Second of all; down to serious business. Where do you lot go from here? I think you have 2 options. One is to look at the names you have in your squad and consider the fact they really ought to win promotion next season; so keep them together as much as possible and hope to come back up. The obvious con here is if you dont go up - then financially you could do a Leeds, Southampton, Charlton, N.Forest, Sheff Wed et al. Whilst this option could work - it could mean League 1 football in a matter of years if you dont bounce back first time. On your current wage budget you may be able to afford 1 year of CCC football; but 2 years? 3 years? No chance.
Your second option is to follow the Sunderland model of bouncing back - have a fire sale for all your players; and whoevers left over stick them in with seaoned CCC campaigners, lower league talent and young lads - operating on a sustainable vastly reduced budget (still larger than peer clubs because of your higher crowds) and, after stabilising the club, winning promotion. In the long run, if you stabilise in the CCC; you will bounce back. But it might be a 2, 3, 4 or even 5 year project. On such a reduced budget you could sustain CCC football for that amount of time if required.
Do your fans have the intelligence or the patience for the latter?
First of all you need a manager. One with proven experience; no room for sentimental "messiahs" (Keegan and Shearer didnt do much good) you need a proven manager at both CCC and Premier League level - someone like Coppell, Cotterrill or Boothroyd. Ironically Dennis Wise ticks more boxes than Shearer after he turned financially stricken Leeds United around a couple of years ago.
You really need someone who knows the lower leagues, knows how to operate on a reduced, uncertain wage / transfer budget and someone who knows how to put together a good side outside the Prem.
All this talk of "messiahs" and wanting people who "understand" your club is deeply flawed - successive chairman have listened to the whims of your myopic supporters and followed policies to keep them happy short term. The signing of Michael Owen is a perfect case in point. It hasn't worked.
Of course I have black and white friends and I respect NUFC as an institution and most of my friends are intelligent people - but as an overall group you have got to be the stupidest, most short sighted supporters in the country. I'm sorry - but everytime I switch Sky on to hear one of your lot interviewed, whenever I see these demonstrations outside St James', whenever I see mis-spelled banners and see a group of teenagers telling Sam Allardyce "you dont know what you're doing" I have a little roll of my eyes.
Ashley is under pressure; but the majority of his strategic decisions have been made after pressure from NUFC fans and with the approval of NUFC fans. Sacking Allardyce (looked ridiculous at the time - but was met with widespread approval), appointing Keegan, offering to sell the club and bringing in Shearer. His only decision that provoked criticism was bringing in Kinnear - your most successful manager in the last 2 years!
Therefore I'd like to see your supporters ignored for a couple of years. Bring in a dour, small name manager - who follows the pragmatic Sunderland model of bouncing back. That is selling the players who won't battle in that league and who cost the club money - I'd like to think NUFC would show the door to Viduka, Owen, Collocini, Barton (scum) and Bassong will probably leave anyway. Maybe some others would ask to leave. Then bring in a couple of hungry players on free transfers and make Carroll a first choice forward.
If you can stabilise your finances then even if you fail first time, you will succeed the second, third or fourth time.
By appointing Shearer and doing things for the short term based on sentiment and emotion - you could find yourselves digging yourselves deeper, deeper and deeper.
The season we went down we had Tore Andre Flo, Claudio Reyna, Gavin McCann, Kevin Phillips, Marcus Stewart, Joachim Bjorklund, Mart Poom, Thomas Sorenson, Michael Gray, Julio Arca and Stefan Schwarz. Quality players on top wages; who let us down. A few months later these names were gone and, under a dour Yorkshireman, we had Thirlwell, Oster, Thornton and Arca as our midfield at Bradford City. We won 4-0. I think you could do worse than follow our example in order to get out of that horrible, horrible league! It might not be pretty; but you lot have got to start taking a long term look at things; and making strategic decisions from the head, not the heart.
Anyway
Come on you Mods!
