Reading vs Newcastle United match highlights and post match interviews.

Posted on September 29th, 2012 | 113 Comments |

Highlights of this afternoon’s game between the Magpies and the Royals at Reading’s Madejski Stadium.

A real “game of two halves,” the first one being one of the most tedious 45 minutes in the whole of human history, and the second being somewhat better than that with four goals, one of them a controversial “Hand of Allah” effort from Newcastle United’s Demba Ba.

With Alan Pardew paying a visit to his old protege, Brian McDermott, at Reading’s Madejski Stadium. It was hardly surprising that this was a managerial “meeting of the minds” with two 90s style 4-4-2 sides pumping crosses into the box.

It took until the 58th minute for the game to wake up with Jimmy Kébé’s goal for the Royals, swiftly followed by a great first touch finish by Newcastle’s Demba Ba. Only two minutes later it was 2-1 to the home side however, with Noel Hunt’s ghosting in front of two Toon defenders to head in an excellent left hand cross Then came the controversy with Ba’s above mentioned “hand of Allah” effort which clearly hit the striker’s hand on the way in. Despite the second half excitement, and the goals, it was a disappointing performance overall for Newcastle against the Premier League’s bottom feeders.

As usual, I will update with better highlights, once they become available, as well as a full match video for those who missed the game, or simply want to watch it all over again.

Post match interviews

Post match interview with Alan Pardew.

Teams and match facts.

Reading (4-4-2): Alex McCarthy; Shaun Cummings, Adrian Mariappa, Kaspars Gorkss, Nicky Shorey, Jimmy Kébé (Garath McCleary 69), Mikele Leigertwood, Jem Karacan, Jobi McAnuff (C), Noel Hunt, Pavel Pogrebnyak (Jason Roberts 77).

Subs: Stuart Taylor, Alex Pearce, Danny Guthrie, Garath McCleary, Hal Robson-Kanu, Adam Le Fondre, Jason Roberts.

Newcastle United (4-4-2): Steve Harper G), James Perch, Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor (James Tavernier 60), Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, Gael Bigirimana (Shane Ferguson 68), Cheick Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez (C), Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse (Shola Ameobi 67).

Subs: Rob Elliot (G), James Tavernier, Shane Ferguson, Vurnon Anita, Gabriel Obertan, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi.

Score / Goalscorers: Reading 2 (Jimmy Kébé 58, Noel Hunt 61), Newcastle United 2 (Demba Ba 59, 83)

Yellow cards: James Perch (45), Mike Williamson (54).

Red cards: None.

Referee: Andre Marriner (Sheldon, W.Mids).

Attendance: 24,097.

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113 Responses

  1. i thought it would be a draw beforehand, but we were lucky to even take a point.
    pardew’s 8 year plan, doesn’t bare thinking about, though i somehow doubt he’ll be there to oversee it, for some strange reason.
    i’ve just took a look at the moonies board, and even they are starting to see, what has been glarinly obvious,
    for months now!!!

  2. Moan moan, yes we arent playing well but we are on same points as the arse we’ll get better. Man ure dont care if they pick up scruffy points nor should we – HTL onwards and upwards

  4. gs, they are going to need more than luck, and partclew is a dinosaur, so i cannot see him changing, any time soon.

  5. TROJAN RECORDS 73 says:
    September 29, 2012 at 7:41 pm

    “i’ve just took a look at the moonies board”

    Which Moonies board was it Trojan? There are quite a few!

  6. well another dismal performance how long before we get a good hammering with out ba we would be goofed pardew has jusr had a big cotract he carnt motorvate the players missed cabeye we could sign a defender in jan we need more than a defender need a goal scoring midfielder and a must powerfull centre back we struggle against reading god help us

  7. Not sure what is going on in the dressing room but there just does not seem to be the fire, the appetite, the belief and the “yes we can” spirit this season. We were lucky against Everton, lucky today, and poor against Villa and Norwich which should have both been strong, convincing wins.

    Pardew, Pardew… sort it out!

