Needs to prove himselfNewcastle United manager Alan Pardew has high praise for Haris Vuckic despite only having seem him play once.
You can tell it’s building up to silly season. The press already has Enrique at Liverpool, Barton at Birmingham, Tiote at Spurs and the entire team wearing the goalkeeper’s strip at away games.
I expect the summer will also consist of rumours about Ashley selling the club, Pardew being sacked, Keegan making a comeback and Llambias opening an owl sanctuary. It’s about par for the course.
Us bloggers really ought to sue the press for infringing on our jobs. Blogs are supposed to post rumour, speculation and gossip whereas the press are supposed to stick to reliable, confirmed news.
Thankfully The Sunday Sport made a return last weekend, so we might finally get some proper news. I was all for WWII bombers being found on the moon and everyone knows Elvis is alive and well and living in Grimsby.
Still, I digress. I expect the question most bothering you this morning is: what happened to Haris Vuckic? No? Well please yourselves, I’m going to talk about him anyway. (more…)
Like a swan, only more Yugoslavian. And taller.The 34 year old Yugoslavian has barely had a sniff of a football, but can he do a job for us?
I’m probably in the minority when I say that Shefki should get more than 3 minute cameos here and there, but I was also in the minority when I backed Leon Best and look how he turned out for us. Of course, the 34 year old Finn doesn’t exactly have age on his side but he made more of an impact in front of goal in his 5 minutes on the pitch at Villa Park than young Nile Ranger made all game.
After being haunted by the turmoil of his youth and later seeing a tragedy strike his close friend, and fellow footballer, Besian Idrizaj who unfortunately passed away aged 22 after a heart attack. Kuqi’s face is weathered by age and experience, but the question still remains: can he do the Newcastle United shirt a service?
Alan Pardew has mentioned that Kuqi’s personality would be perfect to wear the famous number 9 but also concedes age and lack of ability would ensure he never wears the famous shirt and to an extent, I agree. Shefki Kuqi has spent most of his footballing life in the Championship with occasional spells in the Premier League and he has never and will never set the footballing world on fire. (more…)
Haris Vuckic - Edging closer to the first team?Well here we are, a third of the way through our season, sitting in eighth place. Arguably we could be even higher, but eighth place isn’t bad at all, and is more than I expected anyway.
Of course, being a third of the way through the season also has it pitfalls. It’s a well used cliche, but it is a long, hard season, and injuries and suspensions soon mount up.
Newcastle are going through a little spell of injuries and suspensions themselves at the moment. The suspensions to Joey Barton and Chieck Tiote have added to what seems to be a growing injury list, with Andy Carroll being the latest player to encounter some form of injury problem after he picked up a groin problem in the 0-0 draw against Fulham at the weekend – An injury that could hamper bigger lad making his England debut on Wednesday night.
Few can deny that losing Carroll will be a massive blow to the team, if we do end up losing him to injury of course. The Gatsehead lad has established himself as a key figure in th Newcastle side, and losing what he brings to the team is far from ideal. The exact same thing can be said for Cheick Tiote who has been largely excellent since his he made his debut against Everton back in September. (more…)
Vučkić: “I love the game and the people here”Perhaps the most talented of Newcastle United’s crop of young talent waiting in the wings, Slovenian, Haris Vučkić, has been speaking on his life at Newcastle United. He spoke of the interest shown in the young star from the likes of Manchester United, AC Milan and Real Madrid, Newcastle United’s League Cup tie with Arsenal tomorrow evening, and life at Newcastle in general.
He began on the interest from some of the giants from the footballing world:
“I didn’t know too much about AC Milan or Real Madrid until I read it in the papers back home.” Vuckic began, moving on to his life at Newcastle, and how his head hasn’t been turned by the high profile outside interest. He continued:
“If Manchester United or Real Madrid are watching you, it tells you that you are doing the right things, but it won’t disturb me. I’m only thinking about Newcastle in the future. (more…)
Smoggie Ranger?News emerged yesterday suggesting that Middlesbrough could be looking to take Nile Ranger to The Riverside on loan.
Now apart from all the jokes about empty seats at their ground and the less than glamorous surroundings of Middlesbrough, I actually think that this would be a good move.
I don’t know about you guys and gals, but I’m getting increasingly fed up with what is looking to be some of the best youth talent we have had on our books for some considerable time not getting as much as a sniff of the first-team. Highly coveted youngsters like Ranger and Haris Vuckic will just stagnate if they aren’t given the opportunity to flourish.
First-team football should be part of any young players development. No amount of Under-18 games or reserve matches will beat the cut and thrust of playing in the first team. A case in point being Kazenga Lua Lua who is currently plying his trade at Brighton, and is earning numerous pladits for his performances by all accounts. (more…)
