ChezGiven

If Bill Shankly himself had come in when Roeder did, I reckon we'd be about 7th. Can I clarify this? Are you seriously drawing a comparison with Roeder and one of the greats of British football management? No. I'm saying even one of the greats of British football management couldn't have broken our squad (with all it's troubles) into the top 5 at this point of the season. Given that Roeder is an average manager at best, his performance has been excellent. I don't agree. If you gave a good manager (hypothetical or not) in excess of 15 million quid to spend as he pleased in the summer with the squad Roeder inherited, I would expect them to do a better job than Roeder. That means gaining points against Sheffield United at home, for instance, or not getting humped at home by Birmingham in the cup. And again, please enlighten me on which performances have been excellent, because I can't think of a single game where we were convincing. Portsmouth at home. Spurs at home apart from 20 mins in first half. West Ham away. Portsmouth was good, but not spectacular. Honestly can't remember Spurs at home that well (demon drink). West Ham were/are struggling. I could list a lot of seriously bad games to counter these but I haven't got time. I was convinced in all 3. You asked for one game. Spurs was excellent in parts.

If Bill Shankly himself had come in when Roeder did, I reckon we'd be about 7th. Can I clarify this? Are you seriously drawing a comparison with Roeder and one of the greats of British football management? No. I'm saying even one of the greats of British football management couldn't have broken our squad (with all it's troubles) into the top 5 at this point of the season. Given that Roeder is an average manager at best, his performance has been excellent. I don't agree. If you gave a good manager (hypothetical or not) in excess of 15 million quid to spend as he pleased in the summer with the squad Roeder inherited, I would expect them to do a better job than Roeder. That means gaining points against Sheffield United at home, for instance, or not getting humped at home by Birmingham in the cup. And again, please enlighten me on which performances have been excellent, because I can't think of a single game where we were convincing. Portsmouth at home. Spurs at home apart from 20 mins in first half. West Ham away.

Just covering all bases. [/alex]

It may have been the charity shield in 96 am thinking of.

Its uncanny how it became the buzz word of the forums and now is in every single club statement.

He would say that if we blew him out though (not saying we did). [/Caveat-tastic] I dont think he likes the club. He turned against us during his time at Man U. Does anyone remember Cole sitting on the bench in the 99 final, TV camera switched to him just as a peanut was flying through the air and hitting him on the head? Or did i make that up in my head?

Keeping powder dry is a Bobby Robsonism tbh.

and northern monkey off newcastle online. He seethes for a living tbh.

Mourinho and his Blanket yesterday

Comment in the Mirror article today suggests Cole didnt want to come here. Never forgiven Cole for singing that song at Wembley with the Mancs either.

See the Maccarone quotes about McClaren this morning? Slated. Allardyce might have done a good job but he didnt want to leave Bolton. Just read the letter in full in The Times. Oops! Puff tbh.

Adam mate, you've done this before (comparing the management and strategic planning in your company to that at NUFC) and I can't help but feel it's a sackable offence. The you've missed the point, not even we have it down to a precise science. We've been 'planning' this deal for 12 months and its about to go tits up. I don't think I have missed the point tbh. Newcastle haven't operated with a plan for a long time. That's my point. And I'm not sure we had much of a one for this last window. Certainly nothing realistic if this list of Roeder's is actually true. Of course plans can go wrong and not work out, but I think you're crediting NUFC with a bit too much intelligence. Then you dont mean plan, you mean vision You are right though, how could we have had a proper direction as a club with the appointments and decisions that have been made. Its important now that someone is allowed to do what Allardyce did and have a strategic vision of where the club should be and how it should make the best use of its resources. Roeder's comments this morning shows he has a vision for where the club should be in the future. Sounds like a plan to me. I meant Allardyce coming to us too.

See the Maccarone quotes about McClaren this morning? Slated. Allardyce might have done a good job but he didnt want to leave Bolton.

Adam mate, you've done this before (comparing the management and strategic planning in your company to that at NUFC) and I can't help but feel it's a sackable offence. The you've missed the point, not even we have it down to a precise science. We've been 'planning' this deal for 12 months and its about to go tits up. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/new...ng_longterm.php Richie, how many times do Bolton lob it into the penalty area and bundle it over the line? I wasnt really making a point about playing style, just that i know which club is 'better' to support, although clearly trying to be objective about it is impossible. Alex, just knowing i can have a drink with you makes the experience worthwhile

I meant watching the shite that they serve up as entertainment not just visiting that plastic shithole. Apologies, i didnt mean to flit about the subject. Our previous strategy fell on its arse and we are now in a fucked state as a club. Bolton have done better this season but they arent exactly inspiring.

I'd rather have my eyeballs syringed than go to the Reebok week in week out.

Planning is an inexact science. There are too many unknowns in business to have a contingency for every eventuality that your environment throws up. I think there have been conflicting priorities for the club and the main one has been to stabilise the business and shift the overall philosophy from gambling on big signings. To what is not yet clear. I have always said that the transfer market is too uncertain to have a fixed plan as each deal is related to other deals in the way the housing market is. In the business i work in, we have a strategic brand plan each year that is revised as an ongoing process a minimum of 3 times in the year due to unforeseen challenges. We deliver over £30 billion of sales each year so we are really expert at it too. Still feels like guesswork though. Tomorrow my boss is in Philadelphia doing due dilligence on a product we need. The company that owns it wants to deal but they also want to merge their whole business with our main competitor, in which case the deal is off. If we dont get it, we will be fucked in the area for good. Failure of management if it doesnt come off? Not in the slightest imo.

Missy Elliot?

Gooch and Bramble are like War of the Worlds tbh.

No, I think Roeder would like a load of other additions to the squad and would like everyone fit. Just think O'Neill is a far better manager. Their relative track-records prove that tbh. O'Neill is a better manager, but I consider him slightly above average and not the 'Mr Fixit' everyone pants on about. Hes probably still a bit ring-rusty having been out of the game for a while.

racailles is french for Charvas ??? Basically aye. Or scum Same derivation as rascal i would have thought.

Charvas.

Sweeping Hollywood shots of Whitley are one thing you dont expect to see in a cinema.