Haris Vuckic to get his chance against QPR?

Posted on April 29th, 2010 | 78 Comments |

Vuckic: Has to play a part on Sunday.
Vuckic: Has to play a part on Sunday.
Sunday will see Newcastle United signing off from the Championship as we travel down to London to play QPR in what is essentially a meaningless game for both sides.

So perhaps this could be the time to see the likes of Slovenian wonderkid, Haris Vuckic, tasting first team action? There will be no better time to blood one or two of the younger players in a competitive environment, and we already know that Tim Krul will be one player who will get his chance on Sunday. There has been much clamour to see more of our most aspiring youth players in the form of Vuckic himself, Tim Krul and Tamas Kadar, and many believe that giving these youngsters the competitive games they need to develop will secure their future at Newcastle United. Indeed there have already been links of a move away from Tyneside for all three players, with Vuckic being the latest target of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in the last few days.

I know we have more yong players that have potential, like Brad Inman and Phil Airey, but I have picked on Krul, Kadar and Vuckic as I believe that these are the players that are closest to being able to step up their game and break into the first team. In fact Timmy Krul and Tamas Kadar have already made some appearances for the first team, and both of those players were deemed worthy of the prize of a Championship medal at the trophy presentation last Saturday.

So how about Haris? Well if you read any reports from the last few reserves and youth games then you will see that he has done nothing but impress, and bag goals, since his return from an horrific injury. He looks composed on the ball and whilst not being the fastest in a sprint, seems to possess the knack of being in the right place at the right time to pick the ball up or lay off a pass.

In all honesty he does look a cut above the level he is playing at, although perhaps some of that can be attributed to his sheer physical prowess. When you look at Vuckic compared to many other players he is facing currently then you can really see just how imposing he must be to play against. He already looks like a grown man, and at only 17 years old!

I would love to see him given some game time on Sunday, although I could understand if he misses out. Manager, Chris Hughton, has already said that he will put out a team to win the game on Sunday although it remains to be seen if that team will include young Vuckic. He must rate Haris though, as he has been quick to rebuff rumours that the Slovenian could be departing for pastures new.

We will just have to wait and see what the line-up is on Sunday I guess, although hopefully that line-up will contain Haris Vuckic, even if he just comes on as a substitute. Maybe then we could see just what the kid is made of when in direct competition against players of his own size.

Arise Haris, your time will come.

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

78 Responses

  1. Would love to see him, but Chris’s comments from yesterday make it seem unlikely.

    Krul, Kadar and Vuckic need to play a role next year.

  3. workyticket says:
    April 29, 2010 at 4:55 pm

    “Pedro with muscles.”

    And less general disfigurement.

  4. It would be good to get the game (and 2 goals) in the bag so our last two targets are met, then put on the three you’ve mentioned. You could start Krul, to be honest, so you’ve got one sub left for tactics and injuries.

  5. toonsy says:
    April 29, 2010 at 4:58 pm

    “And less general disfigurement.”

    No one would ever chin him though, Toonsy. They’d break their hand!

  6. workyticket says:
    April 29, 2010 at 5:04 pm

    “No one would ever chin him though, Toonsy. They’d break their hand”

    Pedro or Vuckic? ;)

  7. More to the point, though – and the really burning issue of the day…

    Who’s turning up in London for the piss-up?? I know Bowburnmag and some mates are coming down, I’m making the journey from Devon and I suspect we’re not the only ones with home tickets!

    The ground reviews suggest that the Vue centre in Shepherd’s Bush Green is our best bet, but does anyone have any other suggestions or info? We need to make sure we’re all in the same place to celebrate the end of such a great season!

  9. I am really hoping this’ll be a good piss-up. Anything less does not warrant a journey to the anal wart that is London – let alone a particularly crud-encrusted part of it.

    Come on fellas – cadge a lift and come and down a few scoobs…

  10. All this hype over Vuckic but how good is he really?

    I mean, I’ve only seen him a couple times and he seems to dwell on the ball a bit long. But what exactly is his position and what are his strengths?

  11. Also, isn’t it tradition that teams play in the new kit the last game of the season to advertise it for the next season. So does that mean the new Puma kit has been completed?

  12. Also, am I the only one that seems to think Asim has a chip on his shoulder?

    Answers boys, I need answers? :-)

  13. Good stuff, Toonsy – don’t be afraid to use your guide to suggest a place for pre- and post-match drinkage; it’ll suck if we end up spread over several spots, and it’s not like that area is one big partyland…

  14. must play the kid next season he would only have to play well 4 2-3 games we could get anything for him. not if they sell now for nothing. dont think ashley is that daft. the 3 players i said i watched are all doing great ferguson harris and this kid airey got 3 today and i am telling u this kid could play a part next season he has got it all pace power and scores for fun the real deal i am telling u that alex ferguson came to watch him.

