Derby defeat opens old wounds for Alan Pardew and Newcastle

In the week building up to the Tyne & Wear Derby Alan Pardew spoke at length of the scars from Sunderland's humiliation of Newcastle back in April. 

Sunday gave Newcastle the chance to redeem themselves, restore some local pride, and continue the current run of good form. Although the scoreline and performance was better - the game still ended horribly for Pardew, the players, and the fans. 

This is the third time Newcastle have faced Poyet, and each time his teams have beaten us. This added to the drama of a local derby meant Sunderland were fired up for this game - unfortunately we could not match then - for me this is the biggest worry. Why are our players not able to get themselves "up" for a game like this?

This was something Pardew touched on in this post match interview. I would agree that the players professionalism can be questions. I would say that only Tiote and Debuchy can come out of this game with any credit. This was something the Newcastle boss touched on afterward, questioning his players' professionalism. With few emerging from Sunday with glowing reports. Placing blame on Pardew's shoulders is easy as he is the manager, but games like this hold a mirror up to the character of players.

Equally important to the motivation of players is the tactics. Pardew as usual looked cool, calm and in control. If he was nervous, it wasn't showing in his demeanor but it was very apparent in his tactical approach. Beginning the game with a 4-3-3 formation, by the end of the half it had shifted to a more conventional and safe 4-4-2. Numerous positional changes were also made - constant interchanging between Remy and HBA in the front 3, Moussa Sissoko moving from his favoured central role to a left winger. There was a lack of clear identity in Newcastle's first-half play as they desperately tried to cope with Sunderland rather than imposing our self on the game.  

Sunderland's passion and aggression seemed to be too much for us. It could be argued that we played the better football and I would claim that we are the better footballing team, however if all Sunderland had was Passion - it was enough to take the 3 points.

In the second half, we improved and after Debuchy's equaliser I could see only one team winning and that was the team in Black & White. Sunderland's bubble of positivity was burst along with the fragile confidence. However it was not meant to be as we saw Fabrio Borini score the goal of his life to claim the 3 points. 

After the 0-3 defeat back in April, Pardew admitted it took him time to steady the ship at St James' Park. Whether that will be the case again remains to be seen, but what is guaranteed is that both he and his players have to once again make it up to the fans of St James' Park. Up next come Man City, Cheslea, and Spurs.....

Pardew Needs To Stop Putting Square Pegs In Round Holes

Guest blogger Philip Burn

I spent many an hour as a child playing with one of those Shape Sorter toys.

You know, the ones where you had to find the right shape to fit into the respective hole in a box. Squares, circles, triangles and stars each with their own matching hole.

One Size/Shape Doesn’t Fit all

Considering his latest tactics and selections I can only imagine that hapless Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew either wasn’t lucky enough to have one of these most educational of toys, or otherwise came up with some crackpot way to make every piece fit into each and every hole.

There have been a couple of positives in the Newcastle squad so far this season, notably the early form of Ben Arfa and Remy. Undoubtedly, we saw the best of Ben Arfa when he started on the right side of a forward three. Similarly, Loic Remy’s best performances came from a left sided starting berth, providing both with the opportunity to cut inside onto their strongest foot. So, why change this system?

Granted, Gouffran works his socks off every week and many would say deserves a place in the starting XI while at the same time Cisse has apparently forgotten the basics of how to control the ball, pass and shoot, while continuously running aimlessly offside.

However, our number nine isn’t the first forward, nor will he be the last, to suffer such a dismal and apparently never ending run of poor form.

I’m sure we all agree that Ben Arfa doesn’t do well with back to goal against big, physical defenders, particularly when the ball is hoofed in his general direction from the back. So, leave him on the right. Remy’s pace is most effective from the left, either running past defenders hitting the byline, or cutting inside and eyeing a shot. Resisting the temptation to bleat about non-transfers, my preference would be to stick with Cisse and let him play through his present rot.

Pardew’s 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 formation (whichever you want to call it!) is fine with me. The defense picks itself considering current injuries and suspensions. The midfield three surely must consist of Tiote, Cabaye and Sissoko. The latter has certainly disappointed this season but he has repeatedly been played out of position, with yesterday’s debacle being the worst application thus far. Sissoko started behind the forward, moved to left wing, then to wide right before being yanked at half time.

Just one look at him tells you that he has the potential to be a powerhouse, a box-to-box midfielder, as likely to grab a goal as he is to clatter an opposition player when called to mix it. I still have high hopes that he can eventually be our very own Patrick Vieira with the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck. Get him alongside Tiote and push Cabaye up the field at the top of the midfield triangle.

Tiote’s job should be to provide cover in front of the back four, win the ball, and give it as quickly and simply as possible to someone else. Simple. Cabaye can then be encouraged to support the forwards and link the play, lessening the temptation for him to leave the leg in and his Gallic red mist to descend.

Yesterday was a terrible game to lose and a performance that simply wasn’t good enough. Please Pardew, set the team up to play to our strengths for a change and stop trying to fit Ben Arfa and/or Remy into a Cisse shaped hole!

SAFC v NUFC preview

So this weekend we will encounter the latest Tyne & Wear derby. I may be in the minority, however I am not a fan of these derby days. Now don't get me wrong I love nothing more than seeing us beat Sunderland but I do not get up for all of this intense rivalry and hatred. To be honest I am not bothered by Sunderland AFC or the Mackems at all other than the 2 times we face them each season. Give me the 6 points and move on.

I have some mates from Sunderland and they are all canny lads, I even went to the University of Sunderland and never had a problem. Mackems will be my rivals for 90 minutes on Sunday – but no more than the Scoucers were last week or the Mancs will be on Wednesday night.

