In truth I expected the loss and knew it might be heavy, but we were outclassed from start to finish and can have few complaints as, quite simply, we were beaten by the better team.
However the thing that has annoyed me the most is that we’ve seen no signs of progression from last season, no change in approach, no change of thought or anything like that. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t suddenly expect us to be 100% better than last term and I understand that it’s difficult to play against teams like Manchester City with the quality they have at their disposal, but I expected to see some signs of improvement.
For once this is nothing to do with transfers either. A new player or two may have freshened things up but it wouldn’t have addressed the problems that we, as fans, have been picking up on for months and months now.
Defensively we were poor, in midfield we were no better and in attack we were virtually non-existent. Our set pieces were awful, our passing was rubbish and we just looked like exactly the same team as we did last season. Forget the fact that it’s the same personnel, there is no sign of a new approach with those personnel and that concerns me.
Take Papiss Cisse as an example. People are quick to jump on his back but I actually sympathise with him. He is not and never will be a hold-up striker. He is a a poacher and a good one at that. As such he needs service provided for him which we just aren’t giving him. No wonder he cuts a frustrated figure. When he finally does get the sniff of a ball he is up top, alone, with a whole defence and goalkeeper to beat with little to no support from his team-mates. Either that or he’ll get into a good position only to see a team-mate go for glory rather than setting him up. I’d get fed up too.
It’s like we’ve not had a pre-season. The same problems are happening all over again and whilst it’s still early days and things may change against weaker opponents than Manchester City, I would have thought we’d see at least something different.
The fact we didn’t is what concerns me…
Lee Ryder @lee_ryder 30m
Pardew and Ashley have transfer window “game plan” in place for closing stages http://bit.ly/14ZNuP
So that’ll be which excuse can we fob the fans off with from the list Mikes drawn up.
KIMTOON(Quote)
KIM aye mate everything toon is pain in the backside these days
icedog(Quote)
KIM@151 you just beat me to it lol
icedog(Quote)
I like how the link doesn’t work, Kim.
So you click on it to find out their game plan – “not found”
Sums it up pretty well 😆
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Sinclair has signed for WBA according to the beeb (@17.03)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23799346
M(Quote)
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11679/8883247/transfer-news-manchester-city-loan-scott-sinclair-to-west-brom
M(Quote)
So we’re sitting tight having completed a fine preseason and a wonderful first game Mike, Joe and Alan? No hurry with the signings then lads, everything is running smoothly as usual. And surely West Ham won’t bother to give us much of a struggle on Saturday? They must know we need the 3 points badly after all. That’s why they call me one more completely happy supporter.
OMCHS
GeordieTwo(Quote)
that Rose is having a canny game for spurs
icedog(Quote)
Some more waffle from Alan:
“I was there to get together with the owner and get ourselves a game-plan going towards the final week of the window, and that’s what we did.”
So if we do sell Cabaye then Ashley might release some of the funds to bring someone in then? That sounds about right doesn’t it? Good old Mike. What an ambitious owner we have. And Mickey Quinn thinks we weren’t fit for the first game. That is truly shocking after what Pardew said about training this season.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I think we got a real chance of beating West Ham and Fulham. It isn’t going to be easy but 6 points would do a lot for morale. City is out of the way now, they will probably beat most team’s this season imo. They have spent hundreds of millions on players and god knows how much on wages. We just need that first win on the board. I have more faith in Goufran than Cisse imo. It might be his season to shine and I wish him and all the players the best of luck this season
terry(Quote)
Good comment Terry @160. I hope you’re right mate. Scoring still looks to be a problem for us but surely we’ll see a better effort than against City. Krul looks full of fight at least and Ben Arfa and Dummett gave it a go. We need to support Cisse better and push a couple of players into their box more often. They’re no mugs so they be watching Cisse closely but Ben Arfa could have a big impact.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I know we haven’t spent much on players but the sooner the debts cleared the sooner Ashley will sale.
terry(Quote)
I talk a load of rubbish from time to time but Pardew leaves me standing.
