Mike Ashley - 3 years at the helm.Between the vast swathes of speculation in these last few weeks, I nearly managed to forget that a certain anniversary is about to be upon us.
That is an anniversary to mark Mike Ashley having owned Newcastle United for three years! Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun eh?
Technically, Ashley completed the sale three years ago this coming Sunday, but with me being faced with the very real possibilty of having a stinking hangover from Saturday night, and the fact the nearly all of us will be wrapped up in the World Cup by then, I thought it would be best to, errr, ‘celebrate’ this milestone prematurely and get it out of the way. To say Mike Ashley’s reign on Tyneside has been a turbulent one would be a wee bit of an understatement. His tenure includes having had five different managers in three years, two failed attempts at a sale, and one very big falling out with Kevin Keegan, and that is the one thing Ashley will probably find the hardest to come back from, plus countless others that I have probably either forgotten or haven’t got enough time to write about. (more…)
The boys of '93: Better than the boys of 2010? It’s a simple question really. Out of the last two promoted Newcastle United sides, which one is better?
Here I am going to try to dissect the two sides and, with your help, try to come up with an answer for that question. Are the romantic memories of the Keegan side that won promotion back in 1993 clouding our view of the set of players we have now? Or is the current team stronger in some more vital areas?
I think from an achievement point of view then obviously the 1993 side trumps it, although the current side should not go without any merits. In fact in many ways the achievement of both teams are very similar. Whilst the current side looks like gaining more points than the 1993 side did, some will point to the fact that we should as our current squad contains more players that have played in the Premier League, get paid a lot more, and as such the expectation of a promotion charge is greater than that of the team of ’93 who were the great over-achievers in some ways. (more…)
Chris Hughton: The sixth manager to gain promotion for NUFC.On the event of Newcastle United’s promotion to the Premier League, I decided to take a look at some of the statistics of Newcastle United’s season in the Coca Cola Championship, and here are some of the results.
Chris Hughton is the sixth manager in Newcastle United’s history to acheive promotion into the top tier of English football. The first was Frank Watt and the Newcastle United Selection Committee of 1892-1929. Watt was the longest serving and most successful manager in Newcastle United’s history, though his teams were selected by commitee. The full list is below.
1897-8: Frank Watt and the Newcastle United Selection Committee 1947-8: George Martin 1965-66: Joe Harvey 1983-84: Arthur Cox 1993-4: Kevin Keegan 2009-10: Chris Hughton (more…)
Left back legend already?If it was possible, given his start to the season, Jose Enrique will have gone up in the popularity polls amongst Newcastle supporters, after he went on record to say he’s not interested in the alleged interest of Mackem boss and alleged Geordie, Steve Bruce.
It’s taken a while for some people to grow to Jose, given his penchant for playing the ball out of defence and occasionally ‘over’ playing it. But this season he has generally done things in the right areas, and is clearly one of the best players in the Championship. The left back has shown defensive resilience together with an appetite for getting forward and his strength and pace allow him to do both to great effect.
Of course, that has led to speculation that Premiership clubs would come looking for him and with the January transfer window sneaking ever closer, Newcastle fans will be cautious over outgoing players. It’s been rumoured that Enrique has several suitors but the latest speculation is that the unfortunates from down the A19 are keen on him. Jose put a smile on the faces of all Mags with his latest statement:
“I don’t care about Sunderland. Even if the newspapers said Chelsea, I wouldn’t care. I worry for my team – I love the city, I love the club and I don’t care about signing for another team.”(more…)
Last man standing.Of course, just when you think that Mike Ashley’s unpopularity with the Newcastle United fanbase has bottomed out and just couldn’t get any lower, it usually does. However the only man who has offered him any kind of lifeline is Chris Hughton, who has resolutely chosen to ignore wherever possible almost everything at Newcastle that doesn’t take place either on a hundred yards of grass or in a dressing room.
In one of his more revealing interviews since his arrival at Newcastle, Hughton has spilled the beans on his time in Toon. Kicking off with the effect his main goal, promotion, would have on Mike Ashley’s efforts to sell the club Hughton commented:
“Of course, it must be a fact that if this club are doing well and if this club is back in the Premier League it is a more saleable asset,”
Moving on to Ashley himself, he continued:
“Does he have a passion for the club most people don’t see? I don’t think you can have the involvement that he has in this club and not be passionate about it, that is an impossibility. (more…)
