Best gets brace, then pulled off by Pardew.After the kick off of this disappointingly attended home game (42,684), a fairly congested midfield quagmire seemed to be the order of the day in the opening section thanks to Newcastle, who once again got off to a very disappointing start.
Looking on the positive side though, Best almost fashioned a chance for himself in the eighth minute, however possible overelaboration led to the chance fizzling out ion the end. As the game settled down a little though, it was Fulham who were seizing most of the attacking initiative, and indeed they started to ‘boss’ a somewhat disjointed Magpies, who just seemed chasing the ball en-masse without much of a coherent system. It seemed as if the likes of Nolan and Barton were missed to organise the Magpies’ midfield as Martin Jol’s Cottagers were certainly more organised and well spaced at this stage, it was early days though. Howay Captain Colo!
Half an hour or so passed though and it still wasn’t too good, with Fulham still easily having the Lion’s share of possession and making the better passing moves. It was much the same with the minnows of Scunthorpe in the League Cup the other evening though, so there was still hope. (more…)
Pardew: tall, nice Solvenian guyNewcastle United’s youth squad has much promise, although recent events might indicate that Nile Ranger isn’t destined to be part of it.
If the stories in the press are true, it seems that Nile Ranger is once again in hot water and this time it’s a bit more serious than an ill-informed pose with an allegedly replica handgun.
Ranger has been arrested on suspicion of assault after a 33 year-old victim was found with a broken jaw in the Groat Market in Newcastle. Ranger is currently “helping police with their enquiries”, which is police talk for “being interrogated to see if he’ll ‘fess up” and if he’s charged and subsequently found guilty he could face prison.
There were rumours that Ranger had been transfer-listed earlier in this transfer window and I get the impression that both the manager and the boardroom hierarchy were running out of patience with his indiscipline and allegedly casual approach to training anyway, but this latest escapade could, I believe, see the end of his prospects as a professional footballer.
He’s not the first Newcastle player to get into trouble of course. Notably both Joey Barton and Andy Carroll have had their off-pitch controversy, but their on-pitch contributions seem to have persuaded various managers back them through their troubles, although I suspect that Alan Pardew will be reluctant to provide too much backing for Ranger. (more…)
Match highlights, with goals from Shola Ameobi (9mins), Fabricio Coloccini (53 mins) and great goal from substitute, Haris Vuckic in stoppage time. The sending off of the Columbus Crew goalkeeper didn’t help the cause of the home side. As usual, Cheick Tiote also picked up a yellow card for a wreckless challenge. (more…)
Haris Vuckic - potential star?Haris Vuckic: a name that top teams all across Europe were screaming out for. Trials with AC Milan, an interest from Manchester United and it was Newcastle United who landed his signature – a 16 year old Slovenian wonderkid.
Given his recent problems with injuries and fitness, a lot of people questioned whether or not “wonderkid” was a foregone conclusion and if he really is as good as he was touted to the fans. Haris, however, is taking all of that in his stride and during the three game tour of America, he is trying to change that.
A lot of 18 year olds at clubs tend to be fairly scrawny – their body waiting to fill out properly. Haris, on the other hand, has a frame that you would expect to find on a 25 year old midfielder – and he plays like one too.
Many of us may have seen the young lad play at reserve level and will know how he plays – direct, powerful, fast. (more…)
Newcastle United failed to produceHeat problems, turf issues and a collection of cartoon characters stood in the way of today’s game. Undeterred, Newcastle United went to watch a game of football – and that’s about all they did.
Immediately after kick off, the lads were forced to defend as Orlando City threw everything they had at us. Misplaced pass after misplaced pass plagued our team who were unable to escape their half of the pitch for the opening 5 minutes. Short of some smart runs and passing play (including a 1-6 between Alan Smith and Cheik Tioté), Orlando controlled the game.
In that time Ryan Taylor, who was playing at left back, managed to pick up a knock and was substituted on the 25th minute for Jose Enrique. Here’s hoping that knock is minor and he was taken off as a precaution.
Just so you have an idea of Orlando’s dominance, we had conceded around 4 or 5 corners at this stage – compared to the 0 Orlando had conceded.
Once the 35 minute mark had hit, Newcastle sprung to life and charged out of their end of the pitch, thanks to Enrique, and tried to keep the play beyond the centre circle. Dinks from Jonas (playing on the right!) was blocked, and as the ball was kicked out wide to Dan Gosling, he promptly ran into an Orlando defender. Canny. (more…)
