Blackwell Back Him or Sack Him

[Paulus]

Back him.....

He may make a tool of himself in the media, but he is a dam sight better than Robson, and he does care about the football club

I also dont buy all this rubbish that is constantly thrown down peoples throat regarding playing lovely football. The object of the game is to score more than the team your playing against, and were pretty good at that. Look at donny, and swansea, all we heard last season and this, is how they play a nice passing game, well it didnt get either of them anywhere near the play offs did it?

I like see good football like most people, but more so win, and if that means been direct then i dont mind one bit

No it didn't get them promoted but where would Donny be if they could go out and spend £4 or £5 Million on a couple of strikers? In the end squad size and an inability to compete in the transfer market was their limiting factor not the way they play.

 

[Shirty Blade]

While our limmiting factor is the way we play rather than our ability to compete in the transfer market!

 

[Gingerblade]

No it didn't get them promoted but where would Donny be if they could go out and spend £4 or £5 Million on a couple of strikers?

In admin!!! haha

I do take point, but it really doesn't matter what your style of play is as long as it a winning style!

 

[Shirty Blade]

I agree we all want to win, but I think that we might stand a chance of winning more with a more creative style of play rather than the aimless hoof upto Henderson!

UTB

 

[Gingerblade]

I agree we all want to win, but I think that we might stand a chance of winning more with a more creative style of play rather than the aimless hoof upto Henderson!

UTB

surely aimless is kicking it anywhere,

If we kick it to Hendo, then its actually been aimed at him! :thumbup:

 

[beechblade]

Back Him and personally I have nothing wrong with his personality he has shown me the passion I want to see in a manager on quite a few occasions. The club is starting to work better as a whole imo, after Robson nearly undid everything we were trying to achieve.

I know he has his haters but so does every manager, I'm truly sorry he can't please everyone in every little way but that is life. And I also see his frustration at the team when they play the hot potato moments we seem to have, I think he rather us play football and make it look like the beautiful game, but he also knows this doesn't always win you games. His tatics don't always work but neither does Alex Fuergsons week in week out. He can't instantly know how his players will react on the pitch, all he can do is try to stop them from doing as we did in the first half of the leciester game. Once the players get on the field they have to be the ones who take the bull by the horns and get themselves playing. I in know way see him saying
'Sit back for the first half hour and let them out play you lads.'
In terms of Cotts blackie does the right thing dropping, Last season he was great one game crap for the next 3 or 4 and then great again for one more. (yes others have been too but he didn't have the options he does now on the right) I will say this though he must be doing something right with him off the field too because he is improving.


He has done well so far, yeah we had the disappointment of the play offs but we had that with Neil too, he needs the time to shape his team.

 

[H. Metal Blade]

Back him - Unashamedly

Yes i sometimes think it takes him the whole first half to actualy get the measure of the oposition hence so many woeful 1st half performances only to be turned by a magnificient 2nd half display. Yes i sometimes question his tactics or his Substitutions.

But you can't deny that he's done wonders with a team which having ben built by warnock was shattered by Robson and needed some serious nurtutring. Don't forget that Robson's brief period with us financially fucked us for a quite a hangover and Blackwell only now semes to be getting quality signings.

The flip side is that, when you've signed a record (?) £3mil Striker from Man City - and you publicly announce your confidence about promotion so much - people are entitled to expect results...therefore...i wouldn't judge him in january (unless we're bottom ofcourse) but if we don't make the playoffs given the resources available i would review his position!

 

[SwissBlade]

Whilst most of my posts are anti Blackwell it is apparant that he has some supporters on here.
What is the general view on Mr Blackwell Should we back him or sack him.
The augument that he has been succesful during his second stint at the Lane is counteracted by the question 'What level of success do we want?' and would supporters of Newcastle Utd be happy with finishing third this year and then go missing in the play off final
Vote Now.................................

Funniest post i've seen in ages!

We're NOT Newcastle, nor would I wish to be.

A lot of clubs see the answer to a problem as getting rid of managers. It rarely does. I backed Robbo until I could no longer see any improvement, in fact I thought we were going backwards.

We've improved under Blackie but there has been a huge amount of disruption to deal with, particularly this summer. Its not an excuse its a fact.

I believe that we're a team in transition, look back over the NW years and you'll see every couple of years we have to rebuild, because we lose players (sales/ release/ retirement etc). I don't like it but thats the way it is.

Blackie's had to sell additional players that I don't think he wanted to.

McCabe and Blackie have made noises about pushing for promotion, but i'd expect that anyway, theres probably 15 teams that could realistically have a chance of promotion in this league.

