Carroll the killer!Newcastle played out a decent 1-1 draw away at Wolves this afternoon.
An away point is always welcome, especially against a team that is likely to be a rival near the bottom of the table this season. Newcastle dominated most of the proceedings though, and will feel that perhaps they should have been travelling back north with the three points in the bag.
Referee Stuart Atwell, a native Midlander who lives around 20 miles from Molineux, was an absolute joke and should hang his head in shame at some of his decisions today. Indeed Atwell is no stranger to ridiculous decisions and was struck of the referee register not so long back for a series of blunders. On the evidence of today I would suggest that the space on the register be restored to Mr Atwell after he produced the yellow card an impressive twelve times during the course of the game. (more…)
Lovenkrands: A story of turmoil, tragedy and success.The last in the series of our player reviews for the 09/10 season will take a look at our strikers and how they have done this season.
We have already worked our way through the team starting with goalkeepers before moving onto have a look at our defence and midfield. Our strikers have been very important for us this season and have combined to score over half of our goals this season, 47 of them in fact, and they have been spread pretty evenly between the various front men. For the first half of the season we spent our time playing mainly one striker with Kevin Nolan in an attcking support role, something that has probably helped Nolan score so many goals whilst limiting the chance of any strikers hitting the 20 goal mark. Still, it’s a team game as the saying goes, and as long as the ball is hitting the back of the net I don’t really care which player scores them. Let’s take a look anyway. (more…)
Ready to sign on the line?It looks like Steven Taylor is set to be offered a new contract by Newcastle United during the summer in an effort to persuade the possible future captain that his future does lay at St James’ Park. Manager Chris Hughton will urge Mike Ashley to sit down with Taylor and thrash out a deal that will tempt the defender into putting pen to paper on a new improved contract.
I have my own very cynical view of this, of which I will go into in more detail later on, but it does look like a very positive move from the club as they look to secure the future of the lad who has spent nearly his whole life on Tyneside. It also moves to quash any lingering doubts surrounding whether Steven Taylor and Andy Carroll can put any differences aside after their now infamous bust-up a while back. Unfortunately it looks like we won’t see Stevie Taylor in first team action again this season as playing him at QPR is deemed too much of a risk for the 24 year old, but few can deny that up until the knee injury suffered back in January he was a very integral part of what has turned out to be the meanest defence in the division. (more…)
Part of the Fab four!It’s that time of the season where awards start getting dished out, both to recognise personal achievements and team achievements throughout the season.
We have already had Kevin Nolan named as the Championship Player of the Year, but last night it was time to announce the PFA Championship Team of the Year. The PFA awards were held at a glittering ceremony in London, and whilst Wayne Rooney must be pleased to have walked of with the PFA Player of the Year award, it doesn’t really interest me so much. What does interest me is the Championship Team of the year, which turns out features four players from Newcastle United this season. They are Fabricio Coloccini (as pictured), Jose Enrique, Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll. (more…)
Taylor: Muckraking hypocrite.Football’s most risible muckraker, The Guardian’s North East football correspondent, Louise Taylor, has declared war on football supporters with computers who have the nerve to queer her own pitch; spreading specious tittle tattle and general nastiness about virtually anyone associated with Newcastle United football club.
Obviously distressed by the competition, her latest piece of astoundingly hypocritical venom is entitled “Blog standard lies in the gutter”. It concentrates on Louise’s latest hobby horse, the alleged incident between Andy Carroll and Steven Taylor and also a recent rumour about Aston Villa’s manager, Martin O’Neill which have allegedly been doing the rounds on Aston Villa sites recently. I’ll leave that section for the Villa fans to get furious about, and concentrate on the latest chapter of Taylor’s hateful screed about Newcastle United, it’s staff and it’s supporters.
After casually describing football supporters (her own readers) and the ‘web as an “increasingly noxious mix” who should have their fingers taped together every time they go near a keyboard, she then smears us all by association with the tags of racism and homophobia. As she has in all her stories in the past few weeks, she then moves on to her own latest smear story, which she simply will not shut up about, her mischief making about the “ALLEGED altercation” between Andy Carroll and Steven Taylor. In what could be a remarkably accurate description of her own jaundiced drivel, she rants: (more…)
