Newcastle United Face Judgement Day

As I prepare to sit and suffer through Survival Sunday, I am left disconsolate. The demise of Newcastle United over the past 4/5 months has been startling. I feared for them long before now, I citing back in February on twitter I thought they would be lucky to pick up anymore points. 

Now Survival Sunday is here and its brings with it the very real possibility that Newcastle United will be relegated form he Premier League. It is even with a sense of sadness that if they do survive today the fact that I will be celebrating such an achievement goes to show the current state of affairs at the club. 

How Mike Ashley has allowed John Carver to stay in this role for so long and oversee such results I will never know. He never should have been given the job yet alone allowed to stay this long. The fans are castigated by the national press over their treatment of Alan Pardew however upon his departure they wanted a genuine replacement, a new start, not to just have Pardew's backroom staff take over. The club needs to clear out all of the backroom staff and start a fresh in the summer no matter what todays result may be. 

I know the players are poor however there are a couple of very talented players and Carver's inability to motivate or organise them just shows his ineptitude even further. Players inability fans can stomach to an extend but lack of fitness, effort and commitment is unacceptable. As the banner read :

'We don't demand a team that wins, we demand a club that tries'

Nothing could better sums up the overriding feeling of all Newcastle united fans to the club from boardroom to boot-room. 

My hope is that this will happen and Ashley will show some ambition in getting a manager of some pedigree to take the club forward and give him the money to spend on proven players. There is no question the squad is woefully inadequate in many areas and I hope that this is addressed in the summer. Not that I believe that will happen for a second but we can live in hope. 

The following short poem sums up my current feeling towards Newcastle United. Inspired from the proverb - For want of a Nail. There are so many options of how to write this but as of this moment the biggest problem is the management and as such I have dedicated it to that. 

For want of a manager the ambition was lost;

For want of ambition the team was lost;

For want of a team the spirit were lost;

For want of spirit the points were lost;

For want of points, Premier League status is almost lost;

And all for the want of an manager.

Hits or Misses - Was I Right?

At the beginning of the season I picked out some transfers that I believed would be Hits and others that would be Misses. As the season now draws to a close it time to assess my predictions. 

Predicted Hits:

1. Diego Costa 

Now their is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Jose Mourinho and Chelsea have had the best summer window. Diego Costa is a wonderful signing and at only £32 million, given the market, I think they have got extremely good value. I am a massive fan of this player having watched him a lot last season at Atletico Madrid. He is big, powerful and a clinical finisher - essentially everything Fernando Torres was not in the last few seasons. He is going to be a nightmare to handle for all other Premier League teams this season and fully expect him to fire Chelsea to the title.

The only man I can see preventing him winning the Golden boot is Sergio Aguero.

OUTCOME :  HIT

I believe I got this one spot on. He has struggled with injury in the second part of the season however the title was effectively won by christmas.

2. Alexis Sanchez 

Ever since I saw this man take England apart at Wembley I have been a huge fan. I must admit when I saw him at Barcelona a few years ago I could not stand his constant diving however having seen him lately this has hugely reduced. Unlike Mesut Ozil this man is built for the job. He looks physically capable of withstanding the physicality of a full Premier League season. Add to this his magnificence ability and goalscoring prowess and you have a terrific signing. I am going to go out on a limb and say he is the best signing Arsenal have made for over 10 years. This is big claim and may make me look stupid in time but I honestly believe it.

Personally I fear for Arsenal this season however with this man in the team I think he will act as Suarez did for Liverpool last season. He will not be enough to win Arsenal the league but he will get them a top four finish. 

OUTCOME : HIT

This one I also got right. No question that Sanchez carried Arsenal for the first half of the season and without him their top four place could have been in danger. He is a wonderful player who I expect to continue performing in seasons to come. 

3. Enner Valancia 

Again similar to Sanchez, Valancia looks a player who has the physical ability to cope in the Premier League. I am personally looking forward to seeing him in the league. He has pace, power and is both strong in the air and on the ground. He looked very strong in the World Cup and I know they say you should never buy a player of the back of a good World Cup however I do think in this case West Ham were right to do so.

I think he will be a crucial player for West Ham this season and will play a major part in keeping them in the division. 

OUTCOME : HIT/MISS

This one could be argued either way. I think he had a good season and made a positive impact but did he make the impact that I was expecting...well no. In fact it was Aaron Cresswell who was without doubt West Ham's signing of the season.  

4. Angel Di Maria 

Another world class arrival to the Premier League. Is he the calibre of a Bale or Ronaldo? No. But he will certainty bring an obvious improvement to Manchester United. He has proved over a number of years just how good he is and can see him adapting well to the Premier League. He will get a very prominent role in the Manchester United side and am expecting him to contribute plenty to the side in the form of both goals and assists.

