Jump to content

dustynrg

Member
  • Posts

    949
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  1. Perhaps we could stimulate retail income by freshening up the club strip. Some primary colours perhaps? I predict our next away strip will be red and blue stripes.
  2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2049920/Alan-Pardew-continues-inspire-Newcastle--Martin-Samuel.html#ixzz1b2MjbccD Martin Samuel in Daily Mail today being positive for a change The noisy 50,000 urge Pardew to go fourth and believe as Newcastle continue to surprise By Martin Samuel Last updated at 11:38 PM on 16th October 2011 Several clubs ago, when he was last a Premier League manager, Alan Pardew had a colour chart with the names of the 19 other clubs on the changing room wall. He divided them into three categories. There were the ones that had to be beaten, home and away, to ensure survival. He set a minimum target of four points from six for those in the middle. Then there was the elite: any point from those matches would be considered a job well done. Perhaps he has moved on in the intervening six seasons. Maybe that old sheet of paper has been consigned to the bin. If it hasn’t, maybe it will have to be. The targets and expectations with which Pardew began the season may have to be reconfigured. Tottenham Hotspur have come and gone and Newcastle United remain intact, in fourth place. There was no come-uppance, no unfortunate day of reckoning. Tottenham took the lead, twice, and Newcastle returned fire. They could have won the game near the end. Few believe it can last, probably not even Pardew deep down, yet this is no time for self-doubt. If Newcastle were aiming for the top three, that would be different. They are as far removed from the might of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea as Mike Ashley is from a lead role in Geordie Shore. Yet, fourth place is not like that. Not this season, anyway. Fourth place is for the wannabes, for the nearly men, for the not quites, for the over-achievers. Fourth place is up for grabs, with everyone from Liverpool to Stoke in the mix. Newcastle have arguably the weakest squad of any team in the top seven, but they have home gates of more than 50,000, a good manager and a team who know how to scrap for a point, as Sunday proved. Pardew has changed the mood and narrative of the club from one of rolling crisis to positive forward motion. That is no mean feat; and after eight unbeaten games it is more than a decent platform for improvement. It may prove the worst mistake Pardew could make. There is no greater millstone than the curse of high expectation, as he has discovered more than once in his career. The moment Newcastle’s board and supporters feel settled in fourth place, the pressure on the manager will be intense. Pardew does not have a group of players with Champions League pedigree; he is getting exceptional performances from unexceptional footballers and with limited funds. Investment is needed. Each weekend could bring the pop of a bubble bursting and a slide every bit as accelerated as Newcastle’s rise. Yet, until he hears that sound, Pardew has to run with what he has got. And that is an unbeaten team, with a superior goal difference to all bar the top three, and two points more than Liverpool who, never forget, took the man perceived to be Newcastle’s best player midway through last season. It is testament to Pardew’s wit as a coach that Andy Carroll has not been missed and that he has somehow fashioned as many goals — 11 — from his motley collection of strikers as Liverpool have from a front-line that includes Carroll, Luis Suarez and Dirk Kuyt. Newcastle have been tighter defensively than Liverpool, too, although few would back them to replicate Saturday’s result at Anfield when they finally come up against Manchester United on November 26. The period between November 19 and December 3 is when Newcastle must hold their nerve. The fixtures fairy, which seems to have a particularly wicked sense of humour this year — ask Bolton Wanderers — sends Newcastle on back-to-back away trips to Manchester, first City then United, before bringing Chelsea to St James’ Park. It could bring Newcastle’s hopes and aspirations crashing to earth. Yet as long as the margins do not get away from them, shattering confidence, what is there to lose? As Pardew privately admitted with his wall charts at Upton Park, there are some games in which any point is a bonus. Fourth place, or a creditable finish with perhaps a return to Europe next season, will not depend on meetings with the Manchester clubs and Chelsea. Getting a point against Tottenham at home, a point against Aston Villa away, a win at Sunderland, a home victory over Fulham, these are the results that have made Newcastle an unlikely force this season. They would all have scored high on Pardew’s wish-list of returns; and the longer this goes on, the more the locals will believe, and 50,000 believers make a formidable noise. As momentum builds so trips to Tyneside will grow increasingly daunting. Certainly, there was fervour around the late exchanges in Sunday’s game, which made up for a pretty dismal first half. It was like one of those boxing matches in which both fighters realise in about the ninth round that they have to do something, or risk losing on points. Late on, they went toe to toe, first Tottenham on top and looking good for a third goal, then Newcastle rallying. Neither team looked capable of laying a glove on this season’s elite three, but that is fourth place for you. Any club in the top 10 might fancy their chances of finding clear water and a fair wind. ‘I think English football is crying out for a different club to win one of the blue riband events, or break the monopoly of the big four,’ said Pardew. ‘I think people are willing us to do it. They know the game cannot go on like this.’ That was five years ago and he was talking about West Ham and their new Icelandic owners. Not all stories have happy endings. We are not on the last page of the one about Newcastle, though; so for the time being, keep an open mind. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2049920/Alan-Pardew-continues-inspire-Newcastle--Martin-Samuel.html#ixzz1b2MjbccD
  3. I'd imagine so yes. Why would it have to be removed? More publicity for SD surely.
  4. How long before we change from black & white to blue & red stripes?
  5. dustynrg

