Now I know you generally can’t read too much into things during pre-season as teams look for fitness and tend to rotate players quite often and you rarely face a full strength outfit, or a real top level one for that matter, even though we’ve faced some tough opposition over the last few weeks, but there is most definitely one person who has impressed me during pre-season.
That man is Sylvain Marveaux who now looks (*touches wood*) to have finally found some fitness after a horrid campaign last time out. Having a full pre-season behind him will help him out no end and hopefully his lengthly injury lay-off will actually prove beneficial to himself and the club in the long run. Remember, we could have had him back sooner but it was decided at the time to get him fixed properly as opposed to just patching him up again.
Dare I say it, but Marveaux could be “just like a new signing” which is handy really considering we’ve not actually signed that many players over the summer. His direct running, trickery, pace and vision can be a real asset to us and we’ve seen, albeit only briefly, that he can do it in the Premier League. I’m looking forward to seeing it more often this time round.
I must give honourable mentions to Gael Bigirimana and Romain Amalfitano who have both played well throughout pre-season, especially “Bigi” as he’s known, who looks as though he could do a job now to be honest. Also Mehdi Abeid has looked sharp during his time on the pitch.
In other news I see that Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa have been left out of the France squad by their new coach Didier Deschamps. Great news for Magpies fans! Of course naturally people have been quick to jump on the bandwagon and look for deeper reasons for their exclusion, such as deep-seated problems between Deschamps and Ben Arfa from their days at Marseille together and, apparently, an injury to Yohan Cabaye which isn’t actually an injury at all.
The fact is that it is a meaningless friendly at the start of a new season. I can guarantee there will be more high profile who either aren’t picked or end up dropping out with mysterious knocks. Move along, nothing to see here…
In more other news the draw for the Europa League is made later on today, and it has been confirmed that Newcastle are seeded for the draw. However there could yet be a sting in the tail as there are some decent teams who are unseeded, most notably the likes of Feyenoord and moneybags FC Anzhi Makhachkala. Newcastle will be hoping to avoid them in the draw for sure.
Have a great day all!
Troy he cant help himself he just keeps digging the hole bigger and bigger, and the silly thing is that everyone has already seen him make a liar of himself by stating that I said we would be relegation battlers, then he couldn’t back it up so tried to change subject and squirm his way out of admitting that he was in the wrong 😳
And i’m pretty sure he has just made a fool of himself again so watch for him digging or trying to abuse his way out of another one 😀 😉 when he goes to show me where I said not making 5th would be a total failure
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave ,my bad I thought he was JJB forgot about DW 😳 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
@BD
He’s always done it.
This is his quote from this thread about what I was alleged to have said;
“12 months ago many of us were delighted. It was you that refused to accept the Cabaye may just be slightly better than Nolan, Ba better than Carroll and so on.”
Absolute twisted words. Why do you do that Trumpet. ?
We are still waiting for you to find Dave’s alleged quote. 🙂
An old Les Kellet saying; speak the truth or don’t speak at all.
RIP Pops!
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy-what if we finish 16 but win the CC? Failure or Success?
Newkie(Quote)
I think BD actually said that not finishing 6TH would be a total failure 😉 Still a tad dramatic if you ask me 😉
**** Advocaat(Quote)
Kim he did own it up until I think last yr ❓
Troy he might keep a low profile then comeback on telling us he has a life other than the blog and doesn’t have time to scroll through the blog to find where things are said, but that doesn’t stop him from making stories up by quoting things that Im supposed to have said then not being able to show me where I quoted them, so unless he has the proof he shouldn’t use his version of peoples quotes 😉 he’s no better than the red top rags that spew their ***** of what people are supposed to have said
My saying you can watch a thief but you can’t watch a Liar 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
@Newkie
Of course short term, any trophy is a success. But to finish 16th tells you that you have a poor team and luck has been on your side. Many clubs have won the FA Cup and got relegated the same season. Is that success? Not in my opinion.
Cups are now secondary and I believe qualifying for the CL is more important than the FA Cup.
