Cabaye and Co to carry on their good form?
Last night I was sat in the pub with a couple of friends, one of them being an avid Liverpool fan. Naturally football was mentioned quite swiftly and it got us discussing last season, specifically Newcastle’s incredible season which saw Alan Pardew’s men finish 5th in the Premier League.
I sat and proudly ran through some highlights of last term and spoke of my optimism for the future. My friend Chris responded by calling me ‘delusional’ and explained that last season was ‘a fluke’ and we would struggle to duplicate such form next time out.
Now it’s been well documented in the past that not only aren’t I keen on Liverpool as a club, but I find a large chunk of their fans to be egotistical and impossible to discuss football with them from a neutral point of view. Anyone remember the View from the away end I did with a Liverpool fan last season? And they call us deluded….
Chris also claimed Liverpool would be business as usual next season and will achieve a top 4 finish, with Newcastle struggling to make the top 15. For good measure he said Yohan Cabaye, Cheik Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa are our only good players and we’ll struggle to keep them. Hmmm, maybe I was talking to Lawro in disguise?
Although I found Chris’ rant to be false and rather comic, it did leave me thinking what is next for Newcastle? Will we build on last years success or will we struggle to replicate it next season?
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I think unless we bring in 2 or 3 quality players we will struggle to replicate last seasons achievements. I find it hard to understand how last year nobody seemed to know about our transfers before they happened, yet this year it is all over the news. I feel the deals the club what to do have been concluded. The low bids for players show the clubs intension of not actually trying to buy anyone but simply playing to the fans…
Last season success was on the basis we had a good team and a bit of luck. We did punch above our weight to a certain extent but we fully deserved our 5th place finish. We still have a good team and i think we will be there or there abouts for another top 6 finish but the Europa league will impact us. We do need a few players in ( i think we will get them ) and we need our youth players to step up and become squad players and I think we have enough good young players to give us good squad depth.
Interesting views there Mark.
I too have come up with the same sorts of comments again largely from the bindippers.
IMO I believe we are now on a similar path to Spurs were when Jol first took over. Like us they’d had a string of high profile yet unsuccessful managers before Jol came in, got rid of the dross and built a young attacking team but round a core of the likes of King, Lennon, Jenas and Keane – all at the time were top of their game.
I think 5th place will be a struggle, especially as we have not significantly enhanced the squad but I think a top 7 finish would represent another successful season. I also think we need to see a few of our exciting youngsters making a serious stake for first team places. Vuckic, for all his quality, seems to be made of glass and he needs to put that behind him and start challenging for a first team place. Also big season from Ferguson – again glimpse of quality but I think we need to start seeing something more.
I see no reason why not. It’s in the hands of Ashley and time is running out cos we need to strengthen.
We were lucky last season, no doubt about it. Not just that we rode our luck a bit with some fortuitous results, but more that several other teams that normally would finish well above us were misfiring badly.
But I think that Liverpool will probably not get into their stride very quickly this season, as Rodgers tries to change some fairly fundamental stuff. And their big weakness last season (loads of chances but no goals) may well get worse under Rodgers, at least initially.
Chelsea had a strange season. Not really sure why they did so poorly in so many matches. Will it all get back to normal again this season? Probably but I am not sure. DiMatteo may well be the first prem casualty.
So maybe we will get some help again this season.
Arsenal also look likley to have a tough time of it. They were only bailed out following their loss of Nasri & Fabregas by the amazing performance of van Persie. Will someone else step up to the plate if he goes? not sure at all.
The spuds are pretty unguessable this season. New manager, and who will still be in the team? Bale sometimes looks brilliant and sometimes an injury prone wussy. Will Modric still be there? Is AVB going to get it right this time?
Ahhh the joys of a new season!
I think we are waiting on a bit of a domino effect when it comes to transfers. In all honesty we are still waiting to see some big movers and shakers. The only real ones to stake a claim are Arsenal and Chelsea to an extent. Spurs have a few additions but the likes of City, Utd, LFC, Everton and the Scum have really done very little. I can see a big scramble come the last two weeks of the month.
you can always judge how strong a team will be for the season by the strength of the bench, at times last year we were very short, fulham and Norwich away come to mind.
I think we fluked a couple of away results and relied heavily on two strikers hitting purple patches, Ba before Christmas and Cisse after the ACN.
I dont think those two spells will happen again, so the rest of the team will have to score some goals. The return on that front was poor last year.
So yes I dont think we will do as well as last year, but I dont think Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs or Liverpool will be any better either, they are all having their own problems so apart from the two Manchester clubs I think we will be in the mix for the euro places again, not because we are any better, just beacuse the teams round us are slipping back too.
Weve discussed this before. I would expect Chelsea to overtake us but there should be no excuses not to strengthen to keep us in the top 6.
Of course, players maybe bought and may not blend in as well as our last lot of buys, but people will be more forgiven if we try and compete but fall short rather than falling short and never bought anyone.
*forgiving*
Mark good read and nice to see you back, must say I do know a few fans like that but mostly Manure fans but lately I have seen some dipper fans starting to go the same way.
I have no doubts that if we strenghten with a few quality additions last season won’t be a flash in the pan, but I also believe if we don’t strengthen we will struggle.
So Jabba the choice is yours
I know I’ll probably end up with splinters but I’ll sit on the fence and say we will be somewhere in between.
Unfortunately, we are not up there with the big spenders in the league to be considered ‘a force to be reckoned with’ and while we live in fear of loosing our star players to the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea and even Lpool – then it stands to reason we will be behind those teams when people are considering who will be successful or a threat.
I certainly don’t think we are one season wonders tho, I dont believe many would see us as such – reckon Chris was just ribbing you to be honest, coz if that’s his honest opinion, he doesn’t know much about football – but then he does support Lpool
I’m predicting top 8 this season, which would keep us in that pack, and wouldn’t be a disaster considering the extra Europa games well have.