Like most fans I remember the Derby days over the years, however my memories are not great. I was there for both of the 1-2 defeats and remember getting a soaking while the Sir John Hall stand was being expanded – funnily enough the rain never bothered us while we were winning, but when the second Sunderland goal went in the heavens opened. A year later we saw our talisman Shearer miss a penalty – not a great few years for the Black & Whites. Since then though Newcastle has a great record in the Tyne Wear winning the majority – that is all history however and all we can judge this game on is currently form. This added to the fact that Newcastle owe Sunderland one after the horror show at St James back in April Is the reason I think Newcastle will win a close game by the odd goal. My prediction would be a 1-2 win for Newcastle.

For me the key areas for Newcastle in this game will be:

-The fragile Sunderland confidence. If NUFC can get an early goal, how will Sunderland respond? how will the crowd react?  Pardew will send the team out to attack from the off and pile the pressure on the home side.

-The discipline of the midfield battle. Can Tiote and Cattermole keep their cool in the heat of battle? Playing with 10 men in an intense derby would certainly influence the outcome of the game.

- Our makeshift center half partnership. Young Dummett put in a great second half against Liverpool but this is a different kettle of Fish. Coloccini will be a big miss, hopefully Steven Taylor will hopefully be passed fit and we all know he will be chomping at the bit to play. Him and Mike Williamson will have to use all of their experience to negate the dangerous Steven Fletcher.

-The continuing of good form by Newcastle’s attacking players. Loic Remy, Yohan Cabaye, and HBA have been sensational at times this season and should they replicate this form on Sunday they should be too good for Sunderland.

-Our ability to deal with Sunderland's flair players. For me Adam Johnson and Emmanuele Giaccherini are quality players and must be taken care of. If we can keep them quite we should be able to stop the supply line to Fletcher and Altidore. 

This weekend Newcastle were unable to collect 3 points - however there were many achievements for the boys in Black & White.

Against Liverpool we showed the passion, commitment and fight expected of a Newcastle United team. To earn a point again the team currently sitting 2nd in the Premier league with only 10 men for 45 minutes is very impressive.
Add to this the fact that we were missing our top defender and faced the Premierships top striking partnership with our 4th choice centre half and a young lad with only a handful of appearances.  

Liverpool humiliated Newcastle last season strolling to a 0-6 win in what was one of the worst performances from the home side a SJP and you could see that Newcastle still carried the scars of that defeat. There was a real desire to right that wrong and up until the 43rd minute I felt we were on top and looked like winning this game - however obviously the red card and penalty changed that.

No one including myself gave Newcastle a chance and I was hopeful of damage limitation so that our fragile confidence would not be shattered, yet we really showed that we can mix it with the big boys and give anyone a good game at SJP.

The following were the key positives we can take out of this game:

- Cheick Tiote had a very good game, probably his best for over a season. He took on the responsibility of captain and really thrived. He managed to nullify Steven Gerrard and limit his influence on the game. When Tiote is in this form he really is a massive asset to NUFC.

Pardew  “That was as good as I have ever seen from Cheick. I felt if you take Gerrard out their team, that’s the equivalent to us losing Coloccini.” I thought we needed someone to replace him with the same instincts, and that is to lead by performance. Cheick needed to do that and I thought he was absolutely brilliant. I know Steven won man of the match and I’m not going to argue with that, but in my eyes Cheick shaded it with all he had to do today.


- Paul Dummett showed maturity in his second half performance did very well alongside Mike Williamson. Facing Suarez & Strurridge is daunting for any defender, yet the young Geordie excelled and took his goal so well. Us Geordies love to see one of our own make it and hopefully this lad can have a big future.

- Yohan Cabaye is restoring his relationship with the fans in the best way possible - performing well and scoring crucial goals. If Cabaye continues to perform like he currently is then he will be restored as a Geordie hero in no time. His partnership with Tiote is improving each week and hopefully they can return to the form which fired us to 5th in the league.

-Alan Pardew really has instilled a strong work ethic in the squad this season. This is typified for me by the effort of Yoan Gouffran who may not be the most talented player, but makes up for this with his work rate - the lad simply never stops running and really gives blood, sweat and tears for the club. To see the lives of Remy and HBA defending from the front is beautiful to see. We attach  and defend as a team. Without this work rate and commitment we would have lost that game on Saturday.

So many positives and things are really looking for NUFC at the moment. Now it is key to keep this good run going and not to fall into a trap of complacency. Sunderland are up next and I cannot imagine Pardew will need to get the lads up for this game as I am sure they are ready to put things right after the embarrassment of 0-3 defeat last season.

Dummett -

NUFC in the headlines

My take on today's NUFC headlines:

Newcastle skipper Fabricio Coloccini out of Premier League clash with Liverpool. Magpies captain's absence leaves a likely centre-back partnership of Mike Williamson and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

Today's news that our Skipper and top defender is out of the clash with Liverpool is worrying. For years Colo has been our one consistent defender and had been a steadying influence for Stevie Taylor, Willo and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa whenever they have partnered him. Pardew has a big call to make this weekend and personally i would go with a partnership of Willo and MYB as Taylor has not kicked a ball since our season opener at the Ethihad. Willo had a decent game against Cardiff and hopefully MYB can regain the form we all know his is capabale of. He is certainly due a good game and will need to be at his best to tackle Suarez and Sturridge.

Liverpool hammered us 0-6 last season and this was without Suarez so for him to be playing and Coloccini ruled out I unfortunately cannot see anything other than a Liverpool victory.

