Your review of NUFC in 2011

[Guest BooBoo]

It's been pretty good tbh.

 

It's a shame our poorest run of form has come at the end of the year as that will skewer a lot if views. Fact remains though, we have progressed on the pitch despite the usual bullshit off it. The second half of 2010/11 was fairly unspectacular as we trundled on with a mediocre squad and secured a respectable finish. This season started fantastically which surprised me considering our nightmare summer but it was always likely that somewhere along the line we would hit the skids, given the squad size. We were punching above our weight in the top four and it would have been unrealistic to expect us to stay there. I've faith that whilst in the middle of a poor run, there's nothing to stop us having a crack at a Europa League slot, given that our rivals for that are just as up and down. January as always will e interesting and I just hope people are braced for the usual disappointment as these windows are never really happy times for NUFC.

 

Overall in 2011, for me at least, I've seen improvements and the positives have outweighed the negatives.

[AlanSkÃrare]

Good year as it turned out. Was thinking we'd head back for shit times when Carroll left, thought the same when we lost Nolan, Barton and Enrique.

 

As it has turned out, only Enrique can be argued to have benefited from his move, and none of them are missed but him. Still think it was a shame about Carroll, and I really think he'd continued his development at Newcastle, instead of seeing everything fail miserably at that horrible club.

 

Cabaye and Demba are two magnificent signings. Santon looks like he can turn out similar.

 

The emergence of Krul as a top, top keeper, Steven Taylor's resurgence and Best proving to be a decent enough striker are other positives. Coloccini's awesomeness also a plus over the 12 months.

 

We just need to be patient and keep building in the same way. A little luck with injuries and some more shrewd signings and we'll be well on our way back into Europe.

 

Finally, a lot of the credit goes to Pardew. He's mobilised the whole club and managed to cover up for the board room fuck ups. Massively impressed with his vision and calmness. Testing times now, but he was due some after a year of very, very few bad performances.

[Anderson]

The most entertaining year I've witnessed for a long time, despite the Carroll and Enrique sales we've seen the side make genuine progress and we have an actual foundation to build on. We're on a poor run at the minute but unlike in the past we have a decent amount of quality to turn it around. Bring on 2012!

 

 

Nah, think 2010's one of the most entertaining years I've seen. Winning the Championship, 6-0 against Villa on our return to PL football at SJP, 5-1 and others.

 

2011's been good, shame it doesn't look like ending on a high, but overall it's been a year of real progress for the club.

[Doctor Zaius]

B+ regarding the circumstances we've been faced with. Superb.

 

 

[ToonCanuck]

Good year as it turned out. Was thinking we'd head back for s*** times when Carroll left, thought the same when we lost Nolan, Barton and Enrique.

 

As it has turned out, only Enrique can be argued to have benefited from his move, and none of them are missed but him. Still think it was a shame about Carroll, and I really think he'd continued his development at Newcastle, instead of seeing everything fail miserably at that horrible club.

 

Cabaye and Demba are two magnificent signings. Santon looks like he can turn out similar.

 

The emergence of Krul as a top, top keeper, Steven Taylor's resurgence and Best proving to be a decent enough striker are other positives. Coloccini's awesomeness also a plus over the 12 months.

 

We just need to be patient and keep building in the same way. A little luck with injuries and some more shrewd signings and we'll be well on our way back into Europe.

 

Finally, a lot of the credit goes to Pardew. He's mobilised the whole club and managed to cover up for the board room f*** ups. Massively impressed with his vision and calmness. Testing times now, but he was due some after a year of very, very few bad performances.

 

i'd have agree with evrything you've said, cabaye and ba has been magnificent signings,makes me hopefull for the next transfer window,if we can do as well,we could really be going somewhere.

[Guest BooBoo]

Ba has been a great signing. Cabaye has been decent. Let's not over egg the pudding.

[ponsaelius]

it's been alreet like

[Ronaldo]

Ba has been a great signing. Cabaye has been decent. Let's not over egg the pudding.

 

Well said.

[ponsaelius]

Both will turn out to be brilliant signings long term.

 

 

(awaits somebody saying when we sell them for profit)

[Pilko]

Ba has been a great signing. Cabaye has been decent. Let's not over egg the pudding.

 

'Decent' is a shade harsh on Cabaye, imo. I'd certainly upgrade him to 'good, showing signs that he could/will be great'.

[ponsaelius]

Demba is genuinely signing of the season like, across the whole league.

[Pilko]

Demba is genuinely signing of the season like, across the whole league.

 

It'll go to Aguero, officially. In terms of the FM style sum of price paid divided by average rating/goals/assists etc, he'd be far and away the best.

 

EDIT: Ba would be, that is.

[ponsaelius]

Aye, Ba is doing as much as Kun in a much shitter team.

[Guest BooBoo]

Not overly convinced as of yet by Cabaye. When he's good he's great but that's been no more than a handful of times.

[Ronaldo]

Completely agree with that.

[Mick]

As a replacement for Nolan, he's a massive upgrade but without the goals.

[Guest bimpy474]

Not overly convinced as of yet by Cabaye. When he's good he's great but that's been no more than a handful of times.

 

I think he's said himself that he has only ever played in a 3, in central midfield. To be fair to him its taking him time to get used to playing in a two, he has a lot more work to do, adding to the fact that he's in a new league and our game is a lot quicker i think he's been fine, nothing outstanding but shown plenty of promise that our league is going to suit him fine.

