When they sacked Pearson it looked like Leicester had lost their minds - but bringing in Ranieri was a real coup, and he's certainly proving to be an inspired appointment right now. Similar could, and was, said a few seasons ago when Southampton sacked Adkins - people thought they'd lost the plot, and then Poch comes in and silenced the doubters quickly.
Sky gave a stat that before tonight they have not had an attempt on target in their last 2 matches...and tonight they have only had 3 on target, one of which was pretty much a pass into the keepers hands. Toon fans must be sick seeing this rubbish...particularly with Pardews palace playing some of the prems most exciting football and doing well
Tbf, they have a lot of new faces, and that is a disadvantage. But I have to agree with the commentators that the way McClaren behaves is embarrassing. Also, what is going on with Cissé? He didn’t seem to be giving anywhere near a professional level effort.
Pardew was much maligned by sections of the Newcastle support, and to be fair he did make some errors, on a personal level and on the pitch. Although getting at him for leaving out players such as Hatem Ben Arfa, who was basically just Adel Tarrabt in new clothes, did seem a bit harsh at the time to me. That said, I think you'd be hard pressed to find someone to do any better under Mike Ashley, and for those who still wanted Pards out by the end I fear it will become a case of 'be careful what you wished for', before it gets any better. Its a real shame for such a generally well-suopported club with so many truly passionate fans. We complain about Levy running Spurs as a business sometimes but Ashley is Levy on steroids and then some. They've got some handy players now after the summer spend, if not a rounded squad. McClaren has a lot to prove, so it'll either go really well for him or very badly with no middle ground IMO.
Not suggesting it was responsible for their performance, but I understand that the Newcastle coach got stuck in traffic and the players walked the last mile to the ground, giving them less time to warm up. McClaren asked for the kick off to be postponed but the ref refused. My point is whether the same decision would have been made for all clubs under the same circumstances? Would the ref have refused a request from any of the "Sky five"?
It was probably Sky's decision not to allow it - they have a lot of control over televised matches and won't want to mess up their schedules
It wasn't the referee who refused, it was the PL and they were within their rights to as Newcastle travelled down on the day of the game, so it was deemed their late arrival was down to poor planning. For all distances of over 4 hours by road and by coach, clubs are entitled to reimbursement of expenses so why Newcastle didn't travel down on Sunday is odd.
Having lived in Upton Park for 6 years i have no sympathy for Newcastle being late, or West Ham (who were also later than planned). The traffic in that area is horrendous most days, they should have left more time. I know there was a concrete mixer spilling its load but that crap seems to happen all the time round there.
Somehow I don't see Wilshere making nearly 500 league appearances during his career (nearer 600 first team appearances in all competitions). Also Anderton had that knack of being fit for England at major tournaments and actually making a positive contribution. What's he doing these days then?
Ah! Don't worry though. He'll be fit for the Euros and Hodgson will pick him even if he has only had 15 minutes for Arsenal in a friendly against Lewisham Academicals Under 13 Girls Team. He'll then pull his hamstring while warming up to tackle the first morning buffet breakfast at the team hotel.
The only problem with that is Arsenal are significantly worse in terms of win percentage when he plays. So we all need to send the lad grapes.
He's worked as a radio pundit on both sides of the Atlantic, and is also the honorary president of Arlington Spurs. He appears in the occasional Spurs Legends game, too.