Oh and Liverpool finishing top 4? And we are deluded? Think pool fans will turn on Rodgers when they haven’t won the league by November. That club needs major work down and it won’t be fixed in a pre season.
just to add, we are in the mix and we should be happy with a top 7 finish for a couple of seasons, to build slowly. Add a couple of signings each year an build a solid club. Dont forget 3 years ago we would have killed to be in this position each year. So lets not get ahead of ourselves and start saying we need to be in champions league or pushing for the title. We are in against clubs who have been in the CL for the last 10 years, with huge finance which comes from that. We should be proud of where we are and just enjoy seeing good players playing for the club again.
Look there are only 4 maybe 5 teams in the pl that have constantly performed and found themselves at the top of the table on a regular basis. We haven’t done that since Sir Bobby was in charge so why some have put such high expectations on this season seems a little premature and destined for disapointment. Even if we strengthen there is a good chance we could miss out on europe. But on the flip side, there is a good chance we will do very well.. I hope it is the later but until we become a constant top side, I will not be placing any demands on positions on a table..
Its a bit of both really isn’t it….without the right investment we may well be “one season wonders” given the likelihood that Chelsea will finish ahead of us, and Liverpool and Everton will challenge us far more for what we have. If we finish below the lot of them and show no signs of investment then we certainly won’t be genuine contenders….
I will be placing demands on finishing in the top 6 and qualifying for Europa. I haven’t heard anyone say they expect CL footy (apart from the deluded Wolfie).
It’s beyond me why others will accept less. It’s as if we haven’t deserved to be 5th this year. Of course we have and it’s better than everyone expected but that doesn’t mean we should drop the standards set.
The players would be gutted if we finished any lower so why should the fans.?
It’s a defeatist attitude from many in here.
If we land top 6 it will have been a very good season.
I have no idea why people are questioning Arsenal, they have got a lot stronger since the end of last season even if Van Persie goes.
How we challenge Spurs depends on if they fork out for a striker and whether they settle as quickly as the Ba’s did..! But if they do I very much doubt we can compete with them, they have 2 quality players for nearly every position. We don’t yet have 1 quality player for every position.
We’re getting there though.
Of course, Pardew and the lads could pull another blinder and exceed even the most optimistic fans expectations this season again
How often have we finished above Chelsea or liverpool in recent years Troy?? How about you dismount off your high horse and take a big lung full reality mate….. The world needs dreamers I guess
Well ,I see Arsenal just signed Cazorla from Malaga ,so that’s what their 3rd or 4th signing .Chelsea have strengthened too and Spuds are sure to add if Modric goes .These were the teams we were pushing last season and they know it, hence the mass strengthening that’s going on .We did have some luck but we played great a lot of the time and deserved our position in the table. I think it is possible to do well again but only if we bring in some quality additions ,fail to do that and we will struggle. Simply cannot understand why it’s taking so long to sign anyone ,look how quickly Arsenal just tied up Cazorla
. I don’t believe it takes that long to sort out a transfer ,I have said befor, I have bought and sold houses quicker than we sign players. 
Mark ,nice article and I think it’s your Liverpool friend who is deluded as Rogers system may take a while to establish imo and really don’t see them in top 4,not this season anyhow.
Troy it’s the manner in which some fans say their expectations.
I’m sure Man City would be gutted to not retain the league title.
Does that give the fans a right to be angry about it?
No, it doesn’t, as there are other worthy contenders.
And that’s exactly how I feel about 6th. I expect us to contest for it. But with Liverpool and a Europa-less Everton I would understand if we fall slightly short this season.
I think without new players, we would still be a top 7 team. The European adventure should have a positive effect on players, making them stay fit and challenge harder for a place. But a few new guys would lift the squad for definite and perhaps get us in the top 5.
All in all, i dont think i will be disappointed next season. Toooooooooon.
I would say Krul, Colo, Saylor, Santon, Cabaye, Jonas, Tiote, Ben Arfa, Ba and Cisse were more than good enough to challenge near the top every season.
Im not worried about them or even Harper, Shola (when he can be arsed) Marveaux or Gosling now they are fit but theres no way we could get away with Williamson, Perch, Raylor and Obertan playing 20 odd games like they did last season…
If we bought another quality CF and CB and kept our squad together, I would like to hear anyone give a valid reason why we wouldn’t finish top 6.
It’s entirely down to Ashley & Co to spend the revenue streams to ensure this happens.
@trumpet
I agree that we may miss out on 6th but if we don’t invest in a striker and centre back then we know that is a likely scenario. I’m just pointing out that Ashley has a big pot to ensure that we get those players in and gives us a fighting chance.
I just hope our players have higher expectations than some of our fans, they should only be happy with a top 6 finish because a mid table finish isn’t good enough
Yes I agree there. It’s his responsibility to give us a decent chance.
Those additions don’t guarantee anything though and for all we know Liverpool could again splash the cash or Everton could have a season like us where the squad players perform insanely well.
But yeah, if we go into the season without centre back/ striker cover then it is entirely the boards fault when Europa takes it’s toll and injuries start hitting.
@Aussie
How often have we finished above Liverpool and Chelsea in recent years?
And the point of your question is???????
Why exactly do we need to strengthen to repeat last season’s 65pts. As a squad we are better than this time last season. So a return of 65pts should be achievable. If we want cup runs as well then there could be an argument. Other teams are stronger, so a repeat of 5th may be difficult. However this anything less than last season is a disaster crap is navigating when it comes from arch doomongers. Surprisingly in agreement with Sharpy.
Unless we make a couple quality signings I fear it could be a bit of both…
Without new additions I don’t see us finishing higher than 7th.
