Collymore - pundit, of sortsStan Collymore claims Newcastle United defender James Perch should be given a 3-match ban for ‘diving’.
Alleged pundit Stan Collymore has had plenty to say about the game against Liverpool on Sunday. First of all he said that Andy Carroll should be banned for his dive in the box and then says Perch should be banned for being headbutted by Pepe Reina. Collymore chose Twitty to express his views and said:
“Not many suggesting punishments for diving, so is it now with us for good? I say give Carroll/Perch three game bans. They won’t do it again.”
Whilst I tend to agree that diving should be punished and would therefore support the idea of Carroll being banned for 3 games, I can’t support the idea that Perch should be banned for 3 games too. Clearly I’m writing on a Newcastle United ‘blog and would expect cries of unfair bias, so I ought to try and justify myself before the tar and featherers dust of their tar and feathering kit and make their way to Somerset to try and find me.
In Carroll’s case the various replays showed that there was definitely no contact on him from Krul. I can’t say for definite that he didn’t merely ‘stumble’, as Kenny Dalgish claimed, but it looked very much like a dive. Make what you will of that but in Perch’s case there was contact between Reina’s head and Perch’s. He was nutted, basically. (more…)
Who's the messiah?Newcastle United appear to have sorted themselves out after a long period of woe but are there are certain similarities between what Liverpool are going through now and what Newcastle have been through in the past?
Liverpool seemed in turmoil on Sunday. We beat them fairly comfortably, their goalkeeper was sent off and Andy Carroll looks like he’s heading for a bust-up with Kenny Dalglish after allegedly voicing his distaste at being substituted with a word rhyming with ‘luck’, of which they had little, followed by ‘off’, which Carroll certainly was.
But I feel just a little for Liverpool because they are currently ‘doing a Newcastle’. We’ve been in their situation in the not too distant past. They’ve brought back a ‘messiah’, spent a fortune on players not living up to their price tag, have an unsettled fan-base and they seem to be plagued by controversy, the Suarez incident being perhaps the most notable example.
Granted they haven’t imploded like we did and got themselves relegated yet, and they are one trophy to the good this season and in with a chance of the second. If truth be told, I think Liverpool will turn out to be a bit more resilient than us and will bounce back, although whether that’s under the leadership of King Kenny and with Andy Carroll leading the line remains to be seen. But it struck me that there are certain parallels between our past and what they’re going through though. (more…)
Carr (circled) in his Telford United heyday.Newcastle United chief scout, Graham “Fatty Man” Carr, the less than svelte father of Alan, has, of course, built something of a reputation amongst Magpies fans for his player spotting abilties.
Carr, a Northumbrian who was born in Corbridge like Steve Bruce, was brought into the club in February of 2010 by previous manager, Chris Hughton, renewing a working relationship they had at Tottenham, where Carr was brought in as a scout by Tottenham’s then Director of Football, David Pleat. Since then of course, his reputation has gone from strength to strength on Tyneside with the quality of players signed since he took control of Newcastle United’s scouting department. This interview for Talksport was conducted by Adrian Durham and ex Yorkshire and England cricket legend, Darren Gough, for the station’s “Drivetime” slot yesterday evening.
Below is a written transcription of the whole interview, well, minus a tiny “chatty” bit at the end about Alan Carr’s lack of football skills as a bairn.
Adrian Durham:“So describe exacly what your job is, Graham.”(more…)
We ain't seen nothing yet!Venue: St James’ Park. Date: Sunday, 1st April, 2012. Kick-Off: 1.30pm (Sky TV). Referee: Martin Atkinson (W.Yorks).
Well, Newcastle United might well be going into this fixture feeling more confident than they have for quite some time against the reds of Merseyside.
King Kenny’s men have lost their last two Premiership games, and they were against Premiership bottom feeders, Wigan and QPR, to boot. They have lost no less five of their last six Premiership games, though the other one was a 3-0 victory over local rivals, Everton, with a hat-trick from Steven Gerrard. This very poor run, especially by their usual standards, leaves them eight points behind us in the table in seventh, with an ever decreasing amount of games to catch up.
One thing Liverpool do have though that we don’t so far is a guaranteed place in Europe, not to mention a trophy already this season. This is something we haven’t managed for a whole 43 years now, and in that period, the scousers have won no less than eleven League Championships, five European Cups, three UEFA Cups, three UEFA Super Cups, six FA Cups, eight League Cups and twelve Charity Shields, though one or two of the Charity Shields were shared. (more…)
What reception will he get?Former Newcastle United striker Andy Carroll expresses his nervousness about his visit with Liverpool to St James’ Park on Sunday, while Alan Shearer writes off our chances of Champions League qualification.
Andy Carroll has confessed to nerves about his trip to St James’ Park on the weekend, saying:
“I don’t usually get nervous but this might be a bit different.
“All of my family and friends will be there but they’re so big on football I’m not sure who they’ll be supporting.
“It’s great to see Newcastle doing so well. I support them, was brought up there and was lucky enough to have played for them. They will always mean something.”
Of course the circumstances of Carroll’s departure have been the subject of much debate, although Derek Llambias’s comments of a few months ago shed some light on the situation. Yes, he did put in a transfer request but it seems his hand was somewhat forced and he may not be the ‘Judas’ that many make him out to be. I wonder what sort of response he’ll get from the Toon Army? (more…)
