Geremi: Mystery still unsolved.Well, the great Geremi, double Champions League winner, double Premier League winner, double La Liga winner, double African Cup of Nations winner and Olympic gold medallist has gone. Now that African Cup of Nations is over, a deal has finally been completed with Turkish side, Ankaragucu, and thankfully for Mike Ashley, the burden of his £58,000 per week wages is no more.
When he signed from Chelsea in 2007, on a ‘free’ too, it may have seemed like a great coup for Newcastle United to land such an esteemed and decorated player. However, all was not what it seemed. Why would Chelsea let him go so cheaply when he still had years of his contract? Why had he been moved to right back at Chelsea, instead of his preferred midfield position? The answer came from Sir Bobby Robson. On the subject of the great player joining the club, he said in his own initimable fashion:
“Jose Mourinho told me last season that Geremi’s legs had effectively gone.(more…)
Modest Dave.Well after Worky posting that wonderful photo of one of my all time favourite players, I felt we couldn’t leave it at that. So, being a little indulgent, I wanted to share with you my reminiscences of a great Newcastle United footballer (and gorgeous guy), one of the best exports to make it out of France: David Ginola.
David joined Newcastle in 1995 in a £2.5 million move from Paris St Germain. He had been voted the French Player of the Year, and the French Players, Player of the year in 1994 (probably before they were booted out of the World Cup). By all accounts, he must have been happy to arrive in old Angleterre after being made a scapegoat for the French team missing out on a place in that year’s World Cup Finals. With France carefully playing out a 1-1 draw against Bulgaria, knowing they only needed a point to take them to the finals, they brought on Daveed as a late substitute, and yes, you guessed it, he tried an overly flamboyant pass to Cantona, which was intercepted, Bulgaria scored, and Les Bleus were going no where. National outrage followed and David decided in the circumstances he would scarper overseas. (more…)
Ticketless Toon fans, 1974 - great hat!The Forest fixture against Newcastle United on Saturday brings to mind a bizarre group of matches between our two teams in 1974.
Following success in the earlier rounds, Newcastle United found themselves at home in the quarter finals of the FA cup in front of a crowd of 54,500 facing second division Nottingham Forest.
Excitement was at fever pitch as we were only a couple of games away from the final. The great unwashed of Sunderland had won the cup the previous year, so surely it was our turn to get out the daft hats, practise Abide with Me and take a trip down Wembley Way?
Our form leading up to that game had been poor, especially at home, so the writing seemed to be on the wall when we went behind in under 2 minutes. It didn’t get much better and we started the second half 2-1 down. Coming up to the hour mark, disaster struck when our big centre half Pat Howard was sent off for pushing the referee in the chest when disputing a penalty award. Forest scored and we found ourselves trailing 3-1. (more…)
Waddle hattrick.As we look forward to the Newcastle United v QPR game tomorrow evening, it has made me reminisce about an unbelievable match I witnessed between the two teams 25 years ago this month.
I was a homesick student nurse living in London and in fact QPR was probably the nearest big ground to where I lived.
One of the best bits about following the Toon away from home for an exiled geordie was being surrounded by your own people. Hearing the geordie voices, the usual banter, talk of familiar places was like being wrapped in a cloak of familiarity that you didn’t want to take off. A couple of hours later it all came to an end. Watching the Toon fans get back on the coaches – knowing their next stop later that evening would be Newcastle – I would fight the urge to jump on the coach as well to go back home. Anyway on to the game …
Our manager at the time was big Jack Charlton (I know), and our first 3 wins of the season had been swiftly followed by 3 defeats when we started what was our seventh game of the season at Loftus Road on Saturday September 22nd 1984. Looking back at the attendance figures a crowd of only 14,234 were present but I remember quite a lot of mags being in the crowd. Loftus Road had recently installed their plastic pitch, remember them? (more…)
Genius at workTonight’s game will have it’s own characters bedecked in the famous black and white, and tangerine shirts of Newcastle United and Blackpool football clubs. And those players will hope to make an impression upon their adoring fans. However, previous eras were lucky enough to see two particular individuals who stood out for their footballing brilliance both at St James’ and Bloomfield Road.
Mention the names Tony Green and the late Alan Suddick, and it will evoke fond memories for all those fans who were able to watch them in their respective colours. Both players were blessed with a natural flair and a natural hunger for the game that few are fortunate to be born with. Of course, I’m not actually old enough to know their playing days first-hand, but my dad has long been singing the praises of these two men and I would challenge you to find an article or book written that looks upon these two as anything other than favourably. (more…)