If we got in two or three good quality players, we could potentially fight for a top four place.
At this moment I see us as a top eight team and would be disappointed with anything below that.
Sorry predictive text. Nauseating not navigating.
its not all about spalshing the cash, would we have been happy if Ashley had spent £100m last term on the likes of Carroll,Henderson,Downing,Adam, Enrique and finished 8th.. we have splashed the cash for the last 20 years on big name signings and got nowhere.. we need to build slowly but solidly, and we as supporters need to appreciate what is trying to be done. Boom and Bust doesn’t work in many businesses, I’d hate to think if we are 7th or 8th come January, people on here are calling for manager sackings.
At this moment in time this is how I rank the Prems best clubs…
1 Man City
2 Chelsea
3 Man United
4 Arsenal
5 Tottenham
6 Newcastle/Liverpool/Everton (can’t really seperate us)
Prem we have a different challenge to last year. If you are expecting 65 points you will be in for a disappointment. I think we achieved that once in Sir Bobby’s era. And the league was easier then.
Saylor aside, we experienced a fair few slices of luck last year. (though arguably Saylor’s injury balances it out).
We also scored a number of wonder goals, will that be repeated this year.
Teams see us as a threat now, they will come up to St James and shut up shop.
New season, fresh start. Raylor is our back up full back. Rob Elliot is our back up goalie. Williamson is our back up CB. Our 3rd striker is Shola Ameobi.
65 points?
Prem I would say that all the other teams round us have strengthened so they are stronger than they were last year too
we have a chance to strengthen and give ourselves an even better chance, so imo if Jabba and co don’t take that chance then they are to blame.
Also we are going to have to hugely readjust our expectations I’m sure.
We would all be quite satisfied with decent cover signings up front and at centre back.
I fear that Spurs and Liverpool however are going to make big first team signings in the coming weeks though.
We’ve got better fans, a better manager and much stronger team spirit than them so who knows… Just want the season to start now!
JJ tend to agree. Liverpool have more resources than us. So happy to be serious challengers to those teams. These dreamers who want extra players to repeat last season’s achievements. How many of our starting 11 do we need to replace to finish 6th or are you suggesting wrong buy benchwarmers and injury cover.?
Damn “we” not “wrong”
Good question, Mark. But it raises another: how do you measure the answer?
Where would a one season wonder finish? 10th? 8th? or, as some are saying, lower than 5th? Where would a genuine challenger finish? 5th? If so, what exactly are we challenging?
I’d be ecstatic if we finished in the top 4, can’t see it, though, not unless we get 3 or 4 in. Given the closeness of the next 3-4 teams (and then add in an unexpected bolter) any of them could come 5th to 9th.
I think we could consider ourselves to be one season wonders if we came lower than 9th. It would be very disappointing to come 10th or lower.
I agree that we could do with a striker and centre back but at the same time I am confident our current squad are well capable of a top five finish next season.
Our nearest rivals , Everton and Liverpool , have not improved their squads this Summer.
Everton have brought in Pienaar and Naismith and lost Cahill and Yobo , so no real improvement there. Also they have Man U sniffing around Baines.
Liverpool have brought in Borini and Joe Cole and lost Kuyt.
Bellamy has asked to go to Cardiff and Carroll does not appear to be in Rodgers’ plans.
They have a bid in from Man C for Agger .Carragher 34, is past it, and Gerrard is now 32 and becoming very injury prone
I expect us to finish above both of them again this season.
I think cisse will shine yet again, there was no fluke in most of his goals last season. He is a predator!! My only concern is if we get an injury like last season (steven taylor) we will be vulnerable unless we strengthen in all areas! Gota be optimistic on last seasons performances especially against man u, liverpool & even the defeat to man city!
We had a big opportunity to kick on this season, as far as all were concerned we are years ahead of scheduale and we have several players who truly are contenders for the best prem 11 (Krul, Colo, Cisse-Tiote if on form) so I am disappointed to see us apparently fail to grasp at the opportunity given to us and truly mount a challenge, but then again i’m not really surprised.
Just hoping for a good cup run, win a trophy and all will be forgotten…
two kevs
To be honest I really think we have a great first team and one that could compete with the top teams, unfortunately I don’t believe we have a strong enough squad – we’ve lost a number of first team players this summer and relying on youth to replace the likes of Colo, Cisse, Cabaye or Tiote is a big ask.
I think if we go into the season with this squad we’ll probably be good for top 8, with a few additions we could push for top 4.
Krul
Simpson Taylor S Colocini Santon
Cabaye Tiote Jonas
Ben Afra Ba
Cisse
If that’s the final team from last season, who do we buy, are we just buying reserves see #36 above. The only one I would replace would be Simpson and we seem to be on the case on that front, slowly..
I’d probably replace Ba with a proper attaching midfielder..then its backup, we are not going to spend loads on back ups and expensive players are not going to come here to sit on the bench, so dont think we will be getting any £10m player unless one of these first teamers is on the way out…
reserves…
Elliot
Perch Williamson “Douglas ” Taylor R
Gosling Vuckic “Anita”
Obertan Marveaux
Ameobi Sh
development..
Harper/New GK
Tanvernier Good Street Ferguson
Abeid Bigirimana Amalfitano
Xisco/New CF Ameobi Sa
Ranger
Imo, Kev, if you can come up with our best team with very few contentious selections, then we are nowhere near strong enough.
We also need to remember that the teams that have come up this season look a lot stronger than the ones that went down and will provide more of a challenge.
I expect Villa and QPR to also be much better.
Think Norwich/Swansea/West Brom will all be worse though.
I think one thing that puts us in good stead is that we didn’t get many “shock results” last year. We only beat Man Utd and Chelsea from the top 5.