Manchester United want Newcastle United ace for £6m

I feel this headline is two years too late as during our 2011 season Tiote was the best defensive midfielder in the Premier league and he would have easily slotted into the Man Utd team. However since then Tiote has looked a shadow of that player and has constantly struggled with form, injury and suspensions. He certainly no longer look like a player who was valued at 25m. Having said that I would not entertain a 6m offer from Man Utd, as it would cost us more to replace him. If a serious offer came in closer to 15m then a deal could be done. Maybe David Moyes could be persuaded to offer some of his fringe players in exchange. I would take Tom Cleverley, Javier Hernandez, Zaha, or Ashley Young in a part-ex deal.


Can Newcastle Really Afford This England Defender?

There Is news in the Mail again that Newcastle are still interested in Manchester City defender Micah Richards, but can Newcastle afford this player 

This is a headline that really excited me. Micah Rchards Is a player I would love to see in a Black & White shirt and I really think a deal could be done to bring him to SJP. In a normal world we would probably be priced out of a move - however to complete this deal we would be working with the most unusual football club in England. Great deals can be made when buying players from City - money is no object to them so transfer fees are reduced and wages are subsidized by City  - making this deal easier for Newcastle to complete.

Add to this the fact that Richards will hanging onto a chance of making the World cup squad. To do this he has to play regular first team football and at City this will not happen as Zabaleta is the clear 1st team choice. At NUFC Richards would compete with Debuchy at right back or with Mbiwa and Willo as a starting centre half.

Newcastle are looking to add British player to their squad in the coming transfer windows and if they we to start this recruitment drive with Micah then i'd be over the moon.

Newcastle Defender Could Leave the club

Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa has struggled to get to grips with the English Premier League since he signed for us from Montpellier last January for around £6.5M, 

This is a terrible idea and hopefully is completely fabricated by the media. Mapou is a top international defender who right now is struggling to get to grips with the Premier league. This lad will go on to captain France many time, hopefully he will also Captain NUFC. To get rid of him would be a massive mistake. I am sure I do not need to remind any Newcastle fans that Colo took 2 season before he settle in England and has since gone onto become one of our best defenders in the clubs history. This impatience is a major problem in the Premier league and leads to the question of how can we expect players to develop if they are shipped out after 6 months. We need to get behind this lad and put our confidence that he will come good - he is too talented not be a a success at St James.

Bloody Hull

Poor defending was the reason Newcastle didn't win this game, when you score two goals at home, you should be able to win the game.

One of the major components of a successful team is consistency and over the last few weeks NUFC have showed us exactly why we are currently not among st the elite. After a great away win at Villa we faced Hull City expecting them to roll over and give us an easy home victory. The Premier league does not work like that – as the old cliché goes ‘There are no easy games in the Premier league’. 

NUFC tried to just coast through this game in 3^rd gear after a very impressive start. As Pardew stated in his post game interview.

“We started really, really well but then we dropped down a gear after our goal and that caused us problems for the rest of the game. ” “Third gear is not enough in this league against any side,” 

“You look for consistency and this team is a good team but we lack a bit of consistency and that is what gets you results.”   “The Premier League is about momentum and you can fly up the table at this stage of the season. We let ourselves down.”

Newcastle’s players will need to quickly learn that in this league you cannot take your foot off the gas, because if you do you lose your momentum, and sides are not in the Premier League because they are poor sides.

For me our defensive frailties are not just down to our back 4. We win and lose as a team and therefore we need to attack and defend as a team. Our midfield need to offer that protection for our back 4. Tracking you man and sticking with the runners is key. If not our back 4 will be over ran.

Hatem Ben Arfa has been our best attacking player so far this season, however we saw the downside of his game this weekend. I saw two goals come as a result of Hatem not tracking back his man. This cannot happen – either Hatem needs to improve this side of his game or he defensive responsibility need to be passed off to another midfielder – like we saw during David Ginola’s time on Tyneside. Pardew needs to make this call and adapt his tactics accordingly.

I saw a lot of criticism of Debuchys performance on Saturday, however for me this was down to the lack of coverage he had. All three goals came from the Hull’s left wing, and the first and third goals saw Newcastle wide open on the right hand side of defense.

Newcastle looked a very good side in the first half, but some lax defensive play had us concede three goals, and Alan Pardew will need to do a lot more work on the  defense, after this rather shaky display. Though to be fair to Pardew I am not sure what he can do about individual errors – Coloccini losing his man for the second goal is something Pardew has no influence over. Colo has to accept fault on that one.

It was a of a blow yesterday and we lost a game we should have won, but there’s a long way to go in the season, and we showed some excellent attacking play. Remy was obviously the stand out player and his goes bode well for the future – unfortunately for him his 2 goals yesterday count for nothing.

This has taken the wind out of Newcastle’s sails. Pardew and his team need to get that momentum going as soon as possible - hopefully this week when we face Leeds United in a Capital one cup tie.

Ben Arfa

“When they say “go, go, go, take him on!” I feel like I can fly!”

Those were the words of Hatem Ben Arfa, describing playing for the Newcastle fans, after Saturday’s win at Aston Villa, in which he produced arguably his best performance in a black and white shirt.

Having seen Ben Arfa score a late and great winner against Fulham before the international break, Aston Villa will undoubtedly have had a plan to deal with him on Saturday. Unfortunately, there are very few teams that can stop the Frenchman when they catch him on a good day.

Like most NUFC fans will tell you Newcastle really do have some excellent players at their disposal. Keeping them all on the field in the starting eleven is the problem Pardew might face.

Credit must be given to Pardew for reverting back to the fluid 4-3-3 formation which served us so sell during the 2011-2012 season. For me this ia the eay forward for NUFC and sees us get the best out of our top players - no one more so that n Ben Arfa which is released of his shakles and give free rein to attack, attack, attack. After top performance at Villa park the groans of discontent from fans were replaced by a feeling of excitement and expectation.