  8. chris says:
    September 29, 2012 at 8:51 pm

    “he carnt motorvate the players”

    But Chris, his nickname used to be “Mr. Motivator”, and he thinks he’s Jose Mourinho with his psychology. He loves those crappy self help books from the US and he rams their slogans into the players.

    I once saw some photos of inside the Academy at Benton and the walls, the doors etc were covered in sheets of paper with daft slogans like “your biggest obstacle is thinking you can’t do it” and that sort of thing.

  10. worky, our friends from the “matrix”, who have also been refered to as, “the stepford wives” lol.
    even they are starting to change their tune, judging by some of the comments.

    i said the same thing about him, for a while now, he just doesn’t seem to be able to get anymore from the squad.
    look i’m no fan of the man, and i never liked him, long before he rocked up here.
    i will give him credit for last years efforts, but it was always going to his high point.
    for him to carry on with the feel good factor, the board had to back him, and we all know how that turned out.
    pardew is that sort of manager, he can come into a club with problems, or a smaller club, with limited ambition, and you have seen him have an impact,at other clubs.
    this impact has tended to be short lived, as his way of doing things is one dimensional, and he normally ends up shooting himself in the foot, in other ways.
    he either falls out with the players, the board, or tries to jump the bones of someones wife, or various other extra cirricular activities.
    it was always going to be a big ask for him to do it again.
    imo there were signs last season, that he had probably taken them as far as he could.
    giving him an 8 year contract was pure folly, on the boards part, and a move which will probably come back to haunt them.

  11. watching his interview there, that is probably the most honest he’s been, during his tenure.
    i agree with him about relying on luck, to see them through games.
    i dont agree with him about the team lacking rhythm, as i dont think they are doing much different from last season.
    we rode our luck just as much, but we were accruing lucky wins, which were covering up a multitude of sins.
    up to now are luck is just holding out enough, for us to keep our heads above water.
    he has said himself, “you cannot stand still, in this game”, but that is exactly what has happened.
    thet needed four good signings to make them a different animal, for this campaign, but the board have taken another of their gambles, and it’s now looking like this one, wont come off.
    it is still early in the season, but i cannot see this team improving, from where they are now, without any investment.
    it’s more likely for them to slip backwards, it’s absolute insanity from the board, imo.

  12. Has to be one of the worst games i have watched in the PL.
    Two badly coached teams, playing a similar atrocious style of 4-4-2 hoofball.
    For chrise-sakes this is twelve years into the twenty first century, can we not learn to play a modern version of the game ?
    Everyone else does or is attempting to.

    I guess our football genius owner and GM have’nt really noticed since they just signed up for eight more years of it.

    No plan, no idea, hey i hate to keep ranting on about things, but the fact is both ownership and “the grey gadgie” have no clue.

    Why start a guy that we know has no end product on the wing, talking bout Jonas, who should be playing a DM role.
    Young Ferguson is the obvious choice, who can supply our forwards with the passes they need, yeah he brought him on in the second half and he played well, a day late and a dollar short.

    The back line following Taylor’s exit was simply awful, young Tavernier proved to be out of his depth, especially playing alongside both Perch and Williamson, neither of whom are CD’s.
    With Santon more interested in being a winger, rather than a defender.

    Tiote was ok and Bigi did’nt embarrass himself, though he’s no Cabaye, who was conspicuous by his absence, having no one to fill the play-maker role.

    It should be obvious to those running the club, how a few injuries affect the side, with next to no quality in depth.
    With our current schedule we should have sufficient depth to field two decent sides, or just forget about being involved in anything apart from the league.

    So whats the answer ?
    you cant be a successful side on the cheap, otherwise everyone would be doing it.

  15. Worky: someone “hacked” my name @3. They didn’t really say anything nasty, but they probably will.

    TR73 @4: I didn’t write that @3. I have no idea why someone would post something under my name. They must have a full and satisfying life.

