Sorry for the Intermission
but it's likely to continue. In the meantimeIf you're an American Citizen please watch this
Best
Martin
Lazy Journalism II
This time stealing shamelessly from NUFC.comCongratulations to Mail on Sunday journalist, Bob Cass, who correctly told us that Wayne Rooney would join Manchester United well over a month ago.
Mind, the chances were Bob was going to be correct no matter which club Rooney joined. Here's a sample of some of Bob's Wayne "exclusives" ..:
July 18 Rooney to join Man United
HEADLINE: Birch exit sets up Rooney switch to United
July 11 Rooney to join Newcastle
HEADLINE: Newcastle to join £30m Rooney chase
July 6 Rooney to join Chelsea
HEADLINE: ROONEY ON THE RUSSIAN HIT LIST
January 5 Rooney to join Real Madrid
HEADLINE: Real Madrid in secret bid for Rooney
When I was at University I used to read about six or seven papers every day because it was free to do so. Since then I've had no time at all for Tabloid sports reporting - the one bit of journalism they claim to do well. For every genuine story they've got five or six works of fiction. On the other hand, once a transfer is reported in the Times, or the Guardian or the Telegraph it's probably on the cards, and at the very least financially feasible.
Lazy journalism
Checking Sky for the latest on the Bobby saga I found this"Manchester United struck both posts and peppered Nigel Martyn's goal with shots,"
Which is odd, because at the end of the Match report
Shots on target 2
Shots off target 10
Sky don't ever seem capable of admitting that a match they chose to show live may have been a dull 0-0 draw...
State of the Toon
Yesterday's capitulation at Aston Villa makes it one win in eleven for Newcastle United. We haven't won away from home since Halloween last year and morale is low. People are saying the manager should go, the players should take the blame or that it's the chairman's fault. I suspect they're all right. Here's my take...How bad is it?
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We're not going down and we're not the new Leeds United. On the other hand we are going *backwards*. Last season Chelsea and Liverpool consolidated their position as 'definately better than us'. This season sides like Villa, Blackburn, Charlton, Boro, Spurs and Bolton are going to be hoping to get into the sixth spot in the table so we can't expect a free pass into Europe. If things don't improve soon mid-table obscurity beckons.
On the Pitch
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We still can't defend, but more seriously we keep failing to turn up. It's rare to read a match report which praises Newcastle for the effort and work rate lately. Last season Shearer and Speed worked their socks off, but players like Viana, Robert, Jenas and Dyer consistently failed to deliver. This is a bit harsh on Robert as well, since his 'lack of effort' included 12 goals, double what Jenas and Dyer managed between them.
Injuries have been frustrating, especially to Woodgate and Bellamy, but it's not like we've suffered the way Spurs seem to with half the team out.
Finances
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The finances are OK. In recent years we've made profits, player wages haven't been excessive (although I'd like to see them lower) and money from the champions league hasn't been spent before it's been earned. That said there are plenty of problems, like the lack of a proper independent remunerations committee for the board, the clubs' inability to explain what our 'international' subsidiary in Gibraltar actually does. While the Chairman's certainly done a solid job in finding revenue sources and bringing in players I still don't get the sense the club is all that well run. Perhaps most telling is a dividend policy that seems to be operating for the benefit of the Chairman and Chief Executive.
That we've appraently got the money to bid for Wayne Rooney shows we can't be completely skint.
Management Structure
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Who's in charge seems to be a complicated question at Newcastle. Robson is the manager, but reports over the summer suggested that the Chairman was pursuing his own shopping list of players (Kluivert, not Beattie, low priority for a new right back...) The sudden bid for Rooney reinforces this. We're not short of strikers and bringing Rooney in would probably mean saying goodbye to at least one of Bellamy and Ameobi, we don't need him, we need a replacement for Woodgate, I'm sure the manager knows this. It does though seem like the kind of thing the Chairman likes to do, proving we're a big club with a big reputation and so on...
Meanwhile as heir apparent as manager and most influential player Shearer presumably has something close to a veto on major decisions. One thing that is clear is that it's still Robson who picks the team.
