Renton

Seems to me we are definitely building a team for Shearer. And you know, it might just work. Shepherd is really rubbing Robson's face in it now though. First of all, giving Souness a fortune to spend, and then getting back Nobby.

That would be a very lame excuse. 26037[/snapback] It's true though. Tbh, you wouldn't compare the Liverpool sides in the 70's and 80's to Chelsea now... or would you? This knowing the defence of the opponents was much worse, with no foreigners playing. 26147[/snapback] And what? Other teams have improved, so has Newcastle. And we are talking about a period of four years, not several decades. Signing the likes of Luque and Michael Owen and then say that teams like Bolton have become better is utter nonsense in my opinion. The ambition has to be challenging for a CL place . And that's what even Souness himself said yesterday. By this standard has he to be judged now, starting at the game against Fulham. 26154[/snapback] Hey I wasn't really saying that to argue against your point (sorry, it did look like it), just saying now the top teams will always be improving as they buy new players, and won't be compared to teams of years ago. But yeah this is only a period of 4 years so I stand mistaken. However it's not just the quality of the players that make the difference, it's greatly down to the morale and skills of the management among other things, which could eb partly why Liverpool finsihed below Everton. If the players are not giving 100% or near that (Butt, Robert etc.) or having fights on the pitch it's no surprise the team's results won't be as good. Now with a some world-class players, the most likely excuse for bad results is the manager, and with just a couple of bad results, he'll be looking for work. 26173[/snapback] I think that's what Isegrim was saying - Souness now has no excuses. How many other managers have been backed to the tune of 45 million in less than a year? This is the difference between us and teams like Bolton - or even Liverpool for that matter. I am over the moon with these signings, though I can't help think it is wasted on Souness. Our next investment must be a good manager - look at the players we have to tempt him with! But its a win win situation really. If we start picking up results (and by this I mean become at least a top 5 team), then that's great. But if we don't, Souness will get sacked and someone else will get us up there, I am confident of that.

No chance mate. I voted Celtic, split between them an St Mirren. Saw Hearts at the weekend, believe me, the SPL is way worse than the EPL. If Hearts are the best the division has to offer I pity you!

Yup thats God telling you not to be so pessimistic. 25357[/snapback] Somebody better check Wullie's alright......

It was so humid on the metro it was unbelievable. Then when I got off at Tynemouth, at about 6.10 it was pitch black with the street lights on. I had no option but to walk home without a jacket. But getting pissed on didn't bother me too much - I was convinced I was going to get struck by lightning! There were bolts flying off left, right and centre! You know when you hear thunder immediately after the flash, and it actually sounds like the sky is being torn apart, before there's a huge boom? Well, I experienced about 10 of them in two minutes. The nearest struck a house about 100 feet away. I was temporarily blinded and my ears popped. I was just shitting myself waiting for my hair to stand on end, which is apparently the last thing you feel before you're fried. I now need to change my underwear as well as all my outer clothes. Wierd as well. When I got back home, virtually everything that needs electromagnetic radiation wasn't working - Sky, the radio, my mobile, my wireless LAN, the internet or my land line. Now the lightning's receding everything's come back on line.

As for why Robson never won anything here, I don't know, nobody does. 24806[/snapback] You make my point perfectly. Track record means very little once you join a new club. Let's just get behind the manager and the team and see what happens. 24817[/snapback] Utter bullshit, it means everything, otherwise I may as well be the next manager. I'm not rising to your bait anymore, either you a wum or a complete cretin, either way you're not worth talking to.

You fail to adress my point, which is that Robson is clearly a far superior manager to Souness, who time and time again has proven himself to be shit. We should have got a superior one, not a worse one! You think two tin pot cups in 13 years makes Souness a suitable candidate for us, to me it speaks volumes. As for why Robson never won anything here, I don't know, nobody does. It's very hard to win the league now and he never took the league cup seriously. He had some bad luck in the FA cup, we came very close in 2000. But that's besides the point. Souness is our manager, and the only thing you can think of to back him up is that he won the league cup at Blackburn. Well whoopy do! I see you have proved you have no concept of tactics, well done for knowing what an online dictionary is though!

