George Caulkin

[BONTEMPI]

Bunch of hot air from Pardew as usual. Without quality wingers, new strikers and a centre half we can be as super fit all we want, the simple fact is we lack some quality in key areas and they have failed massively(As expected).

 

How long must it go on before people wake up and stick two fingers up at the club? Only way to drive this Ashley out is to not give him anymore money.

 

 

 

 

 

We've some very decent players and so with good prep and few injuries we'd be well placed for a decent season.  Don't let any of that dull your depression though.

 

No I've the planks at the club to do that for me

[Mr Logic]

Damn, that last article by Caulkin actually rekindled some hope.

 

Battered wives syndrome is something most of us have an inherent understanding of.

[Ikon]

Was it Taylor who said that during the earlier years they've ran longer distances? Wtf!

[BottledDog]

It's pretty sad that having a proper pre-season is a good news story.

 

Guy reports on our pre-season. Guy reports there are many positives, which is nice. Disco falls deeper into morose bitterness.

 

Not bitter at all, just think it's a bit forced albeit there isn't much else too write about if he's out there - can't recall reading this about other clubs. His name is George btw

 

To be perfectly fair, we've not often had a cracking journo like Mr Caulkin (we've never met ) who chooses to give a slightly more in depth tale of our pre-season jaunt, than possibly Alan Oliver ever managed in the past. He already trawled through the more miserable aspects of our club in his last piece as well for balances sake.

 

I wouldn't know about other clubs, though I'd be flabbergasted if there aren't similar pieces out there on Man U, Chelsea and the like.

 

[Disco]

It's pretty sad that having a proper pre-season is a good news story.

 

Guy reports on our pre-season. Guy reports there are many positives, which is nice. Disco falls deeper into morose bitterness.

 

Not bitter at all, just think it's a bit forced albeit there isn't much else too write about if he's out there - can't recall reading this about other clubs. His name is George btw

 

To be perfectly fair, we've not often had a cracking journo like Mr Caulkin (we've never met ) who chooses to give a slightly more in depth tale of our pre-season jaunt, than possibly Alan Oliver ever managed in the past. He already trawled through the more miserable aspects of our club in his last piece as well for balances sake.

 

I wouldn't know about other clubs, though I'd be flabbergasted if there aren't similar pieces out there on Man U, Chelsea and the like.

 

 

Fair enough but the point I was failing to make is that this shouldn't be a good news story it should be the norm.

[BottledDog]

It's pretty sad that having a proper pre-season is a good news story.

 

Guy reports on our pre-season. Guy reports there are many positives, which is nice. Disco falls deeper into morose bitterness.

 

Not bitter at all, just think it's a bit forced albeit there isn't much else too write about if he's out there - can't recall reading this about other clubs. His name is George btw

 

To be perfectly fair, we've not often had a cracking journo like Mr Caulkin (we've never met ) who chooses to give a slightly more in depth tale of our pre-season jaunt, than possibly Alan Oliver ever managed in the past. He already trawled through the more miserable aspects of our club in his last piece as well for balances sake.

 

I wouldn't know about other clubs, though I'd be flabbergasted if there aren't similar pieces out there on Man U, Chelsea and the like.

 

 

Fair enough but the point I was failing to make is that this shouldn't be a good news story it should be the norm.

 

He's just reporting what's going on at the camp.

It's not a 'good news story' as such, but it is good news.

 

Pretty sure we have similar stories from lesser sparks at the Chronicle every year to be fair.

[Yorkie]

Have to say I'm delighted (and surprised) that we've got a fitness expert in. It didn't take a genius to work out that there was clearly not enough expertise in that department. I'm sure there were hardly any impact injuries last season? Raylor vs Atromitos and Krul vs Metalist, off the top of my head, although there was probably a few more. The majority seemed to be strains and pulls - symptomatic of generally shite fitness, which was as bad at home to Spurs on Day 1 as it was against Arsenal on Day 38.

 

As for the rest of it, it's nice to read but I won't look into it too much. I've never doubted the professionalism and camaraderie of this particular squad - I've always believed the vast majority really want to be here and really want to do well for the club. The passing in tight squares, for example, is just the standard warm-up routine pre-match. I'm relieved to hear that Pardew's looking to improve the ball retention but it really is the tip of the iceberg and as Tooj said - I hope he's given himself a stern talking to in the off-season.