    Alan Pardew

    This just confirms my view that he's in with all the tricks, lies and bull. It also fits in with Golfmag's assertion about keeping down the wage bill. Lots of lovely jubbly bonus money which can be used to pay off a few debts. Allegedly.
  6. So you're saying football fans shouldn't drink before they go to a match then? That would be novel.
  7. from what i've read the police made the situation a hell of a lot worse, i'm not just talking about not stopping people coming in, but about refusing ambulances to enter the ground and doing nothing to help while people were being killed. Not only did nothing, but stood en masse at the halfway line because they thought it was a pitch invasion. Some police even pushed people back in to stop a pitch invasion. They realised too late that it wasn't but by then it was too late.
  8. No chance he'll walk. He sold his soul ages ago. The cynic in me says he and Llambias probably had a meeting to thrash out the PR. "How we gonna get around the fans then Dekka when we buy no-one?" "ooh Al just pretend you're REALLY mad with me and Mike, - they'll fall for that - Christ, they might even feel sorry for ya!!!".
  9. The way he writes that article it's as if Nolan turned into Messi overnight. And the big club argument, yawn yawn. Who cares, we support Newcastle and would support Newcastle whatever. Just wait until they're playing Big Sam football and Nolan's huffin and puffin up and down the pitch. I'm looking forward to it.
  10. Tweets from Piers Morgan to Michael Owen @themichaelowen Did your horse actually run? Or did it get a winner's medal just by turning up in the paddock like its owner? 43 minutes ago And by the way @themichaelowen - which was the supposedly 'poor team'? Newcastle, Liverpool or Real Madrid? 45 minutes ago @themichaelowen Oops. Hit that late night raw nerve again, Benchwarmer? Calm down, you've got that angelic halo to protect.... 50 minutes ago
  11. Thank feck for that, no longer will we have to listen to how "Scholesy" can't tackle, chuckle chuckle, how fab he is, how even his gingerness is a thing of wonder.
  12. dustynrg

    Players in public

    Working toward a sale and "sell if someone came in with the right price " is a bit different though. If he is planning to sell (which a businessman like him would do, not just hang around hoping a buyer turns up) he won't trash the club - why trash something you want to sell - but he won't be arsed about selling our favourite players like Tiote, Enrique etc as long as we have competent enough, young, cheap players to replace them. It all depends on the time frame he's given Pardew but if decent bids come in for any of our players in the summer don't think for a minute they won't be sold. The quicker the money can be raised the quicker he can be off. Let's face it, he can't be enjoying it anymore, it'll be time for a new toy for him once he sells us.
  13. dustynrg

    Players in public

    Isn't this what Golfmag said when Pardew was appointed? That Pardew was given the job because he owes Llambias casino debts with a remit to maximise sales, keep wages down and get the club in a better financial state so Ashley can sell it? Seeing that Golfmag has been proved right on a few occasions it makes sense to me.
  14. "A left winger, wonder if that means Jonas is going on the right?"
×
×
  • Create New...