EPL Talk » Joe Kinnear

The Relegation Rumble: Will Alan Shearer’s Newcastle Be Relegated?

tyduffy — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:46:17 +0000

Newcastle has been in a rudderless malaise for most of the season. Kevin Keegan resigned and nearly every potential replacement rejected the offer. The club pulled backdated Joe Kinnear out of retirement, gave him the full time job and then watched him succumb to heart trouble. Chris Hughton took over as a caretaker, and the club has finally asked Alan Shearer to replace him for the final eight matches.

Along with the managerial mess, owner Mike Ashley, after being lambasted by the supporters, tried and failed to sell the team, while simultaneously watching his fortune come tumbling down in the economic crisis.

The traumatic season seems to warrant a dramatic ending, one way or another.

Form: Newcastle’s form has been atrocious. They have one win in their last 12 matches, and that was an unimpressive 3-2 affair against the worst team in the league, West Brom. Perhaps a moderate bright point is that their losses at home during the stretch, were to big four sides, suggesting that, at least at home, they can play for points.

Schedule: Newcastle need to get back on track. Their schedule may not allow that to happen. The Alan Shearer bounce will receive a rude welcome, hosting Chelsea on Saturday. They then travel away to Stoke City and Tottenham, play Portsmouth at home and then visit Anfield. Conceivably, Newcastle could be relegated before they hit the soft patch of home ties against Middlesbrough and Fulham, followed by a probable dead rubber away to Aston Villa. They may be sunk if they do not get at least four points from the next three matches.

Injuries: Injuries have and possibly will continue to hurt Newcastle. Both Bassong and Steven Taylor are suffering at the back, and Barton and Duff in midfield. The two things you want in the midst of a relegation battle, or at any time, are experience and quality, so this will hinder them.

Prognosis: Shearer is an unknown quantity, so it’s difficult to assess how effective he will be in this eight-game stint. A lot may rest on this weekend’s match against Chelsea. If Newcastle pull off a result at home, they could ride the wave from Alan Shearer’s mystical presence. If they play like they have the rest of the season, retiring like a doused candle, it’s hard to see them mustering the strength to fight their way out.

Newcastle Call For Venables? Things Can’t Get Any Worse

Paul Bestall — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:37:09 +0000

Well, can things get any worse for Newcastle United than they currently are? One win in the league in 3 months, the manager still recovering from his triple heart bypass operation, crowds are falling, the caretakers pointing out, in case you’ve missed it, that Newcastle find themselves in a relegation battle and then today the English papers are full of a certain ex-England manager riding to the rescue of the Geordie nation.

Ah, the return of Terry Venables to the Premiership once again. Could he be the man to save Newcastle United from returning to the Championship, 16 years after they left it? A man who has given me some of my favourite footballing memories during his spells at Barcelona, Tottenham and England but has seen his stock fall rapidly with disastrous spells at Crystal Palace, Portsmouth and Leeds United during the beginning of the implosion for the Elland Road club.

Now El Tel has several contacts in the media and his name often crops up whenever high profile vacancies or situations are in the media, so it’s no real surprise to see this latest connection being made today but honestly, can Venables really save Newcastle United? I’m not so sure he’s got the clout to pull it off at all anymore. At Leeds United, his term there was dreadful and the club were in real danger of going down, despite having a much stronger squad than Peter Reid inherited, ultimately keeping them up.That was nearly six years ago now and Newcastle are in more trouble than Leeds United were when he took over. Venables has always been Teflon coated in the eyes of some media outlets in the UK, who conveniantly forget the Palace/Pompey/Leeds situations. In fact, for a glimpse of Newcastle potential future, they only have to cast eyes down the A1 towards West Yorkshire.

The report uses the usual British media tactic of ” a club insider told us” to give credence to the story,but ultimately, Venables has been so out of form managerially recently I can’t see there being any substance to it. As much I loved the memories of the 80’s and 90’s under Venables at White Hart Lane, I can’t seeing him being able to do anything to save Newcastle United. Yet, it wouldn’t surprise me under the current regime if he did reappear at St James’ Park as interim manager until the end of the season such is the lack of football knowledge in the boardroom in Newcastle.

The Geordie fans may be thinking just what they’ve done to deserve this but ever since Bobby Robson was sacked after 4 games of the 2004/2005 season, Newcastle have fallen further and further down the table, seeing 5 managers and 3 caretakers try and fill his boots. What they would give for Robson to be anywhere near healthy to come in and save them but his battle with terminal cancer is catching up with him sadly. Mike Ashley’s made plenty of mistakes, hell, he’s hardly made any right decisions since coming in, but getting Venables in would compound them all.

Newcastle are facing relegation in the face, with trips to Liverpool, Tottenham, Stoke and Aston Villa to come and the only bonus being that they’ve got to play Middlesbrough at home. To stay up, they need all the luck in the world to fall for them but with every passing defeat safety becomes a more distant prospect and the realisation that next season could see them playing at Barnsley, Peterborough and QPR will reduce the staunchest Geordie to tears. If Mike Ashley is serious of transforming Newcastles fortunes, he needs to prepare for relegation under Kinnear, wait until the end of the season and then ask SV Hamburg to name their price for Martin Jol and allow him to rebuild them in the Championship.

The Return of Ranieri While Villa and Spurs Forget UEFA Cup

Johnathan Starling — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:28:12 +0000

Chelsea’s first leg clash with Juventus is all about one man, Claudio Ranieri. The manager who was first fired by Roman at Chelsea, after getting one season, knew he was a lame duck and insists the fact he didn’t give up shows the character he has. For a man who thinks he did ok, he certainly did alright by me…even if that meant heartbreak against Monaco in a Champions League semi-final and Arsenal in an FA Cup final.

Guus Hiddink’s first home match in charge of Chelsea has almost taken a back seat to Ranieri’s return. But Hididnk knows his place, win and win now. While Hiddink’s preparation for Juventus wasn’t exactly ideal, Guus says he won’t make excuses if there isn’t instant success.

Chelsea/Juve is an interesting tie for sure. Two sides who’s form have appeared to mirror each other will take the park Wednesday (2:45 pm ET ESPN2). This one all falls on which set of strikers decide to show up, and if John Terry doesn’t turn out to be the liability he has been of late. While Terry did have a half decent outing against Aston Villa, Ranieri will know his old players well, and which ones to quickly exploit.

That doesn’t mean the build up to the Real Madrid/Liverpool hasn’t been dull (Setanta Sports 2:45 pm). Let’s start with the Real Madrid president predicting a 5-1 aggregate victory. We then read that Rafael van der Vaart thinks Liverpool are scared of Real Madrid. Arjen Robben, he just wants revenge.

Rafa has an interesting dilemma ahead of him. Steven Gerrard is close to being fully fit, the question is will Rafa play him? I think that answer the most obvious answer of the year (yes). Fernando Torres is looking forward to making an impact in Madrid, after not Alvaro Arbeloa has no regrets about his past and is looking to his future with Liverpool, Xavi Alonso is a bit worried about the threat Real Madrid pose.

Real Madrid come into this tie with Liverpool on fire, Liverpool just look ice cold. Rafa has always proved his sides can do the job over two legs, and with his contract still not signed, there is extra motivation. Of all the four ties between English clubs in this round of the Champions League, this could end up being the most entertaining to watch.

Other Stories
Martin O’Neill has left key players out of the side heading to Russia for Aston Villa’s second leg tie with CSKA Moscow. While I understand his wanting to have his side focused on qualifying for the Champions League, why do I get the sneaky feeling they may end up in the round of sixteen?

Darren Fletcher had a little more on his mind than he bargained for last night after it was revealed his house was robbed and his girlfriend held at knife point. I hope these bastards are caught and get exactly what they deserve.

Could AirAsia be Manchester United’s next kit sponsor?

Steve Bruce believes South Korean international Cho Won-hee will pay off for Wigan Athletic. If Bruce can keep him healthy, he might be right.

The Football League is not happy with Wembley Stadium. Reason being, that 2011 Champions League final…well it clashes with one of the dates the Football League had already booked for the playoff finals. Expect money to exchange hands on that one.

Joe Kinnear has been told to chill out after apparently spending more time worrying about Newcastle United than recovering from triple-bypass surgery.

Here’s an interesting way to apologize. Craig Bellamy says all Robinho has to do is ‘play his best‘. You first Craig.

Giofranco Zola disagrees with those who have devalued the FA Cup, insisting he wants to win the trophy as manager of West Ham. Gareth Southgate, doesn’t plan on sacrafacing the FA Cup just because they are in the relegation zone.

And Sam Allardyce says he will stick with Blackburn, even if they are relegated.

Drogba Wants to Stay at Chelsea

Johnathan Starling — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:34:17 +0000

Sorry Drogba, but I have to call BS on this one.

After spending this season doing more sulking than any professional football player should be allowed to do by law, and in a week where Marseille’s president has said he wants Drogba back, Didier Drogba has attempted to shut people up by saying he wants to stay at Chelsea. He even wants to get a contract extension.

Look Drogba, get out. After showing your lack of professionalism by not bothering to fight for your spot up front when Scolari was around, you think that it’s okay to all of a sudden have a change of heart because of the new manager? You think it’s okay to do more flopping around than Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard combined? Even worse to me, you think it’s okay to take your jolly sweet time to come back from injury? Yes I will admit that by that time, Scolari had had enough of your dog and pony act and your attitude deserved nothing but the bench. However when you are benched, you fight for a spot on the team, not fight to get the manager removed.

