Speaking in his post match interview after Newcastle United’s abject 4-1 capitulation to the Bluebirds Red Dragons of Cardiff, Alan Pardew blamed injuries to top players for the defeat.
In a fairly confusing message from the Grey Gaffer, he also blamed the attitude of the squad because they thought they should have brought the big names, (presumably Ba and Cisse who both missed the trip) even though they were carrying knocks. However, you can listen for yourselves in the video above. (more…)
Chemnitzer Fans.Dear reader, I realise that I’m probably setting myself up for a fall with this piece.
Actually, I sincerely hope that I am, just as the BBCs “Panorama” programme did when they screened a documentary about racism in Polish and Ukrainian football on the eve of the recent European Championships. However, I feel that even if things do go well in the first of Newcastle United’s first pre season friendlies tomorrow evening against Saxon third division side, Chemnitzer FC, it was an extremely foolish decision to arrange it against a team with such an awful reputatiion for overt racism with it’s fans, and even it’s security staff (see below) with several black and / or Muslim players in the current Newcastle United side. One thing’s for sure, there certainly won’t be the same kind of policing that there was at the above mentioned European Championships when the game takes place.
Saxon lower league sides are one of the largest hotbeds of neo-nazi activity in the whole of football, and Chemnitzer FC are one of the worst. As you will see below, sometimes the behaviour of a very vocal and violent group of their fans can go far beyond the usual monkey chanting and so on. But first, here’s an extract from a 2010 report by the European Forum for Migration Studies (EFMS). On German lower league football in general, especially amateur sides such as Chemnitzer, they write: (more…)
The Premiership fixture nerve centre today.Well, the Premier League fixture list was released this morning, with Newcastle once again taking on the might of North London in our opening fixture.
Last time it was Arsenal at home in our opening fixture, but this time the Magpies will be greeting Tottenham at St James’ Park on the 18th August. Tottenham, of course, drew 2-2 in the corresponding home fixture at St James’ Park last season, with our opening game against the other North London titans ending as a 0-0 draw. The London theme will continue after that with the Magpies making the trip to West London’s Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in their second Premiership game of the season.
Other salient points include the fact that the Magpies will be playing no less than a visit from Chris Hughton’s turkey pluckers of Norwich on the 22nd September. Another point of interest is the games taking place during yet another African Cup of Nations, which will be taking place for a second year on succession. This time the competition will be taking place in South Africa between 19 January and 10 February. This will almost certainly see us without key players, Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse and Cheick Tiote, if indeed they are still at the club by that time! Hopefully, the unstoppable force that is Shola Ameobi will be inexplicably passed over by Nigeria once again for this competition. (more…)
For Sale?As we move into the perilous waters of the summer transfer window, rumours abound about which players are going where, who is available, who is unsettled and how much money players are valued at. For Newcastle United, it is a particularly worrying time on the “selling” front, as the players who were brought in last time have established themselves in the English Premier League and are now “household names”.
One such player is Cheick Tiote – United’s beast of a defensive midfielder. One of the reasons our defence did so well in the season just finished was that the opposing teams had to get past Tiote first – no easy task. So it was surprising, and somewhat puzzling to the Toon Army, that with 11 games still to go the ever popular Derek Llambias decided to hang a “For Sale” sign around Tiote’s neck.
As I’m sure you’ll remember, for whatever reason Llambias decided to bang his gums to the press in March and utter the words: (more…)
Following on from part one of Newcastle United’s 2011 / 2012 season review, we begin at the start of the new year with a home tie against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
January – Man Utd humbled / A Nightmare at the Cottage / The new number nine…
A stunning display from Pardew’s team saw champions, Manchester United, comfortably beaten 3-0 at St James’ Park. Two brilliant goals from both Demba Ba and Yohan Cabaye put United on course to victory, with Phil Jones putting through his own net to complete the rout. It was a tremendous start to January, and helped eradicate the previous month’s below par performances. Pardew got the tactics spot on, knowing that Man Utd’s centre backs Rio Ferdinand and Phil Jones couldn’t handle the physicality of Magpies front men, Demba Ba and Shola Ameobi. (more…)