What with all the transfer activity this summer, the Play off disaster last season and the completely disasterous Preseason airmiles exercise I expect a 6th place finish, no better. I've thought that it'll be a slow start this season, the fixture list isn't too kind, but it gets a few games out of the way. Of the August Fixtures everyone of the teams Boro, Watford, Leicester, Reading and West Brom are in transition, 3 have new managers! And Boro, Leicester and West Brom have agenda's based on promotion/ relegation last season.

I think many of us have lost sight of what it means to be Blades at times, we've been fed too much about how we're a big club, we should be PL etc, but what we expect as Blades is a team that gives its best with the players that we have. We also expect that the manager is able to get the best out of the players we have. Blackie should be knighted for it (as should NW previously).

No excuses for Blackie though. He sets his targets and McCabe backs them, throwing money at a manager is not always the best way of "backing him" but i'd expect that the board sanction what is required to meet our targets. If thats a 300k striker or a 3m striker its up to them. But I expect Blackie to get the best of both ends of the spectrum and manage these variations. He knows what makes the players tick both playing wise and personality wise.

We don't all like the way he plays, but its more often than not got results. Blackies tenure has been about being organised, not giving much away and getting scraps up top. So far the results have shown that and I find it ridiculous that he's already being questionned.

As for whether he's good enough for the PL, lets get their first

 

[Amsterdam Blade]

Ridiculous question, in my opinion.

McCabe is backing him, and so should we.

He has steadily improved the team and results since he has been here. Just hope the improvement continues this season and we finish one or two places higher than last season.

 

[kop_blade9]

Back Blackwell

The augument that he has been succesful during his second stint at the Lane is counteracted by the question 'What level of success do we want?'

If you compare his tenure to Bryan Robson poor attempt then you have to agree that Blackwell is successful.

The level of success is an ever moving target every year.
Do we expect champions league?
Championship winners?
Playoffs?
avoid relagation?


and would supporters of Newcastle Utd be happy with finishing third this year and then go missing in the play off final
Vote Now.................................[/QUOTE]

Harsh to say we went missing in the playoff final.
I thought we gave it a good go and were a little unlucky.
Did Reading sack Coppell after they failed in the playoffs, no, they stuck by him and he took them up for a few seasons.

I think Newcastle can't believe their luck that they are actually off to a winning start.

 

[Robbie]

He has steadily improved the team and results since he has been here. Just hope the improvement continues this season and we finish one or two places higher than last season.

Can't agree with the bolded part. The team isn't as strong as it was when he first joined in my opinion.

This may or may not be anything to do with KB though

 

[S17]

Back him - there has been real improvement every season and despite the shortcomings in playing style it isn't half effective. Results are key, surely.

My main concerns with him are his treatment of Cotts (as mentioned above) and his seeming inability to attract quality players to the club (such as with Lita, and it seemed to take some time to convince Evans to sign in the end). But overall, the progression of the club both on and off the pitch over the past ten years - barring the Robson debacle - has been fantastic. We just need to take that final step into securing, and then maintaining, Premier League status!

 

[cooperblade]

I'm always confused about this one. He brought Cotts in, he drops him when he performs badly or fails to track back/contribute more than what he wants to do. Cotts whenever I've seen him so far this year is putting more effort into tracking back and working off the ball, so that is obviously being taken on board.

Fair enough you could argue that others have stayed in the team when performing badly, but now we have more choice in terms of wingers there are more options than him.

He's always in and around the squad, so I'm a little unsure as to how he's being treated so badly? Is it because he isn't an automatic choice in the starting line up?

I'm talking mainly about the way he treats him on the pitch. He seems to be constantly hurling abuse at him, he even did it when he hit the post v Watford the other day. My impression is that, like Sitwell said the other day, Blackwell is a bully. The stories about his treatment of Sharp after the Port Vale game add to that belief. Players with more confidence/experience might just tell him to F off like Naysmith has done on occasion but (again only my impression) lads like Sharp and Cotts don't have the muchas maracas to fight back.

I also think it's wrong that Blackwell won't play him in away matches.

 

[beightonblade]

77 back him 20 sack him ?

amazin simply amazin !

 

[beechblade]

77 back him 20 sack him ?

amazin simply amazin !

Yeah it goes to show you can't alwas please everyone.

 

[chipsncake]

Just look at the garbage he's signed this close season, the man hasn't got a clue. Sack him!

 

[SheepdipBlade]

77 back him 20 sack him ?

amazin simply amazin !

84 now mate!!

