Paully

"From my previous experiences with Newcastle United I knew it was a massive club. It wasn’t just a sleeping giant, it was scarcely breathing. But I knew, because of those incredible supporters, that it could be turned around. I am not talking with the benefit of hindsight. You only have to look at my programme notes after we were promoted to the Premier League, in which I warned Alex Ferguson that we were after Manchester United’s title. We always set targets but they were realistic. If your ambitions are merely to consolidate – a word I despise – that is simply an excuse for accepting mediocrity. Since I had made it clear I had no interest in club management there had been no serious offers. Anyway, who would want someone who had been out of the game as long as I had? The answer, of course, was Newcastle United – the only club which could have made me change my mind. I would not have even contemplated turning to management with Liverpool, but the whole ethos of Newcastle triggered something in my mind. The sheer energy bubbling below the surface gave St James’ Park more potential than anyone had dared to dream. All that untapped potential, pent up passion and the willingness of the supporters to really get behind the side made it a frustrating club to play for, but managing it would be something else. There was a strong chance of success. Everything that had gone before had been so mediocre that it could be attained very easily. My first programme notes for that season summed up how we felt and the optimism circling the club “The Premier League must be our number 1 priority this season”. To some it seemed an outrageous statement, after all we’d just avoided relegation by only 4 points, but we wanted to tell everyone at the club – not just the players – that we were a massive club with ambitions to match. Our aim, I added, was to become another Liverpool and dominate football. We tried to turn all the past events at Newcastle on their head by thinking and talking positively. I’d spend hours reading books on positive mental attitude, management skills and the advanced thinking of experts like Vince Lombardi, and I still read them now. At last I had the chance to put all this theory into practice. I was not promising the supporters a false dawn, what I was saying was that promotion was our main target and it was achievable. If we fell short of that, like a good politician, we’d address that at the time. We couldn’t expect to win every match, but we’d try. We went out to entertain a Geordie public who crave entertainment, and that required players of flair and imagination who dared to perform in a certain way. My side and the Geordie fans were a marriage made in heaven. Teams are usually all about defence. All the coaching manuals tell you to build from the back, that if you don’t concede a goal you can’t lose. I preferred to believe that if you didn’t score you couldn’t win.”

Brad Friedel seems like a canny bloke http://www.espnfc.com/team/united-states/660/blog/post/2169027/tim-howard-autobiography-part-one-fergie-friedel-and-man-utd

Tickets for the highly-anticipated Tyne-Wear derby will be released to members on Monday, 8th December at 10am. This fixture will not be released on general sale and it is expected that tickets will sell out in a matter of hours. Ticket prices will start from £45 for adults, £23 for children, £36 for senior citizens and £27 for those aged 18-21.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/dec/04/premier-league-talking-points 4) Pardew runs the risk of over-caution “You should always take risks in the Premier League,” Alan Pardew claimed after the 1-1 draw at Burnley, explaining why he had introduced Rémy Cabella at half time to bring some technical ability to bear on an otherwise lifeless performance. The substitution paid off, within a couple of minutes the Frenchman’s blocked shot led directly to Newcastle’s equaliser, leading Tyneside fans to wonder why Pardew decided not to start with the player. It was the same against West Ham at the weekend, when Newcastle’s winning run came to an end and Pardew was accused of timidity in his team selection. At least West Ham are riding fairly high in the table, however. Many Newcastle fans could not work out why Pardew opted for a defensive selection against bottom three Burnley – at least they were at the start of play – and then moaned that nothing was being created. “The first half was hard to watch,” the manager admitted. “I was quite pleased to see the fans stayed for the second half.” Paul Wilson

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/03/ef31cc079ebcfb4f881fea65ab762451.jpg

It’s a travesty that he’s not associated with the club in some shape or form! I’d have him back as manager any day!

Newcastle target Danny Ings in cut-price January deal with Burnley contract nearing expiry http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/newcastle-target-danny-ings-cut-price-4729496

Ha ha ha! Jeff Stelling is superb! https://vimeo.com/113148427

Yep - the smug and arrogance are well and truly back!

Andy Carroll transfer back to Newcastle from West Ham IS on the radar admits Toon boss Pardew http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/andy-carroll-transfer-back-newcastle-4708352

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=67htmwCpqe8&feature=youtu.be

27 years old Messi's records Champions League top scorer: 74 La Liga top scorer: 253 Barcelona's top goalscorer: 368 Most goals in a La Liga season: 50 Most goals in a season: 73 Most consecutive La Liga matches scored in: 21 Most Ballon d'Or titles: 4 Most goals in a single European Cup game: 5 (joint with Luiz Adriano) Most European Cup top scorer awards: 4 (with Gerd Muller) Most goals in Clasicos: 21 Most La Liga hat-tricks in a season: 8 Most goals in Club World Cup: 4 (held jointly with Denilson) Most goals in a calendar year: 91

Even more of wanker now as he likes Owen! Nile Ranger has admitted he “messed up” his big chance at Newcastle United but thanked the senior players for trying to help him develop. The former Newcastle striker, who left the club in 2013 before first joining Swindon Town and then current side Blackpool, believes he was given an opportunity to develop on Tyneside but wasted it. Ranger, now under the tutelage of United hero Lee Clark at Blackpool, told TangerineTV: “Newcastle was definitely good, it put my name out there and they gave me a chance – a big chance, but I sort of messed it up to be honest. “But obviously everyone makes mistakes in life. I was young, I was getting a lot of money coming in, I was doing stupid things. “Now it’s time to focus because I’m not getting any younger, I’m 23.” Despite his struggles on and off the pitch pre- and post-Newcastle, Ranger praised the senior strikers he played alongside, including the likes of Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Mark Viduka but reserved special praise for Michael Owen. He said: “The likes of Demba Ba came in, Cisse was there. I was there when Mark Viduka was there, Owen, they used to all pull me aside and talk to me. “MO (Owen), he’s a top bloke. He used to pull me aside and talk to me and say I need to focus but to fair when I was younger I thought I had it all. “It would go in one ear and out of the other, I wasn’t really taking it in, which is silly but it’s good to know that players the likes of Michael Owen care and they see potential and they try to help.”

http://www.true-faith.co.uk/true-faith-hooligans-documentary/

A mate of mine is adamant that Danny Ings bought a house in Jeamond today!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=800973516615483

Monkey Bar is back to what is used to be - pool table, free jukebox and the foreign channels back in. Will be heaving this afternoon I'd imagine. This plus it will be on in Vaults and Beyond with the added incentive of topless tarts wobbling their baps about!

Rob Lee is on The Fantasy Football Club on SS1 at 6pm!

Fuck off Redknapp! http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/alan-pardew-might-been-sacked-8150024

From .com Premier passions: Common ground A pre-arranged meeting between Newcastle and Sunderland followers at a neutral location on Wednesday night resulted in no arrests or injuries, with only an outbreak of common sense to report. No bus convoys or special metros were scheduled and the police helicopter was conspicuous by its absence, as fan groups from NUFC and SAFC gathered in Gateshead to discuss the upcoming derby match on December 21st. Having inadvertently united both sides of the Tyne/Wear divide by advocating a so-called "bubble match" last January, Northumbria Police presided over this joint meeting of two groups who previously met separately. Both groups were established in 2014 following an invitation from the police to interested parties, with informal gatherings taking place where both sides can communicate directly on whatever matters arise. So far this has included discussion on derby match policing policy, the issue of peaceful protest by fan groups inside and outside SJP, concerns over pyro devices and ongoing dialogue regarding away travel. Wednesday's meeting saw unanimous agreement to work together under the slogan of "a Derby to be proud of", highlighting positive aspects of the rivalry and building on the thawing in relationships following the MH17 tragedy. There's an open invitation to anyone wishing to attend future fan group/police meetings, with supporters aged between 16 and 25 particularly under-represented. Meetings take place quarterly on weekday evenings at a location in Newcastle. Email here to get involved. (For the avoidance of doubt, these meetings aren't related to Newcastle United's fans forum initiative).

Took his goal well last night (20 mins 40).

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Rooney anytime and England 10/3!

23 years ago - a better goal than his free kick the year after for me!

Can I just point out that there is absolutely no evidence that either bloke had sex with her while she was sleeping or unconscious, in fact there is evidence that this was not the case (from the night porter who was listening outside the room). Nor is there any suggestion that the sex was actively against her will. The only question was whether or not she was so p*ssed that she was incapable of giving consent. An expert witness at the trial estimated from the amount that she drank throughout the night, that at the time of the incident she would have been about 2½ times over the drink drive limit, (which I believe for the average woman would be the equivalent to the state they'd be in after drinking around 3 large wines). Apparently she was capable of texting her mates, capable of buying a pizza with the correct change, capable of picking up the bloke and inviting herself to his hotel, capable of remembering she'd left her pizza outside and nipping out for it (while being supposedly barely capable of standing), but subsequently - without having anything more to drink - incapable of offering consent. I can only hope that noone on here has ever had casual sex with a woman who has had any more than a couple of glasses of wine, otherwise I guess they too should be considered rapists if the woman subsequently can't remember what happened. I also hope the police are actively pursuing any other men this woman may have slept with on other occasions where she would "normally and regularly drink well in excess of what she had consumed on this particular night out." Magnificent post that! I've read quite a bit about the case and this post sums up my thoughts perfectly!