alexthegreat

Demba Ba: Partnership with Cisse will gel with time by Mark Douglas, The JournalMar 22 2012 “We didn’t play a lot in the national team together because it was either him or me so we need to learn from each other how we play and how we run and we’re just going to get better and better. http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2012/03/22/demba-ba-partnership-with-cisse-will-gel-with-time-61634-30597344/#ixzz27xmVW2g9 They don't play together for the national team either - its normally one or the other by the looks of things. I think for our season to really get going Pardew needs to find a way to get these 2 playing well together - looks a long way off atm.

Very much in two minds about this. Think age comes into it. I can see no reason why an 18 or 19 year old couldn't play a game every other day, but I can see why this would be a problem for someone in their late 20s. Although it is easy to say that from a bar stool and Gerrard seemed to genuinely struggle with completing matches regularly at the start of his career. I also hate it when you can open a newspaper and see Carroll or Ashley Cole absolutely shit faced, and then hear all about how we need to have a winter break to help England win tournaments. Surely they have to give up drinking before reducing games is even considered? As an amateur I just cannot get my head around the supposedly crippling effect of playing an hour and a half of football a week, whereas by Monday I regularly struggle to recall whether or not I played on the Friday. But on the other hand the majority of international players do seem to lose a split second of sharpness by the end of the season - so many international tournaments have players performing nowhere near the standard you would expect. Have to say that when someone like Gary Neville who seems switched on about everything and has done it all himself is talking about what Europe takes out of you then I am inclined to believe him. Ferguson and Wenger constantly go on about it as well, whereas managers more inclined to tell players to shake it off and get on with it (like Dalglish and Souness) belong to a different era. That could be seen as proof in itself. Overall I think its self-evident that extra fixtures do make a difference, unfortunately.

Comments in the programme v Norwich - "Demba will be back in my starting line-up this afternoon. We want to get his partnership with Papiss Cisse gelling and they will get another chance to do that against Norwich" I think he is right to make this a priority, they are both quality strikers - I don't really want to see either of them out wide, and HBA has shown he can excel in both 442 and 433. If it takes time for them to get it working then so be it, I think they have the attributes to be able to play together, even if it isn't going to happen naturally, and if they click they will be one of the most lethal strikeforces we have had.

wahey red card number seven in his career. Still only 24 years old too. I think Julian Dicks might hold the record with 14 although I'm not sure on that.

Looks like Fergie was allowed to choose the ref: Referee: Anthony Taylor, from the Manchester suburb of Wythenshawe - a whole five miles from Old Trafford. This will be Taylor's first senior game at the ground, with the only previous fixture he's handled involving the Red Devils their 5-0 stroll at Molineux back in March.

Showed his quality but was very reckless. Looked like he was playing as if he thought he had a point to prove, which he doesn't at all really.

"I feel The FA have made my position with the national team untenable." No you made your position untenable by being an utter prick.

some ridiculous criticism in this thread. Both shots were drilled low and hard from inside the box. I've just watched Hart and Cassilas conceed 5 goals between them, 4 of which were comparable or worse goals for a keeper to conceed than the ones Harper let in. Should at least wait for him to fuck up before slaughtering him.

Harper seemed to have a pretty decent understanding with his back 4 and is a fairly solid kicker on the whole. Only seen Elliot a couple of times and he spread panic in defence and sprayed his kicks all over the place.

Maybe something like this: Harper Tavernier Williamson Taylor Ferguson Bigirimana Amalfitano Marveaux Obertan Sammy Cisse Difficult to know really, just please no Dan Gosling

Never had a chance with the 2nd. Didn't do too badly, imo. I thought he had a better game than Howard anyway.

I think hes now our 3rd longest serving manager of the last 20 years - will clock up 2 years in 3 months time. Thats an achievement in itself tbh. Most (although by no means all) of our managers make it to 1 year, very few hang on for 2.

Marveaux stormed home - bit it was all bollocks (is it unfair to say he looked disinterested today?) Obertan refused to come on - thats turned out to be bollocks as well. Mehdi Abeid is now never in any squad for reserves or first team - probably just nothing. Can't help thinking back to that Steve Wraith tweet (dismissed as bollocks, obviously) and wondering

next games are: and then they play us at home. With the form they are showing, failure to beat Wigan at home could result in the derby being a bit of a crunch game for O'Neill. Also, its a shame Carroll probably isn't going to be fit to torture Bramble again - would enjoy watching that.

11

NUFC.COM's match report included this: Team: Alnwick, Nicholson, Moyo (Riley 77), Newton, Logan, Good, Campbell, Richardson, Sam Ameobi, Inman, Hooper (Knight 77). Subs n/u: Mitchell, Gilliead, McKinnon. Crowd: 324. Returning to the squad after recovering from the hamstring injury he sustained in pre-season was Sam Ameobi, but again there was no place for Mehdi Abeid. I don't think hes been in any squad at any level since 18th August v Spurs reserves. Its strange because Pardew was full of praise for him just a few months back - starting to look like there may have been some sort of a falling out to me.

