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Ferrara’s Rocky spirit cannot hide the failures of another rookie
Under pressure Juventus boss Ciro Ferrara has come out fighting after a fourth defeat in five matches but it may not be enough for another first-time coach to save his job.
“One of my friends, one of the few I have at the moment, said to me, ‘you are like Rocky’. I am full of punches and blood but I say to my opponent, I am not hurt, punch harder because you are not hurting me,” Ferrara said in the wake of a 3-0 home defeat by AC Milan.
“There is nothing that could knock me down, my mother punched harder.”
His determination is admirable but are Juve now regretting appointing a man with no real managerial experience to replace Claudio Ranieri last May?
In recent times, Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola is possibly the only man to have succeeded in his first big club job.
Ferrara, previously much-loved in Turin as a no-nonsense defender, is in danger of following some other rookie coaches out the door.
Should Shearer stay or go?
Alan Shearer has a big decision on his hands after his eight-game stint in charge of Newcastle United ended in relegation from the Premier League on Sunday.
Most fans of the club will be desperate for Shearer, the club’s record goalscorer, to be handed the job of rebuilding the team as they prepare for life outside the top flight.
But is sentiment once again in danger of clouding the judgement of those who will make the decision? After all, Newcastle appear in such a mess that surely a manager of vast experience is needed.
Then again, Kevin Keegan was a managerial rookie when he took over in 1992 with the club heading for the third tier of English football and he transformed them into a side that almost landed the Premier League title.
The recent record of former big name players making the jump to manage big clubs is not great, however. Paul Ince failed at Blackburn Rovers, Tony Adams at Portsmouth and Roy Keane ultimately walked away from Sunderland.
Geordie fans will demand an instant return to the top flight and that will heap huge pressure on whoever is in charge next season. Shearer would be given more leeway than an outsider, but it would still be a huge gamble for him and the club.
I dont care whether he is leaving or not and I am happy Newcastle were relegated.
Things we should all love and hate about football
Soccer magazine FourFourTwo has published a superb article this month: 49 Things We Hate About Football — Even Though Its Still The Best Thing on the Planet.
I reckon every real fan would agree with almost all of the things we probably hate about football and I give you a random selection of their choices, in no particular order:
— Fans booing their own players — Contrived goal celebrations (“Give it up, even your own fans think you look stupid”) — Immediate post-match interviews (“always rubbish”) — 23-year-old’s autobiographies (“Bought exclusively by well-intentioned but misguided mums two days before Christmas”) — Irrelevant mascots (“at what point did Gunnersaurus Rex play a part in Arsenal’s long and distinguished history ?”) — Manufacturers claiming to have made “the roundest ball ever”
and my personal favourite:
— Sky Sports News interviews with fans outside the ground (“Its 11.24am on Tuesday and the only supporters around are a deranged pensioner wearing 837 club pin badges and an alcoholic maniac with a thin grasp of reality who is almost certainly outraged. Pointless.”)
Well with this season drawing to a close it got me thinking about what I still love about football — besides seeing my own team win of course.
I LOVE:
I love:
a)the Premier League standings
b)Last year’s champions League final
c)the prospect of the same outcome in this year’s final
d)when Benitez and Wenger say “we’ll try again next season.” They sound like a broken record.
e)Watching Real Madrid get thrashed.
f)watching all Italian teams get thrashed.
g)my living room, which is a Manchester United shrine and has been dubbed “little Old Trafford” by my mates.
h)the real Old Trafford. I’ve only been there once but I hope to visit again the theatre of dreams, the temple of football and the most dreaded ground for all away teams.
i)Rooney’s commitment, Vidic’s tenacity, Ronnie’s stepovers and Sir Alex’s undiminished appetite for trophies.
j)when my team wins, even by virtue of a dodgy penalty or a dubious offside decision.
k) watching rival fans suffer whenever my team beats theirs.
l)In case any of you are still in doubt, I love:
m)MANCHESTER UNITED.
