Tales from the Toon. The ups and downs of an NUFC supporter....

[Matt50]

it's only a matter of time until pards is caught up to his old tricks and loses the dressing room like he has at every previous club

Depends whether he fancies any of the players wives though ;-)

[mulhuzz]

All this thread demonstrates is the fickle nature of fans. A few good results and suddenly no one cares that Hughton was treated like shit and when it was announced pardew was replacing him Newcastle fans went crazy and neutrals just laughed at Newcastle.

Same with Ashley. You all wanted him out/hated him, spoke about him selling your best players etc. Now its like "Great deal etc etc"

There's not one Newcastle fan who doesn't think robbing Liverpool for £35m for Carroll was excellent business. Most would tell you that selling Nolan and Barton (because they didn't want to stay on reasonable terms) is fine as well. As for Enrique, sure, he's a good player, but he didn't want to stay because he thought Liverpool would help him get into the Spanish team (no chance in next 2 years in any event, maybe longer).

Most will begrudgingly accept that Ashley has turned around a lot and is making good decisions based on taking the football club forward for the next 5 and 10 years, not like Freddy Shepard who thought exclusively about the next 5 months at any given time.

For the record, I care very deeply that Chris Hughton was treated like shit. Top bloke and will be an amazing manager for someone, shame it wasn't us. But what can you do about it? Not a lot, so support the guy who's come in and really kicked us on a level post-Hughton. Time will tell of course, but I think there's a fair chance we finish about Liverpool this year, which would represent an amazing achievement when you consider that we've sold our two 'best' players to them.

And Sir Alex, re signing Cabaye.... gtfo pls.

[mondatoo]

All this thread demonstrates is the fickle nature of fans. A few good results and suddenly no one cares that Hughton was treated like shit and when it was announced pardew was replacing him Newcastle fans went crazy and neutrals just laughed at Newcastle.

Same with Ashley. You all wanted him out/hated him, spoke about him selling your best players etc. Now its like "Great deal etc etc"

Where is this being demonstrated itt George/Guy ? Other than Pads, who has said anything positive about Ashley that is a Newcastle fan ?

I still think the Hughton decision was wrong, I think both are of similar ability and have always thought that, I still think Ashley is a clown as I said on the previous page.

[outragous76]

What's the line on players in/players out in January?

What is the financial balance on the same line.

People suddenly thinking Ashley is doing "an ok job" is laughable as it is totally results oriented, to use poker phraseology. Don't kid yourself he has a footballing 5 year plan. He has a financial 5 year plan. And if you do well this year he would be out like a shot for a good offer, especially having seen what's happens to his stock value when you go down!

[pleno1]

Back to the team

TIM KRUL 9/10

The Dutch international has so far kept four clean sheets (one more than the class of 94) from the first 10 matches and has often been in inspired form, he also won the Chronicle’s player of the month award for September and has been a huge part of this fantastic start to the new campaign.

DANNY SIMPSON 7/10

Simpson has endured a few ups and downs but has still statistically matched some of the Premier League’s international stars.

FABRICIO COLOCCINI 9/10

The skipper has been nothing short of immense in the first 10 matches of the season and while many questioned his attributes to be captain, he has rose above it all to be a superb leader on and off the field.

STEVEN TAYLOR 9/10

Taylor’s understanding with Coloccini has been a joy to behold.

The player has been touted for an England call-up by some and has hit new levels of quality under Alan Pardew.

Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2011/11/03/how-this-nufc-side-compares-to-entertainers-72703-29711195/#.TrKKlZxy1ag.twitter#ixzz1ce8dwlpO


RYAN TAYLOR 9/10

The Scouser deserves extra credit for stepping into a position that he’s rarely occupied before in his career. Has been handed a great chance after the sale of Jose Enrique and so far grabbed it with both hands.

GABRIEL OBERTAN 7/10

Given that Obertan had been frozen out of the side under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, the Frenchman has spent the opening 10 games adjusting to life back in the first team fold on a regular basis but has covered plenty of ground.

His non-stop running and pace going forward has relieved pressure on the Toon’s back four and he chipped in with an assist against Stoke.

YOHAN CABAYE 8/10

Has proved to be an instant hero in black and white so far as he has emerged as one of the Premier League’s hardest workers. Has chipped in with an assist and a goal so far.