They beat QPR on 24th March. So getting close to 6 months without a win. Clear top 6 material.

Re: Top Six Finish ?? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm optimistic and think 6th is within our reach. I don't believe the Mags can repeat what they did last year and I reckon Liverpool and Spurs will struggle. Swansea & Fulham will flatter to deceive. Read more: http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?t=728592&page=5#ixzz25gB1ZZ1w They haven't won a single one of their last 10 matches and theres a 7 page thread discussing whether or not they'll get their highest finish since the 50s. It is the same every year. Where do they get this incredible confidence from?

He was injured. Probably still is. Played the full 90 mins v Spurs reserves on 18th August and was on the pitch at half time with the rest of the development squad kicking a ball about v Atromitos at home. Don't think hes injured.

Bigirimana seems to be ahead of him in the pecking order despite being a year younger. He didn't even make the bench in either of the games v Atromitos, and I just saw this on .COM: PS: A first senior selection of Mehdi Abeid by Algeria for their African Nations Cup qualifier against Libya didn't materialise, amid press claims that the United midfielder could be set to join a Turkish side on loan. Wasn't that long ago that Pardew was talking about him pushing for a 1st team place, but maybe with Bigiramana, Vuckic, and Gosling ahead of him as well as Anita, Cabaye, Tiote, and possibly Amalfitano (if he plays in the middle) Pardew reckons a loan is better for him. Would prefer a loan to a championship club though.

Hes a similar player to Carrick (who I think is class and has the appearance record, league titles and champions league medal to prove it). Unfortunately both players play in a country where goals from midfield and eye catching tackles are over valued (see Parker and Lampards glittering careers). Hence Carrick is constantly labelled 'shit' even when consistently putting in excellent performances, and this thread suggests a similar fate may await Cabaye. Where Carrick and Cabaye excel is collecting the ball from the back, spreading it to the full back, collecting it again, feeding the wide men and the strikers, then maybe looking to collect it again, etc etc. In other words, dictating the play, setting the tempo - something totally beyond a large number of English players such as Parker and Lampard. By its nature it is a role that is greatly affected by the performances of other players in the team, and a lot of players today were poor, and as a whole the team is yet to fire on all cylinders. Cabaye wasn't at his best either, but to suggest that 'hes nowhere near as good as we thought he was' based on the first few performances of this season is ridiculous - and even if you don't agree with that his career so far speaks for itself, and surely anyone can see he has all the attributes of an excellent player.

Got to admit I love readytogo sometimes: Read more: http://www.readytogo.net/smb/showthread.php?p=13366891#post13366891#ixzz25LfEOdtL

Still on our books. I think the player our squad is short of atm is exactly the sort of player Nile Ranger was supposed to be by now. Its a shame hes such a monumental cock because if he could just get his head down for a few months then there might, just might be a way back for him. Can't see it happening though.

Think its more likely to be the case that he got his lottery win sized contract when he made his £5m move and decided he couldn't be arsed with football once he knew that was signed.

Can't say I'm happy with the way the window has panned out but I have slaughtered the board a number of times in the last 3 years and have been proved wrong on each occasion. They have earned a bit of trust. If we are top 6 when the January window opens no one can complain. Also a point for those who are adding up ingoings and outgoings and complaining we only spent £3m. Couple of articles here give some indication of the work we do getting agents onside: http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/sport/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2011/10/23/newcastle-united-attracting-stars-to-st-james-park-79310-29642107/ http://www.sundaysun.co.uk/sport/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2011/12/18/yohan-cabaye-s-pass-pact-with-newcastle-boss-79310-29971585/ Thats what the club did want us to see when trumpeting our transfer policy. And it does sound very laudable, however I can't help suspecting that these agents may want something more than a stadium tour when deciding to point one of their players in the direction of NUFC rather than Arsene Wenger (which would have been the norm before). This is football after all, where getting a fortune for f*** all is the norm. We got a rare insight into how just how commited we were to getting top agents onside in the Keegan case, where it emerged we actually spent £1m in fees and wages to obtain a player we had no intention of using, just to get 1st option on any South Americans that agent may have. (a commitment that yielded nothing). Obviously under Carr's guidance that money is now reaping dividends when it wasn't before. I don't know how much a 'network of snouts, scouts, and contacts' costs to maintain but I bet its a lot, and its an outlay I bet we won't have been making when the 'scouting' consisted of giving Willie McKay or Paul Stretford a ring to see who they've got. Likewise the reserve side used to consist entirely of local lads and a handful of Irish kids. Now they come from everywhere. That will cost money too. Getting Cabaye and Tiote at the prices we did is clearly far better than ending up with overated British players on inflated fees. However much it costs to maintan our 'system', early indications are it has been worth it. As I said, I'm not exactly delighted with this window, but I don't think its as simple as saying we spent no money. For all we know loads of money could have been flying in all directions. The obvious point to counter what I've said is 'whats the point in having this network of scouts if we don't use it to buy anyone?' Haven't got an answer to that, but given the board's excellent record over the last 3 years I think I will wait and see what happens between now and the end of January.