Maiga - still top target?Newcastle United are riding high in 3rd place in the Premier League but groundwork is already being undertaken in preparation for the January transfer window.
The last 10 minutes or so of yesterday’s game against Wolves nearly caused me to “‘ave a connery“, as DelBoy might say, but a combination of good fortune and good saves from both Krul and his defenders saw us take all three points and raised us – at least until Chelsea play – to the lofty heights of 3rd in the table.
I think we certainly rode our luck yesterday as we have done in a few other games this season but, credit where it’s due, we have also defended very well and look to be getting things together as a unit a bit more now.
I think 3rd place flatters us but even if we say that Lady Luck has gifted us 6 points this season, we’d still be 7th, which isn’t too shabby in itself.
We also have ‘significant’ players still on the sidelines. Neither Ben Arfa, Davide Santon, Silvian Marveaux, Haris Vuckic nor Dan Gosling featured yesterday through either injury or lack of opportunity, so it would seem we have talent in reserve. Let’s not forget the likes of Medhi Abeid, Shane Ferguson and Sammy Ameobi from the ‘youth’ setup either. (more…)
On paper this should be a low scoring game and I could see no goals at all from my reading of the tea leaves this morning, although maybe that’s because I use tea bags.
I’ve been zapped by particles of optimism from Betelgeuse today though and went for a 2-1 win to us in the Prediction Competition this week, so I guess I’ll have to stick with that. Incidentally, ‘sirjasontoon’ still leads the competition and ‘El Toro’ had the cheek to knock me down to third place last week. (more…)
£13m+, allegedlyNewcastle United may need to find £13m+ if they want to bring Pappis Demba Cisse to the club in the January transfer window.
Having allegedly had a £10m bid for Papiss Demba Cisse rejected in the summer transfer window, it would seem that Newcastle will have to find more than that if they want to bring the striker to St James’ Park in January. Furthermore, we’d find ourselves competing with the Mackems for his signature from Freiburg.
Cisse definitely wants to move on from the German club and recently told German radio:
“I want to leave. I want to try to play at a different level.”
And Freiburg chairman Fritz Keller is fairly pragmatic about the matter, saying:
“We are all still pretty calm, the boy has been doing a little in-house advertising, that’s legitimate.
“As long as he is scoring goals for us, then things are very well.” (more…)
Colo: let's not get carried awayNewcastle United’s current 4th place position is very pleasing, if a little unexpected. But how does this bode for the rest of the season?
We’re 4th in the Premier League and we can afford some optimism about that, although I think that should be guarded optimism as I suspect the only way from here is down. Captain Coloccini’s Bouffant has been speaking recently about how we should keep our feet on the ground too. Or at least that’s the way our Assistant Manager tells it. John Carver said:
“We’re not getting carried away – it’s important we keep our feet on the ground.
“There are some good characters here, and some different characters.
“The first thing Colo said after coming off the pitch was that we need to keep our feet on the ground. That’s important coming from the captain.
“There are people here who’ve been around the game long enough to make sure not one person gets carried away with what we’ve done so far.(more…)
Loves playing for NewcastleJonas signs a new contract with Newcastle United, much to Alan Pardew’s relief.
It seems that Jonas Gutierrez has managed to see eye to eye with the club in a way that Barton and Nolan couldn’t because the club has signed him up for another four years.
He’s previously expressed an interest in playing in Italy, but it seems his desire to stay at Newcastle overrides that. Jonas said:
“I’ve said many times that I love playing for Newcastle. I love the city, the fans and the team. So I had no hesitation in signing a new contract. It has been a good start to the season and this is a great place to be.
“I am proud that the manager and the board see me as part of the long-term future of Newcastle. I have always given my best here and I will always do that.” (more…)