Groucho(Quote)
That would be a good thing as well Terry@162. As long as Ashley finds a decent owner which is a challenge I reckon. But surely we couldn’t do worse than Ashley as far as football is concerned. His efforts have been laughable. Except it’s our wonderful club that’s being laughed at. Thank god Joe has shut his gob lately anyway.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
yet again we show what an embarrassment of a club we are. How couldnt we get Sinclair on loan for a season. how difficult must that have been to sort out?
Yet again we drag our feet but low behold, Mike and Alan have a game plan to go into the last week of the window? oh my god.. wheres the plan since the end of last season or since we lost Ba??
fu**ing embarrassment, the lot of them 👿
mark(Quote)
G2 Felt sorry for Arfa against City imo. He tried to score and you can tell he wants the team to do well. I personally think Arfa would make a better striker than Cisse. I dont know why but he has pace and can score goals. He reminds me of Bellamy. Arfa is the best player this team has at the moment. Cabaye is a disgrace to the club and the funds would find a better player than him imo. He is not as good as he thinks and I think the timing was terrible. Let him sulk infront of 52,300 fans and see what reaction he gets?
terry(Quote)
Spot on Terry @166. I was very disappointed in Cabaye not showing any spirit. He’s put his tail between his legs and run off mate. Pathetic really. Will he be out of the squad for West Ham? Grow a spine Cabaye. You’re a professional footballer man. Get on with it. Yes I feel for Ben Arfa as well Terry. The lad knows how to play but Pardew is just wasting the talent. What a sodding mess we have. Pardew should have made some moves last season or at least in the preseason to try some different looks on attack. But instead he just sits there paralyzed, thinking up his next excuse.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
solano @154 ,LOL .try it again should work now .
Lee Ryder @lee_ryder 2h
Pardew and Ashley have transfer window “game plan” in place for closing stages http://bit.ly/14ZNuPX #NUFC
KIMTOON(Quote)
Even more waffle from Pardew:
“I think the situation with Yohan is an ongoing situation and we will take each day as it comes. There’s been one bid and I’ve turned that down, and that’s really all I’m going to say on that.”
So what we have is an ongoing situation then Alan? Thanks for clearing that up. So once we sell him will the situation be at an end? And what about the money from the sale? Anything to happen with that? It’s obvious Mike has told Joe and Alan that there will be no money except what we get for Cabaye. So let’s get it over with and move on with some new players brought in Joe.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
All this stalling over incoming is because Ashley had to spend in January to save us and he has a sulk on now. The man is useless as an owner. He sits on the club like a black cloud. No guts, no glory as they say. How anyone with a spine can stand to work for him I don’t know. Oh …. wait.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2 SBR never used europe as an excuse for performing badly in the league. However if it hadn’t of been for the U.E.F.A cup we would have finished 4th that season not 5th. Pardew is lucky to be here if they can sack SBR for that then he has no excuse for finishing 16th.
terry(Quote)
Cabaye never played against City encase he got injured.
terry(Quote)
Spot on again Terry. We need to get some pride back in the club, starting with the owner, DoF, and manager. They love to make excuses instead of making the changes necessary. Not one other club in the Prem has done as little as we have this summer. It isn’t possible to sit still and prosper and it is only getting harder to get decent players the longer we wait. Sinclair is gone now along with many others. The pressure on Pardew is enormous but I wish we had a way to put a lot more pressure on Ashley. How do we get this toad off our backs?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2 If Ashley offered you a million pounds a year and never gave you any help buying players would you take the job ? I wouldn’t because there would be a lot of angry fan’s after my blood. Pardew is a yes man but Ashley hires them so they get all the blame. Cowardly really
terry(Quote)
No owner can carry on like this forever at the Prem level Terry mate. We’ll either get relegated or remain a mediocre club with no ambition under Ashley. I don’t want either for the club. We need an owner with football ambition and a desire to spread the Newcastle United brand around the globe. You do that by winning things, not hiring a yes man and spending as little as possible. The toad must go in my opinion to renew pride in the club.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2 Write a letter to a billionaire would be a start but it would probably sound to depressing. Ashley, Kinnear ( not so much Pardew ) have treated the fan’s with no respect. They don’t deserve the support from the fan’s and I would love to see Ashley’s face if everyone boycotted the match. He has never talked to the fan’s personally on t.v. He hires someone else to do it.
