United still alive after trip to Hull and back
After last week's 5-1 mauling against Liverpool, Joe Kinnear admitted that the two big plus points afterwards were the performance of Shay Given and the magnificent support of the Toon Army.
One week on, and not much has changed.
Shay Given was brilliant again and with 2,700 Toon fans roaring their side to a 0-0 draw at Hull, the club's two biggest plus points were still in tact.
Oh and we're still in the FA Cup...
Danger was always lurking at Hull but United probably deserved their replay.
WIth the prospect of a decent crowd at St James's Park to roar United on to round four, the season is still alive in terms of silverware but only just.
Investment is still badly needed as patched up United crawled over the finish line.
On the day, United could have snatched it but by the same token Hull could easily have netted and were perhaps unlucky when the ball crashed of the woodwork from a Michael Turner header - but then aren't moments like that what the FA Cup are all about?
United live to fight another day.
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF UNITED'S FA CUP THIRD ROUND DISPLAY?
Older/Newer
« If Given quit would it be the start of a mass exodus? | January transfer window could be waste of time for Newcastle United »
0 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: United still alive after trip to Hull and back.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.blogonthetyne.co.uk/cgi-bin/mt421/mt-tb.cgi/102950
19 Comments
Leave a comment
Profile
Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
In association with
Follow my RSS feed
Follow me on
in my opinion things just got worse.
no butt for west ham game (not that i rate him much anyway but he's all we have)
and no zoggy by the looks of it.
we must foget about the cup for now,remember boro a few years ago?
staying in the prem is surly our no.1 priority.
while im on, JFK's comments to the press are embarassing he should wash his mouth out with soap and try doing the talking with results.
his latest made me wonder: "im not even sure shay himself instructed his agent to say that" then 5mins later in the same interview he said "me and shay sat down thismornig and talked for an hour over coffee" WHAT WERE THEY TALKING ABOUT THEN!
another gem is "shays going nowhere" 5 mins later he said it was nothing to do with him!
and wise is wheeling and dealing trying to generate funds of 16m with the sale of 3 players???(but no big guns)
ok then who we going to sell? and if we're loosing 3 players, big guns or not, with the squad at its "bare bones" how many players are we going to sign for 16m?
ive been going through the squad in my head and cant think of 3 players that would make 16m unless you include zoggy and shay. viduka and smith would be lucky to pass medicals. and how much would you get for butt, cacapa,geremi,shola or duff...coppers man, we'd be lucky to get 16m for the lot of them put together.
taylor might be on his way, leaving us short at the back again.
young andy carroll? so much for the youth policy then. although i think that went out the door with milner.
selling xisco is sure to loose money (making wise look even more stupid) and nacho isnt even ours to sell(are we paying his wages by the way?).
the only way out of this is BUYING! not selling to buy for the sake of it.
and im not asking for lampard or kaka here just some GOOD players.
NOT HAS BEEN CROCK JOCKS!
sorry if im a bit negative thismorning my lack of sweet nicotine is getting to me,
ill be back on the tabs in no time at this rate:-(
if you ask me they'll sell ANYONE in the team, big guns or not. then thers that 13m clause in obas contarct aswell
My sentiments exactly, Jeddi. Survival is paramount - I'd rather guarantee our top-flight status for the next ten years than win a trophy in the next twenty, to be honest. I'm not speaking for everyone, but that's where my priorities lie.
I'm treating everything I hear and read about this club with a pinch of salt these days, but if the £16m figure is correct, then in my book it's quite easy how they'll do it - Given & N'Zogbia. Then add Xisco - for whatever they can get and there's £16m+.
I'm all for shifting out deadwood like Smith etc, but trying to do it BEFORE improving the depth of the squad is a risky game to play when we can barely get a match day squad together - particularly when it's aging or injured players we're trying to sell - Xisco aside.
I read this morning that they'd even listen to offers for Coloccini and Jonas. The very prospect of that concerns me more than anything else, really. It would speak volumes about what this regime class as "taking the club forward".
