“Jossys Giants” visit Bobby Charlton and Willie McFaul at St James’ Park – 1985.
Aye Bobby Charlton, not Jackie Charlton who had left the club as manager in the huff over player sales and such before McFaul stepped in and faced the same old problem.
After introducing the Jossy’s lads to McFaul the ex Northern Ireland goalie, Bobby then takes them through the bowels of the old St James Park, the old away dressing room with the old plunge bath, the old physio room and so on. A magical trip down Magpie memory lane. As you can see, Bobby’s no Al Pacino when it comes to acting; then again, he could probably teach Pacino a thing or two on playing against the likes of Eusebio and Beckenbauer! (more…)
Vertonghen: Top notch but will be £10 million+.Of all the defensive targets (allegedly) pursued by Newcastle United, Ajax’s 24 year old Belgian defender and captain, Jan Vertonghen, is by far the most interesting proposition.
At a potential cost that will almost certainly be over £10 million, along with the abilty to command a Coloccini sized salary package he should be really. However, despite another thing being almost certain, that he will also be pursued by other clubs (most with more “clout” than Newcastle United too), he’s still the one that Alan Pardew should really push the boat out for. After taking my advice from last year telling him to stop messing around with forwards such as Modibo Maiga and buy Papiss Cisse instead, and also to stop being silly and put Hatem Ben Arfa back on the flank, hopefully the Silver Supremo will heed my sage advice once more!
Cultured, powerful, versatile, attacking…
Jan Vertonghen first came on to my radar quite some time ago when Johan Cruyff named him as his favourite Ajax player in the current squad. When the greatest Dutch master of them all says something like that I tend to listen, and look. After watching a few Ajax games I could see why. (more…)
Sign the petition, complain to the BBC.“The BBC’s governing principles, closely associated with its first Director-General, Sir John Reith, are to educate, inform and entertain the whole nation, free from political interference and commercial pressure. These ideals continue to underpin an enduring vision of the BBC as the “national” broadcaster. Such a broadcaster should have a remit to provide high (benchmark) quality content, across the full range of broadcast genres (with a particular focus on impartial news and current affairs services), free at the point of use and without advertising. This is what, in the opinion of many, the BBC ought to stand for. The merits and implications of these features, in a changing world, have been at the core of our inquiry.” parliament.uk website.
As some of you may know Newcastle City Council have written to “the media” in that London, asking it to desist from using the name “S_____ D_____ A____” for the home of Newcastle United, and return to referring to it by its correct name, St James’ Park.
This comes after Labour and Liberal Democrat councillors came together to pass a motion opposing Mike Ashley’s decision to rename the stadium after his tacky and disreputable sportswear company, and their subsequent refusal to rename street signs in the area. The council’s letter read:
Cisse: He's here! He's gone! But he'll be back!First of all dear reader, I would like to apologise.
I meant to have this posted yesterday evening. However, due to a certain bearded Newcastle United shirt sponsor, his chronically unreliable Broadband and constantly engaged customer service (who’s existence I am beginning to doubt), that sadly wasn’t possible in the end. As a certain Mr.J.Rotten once (rightly) said in regard the fellow in question:
“Never trust a Hippy.”
But I suspect that you don’t really want to read any more of my enraged rambling (unless perhaps, you want to know which Broadband provider to avoid like the plague) so I’ll get on with it!
Below is the interview given by Papiss Demba Cisse to “NUFC TV” after his signing was confirmed yesterday, along with additional verbiage from Alan Pardew and Derek Llambias (Booooooo!)
This is what Cissé had to say on his signing: (more…)
Newcastle United's newest fan?“Twenty years ago, we sponsored Crystal Palace and they got to the FA Cup final. Then last week, we sponsored Newcastle and they beat Manchester United 3-love.”
“So we’re a lucky brand, and may the luck continue throughout the rest of the season.”
The words of Sir Richard Branson, (3-love?? – clearly a tennis fan!) the 4th richest person in the UK and 254th richest in the world. Not bad for a bloke who started with a mail order record business in 1970 and who went on to own Virgin Records, Virgin Megastores and now sees over 400 companies in the Virgin Group, including Virgin Atlantic who have that nice ad on the telly with the bonny air stewardesses and Muse playing the old Nina Simone track “Feeling Good” in the background. Impressive music knowledge there eh? His wealth is estimated at $4.2 billion (£2.75 billion) which makes Mike Ashley look like a Sports Shop Owner. He also has class and charisma so we’d better stop the Ashley comparisons now before it gets too silly.
The bloke has either worked his socks off to make a fortune, or he’s been lucky. Probably a bit of both actually. Now at the age of 62 his Virgin Brand has moved into high street banking by acquiring our very own Northern Rock, transforming it into Virgin Money. By a stroke of luck, this move has linked the Virgin empire with Newcastle United, previously sponsored by Northern Rock. Virgin have agreed a 2 year shirt sponsor deal, hopefully that’s just for starters… (more…)
