This past summer, the director’s board was dedicated to help improve the Newcastle United roster and training staff. It began with the coaching overhaul, followed by spending a lot of money (nearly £50) on incoming transfers (Mitrovic, Wijnaldum, Mbemba, Thauvin, etc) and attempting to alter the Alan Pardew-culture that has administered the club for years. It was no easy feat and despite the enthusiasm and optimism that surrounded the club throughout the summer, Newcastle United have not had a great start to their 2015-16 campaign, by any means.
Currently standing at a 2-4-6 record, Newcastle United have in fact had a worst 12-game start to their season than they did when they were relegated in 2008-2009. Of course, those were different times, under different circumstances; but a simple comparison and observation as to how bad this team has been through 12 games can certainly be deemed as daunting.
Who is at fault for this horrid start? Well, you can start by blaming the tough schedule so far; they have already played the top 4 teams from last season’s standings (at Man Utd, vs Arsenal, vs Chelsea, at Man City) and not to mention vs Southampton, at West Ham and at Swansea. The positive here is that the schedule should lighten up and, as a matter of fact, it already has.
There are some fans that are blaming Mike Ashley and complaining that he is at fault for this. That is the one reasoning I do not understand whatsoever. This is the most Mike Ashley has sanctioned in funds in a single window; topping last summer’s £38 million. As a matter of fact, 3 of the top 5 most expensive Newcastle United signings came this summer; #5 Florian Thauvin (£12m), #4 Aleksandar Mitrovic (£13m) and Georginio Wijnaldum (£14.5m). Mike Ashley is not to blame; you can blame him for instilling a horrible culture at Newcastle United, an identity that has tormented the club since his arrival, but the dreadful start to the season is not his fault by any means.
Head coach Steve McClaren said to judge him after 12 matches. On one hand, they were able to slip out of the relegation zone after a struggling 1-0 win at Bournemouth on November 7th; which occurred fresh before the International break, and will hopefully be a massive relief for the club. Having a positive result right before a long break could mean the world for a team that needs anything right now to be inspired. On the other hand, as previously mentioned, this campaign has started off on the wrong foot, despite the substantial optimism surrounding the club and the new identity that came with Steve McClaren’s appointment.
The change of identity was never going to be an overnight fix, McClaren even said so himself. From changing signs in the clubhouse that no longer permit the use of mobile phones while on training grounds, to punishing Florian Thauvin multiple times by minimizing his playing time because of selfish tactics on the field; some discipline changes have been rather obvious. We have also seen the other side of the spectrum in terms of discipline with the red-card prone Mitrovic. His discipline has definitely made a proper turn in recent form and McClaren has surely reiterated the importance of having Mitrovic on the field. He is an imposing figure on the pitch and one of the key pieces to having a successful season.
The most fundamental part in the renovation of a club’s identity and culture is the vital need of strong leadership within one’s locker room. In my honest opinion, the biggest mistake Steve McClaren, the director’s board and the coaching staff made was bringing back Fabricio Coloccini and keeping him as captain and leader of Newcastle United. It does not take a genius to realize Coloccini has wanted out for quite some time now.
As the longest tenured NUFC captain since Alan Shearer, Coloccini has established a great reputation around the league but the way that fans and others reacted to Coloccini’s end of season open letter in May (http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20150505/an-open-letter-from-the-captain_2281670_4693743), whilst in relegation battle, may have been his last straw. People thought it was nothing but a PR stunt by the football club because the Toon Army were threatening to boycott upcoming matches. His production has unquestionably dipped as each season passed by, and having the likes of Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor and Paul Dummett next to him has certainly never helped.
Coloccini was always a “lead by example” type of captain rather than a vocal leader. After all, he did stick with Newcastle through their Championship campaign but it’s also difficult to forget that he had a move lined up to San Lorenzo two years ago that was blocked by Newcastle. With rumours of a reunion at Crystal Palace with Alan Pardew all summer, this was truly the perfect time to move on from Coloccini. He did not play a single pre-season game, as the club was trying to figure out whether or not he will be coming back to Newcastle. The armband was rotated between Jack Colback, Tim Krul and Daryl Janmaat throug the pre-season. In the end he did return, and not only was he re-appointed as captain of the club, the board decided to give him an extension too. Turning 34 in January, why would McClaren not have moved on from his aging captain? The lack of depth at the CB position is perhaps the main reason; and you can only hope the position will be addressed in the January transfer window.
Despite all of this, when McClaren said he wanted to start fresh, bring in a new culture and provide a new identity to St. James Park and Newcastle United, the first piece of business should have been appointing a new captain; whether that meant losing Coloccini or not. This is not a hindsight is 20/20 situation either; I’ve previously written about the importance of moving on from Coloccini and handing the armband to someone else this past summer
(I said Jack Colback: http://www.footballdigest.org/2015/06/25/the-curious-case-of-jack-colback-as-my-candidate-to-become-nufcs-next-captain/).
There were also some recent reports claiming that McClaren was encouraging Coloccini to be more vocal (http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-encouraging-captain-fabricio-coloccini-10436572). Coloccini has never been a vocal leader to begin with, so to speak. He is more a “lead by example” type of captain, and now that his play has dipped, it’s become quite difficult to be a leader. Chancel Mbemba has covered for Coloccini’s bad positioning an awful lot this season and who knows how much longer that’ll last.
McClaren recently said that “sometimes, he (Coloccini) tries to look after everybody instead of looking after his own game, and that can expose him”. Could that be the issue? Perhaps. All we know is that Coloccini (almost 34 years old, once again) has signed on until 2017, and at this rate, can you argue that this was the worst move of McClaren’s short tenure? He has had some good games this season, specifically @ Manchester United, but then he has had blunders like the match vs Sunderland. Appointing a new captain is never an easy decision, especially when you’re a new manager taking over a club; but this was a no-brainer, and so far, McClaren’s gamble has not paid off.
Newcastle United fans hope that Fabricio Coloccini can go back to his old ways and prove them wrong; or else this will be a very, very long season.