World Football Thread VII

[duke o' york]

Yeah, the lucky person looks like he'll end up with a parachute payment to work with

Apparently Campbell left Highbury after he was subbed at half-time.

[MikeH]

@ Arsenal. What a great season this is so far.

[alva]

Fowler nearly did it too!! That would have been special!!

[Imran Siddiqui]

Bye, Bye Souey. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=357264&cc=5901

Newcastle skipper Alan Shearer was today asked to help lead the fight against relegation after Graeme Souness was sacked as manager.

The 35-year-old will link up with caretaker boss Glenn Roeder, who has stepped up from the role of the club's Academy chief, to take charge of the team against Portsmouth on Saturday.


The ailing Magpies will be looking for a first league victory in seven attempts after a dismal run which has seen them slip to within six points and three places of the drop zone.

Chairman Freddy Shepherd made his move this morning as Souness' 17-month reign was brought to a close after another dreadful display in last night's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City.

'Newcastle United today announced that the employment of Graeme Souness has been terminated with immediate effect,' the Magpies confirmed in a statement.

'Glenn Roeder will take charge of first team affairs for the immediate future. Roeder will be assisted by captain Alan Shearer and will be caretaker manager for Saturday's home Premiership game against Portsmouth at St James' Park.'

Souness' departure became inevitable as results in the face of a dreadful injury crisis slumped dramatically and the fans left the 52-year-old Scot in little doubt as to their feelings.

He was tipped to lose his job at a breakfast time meeting with chairman Freddy Shepherd two days after the 1-0 Premiership defeat by Blackburn at St James' on January 21, which sparked a lengthy demonstration, but emerged from talks later that day insisting he still had Shepherd's full support.

However, despite safely negotiating a tricky FA Cup fourth round trip to League Two Cheltenham at the weekend, the debacle at Eastlands left Shepherd with little option.

Indeed, the belief on Tyneside was that, had it not been for the £5millon severance package due to the manager and his coaches or the absence of a credible replacement, it would have happened much sooner.

Today's developments sparked fevered speculation over who will replace Souness, with Bolton Sam Allardyce immediately installed as favourite by the bookies, but Martin O'Neill the name on the lips of many supporters.

However, Shepherd, who has handed his latest manager around £50million with which to rebuild his squad, knows he must get it right this time after a difficult period for the club.

The chairman has always insisted that the Scot was the only man to whom the job was offered after Sir Bobby Robson's departure in August 2004, although both Allardyce and Steve Bruce were sounded out.

And the fact is that for many supporters he was never the right man to fill the post - a view that was not altered by a 14th-place finish last season and meek departures from the latter stages of both the UEFA and FA Cups.

Injuries hampered Souness throughout his reign and at times this season robbed him of seven key players at any one time, including new boys Michael Owen, Scott Parker and Emre and influential midfielder Kieron Dyer.

However, the football has been dull, at times the organisation has been sadly lacking and, defensively, it has been shambolic despite the recruitment of £8million Frenchman Jean-Alain Boumsong.

Roeder's first task will be to restore balance and confidence to his team, and as Robson had to six and a half years ago, attempt to create a supply line for Shearer, whose club record 201st goal cannot come quickly enough.

Souness offered a brief statement this afternoon, expressing his disappointment at being forced out.

His statement said: 'I am obviously saddened at the way things have worked out at St James' Park. I have enjoyed living and working in Newcastle, and my family and I have been made to feel particularly welcome by the Geordies.

'I wish the club, the players and the supporters good fortune and success going forward.'

[reds4ever]

Souness held out for his payoff then........

[C0ckney]

i especially loved this

...and, defensively, it has been shambolic because of the recruitment of £8million Frenchman Jean-Alain Boumsong.

[C0ckney]

still i guess this means newcastle won't be going down.

[MikeH]

They are only 11 points behind Arsenal. Same distance as Arsenal are behind ManU.

[MikeH]

MoSe posted this on CG for the Italian league. It's a really good way to picture the league positions I think...

63 Chelsea
62
61
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
50
49
48 Man Utd
47
46
45 Liverpool
44
43
42
41 Tottenham
40
39
38 Wigan
37 Arsenal, Bolton, Blackburn
36
35 West Ham
34 Man City
33
32
31
30 Charlton, Everton
29 Fulham
28
27 Aston Villa
26 Newcastle
25 Middlesbrough
24
23 West Brom
22
21
20 Birmingham
19
18 Portsmouth
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
09 Sunderland

[Imran Siddiqui]

HAW HAW Sunderland!

[MikeH]

I've done that table twice once in December, once today...

In the intervening period Newcastle have only got 1 point, fewer than anyone else. Sunderland got 4.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Bye, Bye Souey. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

good riddance to the useless jock ****.

[duke o' york]

So will Shearer win a cup with the Toon in his last season, or will he be relegated for the first time? Of the two, my money's on the latter at the moment, although another season of mid-table mediocrity is the most likely outcome at the moment - and to be honest, that would be welcome the way things are going.

[duke o' york]

From www.nufc.com:

Owen's metatarsal and Boumsong's positioning won't instantly improve, but in terms of unity, tactics and motivation things could scarcely get any worse.

Souness said after the Manchester City game that he was getting everything he could out of his squad.

For that statement alone he deserved to go and it's up to those players to ram that statement down his throat by their actions on the pitch. The fightback begins here.

Howay the lads.

True, true.

[duke o' york]

Well the record is now behind Shearer, and we can finally get down to the more pressing business of actually staying up. At 2-0 in this relegation six-pointer then it's looking good for the moment, but it's a little early to talk about a renaissance.