John Carver: Spilling the beans on talent quest.In a break from the usual reflections by our silver supremo, Alan Pardew, his assistant, John Carver has given an interesting and fairly extensive glimpse into Newcastle United’s quest for more talent during the current international break.
Whilst awaiting a call from agent Pardew on where his next scouting mission will take him (apparently), Carver spilled the beans on the kind of things the club will be looking at in it’s current current talent quest for players who may have the NUFC ‘X-Factor’.
He revealed:
“We’ve made a decision on the players we grade highly, we will put together the data on them,” said Carver. “We’ve got a couple of analysts beneath the backroom team who put that together.
“If he’s a centre-forward we’ll look at his movement, his scoring, his fitness stats. Then we’ll look at his value in the current market depending on age. We’re quite thorough and we compare them to players in the Premier League.(more…)
Pardew: Keeping expectations down.Alan Pardew states in a recent interview that the team is keeping it’s collective feet firmly on the ground.
After Saturday’s dramatic win away to Wolves that has us still in the top four after all the weekends games, briefly peaking at third spot, it’s good to know that the lads are aware that there are bigger fish to fry just around the international corner.
Some will say we’ve had an easy-ish set of early fixtures, but you can only beat what’s put in front of you. We’ve done that and we are where we are through some solid hard work and a little bit of the fortune that has frequently deserted us in the past. There are always going to be knockers of NUFC, that’s par for the course, but this set of lads has given the manager a good headache about selecion, when everyone’s fit.
Here’s what Pardew had to say:
“To be where we are now is an outstanding achievement, not just by the players, but by the staff I have around me,” (more…)
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…)
Demba Ba: Hat-trick hero and M.O.T.M performance.Right, let’s have some ratings for the Blackburn win!
It was pretty much good stuff all round with a decent showing from a team that’s starting to gel. Very few black marks, the odd smudge, but nothing we couldn’t surmount.
Here goes!
Tim Krul 7.5:
Tim is fast becoming yet another top Toon ‘keeper and Toon legend at a young age. He did most things well, well, he didn’t have too much to do! Maybe needs to bark at his retreating defenders a bit to get them into position when facing an attack, as it was a case of players stood waiting for the shot that got Blackburn back into the game with a goal. Not wholly his problem though.
Danny Simpson 7:
Getting better with every game. His only smudge was backing off a bit when Olsson put the cross in for Hoilett to score. Got up the field to support (even in the dying minutes), but got back to defend. Good fitness too. (more…)
Sign of the times @ St James' ParkVenue: St James’ Park, Newcastle Date: Saturday, Sept 24th, 2011 Kick-off: 3:00pm Referee: Martin Atkinson
This week will see Newcastle United playing at home for the first time in four games, as Indian chicken mogul owned Blackburn Rovers pay a visit to St James’ Park.
The game will also be notable in that it will be the first one since Newcastle United’s new sign has been erected, flanked by further Sports branding to give the home of Geordie football a further air of class, sophistication and dignity.
Of course, the most famous link between the two clubs in modern times is Alan Shearer, who former Blackburn owner, Sir Jack Walker, famously refused to sell to Manchester United. So it was that Shearer subsequently became a Newcastle player for a then world record fee, and eventually, one of the highest goalscorers in Newcastle United’s history, arguably the highest, depending on whether you think Jackie Milburn’s wartime goals counted or not.
Of course, the days when Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United broke world record transfer fees are long gone now, though Newcastle currently find themselves rubbing shoulders with the kinds of clubs who can still afford such mind numbingly expensive transfer deals, standing as they do in the last of the top four Champion’s League places in the Premiership going into this game. (more…)
