...and yet we still lack depth.Interesting scenes today as Newcastle United fans chanted “If Sammy scores, we’re on the pitch”… and then Sammy Ameobi decided it would be a great idea to score.
Needless to say, on fled hundreds of Toon fans, some of which travelling all the way from Newcastle upon Tyne, forcing the referee to actually postpone the game. During the madness, a steward was hit in the face by a Darlington supporter, which I’m sure we can all agree is simply out of order.
Newcastle United were at the Northern Echo Arena for the second time in as many pre-seasons to open up their pre-season campaign. Fraser Forster began between the sticks with Hatem Ben Arfa making his first appearance since his horror tackle by Nigel De Jong. Joey Barton scored after just 3 minutes and at some point afterwards (relying on Twitter for information here!) Sammy Ameobi dared the Newcastle fans with his goal. (more…)
Sick as ****Once upon a time, comparisons were made between the clubs based on positive notes such as the club history, the passion of the fans and their desire for success diluted with a realistic and humorous outlook on the game. Instead, the familiarity these days is apparent for a different reason. It doesn’t take a genius to draw a parallel between our decline and that of our old friends down the road, Leeds United. That’s why people have been doing it for the last couple of years or more.
Mismanagement and poor finances off the field together with mismanagement and poor performances on the field led to the downfall of the once great Leeds. A club who, less than 20 years ago (just less mind), were the English Champions. Holding off the challenge of their bitter rivals across the Pennines to take the 1991/1992 title, while the destiny of Newcastle United was being re-charted dramatically by a certain messiah (ahem….). (more…)
Praying for justice?It appears our esteemed right-back Habib Beye has been under the microscope of various interested parties in the recent days for very different reasons.
Just today, it’s reported that he is being courted by Portsmouth and Hull City for a summer move. However, in the meantime, he’s also potentially in the bad books with the FA, who it would seem took a different view to Chris Hughton and Lee Clark about the behaviour of the players involved in the ‘brawl’ on Tuesday night at The Galpharm Stadium.
Of course, Habib was at the centre of the controversy and allegedly his actions sparked the whole thing off. As I’ve mentioned previously, due to my need for sustenance, I was halfway to buying my pie when it all kicked off and didn’t really see what initially caused it.
However, alerted by the excited crowd reaction and turning to watch, what I did see was that the players looked pretty upset and though Beye might struggle with the local vernacular, should he seek local interpretation, his body language suggested he would have been saying “I’m ganna rip off yor heid and s***e doon your neck pal”.
This is the official line –
The Football Association is to investigate the trouble which flared during and after Tuesday night’s friendly clash between Huddersfield and Newcastle.
Wizard from Oz?I guess you’ve got to look out for some positives in all of this uncertainty. Well we could look no further than the fruition of our glorious leader’s preference to ‘develop’ rather than ‘dabble’. Our new youth policy has been one thing which most fans, albeit some begrudgingly, have recognised as being a beacon throughout this whole sorry affair.
Pre-season friendlies are an ideal opportunity to blood youngsters and this term has been no different with several of our kids getting decent run-outs against Darlo and Huddersfield. Kadar was impressive in his centre half role in the latter game and Lua Lua’s willingness and ability to get at the opposition in both games.
Last night, admittedly against lesser quality but no lesser willing opposition at Hillheads where we were entertained by Whitley Bay, Newcastle gave more of our youngsters the chance to impress in front of the watching management pair Hughton and Calderwood and the pie-purchasing Peter Beardsley (I assume he also ate it but that is unconfirmed).
Aussie-born and highly rated Brad Inman, in particular, stood out in an eagerly contested and entertaining game. (more…)
A terrier or one of the gargoyles from Ghostbusters?Tonight sees us meet some old acquaintances at the Galpharm Stadium in Huddersfield for our latest friendly. Die-hard Mag Lee Clark will need to rely on his professionalism to prepare for tonight’s game against his boyhood idols and for who he played a pivotal role before and during the Keegan era as a player.
The Huddersfield manager made great progress after taking over in November last year, winning 8 out of 9 games but a dip in form resulted in a mid-table finish. Having cut his teeth as assistant to Glen Roeder at Norwich City, Clark will be looking to realise the potential that people see in him to make a thoroughly decent manager.
Clarkie has some other familiar faces in his management team. Namely Terry Mac, buffer supreme to King Kev, tremendous former player, adopted Geordie and all-round decent bloke. Derek Fazackerley, who was assistant manager and coach under Keegan in the ’90s revival is acting in a similar role at The Galpharm. Paul Stephenson, who played for us in the ’80s is also part of the coaching set-up. (more…)
