| News - January 2007 |
| | | | | | | | | | |
 |
|
|
|
Villa Review - In Safe Hands
January 31st 2007
A surprisingly mild and rain free January evening saw a visit to St James' Park of an Aston Villa side that included two new forwards in Carew and Young signed in the transfer window and both of whom made their debuts. Newcastle welcomed back both Duff and Bramble after lengthy injuries had kept them in the treatment room and started with; Harper, Carr, Taylor, Bramble, Huntington, Duff, Parker, Butt, Milner, Martins, Dyer. Subs: Sibierski, Srnicek, Edgar, O'Brien, Carroll. The first ten minutes saw some very neat build up play from the Toon and Milner scored with a blistering shot on 5 minutes after jinking inside his man - and amazingly Dyer added another one with a header two munutes later, after Milner crossed to make it 2-0. It was all Newcastle in these opening moments and when Scotty Parker struck the crossbar from distance, Villa's ex-mackem keeper Sorensen must have been wondering how many the Mags were going to score past him. Then the wheels started to come off in defence and Villa pulled a goal back from their first real threat on the Newcastle goal. Barry's corner wasn't dealt with properly by the Toon's defence and debutant Young fired home way too easily at the back post. The defending was simply not good enough. (Come on folks this is Newcastle after all - what do we expect?) When Butt came off with an injury on 33 minutes, to be replaced by Sibierski, Newcastle seemed to lose any shape or discipline they had and were second to everything in the middle of the park. It only looked a matter of time before Villa equalized. Scott Parker and Damian Duff were not offering much and the back four were caught napping on a numerous occasions by a Villa side that looked noticeably more hungry and 'up for it'. However, when a header fell to Oba towards the end of the 1st half he should have made it 3-1 but sent his effort disapointingly high instead. A stiff half-time team talk from Roeder was clearly required - but if that did happen there didn't seem to be much evidence of the players taking any notice, because the Toon came out looking just as jaded at the start of the 2nd half. Villa were getting the ball quickly up to their front two (Carew and Young) who were causing Taylor and Bramble all kinds of problems. Agbonlahor was also giving Huntington a tough time with his pace and skill on the wing and out jumped the young Toon full-back for a header which Harper did well to save. Carr wasn't fairing much better on the other flank either. (Did I say we looked dodgy in defence already?) As the 2nd half wore on we managed to get some better spells of possession and started to work the ball through Dyer a little more. However, the Toon were very fortunate to see a Carew header chalked off by referee (Howard Webb) for a foul on Sibierski...(to me, it looked like they were both pulling and pushing at each other) and Newcastle got the free kick. Carew was furious and the SJP crowd were relieved. I spent the last 20 minutes checking my watch thinking "when will this end!". Make no mistake, despite the scoreline, it wasn't a classic performance by any means. As the clock ticked over into added time Oba Martins fed Duff down the left flank, who then cut inside and rolled the ball to Sibierski who finished with power (ala Shearer) past the hapless ex-mackems at his near post to gave the Toon a very flattering 3-1 win. The defence still needs to be sorted out. Someone behind me mentioned that we missed Solano at fullback (which is saying something), and I also thought that Edgar can count himself unlucky not to have started. Maybe we'll see our new loan signing (Gooch) at the weekend - he was in the stands apparently. Final score: 3-1 (but more importantly 3 more points and a spot in the top ten). Mark H One of us
January 30th 2007
Glenn Roeder completed the second signing of an American on loan this season when he finalized the contract for Standard Liege defender Oguchi Onyewu - better known as 'Gooch'. Onyewu was brought up in Washington DC but attended Clemson University in South Carolina. It was there he was spotted by ToonArmyUSA member Will Beddingfield, and you can read his account of Gooch here. Onyewu did appear for the US in all of their games in the 2006 World Cup and according to reports was also being watched by Chelsea, Man Utd and Boro. He could make his debut against Fulham on Saturday and will have 13 more league games to impress us, as like his fellow yank Rossi, he is unable to play in the UEFA Cup. Onyewu - The inside scoop
January 29th 2007
The club confirmed today that USA defender Oguchi Onyewu was having a medical on Tyneside in view to a loan deal which would last the remainder of the 2006-07 season. While the deal is yet to be completed, one of our members Will Beddingfield is a coach in the states and witnessed first hand the development of Onyewu from a sophomore at Clemson University to an internationally capped defender. Read what Will had to say about Oguchi here.
