Like all strikers with no support or being given chances, nothing. We need to stop the player bashing until we have a better manager. I'm not blaming Bruce fire taking the job and Ashley is the only culprit but Bruce literally lacking in every managerial department
Tactics is the problem. He’s average at best but in a team that defends with 8 players on the edge of your own box for the entire game it is impossible for any striker to score.
If he held the ball and allowed a midfield runner (ASM/Almiron or Willems/Yedlin) to come onto the ball more he wouldn't be as rushed. At times our front 3 remind me of a child playing a computer game, get the ball to them just past half way and expect them to out pace and out play the defender(s) then beat the keeper all on their own.
Good analogy. The solution is midfield. The difference with Villa was they had Luiz, El Ghazi, Hourihane all constantly near the attack. Most teams do. Shelvey drops SO deep and has no real stamina. Hayden was a CB as a lad, not a dynamo. Both are clearly Championship players, in the most important part of the pitch. Longstaff was a breath of fresh air because he came in and played like a normal, modern, Prem-class midfielder rather than a self-styled "quarterback" or low-end DM. The further problem is Bruce, who seems to have nothing in his locker apart from copy Rafa's tactic. Worked a couple of times because the wing backs pushed on allowing Almiron/Max to get nearer, but when we approach a game aiming to sit deeper it inevitably fails. The answer is to go 4 at the back, but bring in defensive fullbacks and bring an extra man into the middle. I'd see Willems in there, with preferably Longstaff and Hayden as an ACTUAL DM. Almiron between that midfield trio and attacking pair of Max (who is always trying to get near the box, not byline) and Joelinton (who desperately needs a foil) should in theory work. 5 defenders, 3 attackers, 2 link players.
To be fair, he ballooned the ball over the bar at least twice last nice and ballsed up another chance. Yes the service is ****, but he finally gets it, he's always **** with the service he gets.
I think the harsh reality is that we are crap ! turd players, no better turds, a poor manager and coaching staff, crap training facilities , crap youth academy , a crap owner and a dead club with a ruined fanbase .. that's it !!! that's the cold facts people are trying to single out one specific issue and think it can be be addressed by moving a player from here to there or swapping almiron and joelinton for two other even more crap players , but it's the entire club from top to bottom… we are a crap football club it is never going to get better only worse because every season !! leeds next to get new owners … these buyers don't want us because they can get a big fan base elsewhere for next to nowt.. by the time mike Ashley does leave god knows how many clubs will have already been bought !!! there's only 20 teams I think we are finished as a top flight club maybe forever now.
I think that's extraordinarily bleak. 48 hours ago everything was relatively ok. Most of us were looking forward to being ninth today. The match went away from us, but let's not pretend we SHOULD be beating Villa away, just like Villa won't believe they SHOULD be beating Newcastle at SJP. It's a very competitive league with a long way to go. We have more than enough to survive comfortably and perhaps this is the year Ashley finally does one. I have high hopes that GACP are close to moving forward with the purchase. Rumours stateside suggest they are quietly putting everything together and I honestly believe that Ashley meant what he said - the first anyone will know about it is when GACP announce the acquisition. We're not spent by any means. I'd be considerably more worried if I was in the lower tiers, as that's where a lot of investors are circling. The likes of Stoke, Sunderland, etc., will find it very tough. And I disagree that moving a few players around doesn't make a difference. Jack Grealish had a tougher start to life in the PL, playing in the middle of the park. He was moved into a more fluid frontline to better effect the attacking play and has been transformed, and turned Villa from being easy to play against to being really dynamic. Small margins at the top of the game. I see the same with Almiron. He's a headless chicken at times - but when he's on the left, with the ball on his left foot, he's considerably better. He can go past people and break at speed. With low confidence, asking him to come inside or create from a weaker side is brainless. We're just not playing to strengths of players. For example, three at the back works reasonably well when we have a strong left-sided CB, a leader in the middle and mobile passed at RCB. Namely Lejeune, Lascelles, Schar. But there's a reason it works - Schar gets to move forward, which causes a problem for the opposition. Swap Schar for Clark, a left sided CB, and all of a sudden there's all kinds of issues. Why Steve Bruce can't see this, God only knows. Then take Shelvey. When you play 3 CB's, the LAST thing you need is another player moving backwards when we HAVE the ball - but that's what Shelvey does. He creates a MASSIVE gap between defence and attack, because when he comes to get it, there's nobody to find in the middle who can link play. It's simple problems with simple solutions - don't play Shelvey. Drop him. Pick another midfielder who doesn't drop so deep - Ki if you have to - and play Willems in there, because he can. Then you close the gap to attack, give yourselves a chance at retaining possession and giving options/space to the attackers who desperately need the help. Too many people think tactics aren't really a thing - like Bruce. The problem is they very much ARE and it's the fine margins that make a huge difference. Pundits just say "drop him" or "buy a player" - I watch in despair even the likes of Shearer not really seeing what's happening. If he can't how can Bruce? I'd like to think Bruce does look at the science, does recognise the gap between attack and defence and does recognise Shelvey, in particular, directly impacting it in such a negative manner. We are the only team with no less than three talented, unpredictable players who remain utterly predictable. But it's not difficult to try and fix it.
