Toon done better than he thoughtAlan Shearer comments on Newcastle United’s 2010/2011 season.
Alan Shearer has been passing judgement on Newcastle’s 2010/2011 season and the former number 9 seems fairly content with the way things have gone. Shearer said:
“If I’m honest they have done better than I thought.
“I think I was like everyone else, probably a little bit apprehensive.
“You’’e got to give them credit they’ve done really well – they’ve stayed away from the bottom six for the majority of the season.
“I think that was their target when they first set out and they’ve achieved that, really, with ease.
“It’s never really been panic stations, as it has been in other seasons.”
Yes indeed. At the beginning of the season I would have settled for merely staying up. As the season went on and we looked a bit better, my ambitions increased a bit and a top 10 finish is still within our grasp (albeit a bit unlikely).
But, all in all, I’m just happy we’ve avoided a relegation fight this season. (more…)
Is the jury still out?A comparison between Chris Hughton and Alan Pardew, the two Newcastle United managers in the 2010/2011 season.
It is said that you can’t compare apples with oranges, although I think that’s bunk. I compared apples with oranges the other day and oranges are clearly better.
The point, though, is that if you’re going to make any sort of comparison between things, the circumstances of the comparison should be fairly similar or you’re not really going to be able to make any sort of valid comparison at all. It would be like comparing a bulldozer to an Amazonian tree frog: they’re such vastly different things that comparisons are pointless.
If, for example, we wanted to try and judge Alan Shearer’s ability as a manager we’d be hard pushed to do so. Forget for one moment his lack of experience and the fact that he spent most of the time since retiring from football sat on a sofa, we can’t compare him to another manager unless that manager took over the same team in the same circumstances. Which of course is impossible, so it would render any attempted comparisons subjective.
So please bear that in mind as I make an attempt to compare Alan Pardew with Chris Hughton. There is a lot of subjectivity and opinion in it. (more…)
Gervinho: Champions League for meSome of Newcastle United’s tipped transfer targets seem to have shut the door on a move to Tyneside.
As with any transfer speculation bear in mind that it is indeed just speculation, but two players the club was said to be interested in were Gervinho and Kevin Gameiro.
It seems however that both players have slammed the door on our club (assuming said speculation was true in the first place of course).
Lille and Ivory Coast striker Gervinho (whose real name is Gervais Yao Kouassi) has said he will only consider a move to clubs who are playing in the Champions League:
“I am trying my best to concentrate on the final push for the league. We want to win the championship. Also, we are in the cup final.
“At the end of the season, my advisers and I will speak to the club and see what to do, but if I am leaving a club which will play in the Champions League I will only go to one who is in the Champions League. It is the best competition and I want to be a part of that set-up every year.”
That would seem to rule us out for the 23 year-old who has 25 goals in 54 matches for Lille. (more…)
Needs to prove himselfNewcastle United manager Alan Pardew has high praise for Haris Vuckic despite only having seem him play once.
You can tell it’s building up to silly season. The press already has Enrique at Liverpool, Barton at Birmingham, Tiote at Spurs and the entire team wearing the goalkeeper’s strip at away games.
I expect the summer will also consist of rumours about Ashley selling the club, Pardew being sacked, Keegan making a comeback and Llambias opening an owl sanctuary. It’s about par for the course.
Us bloggers really ought to sue the press for infringing on our jobs. Blogs are supposed to post rumour, speculation and gossip whereas the press are supposed to stick to reliable, confirmed news.
Thankfully The Sunday Sport made a return last weekend, so we might finally get some proper news. I was all for WWII bombers being found on the moon and everyone knows Elvis is alive and well and living in Grimsby.
Still, I digress. I expect the question most bothering you this morning is: what happened to Haris Vuckic? No? Well please yourselves, I’m going to talk about him anyway. (more…)
Richie LargeportionsNewcastle United owner Mike Ashley is the 52nd richest man in the UK.
According to the Sunday Times Rich List, Mike Ashley’s fortune rose by £378m last year giving him a total wealth of £1,268,000,000, which is not to be sniffed at.
The sources of his riches are his stake in Sports Direct and monies received from property deals and dividends. But not Newcastle United.
If it was all in cash and he got just 1% interest that would equate to £12,680,000 before tax every year, which would certainly keep me in Earl Grey tea even at the vast amounts I drink. Although evidently – given Mr Ashley’s £378m increase last year – there are far better places to invest ones money than greedy, good for nothing banks at 1%.
This is good news for Newcastle fans as it means that Mr Ashley will be able to put huge amounts of money into the club to buy players next season and will not be worried about losing a few million here and there. I’m sure Mr Llambias will be chipping in too.