For me the excitement of an away win was equaled by the delight in our overall performance. Our back four is solid with the partnership between Colo and Yanga M'biwa looking better each game. In the midfield the blend of Anita, Sissoko and Cabaye has the right amount of creativity while also being solid enough to withstand a onslaught, while an attack consisting of Ben Arfa, Loic Remy and Papiss Cisse carries a goal threat that has been missing Demba Ba left to warm the Chelsea bench.

A happy and on form Hatem Ben Arfa is a massive boost for NUFC and it gives us a match winner in our team. He seems to be settled and is enjoying playing for our club. It is clear his has struck up a connection with our fans and he certainly feels the love on Tyneside.

My fears was that even thought we out played Villa in the 1st half we only had a 1 goal lead and when you play against Christian Benteke there is always the chance he will grab a goal - he did and to be honest I feared the worse, however massive credit must go to Newcastle for not collapsing and going onto achieve a big away win due to a Yoan Gouffran.

Newcastle produced a great team performance with the obvious stand out star being Hatem Ben Arfa. Our mercurial Frenchman is in the form of his life at NUFC and if he can continue to reach these heights there is every hope he can fire NUFC to a top 7 finish.

Transfer disgrace

So in the aftermath of another transfer deadline day Newcastle fans everywhere are left think what might have been as the club failed to bring the the players desperately needed to compete in the Premier league and improve on our poor season last year. However it appears no lessons have been learned and everything points to us struggling again this season.

The main issue for me is that once again the impression has been given that we were looking to bring in new players only to be left disappointed with no real explanations or justifications from those in charge. This is a bigger issue than not actually signing the players and is the main problem with our club. Our club have no regards for us fans - they lack the most basic of public relations skills and communication with the public is laughable.

If we had been informed at the beginning of the summer that no signings would be made then maybe we could have accepted that, however we were constantly hearing how  "Signings  are imminent" and "We will add quality" and other such transfers guaranties yet this had turned out to be nothing but lies. I firmly believe Mike Ashley had no intentions to sign any players this summer. He does not care about the club and will continue to show zero ambition. Mike Ashley will continue to withdraw funds from the club - the bumper TV deal, the Wonga sponsorship money, even the James Perch transfer fee have not been re-invested into the club. No doubt this money will be used to re-pay the loans Ashley give to the club instead of improving the playing squad.

There is a major problem when we are being out spent by the likes of Southampton, Cardiff and Norwich. We are a among the top 20 richest clubs in Europe yet have a owner who will not sanction purchases. I believe our fans are reasonable and do not expect Man City or Chelsea level of investment rather we just expect to see our money re-invested into the club. A budget of around 20m per season is very reasonable for a club of our size.

Therefore the fact that no permanent signings were made is an utter disgrace and a slap in the face of the fans, yet all we will hear in the next few days will be the same old excuses. Unfortunately Pardew will be forced to appear in front of the media and read a cleverly written statement no doubt approved by Ashley. We know he will suggest he is happy with his squad even though he told us all summer we need a forward and unfortunately he will defend Kinnear and Ashley as they are his superiors. No matter what we think of his managerial skills it is obvious the lack of signings will worry him and really leave him high and dry. My only criticism of Pardew is that he happily plays the role of a puppet who is controlled by the Ayatollah of Newcastle United Mr Mike Ashley, the man who is solely responsible for this mess. 


 Our owners intentions have always been questionable yet I have been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt however this is the straw that broke the camels backs.  If Mike Ashley has no desire to progress our club then he needs to sell up and give the club to someone that respects the supporters and is willing to try and compete with other teams in the league rather than just simply exist along side them. Until the club is sold I cannot see that any progression will be made 

Season Preview

After a summer where I completely switched off from Football and enjoyed English success in Tennis, Cricket and Golf it is now time to immerses myself back into the world of Newcastle United and our 2013/14 Premiership campaign.

Last season will be remembered for all the wrong reasons as NUFC were involved in a relegation battle in a season where so much was expected. We failed to build on our fantastic 5th place finish last summer by only adding Vuron Anita to our first team squad and without the 5 French January additions we may now be a Championship club.

Like every other NUFC fan I was obviously under the impression we would have learned our lesson and realise that our squad needs to be strengthened most noticeably 2 strikers need to be bought.

Llambais, Carr and Pardew would start the summer with the mission of improving our playing squad yet the club was turned on its head when MD Derek Llambias quit the club and was amazingly replaced by former manager and footballing Dinosaur Joe Kinnear who claimed to anyone who would listen that he was our"Transfer and recruitment gafa"

Joe has been in his current role for a few months now and has so far delivered only Loic Remy on a loan deal. Don't get me wrong I think Remy is a fantastic signing and I feel we have finally replaced Demba Ba and if he stays fit he is a player who will offer so much to the team and more importantly add much needed goals.

As good as Remy is he really needs to be joined by at least another 2 signings if we are to have a squad capable of competing in the top 10 of the Premier League. For me another forward (Bafe Gomis) and a attacking midfielder such as Tom Ince or Scott Sinclair would be great. Defensive options would be welcome too as lets not forget we leaked so many goals last year and it is good to see that this week we have been linked with Belgian Centre Half Toby Alderweirld who would be another top addition.

