Chelsea 5-1 Newcastle - The 'Index 6'

Newcastle fell to yet another defeat at Chelsea in what is now a typical away display. The game was over inside 20 minutes as the Blues raced to a three goal lead thanks to some particularly woeful defending not aided by the midfield 5, who, apart from Townsend, were all lethargic and disinterested. In the meantime, manager Steve McClaren remained in his usual forlorn posture as his pre-match words, whatever they were, were shown to have absolutely zero effect. I read a tweet somewhere that suggested that relegation is now a real possibility for Newcastle. Arguably it’s been a real possibility for some years now, but after another pathetic outing one wonders whether the time has finally come.

To the Index 6:

Management and apathy:

In the contemporary climate of hiring’s and firing’s, the position of head coach/manager is understood to be extremely precarious. Increasingly, ex-pro’s seem dissuaded from going into management, seeing their predecessors stripped of their reputations as they fail to meet the expectations of owners who are increasingly willing to hit the panic button. The sacking culture has seen the manager become a figure of sympathy. When one manager loses his job, the rest of his colleagues come out in unified defence – bemoaning the near impossibility of the job. Pundits on the sofa also chime in, blaming fans for turning too quickly on managers.

Well, I have no sympathy for managers. They are as self-interested and career-focused as the rest of us. They have no loyalty. They deserve no sympathy. No matter how bad they are doing, no matter how badly they are performing, a manager will almost always wait to be sacked, in full knowledge of the big pay off on the way. If managers truly cared about the club they represent, they would declare their own time up. Newcastle fans were rightly outraged by McClaren’s interview today. He was smiley, upbeat, positive, so much so that even Geoff Shreeves was taken by surprise. But it should come as no surprise. McClaren, like any other manager, is only concerned with his own reputation, and his own finances. If he gets sacked, he’ll find another job somewhere else. What’s it to him? Nothing.

Numbers over quality:

It really doesn’t beg saying, but 80 million pounds. 80 million pounds spent. No defenders. Much has been made in the media about Newcastle’s reluctance to spend money (until this season). However, less has been made about an equally infuriating aspect of Newcastle’s transfer policy, which is their assumption that if the numbers are there, then there is no need to buy. Because Newcastle’s “footballing board” have as much footballing knowledge as Jonjo Shelvey has hair, all they see is names on a sheet. “Oh, we have four centre backs”, they will say. We musn’t need a centre back then. Not once does it cross Lee Charnley’s mind that those centre backs are clearly painfully ill-equipped to play at this level. Here, Newcastle’s business mindset kicks in: numbers over quality.

Tactics:

Utterly inept again. Long ball to Mitrovic, hope for a knock down. Rolando Aarons at LB is staggering when you have Colback on the bench.

Attitude:

But having said that, if your players can’t be bothered to show up, then the best tactics in the world won’t save you. The players deserve criticism. No doubt. But once again, the blame for me lies firmly at McClaren’s door – as it did with Alan Pardew. One of the many things they share in common (general incompetence aside) – is that they overpraise players when they are average, and defend them when they are woeful. This sends a clear message: it’s OK to be bad. Newcastle are expected to win every few weeks, and as long as they put in a few tackles every so often they will be lauded for “giving everything” and will have the excuse of luck, weather or whatever else provided by their manager. I don’t know what goes through McClaren’s head when he speaks to the press, but the disrespect he shows to the fans when he continues to defend a set of abject players and performances is fundamentally immoral.

Stick or twist?:

This report is McClaren themed, such has he incensed me. The Newcastle board has a huge decision to make. We all know there is zero appetite to sack the big oaf, given that Charnley and co are well aware that there are only so many spineless “yes man’s” out there. But, at some point, even they will realise that a change may be needed. Everybody breaks at some point. Over to you, Lee…

Townsend:

Scraping the barrel of course, but great goal, and great attitude so far. It’s all relative, of course….