Captain Kevin.

121 Responses

1. Big Kev captain eh. Pleased for him, better choice than smith and has experience as prem captain.

2. LOL Toonsy we all knew he was Captain it just took a bit longer to make it official because he forgot to tell CH that he took the Armband of Butt at the end of last season :)

3. not bothered,it’s nowt but a symbolic thing.IF we sign benny arfa and If we sign Arevelo Nolan will struggle to get in imo

4. Great screaming jesus… Shay Given benched by Citeh.

5. RICHIETOON on thing about these south/am def they put up with nee shite on the pitch

6. well as i’ve said before,when at graft you always make the lazy b*****d gaffer.makes it all the harder to swallow,with him being a thieving bin dipper.

7. Didnt realise Shearer was 40 this week.

8. nolan…chris just to let you know i’ve made myself captain a couple of month ago.

   ch…congratulations boss – do you want me to tell big mike ?.

   nolan…every body at the club knows but you can tell the gutter press.

   ch…thanks for letting me do that boss – i love you.

9. Expect Given to launch his teddy out of his pram.

10. ROY you may have him sussed m8

11. Wrong choice for me I’m afraid.

    Also, man city are a joke, they have to be stopped. 500k a week for ibrahimovic? Joke

12. haha shay I say. What goes around comes around. Good news if your an england fan aswell, Hart getting games for one of biggest clubs now.

13. roy,the scouse prick thinks he’s mr newcastle now.

14. nolan…i love you aswell chris.

15. ch….but i love you more boss.

16. nolan…chris i love you to the moon and back.

17. ch…boss i love three time round the sun and back

18. aye trojan,there were times he should have been dropped last season imo……..I think/hope this year it’ll be different if he doesnt perform.Hoping that because a) last year we could afford to carry passengers,this year we can’t b)last year CH’s job was always safe due to being top of the league so he could possibly shy away from the big decisions,this season that won’t be the case.
    c) if he signs those players,he’ll be more likely to find a place for them at the expense of others.
    Thats my view on it anyway,I may well be wrong.

    Ice…aye he’d be good signing imo.

19. dinners on..

20. Don’t City have to sell off a batch of players by the close of the window?

21. Is that a romantic candlelit one for CH and Nolan??

22. Raffo@11 I agree mate, this Citeh shit is spoiling everything. crazy money being spent here there and everywhere…way out of order.

23. Thats why the transfer window stagnates….everybody is waiting to see if Citeh want to buy them before they commit elsewhere…!

24. Hart has made 3 outstanding saves so far.

25. Harts having a blinder

    Munich true,but nowt Chelsea havnt done in the past.

26. it’s a cracking match so far.

27. That’s what I thought about City & the window–once they start selling it will break the log-jam and there will be an explosion of last minute sales.

    Still waiting…

    When’s the window close then?

28. I seen that the other day raffo n i really really hope its just paper rubbish ,

29. Richie i’m not a betting man but I would bet he will not be dropped unless he drops himself through injury, He has only been with us for a yr and a half and for the last season he has appointed himself as Mr Newcastle and Club Captain. To me a Club captain should have the club sewn into his heart and know all about the club and served the club longer than a couple of yrs ( Steven Taylor ) I would also say Smudger wont be too pleased that he has been shit on, but maybe he has fell out of favour or on his way out ?

30. Ice what is your prediction of mondays game ?

31. Dave,
    Nolan will be a better captain than waste of space EMO!!

32. BIG DAVE draw m8

33. I think Hughton will drop Nolan or anybody if the need becomes apparent. He dropped Butt and I believe he even dropped wee Micky Owen too, right?

34. I know what your saying Dave,but if we sign those 2 he’ll be hard pushed to get in unless he’s playing a blinder and I think we’ll see a change in CH’s attitude if his jobs on the line especially if he’s used his transfer budget to bring those players in..time will tell I spose.Harper should have been club captain imo.

35. Lads does anyone know when does the lists of the 25 players have to be handed in ?

36. I would have thought before start of season, Dave, but hell if I really know.

37. Wow, City are reeling. Bale just hit the post…

38. 5pm Sept 1st…….if I had to guess ;-)

39. f*ck me what a game

40. Hi Big Dave – how’s it going?
    I agree with you on Nolan. Sure he’s a nice lad but he has always irritated me with his rent a gob stance on all things to do with Newcastle. Last year couldnt pick up a daily rag without reading his opinion about something as if he was the captain or vice captain already.He’s obviously gone after this role and I feel sorry for Smith.