CHEICK TIOTE 8/10

Remains one of the Magpies’ biggest assets with his obsession with getting in the tough tackles making him a real hit with fans.

JONAS GUTIERREZ 8/10

The Argentina international has been in sparkling form for the Magpies since the start of the season, his big moment came at Wolves with a Maradona-esque run through the Wanderers defence and he has also weighed in with an assist.

DEMBA BA 8/10

Got off to a slow start at Newcastle due to his participation in the Muslim festival of Ramadan but the striker now looking like a real bargain for the Magpies.

He came to life against Blackburn with a hat-trick and hasn’t looked back.

Goals against Tottenham and Wolves, before another treble against Stoke City on Monday night, have had Toon fans chanting his name loudly up and down the country!

LEON BEST 8/10

The Nottingham lad just keeps on defying his critics and while he hasn’t netted since the away game at Aston Villa, which took him up to three goals and two assists for the season in nine games, he is always involved for the Magpies.

He had a hand in all three at Stoke and is due another for himself against Everton.

Also used: Shola Ameobi 7, Hatem Ben Arfa 7, Sylvain Marveaux 7, Davide Santon, Mike Williamson, Peter Lovenkrands 6, Haris Vuckic, Dan Gosling.

Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2011/11/03/how-this-nufc-side-compares-to-entertainers-72703-29711195/2/#ixzz1ce91TsR3

[mondatoo]

What's the line on players in/players out in January?

What is the financial balance on the same line.

Pads suddenly thinking Ashley is doing "an ok job" is laughable as it is totally results oriented, to use poker phraseology. Don't kid yourself he has a footballing 5 year plan. He has a financial 5 year plan. And if you do well this year he would be out like a shot for a good offer, especially having seen what's happens to his stock value when you go down!

FYP

[Horneris]

Newcastle are doing great things for my w/o the big 6 bet, I really hope you can regain the momentum after the 3 incredibly hard games coming up but its gona be tough.

Pardew doing an unbelievable job.

[mondatoo]

Newcastle are doing great things for my w/o the big 6 bet, I really hope you can regain the momentum after the 3 incredibly hard games coming up but its gona be tough.

Pardew doing an unbelievable job.

This was my concern also, but fixtures afterwards are pretty good.

Norwich (A)
Swansea (H)
West Brom (H)
Bolton (A)

Don't expect anything from Manchester games but not writing off Chelsea at home, we always play well at home against the "big" teams.

[mulhuzz]

Newcastle are doing great things for my w/o the big 6 bet, I really hope you can regain the momentum after the 3 incredibly hard games coming up but its gona be tough.

Pardew doing an unbelievable job.

agree. think we can take something from chelsea at home.

not expecting anything from Manchester either.


This was my concern also, but fixtures afterwards are pretty good.

Norwich (A)
Swansea (H)
West Brom (H)
Bolton (A)

Don't expect anything from Manchester games but not writing off Chelsea at home, we always play well at home against the "big" teams.

[George2Loose]

My comment wasn't just aimed at Newcastle but to footie fans in general. Same people who say he's doing an incred job will be the same people who will be calling for his head if it all goes tits up in 6 months time

[pleno1]

The Geordie businessman who galvanised Newcastle has backed Ashley strategy and expressed admiration for manager Alan Pardew following surprise unbeaten start to season.

Former Newcastle United owner Sir John Hall has hailed St James’ Park supremo Mike Ashley’s prudent ways following the Magpies’ storming start to the Premier League season.

Sir John, who sold the Tyneside club to the Sports Direct founder four years ago, has voiced his support for Ashley whose decision to keep a tight grip on the pursestrings at St James’ Park has been vindicated with Newcastle surging to third place in the Premier League following an unbeaten start to the league campaign.

In an exclusive interview with Goal.com, Sir John, who sanctioned the then world record £15 million signing of Alan Shearer in 1996, has backed Ashley’s strategy of adopting a cautious approach to running the club and signing new players in the face of competing against the likes of Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich and Sheikh Mansour at Manchester City.

“The only thing fans wanted is for you to keep throwing your money into a club but you can’t keep doing that when you are competing with the likes of Chelsea because it is a recipe for bankruptcy unless you have a bottomless pit of money,” Sir John told Goal.com.

