Love him or hate him, and there are plenty of people who fall into both categories, it can’t be denied that Shola has a canny knack of finding the back of the net against the filthy inbreeds from down the road.
But the good news with with regard to injuries doesn’t stop there. Jonas Gutierrez will also be back in action, which means we thankfully won’t have to witness Joey Barton shoved out on the left again, whilst Jose Enrique will be fit to return after the recovering from the bout of flu that kept him out of the FA Cup exit at Stevenage.
Shola bagged a brace during the 5-1 humping dished out to Sunderland back in October. He also scored against them in the “historic” 2-1 victory that Sunderland managed to record back in 2008. Shola found the net against the filth again in that season when he netted from the penalty spot in the 1-1 draw at St James’ Park.
Shola may look leggy, lazy and lethargic, but he pulls his finger out against Sunderland in almost every game against them. I just hope that my effusive praise of the Fenham Eusebio doesn’t come back to bit me on the bottom come 2pm Sunday afternoon.
It’s not all about Shola though to be fair. As mentioned earlier, there are other players who are returning to action in what is set to be a white-hot fixture at the Stadium of *****.
“The injury news is looking positive for us and we should have some important players back,” Pardew informed The Journal. “Shola Ameobi should be fit now, Jonas will be fine and Jose Enrique should be available too.”
“It will be a boost to have Shola back. He is going to train on Friday and that is what we are working towards at the moment – although there is a couple of days’ work to be done there.”
As you may have read on here Link text, Dan Gosling came through 70 minutes of his return unscathed. I had thought that the derby on Sunday would have come too early for the lad, but it appears that he is in Alan Pardew’s thoughts for the match against Sunderland.
“The other positive for us is that Dan Gosling came back and he is certainly looking good. I couldn’t really use him over Christmas without getting some minutes under his belt, but he’s given me something to think about.”
So there is at least some good news on the injury front as we head into a derby in which the red and white enemy will be foaming themselves into a frenzy in anticipation of dishing out some payback after what happened to them last time.
News on Andy Carroll’s fitness will no doubt arrive later on in the week, but if he is fit for the game then suddenly our prospects look a whole lot more rosy for the match against Sunderland.
Stay tuned for more derby day build-up, only on www.nufcblog.info!
If this was any other game than 5under1and I would not play him. He’s too lazy, we’ve gotta give Leon a chance after all his last league outing wasn’t too bad was it! 😆
pearceet(Quote)
Also Mancini has said that SWP and Santa Cruz are set to leave Citeh…….
pearceet(Quote)
SWP, same as Bentley and Keane, if they want big bucks for a few months work, f*ck off somewhere else.
I love the fact we’re no longer push overs in the transfer market, especially on issues such as wages. It obviously makes sense financially but personally, if they think they ‘deserve’ big money, then they are the wrong type of person for the club.
If we sign players who don’t want to come for the football, the fans, the stadium, to prove themselves and to develop, then stay well clear in my opinion.
I Love Mike(Quote)
Of course their current wages will be ridiculous, but if SWP does just want to play football (unlikely i know) and was to come in on say £40,000-£50,000 say? ?
pearceet(Quote)
Chuffed Shola is back 😛
toonsy(Quote)
Hmmm i’m not sure, would have to be up to people at the club I guess to meet with him and see what his motivations are
I Love Mike(Quote)
To be fair, Lovenkrands and Best are in pretty good form now. The looked good together against the Hammers. Ameobi always scores against Sunderland, and if Carroll is fit then he needs to play. All in all, we have good options up front for the big game.
El Toro(Quote)
El tori, agreed. Said yesterday strolla has to start against the Mackems.
Micky Toon(Quote)
ILM: Spot on. A bit of pride in the club – no longer the easy targets of mercinaries. If SWP wants to come to us on realistic money and fight for a place and the shirt, fine – otherwise, go milk someone else.
Great that Shola’s back. Frustrating to watch, but can really turn it on when needed. This match will be all about bringing back bad memories for the opposition, and he’s up there with their worst recollections. Worried about the lack of Tiote, but less so about the rest of the team.
Hopefully the pressure will cause them to freeze up (again) and we can run riot again.
HWTL!
(Anyone down in the South West may be interested to know that my local, the Saddlers Arms in Lympstone, is showing the match live!)
Whumpie(Quote)
one of the boozers in my village has it on too, so the village idiot will be out on Sunday 😀
richietoon(Quote)
The only gay in the village 😉
Actually, you look a bit like Dafydd 😯
Reet, off to walk the mutt. Won’t be long.
toonsy(Quote)
I might get shot down for this, but we need cover for Enrique at Left Back, right? How about Paul Konchesky?
He is nowhere near as bad as what Liverpool fans claim and is simply being used as a scapegoat by their fans. We could probably pick him up for a nominal fee and I reckon he could do a job for us.