  16. Worky @8:when there used to be bookstores in the US there were shelves and shelves of those self help books. I even received one as a Christmas gift at a job. “who moved the cheese” or something. I couldn’t drum up the motivation to read it.

  18. without hba and .ba we would be in a bad situation pardew won’t have 8 years he is paid with sports direct vouchers anyway look at keegan he had 10 year contract and done 3 I think he a arrogant prick but look where we was 2 years ago and now we 3 points off top 3 Europe and got best first 11 we had in a long time

  19. GS says:
    September 30, 2012 at 1:26 am

    “Worky: someone “hacked” my name @3. They didn’t really say anything nasty, but they probably will.”

    I’ve unapproved it GS. I’ll chase it up later.

  20. dokky says:
    September 30, 2012 at 4:30 am

    “without hba and .ba we would be in a bad situation pardew won’t have 8 years he is paid with sports direct vouchers anyway”

    It’s probably there to ward off anyone who would try to poach him by offering more than Sports Direct vouchers dokky.

  23. Jimbob says:
    September 30, 2012 at 3:07 am

    “This was written ages ago. So why has Pardew gone back to his old ways this season.”

    Aye Jimbob, I get your point completely but I didn’t agree with one of the main thrusts of that piece. He wrote:

    “A major reason for the change was the signing of Papiss Cissé. While it would have been quite possible for Pardew to play Cissé and Demba Ba up front together in a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1, Pardew watched Ba and Cissé’s performance up front together for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year. Senegal lost all three group matches 2-1, and while Ba and Cissé only started together up front once, it clearly didn’t work – they were beaten by Equatorial Guinea.”

    I watched that game. Senegal being beaten by Equitorial Guinea had nothing whatsoever to do with Ba and Cisse being upfront together. It was because their coach had told them to play with a suicidally high defensive line which was easy to get behind. They were gifting goals at the other end and it was surprising they didn’t let in more of them.

  24. Worky, or anybody who uses Sopcast…

    I cannot seem to use it for the past few days. It won’t connect. Anybody else having these troubles?

  25. Jimbob says:
    September 30, 2012 at 1:46 pm

    “Worky, or anybody who uses Sopcast…

    I cannot seem to use it for the past few days. It won’t connect. Anybody else having these troubles?”

    Yes, but I was also having more problems with my Virgin (on the ridiculous) Broadband too at the same time and I presumed it was that.

    Incidentally, Virgin have started blocking certain websites to it’s users such as “Pirate Bay” or whatever it’s called.

  26. pardew just opens his mouth, and lets the wind blow his tongue around.
    could be he’s trying to accommodate both of them, and he doesn’t want to upset, either one of them.
    is it any wonder that ba has started hitting the net again, if they have reverted back to the old formation, which they started with, last season.

  27. Pardew has revealed to the Sunday Stun that his ultimate ambitions are to win the Champions League and the World Cup. However, being realistic, he realises that he will not win them with Newcastle, so he’ll just have to wait until his eight year contract is up and then accept the inevitable offers to be manager of Barcelona or Real Madrid and Spain simultaneously.

    http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/sport/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2012/09/30/79310-31934505/

  28. I had so many troubles with Virgin Worky. First place I lived in Sheffield it was fine. Then when I moved bang into the city center it was awful. Now I live 15 mins away from the center but am on Sky and to be fair they’re so much better than Virgin.

    Load of bollocks this super fast broadband they state. I only ever got around 25mb with Virgin when they were stating it was 100mb.

    They’re crap and I’d consider a change if I were you and if you can afford it.

    On the subject of Sopcast, I really dunno why I can’t connect to anything.

  29. Yeah they have blocked Pirate Bay, but that’s not too much of a problem. Sopcast is a different entity entirely so I doubt it’s been flagged by my broadband provider.

  30. Jimbob says:
    September 30, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    “Yeah they have blocked Pirate Bay, but that’s not too much of a problem. Sopcast is a different entity entirely so I doubt it’s been flagged by my broadband provider.”