Training
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I worry about our training policy. The list of players who've come to St James' Park and got better is worryingly short. Shola Ameobi has improved a lot over the past few seasons. Craig Bellamy improved almost instantly, winning young player of the year in his first season. (so quick was that improvement I'm not sure we can take the credit, his knee surgeon might deserve it instead).
On the other hand, Lua Lua, Dyer, Jenas, Bramble, Chopra, Viana and Ambrose, some of the hottest talent in the Premiership have failed to improve at all. Following Gary Speed's move to Bolton he commented that training there was much harder and that he was learning a lot. Arsenal and Man Utd have delivered consistent improvements in their new signings for years. Look at the way O'shea, Fletcher and Miller have come through at Man Utd or the improvement in Cygan and Toure at Arsenal. If we are going to go round buying players with potential and talent rather than experience and class we'd better be confident of our training system - and I'm not.
What needs doing?
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1. Professionalise the boardroom and the bootroom. More transparency about the finances, tight discipline for players - particularly when talking to the press.
2. New coaching staff. Pulling in world class coaches for the youth and reserve sides who are independent from the manager of the first team, and getting some top notch support for the manager are a must. I've never understood why a teams 'coaching setup' gets completely restructured everytime the man at the top is changed. Continuity needs to be built into squad development.
3. A strong manager. Could be Bobby, could be someone else, but the manager has got to have the final say on discipline, on tactics and on signings. Without that we'll have more episodes of players refusing to do what they're told or behave on their nights off.
>>
As with so many things it seems almost certain that the quick fix will be attempted, a new manager and a panic signing or two. We've tried this before and it hasn't worked. What we need is a well planned revolution, the kind Ferguson brought in at Man U, Wenger carried off at Arsenal and Mourinho / Abramovich are trying at Chelsea. In his own way Sam Allardyce's transformation of Bolton into the most scientificly managed side in the Premiership is another example.
Any new manager will have to bring vision, coaching excellence and a long term plan that has the backing of the board. I'm not sure that those are qualities we'll get if we sack Bobby, install Shearer and blow £20m on a new forward...
This communication will be Terminated
After I did my bit for the campaign below by writing to Ford asking why they think what they're doing is good for shareholders I got a reply. Since the campaign is CC'ing all the letters to the Governor of California the reply is from the Governator himself
At any rate, I assume that Skynet have already integrated all California's governmental computer systems with the electronic brain of it's governor...
The emails below (I added a bit)
"governor@governor.ca.gov to me
More options 9:20am (0 minutes ago)
Thank you for your email to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Governor appreciates hearing from concerned and involved Californians, as well as from individuals all over the world who have an interest in California.
Governor Schwarzenegger is committed to restoring your confidence in state government. As the Governor has said, with hard work and your help, California will once again be the "Golden Dream by the Sea".
Due to the unprecedented number of emails sent to the Governor, there may be a delay in immediately responding to your email. Please know that the Governor's office is making every effort to respond to your inquiry and will ensure that your voice is heard by the Governor.
To help us respond to you, please include your name and address when you communicate with the Governor's Office. Please note that we are unable to accept e-mail attachments because of the risk of Internet viruses. We ask that you please send your attachments via traditional mail to:
Office of the Governor
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
For more information about Governor Schwarzenegger and the State of California, please visit the California website at www.ca.gov.
Again, thank you for your email. Governor Schwarzenegger is proud to serve you and all Californians.
Hasta la Vista, Baby!"
Did anyone Th!nk about this?
My new employer have just launched a campaign about Ford Motors decision to scrap their eco-friendly 'Th!nk' model of car. I have to say, even if the car was only developed to meet legal requirements and has been dropped when they changed scrapping the things makes no sense.
It annoys anyone who's got one
It costs money
It ignores people willing to take them off your hands for cold hard cash
Even if Ford don't believe in the car why not spin off the technology into a new company, give it some start-up capital and the existing stock and tell it to go compete with Smart? Someone went to all the trouble of designing these cars, marketing and branding them, setting up an assembly line, training customer support... I mean, building a car is an expensive thing to do. You'd think they'd want something back on the deal...
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