And that is a positive to me as we can hope to beat the teams around us again this year.
true, and I agree with you, but as I said, £10m players will not join to be squad players (not that Ashley will spnd that anyway), so it will have to be young possible talents, like this gullitte from man city etc… and we have to wait and be happy with a top 7 finish, until the development squad comes of ages in a few years with one or two additions over the years into the first team as first teamers leave, eg Simpson out/Debuchy in.. the others are all on long contracts so I assume they are there to fills the places until the development squad grows up… with Tanvierner and birgarimi perfromances in pre season they might get there sooner…
kev, we wont have a reserve team soon, just gona be a big first team rotation squad and a development team to play in the new development prem legue.”reserves” is old school now im afraid. great to see nufc play local tonite.
Troy, what is my point?? Well in recent history we have not finished higher than chelsea or liverpool. So I will not base my expectations for next season on one good season just past, like you. If history is anything to go by, nothing is a given in the pl and it is a dog fight for every place on the table. I want us to win every game and to do as well as possible, but I am realistic as to how hard it will be… You seem to think that Ashley has a top 5 spot in his hands by signing a few new players, which may not be the case at all..
sorry should have added, I dont think the reserve players above are good long term first teamers, just short term back ups, marveaux apart…so I hope the development squad get lots of cup action this season.
I think your Liverpool mate should read the responses on here: not one person thinking we’ll get any higher than last season. Pragmatic lot, us.
I see the Europa League as potentially a bigger threat than any lack of transfer activity. That mid-week travel and strain – if we even get into the group stages – will take its toll.
For me, it’s the same hope as last season: top 8, preferably with as unpredictable a league as last season so we go into the last few matches unsure if we’ll be CL or nowhere. I like that.
Snowing here in South Africa… Everyone gets so excited out it… haha, we never get snow, maybe a tiny bit every five years or so.
What I find funny is that Liverpool fans are confident last season was a fluke for us, and it may well turn out to be. I think top seven would be a good season.
But it makes me laugh that they think last season was a once off for them.
They simply are NOT a top four team and need to wake up. Top seven would be a good season for them next year too.
Team for tonite anyone?
Yup, Liverpool are a spent force that are lucky they happen to have very very generous owners. If they still had hicks and gilette they’d probably have done a leeds. Real shame really
Liverpool fans bang on like they have a divine right for a top 4 finish every year. All this is based on past glories and a the odd cup here and there.Truth is they are in decline and no closer to winning the premier league than we are. They have had a lot of top 4 finishes but then Everton have been a top 5 team on many occasions since the PL began ,truth is last season may of been a fluke but we have been top four in years gone by in the PL so it’s not that strange a thing to happen, I mean we’re not Sunderland .
Chelsea in talks with Wigan for Moses
,we really need to get a shift on with regard to transfers.
@Aussie
So you really didn’t have a point to your question.
@Premandup
It’s only nauseating cos you’re a defeatist
Let’s not forget, Pardew has indicated if a good bid comes in for any of our players then they will consider it.
We could well end up with more money in the bank along with our huge revenue streams.
Ashley will love that like.
At this stage, we are just as likely to lose players as gain them. It’s getting nail biting now.
Troy@62 Agree, 26 days left to build on last seasons success or lose one of our best guys.
Pardew has also spent enough of his time telling everyone he isnt expecting anyone to leave but whatever suits your argument.
If we’d signed players already i doubt they would play against Spurs anyway, The first team is set in stone. The squad could and will be stronger come the end of the month…
First snow fight, first snow man…
We have a good first team squad at the moment. Ba’s clause has run out and with his knee issues I doubt that many teams will take a risk for the price we will be asking.
We also have Cabaye and Tiote on long term contracts meaning it will cost other teams a fortune to take them anywhere else.
I hope we can get Anita and either Van der Wiel, or Debuchy before the transfer window slams shut, but as long as we have Simmo its not all bad, as he had some great performances last season. Once the full back situation is cleared up, we need another CB for sure and some support for the strikers (though I doubt we will spend big in this dept)
I reckon we should be in the top 8 by the end of the season…being in Europe will be tough on a squad of our size and depth, but we have invested in some young talent which will be used in the cups and may bring out the best in some of the ‘up and coming’ players.
Bring it on, Howay the Toon!
@CC
What on earth are you on about?
I made a point but because you don’t like to hear the truth you get defensive.
He has always said that all the players are for sale for the right price. What has your point got to do with anything? He wants them all to stay? He expects them to stay?
It’s contradictory and you can’t even see it.
Head out the sand CC.
Whos getting defensive, i was just pointing out that you could quote him both ways to suit a certain argument
JJ – I agree with your league positionings which is why I say top 8, as I reckon that the other 7 you mentioned should make up the rest of the top 8.
God, I know it’s only a friendly against Hpool tonight but I’m really nervous and excited about watching the boys the neet, it’s been donkeys since I was last at an away game. It hasn’t quite worked out as I hope like but it’s the toon and that’s all that matters … well that and a win I hope
As i’ve said before I just hope the players have higher expectations than some of our fans, I would find it nauseating if the players lay on their back and just excepted 8th place, but thankfully I think the players have a bit more about them and will go all out to get back into the top 6
Certainly last season was not a fluke for us and I’m not sure what your friend from Liverpool has been smoking Mark. They are definitely going to finish in the top 4??? In what universe?? They haven’t significantly strengthened a fairly weak squad. We will have some trouble maintaining 5th as we have the cheapest owner in the top 8, especially considering the huge increase in TV revenue and some money from the Europa league. Our club income should be close to 110M this season and the only real remaining debt is to Ashley himself which he will recover in the next 3 or 4 years if not sooner if he decides to sell the club. They are in a much worse position having wasted at least 50 or 60M on overbidding last season thanks to Dalglish. Talk about rose tinted glasses in Liverpool!!!
