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| Black and White TV March 31st
Reading (H) - Live on Fox Soccer Channel Portsmouth (A) - Live on Fox Soccer Channel Sunderland (H) - Live on Setanta West Ham (A), Chelsea (H) and Everton (A) are all TBD - the last fixture of the season though is rarely televised in the US. Canadian details to follow...March Madness March 31st
 Final score from White Hart Lane:Spurs 1 (Bent 26) – Newcastle 4 (Butt 45, Geremi 52, Owen 65, Martins 83) Fantastic. What a performance from our lot yesterday who pulled apart a sorry-looking Spurs side to record a second victory in a row and further extinguish our relegation fears. After a relatively even first half, we went into fifth gear in the second and the scoreline flattered the home side. We started brightly and should have been 2-0 up in the first 10 minutes, Habib Beye hitting the cross bar from close range and Martins also coming close. It was therefore a blow when Darren Bent beat Faye to head Spurs in front – this coming shortly after Harper made a fantastic instinct save to deny former Mag Woodgate from opening the scoring. To be fair to our lot though we didn’t let our heads drop and with Spurs seeming happy to sit on their one-goal lead we bossed possession for the rest of the first half and on the stroke of half time, Nicky Butt’s sliced effort wrong footed Paul Robinson to put us level. What happened in the next 45 minutes was football we haven’t seen since the opening day at Bolton. We simply destroyed Spurs by constantly attacking their goal with every attack looking like it could end up in the back of their net. To start, Geremi (who was having the game of his life) scored his first goal for the club, a free kick that again wrong footed Paul Robinson. A few missed chances later and we were 3-1 up, Martins persistence down the right found Viduka and the faintest of touches from the Aussie set up Owen who finished with aplomb. By then the contest was over – Harper was simply an onlooker at this point and when a rare Spurs attack broke down, Joey Barton’s long pass found Martins who was by himself in the Spurs half and with two defenders to beat. And beat them he did - along with Paul Robinson to make it 4-1. Not one player on our team looked out of sorts yesterday, this 4-3-3 formation that has been tried so many times in the past actually seems to be working and as Keegan said in his post-match interview, with the likes of Owen, Martins and Viduka on the pitch, our defense can concede a goal with the knowledge that we’ll more often than not outscore them at the other end. Hey, it’s the Keegan way. Kudos to Barton and Geremi – two players that have under-performed this season but Barton had his best game in a black and white shirt, his passing and work rate is getting up to what we expect and Geremi is freely assisting our forwards (2 against Fulham and 1 yesterday) and the odd goal is a nice bonus. So delight for our lot captured in the celebration by Mike Ashley who now wears a “King Kev” shirt (he’s seemingly not the only one to have forgot about Smith), and relegation now looks unlikely given the results for Bolton (losing 3-2 to Arsenal) and Fulham (drawing Derby 2-2) this weekend. Next up Reading and the opportunity to win three games in a row – something we haven’t done this season in the league.
London Calling March 29th
Stoked! March 28th
Shola has only played a handful of games this season with neither Allardyce or Keegan rating him over our other attacking options. When he has played he's looked uninterested and pretty crap to be honest. He has struggled with fitness over the last couple of seasons and ever since Roeder left, has failed to flourish into the player we all thought he could be. That shouldn't over look what he's achieved at the club though making 168 appearences and scoring 28 goals - 12 of those in europe.Safe Already? March 27th
Derby – relegated already, but come on lads you can beat Sunderland’s lowest points total of 15! Fulham – my word they were awful against our lot on Saturday and with games coming up against Liverpool, Man City and Portsmouth it doesn’t look good for them. That said, they still have to play other relegation threatened teams in the mackems , Reading and Birmingham but we think all of these lot have more fight than Fulham. We even think they wont be able to break their away hoodoo at Derby next weekend. ToonArmyUSA Prediction: + 3 more points – draw Derby (A), Sunderland (H), Birmingham (H). Lose to Reading (A), Liverpool (H), Man City (A), Portsmouth (A), Total for season 26. Bolton – since Anelka left the club they’ve found scoring goals very difficult and with Arsenal, Villa, West Ham, Spurs and Chelsea as five of the last seven games they’ll play, things look very bleak for them. Big Sam to come back next season? ToonArmyUSA Prediction: +5 points – Beat mackems (H); draw to West Ham (H), Boro (A), lost to Arsenal (H), Villa (A), Spurs (A), Chelsea (A). Total for season 31. Our lot currently sits on 32 points so given our predictions we would be safe – just… And if that is the case, spare a thought for Crystal Palace who once finished the season with 49 points and were still relegated! Of course we still predict plenty more points for our lot but it’s still good to know that despite all of our problems this season, there are still three clubs worse than us! Don’t forget to keep entering your predictions! East Coast Convention - Boston March 26th
