Hi everyone, I'm back from my holidays and things are pretty much the same as I left them. Sunderland are on a relentless march towards a Premiership return and Newcastle are stumbling and blundering their way towards the end of a dreadful season.
First things first, the holiday was great, long, lazy days by the swimming pool with the sun on my face and a cool beer in my belly. Just what I needed, although, by the looks of things, Newcastle’s players have also got one eye on their summer vacations given their performance against Portsmouth at the weekend.
I see Glenn Roeder has delivered (another) dressing room dressing down after the 2-1 defeat and, according to well-placed sources, has apparently “spoken the strongest words of his time as manager.�
Sadly, it doesn’t look as though Roeder’s rants have much of an effect on the pampered “stars� of the Newcastle dressing room. Didn’t he do the same after the Alkmaar defeat? How about the equally meek showings at Fulham, Wigan and Charlton, I’m sure United’s manager read the riot act then as well but still we get the same old dross.
He has already made Titus Bramble the scapegoat for the Alkmaar defeat, but how long before he needs to single someone else out in the blame game? As for the absence of Bramble, the defence hasn’t done any better without him has it, but it still looks like it’s bye bye Titus.
I wonder which four players Roeder was talking about when he said they weren’t trying hard enough at Fratton Park? Charles N’Zogbia?, Emre perhaps, possibly Damien Duff, although he went off injured so probably not? Stephen Carr? But what about Obafemi Martins?
Look, please don’t think I don’t like Martins as a player because I do. He has got 17 goals this season and, by all accounts, was the difference between the two sides when Newcastle beat Sheffield United a week ago. He has scored some vital goals at vital times and, without him, I don’t think it’s stretching the imagination to say Newcastle would have been relegated this season.
But I’ve also seen the Nigerian play in too many games when, in my opinion, he appears to be going through the motions and that needs to change if he is going to be a long term success at Newcastle.
He was woeful in Alkmaar when he was supposed to be the star man and the Dutch were terrified of him and, generally speaking, he does not play as well away from home as he does at St James’s Park when there are 52,000 people watching.
He will not be the first players to suffer away day lethargy - there are some who say the same thing about Nolberto Solano - but Newcastle and Roeder need him to do more. After all, he’s Roeder’s star signing and if the manager can’t motivate him he’s in trouble.
But, it was while I was reading Roeder’s post-match comments over the weekend in my post-holiday glow, that it occurred to me that motivation is ultimately Roeder’s responsibility.
He is right in some respects, players should be self-motivated given the money they earn and the clubs they represent, but the best managers manage to motivate every player, even the difficult ones with an attitude problem, or the lazy ones who are prone to going missing in difficult games. For me, forget tactics, it’s a manager’s inspirational qualities that really make the difference, especially when it comes to man management, because they bring out the best in every player.
Look at Sir Bobby Robson’s handling of Laurent Robert and Craig Bellamy at Newcastle, or the way he treated Romario at PSV. His relationship was never easy with any of them but, more often than not, they played well for him. Look at Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho and the egos they have under them. In fact, look at Roy Keane’s motivational qualities at Sunderland.
Then compare that to the way Roeder has handled Albert Luque, a player whose approach to the game can easily be compared to Robert’s.
At the moment, Newcastle’s players are not playing well enough for the club, the supporters or its manager, but it is the latter who bares the burden most heavily on his shoulders.
He has the remainder of the season to prove he can inspire in difficult circumstances and that means the games against Blackburn Rovers, Reading and Watford, not a glamour clash with Chelsea when everyone, to use football speak, will “be up for it.�
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