Taken over the mantle?Whatever lies ahead, Steve Harper seems to be in good spirits at Newcastle and just trying to enjoy the current situation for what it is now. The Premiership is obviously the ultimate goal for everyone involved in the club but having waited painstakingly for an opportunity to make the No.1 shirt his own, as he heads to Watford, Harper insists he looks forward to the somewhat less prestigious trips to the likes of Vicarage Road, because his role is now undisputed.
Having had to watch from the bench as arguably one of the greatest goalkeepers in the world, saved Newcastle’s bacon week in week out, Harper could have been forgiven for feeling a little sorry for himself. But his love for the club (and probably the decent wages he was on), meant he stuck around anyway and, in fact, he still managed to play in some pretty high profile occasions, including a Cup Final appearance and Champions League football. And he’s been speaking to The Journal about those days:
“I am sure we can reach those dizzy heights again but realistically that is a long way off,”.
“The stadium is there, the fanbase is there so that has to be the ultimate aim but our first aim is to get out of the Championship, stay in the Premier League and then build year on year.(more…)
Vicarage Road will be buzzing...Newcastle United go looking for their first away win since December on Saturday as they take on Watford at Vicarage Road. It hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for us over the years, our last win was way back in the 90/91 season, but I’m sure The Toon will be going all out to secure a vital 3 points and to put this away ‘hoodoo’ behind us.
This won’t be an easy game though, as Watford have been impressive at home, losing just once in their last 6 games, scoring 11 goals and conceding just 2 in the process, and it seems that some of their players are fired up by the chance of getting one over the current league leaders. Boyhood Newcastle fan and current Watford striker Danny Graham explains:
“Newcastle is a massive game – it’s one that every team looks forward to in the Championship; they’re a very big team in this league.”
“We can’t wait for them to come down to Vicarage Road where we are very good and strong hopefully we can give them a difficult game and take all three points.”(more…)
Part of the furniture?This week marks manager Chris Hughton’s two-year anniversary at The Toon, and I’m willing to bet that when the guy signed on at Newcastle that he couldn’t foresee what was just around the corner.
It has been easy to forget about Hughton amidst all the turmoil of the past 2 years but you have to give the guy credit for sticking around when many others wouldn’t.
In his two-year tenure as an employee at St James’ Park, Hughton has overseen:
– Working with Kevin Keegan who brought him to the club.
– The subsequent fallout from ‘Keegangate’ which resulted in him being placed in temporary charge amidst protests and fan boycotts.
– Working with Joe Kinnear.
– Being handed temporary charge again after Kinnear fell ill.
– Working with Alan Shearer and ultimately failing to keep the club in the Premier League.(more…)
Jose looking bullish in a fetching yellow.Jose Enrique could make a return to the squad after missing out on the last six matches. The 24-year-old and £6.5million-rated Spanish left-back, has been one of Newcastle’s best players this season, but with initially no natural replacement it was feared that the Spanish defender, nicknamed ‘The Bull’, would be a big loss.
Chris Hughton brought in Chelsea’s young left-back, Van Aanholt, 19, who had a previous loan spell at Coventry City to cover the position for a month. The young Dutchman has done well when called upon and has turned in some decent performances considering the shoes he’s been filling in the position.
Hughton will have the option to extend Van Aanholt’s loan from an initial one month period to until the end of the season. Personally, I’d like to see him given the opportunity here as he won’t feature for Chelsea (injuries permitting) and there’s always the danger of Enrique falling to injury again.
Enrique’s last game for Newcastle was the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, now nearly over a month ago. Hughton has the decision to instantly bring Jose back for his guaranteed experience, or stick with Van Aanholt who hasn’t really put a foot wrong. However, seeing as Hughton only rates Enrique as “hopeful” for Watford, it would be assumed that in keeping with his usual ‘safe approach’, the manager will stick with Van Aanholt. (more…)
Back down to earth with a bump!Newcastle’s Andy Carroll demonstrated his no-nonsense approach and was a handful all night for his opponents, who suffered from the striker’s ability in the air. With flailing elbows and brute force, the opposition was left nursing their wounds as Carroll strolled off triumphantly.
With an early brace to his name and having picked up the MOTM award…ah hang on, I’m getting my evenings confused, this isn’t a match report is it…
News coming in that Andy Carroll has been charged with assault following the ‘incident’ in Blu Bambu back in December. The striker is accused of attacking a bloke and though the various rumours differ in their descriptions, it’s always remained likely that he’d be getting charged for something. Whether it was handbags after cocktails or something a bit more serious should become clear fairly soon. (more…)