Dave, of course players don’t settle for a particular place in the table, but there’s nothing wrong with supporters sharing what they would realistically settle for…
Looks like Harpers definately wrestled his place back, Thank fuck for that the thought of Elliott as number 2 wasnt even worth thinking about…
ANybody aware of a stream for the game? I’m checking the usual suspects but drawing a blank.
Looks like we’re up already. Did anyone find any links?
The link everyones pinning their hopes on is on usa goals, Nowts happening on it as the minute…
2-0 shola and marveaux
3-0 marveaux
Oh well, at least there’s Twitter…
Good to see we have someone more likely to be on the pitch to take a pen than shola. Just hope that pard lets marv/cabaye take them instead of the dembas
Sounds like target practice
gosling had one chalked off and marv denied a hat trick. Could be 5 after 17 minutes 
Marvellous Marv!
Hi everyone and thanks for keeping me informed and entertained, as always
the Hartlepool United team tonight has made one change from the side that beat #SAFC 1-0
Marv is quality ,so glad we signed him
hi lads ‘n’ lasses is there any way of watching the game ? sounds brilliant .
Shola limped off right at the end of the first half ,anyone know if he’s o.k?.
Lee Ryder @lee_ryder
Vuckic and Ben Arfa on for second half #nufc
Good to see Benny boy back!
4-0 vuckic
Benny linking up well with Amilfitano by all accounts.
Nowt as bad as having no streams or commentary
Gutter for Shola he was on fire by all accounts but then again its a placca derby i suppose and he turns it on for them:
7 in 12 against the scum
5 in 9 against boro
3 in 3 against hartlepool
2 in 2 against darlo
1.4 now then ,Sweeny gets one back.
Curtis good on for simpson they are saying
That can’t be right ,Goods a CB ain’t he. 
We’ll see where we stand once the season starts. I’d like to think we would have brought in a couple of players, and retained most of our current squad.
Even if we stay clear of injuries, due to the fact that the majority of clubs around the top 6 have strengthened there squads, including Liverpool of the lesser clubs, it stands to reason that we will really struggle to emulate last season’s achievements.
“One season wonders” is a somewhat negativley tinged phrase, while at the same time the toon haven’t been a “genuine force” for over 60 years !…3 or 4 Champions League seasons aren’t going to change that either…
kim
Raylor, Santon and Tavernier are on so im assuming hes at centre half
5-1 obertan
MM@95 Point taken but with the right investment /players we could be contenders for top 6 again .If we can achieve what we did last year with limited squad size and our backline disrupted ,just think what we could do with a better squad .
cc ,ah right ,I’m just getting snippets of info from various sites .
Jesus ,Obertan has scored
It’s funny really, in years gone by, the toon owners have had an average side, mid table, and splashed the cash seriously to try and break into the top four.
Now we have a potential top 6 side and the toon owners are keeping their hands in there pockets.
Sounds like lack of ambition if you ask me. Most of the tradiditional clubs owned by “footballing men” have no problem parting with their hard earned cash.
We have raised our own fans, players AND the managers ambitions with a fantastic season last year. If we don’t respect that ambition the wheels could fall off the toon bus big-time.
Obertan is beast, why didn’t we play him more
Probably Tav and Raylor going to full back so Good can go CB
MM ,I guess we’ll soon know the extent of the clubs ambition on deadline day
I seriously hope there are some highlights for this game. Would like to see Marv’s goals especially. But 5-1 should be a fun highlight film…
Jak Alnwicks debut, Krul and Harps getting some game time and Elliott not spotted since the fenerbache match…Pards seen the light
Apparently Marv and Amalfitano were excellent and Obertan too
.Really would have liked to watch that tonight.
CC@105 lets hope so
kimtoon I agree with you, a lot can be achieved with a bit of shrewd investment. We’ll see what rabbits the club and the scouts pull out of the hat.
Whereas huge investment doesn’t always bring success, it is frustrating to see how other clubs can manage to spend huge amounts of money strengthening there squads to allow them to compete on several fronts.
What’s the point in striving to get a top 6 finish to play in europe, but when you achieve that, due to lack of strength in depth you are forced to play games with a supposed “B” team, and perhaps go out at the beginning of the tournament. It kind of makes no sense.
There again, we all know where the real money is to be earned, and that is achieved by finishing high up in the EP League, or gaining entry to the Champs League. It’s not achieved by winning the europa league..
#NUFC record a 5-1 win against a far inferior local rival. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?
CC I don’t think he has seen the light over Elliot, my guess is a knock or slight niggle
Who is this Amalfitano that has looked good in every match so far? I thought we hadn’t signed any first teamers
Kimtoon, I reckon young Amalfitano will prove to be a right tidy little player for the toon
I reckon with Debuchy backing him up, it would bring even more out of Obertan. They would cause terror up the right hand side. But the Debuchy issue has also turned out to be nothing but hot air…
Sadly being defensively sound isn’t always enough for a right back these days. They need to be also able to get forward and provide attacking options.
Sounds a bit daft but a 5-1 win away from home against any club playing in the English leagues is a great result, and does the confidence the world of good.
Also puts the makkems 1-0 loss against Hartlepool into perspective…I love it …
Hope Shola isn’t badly injured…
MDS@111…. stop asking difficult questions….
So we spanked a League 1 team with our second string side. Including Bigi and Amalftino. So can we people please stop saying we haven’t replaced Smith. It’s just embarrassing!
Loven played a marginal role last season – we now have Sameobi and Marv so he wouldn’t feature at all this season.
We have lost 2 squad players and added 3.
Having just Good sign at CB isn’t enough to maintain our ambitions but for people to say it isn’t an improvement on last term (Only 3 CB’s!) is wrong.