On April 12th for the Portsmouth away game (televised LIVE on Fox Soccer Channel at noon EST), the folks from Boston, New York City and Washington DC will be getting together at the Banshee Bar in Dorchester, MA to watch the game. We expect around 30-40 people will be cheering out lot on, followed by the inevitable pub crawl around Boston. It’s a great opportunity to meet new people and get insanely drunk. The Banshee bar is approximately 5-10 minutes outside the City Center and is a $10 cab ride or only a few stops on the “T” (Boston’s train system) and then a five minute walk from there (directions can be found here). We recommend staying in hotels around the city for a few reasons – one, there is plenty of them so you have a lot of choice, secondly you’ll probably end up there at the end of the night and finally it’s close to major transportation systems like Logan airport and the East-Coast rail stations. If you do wish to attend and have any questions, please e-mail Mike. Look forward to seeing you all there. HOWAY THE LADS! Can we play you every week? March 23rd
It’s hard to put into words how we felt yesterday afternoon around 1pm but the expression “weight off our shoulders” could certainly be used. After 14 times of asking we finally have a victory in the Premiership and a vital three points on the board. Never knowing quite what to expect from our lot we were pleasantly surprised yesterday as we virtually dominated the game throughout the 90 minutes, limiting the away side to only a few long-range Jimmy Bullard efforts. Taking the lead as early as the 7th minute helped enormously – Viduka given far too much time to turn and pick his spot at the edge of the box. His goal was a great platform to build on and had it not been for American goalkeeper Kasey Keller, then efforts from Owen and Martins would have doubled our lead. Luck also eluded us a couple of times in the first half, Fulham clearing off the line once and a Faye effort that looped over Keller’s head – only to trickle agonizingly past the far post. Fulham finished the first half with a little bit of a flurry but some wayward crossing and awful set pieces let them down. We dominated possession in much of the second half without creating too many chances – except a Joey Barton effort that just went wide of the left-hand post. That said Fulham never looked like scoring (infact we haven’t seen a team play that badly at SJP for some time), so Owen’s header from a Geremi set piece with 8 minutes to go was more icing on a cake than it was a relief. So well done lads, we are finally up and running. Kudos to our three upfront who all looked like threats yesterday while even Barton didn’t play too bad. Meanwhile at the back, Faye was an absolute monster – winning everything in the air and making the American duo of Johnson and McBride look very ordinary indeed. Next up are Spurs – let’s see if we can extend our unbeaten run to three. American Invasion March 21st
Only the most pessimistic of fans would have walked away from our performance against Fulham in mid-December last year thinking we won’t win again until we play the London side in mid-March. Unfortunately though that’s the case as our lot haven't posted a win since a 1-0 victory at Craven Cottage. Since then plenty has changed at this football club but we
hope that one thing is going to remain the same – and
that’s picking up three points against Fulham. We will be without Given, Emre, Carr and Milner once again although it was good to see Viduka and Martins back on Monday night and both are expected to play on Saturday. Fulham have had some good results at SJP recently – winning 2-1 last season with American’s McBride and Bocanegra getting on the scoresheet. This time around there have even more US representatives with Kasey Keller in goal, Clint Dempsey in midfield and Eddie Johnson in attack. Unfortunately for our lot, Brian McBride who has a good knack for scoring against us is fit again – and scored the winner against Everton last Saturday. Three points would be a huge lift and would sink Fulham deeper into the relegation fight. If there was ever a time we needed a victory – it’s tomorrow. ToonArmyUSA Prediction – Newcastle 3 – 1 Fulham - Get your predictions in! Possible line-up: Harper, Enrique, Beye, Faye, Taylor, Duff, Geremi, Butt, Owen, Martins, VidukaAll you need is love March 20th
And while the player has gone on record to say he was disappointed with being taken off on Monday, it’s clear the little Nigerian wants to help the cause and that’s exactly what Keegan expects from his relegation-threatened troops. Keegan has been full of praise for Martins since the
incident and it would be a huge surprise if he wasn’t in the starting
line-up on Saturday, such was the quality of his performance against
Birmingham. March 17th
Six Pointer
March 14th