  15. Whumpie says:
    April 29, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    “Good stuff, Toonsy – don’t be afraid to use your guide to suggest a place for pre- and post-match drinkage; it’ll suck if we end up spread over several spots, and it’s not like that area is one big partyland…”

    I dunno, Shepherds Bush is alright mate.

  16. asim says:
    April 29, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    “i am telling u that alex ferguson came to watch him.”

    Did he tell you that himself? Maybe he was there to see someone else?

  17. Hat-trick for Phil Airey tonight. Anyone think he might be a good future foil to Carroll in an all geordie attack?

  18. Think it’s too early for Airey yet. He was playing right back this time last year!

  19. Just listening to Nolan and Harper on Radio Newcastle and someone has just said:

    “What’s the difference from last year to this year? Last year some players seemed to not put any effort in, I’m not going to mention any names but…”

    Harper replied ” Are any of them players still at the club?”

    The caller said “No”.

    Harper replied “You’ve just answered your own question.”

    I thought that was pretty interesting – Would suggest that the players here now didn’t think much of the players that left in the summer.

  20. Well loads of people are saying we need to buy another forward but how about giving Ranger and Airey a few games next season . I think Carroll and Lovenkrands will score goals next season in the premiership and with Best , Ameobi , Ranger and maybe Airey as back up we would not need to spend big in that area and use the money CH will get to buy a creative midfielder plus a LB & RB to give our squad the depth and strength it needs . As for Vuckic i cant wait to see the lad play in the first team , we beat AC Milan to get him and with Manure ,Chelsea & Liverpool all showing an interest in him we need to already lengthen his contract then give the lad the chance to wow us . At the same time we need to remember that he along with Ranger and Airey are still very young and not expect them to play 30 or 40 games . Best maybe just needs to build up his confidence he did score 10 goals for coventry before he joined us and Ameobi could be used when there is an injury crisis .

  21. Workytickey where r ye need help, I had a message in my hotmail deleted items folder and I pressed empty all, but then realised that I had moved a msg from my inbox (which I meant to move to my saved folder) to the deleted folder is there anyway of getting it back ???

  22. Is it not still in the deleted folder Dave? When I delete mine they go into a trash folder and don’t get deleted for 50 days or something, unless I do it manually.

  23. AXEL – I think Best has been unlucky to be honest. He hasn’t really done a lot ‘wrong’ since he has been here. Maybe he is just lacking in confidence?

  24. toonsy my good friend is very good mates with danny simpson and wellbeck they go out. when we go out in manchester some times they are out with us and wellbecks brother told me that ferguson is going to watch manu and newcastle he said he has been looking at airey. this is no bullshit.

  26. if hughton rated vuckic so highly he would have already givin him game time

    interesting comment from harper, but you could easily name a number of the current bunch who wer at fault and lacked effort last season. they arent saints all of a sudden, they owed the club what they achieved this season

  27. buddy says:
    April 29, 2010 at 7:47 pm

    “interesting comment from harper, but you could easily name a number of the current bunch who wer at fault and lacked effort last season. they arent saints all of a sudden, they owed the club what they achieved this season”

    This is football. Only we think they owed us. In reality, the players that stopped owed us only what they wanted to give us. If that was not a lot, then what could we have done about it? Not a great deal.

    People should be thankful the players saw fit to take it upon themselves to rectify last season.

  28. If I ruled the world, I would certainly give the young guns a run out in this last and somewhat meaningless game, give the big guys an early vacation and a rest following a gamewise demanding schedule.

  29. I hate Liverpool

    I hate how the media cream themselves over these ‘great European nights’

    I hate Gerry and the Pacemakers

    I hate how the camera pans the crowd to see them singing

    I hate Anfield

    I hate Steven Gerrard

    I hate the banners in the Kop that rattle on about things nearly 50 years old

    I hate Liverpool fans

    I hate Liverpool fans who are clearly glory supporters

    I hate Phil Thompson, big nosed tw@t

    I hate how nothing else matters to the big nosed dismissive tw@t

    I love Hicks and Gillett

    I would love them even more if they put Liverpool out of business.

    I hate how the world has to stop for Hillsborough, a tragic accident. Yet they shrug off Heysel, caused by themselves, and took them 20 years to apologise for!

    I hate the excuse that Benitez has had no money to spend, nearly £300 million is pennies isn’t it? He bought rubbish, deal with it.

    I hate Gerrard

    I hate whoever the commentator is on Channel 5! I think it may be Graham Taylor who less than a minute into the game mentioned those “special Europen nights”

    I hate Jamie Carragher, cheat.

