Martins - One of our former stars.It’s been a turbulent 12 months for Newcastle United, but after a season in the second tier we can now once again, ahem, look forward to the regular visits of Manchester United, Chelsea and all the rest.
It took some luck, some balls of steel, a bit of skill and many more factors to click into place all at once for us to secure promotion, but in the end it was very much a case of mission accomplished as Newcastle pretty much blew the rest of the Championship away.
Newcastle are back in the big time, back where it can be argued that a club with infrastructure and fanbase we have belongs, and we also have the chance to get back at those players who left us, the ones who got asked to shape up or ship out after that 6-1 pre-season defeat to Leyton Orient last season. That is not to say that I blame them for leaving, not one bit in fact, and I believe that those players leaving was the catalyst behind this new found team spirit that we keep hearing about. Having said that, it’s still always nice to get one over on your old colleagues, even Jose Enrique admitted recently he would be itching to do just that. So with that in mind, just what have they been up to whilst Newcastle have been away? Do we have anything to worry about from our former players? (more…)
Michael Owen - With his first love.First off, I apologise for digging up old ground, and secondly, I am only doing it as something has always niggled at me about why Michael Owen turned out to be less than effective during his time on Tyneside.
It was supposed to be the move that set Newcastle up for the future, the arrival of England’s best goalscorer at the time who was supposed to be waiting in the wings to take over from another former England great – Alan Shearer. But it never really worked out like that in the end and now Owen has become somewhat of a victim for the boo-boys of NUFC, a scapegoat for our decline as we slid out of the Premier League and, ultimately, a symbol of all that was wrong with Newcastle United as he walked away on a free transfer, drawing a line underneath this nasty chapter in his career. (more…)
Free to go elsewhere.Jermaine Beckford looks to have blown his chances of playing Premier League football at St James’ Park next season as boss Chris Hughton pursues other targets in his quest to strengthen the squad during the summer
Beckford was the subject of quite intense interest from Newcastle back in January and was the target of a sequence of bids made by the club for his services. None of those bids were deemed acceptable by Ken Bates despite Beckford handing in a transfer request at the time, which he later retracted and moved to quash any more rumours by announcing he would be opting to sit out the rest of his contract at recently promoted Leeds United before leaving on a free transfer in the summer. That whole episode has apparently put Hughton off from re-igniting his interest in a player that would cost nothing to sign, despite a January admission that he would be interested in securing the services of the 31-goal striker for Newcastle. (more…)
Toon supporters: Happier than last season?As you’re probably aware, Newcastle United’s Boxing day trip to Sheffield Wednesday will mark our 23rd league game of the season, marking the half-way point in what is turning out to be a fantastic season so far! This article takes a look at some of the happenings since the season began way back on the 8th of August.
With a team seemingly devoid of confidence, direction, application and the uncertainty surrounding the owner, managerial position, and who was next to be sold, the toon set off for the season opener at West Brom. After being 1-0 down at half-time, a superb finish from Damien Duff earned us a share of the spoils. That was to be Duff’s only appearance for us this season as he was quickly snapped by Fulham and he followed the likes of Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Obafemi Martins, Seb Bassong and Habib Beye out of the club. (more…)
Team bondingSteven Taylor has been speaking out again, this time to reassure the fans that the off-field problems have actually brought the team closer together. According to Sky Sports he said:
“The fans at this moment probably think the club is a shambles and the players haven’t got a clue what is going on. They probably think we are fighting in training.
“But with us, it is completely different and I just wish they could even spend one day just looking at the training ground and the way we are going on with each other.
“It’s a much better team-bonding.”
Yesterday’s Sunday People carries an article about how Michael Owen feels like a 21 year old again now that he’s playing with Manchester United. (more…)
