Kitman

The bitter reality of Newcastle United's relegation from the Barclays Premier League struck home in brutal fashion yesterday, when it emerged that 120 members of the club's administrative and commercial staff are set to lose their jobs. More than one third of Newcastle's non-footballing employees will leave St James' Park as a consequence of the severe cost-cutting programme initiated by Mike Ashley. The redundancies are a painful illustration of the club's demise under Ashley's ownership. While there is optimism that Alan Shearer will agree to lead his home-town team in the Coca-Cola Championship next season, the context is of a club in the throes of contraction. It offers a partial explanation for the painstaking nature of discussions between Shearer, Ashley and Derek Llambias, the Newcastle managing director. According to their last published financial report, the club's annual turnover of £100 million includes a wage-bill of £74 million, figures that were viewed as close to unsustainable in the Premier League, never mind the division below. Shearer will be expected to preside over a mass exodus of high-earning players - Michael Owen and Mark Viduka are out of contract and will leave, while Joey Barton will surely follow - but he is fighting to retain a backbone of established players. Understandably, the negotiations have been intense, but Ashley must realise that support for Newcastle will haemorrhage if Shearer is permitted to leave the club. Disillusion with the sportswear retailer is already entrenched and the prospect of further job losses in a city suffering from the economic downturn will not add to his popularity. With Newcastle's first-team squad due to return for pre-season training on July 1, time is of the essence and Shearer is eager to set about his task. -------------------------------------------- From The Times/Caulkin

Owen will do what's best for Owen and his England career. I think he'll go and it would be best for all concerned if he did imo. Thank god he won't be here next year. The worst signing we ever made, considering wages plus fee. The overall cost must be over 30 million. We could have bought 4/5 excellent players for that kind of money. Yes, terrible with hindsight. I thought it was a good signing at the time though. I can't see the club wanting him to stay anyway, we need to trim the wage bill. Ditto Viduka. Luxury players.

If Shearer's manager, I think he'll sell him for what he can get, probably to Blackburn. I can't see him tolerating Barton after what he did. Plus he's a heed-the-ball who's run out of second chances and he won't ever take a pay cut. Sell sell sell.

Owen will do what's best for Owen and his England career. I think he'll go and it would be best for all concerned if he did imo.

That Shearer plan in full: 1. Sell current players. 2. Buy new players 3. Get promoted Ashley: "I like points 1 and 3 Alan, but I have a big problem with 2".

Let's hope we don't fuck it up then. We haven't excelled at this in the past.

I think a bit of stability would help. We wouldn't be so interesting to the press if we weren't continually in crisis. We've been a circus for the last 10 years, with Shepherd & Hall's PR efforts, Dalglish & Yeading, bad boys like Dyer and Bellamy and Barton, Souness, money spunked on high profile flops, injury crises, the club raided by the police, Keegan's walk out, Ashley's attempt to sell up, etc. Then in addition Sky show charvas or topless pot bellies as representative of the fans. Plus continuing loyalty in the face of incompetent management and overpaid gutless players and terrible football. Now we've been relegated. If the club was run properly we wouldn't be such an easy target.

We're nothing like Arsenal though

We're going to have start giving youth a chance, mainly because we don't have the money to spend on players and/or won't be able to attract them like we used to

which is why he'll do fine in Italy. Be surprised if Fiorentina offer enough money to tempt us or Martins.

Yes. Plus he's forged his birth certificate and is really 35 years old.

Gregory and now O'Leary? Comic genius!

That's the bit that baffles me. You talk like we think we're Man Utd or something. I never came across any Toon fan who thinks we are in that league (I emigrated to NZ two years ago). What are you basing that on?

I hope that for once we don't leave it till the last possible moment to sign players due to incompetence or the insane desire to save a few bob. Let's get the squad sorted and have a proper pre-season so we're ready for kick off, please. Should be a bit easier now we're not after prem standard players, surely?

