The Toon Army Thread

[NUFC Tiger]

Wonga can go forth and multiply themselves for mine so no loss there if they don't renew.
The signings on the other hand are fantastic!!
Something has changed and I think it's what you were saying the other day that they have decided there is no room for further fan alienation or at least they need to temper their previous vulgarity with some good news by putting something serious in the team and on the park.If we can add someone like Remy back and another frontman we'll challenge for Champions league as De Jong is saying.
I don't know what has happened behind the scenes but I like what's happening out front.
Thanks for the update NUFC Tiger I had a bloody average day and some good news is just the ticket,cheers.

No worries at all scon - hope you have a better day today mate! (Certainly, if we keep on signing players, it surely will help!). Apparently a fee for Riviere has been agreed with Monaco so a deal might be imminent. 1 more striker (Remy would be my pick where his pace and movement would make our attacking players of Cabella, De Jong and Ben Arfa very fluid and slick).

Just on the Wonga logo, it's a shocker but perhaps it's not so bad next to the alternative...from our friendly last night, Oldham are sponsored by Sports Direct (and for mine, that logo looks even more horrible!)

 

[NUFC Tiger]

By the way, this was leaked last night - rumoured new home kit... I like the black and white stripes but that Wonga logo...

 

[scon]

First friendly last night, 2-1 loss to Oldham that we gave a lot of kids a run out in while getting some fitness into the first team players.

Cracking goal by De Jong though on his debut!



NUFC XI VS OLDHAM

Alnwick
Anita Taylor MYM Dummett
Gouffran Colback Abeid Aarons
De Jong Armstrong

SUBS- Woodman
Haidara Streete Satka Bigirimana
Sammy Vuckic Perez

Most cunning stunt I've seen for a while to get the ball through the wall;we're not gonna miss Cabaye's shooting power,what a ripper.Augurs well for the season and beyond;don't want to hex him but he reminds me of Shearer the way he strikes the ball.
Yeah I'm sure today will be an improvement,was battling new accounts and cyberspace banking conundrums during an unscheduled outage by my bank with shit that had to get done before I fly;6 hrs to achieve what should take 20 mins.Frustrating as all hell but not life threatening.
So now we optimistically await the announcement of some new or recycled strikers....you little beauty!!

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Guardian Hawk

By the way mate - forgot to mention earlier, De Jong scored on debut last night in a friendly vs Oldham. Cracking hit! Hopefully the first of many highlights by our new Dutch maestro.

Most cunning stunt I've seen for a while to get the ball through the wall;we're not gonna miss Cabaye's shooting power,what a ripper.Augurs well for the season and beyond;don't want to hex him but he reminds me of Shearer the way he strikes the ball.
Yeah I'm sure today will be an improvement,was battling new accounts and cyberspace banking conundrums during an unscheduled outage by my bank with shit that had to get done before I fly;6 hrs to achieve what should take 20 mins.Frustrating as all hell but not life threatening.
So now we optimistically await the announcement of some new or recycled strikers....you little beauty!!

Haha indeed! He obviously meant to hit the wall and then smash the rebounder into the top corner! Clever set piece Very Shearer-esque as you say, power and precision in equal parts! Excited to see more to come.

Eesh, that does sound pretty frustrating mate! Thankfully the Toon seem to be giving us all a bit of cheer and optimism this preseason though (would have been more painful if it happened during the second part of last season!)

 

[Gameova_]

Agreed on Carroll - I don't think he ever really got a decent chance to make it at Liverpool unfortunately. When you guys were selling him, I would have loved to have taken him back but probably not at the price being mentioned and what West Ham spent for him. Maybe 1 day he will come home though!

The Carroll sale will be very interesting to read if he ever publishes an autobiography. From his version of events, he apparently never wanted to be sold but the club forced him out the door - he had quite a bit of time left on his deal I think and if he had stuck to his guns, I doubt the club would let him rot in the reserves given he was our best striker by some margin. The club on the other hand (from memory) said Carroll put a transfer request in when he heard of Liverpool's interest and tried to force the move and the club reluctantly agreed to sell him but only after trying to scare Liverpool off with a heavy price tag (apparently upped to $35m from the $30m bid initially put in). Given the lack of trust most Toon fans hold for the current regime, I think most would prefer/probably lean towards Carroll's version of events (though if he was adamant he wanted to stay, he could have refused to discuss terms with Liverpool and effectively stopped the deal).

Don't worry too much about it mate - 12 months after that game, you guys came back and tonked us 6-0 from memory (and Enrique got his chance to rub some salt in haha).

He looked very soulless, isolated and unhappy when he joined us. Almost like his soul was taken from him this is the impression I got from the year and a half he was here, as well as the first interview he gave on the night he joined us. He seemed to be pushing through a forced smile the whole time in the first interview, it was only hours after he moved. As fans we usually know when a player is happy to be at our club or not. That's how I felt with Carroll nothing against the guy I didn't think he'll ever be good enough he just seemed as I said isolated and lazy the whole time. He just seemed like someone who just wanted to go home.... home to Newcastle.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

6 signings!? Has someone stolen Mike Ashley's cheque book?

Emmanuel Riviere the latest addition - looks a pretty big and solid lad. Should be a good target man for us now that Shola has left!

