Demba Ba: Hat-trick hero and M.O.T.M performance.Right, let’s have some ratings for the Blackburn win!
It was pretty much good stuff all round with a decent showing from a team that’s starting to gel. Very few black marks, the odd smudge, but nothing we couldn’t surmount.
Here goes!
Tim Krul 7.5:
Tim is fast becoming yet another top Toon ‘keeper and Toon legend at a young age. He did most things well, well, he didn’t have too much to do! Maybe needs to bark at his retreating defenders a bit to get them into position when facing an attack, as it was a case of players stood waiting for the shot that got Blackburn back into the game with a goal. Not wholly his problem though.
Danny Simpson 7:
Getting better with every game. His only smudge was backing off a bit when Olsson put the cross in for Hoilett to score. Got up the field to support (even in the dying minutes), but got back to defend. Good fitness too. (more…)
Camden Council: Scuppers No.9 hunt, for now.Right, so now as the dust settles on another tansfer window, where we made some great early progress with players such as Cabaye, Marveaux, Obertan, Abeid and Ba, and a couple of late window acquisitions in the shape of Elliot and Santon, we’re all set for the next big game in the stop/start beginning to this Premier League campaign.
The squads have been handed in to the FA and ‘set in stone’ until the January window creaks open for another round of harem scarem frittering of perfectly good cash on journeymen three-time losers and other teams ‘deadwood’. Can’t wait! (well, maybe I can as I can’t stand the way we have to do business these days).
Anyhoo, Yes, we could’ve done with a new striker to amply fill the legendary No.9 jersey here at Toon towers. But, it is what it is, so we have to just pick ourselves (jaws included) up off the floor, dust ourselves down and go with what we have now.
It’s a real pity actually, ‘cos i’d ’employed’ Mrs. FLiCK to ‘find’ us a new NO.9. A job she totally came up trumps with.
Alas, we couldn’t quite make the deadline in the registration of the ‘Great Black ‘n’ White hope’ in time for the squad lists. I put this down to the inefficiency of Camden Council and their collective inability to speed up the registry service down here in London Town. We were told that we had to form an orderly queue outside the Camden Town Hall and it could take as long as 6 weeks. I said:
On a rare sunny day in the dark underbelly of the North East, Newcastle had to negotiate an early derby game full of expectation amongst the deluded locals.
Such is the optimism after shelling out a fat wedge on a new bunch of fair to middling or overaged players. As was to be anticipated, the dark ones came out with an attitude to try and make amends for last seasons poor performances and results.
Unsurprisingly, they had the lion’s share of the early exchanges. Probably right up to the 15th minute when a Joey Barton header was blatantly ‘saved’ on the line by Larsson, who, incidently, isn’t a ‘keeper. (more…)
With Kevin Nolan’s recent backslide to the Championship with West Ham, there’s an opening in the job market down at Barrack Road.
That job being team Captain.
Obviously, at this point it’s difficult to call who’ll get the shout and become the man to do the boss’s bidding on the pitch. What with the transfer window still yet to ‘officially’ open, there’s still a long way to go before we know who’s staying and who’s leaving. The honour usually goes to a, shall we say veteran or long serving player. A bit of a stalwart, someone who is rarely out injured, an ever-present, if you will. Taking all that into consideration, it doesn’t leave us with a lot of options.
Let’s take a look:
Of those still at the club, for now at least, we have Joey Barton. He’s been played as Captain recently, after making a strong comeback from injury and ‘other’ things. Moving up from Vice Captain when Nolan was out through injury or suspension. But will he still be around come August kick off time? Will he be getting regular games with his contract running down over the next season? (more…)
Has beens?It seems to this humble Toon blogger that with the advent of recent media coverage about the possibility of ‘no new deals’ for our 2 most recent Captains: Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton, we’re starting to see a pattern emerge.
Yes, they are top scorer and Player of the year respectively, but it seems the club is not about to be held ransom on new contracts. While plenty of us fans respect what they’ve achieved this past season, they are also heading into their final few seasons of worth, in real terms, to the club.
Namely: They are both inching towards 30, so have limited time left at the top of their games and probably, more especially, moving away from any useful sell on price. If the club were to give in to their(or their respective agents) demands, how much would we get for them at the end of their careers in say 3/4 years?