Looking at our current squad I feel we have a talented starting 11, yet we seriously lack the strength and depth needed to deal with inevitable injuries and suspensions. My starting 11 would be as follows:

(443)

Krul

Debuchy

Coloccini

Yanga-Mbiwa

Santon

Cabaye

Tiote

Sissoko

Ben Arfa

Cisse

Remy

Right now we lack forward options as this would leave us with only Shola as an alternative to Cisse. I feel we have midfield options in Anita, Jonas, Marveaux, Gouffran and Obertan yet none of these players offer a game changing ability off the bench. 

As for defenders additions to Taylor, Williamson, and Haidara as back-up are needed. Maybe it is the season for Phil Dummett to step up and become a viable option for out first team - fellow youngsters Adam Campbell and Haris Vuckic will be expected to have a big season also.

Ideally like many of our Premier league competitors NUFC would have completed our summer transfer business weeks ago, yet as we know the sensible options is never taken by NUFC. However if Kinnear can deliver 3 new signings - a defender, midfielder, and forward before the window slams shut I would back NUFC to finish 9th this season - without these signings I see us struggling to 13th.

My Premier League predictions:

Champions - Chelsea

Top 4 - Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, Spurs

Relegated - Hull, Palace, Stoke

Top Scorer - Robin Van Persie

FA Cup - Spurs

Capital One - Arsenal

Surprise club - Norwich

Can someone tell JFK the transfer window is open!

So far during the current transfer window we have seen no positive transfer activity - despite all the rumours and links we have only seem fan favourites Steve Harper, James Perch and Danny Simpson leave the club. These players will not be missed in terms of the the quality they bring to the club, however it further weakens an already paper thin squad.

As usual we have been linked with hundreds of players - most notably: Andy Carroll, Wilfried Bony and Pierre -Emerick Aubameyang all of whome have been snapped up by other clubs. Obviously we could not compete with Borussia Dortmund in the race to sign P-E-A - yet to see Bony join Swansea and West Ham to sign Carroll is disappointing.

At the moment we are strongly linked with Loic Remy , Darren Bent and Scott Sinclair and to be honest if we signed these three players i would be thrilled. All 3 would improve our squad and add some impetus to our attacks and provide the level of competition needed.

If we we bring these 3 players in and manage to retain our current squad then I think we will be in good shape - if a big offer comes in for one of our top players then I am sure Mike Ashley will sell and we will have the funds to make extra re-building signings.

Looking around the league it is hard not to feel that we are being left behind with regards to signings. Many of our Premier League competitors have been busy in the transfer market.

Below are 11 players that had moved to other premier league clubs during this summer - I would personally have liked to have seen NUFC compete to bring these players to St James Park.

Maarten Stekelenburg

Erik Pieters
Martin Olsson

Nathan Redmond
Leroy Fer
Victor Wanyama
Emanuele Giaccherini
Jonathan De Guzman

Wilfred Bony
Andy Carroll
Ricky Van Wolfswinkel

Of course there is plenty of time before the transfer window slams shut so hopefully Pardew, Kinnear and Ashley can deliver the players we need.

JFK

This weekend the Newcastle United soap opera took another incredible and very disappointing turn as the news that Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley had appointed Joe Kinnear as the club's new Director of Football.

Kinnear has been out of the game since he left NUFC 4 years ago, in fact NUFC are the only football club to hire Joe Kinnear in the last 10 years. Joe is a Dinosaur who had an average managerial career in the dark days of 1990's English football, however Joe is obviously a close friend of Mike Ashley and therefore has landed a top job at a top club.  Kinnear certainly wasn't appointed on merit.

This whole embarrassment was played out before the world live on Sky Sports news as Kinnear took it upon himself reveal his appointment even though he still has been on official word from the club.


Kinnear began in bumbling fashion, the like we all heard during his caretaker stint in charge.
"This has been an ongoing situation for three weeks with David, erm, Dave, erm with Mike . . I will be in charge of finance, erm in charge of transfers and looking at the strengths and weakness of the side."

If Joe is now our transfer manager what does this mean for Graham Carr who has found some aabsolute gems in recent years? Is it believed Kinnear has a better eye for a player than our client scout?
"I will help out Alan Pardew in every possible way that I can."

Yet he also confirmed he was yet to speak Pardew. I am by no means a big Pardew fan yet feel he has been put in a impossible situation. I have the feeling it will not be long until Pardew leaves and Kinnear assumes the managerial role at SJP. Of course we have been in this situation before when Kevin Keegan was asked to work under the rule of Dennis Wise. That situation ended in KK leaving the club and suing Mike Ashley - lets see how this episode plays out.

So why has Ashley made this appointment?

Basically this is a situation of 'Jobs for the boys' - worryingly this is how Mike Ashley chooses to run our beloved club. 

We now have a owner we don't want, a chairman who is clueless, a manager who, at best is average, a captain who does not want to be at the club and now we appoint a Director of football who is regarded as a foul mouthed Dinosaur by 99% of the clubs fans. 

What can possibly be behind this appointment:

-A move designed to force Alan Pardew toward the exit?

-A set of eyes on the day to day running of the training ground?

-A mate who can conduct a postmortem on our disaster season?
-Maybe just a way for Mike Ashley to reassert his control of the club

Joe Kinnear is not qualified to do this job no matter what lines he tries to spin us. As part of Sunday's interview he claimed to have no part in the relegation of Newcastle at the end of the season in which he took charge of 26 games but won only five (19 percent).

"I intend to make Newcastle far better than they are now."

Nice one Joe..

We should be hell Bent on Darren

Darren Bent to Newcastle was certainly not the headline we all expected, yet when you let it sink in and think it through he would be a good signing for our club.

Admittedly Bent would of been no where near the top of supporters wish list for a summer signing especially after his problematic spell at Aston Villa which has been  Bent really fell of the face of the planet. After public falling out with Paul Lambert Bent and really has become the forgotten man of English football. Yet when you look at Bent's premier league record he is player worthy of close consideration.