“Ashley runs his business by keeping a very tight rein on things and he is doing very, very well. Sports Direct has done exceptionally well since he founded the company and he has brought his business principles to St James’ Park.

“I don’t have as much money as Mike but I would probably be doing the same as him. In my day we were local millionaires such as Jack Walker at Blackburn, Dave Whelan at Wigan and Bill Kenwright at Everton and we put our money into our clubs because we were fans.

“But now the game is being run by billionaires and for me it is wrong and stupid if any English businessman tries to compete with these billionaires who are coming in and I don’t think are coming in for the right reasons. But is an open marketplace and a global business and it is going to grow bigger. But Ashley has a formula that is working and long may it continue.

“In my view when Roman Abramovich came in, the game in England changed forever and basically people threw money at it for reasons other than football. It is a global business but I don’t think the right thing is happening for the fans.”

Until this season, Ashley has been the subject of intense criticism from many Newcastle supporters - including Sir John himself - especially when the club was relegated from the Premier League and he has twice tried and failed to sell the club.

However, Sir John now believes he deserves praise from his former detractors.

“Mike Ashley has had a lot of unjustifiable criticism,” Sir John added. “With some of the headlines he has got in the local press, I would have walked away if I had got them. But probably he came in not knowing football.

“He took a lot of advice from friends of his in the south of England which wasn’t the sort of advice that Newcastle United needed and he suffered the consequences of it. He came in to the club to use Newcastle United as a brand to bolster his Sports Direct business and I still think that will happen.

“But he has got to be applauded for the position of the club at the moment. He spent money and he has bought players but he has bought the players he wants to buy and he is running the club in a manner which he wants to run it. He is a very astute businessman and he has got the team playing well and the club functioning well as a whole. He deserves credit and we should all be saying well done and carry on.”

Sir John, who revolutionised Newcastle when he appointed Kevin Keegan as manager, expressed admiration for the work of current boss Alan Pardew.

“I am very surprised by how well Alan Pardew is doing but I am also very pleased,” Sir John said.

“He left Southampton in difficult circumstances and there were a lot of dissenting voices because Chris Hughton was sacked to make way for him. Again you have to take your hat off to Pardew as well as to Ashley because of the influence that he has clearly had on the team.

“He is doing a great job. They attack with plenty of pace and guile and they are defensively sound which has not always been the case with Newcastle sides down the years.

“There have been some very good buys so Graham Carr who is doing the scouting for the club has done some great work. Cheik Tiote has been a tremendous buy and it is looking as though Yohan Cabaye and Demba Ba will prove to be the same. Plus they are playing as a team which is great because the importance of playing for each other can not be over-stated."

Sir John is hoping that the club that has not won a major domestic honour since 1955 can win a trophy during Ashley’s watch.

“Everyone wants a winning team but we have always been the bridesmaid rather than the bride at Newcastle which is unfortunate,” Sir John said.

“We are a big club in the sense of the amount of supporters that we have got but we are not big in terms of winning things.

“With the amount of money that is being spent in the game it is getting harder and harder and harder to win things. It can be done but it will be tough. I just hope that we can finish in sixth place and get into Europe again and continue to build again - that would be great.”

[david3103]

My NUFC supporting workmate is cock a hoop this morning after reading Lawro's prediction for the Everton game.

An away win predicted on the basis that "Football has a nasty habit of biting you on the backside just when you think you have cracked it"

he get paid a lot for this sort of insight?

[pleno1]

lol Lawro is a fucking muppet.

With his predictions sop far he has us as 17th, Wigan 3 points ahead of us and Wolves in the top 5.

First class muppet.

[mondatoo]

My comment wasn't just aimed at Newcastle but to footie fans in general. Same people who say he's doing an incred job will be the same people who will be calling for his head if it all goes tits up in 6 months time

I agree with you then, football fans are very fickle.

[geordieneil]

My comment wasn't just aimed at Newcastle but to footie fans in general. Same people who say he's doing an incred job will be the same people who will be calling for his head if it all goes tits up in 6 months time

I agree with you then, football fans are very fickle, especially man utd glory hunting fans.

FYP