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The Toon Army Thread

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Now it will probably be Santon back to LB and Simpson/Anita slotting back into RB which is not the best but still ok. I don't like Anita, stil too weak to be playing in the premierleague, especially as a CM, prefer him to be playing as a full back if anything. Marveaux is quality, can easily slot into Ben Arfa's role, he has the confidence now to finish the season off strong.

We will definitely give Benfica a game, if we can come away with an away goal or a 1-0 loss, i will be quietly confident when we play at St.James.

Yeah probably right - lucky we didn't sell Simpson in January. Anita has looked good at RB and he probably had his best run with us when he was playing in midfield and Cabaye was out (seem to recall he was among our best when we had that shocking run in late December). Marveaux definitely should be starting (would have him ahead of Gutierrez personally) and is in cracking form at the moment with 2 assists in our last 2 wins (both to Cisse as well which suggests he might be a good way to unlock Cisse's scoring boots - to be fair though he has something like 3 goals in 5 and had 2 incorrectly ruled offside vs Metalist). With HBA gone for the season, Marveaux looks our best creative attacking player and should provide a decent cover for HBA.

Looking forward to the Benfica game more by the day - Krul is a chance to be fit for the return leg though have to say Elliot has done well in his absence. Just a shame we can't play our fit best 11 as I would say we could almost go in as favourites otherwise. Bit sad to see Harper is leaving at the end of the season but guess that's football.
 
Great signs this morning as our financial figures for the last 12 months were published.

While Ashley and Llambias have their share of critics as to how they run the club, I think we can only applaud how the well the club is going at the moment from a financial perspective.

When the financial fair play rules come into place, we will be very well placed to hopefully push up the table while the mega rich clubs that rely on billionaires pumping in cash may struggle restructuring. I believe the figures didn't even include our imminent deal with Wonga which is meant to be worth 8-9m a season so our profits could have been higher.

Given how financially unstable the club was leading up to and after the relegation, it has been a remarkable effort to not only turn a profit and reduce debt but be run in a way where our team is probably the strongest it has been in a long time. Smart transfer business and tight wage control seems to be our saviour :thumbsu:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/mar/27/newcastle-united-announce-profit

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21954980
 
As has our season has gone, luck was against us yet again - this time as we lost 3-1 at Benfica.

Pretty disappointed with the result, though tie is far from over as we get the return leg next week.

Open the scoring away from home via Cisse and Cisse went on to hit the bar twice more - another day could have had a hat trick.

Benfica's second was from a sloppy back pass and the third from a penalty for handball - both goals should have been avoided really.

Lucky we have an away goal, a 2-0 win at home will see us through. Need to throw the dice and play for the win.
 

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Just found this forum Tiger and enjoyed your up to date observations and info about the financials etc.
Cheers.
I think in general the Frenchmen look pretty good,technically etc and then of course I'll hopefully never forget Sissoko's fantastic first game!!
 
Just found this forum Tiger and enjoyed your up to date observations and info about the financials etc.
Cheers.
I think in general the Frenchmen look pretty good,technically etc and then of course I'll hopefully never forget Sissoko's fantastic first game!!

haha cheers scon - to be fair, I only came across this thread not too long ago myself but after seeing it was relatively inactive, thought I'd try and post some more recent news.

We got a massive 3 points last night with another last gasp win against Fulham. Thought luck would abandon us yet again as we lost Santon early to what looks like a season ending hamstring injury and we hit the woodwork 3 times. Cisse popped up with 2 mins to go in injury time (5 mins added, 3 mins played) and pushed the ball past Schwarzer. The scenes from scoring were amazing - Cisse ran into the crowd and got swamped. Pardew ran and jumped into a group of fans too clearly lost in the euphoria of the moment.

Stayed up to 2am to watch it and feeling pretty tired today at work but moments like that are why we love the toon. It's a rollercoast of many highs and lows - here's hoping we've had enough lows for the year!

Massive 2 games coming up - Benfica at home in the Europa league (3-1 on aggregate). We can go through to the final 4 if we can win 2-0 (go through on away goals). A few days later, we have our Tyne-Wear derby against our local rivals Scumberland (sunderland). They are in danger of being relegated and we are only 5 points clear ourselves with 6 games to go. Huge 6 pointer, local pride and momentum on offer for both sides. They lost 2-1 to Chelsea so hopefully that holds us in good stead. Expect fireworks with their new manager Di Canio at the helm...
 