You're definitely right about people being too hard on him when he first came. A lot of people had made their minds up before he'd even managed one game. To be fair the jury is still out, but he certainly wasn't given a fair crack of the whip by a lot of people. 24634[/snapback] Definitley mate. I think Parker, Luque and Emre are collectivley better signings than Owen for £17m but even last week Souness was being called every name under the sun? The team was booed off on Sunday and the Souness out campaign continued. Yet suddenly signing Owen sounds as if everyone thinks your troubles will go. They won't. He's forging an excellent first team (squad ain't great) and brought in players to play good football and he's won a HUGE PR battle with the signing of Owen but things wont click into place overnight. Owen will have a miserable time feeding off scraps (he did that enough after 2001 with Houllier). Newcastle need some patience I think. I've backed you for 6th place personally. 24646[/snapback] Patience is one of the key ingredients to a successful side IMO! 24654[/snapback] Not when you have the wrong man it isn't. Once again you have shown your complete ignorance by comparing Souness's utterly shit CV with Bobby Robsons . You really are a fool. 24687[/snapback] 24693[/snapback] I'll make it very easy for you. Bobby Robson came with a very high pedigree to Newcastle. He had won some trophies (but not nearly as many good ones as people think). Graeme Souness came to Newcastle with a lower pedigree. He too had won some trophies. Robson won nothing in 5 years, with massive backing from the board. Nothing. Not even a tin pot trophy out in Malaysia. During the same period, Graeme Souness managed to win the Worthington Cup at lowly Blackburn, a feat that were it to be repeated on Tyneside would make him a legend. Stop calling me a fool. 24713[/snapback] Winning the FA cup with Ipswich, winning the UEFA cup with Ipswich, coming runners up in the league at Ipswich, getting to the semifinal of the world cup, winning the dutch league, winning the portuguese league, winning the cup winners cup with Barcelona, and getting us established in the top 5 of the EPL and the second phase of the CL. Yeah, you can really compare that to winning a few things in a two horse league, winning the FA cup at Liverpool (and systematically wrecking the club), winning a literally worthless cup at Galatasary, and the mickey mouse club at Blackburn (before destroying said club). Getting sacked from every job bar rangers, giving Newcastle their worst ever league position since being promoted. Get real, if you think they compare as managers you are an utter fool.

Are you Souness? Because it's clear from that sentence you don't know what tactics are, or indeed your arse from your elbow!

You're definitely right about people being too hard on him when he first came. A lot of people had made their minds up before he'd even managed one game. To be fair the jury is still out, but he certainly wasn't given a fair crack of the whip by a lot of people. 24634[/snapback] Definitley mate. I think Parker, Luque and Emre are collectivley better signings than Owen for £17m but even last week Souness was being called every name under the sun? The team was booed off on Sunday and the Souness out campaign continued. Yet suddenly signing Owen sounds as if everyone thinks your troubles will go. They won't. He's forging an excellent first team (squad ain't great) and brought in players to play good football and he's won a HUGE PR battle with the signing of Owen but things wont click into place overnight. Owen will have a miserable time feeding off scraps (he did that enough after 2001 with Houllier). Newcastle need some patience I think. I've backed you for 6th place personally. 24646[/snapback] Patience is one of the key ingredients to a successful side IMO! 24654[/snapback] Not when you have the wrong man it isn't. Once again you have shown your complete ignorance by comparing Souness's utterly shit CV with Bobby Robsons . You really are a fool.

Which is worse than where Robson finished, despite a spend of 45 MILLION quid. I take it you are too young to remember what Souness did to Liverpool, he is doing exactly the same to us but twice as fast. He has had his chance, and failed more miserably than Dalglish or Gullit - that is a fact. Being a scouser you won't know the half of what Souness has done to our club and what its now like to watch us. I have waited over half a year now to see us win in the league! If we don't win the next two games I think he will be gone. That's not a fact, but it's what I like to think.

Liverpool sold him for 8m cos he was in the last year of his contract. If you look at the money that changes hands for top top strikers, we didn't get a bargain, but we certainly didn't overpay to the extent that's being suggested - most people are comparing what we paid to what Real paid and that's not a realistic comparison. 24390[/snapback] Agreed. My God this medication is amazing!

I don't dispute that the fans and Shearer played a huge part, but the money they were able to play and the tactics of the deal came from the board. Yes some of it is the fans money, but there are lots of clubs with lots of fans and they can't do deals like we were able to yesterday. 24372[/snapback] It was all paid for by the fans, aren't you aware that Shepherd and Hall actually take millions out the club each year? And what do you think motivated Shepherd to splash the cash? Happy clappy idiots like you, or pissed off fans not renewing their season tickets? Shepherd is half way back to redemption in my book - he will arrive there when he sacks that clueless tosser who is the manager!