 This game is LIVE on Setanta (US & Canada)If there was ever a time to stop our slide then next Monday night against Birmingham is the day. We need to put in a Blackburn-like performance and just roll our sleeves up and go for it. We can argue and debate about who should play and where but at the end of the day, the eleven players that take the field at St. Andrews need to work their socks off and show exactly why they are getting paid thousands of pounds a week. Birmingham are still one of the very few teams below us, so avoiding defeat here is absolutely crucial. The general consensus between fans and players is that one good result will get us back on track and with Fulham next up after Birmingham, then the potential for a vital 4 or 6 points would be welcomed with open arms. We are still likely to be without Carr, Emre and Given for this one, while Viduka and Milner (who hobbled off at Anfield), will face late fitness tests. Birmingham’s form has definitely picked up since Alex McLeish took over although their battling qualities couldn’t quite get them past Portsmouth on Wednesday night as they were beaten 4-2. Let’s get behind them, cheer them on and cross everything you have. We simply can’t lose this one. ToonArmyUSA Prediction: Birmingham 1 – 1 Newcastle - Get Your Predictions in! Possible line-up: Harper, Beye, Faye, Taylor, Enrique, N’Zogiba, Duff, Barton, Butt, Owen, Martins
March 12th
 We asked the following question (pre-Liverpool) to our members on the ToonArmyUSA forum.Q: Will Newcastle stay in the Premiership? And this is how they answered: Yes! (94.7%) No! (5.2%) So almost everybody will think that our lot can scrape out of the situation we are in and the match next Monday against Birmingham is absolutely crucial. Some good news though - Birmingham were defeated 4-2 this evening by Portsmouth to keep them below us in the league. LOST - Episode 15 March 9th
Final score from Anfield:Liverpool 3 (Pennant 43, Torres 45, Gerrard 51) – Newcastle 0 Even the most optimistic of fans must have known we weren’t going to get anything out of this game and they were right but once again the way we collapsed after their first goal was terrifying. Despite not being adventurous at all, we pretty much held our own in the first half – that was until a clearance from Enrique cannoned off Pennant and looped over Harper’s head and into the back of the net. Given our luck recently this was no real surprise and also unsurprising was their second, just a couple of minutes later which effectively killed the game. A great pass from Gerrard finding Torres who side-stepped Harper to double their lead. The second half was instantly forgettable; the only notes were Gerrard’s third goal and a fantastic effort by Martins (from about 40 yards out) that came back off the bar. Although our own plight is worrying enough, positive results for Reading, Fulham and Wigan this weekend all mean they have picked up points and we now are in an incredibly precarious position with the next match against Birmingham and ABSOLUTE MUST NOT LOSE. Brace yourself lads and lasses, this aint gonna be pretty… Anfield of dreams March 7th
This game is LIVE on Setanta (US & Canada)Our season rumbles on with a trip to Anfield on Saturday – not exactly the place you want to go when searching for your first victory of the season. Oh and good news for our defenders, Liverpool are the top scoring side at home this season. Yay. After the disappointment last Saturday we fear even the momentum of our decent performance will be put to rest as previous performances at Anfield have been nothing more than awful. We don’t want to be back at square one (i.e. bad results AND bad performances) when going into more crucial games such as Birmingham away and Fulham at home. That said, Liverpool have been a Jekyll and Hyde team this season, losing to Barnsley one week and beating Inter Milan the next. Even ‘Boro gave them a run for their money at Anfield a couple of weeks ago and if we were able to match the work rate and attacking flair we put in against Blackburn then a draw wouldn’t be out of the question. Liverpool may also have one eye on Wednesday – their return leg to the San Siro to face Inter Milan which hopefully means the likes of Torres is rested – the played netted a hat-trick last night against West Ham. We’ll be without Barton who can’t return to Liverpool because of terms in his bail (no big loss as he’s been rubbish so far – Scotty Parker part two), Given is also missing, while Carr (woohoo) and Viduka are both doubtful. Against Blackburn we actually showed some attacking emphasis and we need to keep that going if we are to get anything out of this game. Sitting back attempting to defend for 90 minutes won’t work – they have too much attacking power and our defense will no doubt shoot themselves in the foot at one point during the game. We’d like to see a change up in attack – even if it means Martins partnering Owen (sorry Big Sam!). Martins has the pace to cause problems, especially against the older Hyppia, while Owen, short of confidence after his missed opportunities last Saturday, has found the net plenty of times at Anfield so hopefully he hasn’t forgotten how to do it. It would be a dream to pick up a victory on Saturday, even a draw would be celebrated as a victory, but sadly an under-strength Liverpool side should have enough to condemn us to yet another defeat. ToonArmyUSA Prediction: Liverpool 2 – 0 Newcastle (Get Your Predictions In!) Possible line-up: Harper, Beye, Faye, Taylor, Enrique, Butt, Milner, Duff, N’Zogbia, Owen, Martins Covering the cracks March 5th
