Jimbo 133 Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 ALMIGHTY God has his favourites, whom he blesses with his beneficence; and then there are those who, for some unexplained reason, he cannot stand and upon whom he ladles misfortune, misery and humiliation. Such as, for example, Newcastle United. Just last week he got the ladle out again, perhaps annoyed that Glenn Roeder had succeeded in lifting a very ordinary side safely away from the drop zone against all expectations (or at least mine; I had a tenner on them to go down). He put mischief in the hearts of the club’s supporters, a little germ of bitter discontent at some imagined unfulfilled potential. “Roeder out, Roeder out!” the fans chanted, as if they had suddenly became aware this was yet another season where they weren’t going to win anything at all, let alone anything worth boasting about. “Roeder out!” they bellowed, forgetting that this likeable mild-mannered man had rescued them from the hell of last season when, winless after five games, they were bellowing with great conviction: “Souness out, Roeder in! Souness out, Roeder in!” And promptly got their wish granted. Just as they got their wish granted a short while before when the chant had been the almost sacrilegious: “Robson out! Robson out!” The poor Geordies do not know on what side their stotty cake is buttered; I remember them calling for the head of Joe Harvey, the most successful manager at St James’ Park in 50 years and the last to win them a trophy they might reasonably be proud of, the Fairs Cup, back in 1969. Unless you count triumphs in the Anglo-Italian tournaments of the early 1970s, the Texaco Cup of 1975 or the Intertoto Cup of 2006, all trophies that have stamped indelibly on the thinnish silver plate: “For second-rate also-rans only.” As did, I suppose, the Fairs Cup, although that win over Upjest Dosza, conjured by the loyal journeymen Bobby Moncur and the ungainly Wyn Davies, was at least thrilling and against the odds. I watched it on a crackling and spitting black-and-white TV, a little kid cheering himself hoarse among northern relatives who were, to a man, Middlesbrough supporters but who had put their usual visceral loathing aside for the evening. You have to go back to 1955 for the last time Newcastle United won anything — the FA Cup, in this case — which the big clubs really cared about. And this season marks the 80th anniversary since they last won the league. Why has it been so long? They are, after all, the third best supported club in England, after Manchester United and Arsenal. These days there is an almost one-to-one relationship between fans coming in and trophies piling up in the boardroom; with the transient exception of Chelsea, the clubs with the biggest fanbase win most things. But not Newcastle; not this season, or last season, or the one before that; not ever since 1955. Why is this? Bad administration, I suppose, a succession of beefy megalomaniac northern businessmen suffused with an almost inconceivable arrogance. That’s one answer. If only they had had a Steve Gibson, they lament, looking enviously down the A19 towards the “little” club, Middlesbrough — the little club that recently won the League Cup, got to the final of the Uefa Cup and may well finish above Newcastle in the league this season. But that’s not the sum of it; misfortune drapes itself around the shoulders of the Toon and breeds within the supporters a gnawing discomfort: nobody is good enough for them. “Keegan out! Keegan out!” they bellowed at the best manager they’ve had since Harvey, and now it’s “Roeder out!”, the best manager they’ve had since Keegan. It is not Roeder’s fault that Michael Owen ended up with a foot facing in the wrong direction while playing for England: with Owen - a reluctant conscript, to be sure, nobody wants to live in the northeast of England for reasons that elude me - and with a fit squad Newcastle would have been top six, at least. Without him, and with calamitous injuries, nothing. So, it’s God’s fault. Perhaps he hates the Likely Lads and Lindisfarne and Ant and Dec (for which, fair comment, Lord). But having placed in the hearts of the Geordies a deep dissatisfaction with Roeder, he then set about more mischief and spite. Who should replace him? Someone utterly hopeless, someone the fans already hate, even before he’s been installed. Someone as unGeordie as its possible to get. Yep, got it, Sven. A marriage made in heaven. It doesn’t matter that the club have denied approaching Sven; you sort of just know it will happen. A manager whose only truly remarkable achievements came some quarter of a century back with Gothenburg and taking Lazio to the Serie A title after spending tens of millions on players; apart from that, he has taken a succession of clubs to within an ace of great things, but almost never won them. It is too perfect. Nobody embodies unfulfilled potential quite like Sven-Göran Eriksson. When you think about it, the only choice for Newcastle that could possibly be worse than Sven is Steve McClaren, who is a bit like Sven except without the charisma, intelligence and floozies. I wouldn’t bet against that, one of these days, either. Poor Newcastle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg 6 Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 (edited) WHAT