Looking Back But Heading Forward

Firstly, I apologise for the lack of a thread in the last few days.

The reasoning behind it was that today would be a good day to look forward to the Birmingham game tomorrow and also still close enough to the weekends win to talk about that.

So, let’s start with the weekends game.

It was a great win, especially after being in such bad form lately.

Brentford are by no means a bad side and even without Scott Hogan, they can be a real threat, as Lasse Vibe showed.

As always, Dwight Gayle didn’t fail to disappoint, opening the scoring before being withdrawn through injury.

Daryl Murphy came on for Gayle and scored the winner, which has filled many people with confidence, following the injury to Gayle.

Looking forward to the Birmingham game, I think everyone would back Murphy to lead the line well.

There has also been rumours that some youth players may be rewarded with a start, making the experience of senior players like Murphy essential.

Perhaps this is why Rafa Benitez has blocked Cheick Tiote’s move to Spain, or so the media are reporting.

Now, let’s finish with a quick piece of nostalgia. Nine years ago today, Newcastle played Stoke City and Kevin Keegan returned for his second spell as manager.

Hopefully this week, our current world class manager will take us into the next round of the FA Cup.

170 thoughts on “Looking Back But Heading Forward

  1. I don’t see how we can afford an extended FA cup run. Too many injuries and some inconsistent play. If we beat Birmingham with some young’uns and backups in the lineup up so be it but otherwise let’s focus only on the league and getting back up.

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  2. Saw the highlights of Brentford yesterday and Murphy’s was a nice finish from a great cross.

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  3. Kimtoon and Ice: are you sure you are not reading too much into Rafa’s words today? He said he would look to bring in new players until the end of the transfer window and then would coach until the end of the season. That seems to be stating the obvious to me – that he would not be able to bring in anybody in after the window closes and then it would be down to coaching. I don’t think that there is any implication that he would leave or reassess the situation at the end of the season (unless we don’t get promoted of course).

    Saying the transfer situation is “tricky” may be an admission that he doesn’t have much money. We knew that revenue would be down even with the parachute payments so it is no surprise to me that money is tight. People might talk about a Sissoko surplus of 30 mil but Spurs have said it was in 6 installments of 5 million so that is not in the bank. We also bought a lot of players so I doubt the wages are down that much even with some high earners off the books.

    You could be right as Ashley has a bad track record, but I think you are reading to much into this.

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  4. Eric Sykes:
    Kimtoon and Ice: are you sure you are not reading too much into Rafa’s words today? He said he would look to bring in new players until the end of the transfer window and then would coach until the end of the season. That seems to be stating the obvious to me – that he would not be able to bring in anybody in after the window closes and then it would be down to coaching. I don’t think that there is any implication that he would leave or reassess the situation at the end of the season (unless we don’t get promoted of course).

    Saying the transfer situation is “tricky” may be an admission that he doesn’t have much money. We knew that revenue would be down even with the parachute payments so it is no surprise to me that money is tight. People might talk about a Sissoko surplus of 30 mil but Spurs have said it was in 6 installments of 5 million so that is not in the bank. We also bought a lot of players so I doubt the wages are down that much even with some high earners off the books.

    You could be right as Ashley has a bad track record, but I think you are reading to much into this.

    I do hope your right mate we could not ask for a better manager would be crushing if he did leave and any decent manager would give us a wide berth,by the way Ime told medical is provisional Thursday/Fri let’s hope he’s told me right but it’s footy owt can happen

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  5. I’ve read Rafas comments, and honestly I think if this Ashley getting involved nonsense hadn’t come to light this week – I think most people would read that as he is going to work flat out to get the players in until the last day of the window. After that he’s going to work flat out until the last day of the season to coach the team and get us promoted.
    I personally still read it that way, and really hope this is all a storm in a teacup.

    As for the ‘tricky’ question, I think by that he means at a club like Newcastle (or any club outside the top 6 for that matter) it’s not as easy as him saying ‘that’s who I want’ and we go and get them. It will be a case of selecting from a realistic shortlist and having Rafa now is a draw to players – but we all know players tend to favour the bright lights and London clubs.
    We will scout and put together a shortlist of players and Rafa will pick his preferred option, but Rafa is smart enough to know that sadly that doesn’t guarantee he will get that player.
    But as I say, that is probably most often the case with a lot of clubs that don’t have a limitless budget.

