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Opinion

Newcastle’s hopes rest on a nicer version of Alan Pardew…

8 years ago
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Twelve games remain, thirty six points to play for, but, under Steve McClaren we average a pitiful 0.923 points per game.

After the mauling at Chelsea on Saturday, as a fan base we once again find ourselves in relegation purgatory for a rather unenvious seventeen days until the season resumes after the holidays on 2 March.

What happened at Stamford Bridge was horrid, ardent fans will say that Chelsea simply turned it on, indeed they did, but as they cranked up the heat and started cooking on full gas, our canister appeared to have expired and then self-extinguished in a damp and unspectacular squib.

Let’s get it right here, we were bloody awful, really poor and lacking in almost every area all over the pitch. I feel like I’m going over old ground here, but to be honest, when you hit the final 12 game run in, it would be brilliant to find a new angle to talk about.

The reality though is very much that this Newcastle United team have failed to learn from their mistakes this season, under this manager, as well as last season under licky lips, and before him the silver haired tactical genius.

Year on year we see the same poor away form, why?

We have been through three managers, the only common denominator is our owner. Can we blame him for our poor away form?

Well I’d make a case to say that we can. His failure to land a top quality manager to lead his brimming full cart of cash to spend has led to another below par manager/head coach. Willing to work under a regime most others would scoff at.

He has to realise that he appointed the wrong man by now, but it looks as though he is going to stick the rest of his chips on Steve McClaren to keep his cash cow in the league.

But should we really be worried about being relegated?

We have six home games to come: Man City, Bournemouth, Sunderland, Swansea, Palace and Spurs.

Plus six away games: Stoke, Leicester, Norwich, Southampton, Liverpool and Villa.

So far this season we have earned an average of 0.923 points per game. So, we should make another 11 points and finish on 35 points. Will that be good enough to stay in the league? History tells us we’ve got a chance but it could go either way.

The best we can hope for is that we scrape over the line and Mike Ashley sacks McClaren as soon as the full time whistle blows on the last game of the season.

He (MA) may or may not have genuine and new-found ambitions to challenge/win something, that has been, and will be, debated elsewhere for the rest of his tenure here. However, something we can all agree on is that Steve McClaren is NOT the man to deliver this football club a trophy or any kind of success, he is basically a nicer version of Alan Pardew.

Get Steve McClaren, Coloccini, Cisse, Taylor, Tiote, Anita, Colback, Riviere and Obertan out out out and get Brendan Rodgers in.

Get him to sign a conditional contract that he will take over on the proviso that we stay in the league. If we don’t stay up, we’ll sink like Fulham.

I really don’t know what is the best outcome at the stage. Comments welcome.

(To feature like Gareth, send in your articles for our website to contribute@themag.co.uk – all views those of the author etc etc)

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