So management/ownership aside, how would you 'fix' NUFC?

Fact of the matter is whether Ashley stays or goes, we'll be here. Whether Pardew's sacked or knighted, we'll remain. We may be utterly pi$$ed off, but we're still on here, in our workplaces, with our mates talking about this club.

No matter how negative my own personal views have been of late, I'll still be in or around a phone/computer/pub on Saturday @ 3pm with one club in mind. So if we span it around a bit I'd be interested in people's views as to how this club can be fixed, without the mention of a change in either owner or manager?

First, the manager needs to change his attitude towards the playing squad. Too much emphasis is being put on hard work, not enough on creativity. The set-pieces are a disaster, the tactics almost non-existent and the enthusiasm of the playing staff is all but dead. He needs to rip out everything he's done so far and go right back to scratch - what is my preferred formation given the squad I've got, who in that squad is worth a place in my team or on my bench? He also needs to man up and distance himself from being too reliant on players attitudes, he needs to be stronger in his application within that dressing room and make calls that are for the good of that team. If there is a clique existing, then split it up, get psychologists involved. It's fcking stupid to be turning to people like Shola to look for unity purely because of his birthplace - you need to empower your best players and make sure they feel like they are impacting on the team. In terms of set-plays, he needs to be man enough to accept he hasn't got a fcking clue what he's doing and get that fixed, change it up markedly.

So what is the right style for the playing squad we have? Who are the best, the worst, those worth persevering with and those who aren't? For me, the only tactic worth employing right now is a 4-2-3-1 tactic, it's the only one befitting the worthwhile players we have. If you look at what formations have worked for the club, 4-2-3-1 got 3 wins in 4 tries, whereas this season 4-4-2 has picked up 6 wins in around 12 or 13 outings. We look clueless in a 4-3-3, and 4-5-1 leaves the CF too isolated and we don't have anyone capable of playing so alone.

Krul picks himself, this is a problem but it is a fact and he needs a fcking rocket better than just looking towards Eliot and thinking "who dat?"

Debuchy is the only right back at the club. MYM should never be allowed near that space, Santon should be used in Debuchy's absence, or Tavernier should have been recalled and played.
Haidara - Neither Haidara nor Dummett have done much, but Santon's used elsewhere so bear with me - Haidara gets the nod because he is more mobile, faster and prefers the ball on the deck. Dummett plays with too much fear and hasn't shown enough to suggest he can cover 75% of the left side, which is what we need.
MYM - Colo needs to be managed out now, either at the expense of Taylor (yikes) or MYM (yikes). MYM cannot have become a bad player overnight and just needs time, like Sakho on Merseyside. Play him now, as Colo's heads in Argentina.
Williamson - simply better and more honest than Steven Taylor, and it's between these two for the "big lad at the back" role. Indictment of the club that someone like Williamson is supposed to anchor a top-8 team's defense, but it is what it is.

Tiote - best player at the club, give him the captaincy, keep him DM.
Sissoko - get the bloke in the role he should be fcking playing. If he's not fit, stick Anita in for now, but get him off the fkcing wing. He should be the ball carrier linking the play with attack and the "number 10", or attacking midfielder.

Armstrong - right, bear with me - I know he's played his youth games in a number 10 role, or up front, and it's where he'll end up, but the PL is a very different game and the state of the Toon right now doesn't need him to have the weight of the geordie nation bearing down on him to score goals. HBA is done, for whatever reason, whether the players' fault or the managers'. Sissoko cannot be used out here. Obertan is garbage. Anyone else would be out of position to their detriment, so put his enthusiasm and talent in an attacking role, because he will be his nature give you an attacking work ethic not seen with HBA.
Anita - so he's no Cabaye, but has capability to unlock defenses. His passing is his strength, but he works hard and is not afraid of the ball. He's got to be better than Gosling and we don't have anyone else able to do this highly demanding role. Shouldn't be dropped and should be in the middle of the park, he plays not quite number 10 but the link between Sissoko/Tiote and attack.
Santon - get Gouffran off the fcking pitch, for a start. Santon is not really a left back, he's not defensively minded enough and has pretty much showcased the same failings at right back, as in he's always too far up the pitch. But he does have ability. He likes to come inside, so playing on the left side where the striker needs support works well for me.

Remy - no brainer, if we're going to score again. If not him, it's pretty much a coin toss between Cisse and Gouffran. Probably give the latter a go - he's quicker, which works better - it's the strength of Remy, to drop deep, collect and go - so Gouff's a VERY poor man's Remy. Cisse wants sitters in the box, and can't get them with our team playing badly.

So here's where I think we need to start and see where we go:

Krul

Debuchy MYM Wlliamson Haidara

Sissoko Tiote

Armstrong Anita Santon

Remy

Subs: Eliot, Coloccini, Dummett, Bigirimana, Gosling, Ben Arfa, Cisse, De Jong



If you're still around, Pardew, please read.

