King Kenny has the last laugh.It was chucking it down with rain as the teams took the field at Anfield, with Newcastle United wearing their first choice kit of Puma’s version of black and white stripes. Three ex-united players were in the Liverpool team: Bellamy, Enrique, and of course, Andy Carroll. There was also some bloke called Jordan Henderson, who, as we know, has a dodgy past.
First Half
The first 10 mins saw United getting plenty of the ball without actually threatening the Liverpool goal. As expected, Mike Williamson got the job of marking Carroll. I was going to say “Williamson was preferred to Perch” but I thought better of it.
Both teams were taking a while to settle and the first bit of excitement came in the 11th minute when Downing hit the ball against Ryan Taylor’s hand. There was a shout from the Kop for handball rather than the Liverpool players, but there was nothing doing from the referee.
After a quarter of an hour we saw a dangerous cross from Enrique – cue the chant from the Geordie faithful “you’re just a s**t Ryan Taylor!” I’m sure they both saw the funny side. (more…)
Battling it out for sixth place this evening.Venue: Anfield Stadium, Liverpool. Date: Friday, 30th January, 2011. Kick-Off: 7:45pm. Referee: Lee Probert.
Hello, good evening and welcome to our regular match banter for this evening’s game, which sees the Magpies travelling to Anfield once again to meet Liverpool in a battle for sixth place.
For a more in depth look forward to the game, you can always check out Hugh’s excellent match preview, where you can check up on all the latest team news, squads, stats and stuff like that.
Of course, at least some of the focus this evening will be on ex Toon striker Andy Carroll, who was sold to this evening’s opposition in highly controversial circumstances 11 months ago. With his fellow striker Luis Suarez suspended for one game after giving Fulham fans the finger during Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat at Craven Cottage earlier this month, Carroll should be almost certain to start this evening. It will be interesting to see if he is still the victim of Toon boo boys now it has been revealed that both Derek Llambias and Alan Pardew misled fans over the circumstances of his departure in January. (more…)
Andy Carroll: Forced out and lied about?Love him or loathe him, there is still a question which has not been answered about Andy Carroll, a question which continues to split opinion amongst United fans to this day. Ahead of the imminent game against Liverpool at Anfield, it might be timely to examine this question one more time.
The question – when he was transferred, did he jump or was he pushed? This has never really been fully clarified for us, and opinion is divided. Let’s look at some of the facts and statements made by people close to the transfer deal. (more…)
A drunken hooligan invades the pitch at Carrow Road.Venue: Carrow Road, Norwich. Date: Saturday 10th Dec, 2011. Kick-off: 3.00pm. Referee: Martin Atkinson. Pies: D.Smith.
The Magpies of Newcastle United will be looking to pick themselves up after a tough trio of fixtures and recent injury woes as they visit the Canaries of Norwich City.
Even though this is an away game, some may have thought this would be an easy three points, until recently that is. The loss of Fabricio Coloccini with a thigh strain, as well as Steven Taylor for the whole season with a knacked achilles tendon puts a new complexion on matters as our lack of strength in depth has eventually been exposed. Like ourselves, Norwich have been something of a “surprise package” in the Premiership so far. Though Norwich City’s entire first team squad is worth far less than the amount Mike Ashley received for Andy Carroll alone, they are currently sitting quite comfortably at 11th in the table. That is quite an achievement for such a modest squad who were expected to be rooted at the bottom of the table, and not to be sniffed at, especially in the light of our recent circumstances injurywise. More on that below however…
Joey Barton: Saying what he sees.Well, Joey Barton did promise on Twitter that he would “tell all when the time was right” and he’s finally kept his word.
Speaking in a long audio podcast interview for the Queen’s Park Ranger’s ‘blog “Open All R’s,” he finally lifted the lid on his time at Newcastle United and his strained relationship with the infamous Ashley / Llambias regime. In the interview, he revealed what he felt were the real reasons why he and other senior members of the squad have been forced out St James’ Park, how the club tried to force him to sign a contract on a fifth of his old wage whilst he was in Walton prison, what he feels were the real reasons behind the sacking of Chris Hughton, how despite his profound hatred of Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias, he still feels a strong affinity with the club and more…
Some (misquoted) sections of the interview have already appeared in the media and other ‘blogs, so I decided to make a more accurate and extensive transcription of all the sections which related to Newcastle United. I’ve have also included the mp3 podcast of the entire interview at the bottom of the piece.
Responding to a QPR fan’s question on what swung it for him to come to Queen’s Park Rangers, Barton began by outlining the reson’s why he had to leave his former club saying:
“I was obviously deemed by the board at Newcastle “Persona non grata” (Person not welcome). They didn’t want me because I asked questions.(more…)