What Planet is Neil Farrington (sunday sun) on! Does he sit at home on a night and think, what will wind the Geordies up this week! Given to City, Guiterrez and Colocini open to offers, more crap written in the Sunday sun than written in it's illustrious weekday counterpart. If you can report on Facts then give it up and do some JACKANORY stories.
Sad thing is Peter, The Sunday Sun IS printing the truth ...
Roll up, roll up ... firesale at NUFC Direct ... everything must go.
WHAT?!!! our only funds are to be generated by sales? Ashley lies habitually by the day and JFK is a puppet. His lucky run of no defeats, thanks to Shay, has ended miserably. Ashley, how can we interpret your 'Now we're gonna take this club forward' speil without at least the 20 mill a year you promised for transfers? When in fact Jokin'ere's got nothing but the money he can get for selling the garbage you yourself bought? This stinks. The only thing that separates you from lying politicians is that they do it with style, you Mr. Cockney barrowboy are GAUCHE.
Oh, and big deal at cup draw at Hull, and getting Crewe or Millwall here, which is our kindest cup draw since Hereford...well could've been. Losing interest by the minute.
Jeddi
I agree with your assessement of the situation in our beloved club. I just hope Ashely comes to his senses and understands the priority is to have good players to survive in the prem and have enough players to withstand injuries. From an investment prespective I ma hoping it is true he a great businessman that understands the concept of protecting the value of your investment whihc means having good players to stay up and compete as first priority. All that talk we will emulate Arsenal in building a young, exiting that can compete for Europe seems full of nonsense we have no master plan in shambles, no quality player will want to come and play for us.
Let's hope for a miracle this trasnfer window.
Jeddi - unfortunately Ashley is a businessman - and lets look at what has gone on over the last week:
(i) Ashley announces the club is not up for sale,
(ii) Shay's future at the club is questioned.
What we are seeing is asset stripping.
He couldnt sell the whole - so he is selling the sum of the parts. Is he is gambling on us staying up so that he can sell a premiership club at the end of the season that looks more solvent.
I have put a fiver on the Spartans winning tonight, but it wont be enough. We stand a better chance of Pure Goerdie going platinum and Ronnie buying Ashley out.
All these mixed signals coming out of SJP - players going, staying and going again - it's even more hurtful than the lack of decent signings. What about spending a few quid on professional assistance, ie. from a communications agency??? Surely, establishing some level of credibility with the fans would be worth the money..unlike Xisco, Enrique, Luque, Boumsong and the numerous overpaid stars who have failed to impress. Management should really consider their statements to the press to save whatever integrity they have left - if any at all.
In the midst of this dark period for NUFC, Bassong managed to brighten up my day (again) on Saturday - he was a joy to behold, and deserves credit for it! Keep up the good work!
Niels, DK
Ooh Relton, got my juices going there mate. I'd immediately get KK back, Russell Cushing as chairman and you as my PR man and most of the contributers to this blog as scouts as they know more than the poison dwarf. With the exception of about five first teamers and three reserves, I'd swap the rest for Blyth Spartans. C'mon you Spartans!
Am I the only one on here who is sick of N'Zogbia? The transfer window opens & low & behold Chaz wants to leave (again)!!! He wants to go to France/London/Anywhere who'll pay him the dosh he wants & to cap it off he goes off against Hull with a suspect injury & probably to a spell on the sidelines until he gets his January move! Sell him if anyones willing to pay £5m+ for this over rated hot & cold Frenchman who's been in a huff since Boumsong left. I can't even see why people rate him so much, just look at his goals per game record or number of assists & as for a left back, well he makes Enrique look world class!!
Ratings for Hull game"GIVEN no medals 9, TAYLOR such apussy 6,CHARLIE not my darling 4,COLLO luvley hair movement 6,BASSONG another PARIS tower preformance 8,BUTT the nut booked again 6, GUTHRIE Fagans pal 7,DUFF tries es balls off 6,CARROLL puts his head in where it gets hurt 6,OWEN NOWT T say aboot him 4,JONAS what a luvley lad 8,last but not least JOSE the fox terrier 5.A mention to JFK he gets 10 because e kept his mouth shut,am sure he's dement.
