Ronaldo Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 1. Team spirit 2. Played 3 shocking teams at home 3. Coloccini 4. Solid, well-functioning midfield 5. Two natural goalscorers in the side for the first time in christknowshowlong Pardew has to take a lot of credit for 1,4 and 5. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consortium of one Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I like the idea that Pardew is implementing a statistics based approach. Obviously he can't rely on stats completely but they can be an important piece of the selection and tactical puzzles. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NG32 Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 6. Newcastle removed has been players who were on the books for one final pay day. (except smith) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clintdempsey Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I'm not entirely sure that you can put the lack of injuries down to luck. The Club has said that a lot of money has been spent on improving the training ground and the facilities. Surely this has a huge part to play in keeping players fit? They've invested the money to try and combat our ancient injury problems/hoodoo and are so far reaping the rewards. Investment is the answer, not luck. IMO. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Injuries have been a thorn in this clubs side for years, nit so much the number of players that get injured but more the time it takes from injured players to return. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanj Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 1. Team spirit 2. Played 3 shocking teams at home 3. Coloccini 4. Solid, well-functioning midfield 5. Two natural goalscorers in the side for the first time in christknowshowlong Pardew has to take a lot of credit for 1,4 and 5. I'd agree with all but I'd have to mention Timmy Krul in there somewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnonel Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Doesn't matter what the reasons are or how many there are, it's a revival and I'm loving every minute of it! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Mockery made of this article tonight, like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 6. Use of towel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Luque Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 7. Sports Direct logos. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gggg Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Ben Arfa does it again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomas Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Ben Arfa does it again. His presence on the bench was enough to injure two stoke defenders. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JH Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 1. We're fucking class 2. We're fucking class 3. We're fucking class 4. We're fucking class 5. We're fucking class Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JH Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 I've not enjoyed going to the match/watching the game this much in ages. I actually look forward to matchdays now and the team continues to surprise us all. I'm beside meself atm. TOON TOON! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 There's going to be a few more articles in the next few days as journalists now move on from surprise to looking at us seriously as a threat to their teams prospects. They now know we aren't an easy team to penetrate, but it's also clear we carry threat on the break with the movement and pace of Ba, Jonas and Obertan. I'm not sure even the two Manchester clubs will be taking a win for granted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 Whees keys Louise has hoyed up a similar article if some one would care to do the honours for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 With more than a quarter of the season gone, Newcastle United remain unbeaten in the Premier League, stand third in the table and, after conceding only seven goals, boast the division's meanest defence. How, particularly after radically cutting costs, has Alan Pardew pulled it off? The Gallic charm offensive In conjunction with Newcastle's influential super-scout, Graham Carr, the board took a strategic decision that France was the place where they should be aiming to do much of their transfer market shopping. The cross-Channel presence of technically adept players on comparatively low wages explains why French is the predominant language in Pardew's dressing room. The club has adopted a Gallic charm offensive which has seen leading European agents receiving the best hospitality Tyneside can offer after touring the team's new state of the art training facilities. Similarly French media have offered Newcastle some priceless publicity after consistently being granted generous access to Pardew's players and finding powerfully persuasive compatriots such as Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa eager to talk about the manager's healthy disdain for "le hoof ball" and reassuring refusal to rush individuals back from injury. "Don't underestimate Newcastle United's pulling power in France," says Carr, a frequent user of Newcastle-Paris shuttle