SHAMROCK R 0, NEWCASTLE 3

re joe barton he is contracted to your club and a very goou player so play him, i cannot see the problem as long as plays well go for it ??

By tommie.. Posted July 18 2009 at 10:53 PM.

Watch when joey barton is player of the season and everyone backs of joey hes a top class midfielder. Everyone will say "joey barton is top class hes our main man" something along them lines

By Daniel M.. Posted July 15 2009 at 1:47 AM.

Davey.
I have nothing against Ashleys 1st year in charge, its the 2nd year and appointing Wise, hes on record as saying he reports to KK on any transfers, yet the last 2 signings Keegan knew nothing about, you cant run a club like that.
Of course the fans love a hero up here, Gallagher, Milburn, Davies, Super Mac, Keegan was the same but not in the way its trying to be made out, some of the reporting on the club to be honest has been beyond a joke the past year.

By Dave.. Posted July 12 2009 at 11:48 PM.

NOt so sure Dave, Ashley made mistakes in losing KK but I think the fans reaction to him has been way over the top. Bedsheets with Cockney mafia out etc just made us look parochial and Ashley obviously thought that he's on to a loser and tried to get out.

Re. the Messiah, thing, I think you've forgotten about songs of 'Keegan is our king'?

By Diddy Davey.. Posted July 12 2009 at 7:07 PM.

Messiah, a word used a lot lately and one only used by the tabloids and people on message boards, i dont recall fans ever using this phrase in 30 years of attending NUFC games, maybe ive missed something.
The problems of recent history can be shared between the the last 2 people controlling the club especially Ashley, should stick to selling tat.

By Dave .. Posted July 12 2009 at 3:42 PM.

Ian, Imo the root cause of our decline is a man called Howard Webb.

By GeordieGerman.. Posted July 12 2009 at 1:47 PM.

To have expected Alan Shearer to save Newcastle in his first few weeks as a manger shows just how unrealistic some people are. The damage at Newcastle started some time ago when Sir John Hall sold the club out for profit.
At least Alan will have seen the hard side of being a manager early into his career; now he must use the lessons he hopefully learnt by making mistakes and use his passion to drive the club back where it belongs.

By gramps427.. Posted July 12 2009 at 1:19 PM.

The trouble for the toon is the fans insistence that they can only be managed by Messiahs.

Shearer only needed another point from his 8 games to keep them up and he couldn't do it, just one goal or a clean sheet on their last game and they would still be in the PL - but he counldn't inspire them even to that. Where did Shearer learn to be a manager - he hasn't even played for a decent manager in the last 10 years.

Shearer doesn't even have a desire to win - if he did he would have gone to Utd when he had the chance, and now he might be some use to the Toon.

The fact is that the Toon don't need a Messiah, they need a manager that understands that first you stop conceding, then you stop losing, the you might start to win a few, then you might win a few more. The Toon don't need a Messiah - they need a football manager.

By MartinHenley.. Posted July 12 2009 at 8:25 AM.

I have some sympathy for Ian's view. Barton is the best midfielder at the club, If he as available all season we'd not have relied on the likes of Nicky Butt to give the ball away, conceded free kicks and Pens every game.

Shearer should have backed Barton, it was never a red card and had he been playing those last few games, I feel sure we'd have stayed up. It was poor man-management.

Any manager coming in should try to keep Barton, if Barton agrees a wage cut with a great promotion bonus it will be good for his image, good for United and good for him as a player because he will boss midfields in this league.

We have far worse players on high wages an daft deals than Joey.

By Diddy Davey.. Posted July 12 2009 at 8:21 AM.

pre season friendlies count for nothing. Anybody that knows anything about football would accept that the season after the season after the season after next the toon are virtually guaranteed to win The Champion's League.

By Noah Nuffing.. Posted July 12 2009 at 1:13 AM.

Thanks for that insightful comment Ian. Would you care to explain how Barton was supposed to help us fight for our Premier League place when his red card at Liverpool meant that he was banned for the remainder of the season?

By Tee.. Posted July 12 2009 at 12:31 AM.

Ian, i think you'l find that it was actually graeme souness who got rid of craig bellamy, after he said he would never play under him again after 'faking injury'
and also, any action shearer took with barton would have had no impact on our survival, as barton was suspended for the last three games anyway after that red card, therefore we would still have been lacking that grit and determination.

come on the toon!

By james.. Posted July 12 2009 at 12:39 AM.

Ian, Barton got sent off due to his own stupidity and was banned for the remaining games of the season, even if Shearer wanted to play him he couldn't have. And as for Bellamy and Gullitt, what have they done since? The scousers got rid of the perma-injured Bellamy after one season, also attacking a team mate with a golf club didn't help either. Gullitt, what's he doing now?

IMO, your opinion is ill-informed rubbish, are you a Villa or Spurs fan jealous of the attention we get? (which isn't our fault, ask the national press, TV and radio why they devote so much time to NUFC).

By Glenn.. Posted July 12 2009 at 12:10 AM.

Barton embodded the fighting spirit required to stay in the Premier League. Shearer threw his toys out of the pram and used the Liverpool red card as an excuse to sidestep a "bad boy" he couldn't control. This left the toon as a team lacking the grit and determination (as well as a leader) to fight for their place in the Premier League.

Shearer has been the root cause of Newcastle's decline in my opinion. If someone doesn't get on with him then Shearer throws a hissy fit and that's the end of them (look at Craig Bellamy, Ruud Gullitt).

Time for NUFC to forget about the past (Shearer, Keegan) and concentrate on getting someone with substantial management experience (not just some UEFA coaching badges) plus tactical nouse and discipline.

Back to the MOTD coach for Shearer imo.

By ian.. Posted July 11 2009 at 11:36 PM.

No matter what happens at the toon ill always be black and white big al will still be number1 and.I hope some1 buys soon come on the toon

By Robbie carver.. Posted July 11 2009 at 11:11 PM.