After Alan Shearer lead Newcastle to the Championship before Chris Hughton brought them back up
the following season, there really was a sense of doom and gloom surrounding the North East club.
Mike Ashley was an incredibly unpopular owner and there was uproar when Alan Pardew was given the
manager's job.
The stunned silence lasted almost 5 minutes. It was in stark contrast with the noise and uproar
that had filled the air not too long ago, but it was still as deafening. They surveyed the field
around- the weary limbs, the bloodshot eyes, the slumped shoulders. They had all done their part,
there was no blame to pass around.
Liverpool's brief road swing continues (and wraps up) tomorrow night in Wigan, with the Reds
looking to continue a bounce-back after the Fulham loss that's seen them win their last two fairly
comfortably despite relatively narrow score lines. Wigan will be in a similar spot after getting
points in four of their last five, including an away win at the Hawthorns after faltering badly at
home to Arsenal, and, in their last outing, saving a late draw against Chelsea at the DW on
Saturday.
Liverpool's owners battle boom and bust after Boston Red Sox stumble | David
Conn
The Boston Red Sox success story came crashing down last month but John W Henry and Fenway
Sports Group believe the same approach can benefit Liverpool For the owners of Liverpool Football
Club – John W Henry, Tom Werner and their partners in Fenway Sports Group – the honeymoon is
over.
There has been a lot of talk about Merritt Paulson and affecting the team. People have compared
him to Paul Allen and other more hands-on owners. I don't think the comparison to Paul Allen is
apt, as there are a lot of differences between Paul and MP -- I would say MP is the Mark Cuban of
MLS.
Mark Cuban, as many of us know, is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA.
Tuesday's US Open Cup matches brought with them a fantastic set of talking points. Eric Wynalda's
Cal FC advancing, the Carolina Railhawks to host the LA Galaxy and the Ventura County Fusion
defeating the LA Blues all take deserved headlines.
However there is one issue that seems to be ranking above all others among fans.
Tuesday's US Open Cup matches brought with them a fantastic set of talking points. Eric Wynalda's
Cal FC advancing, the Carolina Railhawks to host the LA Galaxy and the Ventura County Fusion
defeating the LA Blues all take deserved headlines.
However there is one issue that seems to be ranking above all others among fans.
The 2012 Major League Soccer season kicked off this past weekend with a noticeable difference,
the first match of the season was not broadcast on national television, in fact it wasn't till
Sunday afternoon that an MLS match was broadcast nationally. While the realization of no national
broadcast dawned somewhat late on many MLS fans, it did not go unnoticed on Saturday as fans
scrounged to find free previews of either MLS's internet/cable season subscription packages or for
an unsanctioned online feed.
The time has come for us to try and resurrect my old pet project, the Musket Rounds. Musket
Rounds are a morning round-up of the important links in the world of the New England Revolution and
American soccer in general. I draw these stories from my google reader, for the most part - if any
of you read a publication that gets little love here, let me know in the comments and I'll RSS it
for future consideration.
After the announcement that the US Open Cup Final rights were awarded to Sporting Kansas City
over Seattle fans of the Sounders took to twitter to vent frustration. The lack of transparency,
the claims that the bids were tied and USSF's general disinterest in Seattle and the Pacific
Northwest fuelded the vitriol.
In a match-up of heated rivals both in need of a victory, the Portland Timbers started Sunday's
showdown vs. Seattle looking every bit like the team intent on snapping their recent funk.
The Timbers rode a pair of first-half goals from Kris Boyd and David Horst and some of their
best soccer of the season to a 2-1 victory over the Sounders at Jeld-Wen Field on Sunday.
Unbelievable rumors coming out of Russia that Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is poised to
become the coach of the Russian national team.
The Russian sports website Sports.ru has sensationally claimed that Mancini would walk out of
Manchester City next week after being given £6m a year by the Russian Football Federation.
Unbelievable rumors coming out of Russia that Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini is poised to
become the coach of the Russian national team.
The Russian sports website Sports.ru has sensationally claimed that Mancini would walk out of
Manchester City next week after being given £6m a year by the Russian Football Federation.