Our interest come as a surprise as he does not fall within the transfer blueprint used by the current leadership at NUFC, yet they did talk about adding Premiership experience to squad - Bent ticks alot of boxes. He is goal scorer which is exactly what we need. He does not score the spectacular goals like Cisse - yet he will feast on the 'easy' chances Cisse spurns every other week. He is a goal poacher

Picking up a player of Bent's ability and experience for a fee of around 6m is not something that can be ignored and to be honest lets look at where we are as a club right now - we finished 16th and currently have only 2 first team strikers - one of these being Shola. Bent is big improvement on Shola and has a goal record the Cisse would be proud of.

Add to that the fact that Darren has a lot of prove after the battering his ego has taken since joining Villa. If the price tag and wages package fits into our structure then this is a deal we need to persue.

I am not saying Bent would come in and be our leading forward  - for me we need 2 first team forwards to join the club this summer and hopefully the NUFC leadership realise this!
 IF we could deliver Pierre Emerick Aubameyang or Loic Remy plus Darren Bent then i wold be over the moon. This would give us plenty of options and also much needed competition for Cisse.

Yesterday I read an article discussing the prospect of signing Remy and Bent for a total of 13m
 and I believe this would be great business for NUFC and would solve a lot of our problems from this past season.

Now if only Bent had 'eke' at the end of this name...

Summer business

Much has been made about the end of season review which will take place between Pardew, Ashley and Llambias in the coming weeks. Frankly I cannot see how Pardew can keep his job after our terrible performance this season. He has given no indication that he can return us to the business end of the league. For me he needs to be sacked immediately and replaced by either Rafa Benitez or Roberto Martinez. That is the key to our future sucess. I believe we have a good squad who under the right leadership could be back amongst the top 6.

Below I want to give my assessment of what we need to do to get our club out of the mess we currently are sitting in.

Out

Harper

Simpson

Williamson

Gosling

Jonas - or stay as a squad player

Shola

Loaned out

Sammy

Ferguson

Campbell

Dummett

Innman

Newton

In - Any of the following

Andy Carroll        Starter

Romeu Lukaku     Starter

Edin Dzeko          Worth a bid

Shane Long         Upgrade on Gouffran

James McCarthy   Starter

Scott Sinclair       Upgrade on Gouffran

Loic Remy           Starter

Adam Le Fondre   Impact Sub

Andreas Weimann Impact Sub

Steven Caulker     Compete with Taylor

Demba Ba...        IF surplus at Chelsea
Micheal Dawson

I only want us to buy British based player / players with Premiership experience as i feel this is exactly what we are missed this season.

These additions would allow us to have plently of squad coverage and also would allow us to adapt our tactics and formations for each game.

IF we could line up with the following Squad options next year:

(4-3-3)

Krul / Elliot

Santon / M'biwa
M'biwa / Taylor
Colo / Dawson
Debuchy / Haidara

Cabaye / McCarthy
Tiote / Perch
Sissoko / Anita

Ben Arfa / Weimann
Carroll / Cisse / Remy
Sinclair / Long

Benitez, Jol or Martinez?

In the aftermath of Newcastle's stunning defeat to Sunderland in the Tyne Wear derby the spotlight is well and truly on Alan Pardew. The derby defeat coupled with our overall poor season means the heat is really going to be turned up on Pardew who now must get a reaction out of his squad starting this weekend. Only a strong end to the season and more points on the board will give Pardew a chance of surviving in his job this summer.

If Pardew is to lose his job this summer who are the likely candidates to take over the reins at St James?  We all know Newcastle are ran a little differently in that Mike Ashley has his set structure at the club - we have a vision of how we want out club to be ran and any new manager would have to agree to work under these strict rules. As we saw Kevin Keegan was not willing to work this way and for the second time he left the club.

Like most Newcastle fans I am very realistic and understand the limitations of our club in terms of attracting players and coaches. When looking at potential replacements for Pardew we can obviously rule out any of the top established managers and also the likes of Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund, Frank De Boer, or Manuel Pellegrini.

For me we can look closer to home as I believe there is quality in our own Premier League. Let me look at three possible candidates.

Roberto Martinez does a good job at Wigan and has recently been linked with the Liverpool and Aston Villa. Credit to Martinez as he does continue to keep Wigan in the Premier league where they are punching well above their weight. Wigan play some nice football, yet always seem to be involved in a relegation battle every year. I worry about him dealing with top players, bigger budgets and the expectation which comes with managing a club like Newcastle United.

Martin Jol is a experienced Premier league manager who has also worked on the continent with Hamburg SV and the Mighty Ajax. Currently working with Fulham, Jol has done a great job with a small club settled mid-table in the Premier league. I am a big fan of Jol and think he ticks a lot of boxes in term of what I want in a team manager. Fulham are known as a side who play football the right way with players who have quality on the ball - Berbatov and Dembele for example, yet Jol also wants his teams to remain solid and hard to beat.

 I feel Jol has ambitions to compete at a higher level than what is possible with a club like Fulham. Just a few years back Martin led Spurs to two top 5 finishes before Gareth Bale arrived and took Spurs to another level. His side played great football, full of young quality players and actually reminded me a lot of the young guns side assembled at NUFC by Sir Bobby Robson.

Newcastle could be a club who offer Jol the chance to get back amongst the top 6 and I would very much welcome him to the St James hot seat and believe he would handle the job and take NUFC to the next level.

