Them again!Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle. Date: Sunday, 7th Oct. Kick off: 4:00pm Referee: Howard Webb. UK TV: Sky Sports 1.
Hello, good afternoon and welcome to our “match banter” feature for this afternoon’s home game against Manchester United.
Well, there isn’t much we don’t know about this lot, not that it has helped us much! Whilst there have been moments of great triumph in the past, the last one of course being our 3-0 victory last season, and our most legendary being the 5-0 victory back in the “Entertainers” days of 1996, it must be said that our record against them is pretty dire over history, as it is for many clubs. This of course has been especially true since a certain red nosed manager came to the club on 6 November, 1986. After an erratic first few years with an 11th place finish in his first season, followed by a runners up spot in the first division, then a return to mid table, he has since gone on of course to be the most succesful and longest serving manager in Manchester United’s history. (more…)
Our toughest Euro test so far.Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle. Date: Thursday, 4th Oct. Kick off: 8:05pm Referee: Antonio Miguel Lahoz. UK TV: ESPN.
Hello, good evening and welcome to our latest “match banter” feature for this evening’s Europa League tie against the team who should be our toughest opponents in Group D, Bordeaux.
If you’re looking for some in depth background on our opponents and you haven’t read them already, I have written not one, but two pieces looking forward to our two games against les Girondins. The first one, written around three weeks ago deeply probes the Ligue 1 side, along with their manager, Francis Gillot, with the second one bringing things up to date with with some of the more usual preview stuff such as team news and squads for this evening, what both managers have been saying in the run up to the game, along with highlights and a little bit of analysis of their progress since the last one. (more…)
Toon visit the Royals this afternoon.Venue: Madejski Stadium, Reading. Date: Saturday, 29th Sept. Kick off: 3:00pm Referee: Andre Marriner (Sheldon, W.Mids). UK TV: None.
Hello and welcome to our latest match banter feature for this afternoon’s game against Reading at the Madejski Stadium.
This game should see Alan Pardew taking a trip down memory lane at the first club he managed, firstly as a caretaker, then eventually taking over full time in 1999 after the sacking of Tommy Burns. the Silver Supremo will also be.pitting his wits against the man he first took on as Reading’s chief scout this afternoon, Brian McDermott. However I have already written about that, and much more in my match preview.
Anyway, to get all of the usual stuff out of the way, as usual, I will be putting up the team sheets for the game. Though it isn’t being televised on UK TV, fear not if you aren’t in Reading cheering on the lads, as I will post a list of links to watch, once again when they become available about an hour before the game. Finally, when it is over, I will also get some highlights up, and possibly a video of the whole match too for those who missed it. (more…)
Another trip to Manchester, this time for the LC.Venue: Old Trafford, Manchester. Date: Thurs, 26th Sept. Kick off: 7:45pm Referee: Anthony Taylor (Manchester). UK TV: Sky Sports.
Welcome to the latest of our regular “match banter” features, this time for this evening’s League Cup game against Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United at their place.
From the words of Alan Pardew before the game. it would seem that he is concentrating more on Champions League qualification this season rather than any of the lesser cup competition, so we will probably see a mostly second string team for this evening. Thankfully for us however, the equally successful Sir Alex Ferguson is known for taken a similarly dismissive attitude towards this competition, and his Manchester United side have been troubled by injuries of late too, so we may see a similar approach from him too. Having written that, there have been rumours that Wayne Rooney may feature this evening after his recent absence. (more…)
Chris Hughton returns to SJP..Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle. Date: Sun, 23rd Sept. Kick off: 3:00pm Referee: Neil Swarbrick. UK TV: None.
Hello, good afternoon and welcome to our “match banter” for today’s game against Norwich City at St James’ Park.
Of course, this one sees the return of an old face, Alan Pardew’s predecessor Chris Hughton, with whom we gained promotion from the Championship. Unfortunalely though, I do not have any time to dwell on that as I am running very late with this piece! I will only say that I hope he gets the welcome that he deserves this afternoon, but that the lads emerge victorious nonetheless!
On his return for the match, the man himself had this to say:
“It’s one that on a personal note I am looking forward to, but it’s about our performance. It’s a difficult place to get a result. (more…)