A twat! Roeder our best manager since Keegan? Wanker. Edited April 14, 2007 by Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo 133 Posted April 14, 2007 Author Share Posted April 14, 2007 Aye, its amazing what shit the Times will print these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul 0 Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 (edited) they were bellowing with great conviction: “Souness out, Roeder in! Souness out, Roeder in!” And promptly got their wish granted. Just as they got their wish granted a short while before when the chant had been the almost sacrilegious: “Robson out! Robson out!” What bollocks. Edited April 14, 2007 by Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 13919 Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 Aye, its amazing what shit the Times will print these days. I thought it was written by a 15 year old boro fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMoog 0 Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 they were bellowing with great conviction: “Souness out, Roeder in! Souness out, Roeder in!” And promptly got their wish granted. Just as they got their wish granted a short while before when the chant had been the almost sacrilegious: “Robson out! Robson out!” What bollocks. I don't recall any Robson out chants, just the papers saying that they happened Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acrossthepond 747 Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 Arse and a half. Another spiteful pissant hopping on the anti-NUFC bandwagon. I wonder if there's any publication in the country that can resist taking a swipe at us whenever possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul 0 Posted April 14, 2007 Share Posted April 14, 2007 they were bellowing with great conviction: “Souness out, Roeder in! Souness out, Roeder in!” And promptly got their wish granted. Just as they got their wish granted a short while before when the chant had been the almost sacrilegious: “Robson out! Robson out!” What bollocks. I don't recall any Robson out chants, just the papers saying that they happened Exactly. The bloke is talking shite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asprilla 96 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Yep. Drivel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckyluke 1 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Once again ignoring the fact that nobody really wanted Roeder as manager in the first place. That came from the Times? Judging from the misinformed rhetoric bullshit posing as journalism I'm guessing it's that twat Simon Barnes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_NUFC 0 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Aye, its amazing what shit the Times will print these days. I thought it was written by a 15 year old boro fan Na, too many big words Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mighty Hog 372 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Once again ignoring the fact that nobody really wanted Roeder as manager in the first place. That came from the Times? Judging from the misinformed rhetoric bullshit posing as journalism I'm guessing it's that twat Simon Barnes? Rod Little apparently, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/foo...icle1654892.ece People are easily ripping it to pieces anyway, just check out the comments at the bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 they were bellowing with great conviction: “Souness out, Roeder in! Souness out, Roeder in!” And promptly got their wish granted. Just as they got their wish granted a short while before when the chant had been the almost sacrilegious: “Robson out! Robson out!” What bollocks. Well the Souness out Roeder in is complete bollocks. But a lot of people wanted Roeder at the end of his caretakership and an awful lot of people DID want Robson out . It's probably no surprise if this is the national view of Newcastle fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Steve_Howey 0 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 While not at the level of the chanting stated in that article, there were a lot of people I know who definitely said it was time for Robson to go, and plenty of people willing to give Roeder a chance. Keegan out though is an absolute joke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 27151 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 A manager whose only truly remarkable achievements came some quarter of a century back with Gothenburg and taking Lazio to the Serie A title after spending tens of millions on players; apart from that, he has taken a succession of clubs to within an ace of great things, but almost never won them. It is too perfect. Nobody embodies unfulfilled potential quite like Sven-Göran Eriksson. Lets ignore all the cups he won with Roma, Benfica (who he also got the the European Cup final and won the league a few times) and Sampdoria, but of course winning a cup clearly doesn't count as an achievement in Liddle's eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Patrokles Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Obviously none of you are familiar with Rod Liddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asprilla 96 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Obviously