Has been a key player for us.Having already taken a look at our goalkeepers and defenders, the focus for the next edition of our player review moves up the pitch again to see how our midfield have performed throughout the season.
It’s been a strange position for us this year. On one hand, some say the midfield has been our achilles heel, it lacks mobility and creativity. On the other hand though, it has been a position that has yielded a return of 30 goals from the season. Without checking, that is probably a damn sight more than what we have had in return from the past few seasons. Of course 17 of them have come from Kevin Nolan which has helped improve that figure, but despite the criticism that has been aimed at them from time to time they have chipped in with their fair share of assists aswell. After all, strikers need service from somewhere, right? (more…)
Sucker-punch!An early boxing day start took me to Hillsborough in the hope we could continue our fine run of form against struggling Sheff Wed. It’s been well documented recently that our boxing day winning record has been less than impressive – the next chance we get, it will have been 22 years since we won! Here is my account of the match, and the day out in general…
After arriving in Sheffield and quickly finding a car parking space, me and my mate set off for the pre-match ritual pint. After a half-mile walk up an icy hill, The White Horse beckoned. Honestly, it was just like old times when we used to take over pubs and city centres, with toon flags outside and toon fans only inside.
Feeling refreshed, we walked to the ground taking our seats (second row, directly behind the goal), and sat down to enjoy the warm-up. I experienced that heart-sinking feeling as I watched our boys warming up, and quickly worked out that there was no Alan Smith, and that Nicky Butt was warming up with the starting XI (more…)
Still a flying Frenchman?Well he might somthing like that if he turns down the recent pleas of former Newcastle favourite Laurent Robert. Robert is a free agent after being released by Larissa FC of Greece and had been training with Fabrice Pancrate at Paris St Germain. And it’s Pancrate who is acting as the go-between after Robert asked him to put a good word in for him with Chris Hughton.
According to reports in The Journal and The Times, Pancrate has passed on Robert’s phone number and left it up to Hughton to make a decision on whether or not to bring the former French international back for a second spell at Newcastle and Pancrate is quoted as saying via an interpreter:
“I had a lot of conversations with Laurent and he told me about how amazing this city was, how incredible the fans are and how much I would enjoy my time here.
“As soon as I walked through the doors I realised he was right.
“I think Laurent is in talks with Paris St Germain at the moment, but he told me that he would like to come back here.(more…)
Sideshow Bob: "A real class defender" says Hughton.Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton, has been giving ’nuff respect to more players on nufcTV. This time, Hughton’s effusive praise has been heaped upon the two Fabs, Colloccini and Pancrate, and a back in the goals Peter Lovenkrands.
Lovenkrands hailed.
First to be showered with praise was recently troubled Dane, Lovenkrands, who has struggled with family illness and a lack of full match fitness in the last few months. On the Great Dane, Hughton gushed:
“He gives us that pace up the middle and is a great outlet,”
On his goalscoring performance in the Swansea game, he effused:
“I thought he coped with the 90 minutes tremendously well given the fact it was his first game for a while.
“He was full of running towards the end and that’s testament to his hard work.
“He got a good goal and it was a great assist for Marlon.
“That performance will lift him and I thought overall he was excellent.”(more…)
Two goals and two fingers!Seems like everybody was expecting a tight if tidy affair at St James’ today and with two of the meanest defences in the division, a high-soring game wasn’t on the cards. But with barely a third of the game gone, Newcastle were three goals to the good and showboating as some of the travelling contingent headed for early beers.
Expectations were high that Swansea would prove to be a well-organised and competent football team, particularly stingy at the back but a new-look forward line of Peter Lovenkrands and Marlon Harewood put paid to that theory within half an hour of the kick-off, and Swansea looked like just another fairly average Championship side. Eeh that Marlon Harewood, eh? I always knew he just needed time to settle in…
Harewood’s first came from a bouncing ball in the box and with the defence hesitant he headed the ball in the net to make it 1-0. After some good build up play on the left, Gutierrez finally managed to do what we have been crying out for him to do and delivered perfectly with his left, so that Lovenkrands had the simplest of headers to make it 2-0 with 21 minutes gone. And before we’d reached the thirty minute mark, more good work on the left and and an almost identical cross from Lovenkrands and a similar finish from Harewood and the game looked to be beyond the Welsh side at 3-0. (more…)