Well put. I blame the press, that and petty jealousy from the Keegan/Robson years. But mostly the press. If we dropped off the radar and the board/management/players acted with a bit of dignity for a change, wouldn't be a bad thing imo

Of course they were, and I would fully expect most of our support to do the same if it had been a comparable club to ours going down (oo-er missus). The thing that gets me, is the amount of slagging we've got. Maybe I'm wrong, but I get the impression we have received far more written and spoken comment attacking us than we would have given other clubs in our position. Something tells me there would have been one or two comments from Newcastle supporters in the media if it had been another club rather than us, but nothing like the quantity of shite being spouted about NUFC and it's supporters. I despair at the media treatment of us as fans (the way we're caricatured), but at the end of the day I honestly think it's because they're obsessed with this phenomenon of a club which never wins fuck all for decades and yet still has a fanbase which puts others to shame. That much at least always makes me smile. Equally I despair at the way our club has been run for a club of it's 'size'; I think the club has become a joke because of it (rightly so), but I don't think this reflects on the fans-I just think the media/other clubs try to portray it that way to take a swipe at us, because for the most part they feel inferior to a city which has an identity stronger than any other and absolutely worships one thing above all else in a way that just isn't replicated in England. It doesnt happen where I live and the city boasts the current and next reigning European Champions. It is simply not remotely the same experience. Some people have never forgiven us for being Sky's darlings and the media profile we got as a result. But I reckon a lot of it is to do with cynicism in the press.....they cannot stand the fact that we're a throwback to the days when people loved their clubs and it was a huge part of their local and cultural identity. It's not terribly post modern, there must be something wrong with us in the head. Thwe whole thing's not helped by the stereotypes on TV which pander to these prejudices. I read a lot of press reports as an exile and they never miss an opportunity to trot out the cliches or take the piss. I can understand why they think it's the truth. The media have been gunning for us for years and we've supplied them with the ammo......I'm hoping this final onslaught marks the end of it now we're relegated.

I think he had to apologise, I doubt he was forced to by Shearer. The apology itself doesn't mean a lot imo, it would have been more significant if he hadn't apologised.

I remember that. Can't help thinking though some of it is down to gambling on player's fitness in our desperation to sign them. Some of our signings - Carr, Babayaro, Owen, Viduka for instance - had well documented injury problems before we signed them.

And that's exactly my point. We pissed a lot of it up the wall without laying enough foundations on the playing front. We also made some staggeringly bad decisions on managers. When there's a revolving door policy on managers it makes everything much worse, as each new man rips it up and starts again. That's still not an argument for a DoF by the way Say after 4/5 years or however long, wouldn't it make sense to retain Shearer as a dir? Depends what his remit is. Fergie doesn't seem to mind Bobby Charlton being a director for instance.

Talksport is hardly a trustworthy source is it?

And that's exactly my point. We pissed a lot of it up the wall without laying enough foundations on the playing front. We also made some staggeringly bad decisions on managers. When there's a revolving door policy on managers it makes everything much worse, as each new man rips it up and starts again. That's still not an argument for a DoF by the way