The next candidate and ectually my preferred choice for the job is a little controversial. If Mike Ashley is to fire Alan Pardew this summer I would love to see him bring in Rafa Benitez. The currently Chelsea "interim' manager is being given a rough time by the Stamford bridge faithful yet is still doing a solid job in difficult circumstances and looks on course to finish in the top 4 and win the Europa League.

Benitez is a vastly experienced tactician who's reading of the game cannot be questioned. During him time with Valencia he won the Championship twice and won the UEFA cup which is a massive achievement in a league which contains Barcelona and Real Madrid and it will be a long time before we see this happen again in Spain. Following this sucess he joined Liverpool where again he delivered sucess at the highest level with a Champions league victory on a night no football fan will ever forget. Consistent finished in the top 4 and victories in the domestic cup competition's were a key fixture during Rafa's time with Liverpool.

If Newcastle could bring in Benitez it would be a major coup for the club. This could be the perfect situation for both Rafa and our club as we both crave a return to the top table of English and European football.

I have heard people band around names like Gus Poyet, Roberto Di Matteo and Michael Laudrup but i just do not see any of these managers being a step in the right direction or really having the quality to be an upgrade from Alan Pardew.

As we know however football is a funny old game and a few years back we would have loved Martin O'Neill to lead club yet now he is sitting on the managerial scrap heap having been replaced by some young Italian upstart!

i have the feeling we will see big changes at the club in the summer. Players are certain to leave yet the biggest decision the board have to make it whether Alan Pardew is the man to take our club forward or if he has taken us as far as he can.

Sunderland defeat - Pardew's future

I have intentionally waited for the dust to settle on the Derby defeat as I did not to get caught up in the emotion of it all and write a article full of knee-jerked reactions.

Now that four long days have passed since the bitter blow of defeat at the hands of Sunderland I wanted to take a long hard look at this result and where we are heading with this current set up of players and staff.

Sunday hurt. For me any defeat hurts but for obvious reasons this one always stings. I tend not to be one that gets wrapped up in all the Geordie / Mackem hatred. I have friends who are Sunderland fans, I went to University in Sunderland and in general Mackems are not so bad. For me the two derby days are the only time I really care about Sunderland Football club. On any other days they are just another Premier league rival. I have a bigger vision for my club than simply just beating Sunderland. I want our big rivals to be Man Utd, Chelsea, and Arsenal because that will mean we are competing at the top of the table once again.

Sunday hurt not only due to the result, but more to the manner of defeat. The lack of passion, energy and desire was worrying. Yes Sunderland scored 3 top quality individual goal - the likes that have not been seen by those particular players, yet they beat us all over the park and showed are greater desire to take all 3 points and local bragging rights. Di Canio certainly won the managerial battle in terms of tactics, formation, team shape, and a game plan. He obviously had his troops fired up for the battle, and for us to not be able to match that fight is very disappointing.

In the immediate aftermath of a defeat like this the fickle side of Newcastle United fans comes out. Calls for Pardew to leave, and suggestions that our French players have no 'Fight' in them were heard loud and clear  across the World.

Twitter, Facebook and fanzines were buzzing with demands for a change of manager less than a year after Pardew led us to 5th in the Premier league and was awarded the Manager of the year award. Yes Newcastle over achieved last year, but Pardew does deserves credit - you cannot finish 5th in the strongest league in the world on the back pure luck. Likewise a team and manager who achieved so much do not become a bad team 12 months later.

You have to look at the major incidents which have effected our season and how much control Pardew has. We can all agree the Europa League has stretched out squad to the limit. Yes we enjoyed those European nights but we just do not have enough quality in the squad to maintain a challenge both at home or abroad. Is this Pardews fault? for me no. We know transfers and player recruitment is dealt with at a higher level than Pardew. I imagine he has input, yet it is down to the business men to do the deals and provide him with a squad capable of competing. If the 5 players recruited in January had been recruited before the season started i am certain we would not be in this position.

The Fabricio Coloccini issue is completely out of the hand of the manager. For our skipper to be suffering from personal problems and wanting to leave the club is a massive blow. Colo has been our leader and outstanding player for the past few years and losing him has had a big impact on our season. I cannot see how Pardew could have acted any differently. Likewise with the key injuries to the likes of Ben Arfa and the sale of Demba Ba who is yet to be replaced.

Don't get me wrong I am not a big Pardew fan, however I just feel if he is to be criticized then I feel he need to be fairly judged.

Judging him fairly is looking at his management of the team of the field. His selections, tactics and substitutions. Unfortunately for Alan this season he has disappointed a lot of fans with his match day management. Questions can still be asked about his tactical skills and his ability to adapt and change a game with his decisions from the sideline. Where is Alan's plan B? does he have it in him to react, change a game, or win games from a losing position? The jury is still out on him this season.

Pardew has done a steady job since joinging the club in 2011 - me won me over with the way he guided the team last year, however I am unsure of how long he can live off last years success. This season I feel we are back to where we were under Chirs Hughton's leadership. Pardew was brought in to replace Hughton and to take us to the next level. Can we honestly say we are now at the next level? In terms of playing personnel I would say yes, I feel we have one of our strongest squad we have had for a long time with real quality. I therefore look at the manager and the question facing Mike Ashley is whether Alan Pardew is the right man to take this squad forward and reach its full potential.

As we know MIke does not suffer fools and will make the move he feels the club needs to get back amongst the top 6. I have a strong feeling the will be changes in the summer. Ashley is a ruthless businessman who will not hesitate to replace Alan Pardew. The big question for us fans is who would be the right man to replace him?

England picked on current form..

After yet another England disappointment this week I really find myself frustrated as time and time again the England squad and team is picked on reputation rather than current form.

For Hodgson to pick Joleon Lescott and Chris Smalling as the starting centre half partnership is nothing short of a disgrace. I know we have injuries however Lescott does not even play regular first team football, and Smalling is a promising player, yet is still 4th choice at his club.

We keep hearing that an England squad will be picked on current form and will not be a 'closed shop' available to only the so-called elite. Yet time and time again this happens.

For me based on this seasons form I would pick the 11 players below to represent England:This might not be the best 11 individuals but the certainly deserve a call up.

 

Ben Foster

Leighton Baines

Steven Taylor

Rio Ferdinand

Carl Jenkinson

Jack Wilshere

Michael Carrick

Joey Barton

Theo Walcott

Rickie Lambert

Wayne Rooney

Wigan + FA - Disgrace

In one of my recent blog entries I said that our defeat against Swansea left me as frustrated as I had been all season due to us losing a game I felt we dominated, however this changed after our visit to Wigan this past Sunday.

Everything that could have went wrong for us on the day did - from the injuries to the hand ball goal and of course that foul. Actually I do not want to call it a foul - let's call it was it was - an assault.

NUFC went into this game buoyed after our Europa league success against Anzhi yet left the North West with a sour taste in our mouths feeling a great sense of injustice.

Lets get the facts out of the way first - Callum McManaman made a terrible, career ending foul on Massadio Haidara that was not even deemed bad enough for a free kick. This was clearly a red card offence yet 4 officials who are supposed to be at the top of their profession decided this incident did not even merit a free kick. There is the big problem - why did none of the officials make the call we all know this incident deserved? Why did the FA cowardly hide behind their "policies' when everyone, except Dave Whelan knows this was a clear red card.

This shows everything that is wrong with our game. We are ran by a bunch of face-less politicians who never answer a question with a straight answer. I am a big listener of Talksport and yesterday Darren Bailey, the FA's director of football governance and regulation spoke to the presenters and tried to explain the FA's policies are procedures to deal with incidents like we saw on Sunday. As a fan the frustration comes from his continued stance that the FA cannot re-referee games yet we all know that by rescinding red cards they are already re-refereeing games - his whole argument was a contradiction. To make matters worse the linesman who claims to have seen a "Coming together" does not have to have seen the full incident, simple a coming together. Surely this is wrong and is exactly what led managing director Derek Llambias to label the FA's rules as "Not fit for purpose".

If one of the FA's darling's such as Rooney or Gerrard was on the end of such a foul they would have acted differently, likewise if it was Joey Barton, Shawcross, or Tiote who made this tackle the FA would have thrown the book at them.

Roberto Martinez and Whelan have done no favours for their club by defending their player - they are a disgrace. Coming out with lines such as "He is a lovely lad, he does not have a bad bone in his body" etc.. infuriate me - this does not excuse that he committed a terrible foul and needs to be punished. Haidara might be a lovely lad - does he deserve to be I the hospital?

I also hear today that as of yet their has been no personal or official apology made to the young lad. Shocking.

Any creditably the FA had has now gone - fans around the country will all understand the frustration Newcastle United now carry. I imagine Callum McManaman will face the brunt of fans frustrations as they see the injustice and will know that instead of Haidara lying in a hospital bed it could have been a player from any club.

McManaman will be known and targeted for this incident and his reputation in the game is now set. For me McManaman will have to deal with the consequences as a result of his actions.

And don't even get me started on the handball winning goal...

Steven Taylor - England material

Steven Taylor earned the praises of NUFC manager Alan Pardew after yet another fine performance during Newcastle's 2-1 win over Stoke City on Sunday. 

"Steven Taylor was immense," he said. "He was brilliant. It was an England-standard performance. England need to look at Steven at centre-half.


Newcastle's squad was boosted by the arrival of 5 new players in January and all these lads have added so much to the squad yet it could be the return to fitness of the big Geordie defender which proves to be the biggest boost for the season run in. 

Taylor's return also coincided with a time of turmoil as NUFC as club captain Fabricio Coloccini revealed he wanted to leave the club and return to his native Argentina. As we know the club did there best to convince Colo to stay with the club until at least the summer. As fans we were ready to see Taylor and Colo be re-united in a defensive partnership, but we were left uncertain as a result of Coloccini's personal issues.

Regardless of injuries or personal issues we all knew another centre half was a transfer must during the January window. The club delivered in bringing in Mapou Yanga Mbiwa - This lad is class and will go on to be a top top defender for both club and country.

For me all of the panic and disillusion surrounding Coloccini leaving the club is slowly dissolving and I can see a bright future with Taylor and Mbiwa as our defensive backbone. 

On the international stage Taylor is certainly staking a claim to at least earn a spot in Roy Hodgsons squad. England fans have long cried out for a squad picked on current form and not reputations. To be fair Hodgson has shown he is willing to give players a chance - not many of us would have thought Leon Osman would become a regular in the England squad.

With Rio Ferdinand no longer in and around the England squad and with John Terry's injury record there is a problem at centre half for England. Taylor's competition for a place in the squad will be:

Phil Jagielka
Joleon Lescott
Gary Cahill
Chris Smalling
Michael Dawson

I am not saying Taylor is better than all these lads, however other than Jagielka not all are currently first team choices for their club. If the squad is picked on current form then wor Steven should certainly pick up his first England cap in the coming months and of course will the World cup coming up next year what better time to breaking into the Squad.

Taylor is one of us, a real fans favourite. He obviously has a real passion for our club and wears the Black & White with huge pride. To see a Geordie succeed on  a international level would be a huge boost for the club and the city. 

"It would be a dream come true," said Taylor. "I've always said it's the greatest honour for a professional footballer and, for me, it would be the icing on the cake. But Mr Hodgson has the final say."