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Clark : This could be it for me


Scottish Mag
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Lee Clark admits he goes into tomorrow's clash with Chelsea uncertain whether it will be his last game as a Newcastle United player.

 

The 33-year-old, who has been playing through the pain barrier in the last two weeks with a hernia problem, could step back to a coaching role next season, but his playing future remains unclear.

 

Caretaker boss Glenn Roeder has already hinted Clark may still have a playing role next season, but for now the former Fulham ace is focused on taking on the Blues in United's crucial final game of the season at St James' Park.

 

He said today: "We have an important game coming up because we know that we can still end up in the UEFA Cup next season if we win against Chelsea.

 

"It won't be easy. They have world class players and we have to get the right result."

 

Clark is expected to play some part in tomorrow's grand finale against Chelsea and refused to rule out the possibility of starting next season in a playing capacity - which was always the Toon hero's plan when he returned last summer.

 

He added: "I am very open minded about what happens next season.

 

"We will just have to see what sort of a position we are in.

 

"I'm not too sure on my own future - I will have to sit down and talk about things.

 

"I also have a hernia operation to deal with after the season is finished, which will be my 13th of my career.

 

"I have to wait and see who is the next man in charge at the club and see what he wants to do.

 

"I don't think that staying has ever been an issue, it is just a case of what kind of role next season."

 

The Wallsend-born player has big ambitions in coaching and has been cutting his teeth in the dug-out alongside Tommy Craig this term with the reserves.

 

Clark has worked in Craig's shadow this season and has helped lead a young Toon second string to an unbeaten home record as well as success in the Northumberland Senior Cup with a win over Blyth Spartans in this week's final.

 

Clark is expected to be part of Roeder's backroom staff next season, with the United gaffer full of admiration for the Geordie boy.

 

And the former Wallsend Boys Club product is confident that Roeder is the man to bring the glory days back to Tyneside.

 

He went on: "The manager's job for Glenn would be a thoroughly deserved appointment.

 

"Nobody can argue with what he has done or what has been said about him."

 

Clark left United in 1997 when Kenny Dalglish sold him to Sunderland in a decision that did not go down well with the majority of fans.

 

However, there were no complaints when he returned to United last summer from Fulham with the player making 24 appearances in all competitions.

 

Clark has netted just one goal - the last-gasp equaliser against Middlesbrough in January during the 2-2 draw - but it earned what could turn out to be a crucial point come tomorrow night. However, Clark revealed it has not been the only high point.

 

He added: "If it is my last official season as a player it has been a special one.

 

"I want to stay at the club but that has been the case since I was a young player.

 

"This season has been fantastic and I think there has been just five or six occasions when I haven't been involved in the first team."

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All of this wanking over Clark is getting on my nerves. There were no complaints when he returned because no-one expected him to actually start any games for us.

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Guest Sima
Clark:  This could be it for me

 

Let's fucking hope so Lee. You've outstayed your welcome as it is.

132457[/snapback]

 

Beat me to it.

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And more of the same from Oliver:

 

Local hero

 

By Alan Oliver, He Evening Chronicle

 

When Graeme Souness was sacked in February, I only made one wish in this column. That when Newcastle United find a new manager it would be someone who has a feel for the club.

 

Well, Freddy Shepherd has certainly done just that in Glenn Roeder.

 

I also expressed an opinion that I did not envy Shepherd in his task of finding a new incumbent for one of the hottest seats in football.

 

He knows that no matter who he appoints he is going to get it in the neck from some supporters.

 

You need look no further at the mess England have made of choosing their new manager to see just how difficult it is to satisfy everyone.

 

But if Shepherd had been at Stanley last week, and on his own doorstep and former stamping ground Wallsend Labour Club on Thursday night, he would have seen the man he has chosen to manage Newcastle get receptions from the United fans that can only be described as amazing.

 

Roeder gave his services free for the benefit of Stanley Royal FC and Wallsend Boys Club, and how the fans who turned up to hear him at the talk-ins loved him.

 

They could see just how much Roeder has a feel for the club.

 

A feel for the club that no other big-name manager could possibly have.

 

In fact, I would go even further by saying the Cockney boy's love for his adopted city has stood out.

 

No matter who Freddy Shepherd brings in, he cannot guarantee United success.

 

But Roeder has a head start on any of the other candidates from home or abroad because he has a feel for Newcastle United.

 

Utterly cringeworthy. How fucking small-minded can you get.

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What exactly does 'having a feel for the club' mean anyway? Accepting that, as the new manager, you are effectively keeping the seat warm for Shearer? Accepting that you're going to have to work with a clueless idiot of a chairman who will tell you who to buy and who to sell? Being willing to talk to the chairman's mouthpiece, a sad local journalist who thinks he's the centre of the footballing world, on a daily basis?

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He's a good lad and doesn't deserve some of the criticism here. You are having a go at him, but it should just be at Oliver et al getting the abuse.

 

Clarky just loves the Toon. Fair enough, he isn't good enough anymore but he might have something to offer as a coach.

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He's a good lad and doesn't deserve some of the criticism here. You are having a go at him, but it should just be at Oliver et al getting the abuse.

 

Clarky just loves the Toon. Fair enough, he isn't good enough anymore but he might have something to offer as a coach.

132511[/snapback]

 

Yeah its Oliver who is the prick. Clarkie just loves the club and was ecstatic to get a chance to return and actually play for us again, and he'd love to work with the club in ome capacity.

 

Whereas Oliver, and more worryingly Fat Fred seem to have this obbsession with ignoring any decent candidate on the basis they're foriegn, and not geordies or people who understand the club"

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What exactly does 'having a feel for the club' mean anyway? Accepting that, as the new manager, you are effectively keeping the seat warm for Shearer? Accepting that you're going to have to work with a clueless idiot of a chairman who will tell you who to buy and who to sell? Being willing to talk to the chairman's mouthpiece, a sad local journalist who thinks he's the centre of the footballing world, on a daily basis?

132472[/snapback]

:D

 

Very true...

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