Harry's Rant
January 28th 2007
Europe or bust? Who knows how our roller-coaster season is going to end. After flirting with relegation early on in the season, Roeder has picked up the troops to mid-table mediocrity but with the injury list growing by the week and the lack of transfer activity how long can we stay there? Our resident ranter Harry looks at the season so far in his January rant. Injury Latest
January 27th 2007
This weekend off has allowed the team to regroup a little and ease the injury crisis somewhat. Here is the latest on our walking wounded: Shay Given – Expected to be out for a month Over The Moon
January 26th 2007
Some of our ToonArmyUSA members made it over to Newcastle during the holiday period and thanks to our friend Mark Franchi, were able to get a 'behind the scenes' look at the club, including some photo opportunities with United legend Peter Beardsley. To find out exactly what happened read Cheryl's report here. We are still here!
January 25th 2007
Just nothing new to report. One week to go Glenn. Make it count. Keeping it Real
January 22nd 2007
by ToonArmyUSA feature writer ‘Geordie Rowell’ Chelsea recently announced they are to host the Chinese Olympic team for 2 weeks at their dead expensive Cobham training ground, where they will take part in some coaching seminars and play some friendly matches. This is all to “help Chinese football, in whatever way we can,” says a Chelsea exec., in no way highlighting a thinly veiled attempt to blanket the Asian market with the blue of Chelsea. A lovely gesture by a model philanthropic club (how else to explain the giving away of really expensive signings to smaller clubs for next to nowt), and one that surely models Abramovich as the Premiership’s own Jim’ll fix it, right? Or perhaps another dodgy jig by the London/Chukotka outfit in its quest to become the WBC (world’s biggest club), as the humility-challenged and soulless Kenyon keeps telling anybody who’ll listen. (And something as terrifying as awarding amateur knife expert and sometime glove model O.J. Simpson the Nobel peace prize.) Now then, now then, this got old Rowell to thinking, if NUFC were to host a team “to help said football team, in whatever way they can,” which team would it be? Given the level of Wednesday’s performance, I’m tempted to say we deserve to host this lot for a fortnight. Then again, we lost a football game, nobody died, so such punishment would far outweigh the crime. (God banished Beelzebub to Hell, which some might say showed some mercy on the big man’s part; he could very easily have sentenced him to an eternity on Wearside.) Wednesday night was painful, no doubt. For those who rubbish the idea that a team in the “outer regions” of Northern England can lay claim to being a “big club” (and there a lot of people who do, just read the national press), the game reinforced every misconception they had about NUFC; a ground it cannot fill, and claims to ambition that will never be achieved. For the Toon fan, it was an abrupt end (i.e. a kick in the knackers) to what most would say was a surprisingly decent run over the last couple months, given the circumstances. NUFC have played more games than any other Premier League club this season, whilst carrying an injury list as long as Pinnochio’s nose (Mourinho). We have had to field young lads who in normal circumstances would be some way from even a seat on the bench. In the short term, this may have produced some terrific moments David Edgar’s cracker against Man U. perhaps the best of the lot. But in the longer term, it’s too much to ask young boys to do a man’s job week in, week out. These are not excuses, they are facts. There have been some pleasant surprises (Man U., Spurs twice, Portsmouth, even Blackburn away), but this result has been coming. The shock is that it came at the hands of a division one side when most probably expected it from a Premiere League team. The result should take nothing away from what Roeder has managed to do in such trying circumstances. The young players asked to step in have done so admirably, and the manager has guided the team to within 3 points of seventh place. These, again, are the facts. Tough times lay ahead, no question about it, even more so if the transfer window remains as worryingly quiet as it has been thus far. Yet this is no time to get the razor blades out or pin GR’s face up on the dartboard. It’s time to do what we do best. Support the team, keep your fingers crossed, and get the scarves around the bairns’ shoulders. I for one will be driving wor lass crackers at our next home game against Aston Villa and shouting the lads on. Howay the lads. "We try to do our best but I'm not lucky like other managers who have defenders in their reserve team. Glenn Roeder can call up [Paul] Huntington, as he did against us. Then he has the young player, [David] Edgar, who he called up against the Manchester United. We have no players" Poll Results
January 22nd 2007
