Time to face the Banjo twangers again.Venue: Stadium of Blight, Blunderland. Date: Sun 27th Oct, 2013. Kick off: 1.30pm. Referee: Lee Probert. UK TV: Sky Sports.
“They’re an odd lot let me tell you; ideas above their station yet supporting a team who are nothing more than a hindrance even when at their best under Peter Reid.”
Wrote Sir Alex Grumpyface on Sunderland fans. I think he is referring to the time when they once came seventh under their simian faced supremo, with Peter Reid winning a Manager of the Year award then bombing the next season in a style later emulated beautifully by our own silver supremo in the his last two seasons on Tyneside. But as most Newcastle United fans know, our old friend Sunderland is always there so we can say to ourselves “oh well, things could be worse!”
Meanwhile on Newcastle and it’s fans, old red nose had the following to say:
“If you bring success to those fans you will have achieved something that will write you into the folklore of a special city. To go so long without and whiff of success yet still retain that amount of passion is unique.”
Which is better than that stuff about “a wee club from the north-east.”
A recent sighting of the currently missing Toon Top Dog.It’s always intrigued me how individual NUFC fans see their club’s relationship with our eternal rivals down the road.
I mean we all chant ‘we hate Sunderland’ on match days but does the rivalry mean different things to fans living where they hardly ever come across the great unwashed such as the North bank of the Tyne or in the Milan area for instance; to people like myself who live on the proverbial front line in South Tyneside?
Not only is my local area positively crawling with them, I also had the great misfortune of attending the University of Sunderland (which ironically very few Mackems attend as they have little concept of higher education) the high point being me and my mate walking across the queermouth bridge the day after the 5-1 derby with Newcastle tops on. Yes, we received a good mixture of cheers and death threats. So, as you can see I’ve had more than my fair share of exposure in recent times.
The more you interact with the other side, the more you get to see they will point to anything that indicates the Sunderland are superior to Newcastle in some way. Maybe its their endemic selective memories kicking in again or maybe, just maybe, its the fact that as of Saturday they are now 4 points ahead of us in the Premier League. My question is that while it’s obviously important to be successful as a club and attempt to win trophies; but is it also important to get ahead of and finish above Sunderland as well, or would many be happy to just take six points off them every season? (more…)
A Mackem after a typical Tyne-Wear derby.Venue: Stadium of Blight, Blunderland. Date: Sunday, 22nd Oct. Kick off: 1:30pm Referee: Martin Atkinson. UK TV: Sky Sports 1.
This will be referee Martin Atkinson’s second outing this season in charge of a Newcastle game, after handling our season opening home victory over Spurs.
His previous engagement with us was at SJP back in April when he presided over our 2-0 victory over Liverpool, booking Andy Carroll for trying to win a penalty and dismissing Jose Reina for losing his rag with James Perch. Earlier in the season, he red-carded Martin Olsson while refereeing Blackburn’s visit to SJP while also sending off Dan Gosling during our visit to Carrow Road.
Journey to the land that time forgot.
After what has seemed like an age, the Premier League returns this weekend for a round of full blooded, up and at ’em games and none will be more full or red blooded than the 147th Tyne Wear derby at the Stade du Merde on Sunday, 21st October. Both teams go into the game knowing that a win is the very minimum that their respective fans will demand and, if the players needed reminding, bragging rights will continue until April 13th next year when the unwashed will make their annual trip to civilisation for the return. (more…)
What went wrong?“We do not want to put prices up. People might say we have put membership up on the season tickets. But that is going straight into the Academy. It was discounted for the first year but that is going into the Academy because we need to find the money from somewhere.”
Said Derek Llambias defending the introduction of compulsory membership to buy season and away tickets, and also it’s subsequent increase from £15 to £25 after only a year.
There was also much bragging about the huge sums being invested in the Academy, with Newcastle seeking to emulate the Barcelona “la Masia” model started by Johan Cruyff, which has acheived so much success for the Catalan club. As we predicted back in June, and now know for sure, when it came to attaining “Elite Player Performance Plan” Category One status, it turned out that they didn’t even manage to emulate the Wolves, Stoke City and Blunderland models, with even Championship neighbours, Middlesbrough looking likely to achieve what Newcastle United couldn’t. The other clubs who have now been informed they have been successful are Fulham, Southampton and West Ham, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Everton, Aston Villa, Reading, Bolton Wanderers, Norwich, West Brom and Watford still waiting to be audited by the organisation carrying out the inspections, “Foot Pass England.” Troubled Blackburn Rovers and Crystal Palace are the other clubs who have been told they have failed in their repective attempts to obtiain the highest designation.
ClattermoleVenue: St James’ Park. Date: Sun 4th Mar 2012. Kick-Off: High Noon. Referee: Mike Dean. Crowd: 52,388
This was without a doubt a game of twos! Two totally different halves, two penalties, two red cards, two goals and two managers who should know better, being caught up in the rivalry and squaring up to each other both verbally and physically.
It was raining before the game, and it rained a bit during the game, but the wet weather could not dampen the electric atmosphere of the latest Tyne-Wear derby at St James’ Park, NE1. Already assured of a sellout crowd fired with the usual local pride and passion, United fans were further emboldened by the news released 24 hours earlier, that both Tim Krul and Fabricio Coloccini had signed contracts tying them to the club for the next 5 and 4 years respectively.
First Half
The referee Mike Dean blew his whistle to start the game and nothing happened, as the crowd noise was so intense that Sessegnon, who was waiting to get things under way, didn’t hear it. Eventually we got going however to a wall of boos for the Mackems. There were exactly 32 seconds on the clock when the mackem thug “Clattermole” ignored the ball completely and scythed down Tiote in what was clearly one of those “let him know you’re around” early tackles. He should have been given a straight red card but got away with a yellow, probably because it was so early in the game. Sadly though, this tackle signalled Sunderland’s clear intent to make this a very physical game, and this not only set the tone for the rest of the half, but meant that some of the football went out of the window as United were forced into a war rather than the possession game we have come to expect this season. (more…)
