Tim Krul - Newcastle's new number one?I think it’s fair to say that Newcastle have been blessed with great goalkeepers for quite some time now.
Obviously it has been a position that hasn’t needed much attention paid to it as we had Shay Given for so long, and he was a fantastic goalkeeper for us.
But times move on, and so did Shay, which meant that Steve Harper took over the reins as number one, a position he has had for about two years now after waiting about fifteen years for his chance. To be honest, Harper looked nailed on to keep the starting spot in goal, until an unfortunate collision with Jermaine Beckford at Everton put him out of the game for a few months with a shoulder injury.
Enter Tim Krul, who most know will probably turn out to be a top, top goalkeeper in the future, but has anyone noticed the difference? (more…)
Andy Gray - What a plonker!Pundits get right on my tits. Sorry to be direct, and I really did want to start the article with a softer opening, but I couldn’t.
But it is hard to start things off softly when something gets on you nerves as much as certain pundits get on mine.
You could argue that it is just them doing their job by getting a reaction.
I, however, would argue that their job is to give a reasonably detailed, reasonably accurate account of what is going on with various teams. So please forgive me for getting a little bit annoyed with various pundits who seem to have decided to label this current Newcastle side as ‘the same side that took us down’.
So as you may have guessed, I have decided to dispel the theory that these pundits, such as Andy Gray and Jamie Redknapp, have when they trot out the very lazy and tired line of us just being the same old team that whimpered out of the Premier League just eighteen-months ago. (more…)
Carroll for England?It looks like Andy Carroll could be getting a call up for England, certainly if you believe what you read the press this morning anyway.
Various media outlets are speculating that Fabio Capello, who was at The Emirates yesterday, has now seen enough of Carroll to afford him a place in the national team.
Of course, the decsion to call Carroll up, if he does get the call, is helped by the fact that England are suffering a striker crisis at the moment.
Whilst Wayne Rooney being out doing whatever he is doing in the USA, Darren Bent being out for three weeks or more with a hernia injury and Jermaine Defoe yet to recover from an injury that has kept him out for several weeks now may make Carroll a default selection, it would also be harsh on the lad as his on-the-pitch performances have deserved the accolades and recognition of an England call-up. (more…)
Club statement alert.I’ll keep this brief as I don’t want it take the gloss of the fantastic win at Arsenal, but I also feel that it is important enough to cover in an article.
There was a newspaper report this morning that alleged that two Newcastle players, namely Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll, had been behaving badly.
Now most of us have had our say and have come to the conclusion that, despite the headline, the pair had actually legally done nothing wrong, but now the club, Kevin Nolan, and Andy Carroll have had their say on the matter.
In a statement released by the club during the Arsenal game, which appears to be their favourite time to release statements, the pair denied any wrong-doing and the club challenged the News of the World to co-operate with police with regards to the cocaine allegations. (more…)