41. Spuds are murdering Citeh.

42. ya ya toure on 200 grand a week,it’s an absolute disgrace,there is people starving all over the world.
    if these footballers are getting that,then surely heart surgeons and other professions who save peoples lives,should be on five times that?
    no wonder the world is in the state it is ffs.

43. No one can really be suprised by Nolan’s appointment. He lead by example last year, both on and off the pitch (if stories are true). He’s also done it all before at Bolton.

    Whether or not he is ‘un-droppable’ is a bit of a moot point. The way we are likely to play, both home and away, there is always going to be a place the the Nolan-style of player, and it’s unlikely that he would not be in the team for that reason alone. That probably gives consistency game by game when you are looking for your leaders.

    If we like it or not, the Nolan role has become pivotal to the way we organise our team. Other players will drop in and out of the team as formations change. The only other real candiates if we were looking for someone who woule always be there to rally the troops would be Collocini or Jose. Not even Harper is guarenteed his place in my opinion.

    We could have made worse appointments.

44. Stark…..I don’t think anyone should be guaranteed a start but I was saying Harper as club captain and not team captain………..organisers on the pitch will do it regardless of whether they wear the armband or not anyway.

45. Tottenham have had eight shots on target, City none if the stats are correct.

46. geordie deb,

    I would like to see Smith moved on if possible, by his own admission he can no longer cut it week in week out in the EPL.
    For CH to succeed he must be ruthless in his team selection and only select players who are in form.
    As for who wears the armband I think it is matterless, we need 11 leaders out on the pitch.

47. FSOTC I think you might find Owen had no power at the club and Butt was injured for big spells last year but when he wasnt injured he was in the team.
    Richie Harper is a good shout ;) its just we seen Guthrie who should have been 1st choice CM being dropped or pushed out to the wings to accomodate Nolan Smith or Butt. and I believe if Lovens had of took Nolan place last season he would have scored far more, I just fear that when Nolan has to be dropped its going to cause loads of decent in the squad which will make things worse but only time will tell :(
    Ice I was going to go for a draw and would have been well happy with a point, but now I dont think we will get one I would be ok with a small defeat 2-1

48. Geordie Deb Im good thanks hope alls good at your end dont see you on much now. Where are you now still away in exotic locations ;)

49. Tony Green Supreme

    I dont disagree that Smith should move on. To be honest I ws hoping both of them would be sold, but if they’re both staying hopefully we will not have both of them on the pitch at the same time. Nolan just grates on me for some reason. Think it was more how he seemed to undermine the captain and vice captain last season by constantly gobbing off as an unofficial spokesman

50. I agree,thats what happened last year Dave,like I said we could get away with it last year.This season we won’t so if he does it he could be risking his job.Time will tell.
    Monday I’ll be happy to nicj=k a point but also with avoiding a hammering and a decent performance will do.

51. Soccer Saturday talking about Newcastle didn’t mention ben arfa at all.you would think ben arfas behaviour would make headlines.it’s not every day players run out on their club and travel to a club with no deal in place.

52. wasn’t Nolan sort of head of the “players committee” last season?

53. richie, I’m not saying that Nolan would start if we had anyone else who could play that role, but he seems to do it best for us and realistically, who else have we got.

    Alan Smith has already been discussed and dismissed, Guthrie is to ill-disciplined on the pitch, and too young in my opinion.

    Appointing Joey Barton would appear to be the only logical alternative, but will he play as often as Nolan. Probably not, definately not away from home I would think if last year is anything to go on. He’s also injury prone, and there is perhaps a concern that his appointment might draw unwanted attention (particularly if he reverts to his previous behaviour).

    I don’t particularly hold with a goalkeeper as captain. There are (hopefully!) huge periods of the game when a keeper can be isolated from his team mates as the game swings to the opposition half.

    As for our defenders, I’ve already said it would be one of Colo or Jose for me. Steven Taylor would not be my choice, it doesn’t sit comfortably with me. I just don’t think he is as good a player as others on this board and others do.

    As I say, we could have made a worse choice.

54. I’m really looking forward to playing these two sides – Not!

    Phil Thompson has just said Newcastle look like a club who are planning for going back to the Championship. Not committing any funds or taking risks. Just like the likes of WBA have done in the past.