It's looking a bit like a video game where you score points for bad behaviour
Tell me whose jaw did not drop seeing Roberto Mancini sub Edin Dzeko with Nigel De Jong
with City two goals down? Which manager does that? There is enough attacking talent left on the
City bench to launch a third world war and Mancini goes for a holding midfielder.
When Nicklas Bendtner showed the world his Paddy Power underwear after scoring against Portugal in
Denmark's 3-2 loss at Euro 2012, he probably had no idea how much controversy his seemingly
innocent actions would stir. But it's not actually Bendtner's action that has caused the newest
uproar, it's UEFA's reaction that has fans bewildered.
TweetThe Swedish media are in uproar after Swedish players were caught with their pants down in a
scandal brandished 'bumgate'. "People who have responsibilities should be aware of that and they
should act accordingly", bemoaned Swedish Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt in the wake of
'bumgate'. So how did it start?
There is no getting away from the fact that Wayne Rooney is a very talented player. Regarded as
one of the finest footballers of his generation, the way which he moves on the pitch is the mark of
a genius. That is until he gets into trouble and that has happened quite a bit lately.
Rooney's career goes from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Former Newcastle Chairman and Life President John Hall,  has chimed in on the debate on the
re-naming of St. James' Park. Sir John Hall chimes in on the re-naming issue There has been
uproar from the Newcastle fans over the last few days as the famous St. James' Park black letters
have been removed via crow bars by workers last [.
I call you a plankton who only sings when we are winning, and cries like a 3 year old
girl when things go against us.
One thing has always set apart proper genuine football fans, from all teams around the
world, that I have personally come across in all the many years I have been a fan of the game is a
spirit, a belief.
Liverpool's bad-boy Luis Suarez is Europe's £30million wanted man.
Top clubs on the continent are queuing up to offer the Uruguayan ace, currently serving an
eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra, an escape route from his Premier League
hell.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid, loaded French outfit Paris St-Germain and Serie A giants Inter Milan
and Juventus would all be interested in taking Suarez, 25 later this month, away from Anfield in
the summer.
Liverpool's bad-boy Luis Suarez is Europe's £30million wanted man.
Top clubs on the continent are queuing up to offer the Uruguayan ace, currently serving an
eight-match ban for racially abusing Patrice Evra, an escape route from his Premier League
hell.
La Liga leaders Real Madrid, loaded French outfit Paris St-Germain and Serie A giants Inter Milan
and Juventus would all be interested in taking Suarez, 25 later this month, away from Anfield in
the summer.
Same old song and dance for Liverpool with a questionable sending-off and a Pepe Reina error to
spice things up, as the hosts get a late winner and the wasteful guests spend most of their
possession not finishing chances. Posts were hit, fouls weren't given, upper hand was wasted.
That headline is meant to be ironic, by the way. Anyway, while the run-up to his prestigious
friendly against world-beaters Spain was polluted by the ridiculous uproar over Poppygate, the game
itself was a comapratively dull affair.
Wenger made a bold statement on Monday; Nasri is not going anywhere this summer. When asked
whether he was going to sign a new contract, Wenger said he hopes so but it is not up to Wenger. Â
 We have, reportedly, on the table offers from Manchester City and Manchester United in the region
of £20M; in addition there is interest from Italy.
Oh no! Early reports from the Netherlands say that Jozy Altidore fell into the advertising boards
during AZ's game today and was knocked unconscious. No other details yet.
dN
Real Madrid got the win it needed today to win the Spanish Primera championship for 2011-12!
After the uproar of the announcement this morning and much discussion with the lads at work, I've
come to the feeling that Ashley has completely lost any trust that he has managed to claw back over
the past few months. As a previous nufcblog.org article has already pointed out, Derek Llambias has
previously gone on [.
Owl abuse in football is a serious issue. Only last year did we see a poor, defenseless hooter
kicked to death during a game by Deportivo Pereira defender Luis Moreno.
Moreno was fined and given community service in a zoo.
Yesterday we discussed some of the great success enjoyed in year two of the revamped
MLSSoccer.com. Page views are up and the site has become a hub for soccer news seeking web
surfers. Today, the site launched a great project chronicling North American Soccer. Check here
for a link.
We thought it worth taking a look at how far the site has come.
