Dressed for success?Success is a very relative word and can be applied to any set number of targets. So with that in mind I ask the question, what do you quantify as success for Newcastle United this season?
People have differing views in where we should be, what we should be aiming for and what is acceptable come the end of the season. So why not share them?
I’ll use the game against Manchester United to show you how success can be relative. I guess given our past history at Old Trafford (1 win in 60 years) combined with the fact we are a newly promoted team would suggest that a narrow defeat would be a success for us. A draw would be an achievement and a win would be unbelievable to the point where I don’t think I would go into work this evening! (more…)
Ian Holloway - The surprise package of the weekend.Well that is pretty much it from weekend number one of the Premier League season, but what have you made of it?
I’ve been watching football most of the day and have been catching up on all of yesterdays Premier League games.
Some of it was great, brilliant, just what the Premier League is supposed to be about, but there was also a lot of dross on display yesterday in fairness. There is only us and Manchester United left to play this weekend, so now everybody has seen the other teams in action, have you revised your opinions on our fortunes for this season? (more…)
Ben Arfa on strike.Hatem Ben Arfa has vowed never to return to Marseille, and is prepared to not play football all season to try and force Marseille into letting him join Newcastle.
It’s another twist in the strory that has given us all a good laugh over the summer, and as more details become public, it would appear it isn’t our club who are messing about.
The agent of the player, and now Ben Arfa himself have both said that Marseille set out the terms for Newcastle to take the player on a loan-to-buy deal. Newcastle then met all of those terms, to the point where the Marseille chairman said at the back end of last week that a deal was nearly done, but then they decided to shift the goalposts and block the move from happening. (more…)
Taylor - Still awaiting new deal.The last time Steven Taylor and contracts were mentioned in the same sentence it was only supposed to be a matter of time before a new deal was penned.
Well some time has passed since that and we have still heard nothing about a new deal for Taylor, and now his agent, Paul Stretford, has admitted that talks are not progressing as well as he had hoped.
It must be made clear that talks are still ongoing at this stage, and that a deal appears to not be far off being brokered, but what is causing this delay?
There could be many reasons in fairness as contracts aren’t as easy to sort out as they were in the past.
I’m pretty certain that time has moved on from the days where a contract contained a just a wage and a term. Now there are allsorts of bonuses and payments to be added-on, which all takes time I presume. (more…)
It's fantasy football time!Well that is just about it for the opening day of the Premier League season.
West Brom are playing at Chelsea as we speak, but once the final whistle goes at Stamford Bridge then people can start to fully reflect on the results of the day.
The opening day of the Premier League season has also signalled the start of our Fantasy Football League competition aswell, which goves us something else to get involved with.
There are already some points up for players who have already played so you can get a feel of just how you have done. Personally I have earned 22 points today, with more to come over the next couple of days hopefully. (more…)
