Injury problems for Carroll?Andy Carroll has withdrawn from the England Under-21 squad for tomorrow nights match against Uzbekistan at Ashton Gate.
Carroll came off at half-time with a back injury in the match against Rangers at the weekend, and was closely followed by Jose Enrique who also suffered a some form of knock.
There is still a week to go until our opening game of the season, so a lot will depend on the seriousness of any injuries sustained before any panic buttons can start being pressed. They certainly didn’t look like major injuries to me though, but slight niggles can be deceptive, and we already know that Chris Hughton tends not to risk players who are carrying little niggles, unless it is absolutely necessary of course. (more…)
Who gets the privilege?The Newcastle captaincy is still up for grabs for this season, but who will be the likely heir to the captains armband?
The full-time club captain is yet to be named although it seems likely that either Alan Smith or Kevin Nolan will get the honour of the captaincy this season.
The next captain won’t be Sol Campell anyway, as Chris Hugton has ruled out that particular avenue, so that leaves us with options that are within our current squad, which isn’t a bad move in my opinion.
“I can categorically say that Sol will not be captain,” Hughton told The Chronicle. “I can completely rule that out and there is no truth in the talk that he will skipper this season. That is still to be confirmed.”(more…)
Kevin Nolan: Future captain?The captains armband is up for grabs at the minute after being left vacant by the now departed Nicky Butt, but who, in your opinion, is the most deserving and most likely candidate for the role next season?
Newcastle are kind of lucky in that regard as we have a lot of players who have played at the highest level for a long time, they know what it’s about and they know what is required. With pre-season just around the corner, it gives all the likely candidates a chance to push their credentials forward for the job.
Obviously Nicky Butt didn’t play too much of a part last season, but it still didn’t stop him being the captain. Part of the theory behind that is because we have a lot of ‘on the pitch’ leaders, which fortunately meant Nicky Butt didn’t need to be on the pitch to perform his ‘duties’. Kevin Nolan, Alan Smith, Steve Harper and Fabricio Coloccini all had turns in wearing the armband last season, and considering all of those look likely to kick off the new season with us then you would have to assume that one of them has to be in the running to be named the captain on a full-time basis. So let’s take a look at the options. (more…)
Smith - Not the player he once was.Alan Smith has today admitted something that most Newcastle fans have known for some time now – that his days of being a marauding striker are are over.
This will come as no surpirse at all to us fans who have watched him strut his stuff in midfield throughout the majority of his time with us, although now it appears that Smith himself has given up the ghost with regard to attacking play, with his preference now being to sit in front of the back four in a defensive role. That means that there is now less of a probability of notching his first goal for Newcastle, which is a shame really as I genuinely feel that he is one player the Newcastle fans would love to see scoring a goal, particulary at St James’ Park. It could still happen though, I mean Nicky Butt managed to score some goals for us whilst he was here so stranger things have happened. (more…)
The main men.Newcastle head back into the Premier League with near enough an entire team that has a point to prove, and that could play right into our hands next season.
There is absolutely no doubt that these players can play in the Premier League, the problem is making sure they do play. Between them, our regular first team squad has over 1,400 Premier League appearances under their belt, and that is something that a newly promoted team has never had the benefit of before. You can call on any number of reasons for our relegation; players that weren’t committed; lack of form; injuries; a poisoned atmosphere around the club; 3,000 managers in one season; lack of direction; lack of investment, any one of them, or any combination of them can be blamed. (more…)