my point remains ! we will not get better under Ashley ! the club has issues well more broadly than a few substitutions. You cannot polish a turd. This club will never get better unless we get bought and mike Ashley is a like a tapeworm regulating is survival within its host.
Look, we're a bit better than we were four years ago. We get a bit better every year. But only a bit. The issue will be if 18 other clubs get a LOT better than us. Which won't happen. Everton & West Ham have both spent a fortune and are currently garbage. Norwich, Southampton, Watford aren't getting taken over between now and June. Sheff Utd & Brighton won't keep up their decent form, both will go through tough periods, and Bournemouth are having quite a poor run. We're still in that bottom half of clubs - winning our own version of the PL would be finishing 10th. We're only 3 points from being 9th. There are still fundamental mistakes being made at the club and our facilities need upgrading, and I completely agree nothing will really progress under Ashley. Acceptance of Bruce is the biggest indicator of Ashley's tenure - we know there's no point in getting rid. We'd have to be 20th by a distance for it to even happen, and even then we'd just get Pardew back. But there's been some seriously darker periods in the history of this club. It doesn't help that all records before 1992/93 have been scrubbed from the books, but the 80's were a bad place for the Toon. In the same vain, however, we're no more likely to go back to the team of 1994 than Blackburn Rovers are. Leeds may well get Qatari owners, but have no chance of getting to the Champions League because that contravenes UEFA law, so what's the plan there for PSG's owners? And don't be so sure any of these mooted takeovers have any more style or substance than our own - many nefarious groups would love to own a club, but doing so isn't easy. I think Mike will go very soon, so it's all irrelevant. I'd love to see SJP bouncing, a progressive manager brought in like Jesse Marsch (I reckon a shoe-in with GACP!) or Julian Nagelsmann and a resourceful, joined-up recruitment strategy. All we can do is hope it'll happen.
better? we are worse than the side that we finished the season with last year ! there is never progression and the second we show signs of having a few good players Ashley presses collect on the machine as always … if we improve its cash in time and then the next cattle are bought. mike Ashley will not sell this club until it's worth **** all mate he is going nowhere … if your house is on the market this long it's because you want more than its worth and mike Ashley doesn't just want that he wants advertising rights and Christ knows what else. he doesn't want to sell because he doesn't have to its really that simple .. nobody wants this club for 350 million.. you cannot expand the stadium, doesn't own the land it sits on , crap facilities … it has no market value in the USA or anywhere outside Newcastle.. the city is general simply isn't appealing … only 250 thousand inhabitants.. even the Brexit will be an issue because investers know the north east will be getting shafted. it's worth about 200 million as far as I've been advised
? I have left the politics thread mate it's bad enough dealing with how crap the toon is without having to deal with people that have different political views.. I'm a labour voter though ? I was amazed to find so many of the lads on here to be anything other and thought they were more into fox hunting forums and polo , but hey ho it is what it is .
I found that odd too. What I find stranger is the people who blew the a party regardless of what they do or say
We've been far worse than we are right now, and will be better than we are today in the not-too-distant future.
ok the first part our strike force has no goals and no assists in 13 games , so I'm really not convinced what you claim is accurate although I accept there's a case given how **** we were under McLaren … The second claim that we will be better? that's surely has to be an argument from ignorance based on nothing but faith... or in other words making a claim for something without sufficient evidence to back up such a claim . I know I sound like an arsehole at times so I apologise , but there really is no reason to assume anything will get better and plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise ..
