What, me again?Well, 1732 of you voted at the time of writing, and for the second time in a row NUFC Blog’s player of the season is (drumroll):
Fabricio Coloccini!
He beat off Tim Krul into second for the second time in a row too, with Davide Santon replacing Yohan Cabaye on the bottom siep of the podium. However, a poor season for the team seemed to make it much harder for all of you who voted to pick a decisive winner. Last year Captain Colo recieved received a mighty 34% of the entire vote, or 525 votes out if 1522. This year however it was only 17%, or 287 votes out of the aforementioned 1732.
You can see the full results in the poll at the bottom of this piece.
Though not a perfect defender, many are better in the air including central defensive teammates such as Mike Williamson and Steven Taylor, his abilty with the ball on the floor and the way he can build play from the back have marked him out in Newcastle United’s heart of defence. Unfortunately though, this quality has hardly been a feature of Newcastle United’s play in general under the old fashioned “kick and rush” style of Alan Pardew. (more…)
♫ "Blue is the callah, football is the game!" ♫Venue: Stamford Bridge, London. Date: Saturday 25th August, 2012. Kick-Off: 5:30pm. Referee: Phil Dowd. UK TV: ESPN / HD.
Roberto Di Matteo’s Chelsea await the Magpies this Saturday, as Newcastle United return to Premier League action in the capital for another live ESPN scheduled encounter.
Alan Pardew will look to build on last weeks 2-1 home victory versus Tottenham Hotspur at a ground in which we are now undefeated for four games. This stretches back to the 2008 / 2009 season where we left with a point after a 0-0 draw.
You can’t help but reminisce about last seasons fixture, where a certain Papiss Cissé opened the scoring with a sublime flick and volley in the first half to put United 1-0 up. Unfortunately for that particular strike, it was completely overshadowed by what he managed to do late into injury time, when he smashed a right-foot volley at an insane angle past Petr Cech, securing Newcastle the three points in a 2-0 victory. If you haven’t witnessed that goal, then I seriously suggest you scroll straight to the bottom of this page right now and watch it before reading any further. (more…)
Newcastle United v Olympiacos highlights (opens in new window). Highlights from yesterday evening’s “Guadiana Torneo” match, which saw Newcastle United drawing 1-1 with Greek Super League champions, Olympiacos, at the Estádio Algarve, Faro, Portugal.
It was Steven Taylor who opened the scoring for the Magpies after 25 minutes on his return from a very long injury layoff. However, Kostas Mitroglou levelled for Olympiacos in the 79th minute, even though they were down to ten men after Francois Modesto was sent off five minutes beforehand for receiving two yellow cards. This meant that the match went to penalties. I won’t tell the result of the penalties if you haven’t seen them yet, but don’t look below if you want to watch them first! (more…)
Another award for el Capitán - This time it's the big one!Well, 1485 of you have voted, and we can finally declare that the NUFC Blog readers’ “Player of the Season” is (drumroll):
Fabricio Coloccini!
Second in our 2010 vote, and third in 2011, it’s a case of third time lucky for the curly locked Capitán Colo after beating second placed Tim Krul and third placed Yohan Cabaye convincingly to finally clinch the greatest honour a Newcastle United player can receive. His excellent defensive performances apart, perhaps it was his leadership role this season, a season which saw Newcastle United make it into the Europa League for the first time since 2006/7, which has finally clinched it for him this time?
Though undoubtedly small beer now he has scooped this, the ultimate award, our captain was also the only Newcastle United’s only player to make the Professional Footballers’ Association Premiership “Team of the Year” for his key role in what has been a very good season for the Magpies overall. (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…)