Last week we asked you the following question: With a fully fit midfield to choose from, who would you pick; Scott Parker OR Nicky Butt? And here is what you said: There is no doubt that Nicky Butt has been a revelation for us this season, putting in the type of performances he was known for while at Manchester United. Parker though is a class act – and his drive from midfield and commitment to get stuck in for the full 90 minutes are exactly the qualities we need from our club captain. However, playing both of them– as half of you suggested would mean our other central midfielders Dyer and Emre would either be dropped or played out of position. Hammer Time....Almost
January 21st 2007
Final score from St. James Park: Newcastle United 2 (Milner 45, Solano 53) – West Ham 2 (Cole 18, Harewood 22) With 22 minutes gone yesterday, it looked like a case of here we go again as our lot looked intent on writing ‘Birmingham - Part 2’ after conceding two sloppy goals against Premiership strugglers West Ham. Following his shocking performance on Wednesday (along with everyone else to be fair), Ramage followed up with another stinker yesterday as he struggled to manage two very average forwards. And only god knows what Ramage was thinking when Harewood far too easily turned him to score their second goal. It was possibly one of the weakest goals we’ve conceded this season – and that’s saying something. Oddly enough when Ramage came off (replaced by Edgar), we suddenly looked solid in defense and our midfield was able to concentrate on going forward, rather than having to worry about what was going on behind them. With 30 minutes gone we started actually playing football, with O’Brien hitting the post and Butt forcing a good save from Carroll but it was that man again James Milner who scored another impressive goal with his left foot (despite the claims for offside against Parker) and suddenly it was game on. Unlike Wednesday’s game, we built on Milner’s goal and came flying out the traps in the second half. Our reward was a penalty on 53 minutes when Boa Morte – clearly an NFL fan, inexplicably handballed a Milner free-kick in his own penalty area. Solano tucked the resultant penalty away and we were back level and a winner was on the cards. And we almost did win it in the end but Dyer saw his effort hit the post and Carroll made a couple of good saves from Martins who looked the part today – especially in the second half. A draw is probably a fair result after the disastrous first half and with no game next weekend, it will allow more rest time for our walking wounded – which now includes Ramage and Given. Hopefully when we take the field against Aston Villa on January 31st, we’ll have one or two people making their debuts – and we don’t mean academy players… Birmingham - Was it on the cards?
January 19th 2007
Following time to reflect on Wednesday nights game, and if were to be realistic about things, the 1-5 loss to Birmingham is a result that was waiting to happen. The victory against Spurs last Sunday was a huge result for us. We showed a lot of commitment and ‘never say die’ attitude which for a team heavily depleted by injuries and birthing a lot of youngsters is exactly what we needed. However, behind the scoreline was a different story. For long periods of the game, Spurs completely dominated the match – especially in the first 15 minutes when time and time again they simply calved open our defense only for some wasteful finishing (they had an incredible 26 shots on goal) and Shay Given to somehow keep them out. If we were to go back to our next league game against Manchester United we would see a similar pattern. Again another good result but they outplayed us for a lot of the game and had Saha not went off injured and others not had a bad night in front of goal it would have been a different story. Against Everton we were poor (although the Martins penalty could have changed things) while against Bolton we were looking good until the Ramage own goal turned things around and quite simply we never looked like getting back into the game. Even further back, yes we beat Spurs at home but anyone who watched that game will admit Spurs were incredibly poor and yes we beat Watford at home but it could have quite easily been the away side that took all three points. Are we being too harsh? Possibly. We don’t expect sterling performances every game, especially with our injury situation but since we beat Blackburn 3-1 over a month ago, we haven’t really looked like a decent side worthy of anything more than a mid to lower table finish. No doubt when players come back and hopefully when Freddy and Roeder work their magic in the transfer window we will start improving but we may have to experience some more ‘eye opening’ games before the good days return. Possible line-up:Given, Solano, Butt, Huntington, Edgar, Milner, Parker, Dyer, O'Brien, Sibierski, Martins One step forward, five steps back...
