaker manager.

So, here’s my real conspiracy theory for you to digest and consider: Graeme Jones, a real Newcastle fan, has made a deal with the devil (Ashley) to turf out the fake Newcastle fan. Nothing about skill level or CV matters here, the only thing that matters is that Ashley can save money whilst manipulating his awful manager out of the job.

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9 thoughts on “A theory behind Graeme Jones’ appointment after this comment set alarm bells ringing…

  1. What a mess made by the NUFC Board = should have cleared out Bruce and drinking buds…

    …and brought in a MANAGER

    This idea is simply idiotic – makes no sense – as even if we do manage to survive WE NEED to get shot of Bruce

    And if we are relegated – WE NEED to get rid of Bruce

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  2. Surprised anyone could see this as anything else. Another uninspiring Ashley appointment straight out of his normal recruitment policy handbook. Bruce goes, Jones carry’s the can. It’s Carver all over again.

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  3. cant be any worse than bruce ,getting beat every game so cant do any worse, definitely been brought in to replace cabbage head, if he is on par as assistant head coach, wait till after the window slams shut then i think bruce will be gone, means fatman doesnt need to spend, as a new manager would have wanted something to spend to come to this joke of a club

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  4. Said that to a mate yesterday, Grahame Jones and Ben Dawson are NUFC Staff appointments contacted to the club and not parts of the Bruce entourage, so Bruce goes and we have a bit of continuity. It’s reasonable backside covering.

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  5. Do you really have to be such a monumental **** all the time?

    Jones has been brought in as an attacking/ tactical coach by a manager who has realised what he is doing is not good enough.

    Instead of commenting that at least Bruce has the sense to see what’s wrong and has tried to fix it, you come up with some bizarre theory that Ashley is trying to replace Bruce with a nobody who has managed for one season in the Championship.

    This takes pathetic to a whole new level.

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  6. Where did you read that it was Bruce that wanted Jones to join?? don’t think anyone else has seen that article

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  7. Can’t believe some of the comments I read..
    Graeme has 2 very strong points and I congratulate the club for securing him.
    1. He has a very strong, and positive cv.
    2. He is a real Geordie, who cares deeply about the club and city.
    I agree with all the takeover must happen soon, I have many friends as Villa fans who told me, and still tell me Bruce and his coaches were a terrible hire. But let’s a least find a shred of positivity with this guy…

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  8. I agree with the story, he has been brought in to take over when Bruce is sacked.

    It’s Caver all over again, only this time Ashley is convinced he is selling the club and does not want to appoint a new manager that the consortium would not want and would have to pay compensation to get rid of so close to the end of the season.

    If nothing else, whatever’s going on in the back ground is more interesting than watching the team play at the moment.

    My only question is after what defeat will Ashley finally sack Bruce?, I’m hoping its after Everton on Saturday to give the new guy a decent run of games to try and save us from relegation.

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  9. Why replace Bruce with someone of even less proven ability – if that were possible… this is insane! Personally I want Bruce to know that if we go down it will be on his watch and on his CV. I don’t want to hear him waxing lyrical from some newly promoted team next year about if we hadn’t sacked him blah blah… He can’t be allowed to escape or walk into another club whilst we have an ‘intern’ manager learn on the job! Rant over, apologies….

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