Danger, danger...As a portion of the football world still await us tripping up and falling flat on our faces, Newcastle United continue to do what we’ve done best so far this season. A clean sheet and three points in the bag! Tonight’s 2-0 victory over Coventry City, meant it was our fourth clean sheet in a row (twelve in total) and our seventh win on the trot. The last time we did that, King Kev was in charge over 13 years ago. Let’s hope our season doesn’t turn out the way that one did though…
Would you credit it though? We were again outplayed for long periods of the game and yet we did the important thing which was to come away with a win. Despite being outplayed overall, Newcastle started well and with the confidence expected of the league leaders. Hughton also rang the changes from the previous game and with Nicky Butt coming in for Nolan, Pancrate in for Guthrie and Ameobi back from a long lay-off, there were three players buzzing to impress. Andy Carroll didn’t get involved at all.
This was another match for which Radio Newcastle were my eyes on the game, but with our defence looking shaky again to begin with, Jonas Gutiérrez gave us some respite against a Coventry side seeking a first win in ten league games. Fabrice Pancrate appeared to struggle against the pace of their other full back. (more…)
Seconds out...It’s “A time for giving, and for getting, a time for forgiving and for forgetting”, according to dear old Sir Cliff. And as Christmas rolls around, Newcastle’s Andy Carroll could be hoping that it’s the fans that can forgive and forget, and that he’s not getting charged for giving someone a pasting.
Specific details are yet to emerge about the England Under 21 internationals altercation on Sunday night, in the exotic backdrop of the Bigg Market’s Blu Bambu. However, what we do know, is that he has been bailed after being questioned on suspicion of ABH after being led away in handcuffs at 1.30 in the morning, while the ‘victim’ of the attack went to hospital with what were described as ‘non-life-threatening head injuries’.
Chris Hughton confirmed yesterday that he remains in the United squad for tomorrow’s trip to Coventry, although he may have doubts about his inclusion in getting him stripped. According to The Journal and The Mirror, Carroll was ‘given a dressing down in private by the Newcastle boss’, despite appearing to let the law decide on his guilt before acting.
And it would seem this unfortunate incident follows hot on the heels of a recent warning he’d already received about his conduct out and about on the tiles. He has already courted controversy with another early morning scuffle with a female back in the summer of last year, for which he was charged. And the reports coming back from Preston about his behaviour weren’t exactly glowing. (more…)
Pick that one out...If you asked me at half-time if I’d be happy with a repeat of the first half after the break, we’d have walked away with three points following a 2-0 victory and I would have been bemoaning the obvious lack of quality in our side once again. As it was, the scoreline was the same and the manner in which we won was far from convincing. But following the early second half dismissal of Kevin Nolan, this result held an awful lot more satisfaction than it might have, and proved once again that winning is a good habit to be in.
Having started with the same eleven as we did against Swansea, we started brightly enough although our defence seemed less than sure of itself this week. Despite a number of scares, including a goalline clearance from Steven Taylor, we took the lead on 20 minutes after Harewood had blocked the keeper’s clearance and Lovenkrands was left with a straightforward tap-in to make it 1-0. (more…)
Sho or no-sho on Satda?Newcastle United’s usually mild mannered supremo, Chris Hughton, has come out with some fighting talk in the run up to Toon’s home clash with Swansea City on Saturday. In the interview, he spoke of Swansea’s fine defensive record this season (second only to Hughton’s own), and vowed to go in with all guns blazing in an attempt to break down their defensive fortress. Speaking to the Sand Dancer’s Gazette, he roared:
“Their record speaks for itself, they’re a tough team with a good shape, and they’re difficult to play against.
“We’re the home side, and we’ve got to force the issue. We can’t afford to take them lightly – they are where they are on merit.
“They’ve played some good teams, and come up trumps with some good results. We’ve got to make sure we’re on our game.”
Meanwhile, on the return of Fenham hitman, Shola Ameobi, Hughton told the club’s official website:
“We’ll make our mind up over the next couple of days but we’re fortunate that we’re on a good run at the moment and there’s not that pressure to bring him back.” adding: (more…)
Ryan Taylor: Calf.Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton, was left counting the cost of Toon’s emphatic 1-0 trouncing of Preston at Deepdale yesterday evening, where a 74th minute strike by Kevin Nolan helped to keep the lads at the top of the table.
Talking to NUFC TV, he assessed the bodycount:
“The first problem was that Ryan Taylor felt his calf in the warm up and we had to pull him out” the Cockney Colossus moaned.
Moving on to casualty number two, striker, Andy Carroll, Hughton went on:
“Andy had been feeling unwell all day and probably had no right to play.
“But this lad is a tough individual and when asked the question he wanted to play.
“We probably got alot longer than we thought out of him and he gave everything he had.”(more…)
