After guiding his troops to a rather satisfying Tyne-Wear derby win in the backyard of our fiercest rivals you could perhaps excuse Pardew for having a day off to reflect on the day before and look back on a job well done.
Not so it seems as news has emerged that our boss hopped on a plane to Holland today to cast a personal eye over NUFC target Erik Pieters. This of course comes after the news that earlier in the week a deal had looked unlikely as PSV Eindhoven admitted that there had been no fresh contact between the two clubs, but with Alan Pardew in attendance as PSV beat ADO Den Haag 3-0 it could perhaps signal that a move is back on the cards.
Especially interesting is the fact that agent of the player was also present as Pieters put in another good performance in his secondary roll as a centre-back instead of his usual left-back berth. Surely there has to be something in this now? Or am I reading too much into it?
Well after the match the player himself admitted that he is open to a move although he was also quick to state that no firm interest has materialised thus far.
“I’m open to this step, it seems a great challenge,” said Pieters. “But if it fails, I am not disappointed. My agent must report to me when it is really concrete. I have not heard yet, so I wait.”
Personally I have a feeling that we’ll see Pieters turn up at Newcastle. All the signs point towards his arrival although before I get carried away I must remember that this is Newcastle and no transfer speculation is ever guaranteed.
It’s all a bit of a coincidence though is it not? I mean it’s all kind of falling into place in terms of a move for the 23-year-old Holland international so perhaps it’s only a matter of time before we see Tim Krul’s mate roll up on Tyneside?
It would seem that, at the moment anyway, a deal is most definitely in the offing with Erik Pieters.
Tbh I’ve come to really like aly cissocko and the idea of havning him has grown on me would much prefer him – stronger -faster and smarter and and more skillfull on thee ball… There’s also rumors his handed in a tranfer reuqest ??
Stilll think we need a new rb for cover or first team as welll as the other postions targeted
nufctilliminhell(Quote)
Up working on this at all hours so you are. Would definitely welcome him with open arms. Cissokho does seem the more attractive ESP going forward but a solid defensive lb would free up the left winger a bit.
Haven’t seen pieters much though I assume he must have something going for him offensively if he’s getting in the Dutch team.
And yeah I think if we do get the lb and st this window well be starting to look at rb as a position to improve. I like simmo’s attitude etc and decent player but to really push on he should be looked on as a squad player.
HWTL 😀
Dubtoon(Quote)
Sorry about the caps on ESP. Didn’t mean to imply he had any unfair advantage 😉
Keep up the good work with the blog btw toonsy et al. Don’t comment much but a big fan
Dubtoon(Quote)
I think we need to go for Pieters myself, the only reason is I think if we get too many french players in the team, if something happens & we get a divided dressing room, it would be hell to have all those saulking french men all throwing a strop at the same time.. 😆 😆
Tho I know not all the french are like Zogs but it’s better to have a bit of diversity of nationalities in the dresseing room & not too many of one kind, ie English, French etc etc…
Toon69(Quote)
Pieters shades it for me as he can play at centre back aswell. Sign hum and we have an international left back aswell as some much needed cover in the middle of defence. I honestly believe its a no-brainer. It wouldn’t cost Ashley anything. In fact his wage would mean we save money, and we kill two birds with one stone. Get on it NUFC 😆
Dubtoon – Just got in from pub and thought id write something. Not at work thankfully 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Pieters and Maiga this week hopefully. I’m beginning to think that Cissokho and Bridge interest was a smokescreen by Ashley to bring PSV to the party with negotiation of a fee. Maybe Ashley will surprise us with Nicky Maynard as well who would not command more than £15k a week wages and is better than McLovens, Best and Strolla.
That would start looking like a tasty little squad for a top 8 campaign.
HarrogateGeordie(Quote)
Think id rather have Maynard ahead of Maiga. Don’t rate the lad at all, and certainly not at the prices quoted.
toonsy(Quote)
Dubtoon I take your point about Simmo @ right back. He’s solid enough but lacks a bit of composure on the ball. Gosling maybe a better option perhaps when he is fully match fit as I think he’ll struggle for a regular start in midfield. Gosling was signed by Everton as a rb who can also play in midfield. HG
HarrogateGeordie(Quote)
old hat this feed toonsy as we went into it on one of the blogs yesterday tea time.
craig chisholm(Quote)
Craig – And? So I can’t have a say? Brilliant 😀
And people accuse me of trying to stifle opinion 🙄
toonsy(Quote)
For what its worth I think we need a defensive LB over an attacking LB, so I would rather Pieters over Cissokho. I think we would then free up Jonas/Marveux to attack and not have to worry about covering a marauding LB so much.
