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."

South Wales Frustration & Eastern promise

This past weekend Newcastle were defeated in South Wales 1-0 by a Swansea team who are having the times of their lives after their recent Capital one cup victory.

To the neutral fan I am sure the win for Swansea would be no real surprise as the Welshmen have an impressive home record this season, however anyone who watched the game will know that the result does not tell the true tale of a closely fought match.

Seeing Newcastle lose to such a sloppy, late goal on Saturday took me to my lowest point of the season. Losing a game which we were dominating is such a crushing feeling. After riding our the early storm which saw lots of possession by the home team NUFC were able to adjust and grab the game by the scruff of the neck. We had chances to take the lead, none were clear cut chances, rather opportunities which we should have taken advantage of - Gouffran, Cabaye, and Cisse all had good efforts yet a goal would not come. Despite of this NUFC were completely in control of this game - easily dealing with any Swansea attacks and dominating possession of the ball.

All this good work was undone in a moment of madness which saw Luke Moore pounce on the ball following a mix up between Davide Santon and Mapou-Yanga Mbiwa to poke the ball home. This was not even a chance created by Swansea - Wayne Routledge played a hopeful ball into the the box and 4 United defender were out-foxed by Moore. All afternoon Swansea did not pose a problem for our backline, yet we were undone in such a basic manner.

My frustration is born out of the fact we played well, Pardew managed well, and Swansea were no threat yet we came away with nothing. To be honest I would rather lose a game 3-0 on a day where we just do not turn up at all - nothing is more deflating or crushing than not receiving any credit, or points when you clearly deserve them. I even find it hard to be harsh on our defenders, as all game they played well and nulified the prolific Michu.

We now need to dust ourselves down and prepare for a big Europa League game against Anzhi in the Russian capital. A 0-0 result or away goal is a must if we are to bring the tie back to St James where we can finish off the job. To do this we will need to pay close attention to their superstar forward - Samuel Eto'o and also the giant Ivorian forward Lacina Traore who scored against Liverpool in the group stages of the EL.

There are plenty of similar names amongst the Anzhi squad - Former premiership player - Yuri Zhirkov, Lassana Diarra, two Brazilians in Ewerton and the 35m Euro man Willian and the squad is managed by one Europe's best coaches in the Dutchman Guus Hiddink.

I fancy United to score, but also to concede and see a close game which will finish in a 1-1 tie - A result I am sure will see NUFC return to the North East with a smile of their faces.

Ben Arfa - our answer to Gareth Bale?

Gareth Bale is getting all the headlines right now due to his current fantastic form. He rightly is being labelled as the Premiership's best player and has even been likened to Ronaldo and Messi. Personally I still think he still has some way to go before he can be put in the same category as Cristiano or Lionel who are two of the best footballers ever.

No doubt Bale has taken the Premiership by storm since the turn of the year and has reached another level. Arguments could be made that he is carrying his club and that Spurs would not be 3rd in the league without their Welsh superstar. He has scored 8 goals in his last 9 games, including late winners against NUFC and West Ham since Andre Villas Boas changed his position to a free role just behind the striker.

For me Bale on current form is right up there with the worlds best, however consistency is key and Bale has to replicate his current form over a whole season, or win championship with his club before he can be mentioned as one of the worlds elite players.

I can see Bale leaving Spurs this summer to head to one of the world's top clubs - Real Madrid have already been linked with a bid - Zinedane Zidane recently scouted Bale while playing a Europa league game against Lyon. For Bale to reach his potential and for his talent to be rewarded with championships and trophies he really needs to make a move.

As a NUFC fan I obviously look at Spurs with envious eyes and wish we did have a superstar like Bale, but then when you look at our squad and see Hatem Ben Arfa and I fell we could have our very own Bale.

Now before I go any further I am not saying Ben Arfa is better than Bale - that is not even a competition right now, however I do feel that in Ben Arfa NUFC have a player who can be as influential as Bale is for Spurs. He has all the talent in the world and with a run of games injury free I see no reason why Ben Arfa cannot take this league by the scruff of the neck and be a real game changer for NUFC.

We all love Hatem and appreciate what he brings to the club, we understand that he is a one-of -a- kind talent that cannot easily be replaced. You just have to look at our poor form this season and how this coincides with Ben Arfa's injury. As NUFC fans we have only seen glimpses of what he can bring to the team. We love a French flair player at NUFC - I believe Hatem will have a similar impact on the NUFC to that of David GInola who I would rate as the most talented player I have seen in a Black & White shirt.

The Original French Geordie

Last season we witnessed two moments of genius from our number 10 - the goals scored against Bolton and Blackburn last season were astonishing and usually only scored on the local school field or during a game of FIFA on the XBOX, however our game changer scored them during a high level competitive game.Can you imagine the media hype if Gareth Bale had scored either of these goals. Of course Bale is the current media darling and plays for a London based club who have always been highlighted more than the unfashionable clubs up North.

Gareth Bale has been able to take his game to the next level this season, for him now it is all about consistently performing at this level for years to come. For our Hatem it is a case of getting fiit, staying fit, and reaching the level of performance we all know he is capable of. It would be great to see Ben Arfa make an appearance from the bench this weekend at Swansea because the quality he brings to the team no other member of our squad has.



The new Ginola?