He looks similar to Mesut Ozil is statue however having seen him play I am sure he will relish the challenge of the increased physically whilst his game will also benefit from the increase in pace, unlike Ozil. 

He will play a major role in getting Manchester United in the top four.

OUTCOME : MISS

This I got wrong. You could blame LVG but at the end of the day Di Maria simply hasn't performed. There were glimpses but never a sustained period of brilliance. I expect him to leave United this summer and he will go down in many people eyes as a flop.

5. Siem De Jong

This one is maybe more in hope then anything else. I am very hopeful that De Jong can be a sort of Dennis Bergkamp style player for Newcastle. A player of real brain and thought who will add quality to the side. Hopefully he can strike up a good partnership with one of the forwards and lead Newcastle to having a good season.

Although his injury record does worry me.

OUTCOME : MISS

This one was always more in hope than genuine expectation. I was worried about his injury record and as it turns out I was right on that front. Missed most of the season and therefore had very little impact. 

Predicted Misses:

1. Mario Balotelli

Personally I have absolutely no idea why Brendan Rodgers has signed this man. He is a massive gamble and at £16 million, an expensive one at that. I can foresee him only having a negative impact this season on the team. For all Suarez's misdemeanours he was a clinical finisher with a fantastic work rate. Balotelli brings neither of these on-field traits but plenty of problems off-field. The board at AC Milan must have thought it was a joke when Liverpool bid £16 million. Hardly excelled in his short time at Milan and to see all the Liverpool fans celebrating his arrival is comical. It seems some football fans have totally forgotten his time at Manchester City.  

Can see Liverpool becoming very frustrated with him very quickly and would not be surprised to see him gone in January. 

I will be the first to admit I was wrong if Balotelli performs well however just cannot see it happening.

The man for me who Liverpool should have got was Wilfred Bony from Swansea. He is a genuine world-class player who deserves to play at a top team and in the Champions League. He has also proved how effective he can be in the Premier League. 

OUTCOME : MISS

Have to say I got this one spot on. Balotelli will leave this summer for sure, the  only question is will Rodgers be leaving with him?

2. Georgios Samaras

Now I must admit I did actually laugh out loud when I saw this transfer go through. Similar to when I saw David N'Gog sign for Swansea in January, it was just surreal.  Georgios Samaras must have one of the best agents going to get him back into the Premier League. This is a man who was a flop at Manchester City and who has not even really shone at Celtic. Now when you are playing for the best team in a Scotland league which is very poor that says it all. He will be lucky to get 2 goals all season. 

A truely awful signing who will be up front with Balotelli come May when they announce the flop XI of the season. 

OUTCOME : MISS

Another spot on prediction. Samaras certainly in the flop XI. 

3.  Rio Ferdinand

Quite honestly why Rio Ferdinand has signed for QPR I do not know. The obvious answer is money however surely the man is not that greedy? Well this is for sure his last payday so I suppose I cannot blame him. However I do feel this is an awful transfer. He looked awful last season. A man well past his best and this season he is playing in a side who will be on the back foot most weeks. It will not be like his many years at Manchester United when United had 65%+ possession everyweek and quality players ahead and around him. Last season he looked very uncomfortable doing just about anything. If you are a QPR fan you should be worried although given Ferdinand injury record I cannot see him playing 20 games. 

Expect him to be continually caught out this season - leading to his retirement at the end of it.

OUTCOME : MISS

3/3 so far on the as Rio Ferdinand proved me right that he should have hung his boots up at the end of last season. 

4.  Leonardo Ulloa

I feel that Ulloa is really going to struggle. As I said in my prediction post, his lack of pace for me is a major concern at this level. He played very well with a very average Championship side in Brighton and was a constant threat however I fear at Leicester he simply will not get the supply or chances to really show his worth. He deserves his chance at this level and of all the signings I am predicting to be misses I hope Ulloa proves me wrong. 

I honestly feel Leicester will go down however on his day Ulloa can be a real handful.  

OUTCOME : HIT/MISS

Have to say that Ulloa performed better than I expected and his goals defiantly played their part in Leicester's survival however whether he was a HIT or MISS is arguable. Not sure he will be with the club for the start of next season. 

5. Jack Rodwell

Firstly the reason why I have put Rodwell on this list is his injury record. He may claim to be fit however only time will really tell if his body can stand up to a whole season. Secondly given his woeful fitness record, the fact that Sunderland have laid out £10 million is astonishing. This figure is wildly over the mark. He may prove to be a great signing in time however at this moment in time he does not demand such a fee. 

Expect an injury hit season and so a limited impact. 

OUTCOME : MISS

His overall impact at Sunderland was very poor and even though he did pitch in with a few goals his contribution didn't match that 10 million price tag.

Overall I do not think I did badly. Angel Di Maria was the biggest disappointment.