Top Manager!Newcastle United’s Alan Pardew has been named Barclays Premiership manager of the season.
A very well deserved award and something else to put a strut into every Geordie’s step this summer when wearing the shirt with pride on your hollys in Europe’s top hot spots! This is the first time a United manager has ever won this award. But lets face it, in a season where most fans thought we would be mid-table at best, we are sitting in a guaranteed fifth place in the Premier League, and have also qualified for the Europa League.
And the season isn’t over yet of course! If results go our way on Sunday, we could still finish by qualifying for the Champion’s League.
But whatever happens on Sunday, this has been a highly successful season for United. We’ve made quite a few people in football sit up and take note. We’ve had some amazing results, well deserved too, and we’ve won over a lot of neutrals, and seen our team talked about in glowing terms by prominent TV pundits like Jamie Redknapp, who to his credit, has been a big fan of our performances from an early stage in the season.
I suppose the highest accolade for the team this season has been various parts of the media comparing the current team to the great Kevin Keegan “Entertainers”. A significant compliment indeed. (more…)
Half Full Or Half Empty?Like most United fans, I’m over the moon at how well the team have fared this season. The fact that we’ll be finishing at least fifth and qualifying for the Europa League is way above what I expected before a ball was kicked. There is no doubt that Newcastle United have had a very successful season. However, I’m one of those people who can’t help but do the “if’s, buts and maybes” thing at this point in a season, and I know there are quite a few other people out there doing it too.
You know the sort of thing – staring at the league table, seeing we’re only one point behind Tottenham, two points behind Arsenal, wondering what might have been….”if only…”. I find it difficult not to revisit some of the happenings and add the points which might have been. Of course there has to be a cut-off point otherwise we can find reasons why we should have won every game! But there are indeed some happenings which are the most obvious – here’s my list: (more…)
Top Six ToonWith a top six place and Europa League entry assured for next season, Newcastle United head into the last game knowing that mathematically we could still play in the Champions league if results go our way on the final day. So continuing with the “Top Six” theme – what are the top six things we have learned or had re-affirmed this season as fans of Newcastle United? I’ve set out my ideas below and would welcome your own views on this!
One – Mike Ashley Is Not Out To Ruin The Club – this allegation was one that was prevalent when Ashley and Co carried out a summer sale, flogging off our more expensive players on high wages who were reckoned to also be our “better” players. The term “asset-stripping” was freely bandied about by fans. As we now know, those players were replaced with younger, cheaper imports and the overall quality of the team has improved as a result. Would anyone care to go back and swap Cabaye for Barton or Tiote for Nolan? Me neither!
Two – Alan Pardew Is A Good Manager – When Pards was drafted in to take over from the popular Chris Hughton, it has to be said it didn’t go down well with fans. Pardew had two main targets. Not only did he have to win over those fans, but he also had to fulfill his brief from the owner to “take the club to a top 10 finish” – which was the publicly stated target for season 2011-2012. Now you can argue till the cows come home over what system Pards should have deployed in what game, team selection etc, in fact – that’s what fans love to do. But there’s no getting away from the fact that the man has not only done it, not only achieved his twin targets but has actually exceeded his brief. Credit where it’s due, he has emerged as (at least) one of the top six managers in the Premier League this season on much reduced revenues and budgets in comparison with the people he competes with directly. (more…)
Yaya Double TroubleVenue: St James’ Park. Date: Sun 06th May 2012. Kick-Off: 1:30pm. Referee: Howard Webb.
On a day that United unveiled a statue of the late great Sir Bobby Robson, Manchester City were in town desperate for a win to keep their title hopes alive.
United were also in need of a win to keep our Champions League aspirations going, so the scene was set for a titanic battle between two of the best teams in the English Premier League, with both sets of fans able to point to players capable of winning the game.
There was a pre-match scare with Tim Krul having a hand injury but relief when the teams were announced and Krul’s name was there. Not many United fans would have wanted to go into this game without our Dutch keeper, who Alan Pardew reckons has won us at least 12 points this season on his own.
First Half
Cheick Tiote started the game with 8 stitches in his head and it was a bit of a concern early on when he overhit his first couple of passes. Was he affected by the head wound or maybe he’d eaten too many shredded wheat. Anyway the good news is that he settled down as the match went on. The first six minutes were cat and mouse with the only highlight being Cabaye’s boot unintentionally colliding with Barry’s face – sadly for Barry, the event didn’t improve his looks. (more…)
Sir Bobby Beside His Ipswich StatueNewcastle United have announced that a statue of Sir Bobby Robson is to be unveiled before the final home game of the season on 6th May. The statue will be nine and a half feet high and cast in bronze. It will be situated at the south west corner of St James’ Park.
Ipswich Town, of course, have had a statue of Sir Bobby outside their ground for many years – a much younger Sir Bobby it has to be said. I’ve had my photo taken standing beside that one, and will be completing the set when United’s new statue is in place!
The club’s managing director Derek Llambias told the club’s official website:
“We’re delighted to be able to honour Sir Bobby Robson with this lasting tribute.
“He was a great man and ambassador for this football club and for the city. He achieved great success during his time as manager of Newcastle United and this statue is a fitting way for the club to remember him.”
Lady Elsie Robson added:
“It’s very fitting that there will be a tribute to Bob outside Newcastle United’s ground. This is where his love of football began.”(more…)