    Cannot argue with him like…

55. Hi Big Dave
    No back home until next Saturday. My job changed earlier this year so probably overseas usually in Asia or US 2 weeks out of every four. Have been following the blog just not commenting as much. What’s your prediction for the season Dave?

56. Watching the Tottenham – Citeh game and seeing the subs benches, I found myself thinking “Gosh, our players are not in the same league as these.” Then I remembered that they were!
    Can I wave the white flag now?

57. Joe Hart currently cementing his place as a starter at city. He’s been brilliant thus far and spurs have absolutly battered him!

58. Ross agree with you re Joe Hart. Shay already commented in the press that if he was dropped for this game he would want talks next week and would want away. Dolly definitley about to be launched out of the pram.

59. Stark…I’m talking about club captain which is not the same as the team captain.Thats why I said Harper as its more of a ‘represent’ the club role.Team captain is something that imo has to be decided on a game by game basis depending on who’s in the team.

60. Dont think we’ll be doing our customary whooping of spuds this season lads and lasses. :)

61. Was meant to be a frowning face. :(

62. Tottenham are looking a fantastic side. And HR has done a great job of putting that balanced side together…

    We can’t even really start to judge on performances of teams like Man City, Spurs, Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool, Everton, and maybe Villa.
    We arn’t going to compete with them we have to just try get as many points off them as possible and try finish as high up outside the top eight as we can…
    Top ten would be an outstanding achievement.

63. Hart is definately already as good if not better (his all round game) than Given. And now he is england no.1 with all his best years ahead of him. Why would Mancini want Given mid 30’s and on the way down in his career. Little moaning irish t###

64. Geordie Deb I would be pleased if we can make anywhere between 14th – 17th. But I think if the Fat Controller had off invested properly ( or still do’s) we might have been comfortable. I just think as we stand if we get a few injuries we will be struggling and if we get a few batterings it might be hard to pick ourselfs up and keep going ;)

65. richie, I know what your talking about. I just think that, in this instance, the answer is the same.

    Off the pitch, Nolan is part of Houghton’s committee, and on the pitch he looks likely to be an ever present.

    It’s no good appointing a club or team captain who won’t play regularly. Yes they don’t have to be the same player, but in this instance I think they’ve got it right.

66. true mate,but still think he may not be that much of a reg if the 2 players mentioned are signed..as I’ve said time will tell.

67. Harper – dont really like a gk being captain as isn’t involved in play as much.

    S.Taylor – far to dodgy a reputation to be captain imo.

    Carroll – too young and daft.

    Smith – wont get many games in prem and think he will be away soon considering his high wages.

    barton – I think would make a great midield general type captain but too dodgy a rep, will get wound up and sent off this season and too injured.

    Collo – Seems to be overlooked, think he would be my choice.

    Nolan the safe choice and self proclamed leader. Will be interested to see how much say Hughton actually had in the matter.

68. DJG I completely understand what yer saying about Joey but I think and Hope he has turned the corner this time and will be one of the 1st names on the team sheet this season. He must know that this is his last chance to make it in the big time with a biggish team so I think he will be one of the more important players this season for me him and Guthrie in CM ;)

69. Deb-absolutly, I’m under the impression he wants away if he isn’t first choice. Mancini went with hart today and he’s had an absolute blinder this far. As you say, toys firmly out the pram and I could see him ending up at Arsenal. He’s getting on a bit and obviously wants to win something along with playing CL football but it’s still slightly petty. He pushed for his move to city and is now throwing a wobbler there too.

70. Ross……don’t know about Arsenal,Wenger was quite adamant he had no interest in him yesterday…………of course that means nowt tho ;-)

71. Read that Arsenal may be interested in a loan deal only for Given.

72. Given’s got the right to demand football, like Harper could have done years ago. It’s a personal choice and a matter of character. He needs football at his age and is still good enough to deserve it. I’ve got no hard feeling against him for jumping ship and would like to see him do well – probably at Arsenal.

73. Big Dave: How many times have we heard people say ‘I hope he’s turned the corner’.

    It’s too much of a risk to pin your hopes on it.

    By all accounts, he’s a bloody good bloke, but when he pop’s he pop’s big-stylee.

    He’s no different to probably everyone else in reality. It’s just his profile and his past history which make it too much of a risk.

    It’s a shame, because he will never be given the chances that he may deserve.

    Personally I think we (NUFC) offered him a life line he wouldn’t get anywhere else. He hasn’t repaid us yet.