January 17th 2007
Final score from St. James Park: Newcastle United 1 (Milner 56) – Birmingham 5 (McSheffrey 5, Solano 45 og, N'Gotty 59, Larsson 83, Campbell 89 and quite possibly my mum if we had kept going) Newcastle United were humiliated tonight by a team not only a league lower but one that displayed the type of determination and desire to win that was so clearly lacking from our own performance. Perhaps the two crazy minutes at White Hart Lane on Sunday had made us forget that we weren’t exactly fantastic in the capital, but the way we just crumbled from the first minute tonight was quite frankly a disgrace. If we thought the Sheffield United performance earlier in the season was bad, we managed to go one better as every person wearing a black and white shirt put in a shocking performance in a competition we so desperately wanted to do well in. In all the inept performances there were some absolutely dyer ones (sorry Kieron) with Ramage having a shocker and Pattinson demonstrating that perhaps he isn’t quite the top-flight player we hoped he was. If the ref hadn’t blew the full time whistle it could quite easily have been more for Birmingham. We could have even brought Steven Taylor back on and we doubt it would have helped. Just when you think the club has turned a corner we go back to square one. Now the media talk of ‘hasn’t Roeder done well with the kids’ will evolve into ‘toon in crisis’ and nothing less than a win and 1000% improvement on Saturday will do. Looking on the bright side of things – Toon target Matthew Upson played well so hopefully we can have a quiet word with him before he goes down south. That said, we hardly look desirable after tonight. Used Carr for sale
January 17th 2007
For sale: 30 year old Carr. Had major repairs about five years ago and hasn’t been the same since. When I can get it working it’s been extremely shaky and I don’t feel safe using it. Looking to trade in for a younger model or replace with foreign export – perhaps from Peru. There has been a lot said about Stephen Carr recently and to be honest it’s all been negative. Despite a relatively solid finish to last season his sending off on the last day of the season against Chelsea has resulted in a downward spiral for the Irish defender who has been borderline awful this season (example: Bolton home?). Whether it’s a stroke of luck for Newcastle fans that his ‘bruised toe’ (as physioroom.com are reporting) has kept him laid low is debatable, but with the experienced defender back in training, it’s time for him to prove to us that he is worth keeping in the summer (his contract expires in 2008). Our thoughts on the matter – Solano has been doing an outstanding job at right back and doesn’t deserve to lose his position to Carr. While Carr’s main quality is getting forward and crossing (god knows it isn’t defending) – Solano loves going forward and is one of the best crossers of the ball we have. He’s also not bad at defending and while he lacks height, he throws himself in where it matters (example: Spurs) and when the pressure builds, has the ability to stay calm, a trait that some of our other defenders lack. Prove yourself Carr or it’s the scrap heap for you. Poll Results
January 16th 2007
Last week we asked you the following question: Is Scott Parker a worthy club captain? And here is what you said: Parker got off to a great start to the season but minor injuries and a loss of form has taken its toll on our dynamic midfielder. With the emergence of Nicky Butt as a holding midfielder and Dyer back from injury, Parker may find it difficult to regain his place once he is fit again but there is no denying an in-form Parker is one of our best players. Butt spanking for Spurs
January 15th 2007
Final score from White Hart Lane: Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Defoe 14, Berbatov 54) – Newcastle United 3 (Huntington 16, Martins 72, Butt 73) Rollercoaster. This is the best way to describe what happened yesterday in London. A United side heavily depleted by injuries and still without Emre and Parker (despite pre-match murmurings that they would be available) came from behind twice to take all three points. (ED: Always nice to take 3 points from WHL under any circumstances). Things didn’t look good after 15 minutes with Spurs already 1-0 up through a Defoe goal (offside surely?) but had it not been for the brilliance of Shay Given, it could have been 3 or 4. It was therefore somewhat surprising when Paul Huntington equalized only minutes later, driving a well struck shot through the legs of ‘Englands No.1’ - Paul Robinson. Game on. The rest of the half went by without much incident in either penalty area – the same can’t be said for the center circle which hosted a boxing match between Spurs defender Chimbonda and our man Nicky Butt following an incident with the former and Shay Given. The end result was a booking for both although Butt would go on to win on points… The home side started the second half brightly