Time for a genuine United front to emerge from the chaos... or meek surrender is the only outcome
FIGHTING AND SULKING HAS TO STOP FOR SAKE OF CLUB
WHILE Steve Bruce fiddles, Newcastle burns – and Mike Ashley stands by motionless without a hose to douse the flames.
So what can be done, if anything at this late stage, to try to right a massive wrong? Apart from pray that Fulham continue to fall flat on their face.
Well it’s a forlorn hope but how about a coming together of all fractured parties within the dressingroom to resolve their obvious differences instead of merely letting the good ship Magpie break up on the rocks.
Starting with Bruce and the man parachuted in to supposedly be his saviour, Graeme Jones, who between them must clear up the confusion created by their contrasting football philosophies.
And let all the players who hide behind chaos make a monumental effort, put their personal grouses to one side, and play a significant part too. It appears that Brighton was the last straw for many of them which emphasises not only the depth of the problem but that time is of the essence.
What we have witnessed in 2021 is a club ripped apart by in-fighting, suspicion, finger-pointing, and conflicting leadership.
NUFC has become toxic with a lot of people whispering in corners while looking over their shoulders. It is everyone’s fault but their own.
Meanwhile the owner sees no evil because it suits him to be blind.
Ashley has dumped on Bruce and the players, effectively telling them: sort out any problems between you.
Well get on with it, do it for goodness sake, or we all die! What has muddied waters even more is the evidence that has become increasingly obvious during United’s 20-match run to humiliation.
Bruce and Jones have two very contrasting coaching philosophies which far from rescuing a team strangled by timid tactics has bamboozled the vast majority of players already deeply depressed.
On one hand there is Bruce, whose teams are always defensivebased, and on t’other a guy who is essentially a front-foot coach.
A fascinating insight into the current turmoil has been revealed by Tim Howard, who kept goal for Everton when Jones was coaching, and former Sunderland defender Danny Higginbotham. Howard explained: “Graeme Jones is a disciple of Roberto Martinez, who is one of the most brilliant tactical managers I have ever known.
“Graeme wants to play on the front foot and press the game with the ball, but when you don’t have the best players and come in the middle of the season as an assistant manager you can only tweak one or two things.”
Higginbotham, who works the Premier League scene with Howard in America, significantly added: “When you have a manager and a coach who have contrasting styles it is no surprise that six of the last seven goals Newcastle have conceded have been in the second half.
I don’t think the players are fit enough to be able to play this diamond system three quarters of the way through the season. Players don’t know what they are each supposed to be doing.”
There is more to the overall problem than simply a contradiction in the game plan, of course.
Trouble reared long before Jones brought a new way of thinking. That was why he was recruited in the first place – to change a negative mentality.
Players have been frozen out following rows while Karl Darlow learned he was to be dropped through the media and others were being publicly criticised after games which led to bad feeling eventually culminating in the infamous Matt Ritchie affair and Bruce’s declared search for a mole.
Bruce’s bravado has gone since United’s head coach infamously informed us: “From now on I’m going to do it my way. The gloves are off.” All bets are off too. This is beyond the pale.
Of course the players themselves are far from blameless in this tawdry affair. Two former England internationals, Trevor Sinlcair and Gabby Agbonlahor, have accused Ryan Fraser of ‘downing tools,’ with the exAston Villa striker also pointing a significant finger at Joelinton.
In a further blow to morale, one of the few to escape criticism over attitude, Isaac Hayden, will not play in the crucial nine-match run-in because of injury.
What United need now above all else are fighters because, brother, they are in the trenches and under constant bombardment.
If that means throwing the tactical book out of an open window and considering scrappers like Ritchie, Andy Carroll and Matty Longstaff then so be it. Is it too late for peace to break out, for a healing and clear understanding to come out of chaos in the interests of selfpreservation if nothing else? Paying lip service suggesting it’s now one for all and all for one is an easy public exercise, but making it actually happen is altogether another matter.
It requires responsible senior players acting to bring together the rank and file and clearing the air with management so that all can sing from the same hymn sheet.
However, the danger is individuals continue to privately harbour resentment because a team is only as strong as its weakest link.
If there were crowds at matches Bruce would have no chance because of the uproar he would generate. As it is he has little.
Chelsea got rid of club legend Frank Lampard for doing less damage. Sheffield United ditched their club legend Chris Wilder. And early doors West Bromwich threw out their promotion-winner Slaven Bilic. Ashley however has dug in for the long term.
That is why a now-or-never attempt to knock sulking heads together is a must because we cannot walk meekly into the night.
It is owed to a great club and a great set of fans, both all too often abused.
We have witnessed a club ripped apart by in-fighting, suspicion, fingerpointing and conflict...NUFC has become toxic