Newcastle United Women - Champions and Promoted

[OpenC]

Aye. They didn't play anywhere near what they're capable of and while # deserve plenty of credit for containing them I think nerves played a part, just like they did at SJP. Big step up for them I guess, that sort of environment and atmosphere. Kingston Park gets noisy enough but not like that.

 

 

Edited March 24 by OpenC

[JLC]

16 hours ago, Jonas said:

Great pics. Remember walking down that alley (if its the one behind the executive box only stand) after the cup game, first time I've seen it from such an angle since, and could only imagine the amount assaults that took place there in the previous decade or so.

I went in, I think, the 84-85 season. It was a bit hairy post match in the town centre.

[Paullow]

16 hours ago, Iwantcurlyhair2 said:

Just got home. Rally gutted for the lasses. Typical Newcastle having their worst performance of the season in a cup final. Fingers crossed Burnley and Forest lose tomorrow and a win against Liverpool Feds next week will secure the league.

Onwards and upwards, but gutted for them today. Effort was there but uncharacteristic sloppy passing and control let them down. 

 

 

 

They couldn't have officially secured the title next week with those permutations as they would have still needed Forest to drop more points against Derby next week to make it 100% official, but Forest's match with Halifax has been postponed, so that will affect things, unless it's rescheduled in the week, although I see Halifax already have a match in the week.

 

It's crazy how in a 22 games season, WBA have played 19 matches, and 86.3% of their matches, whereas Halifax has only played 13 and 59% of theirs. Going to be a serious backlog for Halifax to get their remaining 9 games in, especially if there's a good women's match on TV that they want to watch instead 

 

Burnley are 1-0 down, but they are too far behind to be a threat IMO, but I guess would at least contribute to getting the title quicker, if they drop more points.

[LFEE]

Anyone see the Partick Thistle GK against Rangers today? 

[SteV]

12 minutes ago, LFEE said:

Anyone see the Partick Thistle GK against Rangers today? 

When you’re playing 5-a-side and changing keepers after every goal, and someone who hates keeping goes in:

 

https://x.com/rangerswfc/status/1771898549959000425?s=46&t=OQLMckSuatbpqWF13Al4mQ

[O Neill]

To put things into context. Ava Easdon, who was in goal for Partick Thistle today, is the third choice keeper at Glasgow City and is at Partick on loan this season. She's only 17, and looks far from the finished article. I've seen her play for the Scotland U19 national team, and she looked to be struggling at that level. She's not playing every week at the top level, and has featured mostly in games against the relegation threatened clubs, where she hasn't really had as much to do.

 

Partick were forced to play her as the club don't actually have their own goalkeeper, due to the big three clubs (Rangers, Celtic and Glasgow City) hoarding mass amounts of players, on full-time contracts, in the hope of being able to sell them on. Partick's first choice keeper is Megan Cunningham, but she's on loan from Rangers, and since they pay her a full-time wage, and Partick are not in the financial position to pay any player a full-time professional contract, they are stuck with loaning from the big clubs, if they want to be able to compete in the top division.

 

And if that isn't bad enough, they drafted in a third keeper on loan for a week from Celtic, to sit on the bench today. Why that was allowed is anyone's guess, but given the shambles that SWPL as a collective is, I'm hardly surprised by it.

[OpenC]

Sad but entirely expected that the women's game is falling into all the same shit patterns that the men's is (hoarding players to sell, one of my least favourite aspects of the men's game)

[O Neill]

1 minute ago, OpenC said:

Sad but entirely expected that the women's game is falling into all the same shit patterns that the men's is (hoarding players to sell, one of my least favourite aspects of the men's game)

 

It's very frustrating, and in a league where two clubs have riches, you quickly get the picture. Not only do they have a first team squad of 30, but they end up with all the youth players in their academies, queuing up in the hope they'll be the next one to get a professional contract. There are so many talented players not playing at the moment, because they are sitting on benches, or on the sidelines, or playing in youth leagues that they are too good for.

[BonesJones]

From what I saw it looked like the nerves really got to them, first half was particularly sloppy. Hashtag seemed to have their shit together a bit more.

 

Goalkeeper upgrade is essential imo, and all it would take is getting a half decent one that's also an athlete. Poor girl in our goal looks more suited to being in a scrum, than trying to dive across a goal. Sorry if that offends anyone, but if we had a keeper with a similar physique in the men's team we would all say the same.

 

Get that league won though and they can forget all about this final!

[Iwantcurlyhair2]

Official. BonesJones is a misogynist body shamer.

