Ian Holloway - The surprise package of the weekend.Well that is pretty much it from weekend number one of the Premier League season, but what have you made of it?
I’ve been watching football most of the day and have been catching up on all of yesterdays Premier League games.
Some of it was great, brilliant, just what the Premier League is supposed to be about, but there was also a lot of dross on display yesterday in fairness. There is only us and Manchester United left to play this weekend, so now everybody has seen the other teams in action, have you revised your opinions on our fortunes for this season? (more…)
Carroll: More committed than ever.Hot on the heels of all the earlier talk about new contracts and the like, Andy Carroll appears to be giving out a lesson in how to scotch press rumours.
It isn’t the first time that Carroll has turned tubthumper for The Toon, and he has intimated several times before that he doesn’t want to leave Newcastle.
The speculation continued though, with moves to Stoke and Birmingham being lined up by the press, aswell as those farcical rumours that Carroll was being eyed by Chelsea as a replacement for Didier Drogba. I mean, he is highly rated, but the reporter who suggested that must have stuck in the office with the superglue on that particular day. (more…)
Carroll: New contract talks in the offing?It looks like Newcastle are going to make a move towards securing the future of one of it’s rising stars, with Andy Carroll tipped to start negotiations on a new contract.
The Chronicle say that Carroll will be offered the chance of securing his long-term future on Tyneside, which is something that will come as a blow to the likes of Bimingham and Stoke who have both been long term admirers of Carroll, apparently. The constroversial Gatshead one-punch machine gun made a move a few weeks back to distance himself from leaving Newcastle and insisted he is happy playing regular football for his boyhood club. And now it appears that he will be offered the opportunity to spend his his next few years developing on home soil, whilst also upping a sale price if any club should come sniffing around for the player. (more…)
Not enough help, or not helping himself?Given the size of the current squad, Newcastle United can ill-afford any casualties in the coming weeks, and supporters are waiting with bated breath for signs of recruitments, just in case. But it seems like for now, either our fortunes have changed or the way our players are being looked after has, because injuries have been relatively few and the complications limited, in comparison to recent years. Or is it more to do with players and their attitudes?
Last season we had important players with long lay-offs and niggling reoccurring injuries that hampered their contribution to the cause, and ultimately that played a big part in things going pear-shaped. But the injury jinx has been around longer than just last season, at a club that has seen more than it’s fair share of injury nightmares.
Of course one of those players who suffered badly from injury during his spell at St James’ was Irish international full-back, Stephen Carr who never transferred the promise he showed before signing for us. Possibly much of that was due to his in ability to stay fit and command a regular place. Despite a relatively low fee for his services, seventy-eight appearances in nearly three seasons was not a good return and he never looked fit enough to be a Premiership full-back.
However, he wasn’t the only one to suffer from injuries, and there were particularly specific injuries that a number of players seemed to suffer from including tendonitis and hamstring injuries. Fans questioned the training methods and the quality of the facilities available. Even when Sam Allardyce turned up with his forward-thinking and scientific approach, we still suffered badly. And Carr has gone on record to say that it wasn’t necessarily the players who were the problem. (more…)