Well we are now out of the Europa league following this morning's 1-1 draw with Benfica and can turn our focus on securing our EPL status.

It's never good to see your team bow out of a cup competition but still very proud of our boys' efforts in the EL this season. We pushed hard for a second goal this morning but Benfica got their equaliser on the break as we pushed for a second goal which would have sent us through on away goals. It was always going to be a hard ask but at least we tried and to make the Quarter finals is still a fantastic achievement given our horror run with injuries this year.

Pardew had a tough task trying to both choose a team that could try and overturn the 2 goal deficit but with our massive derby in 2 days time, had to also try and rest some of the players to keep them fresh for a massive 6 pointer. A win would send scumberland into the relegation places with only a handful of games left (and given they have a tough run home, could make it hard for them to climb out). A win also would almost guarantee our safety I think.

Can't help but wonder what might have been had we a full strength side to pick from, Cisse's 2 efforts that hit the woodwork in Portugal had gone in and we didn't concede 2 sloppy goals in the first leg. Regardless of the ifs and buts, the best teams take their chances which Benfica did to their credit - they have only lost twice in europe this season (to Barcelona and Spartak Moscow - both in the champions league) so were a tough opponent. Glad we had the chance to test ourselves against them though. Now to turn our attentions to securing our EPL status with a win over Sunderland in a massive Tyne Wear Derby on Sunday.

To give an idea of the team that played vs Benfica, we missed the following from probably our best 11
Colocinni (captain), Santon, Steven Taylor, Tiote, (Debuchy, Goufrann both ineligible unfortunately). Also, Hatem Ben Arfa made only his second appearance since December after returning from injury off the bench and helped set up our goal with his attacking play - had he been sharper and match fit, he may have scored the winner in the 89th minute but instead he narrowly shot over the cross bar after dribbling around a defender. A pleasing note was Haidara was back after that horror tackle from McNamara of Wigan so his timely return is a boost with Santon picking up a fairly bad hamstring injury vs Fulham earlier in the week.
 
I thought I had read that Ben Arfa was out for the season and there he was in black and white socks!Transforms the team;puts us much more on the front foot,more scoring threat,and his defensive game is not woeful.
Not convinced Pardew is any great solution,but get points and set up for next year is the only mantra for now.
Last weeks derby slightly sad viewing for many.
Cheers Tiger.
 
massive game tonight away vs west brom and yep, more injuries...

Hopefully the boys are fired up and want to make amends for the derby loss.

In other news, Obertan scored a hat trick in the reserves - with out injuries, he might get a spot on the bench or even some game time in the next few matches.
 
Got a fairly handy point away to a decent West brom outfit (who were 8th on the table heading into the game). Gouffran scored his second goal for the club from a nice header (with equally good cross from Cisse). We played some champagne stuff (like we did last season) and really should have been 2-3 0 up. Sadly, WBA rallied in the second half and managed to get an equaliser.

We are 6 points clear of the drop with 12 points to play for, unfortunately some of the teams around us won so pushed us down 3 spaces but we should have enough in the tank to limp over the line. 1 more win (or a couple of draws) would probably do it and with 2 home games (1 against Liverpool who might have no Suarez due to his Mike Tyson like biting on Ivanovic this morning) as well as an away trip to almost doomed QPR (who are 10 points adrift with only 12 points to play for), we may be able to pick up the points we need here.

An interesting fact the commentators made was we have used 32 different players this season (the most in the competition) while WBA had the fewest (with 23). Just goes to show how many injuries we've had and how much we've struggled to get a consistent team out on the park (like we did last season when we finished 5th). West Brom have had a great season and I'm sure the luxury of being able to play nearly the same players, in the same positions/roles each game has been a massive bonus for them.

Makes you think what our team could achieve if everyone was fit and available! For now, we need to focus on securing our PL status though and unless we have a massive dip in form, we should be ok.
 
3 games to go to try and secure our PL status.

0-6 loss to Liverpool is the worst at home in 87 years and lots of fans left before full time. Terrible defending, poor team choice (the out of form Gutierrez and box to box mid Sissoko played on the wings in preference to the attacking talents of Ben Arfa and Gouffran left us with no width and no pace which then allowed Lucas and Gerrard to control the midfield which had the flow on effect of limiting Cabaye's influence and giving Coutinho the ability to set liverpool up - which he duly did).

For the first time this season I've lost some confidence in Pardew and his team selection. I've defended him

Need Colocinni back asap to sort out the defence.