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  6. I think we will win tomorrow night personally and I reckon Shelvey will pull all the strings again and will have a big game for us – he will want to prove just how much we’ve missed him … I hope.

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  7. It just not Rafa’s style to stretch things in transfer market. Look at the transfers done in the summer. I follow him for several years. I know if he can make decisions, we would have already done the transfer business by now.

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  8. Icedog:
    Townsend playing for C/P tonight

    Ice – maybe fat Sam wants a look at Townsend before making a final decision on whether to sell him or not.
    I might have missed it, but I haven’t seen fat Sam quash any of these rumours that they might sell him.

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  9. funrafa:
    It just not Rafa’s style to stretch things in transfer market. Look at the transfers done in the summer. I follow him for several years. I know if he can make decisions, we would have already done the transfer business by now.

    Fun – summer windows are always easier than January windows mate. I reckon he knows what he needs and the work is being done. Rafa has said himself the players they have asked about so far either aren’t available or are overpriced.

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  10. Sharpy17: Ice – maybe fat Sam wants a look at Townsend before making a final decision on whether to sell him or not.
    I might have missed it, but I haven’t seen fat Sam quash any of these rumours that they might sell him.

    No he hasn’t said anything mate al he’s said he will have to go abroad as clubs are wanting to much in uk,mind he’s just signed another winger from Leicester

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  11. It’s as I thought some rags reporting that jabba is taking advice from Carr on transfers,shithouse Carr doesn’t like his nose pushed out and putting poison in the old git

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  12. Icedog: No he hasn’t said anything mate al he’s said he will have to go abroad as clubs are wanting to much in uk,mind he’s just signed another winger from Leicester

    Ice – he has and apparently he’s looking to buy Karl Jenkinson from Arsenal coz he sees his defence is leaking goals. But I’m not sure how much money Sam will have to spend after a big spend in the summer and around £12m for the lad from Leicester.

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  13. I think it is a tricky question as managers don’t get final say. It depends on the price. If too expensive then it’s a no from the owner.

    I note he also said there’s a player he really likes. Wonder who? My money on Townsend.

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  14. Sharpy: I said on the last thread I think we will put out a stronger team than many expect. Some were held back from the reserve game but I think they will be on the bench and more senior players will start. It will be youngsters will be on the bench as we are short of numbers – it hasn’t been that difficult to predict Rafa recently as he has not been rotating as much. Our league fixture list is not that bad with 3 home games in a row.

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  15. But… I was sure we wouldn’t get relegated. Mind we were fckn unlucky with that Norwich handball goal, the Leicester missed handball for a penalty and Everton lying down and letting the Mackems tickle their tummy.

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  16. Eric Sykes:
    Sharpy: I said on the last thread I think we will put out a stronger team than many expect. Some were held back from the reserve game but I think they will be on the bench and more senior players will start. It will be youngsters will be on the bench as we are short of numbers – it hasn’t been that difficult to predict Rafa recently as he has not been rotating as much. Our league fixture list is not that bad with 3 home games in a row.

    Eric – it’s a good game for Shelvey to get some match fitness I reckon.

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  17. Stuart79:
    I think it is a tricky question as managers don’t get final say. It depends on the price. If too expensive then it’s a no from the owner.

    I note he also said there’s a player he really likes. Wonder who? My money on Townsend.

    Stu – agree with all of it.

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  18. I was looking at ACON and we should get some players back as all wont get out of the groups. QF is Jan 28, Semi is Feb 2 so we will probably have all back in time for QPR or latest Derby. The problem is they will all be knackered with probably intense training and tons of pressure as well as other players flying into tackles.

    I looked at Gabon temperature and it is 29 during the day and 25 at night. Probably nice for a holiday but energy sapping for a football match and training.

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  19. This might clear things up a bit. Rafa says he has final say but that Carr and the other scouts have input. He is almost saying that Carr is somewhere between a technical director and scout and that he is OK with that. He was burned at Real Madrid and he is inferring that owners know next to nothing but interfere anyway but not so much in England. I see nothing here that would suggest that anything has changed and that Rafa’s control is any less than it was in the summer. After Madrid I am sure he would have wanted certain assurances that he would run things his way.