Just a thought, but if we were to stick with a 4-2-3-1 formation, I think we could look at trying to get someone like Crouch to play on his bill up top. He is better than Strolla IMHO and would interlink the 3 attacking midfielders alot better. Maybe we dont need a pacy front man with Best and McLoving on the bench?
Raffo(Quote)
yeah toonsy but this is shocking.. normally you break the news but you must have been on another planet over the wekend buddy.
craig chisholm(Quote)
yeah but crouch is realy ugly…. he has a face like a bucket of smashed crabs ffs. cant have him.
craig chisholm(Quote)
Craig – And? I don’t see you having a pop at other sites who published the same thing HOURS after me??? How come???
Sorry for actually going out last night 🙄
toonsy(Quote)
Pieters is a better all round LB than Cissokho, who tends to bomb forward and abandon his defensive duties.
sunlounger(Quote)
i see pieters also got man of the match last night too. i think that AP and Carr have the right man for the job and if we get him the jose loss will be a blessing as pieters can defend a little better or so they say.
Toonsy.. you cant go out man.. you know that football comes first, always.
craig chisholm(Quote)
Sorry Craig. Hungover = short tempered radgie git 😛
Mind you, I was out celebrating us win so it’s allowed 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Pieters for me for reasons already stated, I can’t see Marveaux helping much when he gets on and agree with Craig @13
richietoon(Quote)
Anyone know a good statistics website so I can get the stats for the game against the scum. Like pass completion, possession, chances etc?
David(Quote)
David – You can follow Opta Stats on Twitter. They pump put a few gooduns. I’m actually writing an article about some of the stats they have tweeted. If you want more though you have to pay for it, and it’s rather expensive…
toonsy(Quote)
Just on Pieters again for a minute……. How can a defender get MOM in a 3-0 win???
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy – Do you know what the possession stats were in the first half? There’s some rather happy Mackams at work and I don’t like it. Lol
David(Quote)
http://www.leazesterrace.com/sunderland-0-vs-1-newcastle-in-5-key-points/
Just popped up on News now. Awesome. 😀
David(Quote)
David – Not officially. Just make it up. I doubt they’ll know either 😆
I know on the full match we had more possession, more shots on target and gave away less fouls. Remind them that a game lasts 90 minutes and not 45 😆
toonsy(Quote)
http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/statszone/archive/2011/08/16/what-you-may-have-missed-joey-barton-cross-no-never.aspx
late but first time read for me…
ronny(Quote)
“Cabaye’s looping corners had an 80% success rate of finding a teammate, often Ameobi, of which one should have lead to Newcastle scoring were it not for the unseen hand of Larsson.”
Decent.
David(Quote)
Cheers Toonsy and Ronny.
David(Quote)
anybody knows what the stats for cabaye’s tackling this week??
ronny(Quote)
Ronny – No, but he did make more key passes than any other Premier League player 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
“It was also encouraging to see Alan Pardew rectify what wasn’t working against Arsenal, namely the 2 men up front and lack of bodies in midfield, in switching from a 4-4-2 to a 4-1-3-2 formation. Again, there are areas which need to be worked on, but the formation better accomodates Newcastle’s vast midfield resources, and Pardew looks to have acknowledged this. The free kick situation is another area in which there has notably been thought given to by Pardew and the improvements were evident against Sunderland. The substitutions were also sensible – Mike Williamson offering height and an extra body in defence, and Dan Gosling injecting pace and freshness – helping Newcastle to see the game out. Praise has been shortcoming for Pardew, but he deserves credit for the part he played in Newcastle’s victory over Sunderland.”
Pardew does deserve some credit like. We definitely play better football under Pardew then under Houghton.
David(Quote)
David – Dare you to post that on another blog somewhere 😆
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy – The website or the bit about Pards?
David(Quote)
Wait penny just dropped. You mean .org? 😛
David(Quote)
😉
toonsy(Quote)
Done. Wonder what they will make of it.
David(Quote)
It will be made out to be bollocks mate. Quite simply.
toonsy(Quote)
Course it will, and when certain people come on here it will be too!!
Raffo(Quote)
Well I have to say, I think Pardew does deserve a lot more credit than he gets. You can’t fault the football we play under him. Granted he may talk a bit of poo like.
David(Quote)
I wouldnt say the football has been consistantly good under pardew or hughton, Both have had some good results playing some lovely stuff and both have used the long ball too much at times, Im not moaning about the style so far this season due to the way arsenal keep the ball and the lack of space to pass and move at the sos and the result is far more important at this stage of the season…
CC(Quote)