Latest News - 18/04/2008

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We’re safe, now get on and sort the club out by Craig Doyle

The Board room, Scouting team and the first team all have issues which need resolving. It’s time for them to start talking and get us in a strong position for next season.

Discuss on our fans forum.

Last week on the train to the match I was sitting at a table of four with three lads I regularly travel with and it was bizarre just listening to the two guys on the other side of the table talking about their visions for the summer. I was sharing my thoughts on the fact that I believe that so many players at the club are not good enough. I didn't mention those constantly sidelined by injury but I did try to express my thoughts on the wingers, how long Owen and Viduka will remain in the side without injury and how the midfield is very much one dimensional. In return I was told that I'm far too critical and that the team we have is fine and we should look to start the season with the same personnel. I tried to point out the short-sightedness of the argument by highlighting how often Viduka misses as couple of matches and that we can't just go out and sign someone of his calibre. Again I got what I felt was a rather short sighted response. This time the gentleman in question responded with, well we should just sign Dean Ashton for £8M. Perhaps I’m missing the logic here but Ashton is at a side that is going to finish higher in the league than us, where he is a first choice striker and suffers from as many injuries as Viduka. Why would he want to come here and why would we want him to come here? I tried pitching that argument but all I got was a blank look as if I had no idea what I was talking about.

It seems to me that somewhere in the run of the last four and a half games, that the previous twenty-nine and a half have been forgotten. Like the old days when Shepherd was running the show, if things are going poorly then people express discontent, but as soon as there is a small turn around then everything is rosy in the garden and we are a dead cert to finish top six in the following season. Are we to forget the fact that the midfield lacks quality going forward and papers those cracks by applying defensive methods and industry? Some people will just blame Allardyce, of course, pointing to the wingers playing on the ‘wrong’ side and poor fitness, morale, coaching methods etc. But let’s be honest, most of our players are full internationals and the real issues we have been suffering have been an inability to master the basics of simple passing and movement skills, while maintaining our curse of being wide open at the back. When I look at the team I don’t really see a lot of improvement when it comes to certain key components of the game. Butt still loses the ball cheaply when passing. Geremi still can’t take corners and Barton still looks rather slow for my money. The masterstroke from Keegan may have been his identifying that the midfield is technically rather poor and it would benefit the side to have one less ‘average’ midfielder and one more quality striker. While I feel Keegan has done brilliantly to find a quick fix I’ve not been shy in highlighting how fragile this formation could be in recent weeks. With a little help from our friends (Spurs), we have eased away from any relegation issues and I feel the summer cannot come soon enough as we desperately need to regroup and strengthen both on and off the pitch.

News from the boardroom is scarce and when it does arrive it usually provides no real insight into what is going on at the top tier of the club. Mike Ashley may own the club, but his reclusive personality with regards to the media means that the real man at the top of the tree doesn’t have a clear line of communication with the fans. One of the previously mentioned friends was standing next to Ashley at Birmingham a few weeks back and commented on how difficult it was to strike up a conversation with him regarding the club as a business. An attempt at asking about his long term plans was met with a rather roundabout response of “Don’t believe anything that they (the media) write.” Whether that means he’s committed long term or he was just giving the sort of answer that is designed to be open is up for debate. One rung down the ladder is club chairman Chris Mort. Unfortunately for the public and media, he is a big city lawyer and by nature an expert in giving nothing critical away in terms of information. Any media approach to Mort, either local or national seems to be met with a volley of pre planned responses well designed to answer any questions in a manner that gives us little insight into short term plans, never mind longer term strategies. I may be wrong here but it looks as though local journalist Alan Oliver, and the Chronicle, previously a top source for information from St James’ Park have had their supply lines cut off with the departure of Shepherd. Mort being a complete contrast in character to Shepherd has no requirement for having the local press in his pocket to spin stories of grandeur and false promise. To Mort’s credit he has done several question and answer nights at the club and met various fan groups in private to reassure them of Ashley’s vision for the near future. Unfortunately, from what I can gather the details given were more general in nature and served as a means of appeasing the audience rather than informing them in detail of what the future held. Distinctly different to his superiors, Keegan is almost always willing to tell the public what he knows as far as a point. Perhaps this forwardness is what allows him to connect with the Geordie community and gives him that extra measure of respect that his predecessors couldn’t achieve. His honesty and passions shines through and assures supporters that he is letting them in on everything he is able to. In January he was quick to announce he was looking at players but openly admitted there was nobody available that had caught is eye well before the window had close.