and got their reward on 54 minutes when Berbatov finished well from 10 yards out following some great last-ditch defending by Nobby Solano who had blocked the initial shot from Tainio. That could have been the end for Newcastle but we never looked dead and buried and with Dyer and Martins in attack, we always had the pace to hit Spurs on the counter. And that’s exactly what happened on 72 minutes when Martins played a one-two with Dyer and unleashed what can only be described as a thunderbolt with his left foot into the top corner of Robinson’s net. (ED: SuperMac and Big Al would have been proud of that one). We don't usually link to the goals but this is something special. Spurs didn’t even have time to think about what had happened as they were quickly 3-2 down. Martins played a sublime pass through to Nicky Butt who finished well under pressure for his first goal of the season. The woodwork kept us on top and a host of Spurs substitutions disrupted their formation rather than having the desired positive effect. We even had a couple of chances to notch a fourth – both Martins and Sibierski going close late on. In the end a fantastic result. This game was a real test of character for our youngsters and they all pulled together to get the job done. While we can’t rely on the likes of Huntington, Edgar and Pattinson to propel us up the table, they are all staking their claims to be part of our first team and having wasted millions in the transfer window over the years, who is to deny them? You Only Sing When You’re Winning?
January 12th 2007
by ToonArmyUSA feature writer ‘Geordie Rowell’ “Frankly, I'd rather be a long suffering Geordie than some uppity, sh*te talking, bitter blue nose t*sser.” Now if that isn’t the best opening to an article on Geordie football then I’m Kevin Keegan and the missus’ is havin’ it away with Terry Mac. The quote was from a recent posting to a blog entry over at the corduroy-jacket-with-patches-on-the-elbow-wearing Guardian, which tackles the correlation between fan loyalty and knackered clubs (on the off chance our number 33 is reading this piece, please refer to page 1362 of the most recent Webster’s for a definition of the term tackle) In a nutshell, the fella, in between rolling his own cigarettes and throwing Velcro sticky darts at his old favorite picture of Tony Blair, writes that the scousers singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as their team were being hammered 5-1 by the pan-African Arsenal youth team justifies him writing that “the club's fans deserve to dine on the steaming dung they were served up” by the club. He goes on to suggest that had the Reds actually been winning, the chant might have been justified. As they were not, he says that most “true fans” would have done only one thing at this point; walk out en masse. Obviously this did not happen, so he labels the scouse fans as being just like “the loyal sheep of certain other clubs.” Geordie Rowell was already close to spilling his Brown Ale by this stage, but I had wor lass’ kitchen floor swilling in the brown nectar when I read this; “the above is, of course, equally applicable to many fans of Newcastle, Manchester City and every other band of fools who regularly boast about filling their ground to watch overpaid under-performers. At best, you're the drunk following the blind. At worst, you're fodder for the likes of Freddy Shepherd.” Now don’t get me wrong, there is plenty to take our chairman to task for. Many argue he’s been cashtrating the fans for years, a charge he practically admitted in that Spanish brothel (Freddy, you never did pass on that phone number kidda). But to attack fans, true fans, for singing when they’re team’s not winning is unforgivable. What a team needs when its back is to the wall is the 12th man. And you can play on stereotype and make all the condescending jokes you want, but the fact is you are supporting the shirt, the badge, and the history of the club, not the bloke at the top. Chairmen, like players and managers, come and go (some quicker than others), but the club, its crest, and the football fan ethos will continue. There’s an identity that comes with being a true fan and that can never be taken for granted or belittled. Writing for a national newspaper does not give anyone the liberty to disparage the backbone of association football, and I’m sure there’s a “band of fools” (his words, not mine) at every professional football league club would agree with me. Don’t get Geordie Rowell wrong, a fan earns the right when he buys the ticket to show his appreciation or dissatisfaction to both team and boardroom (I’ve thrown a few verbals in my day). And the idea of an organized walkout is not that far out, if the situation is so dire. But to attack the lads and lasses who support their team, spending their hard earned cash (giros in the case of the Scousers. I’m not above throwing out a few stereo-types myself) and putting in the time to travel the length and breadth of the country, in this manner is unforgivable. The article smacks of nothing more than an exercise to get eyeballs to the Guardian website to boost your ad revenues, sacrificing journalistic credibility in the process. Even a daft, drunken, sheep-like true fan can see that, Mr. Doyle. Now get the mop pet, I’ve made a right mess in here. PS. Geordie Rowell would love to hear what you have to say on this, so pipe up at toonarmystaffer@yahoo.com. We’ll post the best responses on the Web site. The Roeder effect