El Toro(Quote)
I wear some of the same gear on the weekends too 😉 😆
richietoon(Quote)
All talk of signing has gone dead, not even BS on Twitter at the moment.
jay jay(Quote)
The only positive to take from that I suppose is that maybe when rumours do go up, the lads posting them have genuinly heard something from what they think could be a reliable outlet? In saying that they’ve already been wrong in this window so who knows, lol.
Ross(Quote)
why bother, we have Perch and Kadar who can ‘do a job’
I dont know why people go on about us needing a L/B, fair enough, if Enrique gets injured, we would need cover. But for injuries or suspensions, i.e. only one or two games, we have people who could ‘do a job’.
If we were to get cover, fair enough, wouldn’t complain, but even Pardew has said he wants offensive players as it is obvious we need some better quality in the final third.
I Love Mike(Quote)
calm before the storm maybe? 🙂
richietoon(Quote)
😯 😯
Fancy a drink sometime? 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Indeed. I always wonder when it goes quiet at SJP. Usually something is going on when that happens. Hopefully this is the same.
toonsy(Quote)
In other news. Did anyone hear the commentator at the Liverpool match say that they would be europa league or even sneak a champions league position this year.
Made me laugh. A club in 14th will be European candidates. Talk about bias. What about Tue team that beat them? What about teams like us, 6 places above them?
The media seem to think Liverpool have some right to be in Europe.
Micky Toon(Quote)
In American pro football, it is always “The Future is Now” time. MA & DL have to take actions in this window to assure themselves that NUFC stays up and if they want to risk a shot at qualifying for Europa. We know NUFC cannot afford relegation, we don’t know the costs to get the Europa income. In either case, NUFC needs a body or three to get them where they need to be at season’s end.
BeeGuy(Quote)
Don’t get me started on Liverpool 😡
toonsy(Quote)
They NEED to be seventeenth at the end. Anything else is a bonus, and still is in my view.
Europa can wait until we are established again. Learn to walk again before we go jogging etc.
toonsy(Quote)
Agree with that.
Micky Toon(Quote)
New article shorlty 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
How can you possibly have a gripe with Liverpool, Whats not to like:
The deplorable scummy thieving kunts that frequesnt Anfield, The media protection, The overrated atmosphere, The fact that a city that looks like a post apocolyptic baghdad can win the european capital of culture, The fans jumping on ferry from Ireland and Scandanavia saving their blushes from having a half empty stadium, The fact that they got English clubs banned from europe then have the nerve to disassociate themselves from England supporters during euro 2000, The london based glory hunters jamming phone lines calling for the managers and owners to be removed, The fact that they can demand a manager who hasnt been involved in the sport for a decade and can still have the nerve to call us deluded for supporting Keggy when he came back after a three year absence, The past glories being rammed down everybodys throats ever five minustes, Phil Thompson and that Ginger fella making twats of themselves on sky… 🙄 😡
CC(Quote)
Pretty much this 😉
toonsy(Quote)
nice blog.
workyticket(Quote)
Love the colour toonsy . 👿
workyticket(Quote)
ditto
richietoon(Quote)
At the start of the season I would of agreed with that. But with the league the way it is this season ( and us been out of the cup ) why shouldnt we aim as high as we can?
Im not saying becasue we are newcastle we should qualify for europe every season etc etc and at the start of the season I wouldnt of dreamt about challenging for a european spot.
But we find ourselves in a position where if we keep going the way we are going we JUST might make it. And if we want to keep the likes of ben arfa Tiote Carrol etc we will need european footballer sooner or later so why not go for it while we have nothing else to play for and the league is all over the place?
Granted a few losses on on the bounce and that dream would be dashed but why not aim for the stars and if we hit the moon we d be doing alright 😉
Johno Toon(Quote)
Ive lifted the ban on every one ,So Hitman and Stardust you can come back on ,Sorry
workyticket(Quote)
I’m not saying to not do that at all.
Ok, so we are in that position now ok? What happens if we finish 15th? Would this be a disappointment?
That is my point.
17th or above is required. Anything else is a bonus.
toonsy(Quote)
😆 😆 😆
toonsy(Quote)
but not you Toonsy, ya barred 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Not a chance that is the real Workyticket.:-)
Micky Toon(Quote)
It,s tough living do here down london guys.
workyticket(Quote)
Thanks for the donations ,they have paid my rent for next month .
workyticket(Quote)
Right guys got too go and try and convince micky loon too do a blog for me ,Pig sick of pasting .
workyticket(Quote)
I wouldnt be disspointed with 15th 16th or 17th for that matter! What im saying is tho we should aim for the starts ( ie top 10 europe ) and if we hit the moon ( bottom half ) still be great!
I dont think we will finish in europe but i think pardew n the players should aim for that to show some ambition
Plus then we can turn on him if we dont 😆
Johno Toon(Quote)