Hope he has this face after the gameSir Alex Ferguson reckons Tuesday’s game again Newcastle could be a ‘defining result’ for Manchester United.
Having just been turned over by Manchester City in the FA Cup, I suspect Man Utd will arrive at St James’ Park on Tuesday in what you might call a ‘bad mood’.
They will certainly be up for it and I think we’ll have to play out of our skins to get anything from the game.
Man Utd’s perpetual gum-chewing manager said:
“The Newcastle game is even more important than the matches we have just had, because it comes in a week when we also play Everton at home and that will leave us with only four games left – starting at Arsenal.
“So the Newcastle match is that crucial and we are well aware that it is a game we have to win.
“We have had some defining results there and big wins in fantastic, high-scoring matches and we need another.
“But we also once got slaughtered 5-0 at Newcastle – they are still selling the videos of that match up there!” (more…)
Preparing the totem pole for Man UnitedNewcastle United manager Alan Pardew has said that fringe players won’t be played just to get a look at them and insists that he’ll be putting out his strongest squad until the end of the season.
On Tuesday we’re hosting some little team of no-hopers from Manchester. I think they call themselves ‘United’, although I’m not sure.
The Alan Pardew Project has been talking about how he thinks the Manchester United manager might approach the game:
“Alex will be looking at it and thinking it’s a really big game on their agenda.
“He’s got us and Arsenal away, and he probably thinks they’re two tough games which will have a massive bearing on their season.
“I think he will target it. He won’t come here resting players because it’s the Premier League, not the FA Cup semi-final, and that’s their priority.
“He will police today’s semi-final and if he can save players for Tuesday, or take someone off to protect them, he will.
“They will be a really tough team to beat, but we’re really looking forward to it. We hope this is a difficult place for them to come. We’ve beaten Liverpool here in my first game, and we want another scalp.” (more…)
It’s always one thing or another with the Toon. I suppose at least we’re never bored!
Leon Best and Stephen Ireland in trouble for a nightclub event:
“Although we had both been ruled out of the game at Stoke, and didn’t travel with the team, we realise that going out to a bar was inappropriate ahead of Saturday’s game and we fully regret doing so.”
“We were asked to have our photograph taken and we removed our shirts as a tongue-in-cheek joke between friends, but of course the resulting coverage in the press suggests a far different night out. Whilst our actions were wrong, neither of us had consumed alcohol and we were out for only a very short period of time.”
Hmm, I suspect that’s stretching the phrase ‘consumed alcohol’. That’s a bit like saying Jessica Alba is only ‘slightly pretty’ or a lion arriving in your tent at night is only ‘slightly frightening’. I think you get my drift, which I’m sure you don’t.
Foot, gas, etc.Tough talking from Alan Pardew at Newcastle United.
Alan Pardew has been reiterating that players need to fight for their places, thusly:
“Every player is under scrutiny.”
And so they should be in my opinion. I’m not a huge fan of these ‘automatic starting places’ that squads often develop. I think everyone should be kept on their toes.
“It’s well documented we’ve got finances to improve the squad.”
Well, yes, I’ll gloss over that as I’m not in a controversial mood today. We’ll just have to wait and see what gets spent and on who. Or should that be ‘whom’? I do have a who/whom deficiency I will admit.
“So if I was a player here, I’d be making sure I was playing well to do my best to stay in the team next season.
“You can’t afford to take your foot off the pedal in this division because you’ll get embarrassed.
“Manchester United went to Wolves, took their foot off the gas and got beat. We can’t afford to do that. We’re aware we’ve still got a job to do until the very end.”
Only measure of success?What do Newcastle United supporters consider to be success?
I haven’t been on top form lately so I’m just throwing a few things together to give us something to talk about.
It’s always rotten on a weekend when there is no game, particularly when it’s one where your wife cuts all your hair off with a pair of garden sheers. That’s true by the way. Ask Worky – he saw the photo.
Obviously I exaggerated with the garden sheers bit, although not by much. Hair has long departed this writer’s head and the prospect of adding the word ‘style’ after it is frankly ludicrous. It’s one of them oxymoron things that were all the rage a while back (although I could never afford one). So my wife set about me with clippers and a razor.
An hour later we’d mopped all the blood away, filed for divorce and torn the cat in half for custody reasons. And I came upstairs with bog roll on my head to stem critical blood flow and thought there are tougher things than being a Newcastle supporter, even if they don’t involve being married to a homicidal wife with a passion for murdering by haircut.
This got me, by my usual rambling way, around to thinking about trophies (although not those given out for haircuts obviously).