We are running on empty I think - too many injuries, too many players burnt out, players low on confidence and probably with no energy left. We are limping towards the end of the season and whereas last year, most newcastle fans didn't want the season to end, this year is the complete opposite with the end not coming fast enough.

Relegation threat is very real now though 1 win should be just enough to keep us up - hopefully we can pick that up at mid table West ham (who are safe and haven't got too much to play for) or already relegated QPR (though our away form is horrible with only 1 win away for the season, picking up a win away is going to be hard).

With our final game against Arsenal at home and them chasing a Champions league spot - we need to pick up a win before that game as Arsenal's pace and creativity will carve us up in our current form.

Our next 3 games are really cup finals. The players need to forget the result, dig deep and show the fans something.
 
2-1 up ....win here at QPR and we could go as high as 12th temporarily.

C'mon lads!

Being a Tigers fan and a newcastle fan, I somehow don't think I will live a long life with the number of heart thumping moments both my beloved teams cause me.

Was a very nervy second half - we were second best for most of it and QPR were playing with a lot of gusto and intent. Somehow, we looked solid downback and despite QPR's dominance, they rarely threatened the goal but with our season, you always felt like something bad was going to happen. How we survived with 10 men after Elliott's red card is something. I thought we were in trouble last night with Debuchy's penalty (looked like he was outside of the box) but that goal actually galvanised the team and we played better after that. Ben arfa's penalty - wow. Just so glad we ground out the win. Players would have been nervous but they did the job. Will be nice to see Harper in goal for the last game of the season too - will also be his last game for the club. A nice way to farewell the fans and club.

Bosingwa is officially my favourite QPR player now :D

The main thing is we are now safe and premier league status is assured. That's all we wanted. It's crazy to to think we are still a chance to finish top 10 after being only 3 points from bottom 90 mins prior. Regardless of the result at home vs arsenal this weekend, we know we are safe so there is no tense last day for us!
 

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Howdy all.
First thing I want to say is 'nah nah nah' to Callum McManaman. You dirty prick, deserved what you got for your Haidara tackel. I hate Wigan now because of that bloody game. Glad to see them go down, even over Sunderland!
 
Howdy all.
First thing I want to say is 'nah nah nah' to Callum McManaman. You dirty prick, deserved what you got for your Haidara tackel. I hate Wigan now because of that bloody game. Glad to see them go down, even over Sunderland!

I feel for whoever goes down but if being honest as long as it's not us - Im happy.
 
I feel for whoever goes down but if being honest as long as it's not us - Im happy.
Meh
I feel for Redding a little I suppose, but even they admit they come up to the ELP sooner than expected. They'll be good in the Championship next year and will probably come up again within a season or two and do a Southampton.
Meh about QPR, good riddance to bad rubbish.
F-bomb dirty dirty Wigan.

But yes happy it wasn't us, though I wasn't worried. Only after Wigan beat West Brom a few weeks ago was I slightly concerned.
 
Howdy all.
First thing I want to say is 'nah nah nah' to Callum McManaman. You dirty prick, deserved what you got for your Haidara tackel. I hate Wigan now because of that bloody game. Glad to see them go down, even over Sunderland!

Too right mate - especially given we had a goal incorrectly ruled off for offside, McManaman got away with nothing for that challenge and they scored the winner from a blatant handball. Was interesting to see that the same linesman who 'saw' the McManaman tackle was the same one who fell over against West Ham when Cisse's shot was 'cleared off the line' despite replays showing it probably had gone over. Even Whelan and Martinez's comments saying that the tackle was fair or that he 'didn't mean it as he's a good boy' were poor. Good riddance to them!
 
I feel for whoever goes down but if being honest as long as it's not us - Im happy.

I have some sympathy for their fans - having been relegated before, we know the pain. I think the figures of Whelan, McManaman and Martinez (like him as a manager apart from his defending of his player regarding this) are the reasons I wanted to see them go down just for a bit of karma/justice.

Earlier in the year I actually hoped Villa would go down as payback for the way some of their fans taunted us on our relegation but ultimately, my dislike of Wigan even outshone my hate for Scumberland (who would have thought that possible!?)
 
Interesting rumours this morning - apparently Mike Ashley's sports direct news hinted that we were interested in signing Wayne Rooney from Man U! Would love him in black and white for sure but his wages would probably be 3 or 4 times our current biggest wage earner surely. Would be less than 1% of truth to this - the club has already said the reports were rubbish.