[Superior Acuña]

It's seriously bad form posting this s*** up. Go to the site to read it. If you don't get there in time, sign up.

 

Bollicks. Caulkin is a journalist, he wants to be read.

 

Thanks for posting. Damn that optimism.

[Paully]

Apologies to Pip in advance!

 

 

 

Time to release the tension at Newcastle, Joe

George Caulkin

July 25 2013 10:07AM

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are twin narratives at St James’ Park this summer; one we can see (mostly) and one we cannot (which is probably just as well). On one side are the players of Newcastle United, the coaching staff, the administrators, the people who work in the ticket office and the club shop, who are doing their jobs in a manner which is more or less visual. On the other, there is Joe Kinnear and, behind him, Mike Ashley.

 

There are two clubs, either getting on with business as usual, or which is still to provide evidence it is doing anything very useful. Some players have left Tyneside – Steve Harper, Danny Simpson, James Perch – but Kinnear’s involvement here was minimal and until or unless the new director of football gives his blessing for a transfer in the opposite direction, Newcastle will be dysfunctional.

 

There is tension at the club, within and without. A concern, based on enough conversations to give it substance, is that the potential is there for a swift unravelling – in those circumstances, my life savings would go on Kinnear returning to the dug-out – and yet positivity could ease matters. A signing would not only provide Alan Pardew with help, it would allow people to exhale, to understand that wheels are still turning.

 

 

 

The same applies to something like Papiss Demba Cisse’s dispute with the club over their Wonga sponsorship. The two parties are talking, the Professional Footballers’ Association has expressed optimism that a compromise is at hand and while nobody will persuade me that Kinnear can be intrinsically involved in an issue which involves the complexity of ethics, contracts, religion, money and so on, resolution would be evidence of normality.

 

That is important. Really important. I’m directly aware of one transfer which is good to go in just about every sense but which is being held up because “the people above (Pardew) are the problem.” Deals are horrifically complicated these days, but it is heightened by a sense of limbo at Newcastle. Getting something “over the line,” to use Pardew’s parlance, would (could) release the logjam.

 

So, to the supporters who naturally want to know whether signings are imminent, the answer is yes, no and maybe. It cannot be anything else because, ultimately, they are the preserve of one man. Pardew is right when he says he is “pushing hard to get things done,” and right when he says “it is important now that the message we give out is strong.” That message is: get on with it, Joe. Hence the tension.

 

 

 

Anyway, this wasn’t supposed to be a column about Kinnear, but more of a reflection of a club in two parts. Until the season starts we cannot judge whether it is a mirage or not, but the feeling I had from four days in Portugal at their pre-season training base was that the playing part of Newcastle is focussing right down. Any bombast from last year is gone. They are stripped back to the sinew.

 

Steven Taylor stood by Braga’s training pitch, sweat streaming from him. In the past, the centre-half has been prone to the odd bit of bluster, but there was none of it here.

 

“Listen, the feeling everybody has got is that we just have to look at Manchester City and then take it from there,” he said. “That’s how we did it a couple of years ago, we looked at it from game to game. We let everyone say what they wanted and focused only on ourselves.

 

“Manchester City on that first Monday night is all we’re looking at, all we’re thinking about. That was one of our biggest problems last year; everyone was saying we need to be back in the top ten, we need to be back in Europe, we need to do this and that. We set ourselves high goals and it just didn’t happen. Even within the team, we were saying we were going to do this or that, but it doesn’t always work like that.

 

“This time, we’re making a conscious effort to narrow things down, concentrate on our work and let everything else take care of itself. Last season was a dent to our egos, there’s no getting away from it. Europe was a big factor in that. You’ve got to realise that we had a small squad for it, we had players playing and traveling and fatigue does come into it. I don’t think we were quite ready for it as a club. I don’t think we were as fit as we could have been for Europe if I’m being perfectly honest with you.

 

“It’s a whole new season now, the lads have come back in really good shape and we have to make sure we’re strong for the games in the Premier League, no matter who we play. The perfect example is a team like Bayern Munich – they’re right at the top of the pecking order for everything. They’re not only brilliant players, but they out-run everybody for the entirety of games. They look like machines. For 90 odd minutes they have players flying forward instead of just holding on to a 1-0 win and being a bit sluggish. Our main aim is to do the same in terms of trying to kill teams off.”

