Toon in for the new season.The one thing I missed about being in the Premier League was the lack of TV coverage of Newcastle matches, but now we are back I don’t have to worry about that anymore.
Don’t get me wrong, I realise we had our fair share of matches on TV last season, probably more than our fair share in fact, but it is more the ones that weren’t on TV that I am talking about.
Coverage was virtually non-existant in The Championship, and the best you could hope for was being ‘game of the day’ on that silly Football League Show with those irritating people hosting it at some hour where I was either too drunk or too tired to be bothered to watch it.
It’s not a problem this year though as TV coverage in the Premier League is nothing short of exceptional, so you never really have to miss a game. It’s especially nice to see that, now the fixtures have been amended for live TV cover, we have eight games that will be broadcast live before the end of November. Well they do have to pander towards the big boys, don’t they? (more…)
Fortress St James'.It may well sound like an obvious statement to make, but if ever a more obvious statement has been so vaild then I would like to see it.
We now know what the fixtures are for next season, we now know that it is Manchester United away on the first day of the season, again, and we know that it is highly unlikely that we will take any points away from Old Trafford and back to Tyneside, but stranger things have happened.
Realistically, a vast amount of our away games next season will be defeats, although that is not unusual for us in the Premier League. We may get a few draws, even the odd win, but deep down I think most of us now that a lot of the hard work is going to have to be done in the cathedral on the hill that is St James’ Park, which is why my initial annoyance at the way the fixtures panned out has been replaced by a careful optimism after I realised that we have no real back to back fixtures against the top teams as it stands, which is good. (more…)
Pre-season training begins.Today is a day that should send shivers down the spine of a professional footballer, well any footballer in fact.
The Newcastle squad reunite today for pre-season training as they step up their preparation for life back in the big time, and by the end of today those summer indulgences will seem a million miles away, particularly for some of the older professionals we have on our books!
Speaking of my own footballing experience, I can confirm what most already know, and that is that pre-season is a horrible place to be. No matter how many times you are told “it will be worth it in the end”, it doesn’t take the pain away from trying to get your body back in the condition needed, and that was just at Zamaretto League level. (more…)
Old Trafford will be Newcastle's first destinationWell the fixtures are officially released, and with them now in the public domain it would appear that we will have to gear ourselves up for a tough rebirth into the Premier League.
Newcastle have been handed a start away at Manchester United as they try to resettle back in the Premier League again.
This is then followed by a home game against Aston Villa which offers us our own little chance to get some payback for them putting the final nail in our coffin in the Premier League last time, and hopefully we can put to bed those scenes in which they revelled in our demise with pretty little banners and the like. The first of the Tyne/Wear derbies takes place on 30th October at St James’ Park, with the return match at the Stadium of Light happening on 15th January. The traditional boxing day fixture will see us playing at home against Manchester City, and the final game of the season will also be at home for a change, this time against West Brom, and what a massive game that could end up being! (more…)
Finxture news tomorrow.The wait is nearly over for Newcastle fans who can again begin to arrange their lives around the new Premier League fixtures which are finally released tomorrow.
Regardless of whether or not we start at home or away, aganst Blackpool or Chelsea, the job of planning our survival, debating where we can nick some points from and looking at which games can be classed as a write off can begin in earnest as a sense of footballing normality breaks out against the backdrop of the World Cup.
Will we be bemoaning the fact that we have to start away at one of the big teams? Will we be happier that we are starting off at St James’ Park against one of the weaker teams in the league? There are people in both camps who will discuss the various merits and pitfalls of each scenario. My own preference is to start off playing against the weaker teams in the league to give us the best possible chance to get the points on the board as soon as as possible, as once we have the points in the bag they can’t be taken away, well, barring a major catastrophe of course, but you get my point. (more…)
