General miscellany
I have been contacted by Peloton TV's James Whittaker, who is currently working in partnership with Youtube to make football content. James would like to know if any of you Newcastle United fans out there would like to represent NUFC Blog.org on the show "EPL Clash" and be filmed in a "bloggers battle" at 10am [.
Dear Reader, below is my own personal translation of the letter Fabricio Coloccini allegedly sent to his old Argentinian club San Lorenzo, who have of course been trying to exploit Coloccini's personal problems to their own ends over the last few weeks. There is another English translation floating around on the Interweb, however they can [.
Speaking from the year 2006, West Ham manager Alan Pardew launched an blistering attack on Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and the amount of foreign players in his side. Speaking in the wake of a 1-0 Champions League victory for Wenger's foreign mercenaries over Real Madrid, a game where not a single English player was fielded [.
62 players from 37 clubs around the world have called on UEFA chief Michel Platini to strip Israel of their right to host the UEFA Under-21 European Championship in solidarity with the people of Gaza after the recent killings by Israel of over 100 Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Of the 62, five Newcastle United [.
It's always intriguedme how individual NUFC fans see their club's relationship with our eternal rivals down the road. I mean we all chant 'we hate Sunderland' onmatch days but does therivalry mean different things to fans living where they hardly ever come across the great unwashed such as the North bank of the Tyne or [.
In more Demba Ba news to add to my story from earlier today, it's that time of year again (Ramadan)
and the Senegalese hitman is already off his scran during daylight hours for a month. Of course,
many of you will remember the fuss from last year when Ba had just joined the club, and [...]
I think Sunderland signing Martin O'Neill as their new manager is one of the most significant
events to happen in the North-East recently. Of course there is massive rivalry between Newcastle
and Sunderland, so it takes a lot for a Newcastle fan to say something like that. But rivalry and
competition manifest themselves in every [.
After reading what I classed as quite hostile comments from Oliver Holt regarding Stevie Taylor's
antics trying to distract Paddy Kenny the thought crossed my mind, why is NUFC always a target for
the media, and football fans in general? Are we deserving of the abuse we get? Is the problem
created by the Toon [.
At my request, site user 'Geordiedug', a Geordie currently living in the New York, has very kindly
agreed to write about his time at the Columbus Crew game, and also with the lads at their hotel.
Below are his impressions of both the game, and meeting the players. Many thanks Geordiedug!
workyticket.
Greek Cup Final 2012 Olympiacos 2 1 Atromitos (AET) I just thought I'd include this post as a kind
of addendum to Andymac's excellent Atromios v Newcastle United match preview for this evening's
game, which kicks off at 6:00pm. Atromitos have been losing finalists in the last two Greek Cup
finals.
Greek Cup Final 2012 Olympiacos 2 1 Atromitos (AET) I just thought I'd include this post as a kind
of addendum to Andymac's excellent Atromios v Newcastle United match preview for this evening's
game, which kicks off at 6:00pm. Atromitos have been losing finalists in the last two Greek Cup
finals.
This week's edition of the gentleman breast lover's journal of record, "ZOO" magazine, is carrying
their "Massive team by team guide" for the forthcoming Premiership season. When it came to
Newcastle United, of course, it goes without saying that they came to NUFC Blog first to get a
fan's viewpoint of how our season will [.
Hatem Ben Arfa has scored some excellent goals since joining Newcastle United which is your
favorite? Hatem Ben Arfa has certainly brought some flair to Newcastle United and scored some
cracking goals in the process. He also seems to do a job defensively when necessary now too.
Earlier in the season Alan Pardew was [.
It's probably a demonstration of how far we have come in such a short space of time that some
United fans have been decidedly grumpy following the recent setback at Tottenham. That's
understandable. However it's a very short-term view of a one match blip, in what has otherwise been
a highly successful season so far, [.
Newcastle United injury round-up and manager's opinions ahead of Saturday's visit to Old Trafford.
There's good news for Alan Pardew as the word on the street is that Gabriel Obertan will be fit for
Saturday's game, although it remains to be seen whether or not he gets a start. Less encouraging
news is that Tiote [.
John Carver offer some insight into how Newcastle United run the dressing room on a weekly basis
and talks about how he's now convinced that Alan Pardew is the man for the job. In a recent
interview, John Carver told of how he and Alan Pardew split the workload at Newcastle, with Pardew
concentrating mainly [.
Newcastle United Managing Director Derek Llambias serves up an expletive-ridden speech against
Keegan, Shearer, Hughton and Carroll. Amidst all the furore of stadium renaming, you'd think one of
the things our Managing Director would try to do is talk around the fans and sweeten them up to the
whole fiasco.
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 [.
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew rules himself out for the England manager's job, if indeed he
was ever a serious contender anyway. Pardew's 10 game undefeated start to the season has had him
'in the frame' at least according to the press as a potential replacement for Fabio Capello as
England manager after [.