I think our squad is much, much stronger than a year ago. Obviously I think it would be a travesty to not get another CB and striker in as cover. But judging by pre season we have a whole batch of youngsters that Pardew is willing to give game time, and I find that exciting.
Tav/Bigi/Amalifitano/Gosling/Good/Abeid/Sameobi/Vuckic
I’m backing all of them to prove themselves as reliable squad players by this time next year. And I believe Marveaux’s quality will show through and Pards will have a real selection headache on how to fit him in.
MM@112 Agree re Debuchy .If only Simmo had Debuchy’s offensive atributes he’d be ace .Actually stats wise they are quite equal it’s just Simmo is slightly better defensivly and Debuchy offensivly ,the latter collects more cards as well .
MDS @ 111 ask Pards has he said the younguns we brought in were future prospects
Solano…I like your style… there is no doubting the youngsters have potential, I just feel that for the coming season we need a couple of more seasoned pros added to the squad…
It’s a difficult job keeping everyone happy, and bringing the kids along. I suppose competing on 4 fronts next season is a sure way of giving everyone plenty of game time…
kimtoon…Big D will confirm this cos he’s the blog expert on this sort of thing, but I reckon young Danny has nicer tatoos than Debuchy
It’s typical though, the fans like to see a right back hauling ass up the wing and looking good on the ball. The fact that Danny kicked the ball off the line 47 times last season is conveniently forgotten cos he cannot perform with flamboyance as such …
Solano@115 ,I do think we look quite healthy ,but it’s a long old season and as you say it would be a travesty not to get in a CB and striker which is all most of us our moaning about .so actually you are agreeing with people like myself and Dave for instance.
MDS ,yeah Amalfitano seems a good prospect ,lets hope he copes with a long PL season .
MM aye that’s why Santon is such a hit despite being much worse defensively last year. Even though he had Colo and Jonas alongside him.
Also agree on the couple of pros. He was pretty terrible last year but I used to rate Roger Johnson. Think Pards could get his Birmingham form back and he’d be decent, Prem-proven back up for Saylor & Colo.
MM
on Simmo your spot on he is far better than some make out, and yeah clearing the ball is part of his job but his clearing saved us a few games so thanks to him we’re in Europe
Kimtoon…. I reckon Pardew will bring young Amalfitano along just nicely. If he gets 10 league starts this season that would be an awesome achievement. I can see him being one of the mainstays of the “B” eleven this season, and really kicking on next season… I like the fact that he never hides and is always looking to get the ball…
Kim maybe… Except I think we’re understandably going to get less points and finish lower this year. Even if the CB/striker additions are made.
Big D…I know like me you are a big fan of Simmo, cos he tries his best…..and as you say it is down to him that we are in the europa league this year…All that on a supposed pittance too.
We’ll miss him when Reading get him for nowt next season. We’re good at that wor lot, losing good players for nowt…
MM ,I loved Danny’s tatts ,actually he was quite buff come to think of it
Kimtoon, I saw Danny and the boys in the ice bath in Landsberg after the Monaco match. You would have been swooning in your Bovril that’s for sure….
Didn’t see much of your pin up boy Santone though…he looks a bit of a “warm duscher” as we say in Germany…
Kim offcourse he’s agreeing even Jabba said we needed a CB last season, and its not rocket science that if you shift out 2 Strikers we need atleast 1 brought in.
Some on here go on as if your asking for £10 – 20 mil players when in fact were asking for sensible signings that even the owner agrees with ffs
Newks
Nah Tav will be CB, Santoon and Raylor will be full-backs.
Well I don’t want Simmo to go and I wish someone would sort out his contract terms.
We might find that Simmo moves on cos he get’s the feeling he may not be the club’s first choice right back…..plus cos he will leave for nowt and is a cheap option to other clubs, he can double his salary elsewhere
Great for him, bad for the club as usual..
Good to see Marv and Obertoon score, we are going to need goals from more than just Cisse. I think Marveux could be seriously troubling Jonas at this rate, or pushing him inside or free him up to play on the other wing. Or Jonas at LB and Santon at RB if Simpson is sold!
Dave – Lovenkrands 0 league goals last season don’t count as a loss.
We also began playing with just one striker, meaning the need for four strikers is massively reduced.
MM@127 ,Your dead right there
MM I think if Danny has faith in his own ability he could stay and fight, but if he’s not getting prem wages then he’ll move on
Andy ,I have been quite impressed with Tavs .
MM if he was good enough the club would have offered him an improved contract, I agree with the club, he isn’t good enough and we can get better for the wages he thinks he is worth. Last season he and Williamson were stretched to the bare limits of their ability IMO. If it went to the right hand side of defense it was either back to the keeper or wellied away nearly every single time. Not good enough for NUFC.
How much was Simmo after ,wasn’t it £25k a week ? ,seems quite low compared to some players wedge.
What’s going on with Ranger?
Can we either sack him or play him. He’s on a long contract so if we aren’t shipping him out we may as well give him a go in friendlies. He showed rare glimpses of talent and helped change a few games in our first season back in the league
Tbh the reason almost all of our wing play has been up the left hand side is because the left hand side of defense has been stronger and able to play the ball out.
The official site said ee lined up 4-2-3-1 is that going to be policy for the first team.?
kimtoon @138
Yeah but it’s a buyers market and at the end of the day you have to be in the top 1% of footballers to earn that sort of money. Danny Simpson, despite being a good athlete just isn’t talented enough. Look at what most musicians make compare to the ones that write the best songs and have the most talent. To think Simpson should earn huge wages because he tries his best and is okay at his job is a bit silly. The reason the likes of Collo and Ben Arfa are on huge money is because they are super talented.
