Archive for category: Philip Airey.

How was Newcastle United’s transfer window for you? Let us know!

September 2nd, 2012 | 47 Comments |

Vurnon Anita showing his new Newcastle shirt.
Little Vurn: NUFC's "marquee" signing in this window.
As you no doubt know only too well, the Summer transfer window ended at 11pm on Friday evening. But are you happy, or not, overall, with the comings and goings at the club?

Reviewing the ingoings and outgoings at Newcastle United during this particular window (see table below), nine players have left the club and four have come in. I have included Ryan Donaldson and Phil Airey in the nine outgoings as they both enjoyed at least one or two outings for the first team in the past, though I have omitted several other Academy players who were released by the club in the infamous “night of the long knives” at the Benton Academy, when at least seven young prospects were axed in one go, plus the slightly older Kadar.

Though the figures are approximate, the overall spend for the club seems to be a figure of around +£2.64 million to +£3.14 million. Looking at the individuals involved will always be something of a subjective thing, but having a bash at some kind of assesment, I would say that the club has lost three squad members who had been very handy for the club when the inevitable injuries occured, or when more regular choices were fulfilling international commitments in major competitions such as the Africa Cup of Nations. We also lost the all but redundant Alan Smith (and his huge wages), the talented but constantly on loan Fraser Forster, the once regarded as highly promising defender, Tamas Kadar, who never quite failed to live up to earlier expectations, as well the two bairns mentioned above. (more…)


Another “night of the long knives” at St James’ Park

June 1st, 2012 | 22 Comments |

Night of the long knives at SJP.
The night of the long knives at SJP.
Newcastle United announced their list of retained players (players who’s contracts have expired but are being renewed) earlier this evening.

Of course though, these lists are usually at least as notable for the players are being released as much as those who are being returned.

Firstly, the once seemingly never ending saga which was Alan Smith at Newcastle United is finally over. The player who admitted that he would “never be the same player again” even before he signed a £50,000+ per week 5 year contract for Newcastle after (not quite) recovering from a horrific leg break is finally an ex-Newcastle United player.

However, he isn’t the only notable squad member to be given the push. As has been widely speculated in the football gossip columns for some time, Danny Guthrie and Peter Lovenkrands will also be leaving, along with the once much hyped Hungarian hog harrier, Tamas Kadar, who never quite lived up to expectations in a black and white shirt. (more…)


Pardew’s policy on the bairns

March 9th, 2011 | 51 Comments |

Phil Airey, Newcastle.
Toon future maybe.
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew talks about his philosophy on the bairns.

I like discussions about the youngsters and tried recently to get you all interested in it via that Italian tournament. Which you all promptly ignored!

Anyway, let’s begin with what Pardew said:

I think that depends on the results.

We’ve still got a bit of work to do, to make sure we’re safe and we want to finish as high as we can.

But I won’t hesitate with Ferguson like I did at the start of the Everton game, because I can see he will be very buoyed by his performance for us.

That’s good for us moving forward and it might even be good in terms of the next game, because if José doesn’t make it, he will definitely come into contention for starting the game. (more…)


Newcastle 1-1 Lecce: not enough for the final 16 of the Torneo di Viareggio

February 28th, 2011 | 5 Comments |

Phil Airey, Newcastle United youth team
Phil Airey's goal wasn't enough
A draw against Lecce for the Newcastle United youngsters proves not to be enough to qualify for the last 16 of the Torneo di Viareggio.

I have been reporting the Newcastle youth team’s exploits in the Torneo di Viareggio since our first game last week, so I may as well wrap it up with a brief report on our 1-1 draw with Lecce.

After losing our first match to Fiorentina we had to win the last two matches to be sure of qualification. Unfortunately we only drew with Club Nacional, which meant we’d have to win our final match against Lecce and other results would have to go our way in order to qualify for the last 16.

Alas it wasn’t to be and we only managed a 1-1 draw with Lecce.

Apparently we passed the ball well but simply did not create enough chances and eventually found ourselves one down. We managed to level things up via a free kick from Phil Airey and continued to press forward, having a lot of possession, but we simply couldn’t get a winning goal.

We had to settle for third in the table in the end and, as Fiorentina won, we wouldn’t have qualified even if we’d won too. (more…)


Balkan success for the Newcastle young’uns.

May 24th, 2010 | 140 Comments |

Phil Airey: Making a name for himself.
Phil Airey: Making a name for himself.
As club football enters hibernation for a short few months, there isn’t really much to talk about regarding football matches until the World Cup rolls around in a few weeks.

However, I have managed to latch onto some action from the under-18 team who have been away in Bosnia trying to defend their “Football Friends” title that they won last year. The tournament is held in Foca and is aimed towards building friendship and unity in what was an area ripped apart by the ravages of war. It was once a breeding ground to a golden generation of stars who cut their teeth in the tournament before breaking onto the world stage. Davor Suker, Predrag Mijatovic and Zvonomir Boban all plied their trade in the tournament before going to greater things at both national and international levels. (more…)