U23s & Academy

[Dave]

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Toon-whizzkid-Aaron-Spear-nets-for-reserves-article189083.html

Toon whizzkid Aaron Spear nets for reserves

 

Published 22:15 14/10/09 By Alan Nixon

 

Newcastle United kid Aaron Spear - the teenage dubbed the new Wayne Rooney - has smashed his first goal for the Toon reserves after just 10 minutes.

 

Spear signed for the Geordies from Plymouth Argyle as a kid and the 16-year-old marked his first full start for their second team with a powerful strike on Tuesday's 4-2 away defeat to Rotherham.

 

Slim pickings for Nicko these days.

[Fugazi]

http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Toon-whizzkid-Aaron-Spear-nets-for-reserves-article189083.html

Toon whizzkid Aaron Spear nets for reserves

 

Published 22:15 14/10/09 By Alan Nixon

 

Newcastle United kid Aaron Spear - the teenage dubbed the new Wayne Rooney - has smashed his first goal for the Toon reserves after just 10 minutes.

 

Spear signed for the Geordies from Plymouth Argyle as a kid and the 16-year-old marked his first full start for their second team with a powerful strike on Tuesday's 4-2 away defeat to Rotherham.

 

Slim pickings for Nicko these days.

 

 

Completely forgot about that nutter.

 

I remember when he was doing itk nonsense on the Blackburn forum, talking about a signing that will shock the world, and it turned out to be Fowler.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

I thought Spear was a striker not a midfielder

 

He is, but at youth level they mix the players around all the time.

[Guest]

No doubt Kinnear would nickname him Snoozy.

[joeyt]

Alex Nicholson is in the Wales U16 squad live on Sky atm

[Greg]

Won 6 nowt today.

[Thespence]

Steve Stone working with Joe Joyce  coaching some of the pre-youth team kids.

[Skirge]

Tongiths Res game has been CALLED OFF!!

 

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/article/tonights-reserve-game-postponed-20091026_2240137_1837610

[joeyt]

That news is from last week, I was planning on going but last Wednesday (I think) they called it off

[Skirge]

Nile Nets But Bhoys Claim Friendly Victory

 

NEWCASTLE UNITED RES 2

CELTIC XI 3

Friendly

Benton

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

http://www.nufc.premiumtv.co.uk/article/nile-nets-but-bhoys-claim-friendly-victory-20091027_2240137_1839135

[Newcastle Fan]

Strong Celtic side from the looks of it, good result.

[gekkotime]

I haven't seen it posted here but there were two articles about Tamás Kádár on a major hungarian news portal in the last couple of days, the first one was a report about Newcastle vs Doncaster titled '44 thousand saw Kádár Tamás play in Newcastle' and the other was a decent interview.

He talked about how disappointed he was to miss the u-20 WC especially since he didn't play for Newcastle during that period, he's happy he's chosen Newcastle (apparently he had another offer from Bolton), the fans are sticking by the team despite relegation, and that he's happy to be with the first tame and working hard to stay there.

All in all it was a good interview and he seems very professional and determined.

[Ronaldo]

I haven't seen it posted here but there were two articles about Tamás Kádár on a major hungarian news portal in the last couple of days, the first one was a report about Newcastle vs Doncaster titled '44 thousand saw Kádár Tamás play in Newcastle' and the other was a decent interview.

He talked about how disappointed he was to miss the u-20 WC especially since he didn't play for Newcastle during that period, he's happy he's chosen Newcastle (apparently he had another offer from Bolton), the fans are sticking by the team despite relegation, and that he's happy to be with the first tame and working hard to stay there.

All in all it was a good interview and he seems very professional and determined.

 

 

I'm not happy for him to be in the team right now but he looks a very good prospect. 

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Kids v Sheff Wed today, be leaving in about an hour (Noon KO) 'see' you there!

[joeyt]

Winning 2-1

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Toon U18s v Sheff Wed U18s

 

2-1

 

Folan, Inman

 

----------------------Alnwick---------------

 

----Nzuzi----Henderson----Folan----Ferguson

 

Newton---McDermott--Inmann---McCrudden

 

------------------Adjei---Airey------------------

 

The game was delayed by 30 minutes of the scheduled kick off, with the front gates closed and admission only allowed via the back gates for some bizzare reason (probably to do with the 1st team in the gym or something). However, it was worth waiting for if only for the 1st half alone, which had everything I football match needed - a bit of pace, some hard tackles and goals.

 

The Toon lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with several names missing from the line up due to injuries and rest; most noticeably Sammy Ameobi, Paul Dummet, Patrick McLoughlin and Travernier.

 

Newcastle should have been a head within 10 minutes, after Airey got onto the end of a wonderful placed throughball from Inmann, as he curved the pass with the outside of his right foot. Airey used his pace to get in behind the defence and carry the ball forward only to fire the shot wide. Adjei then got onto a through ball from Inmann though he too fired wide as the ball fell onto his less favourable left foot.

 

Airey had another chance from a free kick, a deep swinging cross from Ferguson, landed at his feet 6 yards out. He controlled it well but fired wide with a weak, almost scuffed shot, as the defenders closed him down.

 

Then against the run of play Sheff Wed scored. Greg McDermott was caught dwelling on the ball in his own half, which allowed Sheff Wednesday to launch a counter attack. Their intial shot was blocked, however the ball landed kindly to their other striker's feet, who took a shot that rattled the post. The ball bounced clear to a Newcastle defender, who was forced into conceding a free kick.

 

From the resulting free kick Wednesday Scored, a cross that was placed into the back post bounced cleared of everyone in the box and went into the back of the net, sparking an enquiry between Alnwick and Conor Newton as to why no one shouted, claimed or headered the ball.

 

Newcastle equalised from their own free kick. Some good work from the ever impressive Ferguson down the left wing saw Newcastle with a free kick that McCrudden swung in with a great delivery. Stephen Folan leaped the highest and flicked the ball into the top corner of the back post. 10 minutes later Brad Inmann scored with a great strike from 20 yards out that caught the keeper off guard to put Newcastle into the lead.

 

There was a quick 5 minute Half Time, Newcastle made a change with Spear coming on for McCrudden, however the spark and tempo from the 1st half was lacking from both sides as Newcastle defended their lead well.

 

The only noticeable incident in the second half was a shocking challenge from Phil Airey which earned him a yellow card.

 

In attendance: Colin Calderwood, Alan Thompson, the son of the guy who does nufc.com (who I talked to for most of the match after we both trekked to the back gate to get in) - he was doing the NUFC.com match report, so ours might seem similar!

 

EDIT: Just seen that nufc.com have their report up, however it was McCrudden who played in Inman not Inman to McCrudden.

[joeyt]

Lua Lua scored in a 1-1 draw against a Boro XI in a behind closed doors friendly.

[Thespence]

Dundalk FC have confirmed that Nathan Murphy will travel to England this weekend for a four-day trial with Newcastle United, which will run from Sunday to Wednesday. The 16-year-old has been at Oriel Park since joining the club’s youth system in June of last year and his progress has been notable, culminating in him making his full first-team debut last month at double champions Bohemians at Dalymount Park.

 

Bond delighted

Youths and U20s team manager Ciarán Bond, who has coached Murphy over the past 12 months, has expressed his delight with the trial and believes it will strongly benefit the youngster, who turns 17 on 1 November. “It’s absolutely brilliant,” Bond told dundalkfc.com. “It’s great to see. He’s a young lad from Dundalk who has played all his football in the Schoolboys League, he has come up here and has broken into the first team, and now he’s got an opportunity to go over to Newcastle on trial, so we wish him the very best.”

 

Bright future

Bond is also confident that Murphy will be able to keep his feet on the ground despite being selected by scouts from the Championship club. “Nathan is a very level-headed guy, probably the most level-headed of the youth team squad that I have anyway,” he said. “There’ll be no problem at all with Nathan. If it doesn’t work out for him, he will learn from the experience and he’ll come back here a better player, even with the experience over there. And if it does work out for him, all the better.” The strides made by Murphy in such a short space of time was also noted by Bond. “This time last year, Nathan hadn’t broken into our youths squad,” he said. “That was primarily down to the fact that Nathan was only 16. He has come from that and, although he’s still only 16, he has progressed really well and he has a big future ahead of him.

 

Quality prospect

“If he doesn’t make it across the water, he’ll definitely make it in the League of Ireland,” he added. “Without a doubt, he has the qualities. I met his father a couple of months ago and he’s about 6ft3, so Nathan is going to be a big guy too. Physically, he’ll have no problems, he has got the build already, and we can work on that. He played against Bohs in his first competitive match, and if he can stand up to Bohs in this league then he can stand up to anybody. He won’t have a problem mentally either. His attitude is perfect, so I can’t see a problem, plus he’s left-footed, which is a major asset. He is going to learn from the experience. He’s going to get good coaching over there and it’s going to be a totally new experience for him, so he’ll be a far better player coming back even with that experience behind him. Newcastle are a big club, and if it doesn’t work with them, who’s to say that another club lower down the Championship or lower down the Premiership won't have a look at him again.”

 

Toon invitation

Head of Youth Development Martin Connolly also feels it will further help the progress of Murphy, who has unfortunately had to withdraw from the Leinster squad due to Newcastle’s call. “Newcastle contacted Sean (Connor) and said that they’d be interested in inviting Nathan over for four days,” Connolly explained to dundalkfc.com on how the trial came about. “I think there’s also two or three other guys from a couple of Dublin clubs going with him, so he’s not on his own, which is good. People may not believe this but there’s always English clubs coming over and watching a number of people here. It’s a regular occurrence that you have scouts coming over. Obviously, one of them came and watched Nathan and was interested in what they seen.

 

Leinster negative

“You always try to play these things down,” Connolly added. “Nathan is a sensible lad, he’s in his Leaving Cert year at the moment and his primary concern is his Leaving Cert. But this is a bonus for him. It’s during his mid-term break, so it falls nicely for him - his mother is happy for him to go, and he’s happy himself to go. The club and Sean too are happy for him to take the chance. But with one positive, there’s one negative in that Nathan was in the Leinster squad for the Interprovincial competition this weekend. He’s supposed to actually be in Donegal this weekend playing for Leinster, and we’ve had to pull him out of that. That is a negative for him because that also would have been a good competition for him to play in. But, myself, Sean and the club feel that he would probably be better going to Newcastle and taking up this opportunity.

 

Big benefit

“Without doubt, it benefits him,” the former Dundalk goalkeeper continued. “He’s going to work with Newcastle’s academy, so they will probably look at him size-wise and age-wise, and what teams he would fit into, because that’s the way that things work over there. I would have contact with people who were over before and I have seen the way that the academies work in England, so I know probably what they would be looking at. It’s a tremendous experience. Nathan is 17 shortly, so it’s a hell of a birthday present for him. But he might have ten trials with different clubs, because clubs don’t want to take chances on fellas over there now. If nothing happens for him, it’s still a good experience for him. It’s also good for us and our setup that we’ve got a young lad away to a club. He’ll only be able to bring that experience back to us.

 

‘Great chap’ “I couldn’t speak highly enough of Nathan,” Connolly concluded. “He’s a great, well-mannered chap and he knows it’s a trial, he knows exactly what this is. We’re all delighted for him and we have no doubt that Nathan will do his very best to conduct himself in the right manner, and we wouldn’t expect anything less from him. I’m sure there’s a wee bit of excitement rather than nervousness, but I don’t think anything will faze him. His full senior debut was in Dalymount Park against the double winners, where he ended up marking Killian Brennan and Joseph Ndo at 16 years of age. I don’t think anything else is going to faze him. Nathan came to us over 12 months ago and he didn’t play with our youths team until after Christmas, because he was so young and light. But when he got into our youths team, we couldn’t get him out. He has improved constantly ever since, and if he keeps improving at the rate he has improved in the last 12 months then he could be an exceptional player. None of us have a crystal ball, but if he continues to improve as he has done, he can go the whole way, I think.” Murphy will be available for the visit of Shamrock Rovers to Oriel Park on Friday night, while he will also be in the squad for the trip to Cork City seven days later.