The reason is, you have shown you have a strong enough squad which greatly increases your chances to win a cup in the following season.
The CL is absolutely huge and should be regarded as equal if not better than the two cups.
Until they improve the value of the FA Cup then I will maintain that stance.
If winning the cup allowed entry into the CL then that would increase its worth, making it financially and prestigious
Troy Stavers(Quote)
GB fuked up in the 4×4 👿
Big Dave(Quote)
Marveaux has looked good! As well as Bigi and Amalfitano. I’m very excited for this season. Just bring in one defender and I’ll be relaxed
AndrewT(Quote)
Newkie I know you were asking Troy but I would say that would be a failure I would love us to win something before I snuff it, but I think we need to keep aiming at top 6 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave@79 😆 I’m well confused now.
Troy ,I used to watch world of sport with my Dad on saturday afternoons as a kid in the 60’s and 70’s. Loved it ,my dad was a massive wrestling fan. Lots of them gone now ,but I know dad liked Les and his antics . 😀
kimtoon(Quote)
Dave & Newkie, the only thing I would miss out on the top 6 for is the FAcup ,but that’s cause I’m an old romantic who remembers what it used to mean befor Money and the CL holy grail ruined the game. 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim in the 60’s your giving your age away now 😆 oh sorry I thought he sold it last year but it was 5 yrs ago 😕 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6736431.stm
Big Dave(Quote)
Troy-agree with what you say mostly, although right now i’d prefer to win the F.A cup that get into the CL…next season anyway, once we’ve got a cup under our belt we’ll be free to attack the league properly every season until hopefully we have a squad to compete on several fronts… 😯
Not so sure about showing you have a poor team with luck on your side, look at Villa last year, did they finish 15th? Anyway their squad isn’t actually that bad, or it wasn’t rated that bad at the start of the season. They had Given, who at the time was probably rated higher than both harps and krul by our fans, Ireland who loads on here were drooling about when he was on loan because he has that extra bit of class, and Nzogbia who almost everyone wanted back, as well as a proven 20 goal a season striker in Bent, alongside plenty of youth prospects. No matter how good your team is things can still go against you, especially with manager changes and the like….
Dave-Aye, imo i’d take F.A Cup and one bad season…as long as there were some sort of understandable circumstances like…hopefully not involving a manager change! 😆 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Dave , I can remember it from late 60’s but mostly the 70’s untill around 73/4 , when my teenage activities took over. 😉 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
Kimtoon-I’m only 21 and whilst I realise the F.A cup isn’t what it was, i’d still love us to win it! Cant quit edecide whether i’d prefer it over a EL title mind…I think it would depend on the opposition..
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie ,yeah the EL cup is probably more trendy to win but FA cup everytime for me. Having said that I would take any cup in truth to end the drought . 🙄 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
Also ,god wish I was 21 again ,happy days. 😎
kimtoon(Quote)
Kimtoon
Grandad Les was a comedy genius and hardest man in his village if not the world! 🙂
He once went to Sunniside club in Gateshead and bent a 2 inch diameter bar around the back of his neck. Nee one else, bigger blokes, couldn’t do it. He won a dog collar as a prize! 😯
Grandma Baba Vanga stayed at home cos she knew the result before he went by reading the tea leaves. 😆
Love you grandma & Granda ! 😉
Baba & Les RIP
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Kim
so do I 😉
andymag(Quote)
*@91 that is
andymag(Quote)
Andy 😆 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20120810/campbell-call-deserved-pardew_2281670_2877726
That’s pardew saying why Campbell was included
andymag(Quote)
Its ridiculous to think that Boro won the CC and some consider that as being more successful than us finishing premier league runners up.
Not in my opinion. I couldn’t tell you from season to season who won the CC or even the FA Cup.
The most important thing to look at now is league positions. If you look at the Toons premier finishes and see we have been in the top 7 on half their period within it is impressive.
