Joe’s attitude just right for a United side under siege

Oct 4 2008 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

Joe Kinnear remained defiant in the face of a fresh spate of negative headlines yesterday. But then, as Mark Douglas reports, time is of the essence.

JOE Kinnear is a man in a hurry. Newcastle United’s interim manager has, by his own estimation, around two months to turn things around and an explosive first week in charge has offered an insight into the way he will go about performing the biggest salvage mission of his long managerial career.

Kinnear knew he needed to make an immediate impact and by illustrating his defiance, his determination and his desperation to succeed he has done just that – winning over a few undecided supporters with his volcanic reaction to negative headlines on Thursday lunchtime.

Deliberate or not, it has helped take the pressure off the squad ahead of a difficult trip to Everton and instilled the kind of siege mentality that Kinnear believes is required to draw a fighting response from his squad.

Turning dispiriting defeats into wins will not be an easy task. Before their ugly divorce, Mike Ashley and Kevin Keegan were in agreement that it would take years rather than months to make Newcastle competitive in the top half of the Premier League, but Kinnear must take points from four teams in that bracket if he is to reach his target of 15 points from eight games.

And while there is a belief that he can coax an improvement from his players in a short space of time, Kinnear is under no illusions about how difficult it will be.

“I don’t promise anything but there is plenty of quality in our team and in our squad. Not always enough, because we have plenty of players in the treatment room, but there are quality match winners there,” he said. “I can’t wait to get involved again. I’ve been to places like Everton and Liverpool and I’ve been up against the odds before and I’m relishing it, even though I know it’s going to be tough.

“I have taken over a team that has lost five straight games and I’ve got to make an immediate impact. Terry Venables wouldn’t take this job because he felt it would take a season to turn it around but I’ve got a few weeks. But I owe it to myself, to my players and to this club to give it a try.”

The trick for United’s interim manager is to channel some of his ferocious drive and determination into players who have played with a marked lack of spirit since Keegan’s departure.

Kinnear has told his players the uncertainty surrounding the club will no longer be used an excuse for poor performances, and he has the support of captain Michael Owen on that front. He has been impressed with the striker in their early meetings. “He’s totally okay with me and agrees that what’s going on outside shouldn’t affect what’s going on on the pitch. We’ve now got to get the message to the rest,” he said.

“The players feel like they’ve been left in the lurch in terms of the communication from the club but I’ve told them everything straight and we’ve just got to get on with it. It’s as simple as that.

“Yes, they have to take responsibility as far as the football is concerned – as does the manager. You can’t use things that are happening at the club as an excuse for a poor performance. We’re not going anywhere if that’s the case. If you get turned over you can’t say ‘We’re worried about who’s coming in to buy the club’. You can’t have that.”

Kinnear’s response to the barrage of headlines claiming he “blew his top” was to dismiss it as a secondary concern, and it seems as if his robust language and combative style in front of the dictaphone has done him little harm.

Messageboards seemed to point to an almost overwhelmingly positive response from supporters, and the word from the dressing room is that Kinnear’s forthright assessment of the daily newspapers has won him support among the players, too.

With Newcastle in dire need of results, Kinnear has obviously figured that diplomacy must be a secondary concern. Take his attitude to Newcastle’s fallen midfielder Joey Barton, for example.

Barton may be a deeply divisive figure among United supporters but with a treatment room that could almost pass as a first XI Kinnear knows that his reaction to the 26-year-old must be shaped by cold, hard pragmatism.

Speaking in glowing terms of the combative qualities of a midfielder serving an eight-game suspension for a training ground altercation with then Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo, Kinnear believes Barton would have walked into his Wimbledon ‘Crazy Gang’ team.

Barton is likely to return in time for the derby game at Sunderland after the international break, and for United’s interim manager that will not come a moment too soon.

“We need somebody to be ranting and screaming information and information has to come out on the pitch. We don’t have that at the moment,” he said.

“I imagine when Joey Barton comes back that might change – he’s a chirpy lad with things to say and he might improve things on the communication front.

“We certainly need people who are going to express themselves to sort things out because you can’t always do it from the touchline.”

Barton will not play as Newcastle go in search of a much-needed win against Everton, perhaps the only team in the Premier League in form as faltering as United.

Goodison Park is a ground where Newcastle have had little joy in recent years but with Danny Guthrie and Jose Enrique back there is a fair amount of optimism on Kinnear’s part that his team can reverse their recent poor form. Certainly they should be stronger at the back, but it is mental strength that Kinnear is imploring his team to show in the face of another challenge.

“If we approach the game with the right sort of mentality there is always a chance.

“We’ve got people who have made a habit of scoring crucial goals, and although we know Everton have a strong squad we’ve got to believe. That’s what I’m looking for.”