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