Grace has conceded fewer goals and kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the league. She has the record appearances for NUFC women.

I know nothing about you but please don't ever have children

[BonesJones]

2 minutes ago, Iwantcurlyhair2 said:

Official. BonesJones is a misogynist body shamer.

Grace has conceded fewer goals and kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper in the league. She has the record appearances for NUFC women.

I know nothing about you but please don't ever have children

 

Sorry mate.

 

Nothing to do with shaming, more to do with the fact that there's particular body types that are suited to particular roles. Would you agree with that?

[Iwantcurlyhair2]

I'd agree that a player with more than 100 appearances, who had to pay to play in black and white when Ashley was in charge, deserves the UPMOST RESPECT from everyone associated with NUFC. If it proves that the Championship is a level too far then so be it, but her performances this season, at this level, are proven to be well within her capabilities. 

Please stop shaming the lasses. They've lost 3 games this season. Away to Man U in the FA Cup, home to forest in the league and in the final. They don't deserve the criticism.

[BonesJones]

1 minute ago, Iwantcurlyhair2 said:

I'd agree that a player with more than 100 appearances, who had to pay to play in black and white when Ashley was in charge, deserves the UPMOST RESPECT from everyone associated with NUFC. If it proves that the Championship is a level too far then so be it, but her performances this season, at this level, are proven to be well within her capabilities. 

Please stop shaming the lasses. They've lost 3 games this season. Away to Man U in the FA Cup, home to forest in the league and in the final. They don't deserve the criticism.

 

My apologies mate, I can understand your angle completely.

 

I'm talking purely from a sporting perspective, couldn't care less what she looks like, but I do know it's horses for courses in this game and generally applies across all sports.

 

Genuinely sorry if you took it as an attack on the opposite gender.

[et tu brute]

22 minutes ago, Iwantcurlyhair2 said:

I'd agree that a player with more than 100 appearances, who had to pay to play in black and white when Ashley was in charge, deserves the UPMOST RESPECT from everyone associated with NUFC. If it proves that the Championship is a level too far then so be it, but her performances this season, at this level, are proven to be well within her capabilities. 

Please stop shaming the lasses. They've lost 3 games this season. Away to Man U in the FA Cup, home to forest in the league and in the final. They don't deserve the criticism.

The club have already moved on quite a few of those lasses who were paying for their own strips. There will be a few more being moved on in the summer also. That's what happens when you are now a full time professional club aiming to play at the highest level. I'll not go on again about my thoughts on the goalkeeper, I've covered that a few times before. 

[O Neill]

13 hours ago, et tu brute said:

The club have already moved on quite a few of those lasses who were paying for their own strips. There will be a few more being moved on in the summer also. That's what happens when you are now a full time professional club aiming to play at the highest level. I'll not go on again about my thoughts on the goalkeeper, I've covered that a few times before. 

 

I think the important thing right now is to focus on the present. Newcastle have built a squad that is probably not good enough for the second tier, but is absolutely excellent for the third tier level they are playing at. The current players have put in an outstanding effort to get themselves into a position where they can win the league in the next few weeks, should they continue to win football matches. However, it has to be noted that the job is not done yet, and both the players and coaching staff will be desperate to show that the weekend was a blip and that they can get right back on course this Sunday.

 

What I feel is key, is not to let the final defeat cause a loss of momentum with the support. There have been some really poor comments over the last few days, many of which are ill-informed and coming from people who haven't regularly backed the team until recently. In general, the support this season has been outstanding. The turnout at matches has been huge, for a third tier outfit. Hopefully people realise that with four matches to go, that the girls deserve that support, turning out again to help push them towards the finish line.

 

What happens in the summer, is something to consider tomorrow. It's a distraction that the team doesn't need until after promotion to tier two has been secured. I'm sure there will be some very difficult conversations to be had in the coming months. I've seen it before at Rangers, when they turned full-time professional. There will be mixed emotions in the future, but for now it's important to back the current players towards achieving that phenomenal success that comes first.

[OpenC]

 bang on

 

I'm pretty sure the Kingston Park support will be as good as ever, but it is a concern that the game after we lost to Manchester United was a real blip in the league, albeit against one of the tougher sides.  Has been sad to see the club having to remove dozens of comments about Grace Donnelly from insta over the last couple of days - there were plenty of supportive rebuffs to some of the rubbish that was posted but it's all gone now, thankfully.