January 10th 2007
No Newcastle fan in the world would suggest that it’s been a fantastic season so far. We are languishing 14th in the league, out of the Carling Cup, have the worst injury record in the league and are struggling to attract quality players to the club. Roeder inherited a squad that was assembled, albeit expensively, by Graeme Souness but fortunately for us Souness purchased some decent players. Unfortunately for us he didn’t have a clue how to manage these players. The ‘superstar’ players ran around like headless chickens and had it not been for Roeders astute management, we could have been a Championship side this season. We all know Roeder has his downfalls; he doesn’t have a lot of Premiership experience, has not won any major trophies, doesn’t appear to be a tactical genius and doesn’t have the ‘big-name pull’ that some of the more influential managers in the Premiership possess. What he does offer to Newcastle United though is the opportunity to get the most out of the players he has at his disposal. Take Nicky Butt for example. His days looked numbered at SJP when we loaned him out to Birmingham last season following a dismal first year on Tyneside. However, this season under Roeder, Butt has been one of our best players showing the type of form he displayed at Manchester United for all those years. James Milner is another one. Souness rarely played him and had a last minute transfer to Aston Villa not fallen through he would have been long gone. Instead, he’s gone from strength to strength, relishing the opportunity to have a consistent run in the first team. Then there are our youngsters. Both Ramage and Taylor (despite playing under Souness) are starting to show good form and the former has come on leaps and bounds under Roeder. Then there is Edgar and Huntington – neither of which look too fazed by playing out of position in one of the top leagues in the world. Again, praise has to go to Roeder for this. We could go on for a while and mention that Ameobi looked one thousand times better and scored considerably more goals under Roeder or that Sibierski who was surplus to requirements at Manchester City has been turned into a (mini) cult hero in less than 6 months. Roeder knew how. The jury is still out on whether Roeder has a long term future at the club but if he doesn’t, what he’s building at the club is a strong foundation of players who want to play football and have the right attitude and commitment to the black and white cause. And that’s something money can’t buy… Reading it is
January 9th 2007
Newcastle United will play Premiership side Reading in the next round of the FA Cup if they overcome Birmingham in our 3rd round replay. Reading have beaten Championship Burnley 3-2 tonight, and despite racing into a 3-0 lead, had some nervy moments as Burnley staged a comeback which just wasn't quite enough. Transfer Latest
January 9th 2007
No solid leads coming from any media outlet about possible January transfers at the moment. It’s a little too quiet on Barrack Road for our liking. This is a run down of who we’ve been linked with so far: Dean Ashton (West Ham) – No new news since injury Departures Albert Luque (PSV) – Loan deal dependent on NUFC transfer success  Pav is a Geordie - for another six months
January 8th 2007
Confirmation from the club that goalkeeper Pavel Srnicek will stay until the end of the season. Following injuries to all of our goalkeepers in the last few months (Given, Harper and Krul), Srnicek will have his contract extended from the original expiration of January. Pav has made two appearances for us this season - coming on as a sub against Spurs and starting (and some would say at fault for) the 2-1 defeat at Bolton. Home comforts for Toon
January 8th 2007
If Newcastle United beat Birmingham in the second attempt on January 17th, then their reward will be a home tie against either Reading or Burnley in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. We are quite familiar with Reading, having beaten them 3-2 this season in a cracking game at St. James Park. It's been a while since we played Burnley in a competitive fixture though, with most recent meetings confined to pre-season friendlies. Burnely are currently 12th in the Championship. The original tie between Reading and Burnley was postponed due to rain and will be played this Tuesday evening. The fourth round tie will be played on Friday 26, Saturday 27 or Sunday 28 January. Points make prizes!