Not many clubs can brag of their records. We can.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Well Kim I was too young to watch tv in the 60’s 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
“Its ridiculous to think that Boro won the CC and some consider that as being more successful than us finishing premier league runners up. ”
I totally agree 😯
CC(Quote)
Andy @ 96 as I said I think he has a yr or so to go but as they say if your good enough your old enough 😉 but would love to see him get a 5 min run out tomorrow.
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave @98 😯 ,please don’t tell me I’m the oldest blogger in town 🙄 🙁
Troy ,and the only times we was 13th and 14th was under **** managers ,I don’t count our relegation year as that was a total **** up of a season and Big Al had an impossible task to try and save us .
kimtoon(Quote)
Troy-Agreed, unfortunately people just like to pick out the winners of cups and titles to show success, and we’re only ever runners up or semis, even though we’ve done it plenty (or come close)
Newkie(Quote)
Evening all,
Not sure what to make of the Europa draw, pleased were away first leg but know nowt about the opposition like – but it could have been alot worse like.
I know I’m a broken record, but seeing Lpool sign Joe Allen has just fuelled my frustration at our lack of signings. Frustration further fuelled by the news Ashley is on the verge of investing in Rangers – when the fecker should be completely focused on improving NUFC.
But on a more positive note, I’m really pleased with Pardews decision to take Campbell to Cardiff. When he didn’t feature against teams like Gateshead and Hartlepool, I didn’t think he was in Pardews thoughts for this season, but Pardew clearly wants the kid involved. Whilst that’s great for Campbell it should also give the likes of Streete and Hooper encouragement.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Reading an article off newsnow. Funny how people measure ambition by money spent
Premandup(Quote)
I think we are pretty much in agreement we don’t want shedloads spent just enough to secure our targets ,else what’s the point in doing the scouting of a player if we can’t afford them .There is a house two streets from me which I have watched admiringly for years ,I want that house so much but I won’t get it if offer them thousands less than it’s worth.
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy-look on the bright side. Namely, Joe Allen is gash 😉
Newkie(Quote)
@sharpey
Despite Liverpool gaining Joe Allon, losing Bellamy is worse for them.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Sharpy17
If we had signed Joe Allen I would be hugely disappointed
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
@premandup
I haven’t read the article but to spend more money than others is ambitious.
It’s when you have a **** managers who spend more money that backfires.
Fat Fred had the right idea but half the managers under his reign squandered the cash. He appointed them do must take the blame.
He must take credit for SBR and KK.
Many hated FFS but it was a fine line between hero to zero.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Prem – I don’t measure ambition on money spent, I measure it on squad improvement. On players brought in against those allowed to leave. I don’t want us to spend 100’s of millions on players – but I do want us to improve the squad. Whether that be buying players, free transfers or loan players – such as WBA loaning Lukaku from Chelsea today as well.
I’d be lying though, if I said it doesn’t frustrate me that we have a billionaire owner who can slash the cash investing in other football clubs, yet we make transfers difficult by not meeting asking prices by £1-2m and run the risk of loosing our top players through paying lower wages than our rivals.
Don’t get me wrong, for the future of NUFC it’s great and all that, but does it come with the risk of us dropping behind rival clubs … definately.
People believe that anything less than top 6 is failure, but can we really expect to keep pace with clubs continue to improve their squad each transfer window by spending money both on fees and wages … not in my opinion.
Sharpy17(Quote)
evening folks, just back from scotland working for the last two weeks 🙂
god, its like working in a foreign country 😉 😉 cant get a newspaper with news about english football, its all about scottish “fitball”, which i thought you could of printed on one page 😆 😆 😆 mind you, all they want to talk about is the TOON, and how we are going to do this season, so i reckon we have a canny few toon fans north of the border 🙂 🙂 i got the feeling, talk of rangers is “TABOO” 😆 😆
ive just had to rely on texts off my sons, and the internet when i had 3G, which was as rare as hens teeth 😥 😥 😥
and i have to admit that am not very pleased with our failures in this transfer market as per…… just wish the folks in charge would pay that little xtra to complete a deal 👿 👿 👿
toonsoldier9(Quote)
@sharpey
Please stop falling for the Ashley propaganda.
