Positives? I think not.Newcastle United reserves lost 4-3 to Sunderland earlier in the week but some comments by Peter Beardsley got me thinking about team attitudes and how they might affect results.
Yesterday I was visited by a bunch of Bible-bashers called Seventh Day Adventists and their big beef with things – amongst all the problems the world faces – is that they think the Sabbath should be on a Saturday. I argued the advantages of making it a Wednesday to break the week up, but they soon realised I wasn’t being altogether serious and left before I had to release the caged tiger I keep for just such callers.
This reminded me of a Christian I used to know and one thing that really annoyed me about him was his eternal optimism. Our job at the time was to write software for satellites and even when two years of software work – and many more years than that of hardware work – exploded on the launching pad, he simply said “never mind, I’m sure it will all turn out okay”. He came to work happy, was happy throughout the day and went home extremely happy. And this made me very grumpy indeed.
Which brings me, in a round about way, to our reserve team’s 4-3 defeat against Sunderland earlier in the week about which Pedro said:
“There were plusses from the performance – there always is.”
Mike Ashley: Is it all that bad?Over the past few years of the Ashley regime the NUFC faithful have had good reason to become discontented. However after drifting into yet another football based discussion at work, I had to think to myself, IS IT ALL THAT BAD?
Before I even begin I will clarify, this is not a pro-Ashley post, I have little time for him personally. Yet I am still firm in the belief that I would rather have Ashley and his crew in charge than a certain Fat Owner we all seem to remember.
Yes he’s broken up level 7, sacked the king, got us relegated and hired a man who looks like a Badger (Llambias) But he has also set us on a sound financial footing for hopefully many years to come. OK he’s setting us up to sell for a profit as soon as he has the chance, but at least NUFC will still be around in a few years time.
Look at Everton, can you imagine the summer of discontent that they have had, not buying anyone, let alone loaning someone as their wage structure and stadium demands are slowly killing the club? To top all that off they sold their best player on deadline day without time for a replacement (Sounds all too familiar) (more…)
Alan Pardew: Up to the task?Speculation about any departure by Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is incorrect according to John Carver, but what of Pardew’s prospects for the season ahead anyway?
There has been some speculation that Alan Pardew might walk after being let down by Ashley and Llambias in the transfer window, although Assistant Manager John Carver dismissed that idea yesterday.
Carver said: “Why is his position in doubt? This has been a good start for us. We have picked up seven points from three matches and we are into the third round of the Carling Cup. We are going in the right direction.
“If you had told people we would have what we have now, they would have snapped your hands off. How can people question the position of the manager? It’s absurd.”
It sounds a bit like Carver has got the wrong end of the stick actually. I think any speculation was about whether Pardew might decide to leave rather than being sacked. I don’t think many people thought his position was in ‘danger’ as such. (more…)
Unwavering support.Yesterday evening I attended a fan meeting at The Irish Bar. It was a bit weird being in the Irish with 20-20 vision but once I got used to sobriety, we began discussing the items on the agenda.
In that meeting were some of the online elite of Newcastle United fan reporters. Malcolm Dix, shiteseats, Newcastle United Mad, MAOC, Steve Wraith and various other supporter groups. Myself, naturally, being the guest of honour.
Joking aside, the meeting in total lasted around 3 hours or so and we discussed a good few things and especially regarding the supporters group, the club, campaigns and various other things.
This article is primarily to bring awareness to certain fans. My notes are actually subjects for articles and I feel I’d be doing some of them a disservice given the weight of some of the points that were made. (more…)
Won't be rushed backGood news as Newcastle United’s Hatem Ben Arfa – injured since the pre-season game against Sporting Kansas City – undergoes a light training session with the physio.
Given our failure to recruit an additional striker, we have to hope that Best continues the way he’s been going and that Shola and Ba come good. Alternatively, we’ll be looking for goals from midfield and Hatem Ben Arfa could just be the man to come good for us in that respect.
It’s good news then that he seems to be making his way back from injury and took part in his first training session yesterday. It was apparently only a ‘light exercise’ session (my equivalent of which is just lifting the one pint) but it gave physio Derek Wright a chance to assess the player.
Apparently the club aren’t too keen to rush him back from this injury and I get the impression it’ll be October before we see him available for first-team selection. (more…)