The big issue across that is now starting to concern me is; when will they all sit down and talk about what is going to happen this summer? There are only 4 games left and the words from Keegan and Mort indicate that no talks are taking place at this time and won’t until the club are mathematically safe from relegation. This could be something that is ensured against Sunderland, but in reality a lot of results would have to go against Newcastle and for the five or six sides below us to force the other outcome. The talks need to begin now. Mort needs to declare a sensible set of targets for next season and confer with Keegan over the players he is going to require to meet those goals. To do so, also requires Ashley’s involvement. Where does Ashley envision the club finishing next season? If he wants to challenge top six then he’ll have to put up more money than if he aims to finish top half. At the same time, Mort needs to consider getting the contracts out and renewing those that require it. Michael Owen’s contract has been mentioned but it hasn’t been put on the table. Whether he deserves a pay increase or not is another subject but he has been doing the business lately and we are unlikely to attract another striker of his quality, therefore the contract should be laid out before other clubs come sniffing. But he’s not the only one. Martins is hopeful of a new deal. Taylor is out of contract at the end of next summer, and as conflicted as my opinion is on his ability his contract needs renewing, else wise he’ll go from a sellable asset to a Bosman over the summer.

Away from players, there is more work needing done over the summer at Newcastle. Wise, Vetere and Jimenez have been brought in to fulfil a variety of roles since the arrival of Keegan. This restructuring has seen improvements to the general scouting system at the club. While this new system has seen fresh additions to the academy, two of which were identified during the Allardyce reign, so only Zamblera and Soderberg count as successful captures. However, there is a rather major senior tournament taking place in Austria and Switzerland over the summer and club representatives should be sitting in the stands taking in the action as the look over some of Europe’s top talents. While it is expected that the club would be aware of Luka Modric, Rafael Van der Vaart and the likes, there is the chance to take a closer look at Austria, Poland, Romania, Russia and Switzerland. All smaller nations that warrant investigation just in case there is a gem or two waiting to be unearthed. But Euro 2008 is not the only competition that our scouts should be taking in. Over in Beijing, the Olympics will have its usual football competition. While not the major event in the footballing world that the European Championships are, there tends to be a trend towards a great display of younger, emerging talents. Many nations will supply players in the U23 bracket providing a bit of a showcase for those keen enough to observe. It is an opportunity that we can’t afford to miss.

Back in the boardroom, Mort and Ashley should run through our financial figures over the summer. Last season Ashley took a fair few gambles that some would say are not out of place for his character. However I feel they are a little unorthodox in the football world. Firstly he put his hand in his pocket to pay off debts that were not reflecting the books left by Freddie Shepherd. While it initially looked like the money was coming from his own pocket, a portion of it was generated by selling next years season tickets before December, with the promise of free cup tickets for all home cup games both this season and next. While I chose not to pursue the option, many did and I’m aware of several who don’t travel to home cup games who have taken up the offer anyway. This could lead to lower income from gate receipts next season if we go on a run in either domestic cup. The income from the season tickets themselves is going to be significantly lower with so many people having paid up now. I’d love to see the financial figures over the next couple of seasons and be able to compare them a few more years down the line to see what sort of difference Ashley has made to the way the club is run, however I doubt we’ll ever see any such figures being made available.

On the pitch some players will need to use the summer period to get themselves fit for the club if they wish to remain here. Carr may be out of contract but his continued services may be in demand in the short term. Emre will be hoping to play for Turkey but with so few games under his belt on Tyneside this season there is reason to suspect that he'd rather turn out for his country than his club. If he wants to continue his employment here then effort to remain fit for a sustained period is essential. Mark Viduka also throws himself into the category of unfit and requiring a rest and proper preseason. He didn't have a break during the summer last year and it has cost him more 'holidays' than usual. These players need to get themseleves off the treatment table and back into the selection pool for next season or look to ply their trade elsewhere.

Just like last summer, and the one before, the off season this year is going to be absolutely crucial. Ashley has his feet under the table now and has appointed Keegan as his choice of manager. After another turbulent year of strange decision making, rubbish football and failing to deliver, the ship finally seems to be steady heading into the summer. Five months into the job, Keegan has to be ready to move in the markets with the financial backing of the owner if we are to push ourselves back up the table. There can be no more excuses relating to ‘transition seasons’, ‘settling in periods’ and murmurs of links back to the Shepherd era. All ties have been severed with those times and the club is fully staffed by Ashley’s personnel. If Ashley is interested in taking the club places then the time to show it is now.

Discuss in our fans forum.