Displaying leadership.Mystery continues to surround the recent bust-up between Toon team-mates Steven Taylor and Andrew Carroll as manager Chris Hughton chose to keep quiet on the situation that marred the build up to the Doncaster match. Those looking for any juicy bits of gossip emanating from his post match interview were left disappointed as Hughton yet again showed amazing professionalism.
The fact that the spat is currently under an internal investigation at the club probably helped in his decision to stay mute about the details of it, but his silence says more than the many column inches filled by the press about the debacle and is the strongest hint yet that something has happened.
There have been many different versions of the story over the past couple of days, Taylor started it, Carroll started it, it was about money, it was about women and so on, none of that really matters. What does matter is keeping the team on track and keeping their minds focused on the promotion run in. (more…)
Carroll rescues another point.It was another away day, another game where we looked below-par and another game in which we got something out of that we probably didn’t deserve. A share of the spoils at Ashton Gate this evening has gone a long way to saving my wife’s weekend as she claims I am ‘unbearable when Newcastle lose’, and I very easily could have been classed as ‘unbearable’ as the game panned out.
Some of you may be aware that my wife follows Portsmouth, yet she was there cheering even louder than I was when the ball hit the back of the net for the away side, perhaps through sheer relief that I may not be a moody git this weekend after all, although I claim it’s because I’m turning her into a Newcastle United fan. It’s frustrating, the 2,200 travelling fans looked like having very little return on their 600 mile investment, but yet again they head home happy. (more…)
I love Newcastle, I do....Our Spanish left back, Jose Enrique, has been talking of the love, affection and fear that drives his performances on the pitch. Jose has been one of the player’s of the season so far and has fast become a fan favourite with the Toon Army.
Looking back at the summer it would have been quite easy for Enrique to slope off back to Spain. He didn’t, and now Newcastle United are reaping the benefit of the Spaniard’s pace and link up play on the left side of the pitch. Enrique is only 24 years old still and somethimes that fact can be overlooked. Yes, he is good now but he still has time on his side and can get better still, and it appears Enrique feels so at home in Newcastle that he will be looking to stay for a long time.
“I’m so happy I decided to stay at Newcastle in the summer” Enrique said.
“I know we are only in the Championship, but I love the city and the club. All the foreign players hate the weather here, but it’s not just Newcastle, it’s England. I’m really settled here and I have no desire to go back to Spain. I’m happy at Newcastle, in England and in this team.”
It’s remakable how someone can feel so settled in such a short length of time. The three years he has been here could be described as ‘not the smoothest’ and you could easily understand if the former Villareal player decided to upsticks and move away, especially after seeing some of the protests, the ill-feeling, the relegation, and also having worked under no less than five different managers. Not bad in three years! (more…)
Unassumingly efficient?If anybody looks back and wonders when the tide of discontent finally turned, then last night’s game might well have been it. When the third Newcastle goal went in, there was a hearty and sincere rendition of ‘Walking in a Hughton Wonderland’ ringing around Level 7. For those who aren’t aware of the significance of that, it implies a form of acceptance from the most vocal part of the ground and arguably the most vociferous. Not perhaps, acceptance of those on the board but a firm nod of appreciation at the man who probably deserves it above anybody else.
The singing was spontaneous not contrived. It was a natural response to a moment when we ultimately put yet another win beyond any doubt. There was a relief in that chant, from fans who you sensed were previously ready, willing and able to let the manager know they had his back but unwilling to break ranks from those who lumped him in as part of the Ashley crew. It almost happened against Preston and there was a spattering of pro-Hughton singing but it was half-hearted and almost through gritted teeth. (more…)
Nice nosejob Andy...Will we seek to borrow back the services of Andy O’Brien from Bolton Wanderers? Chris Hughton has been speaking to the press and expressed his concern over the state of the current Newcastle injury list. Mike Williamson was the most recent casualty leading up to the smogs game at the weekend and when Coloccini limped off halfway through that game, Hughton had to contemplate the foreseeable future without a potential starting back four in Steven Taylor, Jose Enrique, Williamson and Colo.
The news is hopefully good on Enrique and he was reportedly close to a start on Saturday but having limped out of the Barnsley game having returned a little too soon and reporting a tightness in his hamstring, Hughton will be reluctant to put the Spaniard back in unless he’s absolutely certain of his fitness, though he appears confident he’s ready.
There’s no return date scheduled for Steven Taylor following his knee problem, and while the extent of Colo’s ‘dead leg’ is still unclear, Williamson is definitely out for at least a month with a broken hand. So with Enrique, Fitz Hall, Tamas Kadar, Danny Simpson and Ryan Taylor the only senior players left confirmed as fit to fill the back four positions, it was almost inevitable that Hughton might look to bring in an emergency loan as extra cover. (more…)