    Remember back to the summer, NUFC weren’t exactly in a good bargaining position with Rafa. We had just been relegated and would have been in turmoil if he had walked, not to mention that Charnley probably would also have lost his job. They put it all in writing and had lawyers look at it before Rafa signed on the dotted line so I think this Mirror **** is just that, ****.

    http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/how-rafa-benitezs-relationship-chief-12468617

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  20. I was also thinking about how this African Cup of Nations is in the middle of the season. It is total ****; it is the African summer FFS and a lot of the countries have equatorial climates like Gabon which means hot and sweaty all year round, with most of the rain falling between October and April. Brilliant choice!!! When you have the World Cup and Euros the players have a couple of weeks off to recover but with this stupid tournament they are expected to hit the ground running with all of the decent African players playing in the top leagues in Europe.

    We should have done what Liverpool did with Matip and have our players retire. FIFA are messing around but at least he wont have to spend 5 fckn weeks in summer heat and humidity in Gabon. On top of that, I doubt the facilities are up to scratch. Never been, but that is an educated guess after seeing a few documentaries on the general region.

    And don’t get me started on he fact it is every 2 years. FIFA is the world football body, they should do something about it but they are too busy taking bribes from Russia and Qatar.

    I mean, the way it is now they could have it in the odd years in the Norther Hemisphere summer and it would not clash with the World Cup and Euros and would be in the southern hemisphere winter which for most African countries is still hot. Who decides this FFS, it is so obvious what to do even FIFA could figure it out. Regardless, they should put their foot down and say it is every 4 years like the other major international tournaments.

    I think it actually harms the African players as teams do not want too many of them as they know they will miss an important 5 weeks of the season every 2 years. That’s probably what, a sixth of the season?

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  21. Mackems out of the Cup now. Their best players are in Africa and they have a bunch of injuries.

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  22. Sharpy17: Fun – summer windows are always easier than January windows mate.I reckon he knows what he needs and the work is being done.Rafa has said himself the players they have asked about so far either aren’t available or are overpriced.

    I don’t want to convince anyone. It’s just my gut feeling. I also wish him a long term stay at Newcastle. Anyway, let’s focus on this season. Rafa needs to get the job done (get Newcastle back to PL) no matter what, otherwise it will be a disaster.

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  23. funrafa:
    http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/newcastle-birmingham-rafa-benitez-transfer-mike-ashley-a7532401.html

    What a bullshit heading and article. The heading leads you to believe Rafa has had some big kick off or rant. The lad then goes on to paint a rather bleak picture, before quoting Rafa. There is no laying down of the law, kick off or rant – there is a lot of fact, and Rafa saying Ashley has kept out the way for the last 6 month, now he’s back showing an interest in the transfer window.
    A poor attempt to stir the pot IMO

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  24. Even though it could cause injuries, I think a cup run would do us good. Although, the league must be the priority! Looking forward to Murphy getting an extended run of games too!

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  25. All this **** stirring about Rafa – honestly I believe it’s rubbish. For one thing Rafa has a record of speaking his mind if anything bothers him. Remember when he kicked off in the media when he was at Chelsea because the club named him interim manager. Forget it all.

    McCarthy is the one he wants.

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  26. We were all crying out for some decent cup runs after years of poor performance and now the majority think cups are a waste of time! I hope we go in a decent run. Winning breeds confidence.

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  27. 3-0 tonight.

    The team he puts out just goes to show how strong our squad is for the Championship.

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  28. Sham: I said the same thing the other day about a cup run. Better to win than lose mate, so let’s beat Brum and Oxford and see where that takes us.

    No fatalistic **** from doomsayers. We will beat them both and move on.

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  29. I really have had enough of people saying Ashley will reassert control and put Carr in charge again and that we have a **** squad and will lose the next match (until we win). We are top of the league and just about to go through to the 4th round of the FA Cup. If it wasn’t for ACON I might even be happy 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  30. Wow, no wonder the press writes bullshit Newcastle Utd stories. . Every ***** laps it up.. can’t blame em really. It’s like taking candy from a baby…

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  31. So fat Sam confirms they’ve made bids for as many as 8 new players ?. That suggests to me that he WILL need to sell – if not to raise funds, then certainly to make space in the squad.

