4th place may not be enoughNewcastle United could suffer if Chelsea prevail with their European ventures this season. It might mean that only the top 3 positions in the Premier League qualify for the Champions League.
There are those who would tell you that there’s no such thing as luck and that its all down to averages and subjective determination. I can however reveal exclusively to NUFCBlog.org readers that this is not the case.
With the aid of a particle accelerator in my kitchen – some would call it a blender – I have discovered a couple of subatomic particles. One is called the ‘chancion’ and, as every particle has its antiparticle, the other is called the ‘antichancion’. These particles stream towards Earth from the centre of black holes – and indeed vast astro-blenders – and it’s the antichancions at work when you stub your toe, when the day your car breaks down is the only day in the last year you forgot your mobile phone, and when the clear sky that was there when you started your walk turns apocalyptic at exactly the furthest point from home and you have to hitch a ride back on Noah’s Ark. And so on and so forth.
Thus I fear that St James’ Park is under siege from antichancions at the moment, possibly because Stamford Bridge has all the chancions. I am of course talking about Chelsea’s progress in this season’s Champions League. (more…)
Entertainers Mark 2?Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye and manager Alan Pardew give their view on our Champions League aspirations.
Alan Pardew’s switch to a 4-3-3 has certainly improved Newcastle in terms of entertainment value and with players like Ben Arfa on the pitch we’re recapturing a little of the classic, 90’s ‘Entertainers’ era. Yohan Cabaye gives a nod towards that era in his latest interview. Cabaye said:
“I was young but I remember David Ginola playing here.”
Thanks Yohan, you’ve made me feel quite old. He’d have been 8-10 during those years.
“They were fighting with Man United for the title and they beat them 5-0, and I remember Ginola’s goal. We are proud to share some records with them.,” Cabaye continued.
Then, talking about our Champions League aspirations, Cabaye said:
“Why not? We have four games and we’re in a good position.
“It was important to beat Stoke to help secure the Europa League. For the Champions League though, I think we must wait to see if we are still in the race when we play Man City here and Everton away. But we have a chance.” (more…)
How does the run-in look?With four games left to play Newcastle United find themselves in 4th place and battling for a Champions League place. So how does the run-in look for us and the teams around us?
Saturday’s win against Stoke made it six wins on the trot and it saw us leap into 4th place, ahead of a Spurs side that seems to be going through an extremely rough spell.
It’s ours to lose, as they say. But we have a fairly tough last four games compared to most of the teams around us, so I thought I’d look at the run-ins of us and the various teams around us to see how things might affect us.
For us it’s:
Wigan – Away
Chelsea – Away
Man City – Home
Everton – Away
Hmm, I’m not keen on the fact that three of our four remaining fixtures are away and all of them could pose problems. Wigan will be fighting to avoid relegation, which could make this a tricky fixture, but out of all the remaining games I’d suggest this is the most likely to net us all three points. Chelsea away will be extremely tough as they’ll fancy their chances of a good finish too, although their Champions League involvement might serve as a distraction to them and give us a chance of taking a point at Stamford Bridge. (more…)
Cabaye bags a brace in win against StokeThe march towards Europe continues as Newcastle comfortably beat Stoke 3-0 at St James’ Park with goals from Cabaye (2) and Cisse.
Two weeks seems like a long wait between games, particularly when Newcastle have the winning momentum with them. Time seemed to pass so slowly that I wouldn’t be surprised if we’ve entered a new geological era in the interim. The tediolithic, perhaps. However, the winning momentum hadn’t deserted us and Newcastle cruised to a well-deserved win over Stoke.
It took us a while to get warmed up to things though. For the first 14 minutes we probed Stoke a little but didn’t really threaten and Stoke had the best of the early chances. On 7 minutes Etherington floated a long shot over our bar and a few minutes later Crouch headed a ball across to Walters who was right in front of goal and a mere yard or two away from it, but he couldn’t control the ball enough to get a decent shot off.
But then we started to play. Santon brought the ball up the left and started working it with Benny, who broke off to the left of the box, plying his mesmerising skills as usual. Benny got a cross in across goal and Cisse headed onto the bar but Yohan Cabaye was lurking to put the rebound into the net. 1-0. (more…)
Pardew has clarity on the budgetNewcastle United manager Alan Pardew has once again being talking about the club’s budget.
Alan Pardew has gone on record again to say that he understands the budget he’s operating under at Newcastle. In an interview which broadly echoes one he made earlier this weekPardew said:
“I do think that the clarity of the budget is important. Some fans may not be entirely happy with the amount we have to spend, but at least they know the whole picture.
“When you look at the world economy and where football is at the moment, we are seeing some really tough times. We have seen examples of Portsmouth and Rangers in Scotland that show if you over-stretch, you are going to find yourself in serious trouble and you are putting the club’s future at risk.
“At Newcastle, we have got a good foundation and a good financial model, and now the question is whether we can bring success within that model.
“That’s the challenge that I accepted when I joined the club, and so far we are doing well and can hopefully continue to grow as we go along.” (more…)