Kevin Keegan looks set to make Senegalese defender Lamine Diatta the first signing of the new era – that’s if we aren’t counting Dennis Wise.The 32 year old who was also part of the African Nations Cup has been training with the lads over the last week and is expected to sign later today. Along with international team-mates Beye and Faye, he has also played alongside Cacapa while at French side Lyon. It’s hardly the inspirational signing that we expect will lift the team to safety but given that the transfer window has closed then it’s about as good as we’re going to get. Keegan is obviously (and unsurprisingly) not too happy with his defense recently and if we can bring in a lad who has played with three of our back four already then it should considerably decrease his learning curve. That said at 32 his best years are probably behind him and we wouldn’t be too surprised if he isn’t in a black and white shirt next season. Home is where the points are March 4th
 It’s
that time of season when everyone looks at the remaining fixtures and
what can be squeezed out of them in terms of points. And unfortunately
for us, we have to look at bottom half of the table and work out
exactly how we are going to get ourselves out of this little mess.Our away form this season has been horrific, but that’s nothing new. Sadly out of our remaining 10 games, 6 of those are away from St. James Park – and none of those teams are below us in the league. Therefore unless Keegan can work some wonders and somehow selotape our defense together then trips to Liverpool, Birmingham, Spurs, Portsmouth, West Ham and Everton will bear no fruit and no points. That said, last season we snatched victories at Spurs and West Ham, while we must be able to fancy our chances of getting something against either Birmingham (who are in the relegation fight with us) or Portsmouth who have been average at home this season. At St. James Park things look a little rosier for us with the visitors including three out of the four teams who are also in a relegation fight with us. Fulham, Reading and Sunderland are all three games we absolutely MUST win, while we’ve enjoyed fair success against Chelsea (the 4th team at home) at SJP in recent years. We sit on 28 points now, and the general consensus is that 40 points is “safety” which means we would need another 12 points – or four victories to have a chance of securing our position in the league next year. There will be plenty of speculation on our forums about where those points are coming from but what we definitely know is this – we have to beat Fulham, Reading and Sunderland at home and then work our socks off to get anything we can out of our away games to pick up the extra three points to at least give ourselves a fighting chance. Mr Realistic Wins The Day March 3rd
Those
that thought we would thrash Villa and Man United in February will not
be surprised to hear they didn’t win Prediction Corner in February.
That distinction, for the second month running, goes to Matt from MA. Matt will win his choice of a ToonArmyUSA shirt, a scarf from Alan Shearer's testimonial or "The Toon" by Roger Hutchinson.Lady Luck - where art thou? March 3rd
Final score from St. James Park:Newcastle United 0 - 1 Blackburn (Derbyshire 90) On a day when all that mattered was the result, we put in the performance of the year so far but incredibly came away from this game with nothing. During the ninety minutes against Blackburn we created multiple chances – something we’ve failed to do so far under Keegan but such was our lack of confidence in front of goal we failed to convert any of them. Owen had two great chances saved by the big American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, while Smith and Milner also wasted decent opportunities. Duff gave us width on the left, while Milner threatened down the right as Keegan went for a basic 4-4-2 and we caused Blackburn plenty of trouble – just not enough though to make it count. As time edged away and it looked like Blackburn had held us to a point, a counter from the visitors found Matt Derbyshire in absolute acres of space and he didn’t miss when presented one-on-one with Harper. It’s an incredibly harsh result on our lot but the way our season is evolving - this is no surprise. Just when the performance got to a Premiership standard (was when the last time we said that?), lady luck deserted us completely and left us once again with zero. On the plus side plenty of our lot put in decent shifts and at least the likes of Owen and Duff seem like they are up for the challenge. Even Enrique looked OK at left-back while Taylor and Faye did have (too) many heart-in-mouth moments at the back. Martins return to the side was also a plus, although question-marks still remain over why Barton is an automatic choice, he was shocking on Saturday. However, for all the positives, we came away with nothing on Saturday and are now firmly in a relegation fight. Our opportunities for picking up “easy” points are slipping away and only a minor miracle would see us pick up anything from the trip to Liverpool. The focus would then switch to Birmingham away and words can’t describe how big that game will be. Incredibly we are still 13th in the table although now only 3 points away from the relegation zone. |
For those wishing to follow the toon on TV as we finish out the 07/08 season might want to take note of the following: