Supermac: Why I worry the worst is yet to come

[Angelus71 4]

from the Chron

 

AS saddened as he was by relegation, and as stunned as he is by what has – or has not – happened since, Malcolm Macdonald’s main emotion right now is fear.

 

Fear that the worst is yet to come for Newcastle United.

 

Fear of another, even heavier fall come next May.

 

The bookies, twisting the logic that what goes up must come down, make the Magpies favourites to return to the Premier League next season.

 

Macdonald though, drawing from bitter 40-year-old memories, fears a move in the opposite direction.

 

And, considering he foretold so much of the current strife when looking ahead to the 2008/09 season in the Chronicle a year ago, Newcastle’s absent landlords might do well to take notice.

 

“I believe that Kevin Keegan has been marginalised to such an extent that he’s now merely the coach rather than the overall supremo,” said Supermac – just one of his several eerily accurate predictions.

 

So what price League One football at St James’s Park in 2010/11?

 

Not likely, perhaps, but far from impossible if matters are not addressed.

 

“When a football club, like Newcastle right now, has no direction from the top or in the dressing room, it can only go one way: down,” says Macdonald, legendary hero of happier times at St James’s Park.

 

“When you hit such lows as Newcastle have, on and off the pitch, these last few months, the one thing guaranteed to follow if you don’t put things right after relegation is another relegation.

 

“I experienced it myself with Bobby Robson at Fulham back in 1969. He was brought in after relegation from the old Division One, but the older players at the club, who had been his team-mates, didn’t want to change.

 

“A rebellion happened and Bobby was sacked. The senior players won the battle, but they didn’t win the war – because Fulham got relegated again.

 

“I’m not saying Newcastle will do the same, but the formula is there for it to happen.

 

“If people are thinking Newcastle are automatically just going to bounce back they will be massively disappointed.

 

“Things MUST be changed at the club. Why are things not being changed?”

 

Chief among those things being the protracted saga of appointing Alan Shearer as manager full-time.

 

“Things are just being left to drift on the premise that the club is being sold, but why?” Macdonald added.

 

“No new owner in his right mind would not appoint Alan Shearer as manager, so why is he not already in the job and cracking on with what has to be done this summer?

 

“There is a crucial period in the close season when you can pull off transfers early and inject new life into the dressing room.

 

“The need for that is no more obvious than at Newcastle.

 

“The best deals usually happen in the first 10 days after the season ends. That’s when I did my best business as a manager.

 

“You get in quick before a player has other things or other teams to think about.

 

“But Newcastle didn’t do anything because they had no one there to do it.

 

“They have to get rid of 12 or 13 people on £50,000-plus a week and get in some hungry, up-and-coming players in their place.

 

“It needs to happen – or rather, it needed to happen. To basically ignore the summer because nobody is in charge is sheer madness.”

 

And, in that scenario, it isn’t just missed transfer targets that United fans need worry about.

 

“That situation won’t be lost on the current squad,” said Macdonald. “If you were a player right now at Newcastle and were still hungry to achieve something in the game, would you want to stay?

 

“The people who will want to stay are the ones who are grossly overpaid on silly contracts and have never done it yet for Newcastle United on the field of play – and never will.”

 

And therein lies the crux of the Magpies’ problems, according to Macdonald.

 

“Of course, there have been monumental mistakes made off the field, but it all comes down to the team on the park in the end,” he said.

 

“Those off-field mistakes have bred problems on the pitch. But how certain players have taken advantage of that fact.

 

“I’m not saying they do it consciously. They may do their best to try to convince themselves as well as us that they’re doing all they can for the club.

 

“But while their fat contracts run down, there’s actually been an awful lot lacking for an awful long time.

 

“New players coming in have seen standards are low; they haven’t had to raise their game a level to fit in. And mediocrity can be contagious.

 

“That wouldn’t have happened when I was a player under someone like Joe Harvey.

 

“I remember he signed someone – and I won’t name any names – who just didn’t impress the rest of us in training.

 

“After a while, Joe took me to one side and asked ‘what’s your problem with this fella?’

 

“I said ‘boss, he’s not good enough for us’. Joe, albeit through gritted teeth said: ‘yes, I’m beginning to think that myself’ and never played him.

 

“But now, whether it’s a new or old player that isn’t up to the mark, nobody at Newcastle seems to want to rise above it.

 

“Instead, everybody’s standards go down.

 

“The whole thing then keeps steadily moving downhill like a snowball. When that happens in football, you have to recognise it and stop it immediately, otherwise it spells disaster.

 

“Newcastle haven’t stopped it.

 

“People scratch their heads and ask ‘how did this happen?’ But the reason is because Newcastle haven’t had anyone behind the scenes who was bothered enough to stop it happening.

 

“Everyone on the outside could see it, and yet nobody has fixed things even now.

 

“So while it was a shambles last season, when the players report back on July 1 and nobody knows what they’re doing, and nobody has the overall say on anything, it will be far worse.”

 

Heaven – or Alan Shearer – forbid.

 

....................................

[Tom 13893]

“The best deals usually happen in the first 10 days after the season ends. That’s when I did my best business as a manager.

 

Yes and we all know how that went.

[The Fish 9087]

so what he's saying is that if we go a season without a new owner or a manager, with the best players leaving and nobody coming in, he's saying we might be in trouble?

 

fuck me, that's some left-field thinking there... real insight.

 

[Craig 6321]

I do wish Malcolm MacDonald would just fucking disappear.

[The Fish 9087]

There's some woods right beside his house, I'm sure you could lose a body in there pretty easy...

 

if not, he's right by a little harbour, kidnap him, steal a boat, pour a couple bottles of whiskey down his throat, capsize the boat and swim to shore, y'know or whatever

[Craig 6321]

Why in the world would I want to kidnap MacDonald.. That would mean I'd have to be in the vicinity of his Darth Vader-esque breathing and listen to his inane bullshit.

[spongebob toonpants 3629]

Nothing wrong with that article as far as I am concerned.

 

It might seem blindingly obvious to us, but I would rather see that in the paper than more ill informed guesswork about how far along mystery consortia are to completing due dilligence, installing shearer yadda yadda yadda.

 

Everyday that passes makes the unthinkable more likely. There should be articles shouting that everyday

[The Fish 9087]

Why in the world would I want to kidnap MacDonald.. That would mean I'd have to be in the vicinity of his Darth Vader-esque breathing and listen to his inane bullshit.

 

I'm sure you could suffer thirty minutes of an unconcious Macdonald if his timely demise was the denouement

[Asprilla 96]

Nothing wrong with that article as far as I am concerned.

 

It might seem blindingly obvious to us, but I would rather see that in the paper than more ill informed guesswork about how far along mystery consortia are to completing due dilligence, installing shearer yadda yadda yadda.

 

Everyday that passes makes the unthinkable more likely. There should be articles shouting that everyday

 

I agree.

[Park Life 70]

Nothing wrong with that article as far as I am concerned.

 

It might seem blindingly obvious to us, but I would rather see that in the paper than more ill informed guesswork about how far along mystery consortia are to completing due dilligence, installing shearer yadda yadda yadda.

 

Everyday that passes makes the unthinkable more likely. There should be articles shouting that everyday

 

I agree.

 

+1

[Guest alex]

Nothing wrong with that article as far as I am concerned.

 

It might seem blindingly obvious to us, but I would rather see that in the paper than more ill informed guesswork about how far along mystery consortia are to completing due dilligence, installing shearer yadda yadda yadda.

 

Everyday that passes makes the unthinkable more likely. There should be articles shouting that everyday

Aye, it's a bit 'I told you so' but like you say it's a lot more informed than 99% of stuff you read about us. Plus, you know he's got the club's interests at heart.

[Renton 17949]

“The best deals usually happen in the first 10 days after the season ends. That’s when I did my best business as a manager.

 

Yes and we all know how that went.

 

He was quite a good manager with Fulham to be fair, at least initially.

 

He talks a lot of sense in that article and draws attention to our perilous predicament now. Some people (not you in particular Tom) seem to revel in having a go at the guy for fuck knows what reason. The level of abuse is totally uncalled for imo.

[brummiemag1 0]

“The best deals usually happen in the first 10 days after the season ends. That’s when I did my best business as a manager.

 

Yes and we all know how that went.

 

He was quite a good manager with Fulham to be fair, at least initially.

 

He talks a lot of sense in that article and draws attention to our perilous predicament now. Some people (not you in particular Tom) seem to revel in having a go at the guy for fuck knows what reason. The level of abuse is totally uncalled for imo.

 

 

I agree with you about the article and the fact he was quite a good manager. I remember him bringing Fulham up to St James and beating us 4 1 back in the early 80's. Fulham were applauded off the pitch by the newcastle fans at the end of the game

[spongebob toonpants 3629]

“The best deals usually happen in the first 10 days after the season ends. That’s when I did my best business as a manager.

 

Yes and we all know how that went.

 

He was quite a good manager with Fulham to be fair, at least initially.

 

He talks a lot of sense in that article and draws attention to our perilous predicament now. Some people (not you in particular Tom) seem to revel in having a go at the guy for fuck knows what reason. The level of abuse is totally uncalled for imo.

 

 

I agree with you about the article and the fact he was quite a good manager. I remember him bringing Fulham up to St James and beating us 4 1 back in the early 80's. Fulham were applauded off the pitch by the newcastle fans at the end of the game

 

I was desperate for the club to appoint him as our manager - Fulham that season played great attacking football, I was convinced it would happen. It didnt Jack bloody Charlton. Made FaT sAm look like a footballing cultural genius.

 

(I may have my timeline mixed up here -I cant be bothered to check)

[ChezGiven 0]

A clock is right twice a day.

[nufc4ever 0]

Even a broken one.

[Kitman 2188]

Bless him, the silly old fool

[ChezGiven 0]

Even a broken one.

 

Aye, thats the one.