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  32. Sharpy17:
    So fat Sam confirms they’ve made bids for as many as 8 new players . That suggests to me that he WILL need to sell – if not to raise funds, then certainly to make space in the squad.

    Let’s hope the toon deal comes off then mate,something is definitely happening this week

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  33. Icedog: Let’s hope the toon deal comes off then mate,something is definitely happening this week

    Ice – I reckon Townsend & McCarthy in may quash a few concerns about Ashley’s involvement ?

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  34. Sharpy17: Ice – I reckon Townsend & McCarthy in may quash a few concerns about Ashley’s involvement

    Everton have said they have changed their minds and won’t let him go so that’s one crossed off

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  35. Icedog: Everton have said they have changed their minds and won’t let him go so that’s one crossed off

    And sadly that is a big factor in these Jan windows as well mate isn’t it.
    It may be seen that we aren’t doing enough, or Carr or Ashley or whatever – but if a club decides they aren’t selling or a player decides he doesn’t want to come North, there’s little we can do.
    I guess that’s what Rafa meant yesterday when he say it’s tricky to say he has the final say.

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  36. Georgio: waiting for Troy to come on admit he was wrong about everything. Then I will be happy 🙂

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  37. Gabon 0 Burkino Faso 1. It is live here in the USA, I am sure everyone is on the edge of their seats waiting for the outcome of this game from equatorial Gabon in the middle of their summer. If I gave everybody on here a map I bet none of you could put a pin in where Burkino Faso is and yet they are disrupting the English Football season every 2 years.

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  38. Just looked up Burkina Faso and it is next door to Togo and Benin and the Capital City is Quagadougou if that helps?

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  39. Gabon just equalised and the crowd of 15 go wild. They are neighbours of Equatorial Guinea if anybody is interested. Thought not, I wonder why they have this competition every 2 years in the middle of the rest of the World’s football seasons?

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  40. Sorry to go on about ACON but playing that every 2 years in the middle of the African summer in an equatorial climate ranks number 4 on my list of stupid things happening this year:

    1. Trump

    2. Brexit

    3. Gareth Southgate England Manager

    4. ACON in African summer every 2 years

    5. Lee Ryder still has a job.

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  41. And if it helps anybody pinpoint Burkina Faso on the map there was a British band in the ’80s named after the capital city, Quagadougou. The lead singer had a two tone haircut and was named Lamal and the keyboard player had a poodle haircut.

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  42. If anybody didn’t get what I was on about… I think the African Cup of Nations is a farce. The timing, the time of year, that FIFA sanctions it, that the European clubs don’t stand up and say it is out of order. I suppose they would be accused of racism or summink, but why? Just say play it in the Northern Hemisphere summer every 4 years. FFS they might even get some viewers.

    Rant over.

    Bring on the Brummies.

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  43. And ACON is relevant to NUFC. We could have done with Diame, Atsu and MBemba tonight and on the weekend.

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  44. Palace are in trouble because their best player is at ACON and Benteke is very streaky. Fat Sam needs money for the defense so can we steal Andros back please. Rafa has shown he knows how to use him properly.

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  45. Why the hell is Tiote playing man!!!. He’s close to leaving but if he gets injured the neet that’ll get knocked on the head!!! ?

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  46. Sharpy: there is no risk with Tiote. We wont get a fee now that he has only 6 months left on his contract and he will probably want to play well so he can show suitors he still has something left.

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  47. Ice: Tiote has farted around for like 2 years with injuries, Middle East, China. I am surprised that Rafa even trusts him. Shop window? But, as you say, who cares.

    It like he can’t make up his mind. No wonder, he has 2 wives and a mistress. The man cannot make up his mind about anything. He has 3 mother-in-laws FFS so he must be battle hardened.

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  48. Looking forward to seeing the 3 young lads play. El-Mhanni has bags of tricks up his sleeve, Barleser has good passing range and Findlay is solid if the reports are anything to go by.

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  49. Watched games on US TV and listened on radio Newcastle and I don’t hear some of the old songs sung. The – Haway the lads, haway the lads, haway the lads, haway, haway the lads, haway the lads, haway the lads, haway. I never hear anymore.

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  50. Bein sports showing FA cup games on 3 channels … except all of them are the same fucking game… Liverpool. Why? They have about 20 channels and there are 3 games on tonight. Boils my ****.

    Well radio again.

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