gdm

Newcastle were 225/1 to win 4-1

“I believe Newcastle is a club that gets 52,000 people paying to watch them every other week and they have 22,000 supporters and 30,000 customers. They are extremely critical. the customers are always right

f*** sake west ham down to 10 men, injury 3 subs used

2-2 derby

birmingham 1 up

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/images/homepage/2303_jewel_06.jpg thats his wife

ROB BEASLEY at St James' Park MIKE ASHLEY burst into the Chairman's Suite at St James' Park and yelled: "Let's get naked and have a party!" Well that's certainly one way to celebrate Newcastle's first win since the return of the Messiah, Kevin Keegan. The club's billionaire benefactor was clearly thrilled with the Toon's first three-point haul in 10 games. I was in the inner sanctum of the boardroom watching as Ashley told chairman Chris Mort: "We're going out tonight, Morty." He was clearly intent on raising a glass or three in salute to matchwinners Mark Viduka and Michael Owen. But before kick-off he'd predicted a thumping 3-0 triumph for the home side. "Three-nil — trust me, 3-0. Put your house on it," he urged everyone in the directors' box. And it should have been. Mark Viduka fired the Toon ahead after only six minutes to give them a perfect start in this relegation dog-fight. It was a classic strike too. Hugging The Aussie ace controlled the ball with his right foot and feinted to shoot before steering the ball beyond Kasey Keller's dive with his left. Ashley was out of his seat hugging Mort and directors Tony Jimenez and Dennis Wise. It was high fives all around. But nervy Newcastle failed to build on that early strike despite dominating proceedings. The lively Obafemi Martins saw a surging run and low drive superbly touched around by Keller for a corner. Then a Viduka knock-down saw Owen demand another top-notch save from the Fulham keeper. An Owen far-post header into the middle was cleared off the line in an amazing scramble. Then the England striker was just too deep as Abdoulaye Faye's overhead kick looped over Keller but ran harmlessly across an unguarded goal. A goal looked inevitable. Ten minutes before half-time it looked to have arrived. Geremi's cross was inch-perfect for Owen, who had escaped his markers to loiter just seven yards out bang in front of goal. Fifty thousand people rose to acclaim United's second, but inexplicably the United skipper fluffed his finish, heading down at his feet rather than into the back of the net. Keegan had his head in his hands in shock. He wasn't the only one. Joke A goal then would have eased the obvious anxiety in the ranks, boosted confidence and probably proved the platform for a convincing victory. Fortunately for the home side Fulham never looked like scoring. And as half-time approached chairman Mort even felt confident enough to joke: "Hey, Mike, what do we do at half-time when we're winning? I've forgotten." The pair have certainly been through the mill in their first season at the helm of the Geordie club. But the sense of humour — even if it's gallows humour at times — remains alive and well. Ashley, who had been too uptight to eat a thing before kick-off, was now relaxed enough to risk a bowl of soup during the interval. He gulped it down with a mighty grin on his face. "I told you 3-0," he reminded everybody, even though it was still only 1-0. "Come on the Toon!" he roared. And Newcastle did roar on the restart. Joey Barton flashed a fierce effort just past the post and Ashley was up jumping and punching the air when Viduka back-heeled the ball home on 65 minutes. It was rightly ruled out for offside — to groans all around the ground — and Ashley must have been growing worried about his bold prediction. With 20 minutes to go he asked: "Would you make a substitution now? Take off one of the strikers?" I said: "Yes, protect what you've got. "Lose one of the three up front and bolster midfield — but which one? Viduka, Owen or Martins?" We argued the pros and cons for all of them. Viduka was leading the line cleverly and holding the ball up well. Martins was lively and exciting. And Owen might have missed a sitter, but he is always liable to nick a goal. Luckily the decision was not ours. It was Keegan's — and he judged it to perfection. In the 74th minute he made his move. Off came Martins to a crescendo of boos, followed by a standing ovation for the Newcastle No9. But eight minutes later there was uproar. Geremi curled in a teasing free-kick and Owen stole half a yard to reach it first, glancing a trademark header into the back of the net. Well done Michael. Even better Kevin. Morale Ashley was in full flow now. "There's only one Kevin Keegan," he sang as the famous chorus echoed around the stadium. But he was still after that elusive third. It didn't materialise, but this was still a morale-boosting win for his side. It was full of plenty of signs that they just might finish the season off with a bit of a flourish. They are probably two wins away from safety, and with Reading and Sunderland to visit Tyneside their destiny is in their own hands. Which is more than you can say for Fulham. It's 32 games without an away win now and no end in sight. Cottagers boss Roy Hodgson still thinks they will survive. He's one of the very few. He said: "We were two points behind Bolton and now it's three. We were four behind Birmingham and that hasn't changed. "We've got seven games to play but it was a significant move for Sunderland in particular with their excellent win at Aston Villa. We've lost touch with them now. "But having said that, there are still a lot of points to play for and we have to keep believing that our football will get us out of the situation we are in. "I thought in the first half we played quite well. An early goal put us on the back foot but after that we got over the disappointment and played reasonably well. "At half-time I was thinking ‘If we can keep this up then we can get back into it'. "Against the wind we didn't play so well. We didn't create anywhere near as many chances and didn't attack with the same quality. Chances "I think we're creating chances. We made a few in the first half. "Some of those balls coming into the box before the break looked like good chances to me. "I would be very concerned if it wasn't the same at the other end. But like us Newcastle didn't get many one-on-ones. "The chances on both sides were not clear-cut and the defenders on both teams dealt with them well." While Hodgson clutches at straws, Newcastle's future looks more assured. This was a "must win" match and they won it comfortably. Ashley certainly knew the importance of it all. He joked: "If we'd lost today I would have sold the club." More seriously, he added: "I just can't wait to get to the summer and then sit down and talk with Kevin about what we need to take the club forward." haha from newsoftheworld.co.uk

oh this is agonising

fuckin hell, we need to grab a second goal. hope these missed chances dont come back to haunt us

the second half was very positive. Martins was brilliant, he will score against Fulham i can feel it

that was more like it in the second half

somebody else take the fuckin corners

this is fuckin tragic

mon tae fuck Newcastle, its not over yet

very bad

this is very worrying

we are fucked

a win tomorrow will be massive after this weekends results, how much motivation do the players need

i posted the story in the sunday gossip thread

not really seen him in the SPL but he looked class in europe

in the scottish News of the world it says Kevin Keegan has added Rangers stopper Carlos Cuellar to his scottish shopping list. The Newcastle boss has a £24m war chest for the audacious triple raid which is already headed by Aiden McGeady. Keegan has Personally checked out the irish wing wizard who has already won 17 caps and is valued at £11m. Keegan seemed ready to bid in january until the club decided to put a block on transfers until the summer. He is on record as admiting he is looking north of the border to solve his problems. In addition to McGeady Keegan has also been Impressed by Scott McDonald.

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yeah we will go down.

game over then

we need to start making more use of these corners