Proving finally that Mike Ashley knows as much about football as my missus, the sacking of Chris Hughton shows the guy is living in a dream world where Newcastle are one the biggest clubs in the world and should win every game, the fact he hasn't got Abramovich or Sheikh Mansour's billions seems to have passed him by.
Last seasons record of 30 wins, 12 draws and only 4 defeats was outstanding especially for a club that started the season in "crisis" and expectations were very low, Hughton deserved better after turning round the team that had been so bad the previous season.
But since taking over at the start of last season it has been obvious that Hughtons face didn't really fit with Ashley and he only got the job because he was already there and none of the so called world class managers would touch the job without considerable financial back up.
This season despite a few defeats they have probably punched above their weight to be mid table, a win and a draw against Chelsea is a pretty good return for a newly promoted team and recent wins at Arsenal and the 5-1 thrashing of local rivals Sunderland should have given Hughton a safe job for the next couple of seasons and if their new striker Ben Arfa hadn't got injured it could have been even better.
Newcastle have said that they are "looking for someone with more managerial experience"? anyone with the required managerial experience wouldn't touch this club with a barge pole after this would they?
Contenders -
Martin Jol has just left Ajax so is the current favourite but is his record any better? Tottenham fans might have an opinion on that, as far as I know he hasn't won a league title with any team even Ajax who finished behind Steve McClaren's Twente last season.
Martin O'Neill is in the frame but again his record isn't top class, titles at Celtic are good but that is Scottish football where as long as you beat Rangers you're probably going to win the league, Aston Villa really should have qualified for the Champions league under O'Neill but they never managed it and his record at Leicester is good for a small team in that they won a cup but the league form was patchy.
Alan Pardew again has a reasonable record of getting teams to punch above their weight with Reading, West Ham and Southampton but nothing much in the way of trophies.
I see Peter Beardsley has taken the 30 pieces of silver to take the job on a temporary basis, I would have thought a Newcastle legend like him might have told Ashley where to stick it.
I like Newcastle but if there is a god then they will fall like a stone now and get relegated. The fans don't deserve it but Ashley and the board do. They are only 4 points off 6th place ffs!
ReplyDelete"Proving finally that Mike Ashley knows as much about football as my missus..."
ReplyDeleteI howled at that! (No offense to the missus..)
I'll say Alan Pardew, if Beardsley doesn't stay.
I have no love for Newcastle after the molotov incident in the seventies and serial thug Barton plays for them, but I did admire Hughton for turning them back into a top flight team when it was obvious Ashley was looking for any excuse to sack him throughout his spell in charge.
ReplyDeleteYes it would be great if they went down just to spite Ashley but I can't see it happening matter who is in charge.
I would have thought Pardew would have had his fill of chairman who want to manage the team after his experiences at West Ham and Southampton but he needs a job so who knows?
Hi Biopunk nice to see someone else here :)
ReplyDeleteNo offence Longy hehe