74. Deb…not sure City will loan to a rival though…maybe Celtic?

75. “Joe Jordan going to watch young boys over the weekend”
    Slanderous commentary from Skysports!

76. ……of course,I do have Hart in my dream team :-)

77. Well, Nolan is a 100% the better option than Taylor.

    Some people have short memories with regard to him. Lets not forget;

    – He had his family blab to Louise Taylor to engineer a new deal.

    – He has his family putting out stories in the prss about interest to try and up the ante.

    – Has (allegedly) benn trying to screw a team-mates girlfriend.

    That is the controversial, selfish stuff out of the way. Then there is the fact that;

    – He has only managed two games this year.

    – Is prone to making errors and has lapses in concentration aswell as going walkabout at times.

    – Hasn’t really improved much, despite having the games to do such.

    But all that is ok because people claim he is a Geordie and loves the club.

78. I’m confused Toonsy,dya want Taylor for captain or not?? :lol:

79. Ross…the 90 mins shay played for the republic is his 1st game since he got injured, no pre-season games for citeh. Given won’t be happy but playing hart is a no-brainer really. Are spurs as good as they look or are citeh just a team of strangers at the moment.

80. The first game of the season isn’t really the time to try and analyse a team or measure their liklihood of success.

    Spurs always look like they are going to do better than they end up doing and this must be the 60-th different starting 11 Man. City have fielded since their take over.

    Spurs are at home, and were obviously quick out of the blocks. For any team, yhe important thing is not to get beat, or if you do get beat, make a decent fist of it, don’t get embarassed.

    Otherwise the doom and gloom mongers will have you relegated by September!

81. Rich – ;) :lol:

82. Toonsy How do you know it was him that had his family do this or that and not just his Dad acting as his agent. IMO he was one of our best players at the start of last season and along with Colo was one of the reasons we kept an unbeaten at home record, as for not really improving much I must have been watching a different player as he didn’t look like the same player the year before when we were relegated, But he was one of the few players that really did look gutted at being relegated.
    As for that makes it ok because he’s a Geordie, that has got nowt at all to do with it in my mind, As I have been told so many times that he is not a Geordie that he was born in London or somewhere else ? .
    Dont let yer dislike for him get in the way but ;)

83. I don’t dislike him Dave, I just think he is sneaky and shouldn’t be captain. Lets not forget he is only 24. He is also too emotional to be captain in my opinion.

    Don’t let your blind love get in the way of his faults Dave ;)

84. I think we can accept Taylor is a geordie and that our defence was worse without him last year and will be this term. His injury troubles are holding him back from reaching his obvious potential.

85. lets hope his new agent isnt as sly as his last one ;)

86. WhoTheVuckicHaris says:
    August 14, 2010 at 2:53 pm

    “His injury troubles are holding him back from reaching his obvious potential.”

    Isn’t that a problem though?

87. lets just say i have gomes and dawson in my fantasy football and they got me 6 points each ;)

88. im sick of all this negativity like! to big nose off gillette! planning to go down! i say fueck u and concentrate on trimming those nose hairs each week! Ben arfa or no ben arfa we are united and im predicting a solid season! we do have good players and a good manager!… = a good team! we will be ok boys and we will put a good perfomance against man united. win, lose or draw we will send a msg to the rest of the premier league! that NEWCASTLE UNITED are back and like chris hughton says our 5 year plan starts now!
    RANT OVER
    my prediction 4 monday man u 3-1 which isnt bad just dont concede in the 1st 2 mins

89. tummy lets just say “provisionally” I have 14 points from that game ;-)

90. First goal!

    Downing

91. Toonsy – Isn’t that a problem though?

    Certainly, I think we need to be particularly careful with him and hopefully we can ease him back in slowly if the others stay fit. But I’m not going to criticise his character too much because he always gives his all on the pitch and I don’t feel I know enough to judge.

92. I really wish I could cheer Blackpool on, but I know that if we are going to stay up they probably need to be rock bottom.

93. Fair play Blackpool!

94. Toonsy I can honestly say that Taylor wouldn’t be in my top 3 favs of our current players but he gives his all while he is on the pitch ;) I can remember a fair few games last season when Nolan didnt give his all and just rolled about the pitch :) its only because he popped up with his goals otherwise folks would think different of him, As I said if Lovens was given Fat Boys role last year he would have scored a lot more.