It’s going to an awfully long time for me as a Chelsea fan to warm back up to your performances. If you only had the balls to play like you did against Liverpool in last season’s Champions League semi-final second leg, you might actually be respected as a footballer. Instead, your words ring hollow, no one cares about your prepared statement.

Other Stories
So Jimmy Bullard is going to be out another lengthy spell of time. This time, Hull City could be without their record signing for up to nine months. While Fulham is sitting back counting their money, Hull City have to be wondering if Bullard will be able to get anywhere near the form he had coming back for Fulham. At 30, that’s going to be a difficult task. Yes Paul Duffen, this was a gamble that didn’t pay off.

What’s 2 weeks to Eduardo? The time it will take to come back from the hammy he suffered in his return to Arsenal first team action.

You have to give David Moyes credit. He is going to do everything in his power to make sure Jack Rodwell and Dan Gosling gradually work their way into regular first team action. The last thing Everton need is for these two to have something happen where they have to be built back up from scratch. I think these two will be just fine.

Ian Herbert is asking if this Manchester United squad is the greatest Premier League team ever?

Joe Kinnear looks set to leave the hospital this weekend. I hope part of his orders is to not watch Newcastle/Everton on Sunday.

Here’s Christopher Samba coming out and saying that Blackburn are ‘too good to go down’. Umm..sure.

And finally, Giofranco Zola goes off on the bencher. You know, the big shot at the small club who takes the big contract to ride the bench at a bigger club.

Mike Ashley Faces His Most Important Decision

Paul Bestall — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 21:45:22 +0000

Whether they want him or not, the Geordie nation are stuck with Mike Ashley as much as he’s stuck with them. Since the Keegan debacle back in September, the hard pressed fans have continued to watch their beloved Magpies struggle along with no real resolution in sight and last weeks news regarding the long term health of current manager Joe Kinnear leaves them in managerial limbo as Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood take control of team affairs until further notice. Kinnear had his triple heart bypass operation of Friday and is expected to convalesce for at least 2 months, taking us into the middle of April and misses 8 matches at the earliest if he returns at all this season. Mike Ashley is taking a massive risk in allowing the coaching staff to cover for the foreseeable future with Newcastle only 4 points off the relegation places but what can he do?

The win at West Bromwich was a massive result for the club especially after the very fortunate draw at home to Sunderland but January saw them gather 1 point and get dumped out of the FA Cup, so it was the least they required. I’m just concerned that they could get sucked back into the bottom three and be adrift before any decision on Kinnear’s future is made. After his heart attack whilst manager of Wimbledon, on leaving the club he didn’t return to work for 20 months until Luton Town took a chance on him. The chances that he’ll return in 8 weeks after a major operation is, in my opinion, generous at the very least.I hope everything goes as well as it can for Joe Kinnear and his family and he recovers his health as quickly as possible but his health is the key issue here, that alone is the only thing that should matter to Kinnear and Mike Ashley.

Ashley is stuck with a make or break choice, does he leave the door open for Kinnear to return and allow Hughton and Calderwood to deputise or does he get someone in to take over and help out with some experience of the situation Newcastle find themselves in, probably lowering his stock even further. Whilst Hughton had several years as Assistant Manager at Tottenham, Calderwood has spent his entire managerial career in the lower leagues with Northampton and Nottingham Forest before being sacked in December. The likeable Hughton has already had one spell as caretaker manager of Newcastle this season but Calderwoods managerial skills leave me cold, having seen enough of his Nottingham Forest side to think they managed to get promoted last season in spite of his tactical mistakes. Being seen to push Kinnear out of St James’ Park whilst recovering from his operation would leave a sour taste in the mouths of most fans across the country.

Ashley needs his team to win some games and quickly, to try and assure safety as soon as possible but what happens if they lose the next 3 games? It’s not unthinkable seeing they have Everton and Manchester United at home and a trip to the Reebok Stadium in that run before games against Chelsea, Arsenal and Hull City? Can he afford to see Newcastle relegated whilst Kinnear recovers? Of course he can’t, but can he afford to replace Kinnear without generating even more bad publicity? Once again, of course not. For all the loathing Ashley has garnered during his dreadful run as owner, he certainly generates some sympathy for his situation here. Critics will point to the fact that Kinnear shouldn’t have been appointed at all, he hadn’t managed at the top level for nearly a decade and had been out of work since December 2004 and only got the job because of his connections with Dennis Wise. Ashley is stuck between a rock and hard place and is pining his hopes on two men who haven’t managed in a permanent capacity in the Premiership to keep them out of the relegation zone and it’s not a situation I envy in the slightest, for once Mike Ashley deserves some sympathy.