Can't see any objective reason for sacking him. I'm more mystified by that fact that I'm still unconvinced by him even though his actual record is so strong. I can find no valid reason not to be - yet I don't have the confidence in him I felt with Harry or St Neil - Maybe it's about personality as someone mentioned earlier

 

[LSF]

I find it difficult to comprehend folk are advocating getting rid of KB, it sums up the 'want it now' mentality and lack of patience some football fans display. He's a good manager, he will have plenty of imperfections as we all have but his record is good enough to warrant a far more time than some would give him.
As for the allegations of the 'bully' mentality, oh dear, now there is an overused word these days. Just looking at somebody the wrong way can constitute bullying today, my heart bleeds ....
Maybe Coops and Sitters have some insider knowledge on this with them both knowing players past and present, but frankly i find it laughable to level the bullying allegation.

 

[SwissBlade]

Can't agree with the bolded part. The team isn't as strong as it was when he first joined in my opinion.

This may or may not be anything to do with KB though

Of course you can't agree Robbie, you openly admit that you don't like Blackie.

I'm inclined to agree with you that the team isn't as strong as when he joined.

But surely thats a result of the circumstances? We've always known when the Parachute payments would end, so we had a choice at the start of last season. Unfortunately that made it difficult to splash the cash and go for broke to get back to the PL. We HAD to streamline the squad and Blackie did a cracking job of that last season. Bringing in some very good players (on paper) like Halford, Naughton, Henderson (in theory), Ward, lupoli, Cotteril etc.

But this season we've had to trim the squad down again... So whilst the squad was previously much stronger the core team has probably become a stronger team all round for example on the wings and up front have been strengthened a lot. Once the new players 'bed in' it should be stronger overall. We just won't have strength in depth like in previous years.

 

[rachyblade]

Took over with the club hovering dangerously close to a relegation place, ended that season almost getting into the play-offs.

Next season, just miss automatic promotion and lose in the play-off final.

With my recruitment responsibilities at work, if I sacked somebody after that sort of improved performance, my directors would be outside my office door with MY P45 quicker than Usain Bolt!

He's earned the right to have a go at getting promotion this season. If it is failing badly by December, by all means review the situation. If at the end of the season we have not been promoted, again review things and maybe opt for a change. But at this point, it would be just plain daft!

Exactly what he said

 

[Fiery Blade]

Funniest post i've seen in ages!

We're NOT Newcastle, nor would I wish to be.

A lot of clubs see the answer to a problem as getting rid of managers. It rarely does. I backed Robbo until I could no longer see any improvement, in fact I thought we were going backwards.

We've improved under Blackie but there has been a huge amount of disruption to deal with, particularly this summer. Its not an excuse its a fact.

I believe that we're a team in transition, look back over the NW years and you'll see every couple of years we have to rebuild, because we lose players (sales/ release/ retirement etc). I don't like it but thats the way it is.

Blackie's had to sell additional players that I don't think he wanted to.

McCabe and Blackie have made noises about pushing for promotion, but i'd expect that anyway, theres probably 15 teams that could realistically have a chance of promotion in this league.

What with all the transfer activity this summer, the Play off disaster last season and the completely disasterous Preseason airmiles exercise I expect a 6th place finish, no better. I've thought that it'll be a slow start this season, the fixture list isn't too kind, but it gets a few games out of the way. Of the August Fixtures everyone of the teams Boro, Watford, Leicester, Reading and West Brom are in transition, 3 have new managers! And Boro, Leicester and West Brom have agenda's based on promotion/ relegation last season.

I think many of us have lost sight of what it means to be Blades at times, we've been fed too much about how we're a big club, we should be PL etc, but what we expect as Blades is a team that gives its best with the players that we have. We also expect that the manager is able to get the best out of the players we have. Blackie should be knighted for it (as should NW previously).

No excuses for Blackie though. He sets his targets and McCabe backs them, throwing money at a manager is not always the best way of "backing him" but i'd expect that the board sanction what is required to meet our targets. If thats a 300k striker or a 3m striker its up to them. But I expect Blackie to get the best of both ends of the spectrum and manage these variations. He knows what makes the players tick both playing wise and personality wise.

We don't all like the way he plays, but its more often than not got results. Blackies tenure has been about being organised, not giving much away and getting scraps up top. So far the results have shown that and I find it ridiculous that he's already being questionned.

As for whether he's good enough for the PL, lets get their first

I thought Switzerland is on Planet Earth - Blackwell and Warnock knighted / Blackwell organised - perhaps I better visit Switzerland to get a more balanced view of life or alternatively buy some ROSE COLOURED SPECS

 

[Bradders]

I would'nt give Blackwell until Christmas to get us into the top six, if we are not in there by mid November, I think McCabe should start asking questions, and start to line up a replacement in time for the New Year, and in time for a new man to buy and sell in the January window.
However, if we are in the top six, Blackwell will be with us to the end, and another disappointing play off scenario perhaps?