We have got money. We are raking money in each season. The TV deal is huge.
We should be able to spend £20m without Ashley delving into his billion.
I’m lost with your viewpoint. 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Fairplay TOONSOLDIER9, I chose Somalia for my missionary work, but you went to Scotland for yours!!!! You got bigger bollocks than me mate that’s for sure 🙂
jay jay(Quote)
aye jayjay, and i have to go back on monday 🙁 🙁 mind thou, its better than wales 😉 😉 😉 😉
troy,like you just said, i too, cant see no reason why we cant spend 20 – 30 per season 😥 😥 😥 😥
toonsoldier9(Quote)
Newkie/Troy/Toby – I dont know if I’ve worded myself correctly there. I am certainly not disappointed that we didn’t get Allen 😯
He wouldn’t get into our team and with Bigi and Amal in for a combined cost of £1m – it’s yet another example of Liverpool spending money on players that would be better spent on their scouting network.
I simply mean, rival clubs are getting players in with relative easy, while we simply aren’t 😕
Sharpy17(Quote)
Troy you ****!!! 🙂 Don’t forget the one big debt that the club still has to pay 😉
jay jay(Quote)
I see the Hammers have had a bid of £9m turned down for Matt Jarvis .Is it me or is £9m a bit steep like.
kimtoon(Quote)
Decent player with a great cross, not many great crossers of the ball about KIMTOON, but does seem steep
jay jay(Quote)
Scottish people knowing stuff about the TOON 😯 😯 Like **** they know anything, all our players are apparently overrated, we were lucky last season, all our best players are gunna be sold and we must be **** cus Rangers beat us during a preseason game 2 years ago 🙄 .
andymag(Quote)
Troy….Grandma Baba Vanga hasn’t had many airings over the last few weeks… 😆 😆
Troy@112 spot on there, Ashley can spend the money easily, the TV money alone will keep the club ticking along nicely…
Munich Mag(Quote)
andymag judging by your Avatar you are up north of the border….condolences mate… 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
I see the allen to Liverpool is all over the media especially SSN, you would’ve thought they signed messi 🙄 , Allen may be better than downing and Adam but he’s definetly not worth 15m, though you would’vve thought it was a bargain the way some are talking about it. My guess is that Nicholson claims it’ll be signing of the season, Liverpool will finish 3rd and Suarez will get player of the season after he picks up his golden boot 😕
andymag(Quote)
I have a really bizarre feeling that we could win the Europa League this season…….seriously…..
If we didn’t have to allow for the Champions League drop-outs I would be even more confident…
Munich Mag(Quote)
lol andymag, you upset a scotsman lately?? 😉 😉 😉
toonsoldier9(Quote)
You need to leave that developing nation ANDYMAG 😆
jay jay(Quote)
MM
Aye, born in Singapore but have lived here for 12/13 years now, isnay sow bad, if ya ken what folks takken aboot. 😉
andymag(Quote)
soldier
try going to high school(secondary school[for ya English barstarddddssss]), with 700 of them
andymag(Quote)
andymag@122 it’s all the fault of the big spenders. Anybody who can kick with both feet these days is a 15 million quid man… It’s just an ugrading of the transfer fees to suit the bizarre amount of money in football these days. It’s not Swansea or Allen’s fault, the yare probably ecstatic….if there is someone stupid enough to pay the fee then the player will be sold, and we all know Liverpool have done it before and they never learn…… 🙄 There again I wish our owner was as flamboyant with the wedge as the Liverpool owners…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Jay Jay
it will be if we get bloody independence, Salmond would be so shocked he got it he’d **** himself and apologise that he didnt mean it and didnt actually have a plan(and I seriously doubt there is one), whenever he’s asked about certain aspects and how theyd be changed he says something vague and then quotes william wallace 😕
andymag(Quote)
Funny how some on here worry about Jabba spending too much of his money, when they have no reason to fear because he won’t leave himsel short.
