By Steerforth
May 4 2006

...but I hate Freddie Shepherd more than anyone. I don't know his motives or reasoning behind seeking to appoint Roeder. It may be because he has failed in his preferred options. It may be because Shearer is returning after a sabbatical to provide him with the geordie messiah he so craves. It may even be - though I doubt it - that he genuinely believes Roeder is the best man for the job.

I don't know and I don't care. What sticks in my throat is that from the moment he decided on this course of action, he has instigated an almost entirely fictitious PR campaign to portray Roeder as the 'fan's choice'. It seems to have begun around the time of the drubbing of the mackems.On April 17th,this appeared, courtesy of you-know-who:

"Like everyone else, chairman Freddy Shepherd heard the United supporters chanting Roeder's name during the super win over Wigan Athletic at St James' Park, and is aware that a good proportion of the phone calls to the local radio stations on Saturday night were for the caretaker manager to - well, lose that caretaker tag."

(Mysteriously,though several on this board were at the game,none heard these chants.)

And subsequently. Drip,drip,drip from the pestilential mouth of oily Oliver - articles with titles like 'Glenn's the Chosen One' and 'Roeder Now Takes Pole Position', spiced up with positive comments from such luminaries as Mark Jensen, Marion Williams (of fan's liaison committee fame), and Geordie Slostisliggy from the Byker Waall.

Alongside the barrage of articles,the evidence from the illuminating world of the radio phone-in,and the social club 'talk-in', mounts,with staggering tales of 90% in favour in a show of hands at Wallsend Buffs. After such an almighty push,no surprise the bandwagon is rolling.

Shepherd,I fully believe, holds us in complete contempt.He is not man enough to state: 'this may not be popular,but I believe it is right',and stand or fall by his decision.Instead he wants us to be complicit,in case it goes wrong.His own condition was that the manager should be 'popular with the fans'.To meet this,it appears he is cynically exploiting the current goodwill towards Roeder,and cranking it up via whatever media means he has at his disposal,so that he can just about get away with flourishing Roeder as the 'fan's choice'.It's all so predictably shabby.

It's over now failing a very hard line by the PL.It will be Roeder.I'm a Newcastle fan and I'll wish the bloke the very best,hope it works out,and back him all the way,just as I did as a kid when Dinnis was appointed in similar circumstances.But I still feel cheated,conned again by this exasperating club of ours who year after year,decade after decade have, far more often than not, used the very best asset this club has,the passion and loyalty of the fans,to get away with bad management and failure.

They don't deserve us.