Corgnet still on the radar?Newcastle United will look to strengthen the squad in the summer (according to press reports) but who are the ins and outs likely to be?
Much of the press is speculating that Newcastle will see a large influx of players in the summer, with some suggesting that as many as five new faces might be present in next season’s squad. The books will of course still have to balance, so what are the likely courses of action?
First, players will need to leave in order to free up the cash for fresh purchases and that will begin by getting Alan Smith – and his alleged extortionate wages – off the books. Lovenkrands’ contract is up in the summer too; I have no idea what sort of wages he’s on but I’m guessing his contract won’t be renewed.
I think two players who may make an exit are Cheick Tiote and Demba Ba. Tiote was signed for a fee of just £3.5m from FC Twente in August 2010 and I’d guess he’s now worth 2-3 times that amount with Chelsea apparently front-runners to sign him. Demba Ba was of course signed on a free and we’ve since heard Harry ‘Loudmouth’ Redknapp blabbing on about some sort of release clause in his contract and that might mean we don’t get too much for him, but his excellent scoring rate this season has certainly attracted attention. In fact, Demba Ba has just been voted ‘Best Signing Of The Season’ having accrued 56% of the vote from the League Managers’ Association (Phil Jones and Scott Parker were second with 13% each). (more…)
FlashpointNewcastle United might face a second successive week of FA disciplinary action following Monday’s game against Arsenal and people have had plenty to say about the Krul v Van Persie row.
There has been some fallout from the Arsenal game, not least as a result of the spat between Tim Krul and Robin Van Persie. Jack Wilshere twitted a warning about Van Poncy’s temper:
“Newcastle can’t say we didn’t deserve it! Why is Tim Krul crying as well? Obviously he doesn’t know about RVP’s temper! Don’t mess with the captain!”
As far as I can gather from the press reports, the row between the two players was as much about Van Persie’s attempts to stand close to Krul for the goal kicks as it was about any alleged time wasting. According to Dutch lip readers on The Telegraph’s payroll, Krul threatened to kick the ball at Van Persie’s head to which Van Persie said “Go on then“. NUFCBlog’s Dutch lip reader is absent at the moment so I can’t confirm any of this.
To be honest, I didn’t really notice an unusual amount of time-wasting by Krul until the commentator mentioned it and the crowd started booing, and in at least one instance the crowd were booing when the ball was still in play, so maybe Wenger needs to give his team a ‘Laws of the Game’ refresher. (more…)
Can Pardew out-think Wenger?Alan Pardew suggests that tonight’s game between Newcastle United and Arsenal is make or break in terms of Newcastle’s Champions League qualification. Wenger for his part bemoans Gervinho’s sending off at St James’ Park earlier this season. But in amongst that, do both managers hint at their tactical approach for tonight’s game?
Alan Pardew is piling the pressure on for tonight’s game against Arsenal, suggesting that anything but a win will put paid to our Champions League ambitions. Pardew said:
“It’s a mini-season for us now and this is an important game in terms of the Champions League because, if we win we are going to be given a shout. We can gain momentum and we go to the next game.
“If we lose, really it’s over and then we can focus on ten games and the Europa League. Realistically, it would be a bridge too far for us with what I’ve got on the training pitch.
“But if we were to be fortunate enough to win – or good enough to win because one or the other is going to decide it – then we will face Norwich with a chance.” (more…)
"One is a Gooner!"Venue: The Emirates. Date: Mon 12th Mar 2012. Kick-Off: 20:00. Referee: Howard Webb.
With the trials and tribulations of derby day behind us, Newcastle United now face a tough fixture away to her majesty’s favourite team, Arsenal, as they try to find their way back to winning ways.
Let’s face it, it’s a tough prospect to go to The Emirates and take points. Arsenal have screwed things up occasionally this season but they’re currently in a run of good League form and surely we’d have to consider a point an excellent result. Robin Van Persie seems unstoppable as his 32 goals in 37 games – 25 of which were scored in the League – seem to demonstrate and if we’re to stand any chance at all we have to find a way to keep him quiet.
Arsenal have only lost twice at home this season: to Liverpool back in August and to Manchester United in January.
Arsenal are likely to line up with a 4-2-3-1 formation with Arteta and Song in front of the back 4, Rosicky ahead of them, Van Persie ahead of him and Chamberlain and Walcott providing the width. (more…)
Out of favour?Newcastle United are going through (what is so far) a short spell without a win, so what can be done to pull us out of that?
We’re in the midst of a slightly disappointing run. Since our 5-0 thrashing from Spurs we’ve only managed two draws. We seemed to lack resilience and second-half ‘attitude’ against Wolves and threw away a 2-0 lead. Against the mackems it was the other way around and we clawed our way back into the game in the second half to snatch a draw. We’re up against Arsenal next of course and I can’t help but feel pessimistic about our chances of coming away from The Emirates with any points.
So what can we do to improve?
One of the criticisms of the team I’ve heard a lot is that our midfield plays too deep and this isolates our strikers a bit, and it has been suggested that introducing Ben Arfa into the mix helps to alleviate this problem. Yet Alan Pardew seems reluctant to start with Benny and has insinuated that this may be because Benny doesn’t defend well enough and thus leaves us open at the other end. (more…)