 

The way i see it. We have nothing to play for (Clearly). We are not going to spend this summer. Our hopes of ever becoming a good team rely on youth progressing. Pardews still got them sitting on the bench.

What i would do. Start Armstrong every game. Have him play off the striker. He set up cisse wonderfully once during his short time in the game. Much better than Gone Missing Gouffran did. I would also play Bigi for anita. Santon to RW and haidara in defence. My lineup would be.


KRUL
Debuchy Colo MYM Haidara

Sissoko Tiote
Santon Armstrong Gouffran

Remy

We need competition for places, thats what drives players to succeed. Look at Rodgers and Martinez using squad rotations all the time. I would also give that Rolando Aarons kid a shot on the LW. Like i said, we have nothing to lose, we should be building for next season.

 

Fix the management and the ownership and that's the job done IMHO.
One thing I'd do better is engage with the fans more- maybe free bus travel to away games, a better loyalty rewards scheme... consulation... etc..

 

It costs a hell of a lot more for travel to the away games than it does for a ST.

Can't see MA being too bothered about that though.

 

Ashley has made so many mistakes and done so little to rectify them over such a long time that I really can't see any true 'fix' while he remains at the club. He has the money, but he doesn't have the inclination.

I believe a few dedicated players have papered over the cracks and arrested us free falling these past 5 years. Think Col, Spiderman, Harper and Nolan in the first couple of years. Cabaye, Krul, Tiote and Remy subsequently. Without the influence of those players our position would surely have been infinitely bleaker.

 

There is a contradiction in the question.

By the standards of the current owner there is nothing to fix. This season has been a blinding success. Very little has been spent on players. We have achieved an excellent return on player sales and are solidly mid table.

If we are not contemplating an ownership change, then the question has to be "How do we repeat this season's notable success next season ?"

If the phrasing of that question is too depressing to be endured, there is no fix possible without a change of ownership.

 

In the event that we are not going to change owner or manager by Saturday, your question seems to be what team would you pick against Swansea.

 

1: Relieve Alan Pardew of coaching duties immediately

2: Install John Carver as caretaker manager up until the end of the season

3: Approach a promising manager with a great philosophy on football

4: Grant said manager of a little freedom in the transfer market

5: Invest in the academy, any club worth it's weight in salt would have a conveyor belt of incoming talent from within it's academy

6: Offer fans transparency in terms of club direction

7: Rid the official shirt of that loan shark company and replace it with a respectable alternative

8: Sit back and watch it all unfold

 

Ashley selling up, in short.

 

So true. Doesn't look likely unfortunately.

 

We simply can't be fixed between now and the end of the season.
Passed that stage now, its a case of getting to the end of the season with damage limitation.

However, just for the sake of it and making a point to them, I would lock MYM, Haidara and Santon in the dressing room during games.
If Gouff doesn't get his finger out and start to look interested, he can join them.

As for LDJ, if we're not going to buy him, don't bother picking him.

Shola, bless him, will have to make one final appearance at SJP - so its either Swansea or Cardiff.

I would play Armstrong, if nothing else, get him used to an angry SJP crowd, should things start to go wrong against Swansea, not that they will of course. He needs blooded, so why not now. Likewise with Bigi, he should be given a chance.

 

This

 

Hard to argue with any of that

 

Why pick Shola? He is just a complete embarrassment and deserves no final appearance or recognition for apparently being a 'Loyal servant' (Christ even typing that last bit sickens me). He won't score or do anything with any sort talent or ability. A blind person with no arms wearing clown shoes could do a better job than him. Let him end his final home game in ignominy sitting on the bench and then once the final whistle goes let him depart down the tunnel to never, ever f**king return. Applauding his thirteen sorrowful years of mediocrity is simply baffling to me.

If there is a new season with a new contract on the horizon for him it will truly prove what a rotting, cancerous shell our club has become.

 

It's the end of an era, perhaps a contract or two too long, but, for his faults he's has been a loyal servant to the Club.

A wasted career, probably, but he's scored important goals that made the difference, not least in the promotion season where he got us off to a flyer, before being injured.

Simple fact is, he never offered himself the contracts or picked the team. You can blame an endless number of Managers as well as Shepherd/Ashley for that.

I do think he deserves one final appearance, even if only as a substitute, and certainly at the expense of LDJ, Cisse or Gouffran.

Of course he may come back next season for a Testimonial or even with new contract in hand if MA doesn't splash the cash.

 

I'd be looking to blood Kemen, Armstrong, Bigi and Aarons. It of course goes against the general principle of how to blood young players, but it is a strange situ we're in.

 

Give me £2'000'000'00... and I would make Newcastle United a team to die for.. and I would buy a boat.

 

We probably should be blooding them already.
But, are they actually available for the first team with the 25 man squad system and with all four remaining games against clubs in Relegation or Championship/European positions would the PL see that as fielding a weak team.

 

Not to forget Lubomir Satka.

 

Do academy players count in your 25? I don't know the rules

**** the PL