 

http://extratime.ie/newsdesk/articles/2681/

[Keefaz]

I'll try to contain my excitement.

[Lotus]

I'll try to contain my excitement.

 

His Dad's big so that's handy. Good to see we're measuring the parents. Very thorough these days. If he doesn't make it he can always fall back on his Big Dad.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

Toon v Sheff United now at our ground this weekend. Though its a day before that kids trial starts so I doubt we'll see him at all.

[Guest ObiChrisKenobi]

It was 1-1 by the way.

 

(Phil Airey)

 

GK: Ben Robinson

LB: Daniel Leadbitter

RB: Patrick Nzuzi

CB: Jeff Henderson

CB: Stephen Folan

LM: Aaron Spear

RM: Conor Newton

CM: Greg McDermott

CM: Brad Inmann

ST: Phil Airey

ST: Sammy Adjei

 

Was a right battler of a match, with very little chances, but a lot of tackles and even a red card. None of the goals came until the 2nd half, though Sheff United came close in the 1st half from a corner, when Ben Robinson had to tip the ball over the bar with a full stretch. Though in truth Robinson should probably have been coming out to claim the balls - he didn't come off his line much at all. The one time he did come off his line to claim a ball he fluffed it and punched the ball straight up into the sky, only for it to fall back down forcing him into another save, only just tipping it over the bar in time.

Robinson was vocal throughout, but didn't seem to have much control over his penalty area, and several times throughout the game and verbal spats with his defenders over the lack of communication and awareness.

 

Sheff United scored 1st in the 2nd half from a Robinson error after he failed to collect a throughball on the ground in a 50/50 with the Sheff U striker, who stabbed it past him for a simple tap in. Newcastle almost equalised immediately as a deep cross found Bran Inmann in the 6 yard box, who chested it down, Phil Brown got on the end of the knock on only to head it wide from a few yards out.

 

Phil Airey did score later on however, when he got on the end of a great throughball, beating the offside trap, he took the ball forward 20 yards, cutting inside from the left wing before curling a great strike into the opposite corner with his right foot. The Sheff U defenders had a go at the linesmen for the next 3 minutes, but it wasn't going to change the fact we had scored.

 

Talking of the Officials they had a mixed game for me, and the ref seemed to lose control of the player's discipline late in the 2nd half. Throughout the game there had been little niggly fouls that had gone unpunished, which eventually saw Aaron Spear see red as a Sheff U player led with an elbow during a 50/50 with the ball. Spear swung out and kicked the Sheff U player and was sent off, which saw a very open and frantic final 15 minutes to the game as both teams looked for the win. Though to be fair to the ref he did give Spear a warning in the 1st half for exactly the same offense.

 

Stephen Folan was probably man of the match for me, both in defence and later when he was pushed up into midfield to cover the space left when Aaron Spear was sent off. He was strong at the back, winning countless headers and putting in some great interceptions. He even played the throughball that Airey got on the end of to score from. When he was pushed up into midfield he made countless runs into the area and made some good chances for himself and others.

 

For the first time since watching the youth, I actually missed Greg McDermott. He went off injured after 8 mins and was replaced by Andy Mogwo, who (as far as I can remember) made his first appearance for the team. He looked a little lost and disintrested in the 70 mins or so he played (he was later subbed for Ryan McGorrigan). For the size of the lad he seemed timid to put tackles in, and was constentily being told where to stand on set pieces. Still, he's only young and might not be used to play with the team yet. He won plenty of headers, though had no control over where they went.

 

EDIT:

 

Oh aye, and Terry Mac watched the 1st half before leaving

 

 

[stalker]

The reserves are playing Leeds at Bootham Crescent tonight (or KitKat Crescent for those who believe in ground sponsorship). Ranger, Lua Lua, Donaldson and Tozer are all in the squad.

 

7pm kick off, £3 for adults, £1 for bairns

[joeyt]

Official site has live text updates

[joeyt]

And we're losing