Instead of Tiote?Is there a case for giving Dan Gosling a run in the Newcastle United midfield instead of Cheick Tiote who, this writer argues, isn’t having the best run of form?
In a recent interview, Cheick Toite has been saying he’s been enjoying his new partnership with Yohan Cabaye in the centre of midfield. Tiote said:
“Last week I think we played very well together. It is good and it is working well.
“Last season was different with Kevin Nolan, it was a different style of play. Kevin went forward more and scored goals.
“Yohan is a more technical player and uses a different style. They are both good players.
“But Yohan likes to play with the ball more – he brings the best out of me. If you are a winning team the most important area is the midfield.”
Now I will admit that I didn’t see the Villa game last weekend as I was otherwise engaged, but I have seen every other match this season and I thought that the Tiote-Cabaye partnership was something that needed work. (more…)
Match highlights from yesterday evening’s nailbiting 3-4 thriller against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup.
Features two goals from Peter Lovenkrands. The first featuring an astounding pass from comeback kid, Hatem Ben Arfa, and a pretty tidy assist from his French compadre Sylvain Marveaux too. The third was an almost certain cross which ended up in the goal from Danny Simpson, and finally, the “Coup de grâce” in the dying seconds of extra time from the head of Captain Coloccini.
Also features the three Nottingham Forest goals from Finley, Derbyshire and Tudgay.
Apologies for the slightly wobbly nature of the videocam highlights. As you probably know, TV coverage of this game was none existent so it’s a case of “any port in a storm” this time. I will keep my eyes peeled, and should anyhting better show up, I will replace it. Thanks by the way to ironically named site user, “Free Scoring Smudge” for pointing this out.
Building up expectationsAlan Pardew puts paid to the idea of bringing in any free agents to plug any gaps in the Newcastle United squad, and he looks forward to the return of Hatem Ben Arfa.
You are probably not surprised to find out that this is ‘it’ now in terms of the squad until January. Pardew has previously told us that the loan market isn’t the way the club wants to go to plug any gaps – such as the striker we missed out on in the transfer window – and he has today confirmed that we won’t be pursuing free agents either. Pardew said:
“I’ve no intention of bringing a free agent in. I’ll go with the group.
“I think you have to remember I’ve got Hatem Ben Arfa training now. His imagination and flair on that pitch would have been a big asset for us – hopefully, fingers crossed, in two weeks’ time he’ll be on that pitch for us.” (more…)
Camden Council: Scuppers No.9 hunt, for now.Right, so now as the dust settles on another tansfer window, where we made some great early progress with players such as Cabaye, Marveaux, Obertan, Abeid and Ba, and a couple of late window acquisitions in the shape of Elliot and Santon, we’re all set for the next big game in the stop/start beginning to this Premier League campaign.
The squads have been handed in to the FA and ‘set in stone’ until the January window creaks open for another round of harem scarem frittering of perfectly good cash on journeymen three-time losers and other teams ‘deadwood’. Can’t wait! (well, maybe I can as I can’t stand the way we have to do business these days).
Anyhoo, Yes, we could’ve done with a new striker to amply fill the legendary No.9 jersey here at Toon towers. But, it is what it is, so we have to just pick ourselves (jaws included) up off the floor, dust ourselves down and go with what we have now.
It’s a real pity actually, ‘cos i’d ’employed’ Mrs. FLiCK to ‘find’ us a new NO.9. A job she totally came up trumps with.
Alas, we couldn’t quite make the deadline in the registration of the ‘Great Black ‘n’ White hope’ in time for the squad lists. I put this down to the inefficiency of Camden Council and their collective inability to speed up the registry service down here in London Town. We were told that we had to form an orderly queue outside the Camden Town Hall and it could take as long as 6 weeks. I said:
Llambias: Understands fan's frustrations?Most of you will be aware by now that yesterday, Newcastle United’s Managing Director, Derek Llambias, issued a statement on the club’s performance in the latest transfer window. It read:
“Now that the transfer window has closed, we have had some time to reflect on the business we have conducted over the summer.
“Our aim was to secure young players who represented value for money and could add real strength to the squad. The majority of our transfer dealings were completed in the early part of the window and we feel we have signed some players of exceptional quality. Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Mehdi Abeid, Demba Ba and Gabriel Obertan were all brought in early and we have seen these players settle quickly into the squad and perform well on the pitch.
“Earlier this week we were delighted to sign Davide Santon from Inter Milan to fill our left-back position after the departure of Jose Enrique. Davide is an excellent young prospect and we’re sure he’ll be another superb addition to the squad. We also welcomed young goalkeeper Rob Elliot from Charlton Athletic who will help us retain healthy competition for that position after loaning out Fraser Forster to Celtic.(more…)