terry(Quote)
I think the support will continue for a while yet this season Terry. West Ham and Fulham are huge matches for us though. And looking ahead we have Villa (a), Hull (h) and Everton (a). If by some nightmare we lost all of those 6 matches, especially to Hull at home, Pardew would be gone and Kinnear would be in there.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
G2 To win a cup would be amazing for the club. If Pardew can get passed Stevenage or Brighton would be a start. Newcastle winning the league in my lifetime will never happen, FA cup or Carling cup would do me mate. How Pardew got to the QF last year was a miracle for me. If we get drawn against the small clubs and let the bigger teams get knocked out we might just stand a chance
terry(Quote)
We’ll have to beat Morecambe first Terry. Can we do it? I would think so. Surely Pardew will have to field a decent side for that. It will stretch the squad already. I assume we’ll see the likes of Obertan, Williamson, Gosling, and Bigi. No idea how we’ll do if that’s the case mate.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I’m watching Swansea on ITV4 at the mo and whilst they are playing an unknown Romanian team – what a joy to watch they really are.
They are actually set up 4-2-3-1 but the difference between their 11 and our 11 set up that way is that they have 11 players all comfortable on the ball and able to pass the ball.
They all pass and move, all show for each other and the player with the ball always has 2 or 3 options. They are also always looking to move the ball forward. It looks soooooo simple, I can’t understand how we get it so badly wrong.
Oh hang on, yes I do – **** poor management and coaching!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Well Chelsea are moving for Willian from Ahnzi ,that will push Victor Moses out of the reckoning even more . Would it not be a good move to offer Cabaye to them in a straight swap ? Moses above Ince any day for me .
Axel(Quote)
That’s an interesting idea Axel @181but are Chelsea after another midfielder mate? I doubt it. They’ve got a lot of talent in the middle already. Most likely Cabaye will go to PSG and we’ll bring in another French player or two.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Spot on Sharpy @180. I love watching Swansea as well. So confident on the ball. They never panic at the back. The ball goes back to the keeper even but they always look calm and controlled. It would be interesting to compare how many of their moves break down in their own half compared with us. I would bet we lose the ball at least twice as much in our own half as they do.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I’m watching Swansea on ITV4 at the mo and whilst they are playing an unknown Romanian team – what a joy to watch they really are.
They are actually set up 4-2-3-1 but the difference between their 11 and our 11 set up that way is that they have 11 players all comfortable on the ball and able to pass the ball.
They all pass and move, all show for each other and the player with the ball always has 2 or 3 options. They are also always looking to move the ball forward. It looks soooooo simple, I can’t understand how we get it so badly wrong.
Oh hang on, yes I do – **** poor management and coaching!!.
From earlier. I suggested we replace Cabaye with Andros Townsend – he certainly showed what he’s capable of earlier for Spurs.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Pleased we didn’t go for Sinclair. No better than what we have at present. Same for Ince. The problem we have is the manager. He wants to pick eleven names instead of eleven players to do a job. Week in week out it is square pegs in round holes
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
With all our French players the perfect word to sum up the club from the top down is malaise. There is a general malaise a sickness at the very heart of our club ,like a festering boil it is coming to a head and if it’s not treated with the appropriate medication soon it’s gonna blow and it won’t be pretty .:(
KIMTOON(Quote)
SHARPY@184 yes pardew hasnt got a clue how to play pass and move another thing that struck me was routledge was always a ave player but when played the swansea way he does a canny job,pardew and his mob have a lot of failings in their coaching,we ended up pardew swaping him for oba ffs
icedog(Quote)
Have signed anyone or are all the players we’re looking at signing for everyone else?
