Everybody's Talkin' - 2/Feb/10
Your Letters
Dear tf,
So we are top of the league, clear by 4 points. And we have signed some adequate players in the January window, certainly better business than I think anybody was expecting from this very inadequate ownership. Routledge is quality and a little more than the "quick winger" which many thought. Good feet, comfortable coming inside as well as out, and excellent touch and delivery. Williamson looks decent, and as left backs go, I will settle for Van Aanholt any day of the week over Kadar. Fitz Hall is horse shit, but hey, he is youngish and is another body and won't be commanding stratosphetic wages.
So why then am I properly pissed off? Have I fallen into the press trap of being another typical Newcastle fan "unrealistic" in his expectations? No. Are the players not giving 100 percent, is that why I am pissed off? No. The reason - and don't get me wrong, he has done well so far this season because the league table does not lie - is with Chris Hughton. If there was ever an illustration required of why, if we do go back up, we will come straight back down (in addition to the obvious limitations of the playing staff), then it is held up with the analysis of the complete ineptitude of his tactical decision and team selection against 10 man Leicester.
3 points there for the taking, and what does he do? He keeps Nolan, Smith, and Butt on the pitch together for the middle third of the match. The point of the game when we should have scored a couple and put Leicester - who even with 11 are fucking crap - to bed. But no, let's keep the game narrow and play the 3 slowest players in the league together through the middle (and no, Nolan wasn't 'in behind the front man' or 'in the hole', he was merely plodding around 40 yards from goal without having the official remit to actually track back). Which is why the 'in the hole' shit is total bollocks unless your surname starts with a 'R' and rhymes with 'Clooney' and you have a penchant for grannies.
Nolan is solely in the team because of the goals he has notched up this year and therefore when not scoring gives you sweet fuck all. There. Said it. Can't run, can't turn, can't pass the ball and nowhere near at the physical level required to be effective for 90 minutes. He has to be the slowest, most immobile 27 year old I have ever seen. He is meant to be in his prime. The way he's going he's not going to have a fucking prime.
The fact is, and it is worrying Hughton did not clock this, was that the 3 slowketeers in the middle essentially turned our 1 man advantage and neutralised it. That neither of them can pass water does not help, with a shit pitch making Nicky Butt's touch and technique look even worse. And then we have Danny Guthrie, a natural central midfielder, completely wasted out wide when all we needed was someone to get on the ball and pick the tempo up a little. Which he is capable of doing if Hughton played him there. Who knows, maybe it has been suggested already? Imagine the reply: "What's that you say? Play a technically gifted, young, mobile and athletic central midfielder who can pass a ball well short or long in his most natural position? No, let's play Nicky Butt there instead to 'shore up the midfield away from home". Total bollocks.
Can anyone - and I mean anyone - please write in and explain to me how a 'highly regarded coach' who worked with one of the best passing teams in the country at that time in Spurs is so hell bent on playing an even shitter kind of anti-football which alienated Fat Sam in the hearts and minds of the Geordie faithful? I preferred watching Allardyce's team. Yes, I said it. And no, it's not cos the personnel. And this is not to promote the value of Fat Sham, but merely to point out exactly how fucking shit we are playing right now. We are going to get found out big time, but then are we? Is there anyone in this league that will give us the pasting we deserve? Fuck me, we should have lost yesterday on the balance of chances for both teams. Nolan's header was a shocking miss, but they had the lions share in the final third. Does that not worry anyone? Not just the performance, but the tactics and lack of quick thinking by Hughton. The second they went down to ten it should have been a 4-4-2 with:
1) Butt off (and loaned the next day to Gateshead), Gutierrez on wide left with Guthrie playing Centre Mid. If Jonas is fit enough for a spot on the bench, then use him. If not, don't put him on the bench).
2) Nolan off and Ranger on up top with Carroll
3) Make the pitch as wide as possible, get the ball moving quicker and get balls into the box with Guthrie joining in as much as possible.
4) Failing that, stick Pancrate on up front, take off a defender and go 3-4-3 to win the game. Fuck me, Stephen Howard up front by himself? Hardly needs 4 to stop that.
Bottom line is, we were scared to go for it. We remained conservative in the fear that Leicester would beat us. No doubt Hughton left thinking, "decent point, that". Well no, Chris. Not a decent point. A shit point. A point which would have been worse had Forest not blew it at Derby. And this is not just reactionary thinking following a frustrating match. It has been brewing for around 7 or 8 games now, during which we have not put one solitary convincing performance, more winning games because of the terminal crapness of the teams in this division. I am becoming convinced that with a more attack minded coach (who looks more at a players' contribution as opposed to the name on the back of his shirt...cough, cough, Nicky Butt.....) and a more positive attacking ethos, then we can win this league by 10 or 12 points provided our better players are available for selection for most games. With Hughton, it's 3rd place behind West Brom or Forest, in the playoffs and the lottery will ensue.
As for the Gutierrez knockers - and that includes you Gareth Harrison - just how predictable and slow, and lacking any cutting edge whatsoever were we yesterday without him? Like I predicted in these pages recently, he is the difference between promotion and relegation. Accept it; frustrating as he can be, it beats Pancrate, Guthrie, Lovenkrands or A.N. Other. He plays yesterday, fully fit, and we win. Yes Enrique's loss will hurt, certainly considering the form he has been in. But lose Jonas for 6-8 weeks with a hamstring and I will get my ticket to London for play-off weekend straight away.
A. Foster
Dear tf,
I dare say the BBC will now be banned from SJP, joining the Sunday Sun, going on what the Inside Out special said about our illustrious owner.
So he exploits the workers making his tat the same way that he exploits us supporters.
I hope the fucker gets done by the OFT now, and gets bloody locked up, looks like the only way we'll be able to rid ourselves of him.