    I hate Rafa’s pink shirt, it clashes with his red cheeks.

    I hate Sammy Lee. He looks like a burns victim.
    If I think of anymore I’ll let you know :)

  30. Forget our season of discontent, it`s history, something hopefully never repeated.
    And have to say glad to be back where this club belongs.
    Perhaps i can catch a bunch of games on telly this coming season.
    Did Ash give the man a contract yet ? heard they were negotiating.

  31. I was at the reserves game this afternoon, and after the match some lad did ask vuckic if he would go to either chelsea or man utd and he did reply no, but who knows. We do need to give him a contract extension, i’ve been to many reserve games this season and the games i’ve seen him in he just makes it look so easy, he should deffinitly get some game time against QPR to see what he’s like up against senior players.

  33. Chuck – I think all these contract negotiations will take place after the weekend.

    And I agree about the season of discontent, although I would say it applied more to last season.

  34. i hate liverpools pies
    i hate liverpools soggy crisps
    i hate liverpool shi–y tea
    i love liverpool manager
    2 more seasons please
    2 more seasons and they are gone :)

  37. Toonsy @ 27-

    Well said mate. Some people are just doommongers and cursed with a negative existence. Mad at the world, that lot, and get strange jollies out of watchin’ things fail.

    Us on the other hand, we wanna see our boys in black n white go out and be the nemesis of every team on the pitch. :D hwtl

  38. Anyone see that magpie on the pitch at Anfield? Hope it craps aaall over the place ;)

  39. Interesting that vuckic only played 35 mins today…maybe a run out is planed after all.

    By the way, just saw the BBC blogger talked of “giving the Atletico fans a taste of European nights at Anfield”- LOL

  42. good goal by hamburg shame like,keeper should have done better,slow feet getting across

  44. Toonsy-

    My best m8’s a HUGE liverpool supporter from Nigeria. He’s all right though. Which is good because of all the stick that I CONSTANTLY give him for it.

    …would love to see them get the drop though. I mean, my best m8 is complaining about Liverpool’s bad season. For chrissake, they’re in the top 10. And have a garbage manager. Grinds my gears like.

  45. toonsy, i have always had a passionate hate for liverpool above all teams…cant really think of a team in any sport that i dislike that much….tho them beating us and dishing out frequent hammerings doesnt help does it

  46. toonsy

    We share a common hatred there mate. :)

    I loved it when Jamie Carragher fell on his backside for Madrid first goal.

    Also did you notice the little magpie sitting in the corner as if laughing at them, that we have actually won something this season and they actually havent won anything! quality.

  47. Can’t believe the BBC gave out Andy Carroll’s home address when reporting on the hearing yesterday….

    Irresponsible

  48. I hate liverpool

    I hate Michael Owen

    I hate the words “we’ll never walk along”

    I love the fact that when Celtic sings the same song with more passion they put Liverpool fans to shame

    I hate the fact that Liverpool get giving preference over other clubs. Ie. Given a Champions League Place despite not qualifying when they won those years back

    I love Lucas, “better than Alonso” hahahaha

    I love Benitez because the only team he can beat is Man United and I hate Man United.

    Good enough Toonsy?

    I love the fact Liverpool might not even have Eufa Cup next year… Love it!

    I think if they finish 7th they get Inter Toto is that right… then be bye bye Torres and Gerrard… Lets see how deep his loyalty is… He’ll be off the Man City or Real Madrid.

  49. One more thing…

    I hate Kenny Dalglish for selling our best players and replacing them with his buddies from the LIVERPOOL old boys brigade, completely destroying what Keegan had built.

    How do you sell, Ginola and Ferdinand and Asprilla at their peak and replace them with John Barnes and Ian Rush who were nearly in wheelchairs at that time?

  50. Liverpool will play in the Europa League next season. The PL and the FA have done the dirty on Pompey. Chelsea have already qualified for CL, so by default the other FA Cup finalist should get a Europa League place. Instead they are giving it to 7th in the PL, probably the scousers.

    Talk about big club bias.
    It’s not right.

    Apart from that I don’t have anyting against the scousers. I can’t stand Gerrard. It probably comes from him winding us up over Owen, saying he should come to a big club. :-) Good player though, just watch your wallet when he’s around.

  51. UTD 111, Andy Carroll is a mere mortal and subject to the same law of the land we all are, if he doesnt want his name and address in the papers he should behave himself.

  52. dont like the way ch is talking about we dont expect much changes in the summer. they should have sat down by now to talk about were this club is going not leaving the meeting any longer they should be setting up targets and i feel that they still havent learned there lessons becasue we should have been planning 2 weeks ago the other teams are getting involved why not us.

