Fans reaction.

[lbr]

Going from upper table stability to relegation battles is hard to come to terms with for a lot of supporters.

When did we have a relegation battle? Last season we dropped three places in the final table yet to hear some we're on a par with Darlington.

I guess it's unfair to say relegation battle. But, to be honest.. we've always been comfortably 15th or so. We caught a nice string of games at the end last year, and somehow plopped into 9th. Regardless, even being mentioned with relegation is embarrassing.

We always seem to be a bit quick to say we're doomed. I can honestly say the only time I've been worried since football began was 1995.

It was indeed a scary season but I do remember being on the Holte talking to my mate when we went 4-1 up against Leicester saying "we're going to get into Europe you know".

I was proved slightly wrong!!

With regards to the OP sadly its just the way it is. I think it is the craving for success above any sense of loyalty to your local team, team of your father\grandfather allied to the alienation we feel about blokes earning vast sums of money and seemingly not caring.

The best example I can give and probably the most staggering is that within the course of one season a lad in the footy team I coach went from wearing a Man Utd shirt to a Man City one. It was possibly one of the few times I genuinely didn't know what to say. On top of that I live by Milton Keynes!!

[john e]

Going from upper table stability to relegation battles is hard to come to terms with for a lot of supporters.

When did we have a relegation battle? Last season we dropped three places in the final table yet to hear some we're on a par with Darlington.

I guess it's unfair to say relegation battle. But, to be honest.. we've always been comfortably 15th or so. We caught a nice string of games at the end last year, and somehow plopped into 9th. Regardless, even being mentioned with relegation is embarrassing.

We always seem to be a bit quick to say we're doomed. I can honestly say the only time I've been worried since football began was 1995.

It was indeed a scary season but I do remember being on the Holte talking to my mate when we went 4-1 up against Leicester saying "we're going to get into Europe you know".

I was proved slightly wrong!!

With regards to the OP sadly its just the way it is. I think it is the craving for success above any sense of loyalty to your local team, team of your father\grandfather allied to the alienation we feel about blokes earning vast sums of money and seemingly not caring.

The best example I can give and probably the most staggering is that within the course of one season a lad in the footy team I coach went from wearing a Man Utd shirt to a Man City one. It was possibly one of the few times I genuinely didn't know what to say. On top of that I live by Milton Keynes!!

whereabouts near MK ?

[Dave]

Newcastle to a degree have done extremely well picking up quality signings and seem to have a great scouting system, Ben Arfa,cabaye, Gutierrez, ba ,etc - whereas we seem to struggle to find these talents.

Those signings are nothing to do with a great scouting system. That's two French internationals, an Argentine international and one of the top scorers in the Premier League in the second half of last season. Anyone with even a basic interest in foreign football would have been aware of all of them.

The thing that sets Newcastle apart at the moment is the willingness to take a risk on players who haven't played in England before.

scouts dont just look for young unknown players dave , they will have watched these players many times and done their homework on them and the powers that be at newcastle will have decided they were the right kind of players to sign, any transfer carries a risk but full credit to newcastle for identifying and signing them.

Its not as easy as picking out a couple of foreign internationals and signing them willy nilly, newcastle will have checked them out thoroughly in the process, to suggest its nothing to do with scouting is wrong.

The crucial bit is that part of highlighted. Which is my point entirely.

There's no chance that Villa and probably every other team in the league didn't know about the players in question. The people making the decisions and signing the cheques decided that they were a risk worth taking. That's where the credit lies - not the ability to watch a few Champions League games or to notice Demba Ba score more Premier League goals than anybody else.

[eastie]

Yes dave and obviously they were given good reports from the scouts who watched them leading to Newcastle buying them, can we therefore assume their scouting network is better than ours abroad from recent seasons,or are our scouts just not good judges of players?

Newcastle will have gone for those players on the basis of what their scouts advised Having viewed them, not on the basis of watching them on tv.
Gordon Milne heads their European network and even at his age is still doing a grand job.

[Dave]

Yes dave and obviously they were given good reports from the scouts who watched them leading to Newcastle buying them, can we therefore assume their scouting network is better than ours abroad from recent seasons,or are our scouts just not good judges of players?

I think the most likely scenario is that two of our last three managers are extremely lazy when targeting transfers and have no interest in buying anybody that they've not managed before or played against before.

Even if it means paying more in transfer fees and wages for inferior players.

I'm pretty sure that had our scouts recommended Cabaye and Tiote to O'Neill there's no way he would have tried to sign them. And that's O'Neill's fault, not the scouts'.

[Chris Smith]

I heard an interview with a scout for the Albion on the radio a few months ago. He says they always have a list of of suitable players within their price range for each position. So if the manager says we need a left back he'll tell him a, b and c will fit the bill. It's then a case of seeing which are available and then when they end up with x putting a spin on it to pretend he was the first choice all along. Clearly if you are Man City different rules apply.

[Chris Smith]

Yes dave and obviously they were given good reports from the scouts who watched them leading to Newcastle buying them, can we therefore assume their scouting network is better than ours abroad from recent seasons,or are our scouts just not good judges of players?

I think the most likely scenario is that two of our last three managers are extremely lazy when targeting transfers and have no interest in buying anybody that they've not managed before or played against before.

Even if it means paying more in transfer fees and wages for inferior players.

I'm pretty sure that had our scouts recommended Cabaye and Tiote to O'Neill there's no way he would have tried to sign them. And that's O'Neill's fault, not the scouts'.

We had Barry and then Milner paying in those positions, infinitely superior players.

[Dave]

Yes dave and obviously they were given good reports from the scouts who watched them leading to Newcastle buying them, can we therefore assume their scouting network is better than ours abroad from recent seasons,or are our scouts just not good judges of players?

I think the most likely scenario is that two of our last three managers are extremely lazy when targeting transfers and have no interest in buying anybody that they've not managed before or played against before.

Even if it means paying more in transfer fees and wages for inferior players.

I'm pretty sure that had our scouts recommended Cabaye and Tiote to O'Neill there's no way he would have tried to sign them. And that's O'Neill's fault, not the scouts'.

We had Barry and then Milner paying in those positions, infinitely superior players.

As you can probably guess Chris, the above is a hypothetical example rather than a specific suggestion of something that we should have done.

But to carry on your train of thought, because we had some good midfielders that means we shouldn't have bought others?

Is Sidwell superior to either of them for example?

[Chris Smith]

I take your point, Dave.