    Aye Jimbob, as you write you’re with SKY as in “Sky Sports”. Why on earth would they want to stop you from viewing football games for free on Sopcast. :lol:

  31. Workie
    Believe it, i would much prefer to be praising both a successful side that plays an attractive entertaininf style, coached by a manager who understands how modern football is played.
    We have some good players and with a few changes (dump the mediocrities and bring in decent replacements)could be a top side.
    But as everyone knows it’s about money, to be successful we have to spend, thats just a fact.
    And it’s never gonna happen as long as Ashley owns the side, ah well !

  32. chuck says:
    September 30, 2012 at 2:24 pm

    “Workie
    Believe it, i would much prefer to be praising both a successful side that plays an attractive entertaininf style, coached by a manager who understands how modern football is played.”

    So I take it that you think Pardew might be being a little overambitious in his quest to win the World Cup and the Champions League once he fulfills his eight year contract to Sports Direct then?

  33. As for what we got!
    Pardew has admitted he’s puzzled as to what to do (does that surprise anyone ?)
    How about letting Carver and his fellow coaches take a shot at laying out a tactical plan and stick to doing PR work (though reading from a prepared script)
    After all, Carver worked successfully with SBR, face it any change from the present hoofball, would be welcome.

    As for lineups and players,
    Beginning at the front, it should be obvious that Cisse and Ba dont compliment each other and Ba cant play and does’nt want to play on the left.

    Whereas Shola playing behind the striker, is the perfect foil for either one, with good hold up and some well weighted passes, whether he can play the full ninety minutes is the question, probably use him in the last twenty minutes.

    Of course Ashley will sell Ba during the window, rather than pay him an extra ten grand (stupid)

    The more i see of young Ferguson, the better he looks,
    he’s got pace and his crosses are quality, feeding our strikers who lack the support they need.

    I would play Santon as a right winger, who can bomb forward supplying from the right, with HBA given freedom to roam behond the striker and Cabaye in the playmaking role as the back end of a diamond

    Tiote of course breaking up plays in front of a back four of Simpson, Taylor, Colo and Anita.

    ***************Krul*************
    **********Taylor*******Colo.*******
    Simpson***********************Anita
    ****************Tiote**************
    ***************Cabaye**************
    Santon*********************Ferguson
    ***********HBA********************
    ***************Ba/Cisse? *********

    Bigi- a future Tiote clone ?
    Sammy- a future striker/winger?
    Jonas- a defensive midfielder
    Marveaux-remains to be seen if he can cut it?
    Obertan- same thing
    Amalfitano- who knows ?
    Gosling- who knows ?
    Tavernier- needs time ?
    Perch- a fill in
    Vuckich- an injury prone couldda been.

    we got something like thirty one or so players, eleven of which are kids, not the deepest squad in the league.
    That includes a recent clean out of almost the entire youth squad, which indicates a money saving program is underway, could Kathy the tea lady be next ?
    Or did she get a new eight year deal ?

  34. Workey
    The forlorne hope is a stumble on Woy’s part could open the door for Pardew to replace him (please god)
    Thats before it becomes obvious the emperor has no clothes.

  37. Chuck: we could do most of what you are saying without such a radical switch just by having Anita and Santon as the fullbacks. Ferguson and Jonas could fight it out for the left wing spot and provide cover as they do now.

    I like Jonas, but he is a bit frustrating. I saw a stat that he is the most fouled player in the league and that helps us bring the ball out of defence and creates attacking free kicks. However, in the end you have to judge him on goals and assists if he is to play left wing.

    The most damning point about Jonas are the two pinpoint crosses put in by Ferguson in the last 2 games when he had only about an hour of playing time.

    I don’t want to rant about Jonas though because his energy, backtracking and yes the fouls he wins are very useful to the team in a lot of situations.

  38. GS says:
    October 1, 2012 at 12:07 am

    “The most damning point about Jonas are the two pinpoint crosses put in by Ferguson in the last 2 games when he had only about an hour of playing time.”

