Tangerine dreamers!I played a song recently for a mate who often goes to Newcastle games with me, though not the Blackpool game ironically. It was relevant because it was number one on his birthday back in 1991 and he’s just suffered the discomfort of turning 30. The song was “The One and Only” by Chesney Hawkes and it’s spun on ‘Old Skool’ nights in University and college dance-floors up and down the country.
It’s become a bit of a cult classic, as sh*t songs go, though unfortunately I’m old enough to remember it being released first-hand and to be honest I love it so bollocks to you all who hate it.
Anyway…, heading up to the Blackpool game on Saturday, with the sun bleaching down and a sea of black and white mixing in with the tangerine of the visitors, I couldn’t help but wonder about the words in the second verse of that song. Lowbrow though they may be to music snobs, the lines “High hopes and aspirations, and years above my station. Maybe but all this time I’ve tried to walk with dignity and pride”, hit home with a certain poignancy. Though I refrained from singing them out loud as I walked past the Strawberry… (more…)
One Chrissy Hughton?On a day when two of this season’s unsung heroes finally got some vocal recognition from Level 7, there was perhaps more to take home than the three points from a comfortable 3-0 victory over Preston. Newcastle supporters have had every right to question the current board, with the owner’s intentions still up for much debate (see here for more details).
For his sins, Chris Hughton is now in cahoots with Ashley and Co. and inevitably suffers by association with his employer and the lasting ill-feeling between board and supporters. But even the most cynical of supporters are conceding that whatever their opinions of what the relationship between Hughton and the board represents, whether he’s just an extension of them or his own entity and doing his own thing, what he’s delivering is winning football. Not always pretty, not always elegant but generally, winning.
So I guess it was inevitable that by it’s nature, the more vocal element in black and white would recognise his contribution in song. That it happened in yesterday’s game was still perhaps a surprise to some, certainly yours truly, although arguably it was already overdue. And that it happened on a day when a new Coloccini ditty was given some air time by the lads and lasses of Level 7, was perhaps just a happy coincidence, or is it that the mood is just slightly brighter all of a sudden? (more…)
Still a baby-faced assassin?The predictable platitudes are already forthcoming from within, as Chris Hughton seeks to demonstrate how hurt Newcastle players were by last night’s heavy defeat to Derby County. Despite being denied an apparently legitimate goal in the second half and with some dubious decision from the officials, Hughton refused to blame anyone but the collective in black and white.
Having watched Derby categorically destory our impressive record-breaking unbeaten run in the league, supporters were given a reminder that the Cardiff demolition was perhaps a distraction from the otherwise inauspicious form leading into and out of the Christmas period.
However, Hughton was keen to point out that the results perhaps flattered the hosts, saying:
“It’s a very hurt changing room. The manner of the defeat has hurt them and I’m quite sure there’ll be a desire to turn this around.”
“It’s certainly a big blow. We’ve done something that we haven’t done all season and that’s concede three goals. If you do that then there’s a good chance you’ll lose football matches.”(more…)
Leader of the packHughton sings Newcastle’s praises while Keane thinks Ipswich gave Nolan an early Christmas present.
I was away this weekend. A close friend of mine is off to Australia for at least 3 years, so a bunch of us got together for beer and golf in Oxfordshire (and I use the term ‘golf’ in the loosest possible sense), but I did manage to watch 70 minutes of the Newcastle United match before I was prised away from the TV and man-handled into taxi on Saturday evening. And I must admit my 70 minutes of Toon watching put me in a good mood for the evening.
We’ve had little to celebrate in recent seasons, so I thought I’d milk this victory for all I could and quote some of the match reaction from the two managers. (more…)
It's just Colgate, honestBy all accounts, including our own, the 3-1 win over Plymouth was a bit of a struggle for Newcastle. This is what Hughton had to say after the game:
“There were periods of the game where we made hard work of it.
“For whatever reason, we weren’t able to sustain it and of course the longer the game goes without getting that second one, Plymouth are lifted by the occasion and feel they can get something.”
The substitutions made all the difference though, about which Hughton said:
“I think it’s fair to say Danny and Nile have changed the game.
“When you make changes you hope they make an impact, sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.
“Thankfully, they did make a major impact.
“We needed that Kevin Nolan goal and it encouraged the lads.”(more…)
