Pre-match tableNewcastle can regain the top spot with a point at Blackpool, although we should be expecting 3 points from our visit to Bloomfield Road if we want to match West Brom and Middlesbrough who both won last night.
Blackpool are lingering in the middle of the table having taken 7 points from 6 games. They’ve only lost one match though and that was away to Leicester last weekend.
Before that, their season started with 4 draws: away to QPR, home to Cardiff, home to Derby and away to Watford. Their solitary Championship win came after that when they beat Coventry 3-0.
Blackpool have had a decent Carling Cup run too, dispatching Crewe and – most impressively – Premier League Wigan.
Blackpool strikers Ben Burgess and Gary Taylor-Fletcher have 2 league goals a piece this season, as does midfielder Charlie Adam who is Blackpool’s record signing at £500,000 from Rangers in August this year. (more…)
Kamara - latest toon targetAccording to the latest reports, Fulhams’s Diomansy Kamara heads Hughton’s wish list for emergency loans, with Marlon Harewood and Daniel Cousin also on the interim manager’s radar.
Fulham signed Kamara from West Bromwich Albion in July 2007 for £6m but he injured a cruciate ligament in June 2008 which kept him on the treatment table for nearly 7 months.
Kamara has scored 9 goals in 40 games for Fulham and 60 goals in 253 games in his career overall, which isn’t a particularly good return for a striker, although he did manage to score against us at the end of last season to help us on our way to relegation.
Kamara faired better for WBA in the Championship scoring 20 goals in 34 league games and it seems this is what might have caught Hughton’s eye. Hughton said:
“Diomansy Kamara is one of numerous names we have thought about. He scored a lot of goals for West Brom in this division and he is a very good player. Marlon Harewood is another one.
“There will be a few obvious names because of the position they play in. Marlon was also one we have spoken about. There are no names confirmed, all I can say is that these two are very much being spoken about. No deals are confirmed at the moment, though.” (more…)
Firstly, many thanks to bowburnmag and workyticket, for granting me authorship on this fine site…I promise to blog responsibly, visually and as often as I can.
The illustration is an old image of mine, appropriate for this week as KK’s battle begins, and shows Big Al triumphing over “The Chunky Cockney Monkey”…with KK looking on as referee.
I’m with BBM on this issue; the more pressure brought to bear of this rotund fool, the quicker he’ll want to sell. I’m for censuring the man but supporting the team. Difficult I know, but external forces are being marshalled to help us. The Mirror reported Keegans claim, this morning, as being something that could facilitate a quicker sale of the club. Any prospective new owner would not want their first act to be shelling out £10m for KK’s compensation. An out of court settlement (after a withering judgement from the Premier League this week), could see Barry Moat’s bid accepted…finally!
Our old friends the Serious Fraud Office are putting their wagons in a circle, and calling Ashley out for a fight! Charles Sale (Daily Mail columnist) reports today that “sources” close to Ashley say, he does not want the “distraction” of “running” Newcastle United (sorry, I wasn’t aware that the club was being run by anyone) while simultaneously fighting a lengthy, costly and (potentially) ruinous court case. In which case, a quick sale seems on the cards….I know, I hear you laughing when I say “quick”. The sooner this ‘incompetent’ is out of our lives, the sooner the healing can begin…and, god knows, we’ve a lot of healing to do. (more…)
Never forgetWell I’m a bit gutted that Simon Bird beat me to it but in fairness he’s got more time for this sort of thing and he gets paid for it. However, despite not always agreeing with what he has to say, he’s got this article spot-on in my opinion. I would hate to think that any protracted and complicated court proceedings would detract from our good start to the season but there are wrongs to be righted so far as I’m concerned.
This isn’t about Keegan versus the club, this is about Keegan and Ashley and a man clearing his name. A man who earned our respect on numerous occasions and helped to lift this club from it’s sagging backside, and from falling backwards into complete oblivion in the third tier of English football. A man who with his many faults, has never let this club down during his spells at the club.
Forget what happened elsewhere, though again there is argument to justify his actions and to contradict the cries of “bottler”. Remember what he did for this club and think about what that means and think about whether you really believe he would intentionally leave this club to rot.
However, also as Bird alludes to, this is more than just about our club or about Keegan. It’s about football in general and the multi-millionaire playground it has become. Where arrogance and ignorance at the top level, seem intent on ripping the guts out of our beautiful game. (more…)
Head and shoulders above the restAlreet, so that’s a bit of a bold statement but doesn’t it feel like it at the minute? Not quite literally, but I mean we were relatively average today and yet I didn’t doubt the outcome swinging in our favour at any point and it’s been a long time since a black and white first eleven had me thinking that way.
Confidence breeds confidence and it’s flooding through the squad and team at the moment and to the spectator they look as if they feel unbeatable. I’ve long been a detractor of Coloccini but today he stuck my opinion right where the sun doesn’t shine. Not just because of his well-earned and well-worked winner but for the sheer guts and determination he showed in his defensive duties, and he wasn’t alone. The entire squad looked like they’d be prepared to play until they dropped to protect the win and I genuinely couldn’t see Cardiff breaking through and much of that was due to our dogged defending and endeavour.
Perhaps again, much of today’s result was about toothless opposition as it was about our own display. Certainly they had prolonged periods of possession after the half hour point but I was always felt comfortable. It wasn’t exactly ‘total football’ again either but a win is a win, especially when you’re travelling to the likes of Cardiff. They had some talent on show but ultimately were fairly blunt in the final third. (more…)
Firstly, many thanks to bowburnmag and workyticket, for granting me authorship on this fine site…I promise to blog responsibly, visually and as often as I can.