DK, you are getting carried away. We've still got Souness as manager, Owen isn't going to single-handedly transform our team into top 4 contenders. The atmosphere will be great at Fulham to begin with, but to be honest it might go pretty flat if we perform like we did in the second half against ManU. If we want champions league football next year, we have to change managers NOW. Souness is incapable of managing a top 4 side, no matter who we have as players, I am more certain of that than anything else in the world. Also, you seem to be forgetting that our squad is still paper thin, and our defence is far from alright. A few injuries and we are still in the shit mate. 24319[/snapback] He's not getting carried away, he just had a head start on you in the sense that he wasn't manically depressed to begin with. This has allowed him to reach higher on the mood swing-ometer than you. 24326[/snapback] He's getting carried away if he thinks we are going to get in the top 4. As for me, I feel the best I have about the club for ages. Soon Souness will be gone and the only way is up. Throw a defeat of the mackems into the equation, followed by their relegation, a couple of cup runs, and yeah, life is pretty sweet!

I'm making a perfectly fair point, why have you got to spoil it? 24311[/snapback] Aah, the little boy who cried wolf. 24317[/snapback] You are just as bad. I'm taking crap off a lot of people here because I stood up for the board. Now everyone's happy because they bought Owen. What's even more sad is the deluded view that the "fans" made it happen. That's sadder than sad. That's gay. 24322[/snapback] So the fans should take the blame for everything, but never the credit? Bring out the whips, more self-flagellation is needed!

DK, you are getting carried away. We've still got Souness as manager, Owen isn't going to single-handedly transform our team into top 4 contenders. The atmosphere will be great at Fulham to begin with, but to be honest it might go pretty flat if we perform like we did in the second half against ManU. If we want champions league football next year, we have to change managers NOW. Souness is incapable of managing a top 4 side, no matter who we have as players, I am more certain of that than anything else in the world. Also, you seem to be forgetting that our squad is still paper thin, and our defence is far from alright. A few injuries and we are still in the shit mate.

As good as today was, and although people are definitely getting a buzz from it, even miserable buggers like me, it in no way comes close to how it felt when Shearer signed, for reasons that have already been mentioned. The only people who are going to agree with you Craig on this one are people who were too young to feel the buzz last time round. It was sensational with a real beliefthat we were going to bag the title (not just deluded souls like Smogeordie ). And although I rate Owen highly as a goal scorer, to be honest I don't think he is a patch on the player Shearer was in 1996. Not even close.

Its not difficult to spot the talent in a player like Michael Owen though is it? Come on man, he has been given 45 MILLION to spend, any manager in the world could get good players with that type of cash. Good managers can spot talent without paying a fortune for it - Wenger being the classic example. And he's still managed to sign a couple of knackers as well. If you want to give Souness credit then do so when he proves he can do it where it counts - on the pitch. If the past year is anything to go by on, you will have a long wait.

I said in another thread I haven't seen us win in the league since January, and I'm a season ticket holder! Sorry like, but that's not good enough, I have every right to whinge. If he gets us back on course for a top 4 finish then fair enough, but he won't, because he is useless!

Two games, then he's out. Anything short of 4 points from Fulham and Blackburn is simply not good enough. There can be no excuses now. None. With all the nice shiny new players we have bought at a ludicrous expense, we should be able to attract the best managers. If we keep this clueless manager then what's the point? Midtable mediocrity beckons.

I'm still glued to the office ceiling! I wonder how much of it was down to FF and Souey and how much was the hard work Shearer put it... Regardless of anything, Souness will always be the manager who brought Michael Owen to Newcastle United! Of the three super-signings I've seen in my time, this one is the cream of the crop. Keegan was coming to the end of his career and Shearer was effectively 'coming home'. Here we've signed the current best English centre-forward in his prime from under the noses of his dream team... I couldn't be happier! 23212[/snapback] To be honest, I get the feeling Shearer might be the main factor here. You never know, Shearer might make a great manager after all. He has a head start in attracting big names, being a living legend himself. Yet he doesn't half get some stick on these boards.

Part timer. 23094[/snapback] You're going to love this one, for the Fulham match, I'm supposed to be in Skegness 23102[/snapback] Jesus Wept. 23104[/snapback] Supposed to be going to a festival called 'Sonic Rock' with me mate and his lass. How pissed was I when I agreed to that? 23106[/snapback] Sonic Rock in Skegness? Jesus wept.

Munch, munch. £500 all inclusive, not bad value I think.

Part timer. 23094[/snapback] Newcastle in the winter versus the Carribean or the South of France. A difficult one for a non-soopa fan like myself!

This forum has been far too cheery today, so I thought I'd add a depressing fact or two. I haven't seen us win in the league since January the 15th, against Southampton! This is because I missed our wins against Bolton and Liverpool as I was in St Lucia at the time. January the 15th ffs, and this includes 3 away matches. Anyway, I am obviously the jinx, but you'll be glad to know that I am on holiday for the Fulham match, so we'll win it. If we do, will people pay me to stay away from now on?