 

Footballers can find excuses, but they are closing their eyes to them. For now, at least. “It wouldn’t be Newcastle if there wasn’t something going on around the club,” Taylor said. “Every year we get the same thing. I’m sure outsiders love it because they can get amongst it, but we can only do what we’re here to do.

 

“If you allow yourself to get distracted by other stuff it can become an excuse for failure, so players have to put themselves in a bubble and concentrate on the things they can control and that’s fitness, hard work, training, matches. Nobody has complained once. Everyone gets on with their jobs and whatever happens upstairs doesn’t matter, because we’re the ones that have to do the talking on the pitch.”

 

A signing or two would not go amiss, but that was a bear trap which Taylor side-stepped. “That’s up to the people upstairs,” he said. “I’m just a player and I need to make sure I do my job, that I’m fit and ready for selection. That’s all I can do. Whatever happens, happens.” One half of Newcastle is stained by effort. The other? The wait continues.

 

 

[SEMTEX]

Fuck Pip

 

[/NFLThread]

[AyeDubbleYoo]

It's just extremely worrying if Kinnear is the main man tasked with closing deals. On every level.

[alexf]

I try to pretend like I should be shocked at what's going on at our club but I'm not. We all saw it coming as soon as Kinnear waddled his fat mess back here. We were doomed as soon as he opened his gob on talksport.

[thenige]

He's a fan just like the rest of us. Like us he's worried that behind the scenes is a joke and because of it we're going to struggle to sign anyone with a decent reputation and increase the quality at the club.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I just hoped that JFK would be a mouthpiece and/or not involved enough to wreck everything. Seems like that might have been wishful thinking.

[Wallace]

If JFK really wants to be manager and expects to take over when Pardew goes, it's not in his interest to help him then.  Could he really be that manupulative?

 

 

[Tisd09]

It's frustrating reading an article like that, it seems that the actual players and coaching staff are working hard and taking thing seriously, but all that is ruined d by the cretin upstairs.

 

As each day goes without a transfer I really see JFK being closer and closer to the managers job.

 

They are playing with fire, we must be real relegation candidates at the moment. Hull seem willing to spend as do Cardiff, I think Palace have too much to do to survive but I think it's going to be really tight down there this season. Villa will fancy themselves to do better, Norwich have made some good signings. Swansea and Soton have both strengthened and Fulham seem to have a shed full of cash.

 

Last season was tough but this one could be even worse especially with all the crap going on with Kinnear.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I can't see us going down, even with current personnel. Different matter if Cisse doesn't play again.

[Wallace]

All the local journalists are saying the same really albeit less eloquently than Caulkin.

 

They are obviously all worried and they will know more than they are putting in print.

 

 

[Benwell Lad]

Latest article continues along the theme of the previous one and three sentences in particular :-

"Because of decisions taken at the top of the club, it can feel like Newcastle is a haven for crisis, yet the reality is different. So many experts, so much professionalism, people getting on with it. Fine people, too".

 

[timeEd32]

I’m directly aware of one transfer which is good to go in just about every sense but which is being held up because “the people above (Pardew) are the problem.” Deals are horrifically complicated these days, but it is heightened by a sense of limbo at Newcastle.

 

I'm trying to find some optimism from this in that we could wake up tomorrow with a new player, but it's more terrifying than anything.

[Guest chopey]

we could wake up tomorrow with 5 new players but we would still have Ashley paying them, Kinnear the boss of them and Pardew training them

[Gallowgate Toon]

What a deflating read. The only good thing about that was Taylor saying we need to kill teams off, the fitness work is obviously good but will most likely be ultimately pointless unless we get some bloody forwards in.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

we could wake up tomorrow with 5 new players but we would still have Ashley paying them, Kinnear the boss of them and Pardew training them

 

Still, new players.

[Guest bimpy474]

we could wake up tomorrow with 5 new players but we would still have Ashley paying them, Kinnear the boss of them and Pardew training them

 

<a href="http://reactiongifs.com/?p=9788"><img src="http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/lemmings.gif"></a>

[NG32]