CheickyTiote wrote:
I don't think it's as simple as saying we've been "unfortunate enough to sign up a large number of mentally weak individuals who don't have a winning mentality".
We've signed players who had success at previous clubs before coming here, who have showed signs of that winning mentality.
That's what fair weather players are. They play well when everything is going their way, but crumble when things start to get more tough or when it's more of an uphill battle.
It happened in the Pardew era as well. I can't remember the exact stats, but I think we lost almost every game where we went behind first. The team is just too mentally fragile. There's far too much situational confidence and not enough core confidence within the players. Once the going gets tough any fight goes out of the window and they start to feel sorry for themselves. It's happened with Pardew, Carver and now McClaren.
The only reason players would come here rather than playing CL football (some leaving CL clubs e.g. Wij, Anita, Cabaye, Debuchy etc) is because they see us as a stepping stone to one of Europe's big clubs. This must be a big selling point from the board when signing players. It does work for a few players, who are really busting a gut to improve and show what they can do on the pitch in hopes of a bigger move (Cabaye, Ba, Perez etc). Now players are happy to come here, get paid a lot more than they were on and think that because previous players have got their dream moves to Europe's elite, that they will too, they think it's just that easy. See Sissoko. We've become a "stepping stone" club.
Every team outside the top 4/5 is a stepping stone club, so there's nothing new there, really. Many other mid/lower table teams sign foreign players without this problem. It's been a fact for decades that if you prove yourself is a top class player in a lower-level club, one of the top clubs may eventually come in for you.
I don't really see a solution to this so-called problem unless the club stops signing foreign players, but again, many other clubs sign overseas players and do just fine, and have done for a long time.
I don't think this issue is to do with the approach to transfers in general. It's just that we're stuck in a situation with a few players who have that sort of mindset. It doesn't discredit buying overseas players entirely (after all, our 5th place finish season had almost all foreign players in the team), but it does mean that we have to get rid of the bad eggs in the team as soon as possible.
Don't get me wrong, there are some players who probably really are bothered about the club and how they play, such as the local lads or possibly those who know they're lucky to be playing for Newcastle or in the PL because unfortunately they aren't good enough. The likes of Colback, Dummett, Anita, even Willo or Obertan to an extent. This is the reason many want to see us signing more British players because they seem to care about the club more and understand what it means to the fans. Although, they still need to have PL quality, which is getting harder to find in Britain!
British is over-rated. Loads of other clubs have teams made up largely of foreign players, so why is it suddenly so much more important for us?
Our British players have been some of the most s**** players we've had. The likes of Dummett, Colback and Williamson have been lacking in fight just as much as any other player in the team. Meanwhile, some of the players with the most fight and passion, such as Perez and Mitrovic, are foreign.
I'd prefer more players with PL experience, but I don't care if they're British or foreign. I've seen no evidence that British players have any more fight or passion as a whole.