flights and convenient onward connections. "I would say that outside the traditional top four we're the biggest draw. Playing in front of 52,000 at St James' Park is a big attraction." Switching to a possession game Pardew believes the ability to retain and monopolise possession is an essential prerequisite to sustained success. Under his management, Newcastle have begun exerting greater control over games while passing and moving with increased fluidity. Not that Pardew's quest for what he terms "rhythmic" football is based merely on aesthetics. Big on statistics, his perusal of computer print-outs have more than vindicated the controversial decision to sell the side's popular, but not always fluent, former captain, Kevin Nolan to West Ham. "The stats we're producing in games excite me," says Pardew, whose signing of Cabaye, the France playmaker, from Lille, has been integral to this philosophical makeover. "Our passing levels are up and our passing has certainly improved in terms of controlling games. That's something we needed to get better at. Last year we got into winning positions but couldn't control things sufficiently to stop the other team putting pressure on us. In one recent game though we achieved 400 plus passes, which we hadn't done since I've been here. That puts you up with the top sides." Pardew is Hodgson in disguise – with a twist Like Roy Hodgson at West Brom, Pardew believes the devil is in the training-ground detail. During a typical practice session Newcastle's manager stands, whistle to lips, in the centre circle, frequently halting play to adjust individual positioning and suggest alternative runs. Such instinctive analysis is underpinned by Newcastle's deployment of not one but three expensive computerised GPS tracking systems which monitor each player's every movement in both games and training. Before matches, the squad are given an in-depth analysis of their opponents' tactical ploys and foibles. During such meetings all players are encouraged to voice ideas and opinions. Meanwhile the dramatically improved defenders have extra duties. They attend additional pre-match tutorials concentrating, specifically, on dealing with set pieces and resisting specific attacking manoeuvres. Steven Taylor, the centre-half, says Pardew is the "hardest to please" and "most demanding" of the nine managers he has played under on Tyneside. "He's always on my tail," says Taylor. "His standards are so high it's hard to make the manager smile. He's a perfectionist but he's got us really playing together as a defence." Captain Colo and his crew Fabricio Coloccini's habit of always endeavouring to build play from the back is a cornerstone of Newcastle's revamped style but the thoroughly renascent Argentina centre-half has also defended brilliantly since being made captain. Like Taylor, Coloccini arguably feels better able to express himself, on and off the field, since the departure of his larger than life predecessor Nolan and the outspoken Joey Barton. Some fans feared Newcastle's morale might crumble with the dissolution of the old, powerful, players' committee – (in addition to moving Nolan and Barton on, Pardew has loaned Steve Harper to Brighton and sidelined Alan Smith) – but Coloccini demurs. "Our character is different to before," says a man described as a "Rolls Royce person and a Rolls Royce player" by his manager. "We have a winning mentality which may have been missing last year. We have a great changing room who push and challenge each other to produce their best. Our team has great personalities now." Players in top form Eyebrows rose when Pardew picked the young Dutch goalkeeper Tim Krul ahead of Harper but, benefiting from expert tuition from Newcastle's specialist goalkeeping coach, Andy Woodman, Krul has excelled. The Senegal striker Demba Ba, the only Premier League player other than Wayne Rooney to score two hat-tricks this season, has registered eight goals, with his latest treble at Stoke leaving Geordies "Walking in a Pardew Wonderland". Ba has a history of problems with his left knee. Leading surgeons advised other clubs, including Stoke, to avoid signing what one termed a "ticking timebomb" but, able to recruit Ba on a free transfer from West Ham, Pardew gambled. So far at least, Newcastle's meticulous medical team have kept a reportedly degenerative condition well in check. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/nov/01/newcastle-united-alan-pardew-plaudits Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobody Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I really don't think one should underestimate the importance of (finally) having some real competition for the places. We've got three class players sitting on the bench, all just waiting for their chance, and every player in that starting eleven knows. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdckelly Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 not a bad article by the mackem bitch amazing that us and City seem the only side with competent defenders thus far Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzle Posted November 1, 2011 Share Posted November 1, 2011 I really don't think one should underestimate the importance of (finally) having some real competition for the places. We've got three class players sitting on the bench, all just waiting for their chance, and every player in that starting eleven knows. Agreed. I made this point yesterday as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilson Posted November 2, 2011 Share Posted November 2, 2011 6 points from the Independent. 