Steve Passmoor, Chester le Street
So we are top of the league, clear by 4 points. And we have signed some adequate players in the January window, certainly better business than I think anybody was expecting from this very inadequate ownership. Routledge is quality and a little more than the "quick winger" which many thought. Good feet, comfortable coming inside as well as out, and excellent touch and delivery. Williamson looks decent, and as left backs go, I will settle for Van Aanholt any day of the week over Kadar. Fitz Hall is horse shit, but hey, he is youngish and is another body and won't be commanding stratosphetic wages.
So why then am I properly pissed off? Have I fallen into the press trap of being another typical Newcastle fan "unrealistic" in his expectations? No. Are the players not giving 100 percent, is that why I am pissed off? No. The reason - and don't get me wrong, he has done well so far this season because the league table does not lie - is with Chris Hughton. If there was ever an illustration required of why, if we do go back up, we will come straight back down (in addition to the obvious limitations of the playing staff), then it is held up with the analysis of the complete ineptitude of his tactical decision and team selection against 10 man Leicester.
3 points there for the taking, and what does he do? He keeps Nolan, Smith, and Butt on the pitch together for the middle third of the match. The point of the game when we should have scored a couple and put Leicester - who even with 11 are fucking crap - to bed. But no, let's keep the game narrow and play the 3 slowest players in the league together through the middle (and no, Nolan wasn't 'in behind the front man' or 'in the hole', he was merely plodding around 40 yards from goal without having the official remit to actually track back). Which is why the 'in the hole' shit is total bollocks unless your surname starts with a 'R' and rhymes with 'Clooney' and you have a penchant for grannies.
Nolan is solely in the team because of the goals he has notched up this year and therefore when not scoring gives you sweet fuck all. There. Said it. Can't run, can't turn, can't pass the ball and nowhere near at the physical level required to be effective for 90 minutes. He has to be the slowest, most immobile 27 year old I have ever seen. He is meant to be in his prime. The way he's going he's not going to have a fucking prime.
The fact is, and it is worrying Hughton did not clock this, was that the 3 slowketeers in the middle essentially turned our 1 man advantage and neutralised it. That neither of them can pass water does not help, with a shit pitch making Nicky Butt's touch and technique look even worse. And then we have Danny Guthrie, a natural central midfielder, completely wasted out wide when all we needed was someone to get on the ball and pick the tempo up a little. Which he is capable of doing if Hughton played him there. Who knows, maybe it has been suggested already? Imagine the reply: "What's that you say? Play a technically gifted, young, mobile and athletic central midfielder who can pass a ball well short or long in his most natural position? No, let's play Nicky Butt there instead to 'shore up the midfield away from home". Total bollocks.
Can anyone - and I mean anyone - please write in and explain to me how a 'highly regarded coach' who worked with one of the best passing teams in the country at that time in Spurs is so hell bent on playing an even shitter kind of anti-football which alienated Fat Sam in the hearts and minds of the Geordie faithful? I preferred watching Allardyce's team. Yes, I said it. And no, it's not cos the personnel. And this is not to promote the value of Fat Sham, but merely to point out exactly how fucking shit we are playing right now. We are going to get found out big time, but then are we? Is there anyone in this league that will give us the pasting we deserve? Fuck me, we should have lost yesterday on the balance of chances for both teams. Nolan's header was a shocking miss, but they had the lions share in the final third. Does that not worry anyone? Not just the performance, but the tactics and lack of quick thinking by Hughton. The second they went down to ten it should have been a 4-4-2 with:
1) Butt off (and loaned the next day to Gateshead), Gutierrez on wide left with Guthrie playing Centre Mid. If Jonas is fit enough for a spot on the bench, then use him. If not, don't put him on the bench).
2) Nolan off and Ranger on up top with Carroll
3) Make the pitch as wide as possible, get the ball moving quicker and get balls into the box with Guthrie joining in as much as possible.
4) Failing that, stick Pancrate on up front, take off a defender and go 3-4-3 to win the game. Fuck me, Stephen Howard up front by himself? Hardly needs 4 to stop that.
Bottom line is, we were scared to go for it. We remained conservative in the fear that Leicester would beat us. No doubt Hughton left thinking, "decent point, that". Well no, Chris. Not a decent point. A shit point. A point which would have been worse had Forest not blew it at Derby. And this is not just reactionary thinking following a frustrating match. It has been brewing for around 7 or 8 games now, during which we have not put one solitary convincing performance, more winning games because of the terminal crapness of the teams in this division. I am becoming convinced that with a more attack minded coach (who looks more at a players' contribution as opposed to the name on the back of his shirt...cough, cough, Nicky Butt.....) and a more positive attacking ethos, then we can win this league by 10 or 12 points provided our better players are available for selection for most games. With Hughton, it's 3rd place behind West Brom or Forest, in the playoffs and the lottery will ensue.
As for the Gutierrez knockers - and that includes you Gareth Harrison - just how predictable and slow, and lacking any cutting edge whatsoever were we yesterday without him? Like I predicted in these pages recently, he is the difference between promotion and relegation. Accept it; frustrating as he can be, it beats Pancrate, Guthrie, Lovenkrands or A.N. Other. He plays yesterday, fully fit, and we win. Yes Enrique's loss will hurt, certainly considering the form he has been in. But lose Jonas for 6-8 weeks with a hamstring and I will get my ticket to London for play-off weekend straight away.
A. Foster
Dear tf,
I dare say the BBC will now be banned from SJP, joining the Sunday Sun, going on what the Inside Out special said about our illustrious owner.
So he exploits the workers making his tat the same way that he exploits us supporters.
I hope the fucker gets done by the OFT now, and gets bloody locked up, looks like the only way we'll be able to rid ourselves of him.
Steve Passmoor, Chester le Street