One of THE memorable scenes from last season.Earlier on I found my mind wandering, as it often does, but this time the smutty thoughts were firmly on the backburner as I found myself thinking about the fortunes of my team, both past and present.
Newcastle United are back in the big time. But for for me, departing the Championship has left me with a tinge of sadness, and a tinge of fear as I ponder what is to come next season.
This is not a rubbishing of my teams chances in the Premier League next season, in fact I believe we have it in us to stop up without massive investment. Rose-tinted? Perhaps, but it is what I believe we can do in what I believe is a very much over-hyped Premier League. The point that I am trying to look at here is the change in mindset between life in the Championship and life in the Premier League, and which mindset is better from a fans perspective. (more…)
Never again, we hope!Newcastle United undoubtedly had an excellent season in the Championship, fulfilling all of their objectives, something that some people said would never happen. But how do you think they will do next season in the much tougher world of the Premiership? Will it be relegation? Will we just scrape though like, say, West Ham and Wigan in the season just ended? Will we confound the critics again and become doughty mid table battlers with the ability to punch above our weight like Birmingham and Stoke? Or even more?
Let’s look at the alternatives.
Relegation?
Probably lower than 35 points if the last season was anything to go by, though Toon old boy, Glen Roeder, was once relegated with West Ham despite having won 42 points, and had a brain tumour to boot. Not a good year for our ex-Captain there really, but I digress. (more…)
Llambias: Stiff defence.Newcastle United’s Managing Director, Derek Llambias has once again mounted a stiff defence of the club’s owner, Mike Ashley. He reiterated that the club has now moved well away from the ‘trophy’ signings of the Shepherd era, and more towards the development of younger talent. Llambias also raised the spectre of Portsmouth’s current financial situation as a warning once again, heavily hinting that Newcastle may have gone the similar way if the decadance of the Shepherd years were allowed to continue.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Llambias made comments on a this theme recently, and he he seems to be on some kind of ‘counter offensive’ on behalf of Mike Ashley, himself, and their current stewardship of Newcastle United. He elaborates further in this interview though, and he began by contrasting the old model with the new, saying:
“We have to take a realistic view. Hopefully we will be there (in the Premier League) and we will have to have a squad that will keep us there. But that needs to grow.”
Hinting at the decadence of the Shepherd years and many previous, poorly negotiated contracts for players, he went on: (more…)
He had fighting spirit...Rumours will no doubt have reached most Newcastle supporters that Habib Beye is reportedly unhappy with his time in the Midlands. Part of the villainous collective that saw us relegated last season, Beye became an official Villain when Martin O’Neill took him to Aston Villa in the summer in a £2.5m deal.
Arguably one of our most consistent performers while at the club, it was inevitably a kick in the teeth when he jumped ship following our drop into the Championship. Some will argue that he was entitled to leave and play as high as he could, having almost always put in a decent shift for the Mags. Others will insist he should have stayed and fought to get us back up, some even cynically considering that a deal was brokered on the day of relegation at Villa Park.
The Senegalese international has only turned out five times so far for Villa and the Daily Mail suggest he will inevitably move on in the summer. Putting two and two together, you might think a versatile defender with a connection to the club, experience of the Premiership and who would be available for a relatively decent price would be an obvious option should we get promoted. But it’s never that easy, especially given the circumstances under which he left.
Assuming the rumours are true and he’s available in the summer, would you have him back? (more…)
Ashley: £25 million cash injection?In a somewhat surprising article in todays News of the World, it has been revealed that our illustrious owner, Mike Ashley, has stepped into the breach during December, loaning the club another £25 million to keep it a going concern. Now this is from the News of the World and huge pinches of salt are required as this story also features our old friend ‘the club source’.
Apparently this money has been given to us on in interest only basis to help pay the wages and cover the general day to day running costs of Newcastle United. It has been said that some of this cash was used to fund the purchases of January signings Danny Simpson, Leon Best, Wayne Routledge and Mike Williamson. Now I’m going to start running through the article so sit down for club inside knowledge and sensationalism. The ‘club source’ said to the Sport of the World: (more…)