none of you are familiar with Rod Liddle. Yep..the guy's a tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burch 0 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 Geordies are monkeys and morons quoth the man. Think of him as a male Julie Burchill without the wit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombadil 0 Posted April 15, 2007 Share Posted April 15, 2007 “Roeder out!” they bellowed, forgetting that this likeable mild-mannered man had rescued them from the hell of last season Have I missed something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 I was going to post this but Jimbo beat me to it. I normally give his consistently appalling column in the Sunday Times Sports section little more than a cursory glance but this grabbed my attention for obvious reasons. This bit took the biscuit for me: "nobody is good enough for them. “Keegan out! Keegan out!” they bellowed at the best manager they’ve had since Harvey, and now it’s “Roeder out!”, the best manager they’ve had since Keegan." How ill-informed can you get? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleftpeg 0 Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 Keegan out and Robson out? He's on the wind up surely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 20242 Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 (edited) enough people on his forum were calling for robson's head before shepherd weidled the axe iirc Edited April 16, 2007 by Fancy Dan lecturer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleftpeg 0 Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 I said he should have gone in the summer. Not sacked though, moved upstairs and given the chance to pick his replacement. It's hardly 'Robson out' chanting though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 (edited) Rod Liddle's got a column in the main part of the Sunday Times too btw. It's no better. Edit: Brought up on Teeside according to Wiki. All starting to make sense tbh. Edited April 16, 2007 by alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manc-mag 1 Posted April 16, 2007 Share Posted April 16, 2007 they were bellowing with great conviction: “Souness out, Roeder in! Souness out, Roeder in!” And promptly got their wish granted. Just as they got their wish granted a short while before when the chant had been the almost sacrilegious: “Robson out! Robson out!” What bollocks. Well the Souness out Roeder in is complete bollocks. But a lot of people wanted Roeder at the end of his caretakership and an awful lot of people DID want Robson out . It's probably no surprise if this is the national view of Newcastle fans. Fop, you talk an inordinate amount of shit. Firstly, you're talking nonsense in your assessment of the fans. I think extremely few people actually wanted Roeder to stop on after the season had finished and were keen to see a proper external appointment made. I'd go further and say I think they actually expected it. The Robson situation was slighly different in that it was only proper and sensible that the man bowed out at some point as he was getting towards his mid fucking seventies-it wasnt rocket science-it was all about the strategy of replacing him and central to that was the issue of timing. In the end, as we all know, the timing couldnt have been any worse. All of the above, including the appointment of Souness in between, has been an unmitigated disaster. Secondly and much more importantly however, to tie this in with the Rod Liddle bollocks, even if your assessment of the fans views was correct it is meaningless. The fans are entitled to say what they like, the fans are entitled to be completely wrong and the fans are entitled to the benefit of hindsight. It's a completely redundant argument because in short the fans don't run the football club. If you want to use the most extreme example of that, a huge number of Man U fans wanted Ferguson out very early on in his tenure (only to be placated by a Cup Winners Cup win) and then again after they lost the title race to Leeds (only to be placated by their triumph the following season). This is absolute fact-I grew up with it and remember it vividly speaking to mates at school, listening to radio phone ins etc etc. On both of those occasions the fans views were ignored by a strong board who had a belief in the manager and a vision for the future. On each occassion the fans have benefitted from having their views overruled. This is how it should be ideally. There is a slight paternalistic aspect to it which is uncomfortable, but the only real point of importance is that the board are paid to know whats best for the club and it is their fucking job to know whats best for the club. The fans on the otherhand are entitled to talk shite and sense in equal instalments but that never avails a chairman or any of his apologists of a defence to a bad appointment (be it either personnel or timing). The 'overwhelming fan's support' defence that is being trotted out now as a near pre-emptive strike is the most desparate management I think I've ever witnessed and is nothing short of a fucking disgrace. It speaks volumes about how this club has been run for many years now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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