Though for the optimists out there (as toon fans, we generally always are!) Rooney said in his biography that he seriously considered joining the toon (before eventually choosing Man U) while he was at Everton. I think the chance to be a hero worshipped by the masses would have some appeal to him but there is no way we could afford his transfer fee, let alone his wages withouth MA blowing the bank big time.

Personally, would rather have Carroll back being a local lad, cheaper, younger and a boyhood toon fan but that's just me - looks like he may be off to West Ham anyway.

In other news, Remy was arrested last night on suspicion of rape, given the mercenary chose mega bucks QPR over ambition and the chance to play for a bigger team, seems even moreso that we dodged a bullet here - especially if those reports turn out to be true.
 

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Also, our away kit and GK kit were announced last night.

Not bad I guess - the bright blue Wonga logo (our new sponsor) probably makes it hard to come up with a design that doesn't hurt the retinas. Interested to see what the home kit looks like with the logo...

0,,10278~11937801,00.gif
 
Thanks again for the news updates Tiger,wouldn't want to be maintaining any fictions about Rooney signing;less than 1% will be zero% in this instance.There appear to be a significant number of items which would be up the priorities list before 'Dream Signing' in my estimation.
Watched the win against QPR the other night and we were a long way from scintillating against a side which have been playing some pretty average and error ridden football for some time.
It's great that Ashton has the financial foundations organised,that at least gives rise for some optimism for what can happen over the off-season.
Obviously immense that we avoided the drop(which I always felt confident about).
All digits crossed for an avalanche of good news leading into next year.
 
Thanks again for the news updates Tiger,wouldn't want to be maintaining any fictions about Rooney signing;less than 1% will be zero% in this instance.There appear to be a significant number of items which would be up the priorities list before 'Dream Signing' in my estimation.
Watched the win against QPR the other night and we were a long way from scintillating against a side which have been playing some pretty average and error ridden football for some time.
It's great that Ashton has the financial foundations organised,that at least gives rise for some optimism for what can happen over the off-season.
Obviously immense that we avoided the drop(which I always felt confident about).
All digits crossed for an avalanche of good news leading into next year.

Apparently sports direct news has already apologised for running the story so that puts that one to bed. Definitely would have been a dream sigining though - would love to be able to pull off a huge coup signing one day but without having the hundreds of millions the big clubs have in their coffers, unlikely we will ever see a mega deal involving us unless we are the selling club or we are taken over by some mega bucks owner!

I think next season we should comfortably be pushing for the top 8 with a full squad, less fixtures and a preseason where the new players have integrated and acclimated more. We definitely need 2 strikers, 1 at the absolute very least as well as another CB if Colocinni leaves. Think we could use some more out and out wingers too for some depth as Marveaux and Ben Arfa (our 2 best attacking wide players) are susceptible to injuries and Jonas and Obertan have struggled this year.

Hopefully we can steal a win against Arsenal this weekend and results go our way allowing us to sneak into the top 10. Either way, the end of the season has come at the right time for us as we have a lot of tired, injured and low on confidence/form players (as the QPR game showed). Thankfully we did enough to get the win and stay up but Bosingwa really was the main reason for that.

Hopefully Harper has a great send off this weekend too - 20 years of service to the club and will start in goal for his final game for the club. Has been very loyal and a great professional servant to the team. Hope he gets a big cheer from the crowd. Even better if he can keep a clean sheet :thumbsu:
 
some rumours this morning we are interested in signing Cheikhou Kouyate from Anderlecht in Belgium. Don't know much about him except that he was on Arsenal's radar before and Southampton are also said to be interested. He's 23 and can play as a CB or DM - could be a possible replacement for Colocinni if he leaves in the offseason. Might be another Graham Carr hidden gem.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheikhou_Kouyaté
 
Not loving those Away kits. But then again, not loving the Wonga logo/sponsorship.

I heard that Remy's people were in talk with Newcastle. Hope that's off the card nows!
 
Not loving those Away kits. But then again, not loving the Wonga logo/sponsorship.

I heard that Remy's people were in talk with Newcastle. Hope that's off the card nows!

Yeah agreed on Remy mate - had his chance to join us and chose more money (not like we would have been offering him peanuts for given he was going to cost 8m). Showed the kind of guy he is and we've have had plenty of those grubs in the past just wanting a payday! Would expect no one to pick him up anyway until the rape claims have been resolved.
 

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