Glenn Roeder has claimed he is surprised his Newcastle United side have not managed to transfer their cup form into the league. Well I'm not and I'm sorry Glenn, but it doesn't take a genius to work out why either.
The Magpies are unbeaten in eight games in the Intertoto, Uefa and League Cups this term - winning six, drawing two and conceding only two goals in the process.
Great, well done, but with the exception of Turkey's Fenerbahce, the opposition has, roughly speaking, been about as good as Crewe Alexandra.
Sorry if there are any Crewe fans out there, somehow I doubt you'll be reading this anyway, but Norway's Lillestrom, Latvia's FK Ventspils and Estonia's FC Levadia are hardly daunting opponents are they? Newcastle teams should be beating limited teams like that just as they should always beat lower league opposition in the FA Cup.
Last week's victory over Portsmouth was decent enough, but the bottom line is that, when Roeder's side have come up against anyone half decent this season they have struggled and, even whey they have come up against poor sides, like Charlton Athletic, they have struggled.
Roeder, like any manager, is desperate to tell us that his team's performances have not got the results that they deserve, but didn't he also used to say that when West Ham crashed out of the Premiership under his watch? Newcastle may like to think they are too good to go down - I would agree with them - but points mean prizes, not performances!
There is still a large amount of sympathy for Roeder because, to a certain extent, his hands have been tied in the transfer market. However, when money is tight was it really this most prudent thing to spend £10m on Obafemi Martins?
There have also been suggestions that the reason no more players were signed in the summer was because of money, but Sol Campbell was available on a free transfer and Jonathan Woodgate would only have cost £500,000 for a season's loan.
Furthermore, if there was no money, why were there bids made for Robert Huth, Zat Knight and Lucas Neill in the final days of the transfer window? There was money, albeit limited, but it wasn't used properly which is why the squad is so stretched at the moment and it is why it's struggling so badly in the league. Roeder and chairman Freddie Shepherd must take their share of the blame for that.
Which brings me nicely on to Albert Luque. Roeder said last month that he had not given up on the Spanish international and that he was close to finally realising his potential.
What has happened since? Luque hasn't made a single appearance, even though the Magpies are clearly struggling to score goals and are greeting the return of Antoine Sibierski from injury as something akin to the return of the Messiah. Ok, so I've clearly gone a little overboard there, but hopefully you get my point.
I'd like to see Luque given a chance because there is a decent player waiting to come out with the right encouragement. You don't play for Spain and you're not wanted by Barcelona in your career if you're rubbish. I know he has a difficult attitude, but one of the challenges of management, according to Sir Bobby Robson, is getting difficult players to perform for you.
Cheerio! In case you're interested, my recovery is going pretty well, but slowly. The sofa has become my office and Notts County are hopefully about to embark on a Premiership-winning campaign in Football Manager!
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