As for money showing ambition I thought the teams that spent the most money over say the last 10 yrs have been the most successful teams if it was averaged out
Big Dave(Quote)
MM
The problem is that it will raise the transfers of average players, prior to the big spending Debuchy would’ve been ours for 4-5m. English youth(ie championship/lower league players) like Ox Chamberbeing sold for so much has made other lower league clubs demand more, like powell going from crewe to Man U for £5m, imagine what a league 1 side could do with 5m compared with the rest of the teams in that league. Its ridiculous and unfortunately it’ll never stop it’ll grow.
Covering a wide change of topics tonight aren’t we
andymag(Quote)
andymag
sorry that you had to swop Singapore for Scottyland mate 🙁
I was doon your old stamping ground a few years ago and absolutely loved it…. redevelopment job at Clark Quays when that says out…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Dave we have a sound financial model as a club, not like me I’m affraid 🙁
jay jay(Quote)
Troy – I’m not buying into anything mate.
I agree with you, £20m is a perfectly realistic amount to spend – but I couldn’t give a ***** whether it comes from TV revenue, Ashleys billions or the the fucking tea fund to be honest.
My point is that the TV revenue is paid to Ashley so he still hands the money over – yet so far we are £3.5m up. What I mean is, I wish he was as willing to spend the NUFC money as he seems to be his own on Rangers.
I also agree with you about Bellamy, still think hes got a couple of EPL seasons left in him
Sharpy17(Quote)
andymag you are spot on….but I think us trying to shoe-horn Debuchy out of Lille for 4 mill euros (if that really is our highest bid) is a bit out of order and dissin a serious top French club imo… 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
kim
I think they knocked it back because in classic ***** peddler style only half the money was going to be paid up front and the rest next year.
Clubs like west ham should be banned from spending money they havent got yet.
It still irritates me that portsmouth came and stole a point at sjp a few years back that played no small part in relegating us with a team they should never have been allowed to assemble… 👿
CC(Quote)
MM
.
SE asia is great, so multicultural so the food is great, the people are nice and the rules are so strict you don’t feel scared to just walk about town. The Country/City is like one massive shopping centre too
andymag(Quote)
I think this Rangers move will make Ashley an insane amount of money. Watch this space, you heard it here first.
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM
You’re right, though if news is to be believed it seems more like a case of Lille moving the goal posts, at school we usually smack the back of the head of the guy that does that
andymag(Quote)
Though we usually give them a pat on the back afterwards as we only have rugby posts 😆
andymag(Quote)
Andymag…don’t you ever get home sick mate ? Serious culture issues swopping Singapore for Scottyland… 🙄
Munich Mag(Quote)
It’s a pity about Debuchy, cos I got all excited at the thought of the bloke hauling *** up our right wing… still… maybe in January…? Patience is a virtue as they say… 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
Chelsea ticket £55, my cleared funds £57 and my next pay day is 24th August, what am I supposed to do?
jay jay(Quote)
Jay Jay @ 133 funny enough I was thinking of you earlier when I was reading this 😆 http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20120810/campbell-call-deserved-pardew_2281670_2877726
Obviously not because of footie ability 😀 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
@Big Dave
Of course thats the case. The big spending clubs are the most successful hence ambitious.
Prem always gets his knickers in a twist over this one.
It’s about getting the right manager in to begin with. Good managers spend wisely, **** managers don’t.
If the toon spent a £100m on quality then we would recoup our money thru prize money and revenue streams.
Spend £100m on **** then we could go bankrupt.
(hyoerthetical).
It’s one of the dumbest arguments that is raised on many occasions on here but particularly by Prem.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
cc@136 ,Agree re Portsmouth.
kimtoon(Quote)
I don’t need to read that to know it’s gingerism you racist pillow biting **** knuckle 😀
jay jay(Quote)
Jay @ 143 well selling your body is outta the question ❗ oh maybe to science or Andy could get you a part time job at his garden center as a model gnome 😉 😆
Big Dave(Quote)