[El Capitano Gatisto]

Originally Posted by whiney faggot #1 How is it arguing for the sake of arguing? Up until Jose came I haven't seen us play as good football as under Gullit (note the one 't', not two), you clearly don't remember just how good the actual football played was. And he didn't just get aload of people at the end of their career Vialli was the only player who really did only have a couple of seasons left in him, Di MAtteo retired through injury, Zola (probablY) and Lebouef retired this summer, so they were far fromt he end of their career. I admit that he hadn't done enough to manage a top team, but he showed that he has what it takes, we finished 6th, won a cup and it could have been three, in the short time he was there, (we were hardly swamped with old people in his side either, I think he'd have been able to build). How the fuck do you think that thats easy. One of my greatest memories of a Chelsea game was when we were 2-0 down to Liverpool at half time, and we ended up winning 4-2, granted Liverpool had Roy Evans in charge that day (I think) but we were playing against a better side then us and still won it. Also, Vialli had no experience as a manager either, we took a gamble on him, I was never a fan but he did get us third in the league and we did beat Barcelona 3-1 in our own gaff, getting to the Champions League Quarter Final was hardly easy and he won us three real cups.

I am saying that none of this is a good managerial record. If you look at the top 4 or 5 managers in the Premiership today (Ferguson, Wenger, Mourinho, Moyes Benitez), they are all men who had average or unremarkable careers as players. In the case of Mourinho, almost no career as a player.

They have all come from solid backgrounds as talented coaches or background staff, and people who have achieved impressive results with smaller teams, not on the back of a huge reputation as a star player.

I don't care about the football Chelsea played. They had top players, playing for a team who weren't really going anywhere.

My original point, absolutely lost in the mix, as usual with you, is that Newcastle, and all clubs, should be looking for managers with real credentials and the proven ability to create good teams. Of course, sometimes a big name manager can be good at that off the bat, like Mark Hughes appears to be, but Newcastle have had a succession of managers who've made extremely poor decisions in the transfer market and have not managed to build a consistent, spirited team.

Gullitt was never the man to do that, his time at Chelsea, subsequently at Newcastle, and his current record, all show that.