DJG so it’s the top 1% of players earn £25 k
Big Dave, well how much do you think the average professional player in Canada, Australia, most of Europe, Africa and South America makes?
Once you go below the premier league there are hardly any players on over £10k a week.
DJG, I can’t think many players at clubs as big as ours would be on less than £25k , imo he’s much better than people give him credit for .His stats are pretty much the same as Debuchy’s ,except Debuchy is not as good defending and Simmo not as offensive as Debuchy yet the french international gets rave reviews and Danny gets abused on twitter
. I would rather we lost Willo than Simmo. It’s all personal preference in the end and Simmo does seem to divide opinion .
Alreet all,
Just back from the match and it was great. Stand out players for me were Tav, Marv and and in particular Amalfitano. Considering they are all new in the all look really good.
Shola ran the line brilliantly before he was injured – not sure how bad that was?!
One of the best things for me tonight tho was NOT being in the Newcastle end. As it turned out I was sat opposite the 2k odd Geordie travellers and they were emmense!!
Fucking great night!!!!!
DJG ” Canada, Australia, most of Europe, Africa and South America” what has that got to do with what Kim is talking about
From what I read of Kim @ 138 is that she doesn’t think Simmo is being that greedy because £25 k isn’t top money for a prem player, I agree with her 100% £25k isn’t that much for a decent young experienced English player. in fact I would say thats a normal wage
Well heres a question for all the Simpson fans, including you Big Dave
, how many times has the ball been played out of the right hand side of denfense compared to the left. And to say he doesn’t need to do that because he ‘does the defending’, bollox, he can’t defend either, he either holds off or gets skinned.
sharpy ,
lucky sod.
Obertan has been one of our best players pre-season – any objective person who has seen all the ESPN matches will admit that.
His role as a pacey striker playing off Shola seems to work a treat as opposed to sticking him out wide. His pace is nuts, use it upfront.
Sharpy how long did Benny get and how did he look
We need to get statto to drag up some stats on all our defenders ,that would be interesting and a nice new topic to chat about .
I not going to write anything more about Simpson because it’s been done to death. At the end of the day he isn’t good enough, thats what the club obviously think not just me.
Our support base, stadium and city suggests we should be expectant to keep it up but I worry about how demanding the fixture list is and how thin we are. A couple of injuries, which are enevitable with these amounts of games, in the wrong positions and we may have to forsake cup competitions and focus on the league.
We are still too thin, always get concerned with this lot as they are so meticulous in the scouting and targets you wonder if they have already been priced off their ‘A list’ or whether there’s an ace up fatty casino boys sleeve
DJG @ 149 theres no point in giving you an answer because you don’t like Simmo and no matter what anyone says you’ll still say he’s shite.
I still can’t believe that you think its only the top 1% of prem players that earn £25 k
funkyjesus
I think Obertan will start to prove his critics wrong, especially in the Europa.
Moreno @ 155 I agree with you mate
where have you been haven’t seen you about for a while
Thing is DJG, there wasn’t a plethora of decent RB’s in the prem last season anyway and that hasn’t changed really.
Simmo did well to be fair to him but you are right he isn’t as good as others out there that we really should be buying to replace him!
Dave I don’t have a laptop at the minute and I can’t stand this iphone!
I’ll drop you a Facebook when I get on a computer fella
‘I still can’t believe that you think its only the top 1% of prem players that earn £25 k’
Thats because you didn’t bother to read my post properly as usual. Where did I say ‘prem players’. Go back and read it.
Moreno no probs
just on Simmo I like him but if I had the choice between him or someone better well that isn’t a hard choice to make, but knowing that we still haven’t got our priortity CB in I don’t fancy the chances of getting a better RB in 
Dave – came on at half time with Haris.
He didn’t really do much to be honest but I think by then we had dropped a couple of gears. That said, was kinda hoping to see him take afew lower league players on. Haris looked good and Oba took his goal well. Bigi looked canny and has a good pass on him like.
Was pretty disappointed with Gosling tho in all honesty.
Was sat behind the dug out and Pardew never shut up. It was great to watch his passion and direction toward the players. Also Perch came over to one of the young uns and gave him his shirt when he came off, totally unexpected and the kid was buzzing – great touch I thought.
Moreno @159 spot on.
DJG as usual your trying to back out of it because you don’t have the balls to admit you got it wrong
Kim said ” How much was Simmo after ,wasn’t it £25k a week ?”
You replied ” Yeah but it’s a buyers market and at the end of the day you have to be in the top 1% of footballers to earn that sort of money.”
we are talking about us and we’re in the EPL we wern’t talking about lower leagues or Canadian, Australian, American etc etc
Sharpy sounds like you had a good night mate, i’m not surprised about Benny with it being his 1st game, and maybe Gos was a bit off cause he had that niggle
Dave,
I believe we have had ample time to scout, enquire and sign someone, or put faith in Danny and sign him up. We’ve done neither.
Then again I have been proved wrong so many times with a surprise signing out of no where so here’s hoping…oh wait, now it won’t be a surprise…I’ve gone and blown it!
Hasn’t Gos been a bit off with some sort of niggle since we signed him?
At 117-
Pards on Bigirimana a couple of weeks ago: “This is a guy who is armed to threaten the players we have in our first team at the moment.”
Pards on Amalfitano: “However, he is coming into a great environment and I’m sure he’ll settle very quickly. That’s the beauty of the French market. He plays across the midfield, a bit like Sylvain Marveaux.”
