The end of the season is finally upon us. A season in which defied all expectations. A season where even the most optimistic of Toon fans would have struggled to predict what would be.
Newcastle United gate-crashed the top six, and also knocked on the door of the Premier League’s top four. As it turned out at 5pm on Sunday the 13th of May 2012, Newcastle United were confirmed as finishing in 5th place, above Chelsea, above Liverpool, and above the majority of peoples expectations.
The Europa League awaits the Magpies next season, a new chapter or perhaps a new beginning is on the horizon. But before we look forward into what might be, I’m now going to relive the season that was. Cast my mind back and tell the tale of Newcastle United’s 2011 / 2012 season. I hope you are all sitting comfortably… (more…)
59 pies in 115 appearances.Micky Quinn has been trying to become the new Supermac by trying to spout rhetoric and his (often misguided) opinions – usually when things are going well. His words recently didn’t earn him any special consideration with fans but it did give us a chance to work off some fat jokes and that can never be a bad thing, can it?
Known for stating Newcastle “would get nowhere” under Kevin Keegan as his set up was “shambolic” in nature. That season saw promotion, and the following saw us finish third.
After his application was rejected from the vacant managerial post at Second Divison Burnley FC in ’96, he decided he didn’t actually know that much about football outside of scoring goals and instead went to look after horses. Good career move all things considered.
Speaking to the Evening Chronicle today, he said:
“From what I have seen, there is no-one ready to take on the shirt; maybe they can go with Shola Ameobi or one other. However, they need to sign at least one more striker, a No 9, to keep them in the league and help them progress.” (more…)
Tough acts to followOn arrival at Newcastle United Demba Ba was handed the number 19 shirt, leaving the number 9 shirt vacant. Does this indicate that there are plans to recruit another striker to fill it or is the shirt going to be retired for a while?
The Newcastle United number 9 shirt is of course sacred. Leaving it unfilled for a while – after Obafemi Martins moved to Wolfsburg – was a deliberate ploy by former manager Chris Hughton who said:
“It’s something I’ve done deliberately. We have a lot of strikers here and I’m quite sure that every single one of them would have wanted to wear the No 9 shirt. As soon as I came to this club I knew what it meant and it’s both my decision and a combination of a few things.
“It can be a heavy number to carry, a burden, and wearing it is an achievement which I want somebody to grow into. I want somebody to earn the right to be Newcastle’s No 9. I don’t want to suggest that the strikers here aren’t worthy of it because each of them has a real strong value.
“I don’t anticipate years going by without one, but I know what the number nine is and I don’t want it to be an issue. The only issue I want is the normal stuff of the team performing well or not performing well, winning games or not winning games, and that’s very much team based.” (more…)
Ash-bashing QuinnFormer Newcastle United striker Micky Quinn attacks Ashley for (potentially) letting Barton go and suggests that our transfer policy consists mainly of trying to buy cheap foreign players we can profit from in the future.
Former Toon striker Micky Quinn has launched a scathing attack on the head honchos at Newcastle United and in the process has confirmed that Arsenal have a legitimate interest in Joey Barton, which I originally doubted.
In an interview with talkSPORT, Quinn said:
“I know through a third party that Arsenal have enquired about Joey Barton. What I’m gutted about as an ex-Newcastle player is that the spine of the team, the personality of the team is going to be gone.
“Why are they letting players like Joey Barton go if they have any ambition, but it’s only going to Arsenal’s gain. He’ll put a bit of steel into that Arsenal team, he goes forward, he was made captain, he’s grown up and he said himself that he’s making up for lost time for stupidity and injury, he wants to get to the top.
“I think Joey has settled down a lot now, we know he’s a bit of a hot-head, we know he’s paid on and off the pitch for his stupidity but he’s settled down.(more…)
Living the dream!Back in the day, when all I had to worry about was hiding my hickies in a rollneck top, Jolly Ranchers were poisoning us with watermelon flavoured boiled sweets and a young Take That were barely a twinkle in the eye, a young man was trying to make his way in the hard knock world of professional football.
John Watson was an apprentice when I was a young whippersnapper following eagerly in his path at Wallsend Boys Club and trying to follow in his footsteps at the Toon school of excellence. John was generous enough to help out the younger lads and along with Lee Makel, Tommy Heron and Alan Thompson, he imparted his knowledge and experience on us and helped out with training sessions.
Some years later in the twighlight of his career and with me on my way towards my own premature retirement, our paths crossed again when he played in the same team as me at Annfield Plain in the Wearside League. Mine was but a fleeting pipedream but John Watson actually lived that dream of playing for his hometown club, albeit by his own admission, for a fleeting moment in time. But like Chesney Hawkes sang just as John was realising that dream, no matter how short a period it was, he played on that hollowed turf, in those famous stripes and ‘you can’t take that away from him’. (more…)