 

 

 

 

Edited March 25 by OpenC

[et tu brute]

23 minutes ago, OpenC said:

 bang on

 

I'm pretty sure the Kingston Park support will be as good as ever, but it is a concern that the game after we lost to Manchester United was a real blip in the league, albeit against one of the tougher sides.  Has been sad to see the club having to remove dozens of comments about Grace Donnelly from insta over the last couple of days - there were plenty of supportive rebuffs to some of the rubbish that was posted but it's all gone now, thankfully.

 

 

 

 

 

Disgusting some of the comments about her, It's ok saying you don't rate somebody, but personal abuse is unacceptable. No surprise though with the current level of social media.

[O Neill]

32 minutes ago, OpenC said:

 bang on

 

I'm pretty sure the Kingston Park support will be as good as ever, but it is a concern that the game after we lost to Manchester United was a real blip in the league, albeit against one of the tougher sides.  Has been sad to see the club having to remove dozens of comments about Grace Donnelly from insta over the last couple of days - there were plenty of supportive rebuffs to some of the rubbish that was posted but it's all gone now, thankfully.

 

I think they'll be alright. Getting the first goal will be critical. I think the ball hitting the back of the net will ease the pressure and any sort of tension building in the ground will evaporate if they can get on top early on. It's a little sad that so many people feel the need to share their opinions on social media, particularly as replies to posts from the club. As I've said before, football is a game of opinions. Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts on particular players and incidents. However, there is a time and a place for sharing those thoughts with others, and an appropriate manner in which to do so. The big concern I've always had with social media is that it allows people a platform to speak without fear of any consequences, often with a channel to reach the subject of their thoughts. Constructive opinions and educated debate are one thing. Directing abuse towards or ridiculing someone is a different matter entirely. It's positive to hear that the club seem to be on top of it.

 

On the similar situation up here, this is absolutely brilliant. Rangers captain, and Scotland international fullback, Nicola Docherty has come out in support of Partick Thistle's young goalkeeper, Ava Easdon, after people have been piling on via social media.

 

 

[LFEE]

Would never advocate abuse and don’t partake in it myself but not sure going forward if being so sensitive to criticism a wise move at this juncture. Especially if the players are full time professionals. Can you pick and choose equality? I’m uncertain.

[OpenC]

It's a strange one and I know what you mean from the equality perspective.  If you're playing for your local pub on a Sunday morning then you're opening yourself up for criticism and I'm sure they wouldn't be doing this unless they had a bit of steel about them.  At the same time, a lot of the grief aimed at Donnelly in particular was absurdly personal, and even more absurd to those of us who have watched her making plenty of great diving stops and sweeping up like an absolute pro these past few months.

[LFEE]

26 minutes ago, OpenC said:

It's a strange one and I know what you mean from the equality perspective.  If you're playing for your local pub on a Sunday morning then you're opening yourself up for criticism and I'm sure they wouldn't be doing this unless they had a bit of steel about them.  At the same time, a lot of the grief aimed at Donnelly in particular was absurdly personal, and even more absurd to those of us who have watched her making plenty of great diving stops and sweeping up like an absolute pro these past few months.

 

Not disagreeing at all but just look at what Burn has had to put up with this season compared to the plaudits/perforamnces last season. He’s had many a solid game this season also but alas it matters not to some. 

[Tsunami]

Think it’s safe to safe it’s a bit of a transitional season and the summer will see some difficult but necessary changes. The lasses who got us to this point should be sincerely thanked for their service. Every successful team goes through this process.

 

I think there’s some understandable comments that a fully professional outfit shouldn’t perform as poorly as they did against a semi professional # Utd. I also think that we might have brought some of this on ourselves by the award of professional contracts to all. Once you do that, no matter the salary, that’s the standard you will be judged against. 
 

Onward and upwards. The lasses must be gutted.

[LFEE]

Getting promotion was always the main objective id imagine and they look well on course to achieving that. Let’s hope they put the cup disappointment behind them and get over the line.

 

 

Edited March 25 by LFEE

[OpenC]

Just watched the game again. Was 100% a penalty on Bailey Gayle at the end I reckon, but the way we were playing we would 100% have missed it anyway, so at least we were spared that little bit of drama and heartbreak

 

 

Edited March 26 by OpenC

[LFEE]

4 hours ago, OpenC said:

Just watched the game again. Was 100% a penalty on Bailey Gayle at the end I reckon, but the way we were playing we would 100% have missed it anyway, so at least we were spared that little bit of drama and heartbreak

 

 

 

Not for me if it’s the one I’m thinking of it. Maybe a corner at most but think goal kick looked the correct decision.