Cluck cluck.Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew praises Nolan and expects him to be fit for pre-season. The manager also gives more detail about Harper’s injury.
Now that Kevin Nolan is definitely finished playing for the season, Alan Pardew has taken the opportunity to praise the 12 goal midfielder:
“He brings leadership, technical ability and goals, very importantly, so we’re going to miss him.
“He’s played with this ankle for a while now and not really moaned, he’s just got on with it. But we needed to sort it out to give him a chance for a full pre-season, which will be important for him next year because there’ll be competition here for him and he’ll need to come back as near as dammit.
“It gives him more of a chance, and that’s why we’ve done it. Everyone’s got a little eye on next year, including myself now. We need to know exactly what we’ve got here and we need to increase the competition here.
“People need to step up and I think everybody’s realising that. There will be new players coming in here and competition will be greater.” (more…)
Ankle injury requires surgery.At the holy ground of St. James Park it’s always been a case of “it never rains but it pours”, which is of course the shortened version. The full idiom is “it never rains but it pours toxic waste with the occasional sharp object thrown in to further increase damage.” Not even joking.
Our long standing goalkeeper Steve Harper has already decided to stay on the bench in favour of giving young Tim Krul a chance to impress between the sticks and so far the young Dutchman has done exactly that, and long may it continue! Newcastle United may lack depth in other areas, we have a wealth of gold in our goalkeepers and have done for many years but now it seems it’s time for that young gold to start shining as Ole Soderberg will be on the bench for the important game against Chelsea this coming Sunday. (more…)
The moustachio was a mistakeJoey Barton wants to pledge his future to Newcastle United, allegedly. Enrique is more of an enigma, but what about our triplet of talented keepers?
The summer will be interesting in many respects for Newcastle United, not least to see who leaves the club and who comes in. However, if the recent comments of a ‘source close to Joey’ are anything to go by, Joey Barton won’t be one of the leavers.
“Joey wants to stay at Newcastle because he is happy here.
“He may be opinionated at times, but he hasn’t forgotten what Newcastle did for him during his time at the club, and he’s got a lot of respect for all of the staff there, from the manager down.
“There has been talk that he was ready to quit the club, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“His main priority is to stay here – and always has been.
“Joey has got a great rapport with the Newcastle fans who obviously appreciate his efforts on the pitch, and he wants that relationship to continue.”
Of course a ‘source close to Joey’ could be his cat for all we know but I do tend to think that he wants to stay at Newcastle. No doubt Ashley will want to reduce his wages but if it isn’t to an insulting level then, personally, I’d expect him to be lining up in black and white next season despite alleged interest in the player from Hamburg and despite the fact the club failed to get him on a new contract in January. (more…)
Tim Krul on one of his murderous rampages.With an injury to Steve Harper that could see him out for the rest of the season, the responsibility falls to young Tim Krul to take his spot at the Gallowgate between the uprights.
We expect ball catcher extraordinaire Steve Harper to be back for the beginning of the 2011/2012 season, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Easington born ‘keeper. There are question marks surrounding the rightful owner to the number 1 shirt just 2 seasons after Harper finally claimed first choice goalkeeper.
Steve’s position in the squad is constantly under threat from Tim Krul and Hexham born Fraser Forster. Fraser doesn’t want to sit on the bench, and Tim is more than willing to do that to cement his place at St. James Park. With youngsters Jak Alnwick and Ole Soderberg steaming up through the ranks, we’re reminded exactly how blessed we are in the goalkeeping department here at Newcastle.
The unfortunate thing for Tim Krul is that even if he does manage to take the shirt from Harper’s back, he still has Fraser Forster to contend with. With them being of similar age, it will be even more difficult for Tim to retain the shirt, or maybe for the club to keep Forster on the books – after all, he doesn’t want to warm the bench. (more…)
Who's best?Right, there has been many an argument / heated debate between Toon followers about the perceived merits of our 2 top ‘keepers. Some say that current number one choice, Steve Harper, lacks ambition for staying with the club so long as perennial back up to Shay Given, while others praise his loyalty.
There were plenty who claimed Harper was the better option, but that due to Given’s whining in the press when coming back from injury, he forced various manager’s hands and got back into the team, not always on merit.
Some would say Harper wasn’t tough enough and gave way to Given for the sake of ‘team morale’.
Some prefer Tim Krul to Harper. Being the younger option to Harper, who is in the Autumn of his career and claiming he needed ‘blooding’ into the Premiership way of things and that he wouldn’t get that ‘doing a Harper’ from the bench.
Harper certainly has the experience through years at the club and his loyalty can’t really be questioned. Steve has also waited patiently for his opportunity. (more…)
Tim Krul on one of his murderous rampages.