Allez HBA!France begin their warm up schedule for the Euros at 8pm tonight against Iceland at the Stade De Hainaut in Valenciennes. The match will be televised in the UK on ESPN.
A number of players deployed by Les Bleus are regarded as fringe players who can still force their way into the final French squad for the European championship opener against England in June. Mathieu Debuchy, Gael Clichy, Yoann Gourcuff, Marvin Martin, Hatem Ben Arfa, Mathieu Valbuena, Jeremy Menez and Olivier Giroud are all among those who could get a look in at Valenciennes. Striker Loic Remy has been ruled out of contention for the Euros.
Yohan Cabaye will also play but his place in the final squad is thought to be secured.
Hatem Ben Arfa has admitted he is a bag of nerves going into this game, as he was in the same position in 2008 when he was cruelly left out of the final squad. (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…)
The end of the season is finally upon us. A season in which defied all expectations. A season where even the most optimistic of Toon fans would have struggled to predict what would be.
Newcastle United gate-crashed the top six, and also knocked on the door of the Premier League’s top four. As it turned out at 5pm on Sunday the 13th of May 2012, Newcastle United were confirmed as finishing in 5th place, above Chelsea, above Liverpool, and above the majority of peoples expectations.
The Europa League awaits the Magpies next season, a new chapter or perhaps a new beginning is on the horizon. But before we look forward into what might be, I’m now going to relive the season that was. Cast my mind back and tell the tale of Newcastle United’s 2011 / 2012 season. I hope you are all sitting comfortably… (more…)
Attack, attack, attack!Following on from my piece on the contributions of our defenders and utilty players this season, let’s carry on with our assessment of Newcastle’s players with a view to deciding who is our Player of the season. I’ll be moving on the engine room now, and later the forwards. There are undoubtedly a few worthy recipients here!
Cisse's big banana beat Benny's Bolton dribble.Well, it’s been a week for Newcastle United picking up awards with manager, Alan Pardew, recently being awarded the Barclay’s (bloody awful bank by the way – I know!) “Manager of the Season” award.
Well on BBC’s “Match of the Day” on yesterday evening, there were no less than three Newcastle United contenders (out of ten) for the show’s coveted “Goal of the Season” award. The first was Ryan Taylor’s mag-nificent strike against Everton from November of last year, the second, Hatem Ben Arfa’s mag-nificent strike against Bolton in April of this year, and finally, Papiss Cisse’s, er, mag-nificent strike against Chelsea at the beginning of this month. Of those, both Ben Arfa’s and Cisse’s efforts were regarded as being amongst the best three by sofa pundits, the two Alans (Dull and Duller), with Peter Crouch’s amazing volley for Stoke against Manchester City being the other one. (more…)