January 8th 2007
Congratulations to the following members who finished joint top of Predictions Corner (for games up to the end of December) with a 40 point total; Jess of Massachusetts - wins a copy of the 1955 FA Cup Final (Newcastle United v Manchester City) DVD - donated by The BackPage, St Andrews Street, Newcastle. Predictions Corner continues with your entries for January and more prizes will be given to this months winner. Click here to enter your predictions and view previous winners. Capital Entertainment
January 7th 2007
Big thanks to Harry for sending in more photos of the (constantly growing) ToonArmy in Washington DC. The updated photos can be viewed here. For those of you in the Washington DC area, the gang meet up at the Irelands Four Courts Pub which is located on 2051 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA @ Courthouse metro. Don't forget to bring your camera next time there is a ToonArmy gathering in your area and we will post the pictures on our website! Banana Skin Avoided
January 6th 2007
A shameful crowd of just 16,444 (containing 4,200 Geordies in the away section) were on hand at St Andrews to witness Newcastle throw away passage into the 4th Round of the FA Cup in the dying minutes. With 4 minutes left on the clock, and Newcastle seemingly cruising, Birmingham’s Sebastian Larsson turned and fired a shot past Shay Given to take the tie back to St James’ Park on January 17th. (ED: It just wouldn’t be Newcastle if we’d hung on for the win would it?) Another makeshift and inexperienced Newcastle side started the 1st half sluggishly as Birmingham took the early initiative without really threatening our goal. However, DJ Campbell took advantage of a Matthew Upson near post flick on 15 minutes to beat Given from 6 yards to give ‘The Blues’ the lead. The more inexperienced players within the Newcastle ranks (and there were lots of them again today) were clearly a little unnerved by this early pressure - most notably Paul Huntington who was having a tough time keeping his head. Newcastle then rallied and within a crazy four minute spell were back on level terms and playing against 10 men. Firstly, Steven Taylor was first to react and slot home a James Milner corner on 40 minutes to make it 1-1 and then 4 minutes later Jaidi was correctly shown the red card for hauling down Oba Martins. (ED: Debate still ongoing as to whether it was a penalty) Milner was unlucky not to score from the resulting free-kick. So, 1-1 at the half-time break it remained and with Birmingham down to ten men, Newcastle would surely come out confident of adding to their goal tally in the 2nd half. The ineffective Antoine Sibierski was taken off at half time (due to illness) to be replaced by the speedy Irishman Alan O’Brien. We started the 2nd half brightly with some neat interchanges and not surprisingly added to the score with a well taken finish from Kieron Dyer, after being played in by Oba Martins on 54 minutes. 2-1 Newcastle. As the half progressed it seemed only a matter of time before we added to the lead and finish them off. Nobby Solano, James Milner and Kieron Dyer were all at the centre of some excellent build up play for Newcastle. However, a third and decisive goal for Newcastle would not come and as the game wound down there was one more twist with Birmingham getting their late equalizer to earn the replay. So it was mixed emotions at the end. We’d failed to finish off 10 men Birmingham and with less than 5 minutes remaining conceded an unlikely equalizer. However, our youngsters had battled hard and came away from St Andrews with Newcastle still in the draw for the fourth round on Monday. Lets hope we can finish them off at St James’ – however it is another game that we really could do without given the ongoing injury crisis. One final note about the appalling St Andrews playing surface, which started to cut up badly from the first minute. It was simply in a shocking state and was the reason for a serious injury to Birmingham’s Bendtner - who was stretchered off with an ankle injury. The replay is set for January 17th at St. James Park. Déjà vu?