 

[SwissBlade]

I thought Switzerland is on Planet Earth - Blackwell and Warnock knighted / Blackwell organised - perhaps I better visit Switzerland to get a more balanced view of life or alternatively buy some ROSE COLOURED SPECS

Perhaps its the clean air affecting me! But..

Blackie Organised - 2nd best defence in the league last year, not sure how many goals we conceded at set pieces, but I'd guess it wasn't many. Best away record for years. A team built on structure and everyone knowing their place. I'd say thats pretty organised? unless you have a counter to that...

Getting the best out of players - NW was never given any money until promotion was almost secured. For years he got so many players from the lower reaches and got the best out of them.

Blackies the same

 

[Fiery Blade]

Swiss - I agree with your Warnock statement but he would never slag off his players in public - blame everything else grass, wind, referee,linesmen etc but never the players-that was done behind closed doors. Good point regarding defence but I think it was more to do with Speed and Morgan rather than Blackwell!
In essence Blackwell is a bully - watch him on the touchline

 

[Ted Danson]

Isnt Blackwell statistically one of, if not the best manager we've ever had?

I think its far too early to be talking of sacking him, although his style isnt the most attractive its certainly effective. Im scared sh**less or us signing another Robson too.

The only point I've thought he wasnt good enough was after the pigs at home last season but obviously we were all abit emotional after that.

 

[SwissBlade]

Swiss - I agree with your Warnock statement but he would never slag off his players in public - blame everything else grass, wind, referee,linesmen etc but never the players-that was done behind closed doors. Good point regarding defence but I think it was more to do with Speed and Morgan rather than Blackwell!
In essence Blackwell is a bully - watch him on the touchline

Yeah totally agree, about the public slagging of players, he also publicly praises them... Perhaps that should've been your original counter

You could be right about Speed and Morgs, but the buck stops with the manager not his coaches/ captain. I don't think he's a 'bully' I think he's like a pushy dad at times...

Additionally, it could also show that he's a decent manager as he delegated the defensive management to Morgs and Speed.

 

[Bradders]

It must be very intimidating to be publicly berated by a manager on the touchline, younger players must have a lot of their spirit knocked back which affects their performance, which I suspect is the case with Cotterill on occasions. The older pros. wouldn't let it affect them so much. There seems to be two types manager,theWarnock/Blackwell/Pullis school, and the Southgate/Martinez/Coppell way. and then there's the manager who stands there like a tailor's dummy and says nowt, Brian Robson is the best at that.
I suppose a manager gets to know how much his players can take, and how far to go without destroying their confidence, I think Blackwell is very near to that with Cotterill.

 

[beechblade]

It must be very intimidating to be publicly berated by a manager on the touchline, younger players must have a lot of their spirit knocked back which affects their performance, which I suspect is the case with Cotterill on occasions. The older pros. wouldn't let it affect them so much. There seems to be two types manager,theWarnock/Blackwell/Pullis school, and the Southgate/Martinez/Coppell way. and then there's the manager who stands there like a tailor's dummy and says nowt, Brian Robson is the best at that.
I suppose a manager gets to know how much his players can take, and how far to go without destroying their confidence, I think Blackwell is very near to that with Cotterill.

Doesn't he look like he's playing with more confidence??? and at times may he have not earnt getting a rollocking or two for giving the ball away in a dangerous position? I can't say how much he bollocks him or any other olayer to be honest.

 

[SwissBlade]

It must be very intimidating to be publicly berated by a manager on the touchline, younger players must have a lot of their spirit knocked back which affects their performance, which I suspect is the case with Cotterill on occasions. The older pros. wouldn't let it affect them so much. There seems to be two types manager,theWarnock/Blackwell/Pullis school, and the Southgate/Martinez/Coppell way. and then there's the manager who stands there like a tailor's dummy and says nowt, Brian Robson is the best at that.
I suppose a manager gets to know how much his players can take, and how far to go without destroying their confidence, I think Blackwell is very near to that with Cotterill.

I also think that Blackie was the man that brought his confidence back up and believed in him.

Personally i'd have had him on his way to Grimsby/ Blackpool on loan for the 2nd half of last season. Blackie clearly has more patience and faith in some players

But lets be fair, these are professional players and ADULTS, not 5 yr olds. If they can't accept a bollocking every now and then perhaps they don't deserve to wear the red and white.

Most of Blackie/ NW/ Pullis ranting is ref based.

Can you explain the difference between Southgate and Robsons way

 

[Amsterdam Blade]

The problem for us supporters is that we don't know what goes on in training or in the changing rooms. It is all supposition. All we have to go on is what we see on the pitch.

Cotts remains a bit of an enigma. One game fantastic, the next game pants. The reason for this?
Who knows? We just have to hope that Blackwell can discover why and put it right.
Otherwise I doubt he'll (Cotts)still be here at the start of next season.