My amateur photographyWell the weather was drab, the performance was drab and overall it was, well pretty drab.
In keeping with the theme so far, the opportunity to go and see the lads again was off the back of my own game being cancelled. But as with the Darlington game, late notice meant the only person keen to make the trip to Huddersfield was me. Note to self – get some ‘reserve friends’ who are regulars to games as a fallback. As it happens, the timing was quite tight and so it was only viable to take my own car as most sensible folk would have already left.
Shoving a lovingly crafted sandwich and some pop on the front seat I headed to the services, dieselled-up and typed the postcode into the sat nav. It told me I’d be there at 7.35, so I was a bit sceptical about my chances of getting parked and into the ground and imagined some worst case scenarios of getting there late and missing half the game or not gettin there at all. As it turned out, I made good time and pulled off the M62 at 7.20 with 4 miles to go. Which was just as well because that’s where the traffic for the ground started. Having snaked slowly to within a few hundred yards of the stadium I dumped my car strategically just off the main road and asked some lads for directions to our end. That’s when the heavens opened. (more…)
Duff wants Shearer. Damien Duff is the latest Newcastle player to complain about the drawn out takeover process and he called for Alan Shearer to be made manager while doing so. According to The Guardian he said:
“For me it definitely has to be Alan Shearer. The eight weeks I had with him I enjoyed them thoroughly. It was unfortunate we didn’t stay up but it was the most enjoyable eight weeks I’ve had [at Newcastle]. The training was great and there was proper professionalism. I think discipline was lacking over the last three years but he came in and changed things. Anyone who does come in and buy the club, he should be the main man.
“Time is not on our side. There are obviously [transfer] windows to think about. There are most likely going to be big changes but the start of the season is just three weeks away so we need him in now, not in three weeks’ time or four weeks’ time.”
Shearer certainly seems the popular choice amongst the players despite most of them saying he’s strict on discipline.
The club chose to respond to claims that only 15,000 season tickets had been sold with a press release of their own that reads as follows: (more…)
Team bondingSteven Taylor has been speaking out again, this time to reassure the fans that the off-field problems have actually brought the team closer together. According to Sky Sports he said:
“The fans at this moment probably think the club is a shambles and the players haven’t got a clue what is going on. They probably think we are fighting in training.
“But with us, it is completely different and I just wish they could even spend one day just looking at the training ground and the way we are going on with each other.
“It’s a much better team-bonding.”
Yesterday’s Sunday People carries an article about how Michael Owen feels like a 21 year old again now that he’s playing with Manchester United. (more…)