  54. hughton “I don’t anticipate bringing in a lot of new players this summer, but we do need to make sure we are in the best possible shape for the Premier League.”

    dosnt sound promising does it

  55. ehh? Are yous two negative or what!

    The bloke is saying what he has done all season, nowt sensational, we will bring in a few players who fit the bill, who add quality in certain areas that need filling, not just spunking away cash for the sake of it like in the past. But ultimately, he does not want to upset the momentum, team spirit and winning mentality we have instilled in the team right now.

    This alone can win you matches, not flashy players, as we found out last season!

  56. hit man! we were the first team up out of other leagues and we had a head start on all the teams in the prem but nothing has happened with ashley. never plays young players anyway who are better then what we got like ferguson can play right back better then simpson.he plays on the wing at the moment but played right back. we could use any goalkeeper and harris. if they think this squad is ok then he must play these players.like to see ferguson play right back against QPR. its a start if he doesnt play an1 then he will not in the prem .

  57. Just hope all this attention young Haris is getting doesn’t get to his head. I know it’s the way of the world these days but it can’t be helping! Hardly anyone has seen the kid play yet we’re building him up to be (I include myself) a cross between Cruyff, Maradona and Duncan Edwards.

  58. Asim, is it too much to ask that we wait until the transfer window has actually opened for a while before we start slating Ashley for not investing in the squad?

  59. Mick says:
    April 30, 2010 at 11:43 am

    New players have to be brought in every season regardless of what happened the previous season.

    Players need to be kept on their toes and need to be motivated to improve – Nothing like a new player coming in to give you a kick up the aris.

    We are desprarate for pace and if Jonas doesn’t play we look ridiculously one dimensioned – That needs to be addressed as we cannot realy rely on Routledge on his own – Epecially when he’s a had a fair few goes at the PL and hasn’t been successful.

  60. Just because we are not broadcasting our targets to the rest of the world doesn’t mean we aren’t planning for the future.

    Just because we haven’t paraded new players on the pitch at St. James park does not mean we have not started to look to building next seasons squad.

    Just because we can’t see anything happening, doesn’t mean that nothing is happening.

    Who saw what I had for breakfast, if no one did, does that mean I didn’t have any?

  61. Starkadder,

    You really should be eating breakfast, its the most important meal of the day! I can’t believe you skipped it!

  63. im all for the club keeping shtum on transfer targets..
    but the way hughton is talking is that hes only looking to bring in a few players,we need at least 4 maybe 5 quality players in.

  67. I see Dindane has had a medical at Blackburn.

    Another we’ve missed out on!

    He probably wasn’t prepared to take a pay cut to £1k a week.

  69. how good is harris vukic?,seem to remember wayne rooney scoring against arsenal when he was 16,a certain mr shearer scoring a hattrick when he was 17.
    nile ranger is 18 and never looks like doing anything,okay hasn,t had that many starts,but holds the ball up well with not much else to his game.
    is it a case of being led up the garden path?remember paul brayson was going to be a world beater em….. where is he now?.

  71. heres a one for yous
    do you think there is actually such a thing as a transfer kitty? Or is it just the media appealing to our idiotic simple minds?
    Is it not more likely (more than likely in these times i would argue) that a manager approaches the board with players he has in mind and they say, sweet, we’ll sort the rest out mate, we’ll keep you informed.
    If the players aligned with the brief of young, up and coming etc etc, I think Chris will have been told an ‘around’ figure and will just tell the board who he wants, the rest is up to them

  73. well said mick as we didnt no that! jj i am not saying that! we should have players in place now the window is open why are teams buying players but ch hasnt even talked to ch we should be first in the qu be4 some body else with higher wages.

  75. asim – The only players that have openly been bought are that lad from Charlton, which is confirmed, plus a medical for Dindane at Blackburn.

    Howay man, your making it sound like this is the final day of the window.

  77. mike ashley will make a bid for fumaca as he thinks he is the missing piece of the jigsaw,followed by a bid for andreas andersson.

  78. quick alternate view, hes going to get some games next season, I would put money on it, all the talk is that the championship is a “tougher” league, but truth is, premiership is the best in england so the games will be thick and fast (maybe thats the difference, pace of the prem is soooo much quicker than the ccc), wouldn’t letting him play the last game of a season we already won just seem a little bit like a token gesture? that and put him in the shop window just before it opens for all the deep pocketed prem teams to have a look at? he needs to be assured that NUFC want him here and that he has a big part in our future, hes no doubt good enough to play but if his attitude to waiting his chance is wrong – will he fit into our current team mentality?