ARDILES: I HAD NO IDEA OF PROBLEMS AT UNITED
EX-BOSS ARDILES REFLECTS ON TRYING TO MANAGE UNITED AMID A POLITICAL STORM
“THERE were no hard feelings..”
Ever the gentleman, Ossie Ardiles threw open the doors of his home to the North East press pack after losing his job at Newcastle United.
A photograph in the Chronicle’s archive captures the scene, and the striking wallpaper, in the former Magpies’ manager’s sitting room in February 1992.
The World Cup winner, wearing a v-neck jumper, is sitting in his red leather armchair as he looks directly at the camera in the corner of the room while a small army of photographers surround him.
Those present still remember how Ardiles’ wife Silvia made them cups of tea just a few days after his final game in charge against Oxford United.
There may have still been 16 fixtures left to play that season but a 5-2 defeat at the Manor Ground ultimately proved the final straw.
Newcastle were second from bottom and in real danger of dropping down into the Third Division for the first time in the club’s history.
Ardiles told The Chronicle: “I was kind of expecting it.
“I knew the result. I knew what was expected at Newcastle.
“I was very confident I could change it but changing it required support.
“It was incredibly obvious we needed two or three experienced players.
“I was looking all the time but when it came to th e crunch the answer was no. We did not have the money.
“I knew something would happen but I was thinking ‘How lucky will the new manager be’ because the quality of our young players was outstanding. Maybe not for that exact moment but it was only a question of time.”
It had been a very different story just 10 months previously when Ardiles raised a black and white scarf aloft outside St James’ Park after becoming the club’s first foreign manager. Ardiles had previously led Swindon Town to promotion to the top flight - the Football League later demoted the Robins because of financial irregulari
ties - and his ball-playing philosophy and diamond formation had borne fruit in the second tier.
Newcastle had taken note and within an hour of his first meeting with the club’s hierarchy, at a hotel near Heathrow Airport, Ardiles knew he was going to be the Magpies’ new manager.
As much as that was a ‘special feeling’, the Argentine did not quite realise what he had let himself in for as a battle for control raged behind the scenes between Sir John Hall and the Magpie Group on one side and Gordon McKeag and the club’s entrenched board on the other.
He added: “When Newcastle came for me I knew the answer was yes. Simple as. It is a club which is incredibly difficult to say no to.
“I had played for Tottenham against Newcastle and the supporters are absolutely famous all over the country so, immediately, the appeal was huge - but I did not know the problems the club had.
“The biggest problem was the fight for power going on between Sir John Hall and Gordon McKeag and that was a power struggle which marked my stay there.
“When the political problem was resolved, Newcastle started to go up and up in the football world.”
The solution to that ‘political problem’ would see Sir John Hall eventually assume control of the club - just three months before Ardiles was sacked.
By the time successor Kevin Keegan had been lined up for a sensational return to St James’ Park, talented youngsters such as Lee Clark, Steve Howey and Steve Watson had been blooded.
Ardiles said: “It was not that I only wanted to play young players.
“I would play the best players available but the manager before me was Jim Smith, a great guy, and he was a very experienced manager.
“Jim bought a lot of players who were near the end of their careers and tried to be promoted.
“They failed at the last moment and lost the play-off against Sunderland, which made it even worse.
“When I arrived, all those players were already past their best so, unfortunately I had to be ruthless.
“There was no money to spend but I was very lucky I had a contingency of wonderful young players.
“Maybe they were thrown into the first team before their time but they responded magnificently.”
Eager to learn, and fiercely competitive, the academy graduates bought into Ardiles’ philosophy - and were keen to repay his faith.
While Ardiles took a little while to truly understand them, some of the
youngsters also needed time to get their heads around his unique turn of phrase.
On one occasion, when Clark looked confused in the away dressing room after his manager lamented the state of the pitch at Barnsley, Ardiles quipped: “Do you not understand English, Clarky?”
Naturally, the players initially referred to Ardiles as ‘gaffer’ but he soon put a stop to that and asked them to call him Ossie.
He said: “There are two types of manager - one who puts a lot of pressure on the players and is a strong disciplinarian and the other type who is very close to the players. For example, if someone came in late I did not fine him at all.
“I talked to him and tried to find the answer to why he was late because something like that, a lack of discipline, is because of another reason, another problem.
“The atmosphere was very nice. We were joking all the time but when we had to work we worked extremely hard. I wanted the pressure to be on me - not the players.”
Experienced professionals like John Burridge and Roy Aitken were moved on by Ardiles and, with so many youngsters thrown in, this side was crying out for a Brian Kilcline-like figure.
Reflecting this team’s naivety, there were remarkably high-scoring fixtures, including a 6-6 draw at Tranmere, and Newcastle often struggled to see out games.
An infamous example was the 4-3 defeat against Charlton in front of little more than 15,000 supporters in January 1992.
The Magpies had been 3-0 up at St James’ Park after 34 minutes but, somehow, let it slip.
By the time Ardiles departed, Newcastle had won just six of their previous 30 league games and had the worst defence in the Second Division, conceding almost two goals per game.
Yet there were ‘no hard feelings’ when Ardiles departed and the Argentine was ‘ proud’ to see his fledglings take flight under Keegan and come within touching distance of winning the Premier League in 1996.
All these years later, Ardiles remains in touch with a number of his former proteges and the 68-yearold now considers himself a little more fluent in Geordie.
He added: “Now I am able to understand them no problem!”