January 5th 2007
On September 1st we wrote: Even the most pessimistic Newcastle fans wouldn't have foreseen the developments of yesterday. With some of the worlds talent signing for mediocre clubs (Tevez to West Ham*??), we managed to "capture" the free signings of an over-the-hill midfielder in Antoine Sibierski and a defender who couldn't wait to leave the club in his first stint - Olivier Bernard. Well over four months on and the second transfer window has opened and it’s beginning to turn into a case of ‘been there, got the t-shirt’ as transfer activity around SJP remains painfully slow. The desire for reinforcements, especially in the left and right full-back positions and upfront is startlingly clear for any fan. To a large extent we continue to rely on youngsters coming through the system and despite the fact Taylor, Ramage, Huntington and Edgar have done well, we desperately need experience. Worryingly, Roeder is talking about loaning players which suggests that we don’t have a lot to spend and with the squad already severely depleted, it’s unlikely many will leave (except Luque – hopefully). Rather than wasting time bombarding you with rumors (like other websites) we will only report on the facts – and so far we have nothing to report. Let’s pray we don’t end up with scraps on the final day of the transfer deadline like we did in the summer. Finally, big praise must go to Sibierski who has far surpassed our expectations since joining. This has not been the case with Oliver Bernard (who will never play another game for us) and Rossi (who didn’t have the experience) who have both been disappointments. As for our ‘Tevez’ comment in September – well we aren’t psychics! Prediction Corner - Update (3)
January 2nd 2007
The true method of "rebooting" has appeared to work and Prediction Corner is back up and running - again, apologies for the problems we had, especially during predicting for the game yesterday. Poll Results
January 2nd 2007
Last week we asked you the following question: If you were Newcastle manager which position would you strengthen first in the January transfer window? And here is what you said: - GOALKEEPER, 0.00% With Nobby Solano playing right-back and Edgar left-back yesterday it is clear we are in desperate need for full backs. Carr has been missing for months with an injury, Babayaro doesn't want to play and Bernard has now been ruled out for the rest of the season. Maple Leaf Magic!
January 2nd 2007
Final score from St. James Park: Newcastle United 2 (Milner 33, Edgar 74) – Manchester United 2 (Scholes 40, 46) Canadian hero David Edgar got the vital equalizer and the man of the match award yesterday as he steered us to an unlikely point against the league leaders. Such is Edgar’s dramatic rise from the reserves to our first team; he wasn’t even included in the squad lists on the official match programme. However, that didn’t matter one bit when a daisy cutter from 20 yards out nestled into the back of Van Der Saar’s goal with just fifteen minutes to go. It took us a little while to get going with Man Utd forcing the early pressure although after a couple of half chances, Newcastle took the lead in spectacular fashion when the impressive Milner hit an absolute rocket of a shot into the top right corner of the Leazes end. Man Utd were rattled and frustrations started to set in as Scholes picked up a booking for a needless challenge on Martins and it could have been 2-0 shortly after had Parker hit his shot with more power. However, the ginger assassin who had scored nine times against Newcastle in the past, soon had his 10th, as he turned our defence inside-out before placing the ball into Given’s left hand corner. The half-time atmosphere was good with Newcastle doing more than holding their own but the hope was we didn’t put in Bolton/Everton second half performances which would almost definitely end in defeat. And with the second half just 20 seconds old, Scholes hit a low drive which somehow beat Given to put the Manc’s 2-1 up. From there it was mainly one way traffic with Fletcher and Park guilty of some bad misses as Manchester United looked for the killer third goal. It never came though and Edgar’s equalizer was just reward for a battling performance from an under strength side – and Kudos must go to our whole back four who were again impressive tonight. Add to that list Sibierski and Milner who both put industrious shifts in and looked a lot more ‘up for it’ than colleagues Emre and Martins. |