Shearer’s arrival could give Toon Army false hope
Newcastle’s interim boss and Geordie hero Alan Shearer opened St. James’ Park on Tuesday and his Premier League side trained in front of 7,500 fans.
It could prove to be a masterstroke. As the sun shone down and school kids on half-term flocked to the stadium, it had the city buzzing again just two days after the disappointing loss to Chelsea.
But the Geordie faithful are precisely that, and rarely do they turn their backs in disgust when things aren’t going well, just ask Habib Beye.
If the Magpies don’t escape relegation, it will be horribly sad to see St. James’ Park half-full at best for Championship games.
Newcastle’s run-in however is a tough one, and with just seven games remaining I fear for the club and their most loyal fans.
Seeing the optimism that abounded on Tuesday among the young faces was uplifting, but the effect Shearer’s return has had could turn to heartbreaking scenes come the season’s end.
PHOTO: Newcastle United’s interim coach Alan Shearer gestures during their training session at St James’ Park in Newcastle April 7, 2009. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis
I don’t think this gives Newcastle fans ‘false hope’ but I do think it gives them something to get excited about – unfortunately its in the situation they’re in.
As for the ground half empty, they won’t sell out in the championship but with the amount of seasons tickets that would have been renewed in January/February they’ll have a big turnout.
http://www.worldfootballcolumns.com
Shearer confirmed as Newcastle manager — can he keep them up?
Well, at least we now know it wasn’t an April Fool’s Day joke… Alan Shearer has been confirmed as Newcastle manager for the final eight matches of the season.
He faces a Herculean task in keeping Newcastle up and with no managerial experience to his name the odds must be against him.
Click here for the full story, and let us know in the comments if you think the move is inspired, desperate, desperately inspired or just plain daft.
PHOTO: A Newcastle United fan is seen outside St James’ Park in Newcastle, April 1, 2009. Alan Shearer will become the club’s new manager until the end of the present season. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis
Honestly, I’m surprised it took Newcastle and Shearer this long to agree to what had been rumored months ago.
from Left field:
Quiet day for April Fools
I've been scouting around for some sporting April Fools but I've not spotted many good ones.
Maybe some websites and blogs have held off on the jokes given the state of the world economy is no laughing matter.
Gazzetta dello Sport's French football blog Sotto La Tour Eiffel says Zinedine Zidane will come out of retirement to play for Marseille.
Have you seen any better April Fools? We are assuming of course that Alan Shearer is really going to manage Newcastle United. However, there has been no official confirmation so far...
I saw this one yesterday about alan shearer going back to manage newcastle. What was that? Oh.
Can Shearer save Newcastle?
It sounds like an April Fool’s joke but apparently it’s true: Alan Shearer looks set to be confirmed as caretaker manager of Newcastle United until the end of the season.
Now, Newcastle could certainly do with a touch of inspiration as they bid to preserve the top flight status they have held since winning promotion back to the top tier in 1993.
But is Shearer up to the job of becoming the club’s latest saviour? He certainly faces a steep learning curve if he is indeed to become Newcastle’s fourth manager of the season.
Newcastle have eight Premier League matches remaining this season, starting with a home match against Chelsea on Saturday.
Can the 15 million pound man who scored 206 goals in 404 appearances for Newcastle transfer that record of success on the field to his new role? And if he does keep them up, should he sign up for the long haul?
FILE PHOTO: Newcastle United’s captain Alan Shearer looks on following the final whistle his testimonial match against Celtic at St James’ Park in Newcastle, May 11, 2006. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis
Yer
What can he do in 8 games that all the other managers were not able to do, the game is not played on inspiration alone. He experience is almost next to nothing, all we can do is be optimistic and hope he does. Good thing for him the bottom half of the table is packed
Good point. What surprised me is that Ferrara did not seem very frustrated. Instead, he said he did not consider his disappointing experience as a defeat, but as a starting point in his career as a coach.
I don’t know if this belongs more to the resilient nature of a former Neapolitan street kid, or to his genuine belief that coaches are not born, but made.