It helps to have a manager you don't have to sack after they've blown your wad on their shite players. We've ripped it up and started again half a dozen times since the stability of SBR Of course by default that is a case for a DOF. Or not fucking up in appointing a manager. Again and again and again. Again, even with a goodish manager and had we still been in the PL we were probably about 8th choice for a player in this league and about 30th choice for a player if clubs of similar standing in Euro are taken into account. Yes, but Rome wasn't built in a day. Unless you're Chelsea. What's wrong with stability and steady improvement? We've had the whole of the PL time to build Rome. Mate, we're not talking about the same thing. Imagine the money was there to build Rome, but the architects held wild orgies and feasts, built themselves some big mansions and spunked the rest away on shoddy building materials, lean to's and gimmicky pre-fabs. Then when the money was gone they sodded off and left everyone to it. It might take the new blokes a bit longer to build Rome properly unless they're Roman sodding Abramovich, innit That cycle happens at almost every club. How did they get through it? Not sure what to make of such a massive generalisation. But the point is, it's happened to us now, at a time when ourselves and others simply can't spend our way out of it, because the money isn't there. So as an overall strategy we either have to take the Everton route to success, or find a real sugar daddy. Whichever way we go, doesn't mean the fundamentals of the club don't need to be sound, and that won't change overnight if you're starting from a low base. Where's our fukin head of opponent analysis??!! LFC » SQUAD » LFC COACHING STAFF LFC COACHING STAFF Rafael Benitez - Manager Sammy Lee - Assistant Manager Mauricio Pellegrino- First Team Coach Gary Ablett - Reserve Team Manager Angel Vales - Head of Technical Analysis Dave McDonough - Head of Opponent Analysis Paco De Miguel - Fitness Coach Gerard Nus - Assistant Fitness Coach Xavi Valero - Goalkeeping Coach Hughie McAuley - Reserve Team Coach Eduardo Macia - Chief Scout Mike McGlynn - Assistant Chief Scout Ron Yeats - Scout John Wright - Club Masseur Rob Price - Senior Physiotherapist Mark Browes - Assistant Physiotherapist Paul Small - Masseur Stuart Welsh - Masseur Mark Waller - Club Doctor Graham Carter - Kit Manager He wouldn't have had much work to do on wor lot this season. In fact he probably took the week off. I think we can agree we haven't got a lot in common with Liverpool.

Aye hopefully that is what he'll do, although frankly if he's decent enough maybe he'll be here for 20 years. It would certainly make a refreshing change. Lets say shearer does a decent job of re-building, but we don't go back up next year. will the board have the patience and cojones to stick with him, learn from the past, or will they get rid and say it was what the fans wanted? I guess I'm also saying, if it doesn't go perfectly 1st attempt, will we be patient. You have to wonder who we could get in to replace Shearer at this point

It helps to have a manager you don't have to sack after they've blown your wad on their shite players. We've ripped it up and started again half a dozen times since the stability of SBR Of course by default that is a case for a DOF. Or not fucking up in appointing a manager. Again and again and again. Again, even with a goodish manager and had we still been in the PL we were probably about 8th choice for a player in this league and about 30th choice for a player if clubs of similar standing in Euro are taken into account. Yes, but Rome wasn't built in a day. Unless you're Chelsea. What's wrong with stability and steady improvement? We've had the whole of the PL time to build Rome. Mate, we're not talking about the same thing. Imagine the money was there to build Rome, but the architects held wild orgies and feasts, built themselves some big mansions and spunked the rest away on shoddy building materials, lean to's and gimmicky pre-fabs. Then when the money was gone they sodded off and left everyone to it. It might take the new blokes a bit longer to build Rome properly unless they're Roman sodding Abramovich, innit That cycle happens at almost every club. How did they get through it? Not sure what to make of such a massive generalisation. But the point is, it's happened to us now, at a time when ourselves and others simply can't spend our way out of it, because the money isn't there. So as an overall strategy we either have to take the Everton route to success, or find a real sugar daddy. Whichever way we go, doesn't mean the fundamentals of the club don't need to be sound, and that won't change overnight if you're starting from a low base.

It helps to have a manager you don't have to sack after they've blown your wad on their shite players. We've ripped it up and started again half a dozen times since the stability of SBR Of course by default that is a case for a DOF. Or not fucking up in appointing a manager. Again and again and again. Again, even with a goodish manager and had we still been in the PL we were probably about 8th choice for a player in this league and about 30th choice for a player if clubs of similar standing in Euro are taken into account. Yes, but Rome wasn't built in a day. Unless you're Chelsea. What's wrong with stability and steady improvement? We've had the whole of the PL time to build Rome. Mate, we're not talking about the same thing. Imagine the money was there to build Rome, but the architects held wild orgies and feasts, built themselves some big mansions and spunked the rest away on shoddy building materials, lean to's and gimmicky pre-fabs. Then when the money was gone they sodded off and left everyone to it. It might take the new blokes a bit longer to build Rome properly unless they're Roman sodding Abramovich, innit