Anyone else worried we will get beat on Saturday?
I think we could be bottom of the league after 5 games, Pardew will get the sack and then we all know who will take over! Oh dear…
Stuart79(Quote)
Eleven days until the transfer window closes.
As Fatboy fiddles while NUFC burns, his omni-predictable (fucking boring) and sluggish transfer activity drags on, like a tramp in a car park collecting tab-ends from the ashtrays of expensive cars.
As ****-boilingly infuriating as it is though, I still expect our squad to be improved before the shutters come down. Remaining positive on that front.
Our manager, on the other hand… 😕
Rodzilla(Quote)
Axel – I don’t think Chelsea want Cabaye but I would happily take Victor Moses. Him left of Pardews 3 man attacking midfield with Sissoko in the middle and Benny on the right. But I think Chelsea will want a good fee for him and he may want big wages.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Yes I would agree with Sharpy about Moses Axel but it’s a good thought mate. He’s someone we could definitely use but probably has an appetite for a big wage now. And we all know about big wages and Ashley. Still I agree with Rodz as well that we are going to strengthen the squad before the window closes. This is Pardew’s last shot at it though (it being his own survival as our manager). As for West Ham Stuart, they can definitely beat us mate. It’s up to Pardew and the players to produce something at home. It has to lively attacking football for me lads.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
In the time of Ashley’s tenure the transfer fees expected even for average players has gone ballistic. Clubs like NUFC need to spend 5 – 10 mill per season just to stand still and tread water. Ashley has absolutely no interest in playing this game, and spending so much money. The cost of running a football club has overtaken him, surely this really can’t be much fun for him ?
I reckon he is preparing the way to sell the club and move on.
Munich Mag(Quote)
G2 and Sharpy your both probably right but on the other hand Lampard is getting on a bit now . Cabaye would be a decent replacement for him , wont score as many as Lamps but which CM does ? it could wet Morinho’s appetite though . A player on the fringes of his team out for a fully fledged international .
Axel(Quote)
Ice – isnt that just the basics of football though?!. Every team I ever played for at all levels focused on passing and movement.
As for Routledge, he never stood a chance – nee coincidence he was replaced with a frenchie.
In fairness I think he’s develop quite a bit at Swansea, but there again he probably has had coaches and managers interested in him at Swansea.
I know it’s just one game but I thought Nathan Redmond looked canny for Norwich at the weekend as well – £2.5m or something.
Sharpy17(Quote)
MM@192 I agree and said as much a few times now re-selling up.
As for 5-10m ,reckon it’s more like 20-30m mate.
KIMTOON(Quote)
At the risk of sounding xenophobic I would quite like some players other than French arrive now.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Munich I think we’re all hoping Ashley is tiring of the ownership deal mate. He is absolutely hopeless at it. Not even a pretense of ambition for the club as with Pardew (we’ll try for mid table). Running around acting like big shots with no clue. I still think other clubs must laugh when they see Kinnear or Pardew coming just as they probably did with Llambias. I notice no other club jumped to hire Llambias as their managing director after he left us. 😆
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Axel – arent Chelsea sniffing around Willian from Anzi though. I also think that Jose may actually see Rooney as a replacement for Lampard?!.
I know Rooney is a CF now but I reckon Rooney would be a good Lamps type player – not sure he’ll be happy with that though.
I know I sound like a totally broken record, but I just think Townsend would be a great option for us.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Axel – arent Chelsea sniffing around Willian from Anzi though. I also think that Jose may actually see Rooney as a replacement for Lampard?!.
I know Rooney is a CF now but I reckon Rooney would be a good Lamps type player – not sure he’ll be happy with that though.
