Toper Turor

Shepherd Out

Shepherd Out

Newcastle United are in trouble � big trouble. Currently they sit second-bottom in the Premier League. They possess only one fit striker (Giuseppe Rossi), a manager who resided over a relegation of a far better team than he currently manages, and lest we forget Titus Bramble.

Alan Hansen in the Daily Telegraph warns that "the rules of engagement are crystal-clear and the simple fact is that no club are too big to be relegated and, at the moment, Newcastle are in a sorry state of affairs� They have had a horrific start to the season, they are conceding more than they are scoring and only goal difference is keeping them off the foot of the Premiership table."

Hansen (as usual) primarily cites defensive inadequacies, "The last defender of any merit who they had was Jonathan Woodgate � and they sold him."

But one of the main factors in their defeat to Sheffield United this weekend was tiredness - it was their second game in 48 hours. Hansen continues, "Having played in Palermo in the Uefa Cup on Thursday night, they could have moved the game back to Sunday, but they decided to take the television money, despite the fact that Sheffield United hadnt played for a week. In my opinion, if it was a choice between three points and the TV money, the points are 100 times more important, but that was Newcastles decision."

On Match of the Day, Alan Shearer blamed the clubs current woes on a lack of forwards, as "the problem before was Newcastle were conceding at the back, but they were still scoring upfront, but now they havent got anybody to score goals, so theyre gonna have to buy in the transfer window."

(For the Match of the Day analysis, including a brilliant line from Hansen: "they havent been the same since Les Ferdinand left," click here.)

Following Saturdays game the Newcastle fans held a protest outside the main entrance of St. James Park calling for Shepherd and the board to be sacked. In this case the fans are spot on. Whilst Hansen and Shearer look to the pitch for explanations it seems quite clear who is at fault for the demise of a club that ten years ago were a whisker away from winning the league.

Football365 point out that "According to at least one Sunday broadsheet, it was the Toon chairman himself who ruled that an extra �250,000 from Sky to cover Saturdays night shambles was of greater import than an extra days rest for the first-team squad after Thursdays UEFA Cup tie in Italy."

"... The priorities motivating Shepherds decision to accept Skys cash are as questionable as the business transaction in 1998 which saw Shepherd Offshore plc sell a warehouse to Freddies brother, Bruce, for �175,000. Newcastle United plc then completed a 17-year deal with Bruce Shepherd for the warehouse to store the clubs merchandise at a cost of �2.5m.

How Toon could do with that sum now. For one thing, Shepherd has believed to have a clause in his contract stipulating that he will receive two years pay if dismissed. Or, in other words, around �2m. And as Shepherd implicitly confirmed last month when he revealed that the club had recorded pre-tax losses of �12m, thats money Newcastle simply dont possess."

Freddy Shepherd sacked the last good manager Newcastle had (in Bobby Robson), and famously labelled Alan Shearer, probably the clubs greatest ever player, "the Mary Poppins of football."

In 2004 he told a football forum that large and successful clubs should not be concerned about those struggling at the lower end of the industry. Shepherd said "When we have got 52,000 fans at each home game, the last thing we are worried about is clubs in the third division," and added, "There is no sympathy here".

It is almost certain that Glenn Roeder will be sacked within weeks and this season could quite easily end in relegation for the Toon. But the fans are right, the only way out of this mess is for Shepherd to leave, sadly he is defiant and will not quit the club. He revealed that he plans to meet with Glenn Roeder and the Newcastle players to discuss the clubs form: "I think its time the players are reminded just who they are playing for."

What are the odds on Watford to knock Newcastle out the Carling Cup tomorrow night?

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