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...