Newcastle throw away points – is Kinnear doing a good job or not?

Ten games into Joe Kinnear’s reign at Newcastle United I think everyone would agree he has done a great job to reinstall some spirit and fighting quality into his team and stop the rot that was in danger of blowing the club apart.

Lost twice

The team have only lost twice in Kinnear’s ten games and considering they had lost the previous five in a row, that’s not a bad record. On the flip side of that is the fact that Newcastle have only won two of those ten games as well. Six draws is better than before, but if they want to avoid a real relegation dog fight, those draws have got to be turned into wins.

Maybe most worrying for the Newcastle faithful at the moment is the fact that amongst the games that have not produced three points have been battles against Sunderland, Fulham, Wigan, Middlesbrough and Stoke. All of these sides are teams that Newcastle would be looking to beat if they are not genuine relegation candidates.

Damaging

Yesterday saw a potentially damaging draw at home to Stoke where they threw away a comfortable two goal lead, conceding the equaliser in stoppage time. Two goals for Michael Owen had put his side in a commanding position but they couldn’t see the game out.

Kinnear found himself in trouble with the authorities once again when his remonstrations with one of the assistant referees about his decision to award the free-kick that led to the equaliser, saw him sent from the dugout by referee Mike Riley. It was a soft free-kick but Kinnear is in danger of becoming the man that the FA could choose to make an example of in relation to the ‘Respect agenda’.

Coco the clown

When Kinnear arrived at St James’ Park he had to watch the first two games from the stand as he served out a touchline ban from his last managerial job when he had called a referee ‘Coco the clown’. Soon after he took over he conducted the infamous press conference when he managed to swear fifty-two times in an astonishing (if justified!) attack on the media. He was warned about his future conduct.

After that, he then proceeded to call referee Martin Atkinson a ‘Mickey Mouse referee’ and is currently facing an improper conduct charge for that indiscretion. Now that he has been sent off as well, I can see the FA coming down on him pretty hard.

Kinnear’s ‘right hand man’ Chris Hughton faced the cameras after the game and blamed his boss’s dismissal on the ‘emotional’ side of football. He told the BBC,

“In defence of Joe, we have to realise is that it is a very emotional game. We were very unhappy with the decision that led up to the goal.”

Hughton went on to explain his understanding of why Kinnear was sent off. He should have finished what he said with something like, ‘honest Guv, I never saw nuffing, alright?’

“I think it was for perceived comments, but from where I was, I certainly didn’t hear anything. That’s what I think it was for. The linesman had given a decision some four minutes before that, which having seen it again, is exactly the same as our thoughts were at the time – that it wasn’t a free-kick. It was an old-fashioned shoulder charge, both players competing for the ball, and the free-kick was given. Some four minutes later, he gives another free-kick in a similar position which again we felt wasn’t a free-kick. To be fair to the lad Fuller he never tried to make a meal of it, he was on his feet, he had control of the ball.”

Anyone who has had anything to do with the game of football can fully understand how the Newcastle management team felt when that free-kick was given and how they felt to lose the lead in injury time. It is an absolute sickened, but by continually expressing his anger, Kinnear is in real danger of being ‘hung out to dry’ by the FA.

Good job

As I said right at the beginning of this piece, I think we all think that Kinnear has done a good job. It is just that having looked at the facts, two wins in ten, one point off the drop zone and in trouble with the FA three times, I’m not sure on what I am basing that belief on.

As an outsider, it looks to me like Kinnear has managed to steady what was a rapidly sinking ship and restored some pride to those in the famous black and white stripes. I wonder what Newcastle fans think?