 

I was wondering why Pardew hasn't thought of using 3 in the middle as i think that would get the best out him, giving him a free-ish role to dictate play more.

[ponsaelius]

He's a major reason we're 7th rather than 17th. He's amongst that core of about 4 or 5 players that have carried us this season, and for that reason alone he's easily been value for money.

 

I don't care what people say about his goals, having Cabaye there instead of Nolan has been a massive breath of fresh air.

[Ronaldo]

Perhaps because we don't have the players for 4-3-3?

[Guest bimpy474]

He's a major reason we're 7th rather than 17th. He's amongst that core of about 4 or 5 players that have carried us this season, and for that reason alone he's easily been value for money.

 

I don't care what people say about his goals, having Cabaye there instead of Nolan has been a massive breath of fresh air.

 

Aye and add to that he can be a nasty little fecker, he can look after himself and wont get kicked out of a game.

 

That and he's bummable like

[Guest bimpy474]

Perhaps because we don't have the players for 4-3-3?

 

Yeah reckon your right, thats what Maiga was for i think to make 3 upfront with Ba, Ben Arfa/Obertan maybe.

 

Pardew could try 2 of Ben Arfa, Obertan, Jonas, Best or Sammi, wide of Ba.....but i think he wants a player more suited to that like Maiga, i think its why we wanted Gervinho as he played that role well for Lille, now does it for Arsenal.

[Guest Heneage]

It's difficult not to be happy.

 

The signings-

The Positives - Cabaye has at times been very impressive. His range of passing and willingness to put his foot in has been a real bonus. He hasn't always been fantastic, but I'm putting that down to him still settling into English football. If he can up his consistency levels I'll be really happy. Obviously Demba Ba is the standout here. Absolutely fantastic, and a constant threat. Without wanting to fawn over him too much, I'm happy for him considering how many clubs made out like he was damaged goods.

 

The Negatives- I'd imagine most people will point to the French wingers here. Obertan has played too much, Marveaux not enough. We took a gamble with the latter and thus far it hasn't paid off, which is something we've felt twice as much because of our small squad. I think Obertan has the potential to grow, but it will take time, and a bit of slow nurturing.

 

Away from the midfielders, the lack of centre back cover has been highlighted and was unfortunate. Now we are no longer signing Maiga, people are starting to get a little tetchy again. The memories of last year form the concerns of this, with people hoping we don't sell and buy at least one centre back in January (with a striker a much welcomed addition too).

 

The Football

 

The Positives- On occasion we've played some really nice stuff, we're looking to try and play the ball around with Cabaye dictating. In particular the way we played against Sunderland was enjoyable, as really we could have won that 2/3-0. Overall there's an evolution of style has begun and the way we play football.

 

The Negatives- Unfortunately we still do sometimes go hoofball, in particular Danny Simpson loves to just lump it up top and pray something happens. Despite a few players missing, we were outplayed by WBA, so the new mantra hasn't quite spread to the whole squad. Further proof we lack strength in depth.

 

The Manager

 

The Positives- His work with the backline showed real benefits early on, unfortunately the lack of backups and spate of injuries destroyed his hard work. He's handled the press quite well, and despite some pap decisions going against us, he's been fairly cool in his addressing of those situations. Defending Obertan was noble, and I think his man management is one of his strongest attributes.

 

The Negatives- His comments about Ben Arfa being a No10 show either naivety, or a stubbornness that doesn't seem like relenting. Some of his substitutions have been a bit confusing too. Why he persists with Shola and Lovenkrands I don't know.

 

Overall- Maybe I'm an optimist but I'm fairly happy with how things have gone. There are certain elements we need to improve on, but when juxtaposed to the relegation season things don't seem so bad. Hopefully January goes through without a hitch and we can push on for a potential European place after January (as difficult as that may seem).

[Yorkie]

Promising but unconvincing, not only on the pitch but throughout all facets of the club: team, board, fans. As has been said, though, in terms of each event that has occurred - i'd say the positives outweigh the negatives. This rotten patch of form has soured an exciting first half to the season and sent the year from great to good, but i think most of us were sensible in our own summary of the club in this climate anyway.

 

2012 should provide us with a genuine shot at 6th/7th place, however the transfer window will almost definitely act as a pivot. Depending on what happens there, we'll either fulfil our promise and get into Europe, or tail off and be amongst the also-rans (12th-15th).

 

 

 

Re: signings. Cabaye has blown hot and cold... but his mere presence on the pitch gives us license to be a much better footballing side than we ever were last season. Ba has obviously been a tremendous signing. The rest have added absolutely nothing to what we had last year; and i include Santon in that.

[Cronky]

We’re finishing the year with a much better squad than the one that started, and things look good in terms of younger players coming through.

 

It’s a shame we couldn’t have kept hold of Barton, but he had his foot pressed firmly on the self-destruct button and the club had no choice but to let him go.

 

We’re still among the mid-table teams and it’s not clear yet when or whether we can bridge that gap between us and the CL-style clubs (ie the top six), who are capable of a different quality of football from the rest of the Prem. I’d hoped that we could have moved to a more modern three man midfield, but at the moment we look very committed to a 4-4-2. I thought that Pardew was aiming to change things with his signings this season, but it’s not happened. That’s the next challenge.

 

[McLoven11]

7/10