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew rules himself out for the England manager's job, if indeed he
was ever a serious contender anyway. Pardew's 10 game undefeated start to the season has had him
'in the frame' at least according to the press as a potential replacement for Fabio Capello as
England manager after [.
Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew keeps ambitions in check ahead of our game against Everton on
the weekend. What exactly is a 'potential banana skin'? I ask because my local shopkeeper and I
were having our daily discussion about life, the universe and everything and he left me with the
comment "Everton are a potential [.
Former Newcastle United owner Freddie Shepherd has surprisingly good things to say about the man
who took over from him. Freddie Shepherd celebrated his 70th birthday yesterday and in his
after-dinner speech he actually heaped a load of praise on Mike Ashley which, given some of the
criticism Shepherd has slung Ashley's way in the [.
Eight days ago, the letters which used to make up the famous "Newcastle United" sign were offered
for sale on the online auction site EBay, with all proceeds from the sale going towards a night in
Asper's Casino for Mike Ashley, Derek Llambias and Alan Pardew the "Newcastle United Foundation"
charity, who in their own [.
Newcastle United's current 4th place position is very pleasing, if a little unexpected. But how
does this bode for the rest of the season? We're 4th in the Premier League and we can afford some
optimism about that, although I think that should be guarded optimism as I suspect the only way
from here is [.
With recent accusations of Alan Pardew's alleged long ball tactics, I wanted to ask the question:
do Newcastle United play the long-ball game and does it matter? After England's 1-1 draw against
the United States in the 2010 World Cup Franz Beckenbauer had this to say: "What I saw from the
English in their 1-1 [.
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley appears to be fed up with the abuse he gets from some of the
fans. So fed up in fact that he implies the abuse must stop or he will not do the right thing by
the club. No doubt you've all seen the questions The Chronicle put to the [...]
Has Mike Ashley reduced Newcastle United's debt? Hmmm. Well, it has been several months since
Newcastle United published their last set of audited accounts at Companies House (March 2011), and
that was for 2009/10. However, at that time it did appear as if the debt had actually risen
somewhat, though it is hard to deny [.
Yesterday evening I attended a fan meeting at The Irish Bar. It was a bit weird being in the Irish
with 20-20 vision but once I got used to sobriety, we began discussing the items on the agenda. In
that meeting were some of the online elite of Newcastle United fan reporters. Malcolm Dix,
shiteseats, [.
As published in today's 'People' newspaper, this is a photo of Newcastle United's proud and
dignified owner, Mike Ashley, doing a striptease and flagellating himself to Tom Jones's "You can
leave your hat on" from the soundtrack of "The Full Monty" film. According to the newspaper, Ashley
was pictured at a birthday celebration for a [.
Newcastle United names a 21-man squad for official notification to the Premier League. Newcastle
United have named a 21-man 'official' squad for the season, as required by the Premier League.
Rules state that up to 17 of the squad can be anybody (although preferably a footballer), whilst
the remainder up to a maximum of [.
I've spent much of the morning nursing a hangover after yesterday's debacle, and trying to organise
my thoughts and come to some decision on what on Earth happened in the past few months. Like all of
you, I'm racked with disappointment, anger, frustration but most of all betrayal. We pay our hard
earned cash for [.
As the post mortem on Newcastle United's transfer window continues amongst fans, with Mike Ashley
and Derek Llambias failing in their attempt to fulfill Alan Pardew's bold prophecy of a new striker
at St James', comes the unwelcome news that the FA will be charging Pardew for making inappropriate
comments about about referee, Howard Webb, [.
I've been thinking about Newcastle United's membership policy on away matches. Now, I'm sure you
remember our first match of pre-season, where a few morons decided to invade the pitch at
Darlington, inciting trouble between both sets of fans. If you can't remember what I'm referring
to, check out Thump's piece from July, when United [.
News has come into the offices of NUFC Blog Interntional that an Argentian International full back
is currently on Tyneside and is ready to play for the Magpies! His name is Jonas Gutierrez, he is
currently 28, and is known for his daring and mazy runs down both flanks. Gutierrez is not entirely
unkinwn to [.
31 players have been allocated squad numbers for Newcastle United's 2011/2012 season. As we haven't
posted it here yet, I thought I'd list the squad numbers for the 2011/2012 season. 31 players have
so far been allocated a number but there are three gaps for numbers 3, 9 and 12 (and obviously an
infinite number [.
Newcastle United old boy, Craig Bellamy, has a long and insightful interview on American site 'EPL
Talk.' Given while Bellamy was in Orlando, Florida last month, coaching the youngsters at the 2011
Disney Soccer Academy, it covers quite a few topics from Bellamy's time in the game. This included
recollections of his five years at [.
The Rest
With the new season just a few short hours from kick off, Toon fans everywhere take stock of the
events of the past few months and are no doubt wondering what kind of start we'll have given the
merciless squad upheaval. Since the transfer window opened Geordies have sat around with baited
breath hoping for [.