95. Blackpool sticking it to wigan!

96. Our next 3 opponents are now all winning 2-0 before half time. Getting very nervous.

97. Blackpool 3. What!?!

98. Cattermole off…shame

99. I thought Villa would have got of to a bad start but looks as if they are starting well :(

100. Dave – I don’t doubt that Taylor is a decent player, but he still has faults. That is not a criticism of him, every player has faults, and I try to point them out about ALL of them, not just Taylor :)

     I jut don’t believe he should be captain :)

101. WTVH – Wigan are strange team, they are either very good or terrible & don’t forget they’ve lost bramble.. How long is it going to be before someome posts saying we should have signed Harewood?

102. Toonsy LOL go on then whats Nolans faults ? ;)

103. noir9 says:
     August 14, 2010 at 3:47 pm
     WTVH – Wigan are strange team, they are either very good or terrible & don’t forget they’ve lost bramble.. How long is it going to be before someome posts saying we should have signed Harewood?

     Right now :) Why didnt we sign Harewood? :)

     Only messing by the way!

104. Blckpool 3-0 up n ppl r worried bout what we can do, ben arfa being shown round sjp now according to lad on eds blog n he only posts wen he hs true facts

105. Marlon Snailwood has got off to a good start :) but they can keep him

106. Toonsy is it that long of a list ;)

107. The way SkySports are going on about Blackpool you’d think they were 3-0 up against ManU at Old Trafford.

     It’s the first game of the season, and Wigan are one of the teams you would expect to be down at the bottom.

     People need to get a grip!

108. Must hav permission to spk to him coz lad reckons press were there takin pics n we had representitves with him so its lookin good

109. Imagine what Skysports will be saying on monday when we are 3-0 up against ManU at Old Trafford.

110. I did say Blackpool would get a result today,they’ll get relegated imo but that doesn’t mean they won’t spring the odd surprise…..like today ;-)

111. Dave – He isn’t very fast. He seems to lack a bit of fitness. He isn’t very skillful.

112. no1 else a bit worried how gud blakpool, sunderland, villa, spurs n city, guna be a tuf lng season, nt bein negative bt it has to b sed

113. God I’d forgotten how much I hate the big nosed scouse twat!

114. why should we be worried? its only the first game of the season so it’ll be one result…….If you want to read something into it then you could say Blackpool are showing how poor some of the other teams are,Sunderland are playing at home against another team who could be in the bottom half,City,Villa and Spurs will all be top 6-8 so aren’t our concern :-)

115. I think Blackpool’s win should be put into context. Wigan have apparently been awful! I do think Spurs, Villa and Sunderland will have good seasons, but it’s also a marathon and not a sprint, so let’s not get so worried so soon.

116. Not worried one bit. I seem to remember we got relegated after an impressive result on the opening day of the season last time in the prem…..

117. Good point ritchietoon, wigan did struggle last season but there being spanked at home by the play-off winners & brum who finished mid-table are getting beaten by someone aswell.

     davy @ 108, has that french lad been spotted somewhere else?

118. noir9: Brum and Sunderland finished mid-table last year. That game could have gone either way and still wouldn’t be an indicator of the season to come.

     As the scores stand now, I can’t say there have been any shocks, although the Blackpool score is a surprise and I would have thought that Everton would have done better.

     But will they all finish like this? There is still 15-20 minutes to go.

119. I’ve said it before – Birmingham are defintite relegation candidates this season.

     Look at their squad, on paper at least its abysmal.

     1 GK Maik Taylor
     26 GK Ben Foster
     13 GK Colin Doyle
     2 DF Stephen Carr (captain)
     3 DF David Murphy
     15 DF Scott Dann
     21 DF Stuart Parnaby
     5 DF Roger Johnson
     6 DF Liam Ridgewell
     4 MF Lee Bowyer
     7 MF Sebastian Larsson
     8 MF Craig Gardner
     17 MF Míchel
     12 MF Barry Ferguson
     18 MF Keith Fahey
     24 MF Jay O’Shea
     20 MF Enric Vallès
     16 FW James McFadden
     9 FW Kevin Phillips
     10 FW Cameron Jerome
     11 FW Garry O’Connor
     19 FW Nikola Žigić
     23 FW Marcus Bent

120. Mistake by bramble = goal!!!

121. Birmingham are getting a draw away at a team expected to finish in the top half perhaps. They will surprise a few if people think they’ll be relegation candidates.