The end is near... (football relegation talk)

[Jowsey]

I'm not sure who you guys should pick for the next coach either, but you definitely need to get out of this routine of plummeting down the table and sacking the manager in the last stint of the season so that the impact of a new manager carries you through till the next year. I actually thought Gus was alright, if he had had a bit more investment in the summer, perhaps he would have been alright.

I agree, with a bit more money perhaps we wouldn't have ended up with Bridcutt and Buckley (read, rubbish defensive midfielder and rubbish winger) and perhaps we could have brought in Van Dijk and someone else with a bit more flair. And then we wouldn't have had to waste a loan on Coates (who under Poyet was just shocking IMO) and perhaps we could have loaned Borini again.

Either way, I don't think Poyet ever played positively enough. Perhaps I just enjoyed the feeling of not getting beat week in, week out but upon reflection we were a very boring, negative team. He wanted to play passing football, beautiful football, when we are basically a route 1 team.

Ah well. Pick ourselves up and dust ourselves down for the Chelsea match and then we can worry about these kinds of issues. I think Dick would be good to have but I don't think he will stay.

[ik9000]

And so the day of reckoning... let's see what happens.

Predictions, Utd hammer Hull by a 3 goal margin while Newcastle draw 0-0 with West Ham. Hull go down.

[Biscuit]

I'm saying nothing...

[Jowsey]

I think Hull and Newcastle will both lose. But it's not my 'desired' outcome though

[Biscuit]

Yessessssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jowsey]

And breath Biscuit. Very lucky day for you.

[Biscuit]

I have to disagree with you there. I think for the first time in ages we actually made our own luck and outplayed the opposition... Just want to know why its taken us so long to do it.

John Carver still thinks he's good enough for the job, this really worries me. Guy is utterly deluded and the club keep backing him, he needs to go while a new coach will have time to settle. I wouldn't even have him on staff.

Jonás Gutiérrez is an incredible success story though. Goes out on loan, gets cancer, beats it, gets back in the squad, assists first survival goal then gets the second himself. What a legend.

[Biscuit]

Watching match of the day, hull were unlucky to lose.

Bit of a sign of what Manchester UTD have without de Gea

[shaithis]

I actually watched the toon game with my mate who is a toon fan.........to say HE was tense was an understatement!

Amazing how they played considering their recent form and I don't think I've seen a manager look so happy at their team scoring a goal.....you'd have thought it was a Champions League winner (John "I'm the best coach in the EPL" Carver probably thought it was a CL winner he is so deluded)

Those 2 early disallowed goals for Hull were a scare, amazed they didn't actually put one away in the end.

Taking the scope beyond the EPL, I think it was just a shame that the 3 main deciders (and what should have been some of the tenses games this season) at the weekend (NewC vs WHam, PSE vs Swin and Boro vs Nor) were all 1-way games....no taking it to the wire for us neutrals

[ik9000]

I actually watched the toon game with my mate who is a toon fan.........to say HE was tense was an understatement!

Amazing how they played considering their recent form and I don't think I've seen a manager look so happy at their team scoring a goal.....you'd have thought it was a Champions League winner (John "I'm the best coach in the EPL" Carver probably thought it was a CL winner he is so deluded)

Those 2 early disallowed goals for Hull were a scare, amazed they didn't actually put one away in the end.

Taking the scope beyond the EPL, I think it was just a shame that the 3 main deciders (and what should have been some of the tenses games this season) at the weekend (NewC vs WHam, PSE vs Swin and Boro vs Nor) were all 1-way games....no taking it to the wire for us neutrals

As a neutral I thoroughly enjoyed the newsfeed of the Arsenal, Stoke and Leicester games. Was wishing Hull to get a few in the net, but thanks to West Ham's usual throwing in of the towel it was moot anyway. My mate's a west ham fan and the way he put it was "You can always rely on west ham for a half-baked effort at the end of the season. Unless they're playing a big team like Man utd/fighting for their own survival they don't seem to give it 100%." And he pays to watch them!

[Biscuit]

As a neutral I thoroughly enjoyed the newsfeed of the Arsenal, Stoke and Leicester games. Was wishing Hull to get a few in the net, but thanks to West Ham's usual throwing in of the towel it was moot anyway.

I think you mean, thanks to Newcastle actually performing well for once... if you are going to claim to be a Neutral you could at least pretend to be one.

[Jowsey]

I think you mean, thanks to Newcastle actually performing well for once... if you are going to claim to be a Neutral you could at least pretend to be one.

I think we can all see the true bias here Biscuit . But I do agree with you, you deserved this win. What you didn't deserve is be scrapping around on survival sunday. Leave that to the truly poor teams (a la Sunderland), you're just not cut out for it. You didn't even concede!