    That’s more a damning point of your selective memory GS. Gutierrez made some good crosses in those games too but you didn’t see them because they didn’t support your preconceptions.

    I telt ye about Harper too.

  39. Worky: I am not blind to Jonas’ good points but he did also bang in a few crosses that flew into the keeper’s hands or way over everybody. But if my point doesn’t fit YOUR preconception then so be it :)

    I think Jonas can be used tactically against certain teams and we can use his versatility better. I would expand on this point but I am not smart enough on tactics to do it. Unfortunately, it seems that Pardew can’t figure it out either.

    I was harsh on Harper, his reflexes do seem to still be sharp. It is when he stands there like a statue and watches the ball go by that bothers me. It is funny, I was watching Fox Sports Report last night and their pundit said exactly the same thing. I think this taints my opinion of Harper.

    I am as guilty as anyone of maybe overstating my case about certain players.

  40. And Worky, you haven’t been working your ticket lately, what the f@ck is going on, are you in lurv or simmink?

  41. GS, just as Shola, the striker who supposedly hardly ever scores actually scores a goal every three games in actual game time, so Gutierrez has had an average of six assists per season. This is not the best in the Premiership admittedly, but not bad at all by Newcastle winger standards, so some of his crosses must be working. As you write yourself, he does have other qualities too.

  42. Worky: Shola is a new man. He is a total beast now. Before his first touch wasn’t always that great, now it is.

    I always had time for Shola because he played with a smile on his face and always seemed such a nice lad. His brother seems that way too.

    It is great that instead of sighs and moans when he is announced to come on now there is an air of anticipation.

    Did you ever see the story where Shola called the police because his house had been burgled but it ended up that he said he had just left it messy? I am sure the real story is that he had to go to training and left a few of his mates there who overindulged.

  43. GS says:
    October 1, 2012 at 11:16 am

    “Worky: Shola is a new man. He is a total beast now. Before his first touch wasn’t always that great, now it is.”

    But that Shola statistic I gave was over his whole career, not just recently, and he hasn’t scored for a while since this rebirth you write of. So he’s obviously been getting something right in the past. As well as being a Mackem slayer, he’s also been a Euro slayer too, and is our second highest goalscorer ever in European competition behind Shearer.

    Yes I did GS.

  44. Worky, I know that it was a career stat. What I was saying is that he does seem to have embraced his new role and the fans are giving him respect.

    You have read the message boards and blogs, probably even on yours. He was given hell.

    One or two more goals at the Estadio de Merde and he will be a legend.

  45. GS says:
    October 1, 2012 at 11:29 am

    “You have read the message boards and blogs, probably even on yours. He was given hell.”

    That’s their problem, not Shola’s, GS.

  46. Estadio de Merda, sorry.

    This google translate is great, here we go:

    French: Stade de merde
    German: Stadion Scheisse
    Italian: Stadio di merda
    Albanian: Stadiumi i mut
    Gaelic: Staidiam de cac (really)

    That’s enough, you get my point.

  47. I hope Chuck doesn’t think I am saying awful, beastly things about those Mackem tw@ts without any reason.

  51. Worky: I just talked to me Mam. I am from Seaton Burn, a pit village that used to have 5 pubs and now has 1 pub. Exactly 6 miles north on the A1 from Newcastle. There are about 2 cars per minute come through the village now.

    Me mam, who is 70, and her sister were walking the dog on the side of the A1 which is pretty wide up there. Crappy new cylists came screaming by, knocked my 79 year old Aunt over and she broke her wrist. Me mam said one came back screamed at them.

    Between them they have lived in that village for 150 years. My 79 year old Aunt takes 2 buses to go to work in Corbridge every day to work in a law firm.

    I really can’t believe that people could act like that.

    THEY BROKE MY 79 YEAR OLD AUNT’S WRIST AND DIDN’T CARE.

  54. Just saw that worky.

    Nah, surely it’ll be a new sponsorship from Goldman Sachs worth 20M/season…right?