1 Don't panic As the advertising slogan almost once ran, if Carlsberg did pre-season build-ups, then they would have made sure it was not anything like the one overseen by Alan Pardew in the summer. From an embarrassing mass pitch invasion by their supporters at Darlington, to the at-times shambolic tour of the United States, where the shattered players racked up enough air miles to last them a lifetime, things did not go well at all. Throw in the earlier departure of last season's top scorer Kevin Nolan, a fresh long-term injury to Hatem Ben Arfa, and the doubts regarding the futures of Joey Barton and Jose Enrique and preparations were about as disrupted as they could be. Thankfully, Pardew and his players remained calm – even when the promised reinforcements failed to arrive late in the summer transfer window – and the real thing has been far more fruitful than the phoney war. 2 Create team spirit In recent seasons, the likes of Graeme Souness and Sam Allardyce have mis-managed to an extent that despite an often rich array of talent at their disposal, when it came to Newcastle, the sum was always notoriously far less than the parts. To his credit, Chris Hughton began the reversal of that dangerous trend, and Pardew has built on that by fostering an undeniable team spirit. It may be something of a cliche, but whatever that "spirit" actually is seems to be squeezing an indefinable extra 10 per cent out of each and every player in black and white so far this season. 3 Lose the plot In short, Newcastle have lost the plot – the soap opera-like plot, that is – and what a difference it's made. St James' Park has rivalled Albert Square for its off-the-field dramas in recent seasons, from several Barton-inspired "you really couldn't make it up" episodes to the return and swift departure of Kevin Keegan in 2008. Then there was Andy Carroll's burnt-out Range Rover last season. In their place, a welcome dose of decent football, based around a miserly defence, has filled the void. Given their past record, it may only be a temporary return to the back pages until something else crops up to interest the news hacks, but as far as supporters are concerned, long may it last. 4 Ditch the ego Let's face it, to survive in top-flight management, you have to have a healthy ego, and to say Pardew reflects that is not meant as a slight, far from it. Yet since being appointed last December, the manager has been sufficiently willing to swallow his pride to work, extremely successfully it must be said, within the relatively strict financial boundaries imposed by owner Mike Ashley and his right-hand man Derek Llambias. Many of his peers would have let their rampant self-belief get the better of them by this stage to put a strain on the manager-owner relationship. Not Pardew. He is cute enough to fight his corner without overstepping the mark against the notoriously stubborn Ashley. His is an ever-shifting compromise that seems to be working. If Newcastle were losing regularly, Pardew would quickly be seen as nothing more than a "yes man" to the regime. However, as long as positive results are maintained, his is a diplomatic approach many a foreign minister could learn a thing or two from. 5 Honour the scout Along with being the father of comedian Alan, Graham Carr has emerged as a talent spotter of some repute over the years, no more so than since taking over as chief scout at Newcastle last year. The 67-year-old rightly takes credit for his part in the capture of the highly influential Cheik Tiote, while Newcastle are also reaping the rewards of acting swiftly to tie down a deal earlier this year for Yohan Cabaye, the France midfielder who has taken instantly to the Premier League. Pardew's contacts at his former club, West Ham, proved invaluable in securing the signature of Demba Ba (below), who with two hat-tricks already this season looks to be, if he can remain fit for the entire campaign, an inspired piece of business. 6 Use a bit of Lady luck It is a key ingredient that to some degree or other usually accompanies sides that find themselves prospering. Newcastle have so far largely steered clear of significant injuries to their key players, which given their relative lack of strength in depth is a state of affairs that must remain if they are to maintain their elevated position. That may not be quite as simple given a run of games in the next month which includes trips to both Manchester City and Manchester United and a visit by Chelsea, but the fixture computer must take a small slice of credit for their unbeaten start after handing them home games with the less-than-daunting trio of Wigan, Blackburn and Fulham, plus an out-of-sorts Arsenal. It's helped them to hit the ground running, but as is often said, you make your own luck in this game http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/from-major-laughing-stock-to-topfour-challengers-what-has-gone-right-at-newcastle-6255874.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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