Clear The Decks At St James' Park!
Last updated : 16 May 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor
Whether we wanted Big Sam or not ... the man is here to to do a job and we have to back him to the full.
What upsets many of us are the tales coming out of the ground about mobile phones; players with no heart to play for the club; players pulling the piss out of Glenn Roeder; and a little clique of foreigners who are set on moving on.
We ask ... how have the training staff allowed this to go on? Roeder looks a weak man. Certainly not a motivator. Yet he seems to have had very little backing from his coaching staff.
Everytime you look at Terry McDermott and Lee Clark they are rolling around the training ground in fits of laughter. I'm not doubting their heart for Newcastle United, but I don't think they should have the positions they hold at the club. A laugh is a laugh ... but this club needs dicipline more than anything else!
And that that was confirmed by Ruud Gullit yesterday. The former Newcastle boss believes Sam Allardyce is the right man to take the club forward - and has told Michael Owen to prove himself before considering a move away from Tyneside.
Gullit's brief tenure at St James' Park promised much but delivered little before he departed in 1999. However, the Dutch legend maintains he enjoyed his time with the club and expects former Bolton boss Allardyce to be a success.
Gullit: "They need some quality players there. Not a whole lot, but some quality players. Some local boys are very important - I don't agree with the whole 'foreign legion' and if they find the right mixture.
"Discipline is very important, and Sam is very good in discipline so I think he is the right man in the right place. I hear of trouble in the dressing rooms, and it is not good at Newcastle. I hear it all the time.
"Owen has been injured all the time. There has been talk about him leaving but I don't know why he would leave because he's done nothing yet.
"This is the first time for him to show how good he is. I had a marvellous time there, the crowd were excellent, all the facilities are there. It was a difficult time but a nice experience.
"Expectation is very high there. It's difficult for them, the great players go to Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and it can sometimes be difficult to get the right player."
"I just took the decision (to quit) and said 'look, it's better that you do it with another coach'."
One coach who could move in is Phil Brown, who has refused to rule out a move to join Sam Allardyce at Newcastle should his contract discussions at Hull collapse.
The former Bolton assistant manager performed an admirable task in keeping Hull in the Coca-Cola Championship but his current deal is due to expire in the next two weeks.
An official contract extension will be offered by chairman Adam Pearson when talks are held on Wednesday, though the lure of joining close friend Allardyce at St James' Park may prove impossible to resist.
Brown: "Sam knows my situation and I know his, so in the next 48 hours something might have moved on but something might not have moved on.
"You never know in football, but all I'm thinking about at the moment is sitting down with the chairman of Hull City and it's all positive at the moment."