    Right?

  55. He hasn’t changed Knopfler’s “Local Hero” and got the lads to trot out to “Der der der der der, Sportsdirect.com, UK’s number one, Der der der der der,” yet. That could well be another one for the future.

  56. What can I say ?

    We played a team with one point from their first four games and we played two central DM’s in a 4-4-2 ????

    Then saw the Norwich result and recalled how painfully slow we were against them seven days ago ????

    If Pardwho doesnt sort out this team and dressing room ( arguing going on between Perch/Tav/HBA and Ba not looking like he’s happy despite his two goals) sharpish we’re in for a very poor season and another eight years of trying but not succeeding !!!!!

  57. AndyMac says:
    October 1, 2012 at 6:43 pm

    “What can I say ?”

    Andy, was thinking of you chuntering away on the terraces as you were being subjected to that awful first half at the Madge. :lol:

    For all you Toon anoraks like myself who keep going back and checking out old games and such, I’ve been putting up replacements of old highlights which have subsequently been taken down from their host sites by order of “the man”. They’re nearly all the good, long “MOTD” ones. apart from Maritimo.

    Will be returning with more foaming at the mouth anti Llambias polemic the morra. Sorry for paucity of ‘blogs but my house is in bits ATM due to having a new central heating system instaled TWICE due to the first attempt being an abortion that made my place look like the Wilton works.

  58. It was embarrassing sitting among Reading fans who couldnt believe we were 5th last season. I tried working out why we were so devoid of any creative attacking intent then I realised its because Pardwho doesnt have to bother any more.

    8 years of this dross will test even the neanderthals at you know where.co.uk

    PS Soz to hear about your Aunt GS, if she needs legal/medical assistance let me know.

  60. Watched the replay of the Ba goal, from Tiote’s pass a brilliant two kick series, though i suspect like many spectacular goals, there was as much luck as skill involved.
    I dont get it why are we pissing off such a skillfull scorer and appear so ready to get rid of him, dont they think he’s worth sixty grand ?
    Fact is he and Cisse with their goals were what made us a fifth place side last season, because we did’nt exactly play great football.
    What’s up with Virgin dosh, they dumping us, yeah i know the story is we are opting out, hmmm! not so sure i believe that, as we as yet have no replacement.
    Sounds a bit like the Stadium naming story.
    From what we can garner from player statements, seems the dressing room is not filled by happy campers and it’s doubtfull if Pardews dumping blame onto the players is not exactly making matters any better.
    We got some tough games coming up soon and have to improve the standards we have shown agains what could be described as some of the weaker sides, where we should have adding points instead of scraping out ties.
    Gonna be an interesting season i think!

  61. GS
    Iv’e just about given up on such childish behavior from people like yourself and Workie in regard to your neighbors.
    It’s the type of behavior usually found among twelve tear old schoolboys or even crappy new cyclists.

  62. Chuck, Pardwho says:

    “This was a tough place to come – the energy levels of Reading were fantastic. They showed a lot of quality. We were struggling for long periods, and our spirit has seen us get a point again.

    “But we can’t keep relying on our spirit. We’ll have to play a lot better than that if we’re going to get wins especially away from home. I don’t want to say it wasn’t good enough, because I thought we tried hard, but we definitely aren’t playing at our best, and we need to find it.”

    Well it aint under the carpet Pards and it aint in a 4-4-2 with two DM’s. We’ve got two critical games this week and Pardwho doesnt have a clue how we’ll find our best form :roll:

    Who gave this pillock an eight year contract ?

  65. Sports direct was first into my head, but then I thought theres no way Ashleys gonna throw away £10m(?) for the extra year just for a slight bit of free advertising.

  66. maze202 says:
    October 1, 2012 at 10:24 pm

    “Sports direct was first into my head, but then I thought theres no way Ashleys gonna throw away £10m(?) for the extra year just for a slight bit of free advertising.”

    maze, think of all the chicanery he went through for the stadium renaming, yet that is always worth far less than shirt sponsorship to a sponsor. I’m not saying your wrong, it’s just some food for thought.