Well I'd just like to say the whole club is a shambles at the minute.
So much for Ashley being the man with the plan, the billionaire business man who is going to finally put our beloved club where it belongs.
Since his take over nothing has went right. His claim that he's cleared all the debts etc are just claims. If he was that good a business man how did he not know of all the debts that existed when he took over ?
It looks to me, like Jeddi says, we'll sell anyone and my big fear is that we'll see a mass exodus that will see our beloved club relegated which would absolutley break my heart. But then again the performance against Liverpool just about did that in itself.
Joe Kinner has finally proven to us all what we all initially thought in the first place - He's a Joke. As is Ashley and as is Dennis Wise not to mention Llaimbas. You can continually give this cockney mafia chances top prove themselves but for me they already have. To see the club in this state is a disgrace and no wonder Shay wants out. Ashley man listen to Rob Lee save yourself by getting Shearer in while putting your hand in your pocket. He'd bring in some top quality players which would steady the ship and next season we can finally turn the tide in our favour. To think that we were one of the "Big 4" just a few years ago shows how much things have fallen, but equally shows how much things can rise again. Keeping the faith as always - but with a lot of sorrow at the mo - Taso.
Just what will cause ashley to spend some cash on our depleted team? We have half out injured and the other half thinking of leaving. How can we strengthen the team when its 1 in 1 out? Thats just swapping players. Why do we have to sell to bring someone in, i thought we were going to get £20m each year for transfers, that seems to have gone down the pan.
It shows how bad we are these days when a draw at hull (using some reserves) is deemed a good result!
We cant drive our club forward when its in reverse. Whos idea was it to go for ferguson, wise or jk? They need their head looking at.
I dont look at sky sports news so much now, it wont be us going for quality players. This transfer window could be our only chance of survival, its nearly a week gone and the only possible incomer we have is barry ******* ferguson, id rather have barry chuckle! to me to me to you to you, imagine that 1-2 in midfield!
So the latest cunning plan of Denis the Menace to sell the player he wasted £5m on to finance the next waste of money has fallen by the wayside cos little Den the transfer guru doesn't know the rules of the game he is supposed to be playing. Sureley Ashley does not need any more evidence of this guy's total incompetence. There must be some compelling reason for continuing his employment which I am too thick to realise. Any suggestions out there?
Further confusion - while Big Joe claims we are gunning for Rangers hot shot Bazzer Ferguson - Walter Smith (Rangers Manager) claims no approach has been made (source BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/rangers/7810688.stm). The confusion and contradictions continue.
In the same article - Smith says he would consider a "substantial" offer !!!!! Well thats us out the running then.
Not unless he wants an empty bag of Tudor Crisps and a Woolworths gift voucher that Ernie Wise happens to have leftover in his back pocket.
So JFK has noticed that it is difficult to sign players in the Jan., I,m sorry but I think everyone in football knew that.What happened to the two premiership players at £6 mill. each that were lined up a couple of weeks ago, followed by a number of top championship players mentioned a few days later? It is going to be a hard winter.
A new beginning from Ashley? get rid of the amateurs you have on the board first Mike, you still have unqualified wasters in charge of your club. Wise and Llambias had no track record to justify their appointments, and their lack of results proves the doubters right. Wise failed badly in the summer transfer window, why expect him to do any better this time? why is he in charge of selling the numpties he decided to buy? Or is Ashley just making noises for appearance's sake again. Bring your family back to SJP Mike, I can't believe there was ever any risk to them - but you rejoin the Toon Army at risk of being bored to tears.
MA is in a business he doesn't know, staffed with people who don't care, in a market that won't forgive.
This is why he will take all he can before the premiership bubble implodes and this will include the money out of our pockets and the lead off the roof at SJP if needs be.
Dark days indeed.
How different this would all have been if he'd been big enough to back his manager.