Now onto an equally interesting (if slower paced) part of the footballing calendar. The dance of the managers. Will be interested to see who ends up where. I hope we manager to secure Dick because he brings a lot to the table. He's also apparently already handed his request for players to Lee Congerton, which is a very good sign IMO!

[Biscuit]

I think we can all see the true bias here Biscuit . But I do agree with you, you deserved this win. What you didn't deserve is be scrapping around on survival sunday. Leave that to the truly poor teams (a la Sunderland), you're just not cut out for it. You didn't even concede!

Hey, I'm not pretending to be a neutral!
Shifting the focus from Newcastle's good performance (one of a handful we've had this season) by accusing West Ham of throwing in the towel is obviously inflammatory and not a fair representation of what happened. You might not like Newcastle for whatever reason, but the reality is West Ham were outplayed by a team who FINALLY fought for their survival.

Now onto an equally interesting (if slower paced) part of the footballing calendar. The dance of the managers. Will be interested to see who ends up where. I hope we manager to secure Dick because he brings a lot to the table. He's also apparently already handed his request for players to Lee Congerton, which is a very good sign IMO!

That is a strong sign of ambition. You guys are in the same position as us really, management need to put their money where their mouth is and actually invest. I'm sure the past few years have filled you with the same kind of cynicism that I have though!

Quite few interesting clubs chopping and changing managers in the summer though:
Newcastle
Sunderland
Derby
West Ham
Real Madrid
Watford
Borussia Dortmund
Quite a few German teams

Perhaps Liverpool?

I really hope we don't end up with someone like McLaren, just stinks of same old 'safe' mediocrity. I would like to see us take a chance with a young ambitious talent or one of the many foreign coaches that seem to be on the market.

Manager of the season for me probably goes to Garry Monk. Swansea have been excellent under his leadership, even after selling their star striker.

Here is another couple of questions for everyone, out of the clubs going down, who do you think we come back up?
Out of the clubs coming up, who do you think will go straight back down?

[Jowsey]

Here is another couple of questions for everyone, out of the clubs going down, who do you think we come back up?
Out of the clubs coming up, who do you think will go straight back down?

I believe Burnley invested (very wisely) in there infrastructure rather than players this year so they are prime candidates to come bouncing back up. I feel Hull will really struggle, they spent big and it hasn't paid off for them. And I just don't think QPR were cut out for the premier league and I don't think we will see them in the top flight any time soon.

Regarding people coming up, it really depends summer transfers, they can genuinely make or break a team. Especially with Watford apparently about to lose there manager, which is confusing. But I haven't paid enough attention to the championship this year to have a full opinion.

That is a strong sign of ambition. You guys are in the same position as us really, management need to put their money where their mouth is and actually invest. I'm sure the past few years have filled you with the same kind of cynicism that I have though!

Agreed. I just want a manager to get given a 4 year contract so he can put a team together that works and isn't basically redesigned every 12 months. God knows we have a lot of chaff to get rid of! Underneath a buffer of rubbish we actually have a semi-decent skeleton squad. But like Dick said we need two centre backs to replace the ageing Brown and O'Shea, a winger and a new striker. We'll probably see the back of some familiar faces, like Fletcher, Graham, Brown, O'Shea, and hopefully a string of background players just sucking up the wage bill. And possibly Johnson (which is rubbish because he's one of our good ones). So it'll feel like same old Sunderland with a brand new squad next year.

[ik9000]

my watching of the match was that Newcastle benefitted from a lack-luster display from their opponents. Had they been up against a team actually trying properly I don't think Newcastle would have won irrespective of any improvement in effort on their part. Not trying to be inflammatory, don't take it personally, I just don't see it the same way you do. That is my opinion and it won't be changed by any huffing and puffing to the contrary.

[Biscuit]

woohoo! I was worried a draw wasn't going to be enough but turns out maybe spurs do want a Europa spot after all. poor hull. hope they have a win next week and west ham do the business. did anyone see the villa score! of all the days to be away. did anyone happen to record motd?

my watching of the match was that Newcastle benefitted from a lack-luster display from their opponents. Had they been up against a team actually trying properly I don't think Newcastle would have won irrespective of any improvement in effort on their part. Not trying to be inflammatory, don't take it personally, I just don't see it the same way you do. That is my opinion and it won't be changed by any huffing and puffing to the contrary.

My point is that you are very clearly NOT a neutral, as you have a disdain towards the Toon. Hell even a Mackem has said we deserved it and you cant get 'Neutral' in a worse way than that.

I guess as a Spurs fan you're just butthurt that you cant beat us at home