  68. Chuck @60: I don’t know what you are talking about. I vented a bit on here because I am 3000 miles away and would be punching walls otherwise. I had also just got off the phone with my mother.

    Normal people get upset when some stranger breaks their 79 year old Aunts arm.

    But, it is not about football, so I will leave it there.

    PIZZA ANYONE !!!!!!!!!

  69. You are such a strange guy Chuck, you seem to just want to take the opposite view to whatever anybody says.

  70. Oh aye! I recall that although Virgin paid millions to sponsor the lads, they refused to sponsor the lasses to the tune of £3500. So they shelled out millions and still managed to end up looking like mean bastads for the sake of a relatively tiny sum, which is hardly the point of sponsorship.

  71. Chuck: I read your post again and I think I know what you were saying now. I think. It was one of the internet “lost in translation” things on my behalf, I think.

    Anyway, they weren’t neighbours, they were the new breed of “cyclists” with their shiny gear riding fast through what is now a country village.

    I WILL leave it there now as I don’t think you were having a go and perhaps I am a bit sensitive.

  73. Worky: she was walking the dog and some cyclists knocked her into a ditch because they were riding too fast through a village. She is 5 foot tall and 79 years old and one of them came back and started screaming at her that she was in their way. They broke her wrist, but she still went to work the next day, which takes her 2 buses and an hour each way. She doesn’t have to work, she does it to keep active.

    It wasn’t a bunch of kids either. These cyclists were in their 50’s resplendent in their spandex.

    Anyway, that’s enough.

  74. Pardew is getting a bit ahead of himself. He is going to manage England and win the Champions League now? I try to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he certainly has an ego. I think those meaningless awards for winning nothing last year have gone to his head.

    I don’t think he is a bad manager, but he is no Alex Fergusson and that is the way he is acting.

  75. When Derek Llambias was only getting £2.5 million for shirt sponsorship, he said that selling the stadium’s name was a move to put a extra player on the pitch. When the new shirt sponsorship from Virgin upped this to £10 million, another £7.5 million which is more than the club could realistically expect to get for any stadium rename, the club subsequently only made a net spend on players of under £3 million. This is despite the fact that they were desperate for reinforcements.

  76. GS
    Pizza anyone…..
    Oh yeah, sorry forgot y’all introduced a different kindda pizza in chicago, something you call deep dish ?
    Actually it’s a version of Sicillian style.
    Workey also sez he has a good pizzaria nearby, but what does he know ?
    The reality is Pizza is for the most part a Napolitan import and the basic margarita is where it’s at.
    It can be found in most cities between Beantown and Philly, but the real deal is becoming more difficult to find.
    Patsy’s in Spanish Harlem, Johns on Bleeker st. and Ray’s on the east side of little Italy are still where it’s at.
    And to say there’s a good pizzaria in north London is making a claim.
    But then whadda i know.

  77. GS sez,
    These cyclists were in their fifties resplendant in their
    Spandex, hmmmm!
    Can you elaborate ?

  78. Chuck, Chuck, Chuck – deep dish pizza is the worst. I live in Chicago and have not ordered one in 20 years.

  80. Workie
    Indeed, along with his American counterpart Noam Chomsky
    Hobsbawm was for me a voice of reason, who i have a deep respect for and yes RIP.

  81. GS
    Yeah sorry, listen i was only attempting to be clever, my sympathies to both your Mom and Aunt.

  84. chuck says:
    October 2, 2012 at 3:10 am

    “Oh yeah, sorry forgot y’all introduced a different kindda pizza in chicago, something you call deep dish ?”

    That isn’t Pizza, it’s grease pie. I’d rather eat a cow pat.

  85. GS
    Au contraire, Chomsky is anything but boring.
    And i wont raise to the bait to defend him, as you obviously know, both who he is and what he stands for.

