By Chris Wright

No talk, just lovely, lovely photos (open images in a new tab to see them in all their full-size majesty) from what proved to be an amazing tournament for all the right reasons...

[Photos: PA]

More 2012 ACoN-related stuff on Pies.

The bid defeat on Saturday was Newcastle's third in succession without French International Yohan Cabaye. Cheick Tiote in action for Ivory Coast at ACON And of course we've been without Cheick Tiote since the 3-0 win over Manchester United on January 4th. And in the five league games since then we have three win and two defeats in which we conceded [.

Didier and Sala are coming home. Thank the lord almighty. More, after the jump:

Coming up empty

Well it's been a shit sandwich around these parts for the last month- crystallized by that pathetic/shambolic performance we were witness to on Saturday. So forgive me for latching on to the tiniest bit of hope, but I need this.

By Greg Evans

Earlier in the week the group stages of this year's Africa Cup of Nations concluded and, before we go any further and the sadly unavoidable 'why cover this pointless tournament?/the quality's terrible' mentality begins to set in, let me just go on record as saying that some of the performances and matches I have seen in the past two weeks have eclipsed anything I have seen in our beloved Premier League for a very long time.

By Chris Wright

The African Cup of Nations saw it's first (of many, if previous tournaments are anything to go by) ridiculous goalkeeping ricket during Zambia's shock 2-1 win over Senegal last night with Zambian 'keeper Kennedy Mweene dropping a big hairy bollock at the end of the first half, playing fast and loose with the rules governing the size of his goal area when mopping up after a free-kick.

Shit's about to get weird.

'Twin Beds?! FUCK YEA!!!'

Well then. Looks like Andre's still got a few surprises up his sleeve. Amidst the clamor of the impending QPR cup tie, JT's court drama, transfer shenanigans, and the general malaise that has descended upon our club this year, the boss has elected to take the team on a five-day trip to the Balearic Islands.

The recent signing of Senegal striker Papiss Cisse by United added to the fact that Demba Ba is also a Senegal star potentially means that Geordie fans will take more of an interest in the African Cup Of Nations (ACON) which kicks off this weekend. And of course we also have our very own (at [...]

Pressure at Elland Road, A response needed from City and an ACON-affected Newcastle Manchester City A club in crisis, we have been told. And whilst City may not be sweating just yet at the top of the Premier League, their record since Christmas reads P5, W1, D1, L3. They have been dumped out of one [.

Pressure at Elland Road, A response needed from City and an ACON-affected Newcastle Manchester City A club in crisis, we have been told. And whilst City may not be sweating just yet at the top of the Premier League, their record since Christmas reads P5, W1, D1, L3. They have been dumped out of one [.

The 2012 African Cup of Nations begins on January 21st in Gabon and Equitorial Guinea, and players have just reported to their respective international squads for the tournament. The next few gameweeks in the Premier League will be tough for ... Continue reading →

By Chris Wright

It's not been a good few days for Manchester United? Four days after slumping to a home defeat against lowly old Blackburn, United found themselves on the end of a relative 3-0 tonking at the Sports Direct North East Regional Distribution Centre which gave their title aspirations yet another toe-punt in the undercarriage.

Newcastle Untied's Demba Ba looks to be in the form of his life and with the African Cup of Nations looming it seems like his clubs loss could be Senegal's gain.
The 2012 African Cup of Nations is the 28th renewal of the event and it gets underway on January 21st and given it lasts until February 12th a number of Premier League side could be without their star players for some time.

Is the Africa Cup of Nations going to cause serious problems for Newcastle United, particularly in relation to Demba Ba? The Africa Cup of Nations (ACoN) has its first group game on the 21st January and the final is on 12th February, which means that players will be away from their respective clubs for potentially [.

It will be interesting to see how much effect the African Cup of Nations has on the Premiership in January, but Arsenal are certain to lose Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh from their attacking options. With this in mind, todays Metro reports that Arsenal intend to return to Fiorentina with a £12m bid for the Peruvian [.