I know I sound like a totally broken record, but I just think Townsend would be a great option for us. Also James McArthur from Wigan could be a decent option.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Bit of a thought thats been going round in my head.. If the supposed debt to MA from the club is 100m, and the tv money is worth 60m a year, would people accept two years of the same, trundling along near the bottom of the table if there was an ironclad agreement for Ashley to sell up after the two years and sell at the correct market price?
Rinton man(Quote)
Has it still not occurred to anybody that FFP is their to prevent an owner doing anything other than what Ashley is doing, and that any other owner would be operating within the same financial constraints..
Premandup(Quote)
Georgio @ 141
I thought Vuckic had gone out on loan as well, but I noticed he was training with our first team squad yesterday, so I guess he’s still got a chance of being named in the squad to face W Ham
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40191515@N05/9570728698/sizes/c/in/set-72157635187522188/
Also, I looked through the whole ‘Hammer Time’ photo set and couldn’t see Cabaye anywhere, so it looks likely that he won’t be involved in saturday’s game
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40191515@N05/sets/72157635187522188/
CHRIS G(Quote)
Prem – I think what people are struggling with is that last summer and Jan combined we had a net spend of £15m on transfers and lost players like Smith and Xisco who had big wages. We then get this TV money – but have still to do anything in the transfer window?!
Yet teams like Sunderland, who spent big last summer on the likes of Fletcher and Johnson, have brought in 10 players this summer.
Norwich, Saints, Swansea have all spent big money – yet we’ve done nowt?!.
I don’t expect us to compete with the likes of Man U, Chelsea, City, Spurs or Lpool who have a global following – but surely this FFP would mean we could be shoulder to shoulder with the likes of those other teams.
We were reportedly interested in both Bony and Redmond – yet missed out on both – that’s got nowt to do with FFP IMO.
Sharpy17(Quote)
All that rumour of 2-3 players in by sat is, as expected turned out to be a load of bull! Don’t even know why i still let myself to believe this stories ever have any truth in them anymore, but i still do. Like a child clinging onto that belief that Santas real
Halftimebovril(Quote)
So the stories today are that unless a club matches Cabayes £20m valuation we will keep him, whether he wants to stay or not.
Why do I think that’s gonna be the case and we’ll have MORE hassle. Still to the Ba carry on at the beginning of last season.
Personally I really hope we sell him in the next few days and get a couple in before the window closes. But I have a feeling this one will be a deadline day deal where we either sell him for the £20m but have no time to replace him, or we keep a player who clearly doesn’t want to be here.
I bloody hate this transfer window *****!
Sharpy17(Quote)
Ok sharpy it works like this. We could spend £100m on players if we wished. But we can’t afford the wages. Up til this season we have kept wages at 60+% of turnover. But Llambias failed to increase the turnover. Now our wages only just exceed the £52m threshold of the new regs. So if we get an extra £60m from The money instead of spending £20m on wages we can only spend £4m. That’s 75kpw. Ie Remy. To counter that we spent big in January. So we can still go up the 4m. Bigger clubs than us have a similar problem and have shipped out players. Smaller clubs can spend big and double their wage bill to bring it up to £56m within the rules. God help them if they are relegated.
Premandup(Quote)
here’s what Prem is referring to –
http://www.itv.com/sport/football/article/2013-02-08/premier-leagues-financial-fair-play-rules-all-you-need-to-know/
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11670/8631200/Premier-League-shareholders-ratify-rules-governing-financial-regulation-of-clubs
seems like there might be a bit of ‘wiggle room’ mind…
M(Quote)
SHARPY ,Totally agree ,I actually want Cabaye gone now as he clearly wants out and I hate the thought of a player not really giving his all . The story was we blocked a move to Spurs last year at the last minute and he was none too happy ,now it’s Arsenal 🙄 He is gonna have one major sulk on imo.
KIMTOON(Quote)
eh?
Rodzilla(Quote)