  86. Workie sez,

    That is’nt pizza, it’s grease pie. I’d rather eat a cow pat.

    Never having tried either it’s impossible for me to make a judgement.

  87. GS says:
    October 2, 2012 at 3:39 am

    “Chuck: what do you know about Noam Chomsky except he is is f@cking boring?”

    That’s what he says too GS.

  88. GS sez,
    Chuck i’m a bit upset, so dont worry about what i say..

    There there old chap, when did i ever…

  90. Worky @86:

    I think you were trying to say that Moan Chomsky said that about me because I don’t work at Stanford and make stuff up.

  92. noam chomsky is an old anarchist, and he’s alright by me.
    the best thing to do, is stop eating pizzas, you fat b******s, and get yourselves a nice chargrill chicken kebab, much healthier.

  95. I’ll tell you a bit more about my funny, exceptional 15 year old dog. He had a heart attack and now just falls over when he gets excited. He’s on pills for his heart and I worry about him, but that is the way it is.

    I sort of think that way about Ashley, that’s the way it is.

  98. “The Chronicle understands that the new shirt sponsor will not be Sports Direct, and the forthcoming announcement will also not be to disclose ground naming rights which would give St James’ Park a second commercial name in the last 12 months”

    “The Chronicle understands” translates to “We’ve been told by the spin team to tell you”

    SDA aint up for grabs all the while Fatman has a hole in his you know what !

  100. chuck-from the boros: Sak’s in Astoria ranks up there. Not Neapolitan but run by a couple guys from Abruzzi and very good. A truly good pizza is hard to come by anywhere.

    Sorry to hear that about your aunt, GS. I hope she recovers well. I’ve been slammed into a few times by bikers and it’s amazing how indignant THEY get.

  101. i know he’s a scientist, linguist, political commentator etc, i just called him an old anarchist, because i didn’t want to get into it, too much lol.

  102. tunyc says:
    October 2, 2012 at 1:12 pm

    “Sorry to hear that about your aunt, GS. I hope she recovers well. I’ve been slammed into a few times by bikers and it’s amazing how indignant THEY get.”

    The militant ones are the Zionists of the road. They still think they are victims even when they’re kicking someone’s head off.

  105. On to more mundane matters of football, it now appears Pardwho said

    “I don’t know what the problem is. The back-line isn’t as confident as it should be (probably cos you havent got strength in depth and no new defenders arrived during the summer???? )and we lost the ball too often in the middle of the park”

    So playing Bigi alongside Tiote wasnt good enough for this “Championship” style game ???????

    I swear the bloke is losing it :roll:

  106. workyticket says:

    “Are the new shirt sponsors something to do with the Qatar Investment Authority?”

    Think they’ve got enough on their plates already with an underperforming team managed by an old grey hired gadgee stuck in a footballing timewarp ?

  107. Andy, surely you’re not trying to compare the Silver Supremo with the double Champion’s League winning Supremo di Argento?

    I’m sure if Ancelloti read that, he’d raise an eyebrow.

  109. AndyMac says:
    October 2, 2012 at 6:19 pm

    “As he is wont to do”

    It’s more or less “at ease” there. It’s more like this when it’s standing to attention.

  110. “It’s more or less “at ease” there. It’s more like this when it’s standing to attention”

    OK smart arse how do you create the links then ?

  112. AndyMac says:
    October 2, 2012 at 6:53 pm

    “OK smart arse how do you create the links then ?”

    Andy, if I wrote out the correct HTML to make a hyperlink, it would turn into another link and you wouldn’t see the markup. ;-)

    a href=”URL you want to link to” Anchor text /a
    before the “a href” put an angle bracket < after the second set of quote marks put an opposing angled bracket >. Then, use the same brackets either side of the “/a” which is the closing tag which ends the linked section of text.

  113. “a href=”URL you want to link to” Anchor text /a
    before the “a href” put an angle bracket . Then, use the same brackets either side of the “/a” which is the closing tag which ends the linked section of text”

    Try that in English WT ?