Won’t be the first time Pards has spoken out of both sides of his mouth mind. The guy likes to hear himself talk I think
Moreno @ 167 aye I think he might have been
reet thats me outta here catch you’s sometime tomorrow,
Moreno don’t be a stranger
Rumour has it (well, I’m trying to start it) that Shola faked injury tonight so that we’d be down to two senior strikers and Ashley would be forced to delve into his pockets for a striker back up PRONTO
Typical of you Big Dave, trying to put words in peoples mouth and predend they said something they didn’t. Have you gone back and read my post at @142 yet?? You havn’t answered, where did I say ‘prem players’?
since when did ‘footballers’ mean ‘prem players’. Do you think all sportspeople are olympic athletes and all musicians are rock stars??
ST
Is that shola’s brilliant plan to play very little football?
i couldnt get to game ,but mate went,fantastic play and passing ..never mind the goals!!!! he recons amal ,tav and marv were fantastic ,gona give the silver fox a megga headache!.its great sharpey mensioned a player passed a young lad a shirt,….its nice a lot of us mension that …the majority of footballers are nice blokes and not the trash some people portray them as.
Sharpy-Who’d have thought any kid would be glad to have Perch’s shirt a year ago
A nice scoreline. It seems as if a few players had a good run out as well. At least it appears that we’d be a genuine force in League 1.
But I guess we already knew that.
Newkie…you’re right. Never seen a player go from hated to loved in the span of a year as perch has. And im guilty of it myself. Good on the lad. He’s earned his place
Troy Stavers says:
August 7, 2012 at 16:14
@Aussie
So you really didn’t have a point to your question.
And Troy you still haven’t answered my question….. what a gimp……
I just cant see how you expect us to finish above chelsea and/or liverpool again when we have only done this once in recent memory….
@aussie
I don’t actually believe you read my posts. You are so intent on getting your own back on me, you end up in a boomerang spin and unfortunately it ends up hitting you on the napper.
I’ve always said Chelsea would take over us. They have the finances and spent to strengthen.
So far, Liverpool haven’t really done that so their is no reason to suggest we won’t end above them.
It’s been many years since we ended above many of the premier teams. Does that mean we can’t expect to finish above those as well. ?
Now think before you write.
Yttflpjk
*there*
We have had 7 top 6 and one 7th place finish since being in the PL and 7 posistions of 13th place and one at 14th. plus 1 relegation and 1 fizzypop title.
Kim
thanks for figures.
Troy, So who will the top 5 consist of, with us there next season? ?
I think there is fuel leaking into your bloodstream from the rocket lodged in your anus Troyster. It is rotting your tiny brain and making you look like a fool when you post
woo hoo hoo
@Aussie
I’m loving reading your daily balls up! Woo hoo hoo hoo
I’m refusing to name the 5 again that I expect to finish above us. I’ve done it so many times that I could do it again and you still wouldn’t get it.
I’ve really rattled your cage lately Faussie.
You can name the teams Troy, and when you get it completely wrong, you can back track and deny you made the call like you have done so many times before
when you look up the word ‘ wrong’ in the dictionary, it simply says – Troy Stavers. And when you look up Troy Stavers is says – one who is constantly wrong – one who back tracks from previous statements 
woo hoo hoo poor Troy, this is too easy 
stevo@173, I met and had me photy taken with most of the players after the Monaco friendly. They were all brilliant lads, taking time out to crack on with the fans. Perchy especially came across as a real nice lad. We’ve got a great bunch of lads, and a great spirit. I reckon it is all down to Pardew, and his back room staff.
Wehey Teflon man…non-stick…
aussie magpie fan, you should take it easy on the caffein big man…
@aussie
Woo hoooooo hooooo hoooooo
I’m lovin the chomping by you.
This is like taking the man sausage pie off the fosters guzzler. .
You feeling ok Aussie?
I feel like you are throwing your boomerang and it’s walloping you in the mouth repeatedly.
I knew he would have to bite! Dangle the line, be patient and the dopey eyed troy fish will come a sniffing
At least my foot isn’t in my mouth Troyster, which seems to be the case with you more often than not
woo feckin hoo hoo hoo 
Seriously tho, I have noticed you never answer a question when you know it will contradict all your grand statements.. bit of a character flaw that you may need to work on
Interesting argument from Troy: Criticise those who accept we may not finish equal to or better than last year, then predict 5 teams will end up above us.
Vegas
I noticed that, I asked Troy for a top 5 this season with us included and he couldn’t even give an answer.. Now it seems we won’t even make top 5in his estimations 
Troy spouts shit like it is going out of fashion and when some one calls him out on it he simply ignores the questions…. poor form
Woooooooooo hooooooooooo hooooooo hooooo
My bucket is bursting to the brim with Ozzy snappers.
I have stated time and again who I believe should finish above us. I’ve stated time and again that we should expect no lower than 6th. I have stated that the majority of times that finishing 6th is good enough to qualify for Europe.
If you’s two keep jumping in my bucket instead of reviewing the teams I’ve named then it’s in the bucket you stay.
9 smilies in a row, wow, I think I must have rattled Troysters arse roocket.. woo hoo. I will take it easy on you now mate… sorry about firing you up like that..
Wooooo hoo hoooo hooooooooo
It doesn’t get any better than this.
I used to think you could take the banter but now I’m worried you are seething behind the smileys.
If you reply to this Aussie I know you’ve blown your stack.
If you don’t then I know you are seething.
Which will it be? Seething or stack blown?!
Wow, Troyster is flying off the handle.. he is trying to hide behind his stage smiles like the late Anna Nicole Smith. Troy, please don’t become our Anna Nicole, we love you mate.. I’m sorry for winding you up and igniting a long dormant rage deep in your heart… I’ve gone too far with this one……
Wiooooooooooo hoooo hoooooo hooo
He’s blown his stack
Sorry Aus, you shouldn’t take yourself so seriously tho.
Surely not another bite coming up is there. ?
WOO!
…canny back jump that like.
Reet, off back noo.
…..BUNGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
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