Maiga - still top target?Newcastle United are riding high in 3rd place in the Premier League but groundwork is already being undertaken in preparation for the January transfer window.
The last 10 minutes or so of yesterday’s game against Wolves nearly caused me to “‘ave a connery“, as DelBoy might say, but a combination of good fortune and good saves from both Krul and his defenders saw us take all three points and raised us – at least until Chelsea play – to the lofty heights of 3rd in the table.
I think we certainly rode our luck yesterday as we have done in a few other games this season but, credit where it’s due, we have also defended very well and look to be getting things together as a unit a bit more now.
I think 3rd place flatters us but even if we say that Lady Luck has gifted us 6 points this season, we’d still be 7th, which isn’t too shabby in itself.
We also have ‘significant’ players still on the sidelines. Neither Ben Arfa, Davide Santon, Silvian Marveaux, Haris Vuckic nor Dan Gosling featured yesterday through either injury or lack of opportunity, so it would seem we have talent in reserve. Let’s not forget the likes of Medhi Abeid, Shane Ferguson and Sammy Ameobi from the ‘youth’ setup either. (more…)
Instead of Tiote?Is there a case for giving Dan Gosling a run in the Newcastle United midfield instead of Cheick Tiote who, this writer argues, isn’t having the best run of form?
In a recent interview, Cheick Toite has been saying he’s been enjoying his new partnership with Yohan Cabaye in the centre of midfield. Tiote said:
“Last week I think we played very well together. It is good and it is working well.
“Last season was different with Kevin Nolan, it was a different style of play. Kevin went forward more and scored goals.
“Yohan is a more technical player and uses a different style. They are both good players.
“But Yohan likes to play with the ball more – he brings the best out of me. If you are a winning team the most important area is the midfield.”
Now I will admit that I didn’t see the Villa game last weekend as I was otherwise engaged, but I have seen every other match this season and I thought that the Tiote-Cabaye partnership was something that needed work. (more…)
New left-back needed at the ToonNewcastle United midfielder Joey Barton fires off some parting shots as he heads for the exit along with left-back Jose Enrique. The club must now look at how these players will be replaced (if indeed they will at all).
Joey Barton was given a two-week fine for his renegade Twittering yesterday, which probably comes as no surprise to anyone. It certainly didn’t surprise Barton himself who said:
“Ha ha the inevitable, 2 weeks wages fine has just arrived. Needless to say it shall be appealed forthwith.”
Barton also accused the club of releasing ‘false reports’ about the situation to the press, saying:
“Everyone here knows I speak the truth.
“I also have too much respect for my teammates and the fans to get in a tit for tat war with them. I have too much self-worth and dignity.”
He was also apparently quoting both Orwell and The Smiths on Twitter but this particular debacle is beginning to get on my nerves now so I won’t bother with the quotes. Barton was made to train alone yesterday and I reckon his inevitable exit will come quite soon. (more…)
Could Ba and Erdinç be an explosive partnership?As rare as a chance to see Halley’s Comet, Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has given an interview with the ‘Shields Gazette’ in regards to new striker Demba Ba.
Ba featured in 2 of the 3 games over in the states this last week, and Pardew has been quite happy with the Senegalese strikers overall performances thus far. More notably, Pardew has been talking about Ba’s most recent performance, in our 3-0 win against Columbus Crew, saying:
“I really enjoyed Demba’s play.
“He played slightly withdrawn. His link-up play was excellent, and his movement caught us out at times. He’s so quick, he made a move, and then a different move by the time the pass had gone.
“It was a shame he didn’t get a goal, but he was a real highlight for me, as was Dan Gosling.
“Marveaux also played well, and it was a good night for us.”
From the highlights I’ve seen, it looked very much like Dan Gosling was our star performer against the ‘Crew’. Demba Ba though, played an important role in a couple of the goals, and also was the man brought down when through on goal to earn Columbus’ ‘keeper Andy Gruenebaum a straight red card, effectively ending the game as a contest. (more…)
Happy campers?From what I can recall, at the start of last season, Newcastle United were seemingly going about their pre-season in reasonably quiet fashion.
We had of course, just dispensed of the Championship at a canter, and were looking forward to a return to the Premier League. At the start of that particular summer, we had a statement from the Newcastle board, citing mainly that:
“The first team squad that won the Championship this year will form the basis of the team for next season in the Premier League.
“There is no plan for new capital outlay on players.”
Well, that particular line certainly had a few people up in arms at the time. In the end though, Newcastle did do some business recruitment wise, bringing in Dan Gosling, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sol Campbell, Cheick Tiote and the majestic James Perch.
More importantly last summer, I remember the current crop of players being reasonably happy with life at St James Park. There was no moaning or bitching about the ‘politics’ of the club. This could be due to the explosion of ‘Twitter’ this past year (certainly in Newcastle United’s case anyway), with a fair few of our squad now signed up to the social networking site. (more…)
