A section of fans wanted Alan Pardew out before the end of last season as Newcastle went through a poor run of form for sometime but, owner Mike Ashley had faith in the former Charlton manager. It seems his faith may have been misplaced as now the majority of Newcastle fans want Pardew out and have gone to great lengths to get their message across.
Internet campaigns, rallies and even printing "Pardew Out" fliers and banners and publicly displaying them at St James' mean Newcastle fans have delivered their verdict on the matter. However, the decision lies with the Sports Direct tycoon Ashley who seems to be growing impatient with results. Newcastle currently lie 19th in the league and have yet to win a game in this campaign. Newcastle have strengthened this summer with their usual French league preference by signing players like Remi Cabella and Emmanuel Riviere but still cant seem to chalk a win up on the board.
 |
| "Give me this much time, I will turn it around!" |
The Magpies are underachieving with the squad they have and really should not be in the relegation zone. If Ashley does not address the problem soon then Newcastle could find themselves in a situation where they have to fight for Premier League survival if results continue as they are. Ashley wants to give Pardew time to change things around however, how long is it before he has been given too much time?
The Napoli revolution in the summer of 2013 saw the club be one of the biggest spenders in Europe bringing in high profile names like Gonzalo Higuain, Jose Callejon and Dries Mertens to name a few. £64 million spent, mostly generated from the sale of sought after stars Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi, lead by the experienced Rafa Benitez many thought Napoli could over throw the domination Juventus had in Serie A and saw their activity as a statement of intent.
The club haven't quite matched the spending they did last year despite bringing in a few new faces however, have not started well. Although still early in the Serie A season, Napoli sit in 8th with two wins from five games, hardly the form the side need to challenge for Serie A silverware. One major criticism of Napoli under Benitez is their inconsistent form, being able to challenge the best but struggle to overcome weaker oppositions and critics suggest that Napoli won't win a Serie A title with Benitez because of this.
 |
| Benitez did win the Coppa Italia last year with Napoli |
The former Liverpool and Chelsea manager has had to address the media about a possible sacking after his side were held to a 3-3 draw to a uninspiring Palermo. The Spaniard said: "Do I feel at risk? No. I haven't spoken to the president, but I don't need to talk to him every five minutes to ask if I'm at risk or not at risk." Benitez seems relaxed abut his job in the Naples but if he does not get the side playing with a positive steady form he could get packing his backs for the second time in Italy.
Ask any manager and they will tell you winning back to back titles is one of the hardest things to do in football, even if you are manager of a super rich power like PSG. Laurent Blanc faces that challenge with Paris based side but, the side have not started the season like a championship winning team. In a league that is considered weak in comparison to the squad PSG have and the financial backing, pressure is always high for Blanc to deliver and so far this season, he has not.
PSG currently sit in 4th place with 8 games played and are 5 points off of league leaders Marsielle, a team that could be PSG's new found title rivals following Monaco's demise who have been reinvigorated under the impressive Marco Biesla. The side have not lost yet however, have only won 3 times and drawn 5 and Blanc is beginning to feel the pressure. PSG have looked uninspiring in their play this year and star players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic look unmotivated and lacklustre.
 |
| A high pressure job with much expectation |
Following a questionable summer transfer window, where the club opted to spend £40m on David Luiz after he performed poorly in the world cup, the price tag being a large sum of their transfer budget as they struggle to stay in financial fair play regulations, meant they missed out on other targets like Angel Di Maria. The 3-2 win against Barcleona may prove crucial to the Frenchman in keeping his job as they side have already drawn to Ajax. If the side were to go out the Champions League in the group stages it would be considered a disaster. Laurent Blanc's every move will be under much scrutiny in France.
To predict the future in today's modern game is impossible, with managers coming and going more than ever. However, based on the early signs this season, these three gaffers could be in hot water should their early form fail to pick up. Who will be first to go this year then?
No comments:
Post a Comment