All we care about is NUFC.Level 7 was undoubtedly in fine voice last night as the natives played their own part in Newcastle’s crucial victory over promotion hopefuls, Nottingham Forest. By the time Jose Enrique scored to make it 2-0, the appropriate volume which would have been fitting for such an occasion deserted me. I was so hoarse it came out as a whisper.
Each new ditty seemed to spread further and further round the ground, and when the last goal went in, the roof lifted off to ‘Jose’ ringing around the ground. And yet one song which has become less and less popular in recent weeks is the ‘Get out of our club’ song aimed squarely at our much-maligned owner, one Mike Ashley. This isn’t yet another excuse to dredge up the past because my feeling is that for now, supporters have almost, more or less, accepted an agreement to disagree on the current incumbent. Because not once did I hear the song being aired from my lofty perch, not even a whisper of it. The closest we got was the more neutral ‘All we care about is NUFC’ song. (more…)
'Pop'ular goalscorer!“Make it real” was the Coca-Cola slogan for 2005, and while that was arguably the year we began a slippery slide to Championship oblivion and the league that bears that famous brand name, tonight Newcastle United stepped three points and one game closer to making promotion back to the big time a reality. On a wet, windy but wonderful Monday evening, the 2-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest all but ends their hopes of overhauling us and barring a disaster all that should be left is a battle with West Brom for the title.
The Championship journey has been a humbling and perhaps necessary journey for some Mags but one season is just about enough, cheers all the same. While we’ve had some difficult games, none more so than tricky tests against the Tricky Trees, our lads have come through the test and are so close to a victorious 90 minutes which should culminate in a mathematically certain return to the top flight and a silent two fingers at those that wanted us to fail miserably. It would take a monumental 7-Up, if we were to fail to realise the dream of going back up at the first time of asking.
On a greasy surface and with the wind and rain driving across the pitch, Newcastle weathered both the elements and a determined Forest attack. Despite good possession for both sides though, neither side looked like breaking the deadlock and this Level 7’er is fairly certain he didn’t see a save from either keeper until after the hour. And when the deadlock was broken, to bring effervescence to both players and fans alike, who other than Shola ‘Offside’ Ameobi, returning from injury, would be more appropriate? With a neat turn, great control and a tidy finish to make it 1-0, proving yet again that if he can stay fit he offers us something our other strikers don’t. (more…)
Brilliant despite that awful strip.On a day when we could all but cement promotion back to the promised land of the Premiership if we emerge victorious from tonight’s titanic Tyne-Trees battle, perhaps we should look at who has put us within touching distance. Chris Hughton has been widely praised by fans and press (or at least until a certain journalist decided to pick up her poisoned pen) and rightly so. But for all Hughton’s good work, it’s the fellas out on the park who have and will continue to determine our future.
We ran a poll recently (on the right) for .org readers and contributors to vote on their ‘player of the season’ so far. Of course there may be yet more defining moments to come but even though there were some decent candidates, there are two clear front-runners at the moment. Which is perhaps not surprising, given the vocal support for these two players, with chants aimed at them being two of the loudest you’re likely to hear at games lately. (more…)
Taylor: Has he had enough? The inevitable speculation has started already surrounding the future of Newcastle defender Steven Taylor and his desire to stay at the club. The claims made by The Guardian and The Mirror are that 24 year old Taylor has been left disillusioned over the apparent defence and acceptance of Andy Carroll, with one paper claiming there is a hate campaign against the defender and the other questioning whether Chris Hughton is really the man to take Newcastle forward.
On the face of it, the reports of Taylor leaving may not be far wide of the mark. Out of contract in 14 months he would be the prime candidate to be moved on should he not want to sign a new contract extension as the club would seek to gain a fee for the player rather than risk losing him on a free transfer. That said, we simply must remember that this is more than likely just the press trying to stir things up, something that they haven’t had much of a chance of doing so far this season. (more…)
Our magnificent support.Manager Chris Hughton has today called on the Newcastle fans to help push the team over the finishing line, starting on Monday when we go head to head against promotion rivals Nottingham Forest at St James’ Park..
Nottingham Forest have sold out their ticket allocation for the top of the table clash and the sheer importance of the game should mean that Newcastle have a crowd near to 50,000. Whether it will be enough to topple our record of 49,644 set against Middlebrough earlier in the season remains to be seen but either way an electric atmosphere can be expected. The only reasons I expect this game to not sell out are because of the Monday evening kick off and because of live Sky TV coverage. That said though, a crowd of around 50,000 on a Monday night will be magnificent and flies in the face of critics who claimed that we would struggle as crowds desert us. (more…)