 

[NUFC Tiger]

He looked very soulless, isolated and unhappy when he joined us. Almost like his soul was taken from him this is the impression I got from the year and a half he was here, as well as the first interview he gave on the night he joined us. He seemed to be pushing through a forced smile the whole time in the first interview, it was only hours after he moved. As fans we usually know when a player is happy to be at our club or not. That's how I felt with Carroll nothing against the guy I didn't think he'll ever be good enough he just seemed as I said isolated and lazy the whole time. He just seemed like someone who just wanted to go home.... home to Newcastle.

Yeah, that's what a few folks I know also thought northmelbournefc. From most accounts of people who know Carroll, he was reportedly gutted to have been forced out of his home city, from his friends and family and his boyhood club. Being our number 9 at the time would also have been a bitter blow for him as that is the number any Toon fan wants to wear when they dream of playing for us. Interesting to see how the rumours of a possible return may pan out - personally can't see it happening but then again, I didn't expect to sign 6 players this window

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Debuchy has signed for Arsenal for a reported $12m fee - good bit of business for the club as we make a profit on him as well as that fee covering both his replacement (Janmaat) and another striker (Riviere) with a bit of change leftover.

Great player on his day and I wish him the best!

Interesting news that our squad for the NZ tour will be missing Krul and Tiote (both extra rest due to WC involvement) and Ben Arfa apparently for returning to the club overweight (not sure if this is another attempt to try and force him out by management...).

 

[scon]

I don't think Andy Carroll will ever reach the heights he would have had he remained a Magpie;took it too personally(quite understandable given his background and loyalty.He expected honour and integrity which was never gonna happen in the face of Liverpool's silly-money offer.
Future doesn't look too bright for Ben Arfa I'll agree,which is a shame cos he certainly had the talent to be something.Riviere looks OK I'll just wait and see how he adjusts.He won't be brushing EPL centre halves aside with the same ease as is shown in his highlights,but the speed and skillbase is there so fingers crossed.Can't remember who our last tumbling-goal-celebrator was??Nobby Solano used to jump about didn't he??
Overall though the off season has been out of this world and out of the blue.Cashley must've dropped his cheque book and Graham Carr has swooped on it to "live the dream"

 

[NUFC Tiger]

I don't think Andy Carroll will ever reach the heights he would have had he remained a Magpie;took it too personally(quite understandable given his background and loyalty.He expected honour and integrity which was never gonna happen in the face of Liverpool's silly-money offer.
Future doesn't look too bright for Ben Arfa I'll agree,which is a shame cos he certainly had the talent to be something.Riviere looks OK I'll just wait and see how he adjusts.He won't be brushing EPL centre halves aside with the same ease as is shown in his highlights,but the speed and skillbase is there so fingers crossed.Can't remember who our last tumbling-goal-celebrator was??Nobby Solano used to jump about didn't he??
Overall though the off season has been out of this world and out of the blue.Cashley must've dropped his cheque book and Graham Carr has swooped on it to "live the dream"

I'm pretty curious to see Riviere in action! Apparently he's faster than Gouffran in terms of pace but has quite a strong physique as well. As you say Scon, will be a big challenge for him trying to adapt to the physicality of the EPL. Certainly seems to have the physical attributes but it's a big step up in terms of physicality. Interesting to note he was Monaco's leading scorer with 10 goals from 19 games (more than Falcao and Rodriguez, though Falcao missed half a year with injury). I think Riviere will either be a great signing or an average one (could be very hit and miss).

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Obviously can't compare the quality of the Eredivisie with the premiership but, interesting comparison between Janmaat and Debuchy which is encouraging.

A couple of interesting possible lineups I saw someone post - not a bad looking team on paper!

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Oh and this too! Stark contrast to last year's window! The funny thing is I still feel we will bring in maybe another 1 or 2!

 

[scon]

Must get the title as the world's greatest and most inspirational fan;Vale RIP.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/football/10285854/
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/first-picture-newcastle-united-fan-7452089

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Must get the title as the world's greatest and most inspirational fan;Vale RIP.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/sport/football/10285854/
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/first-picture-newcastle-united-fan-7452089

Saw that scon! Very sobering news to end an otherwise great week for the club. A real shame to hear they were going half way around the world to see their beloved Toon play only for this to happen.

Incredible loyalty and support there from John as well. To miss only one game since 1973 is an amazing effort. A huge loss for the Toon army. I liked the comment where someone suggested for fans to wear suits for the opening home game in memory of them. Simple and would be quite fitting.

RIP Gents, up there with Sir Bobby now fellas!

Some great tributes from some of the players though which always are nice to see in such unfortunate events and remind us we are all one and many, the Toon army!

 

[scon]

50,000 bags of fruit!Get it done.

 

[Gameova_]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-28383787

 

[NUFC Tiger]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-28383787

Great gesture from the Sunderland fans. Incredible effort and massive respect to them! Posted these in the pics thread but thought I'd share them here as well. 2 rival cities in mourning. Lovely words from a Sunderland page below as well.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Newcastle Under 21s lost 2-0 to Gateshead with both Ferguson and Bigirimana featuring.

http://www.shieldsgazette.com/sport...ys-maddison-and-mcdermott-on-target-1-6738602

In football news, Pardew has said we haven't finished our business just yet so we might be expecting a few more new faces to come in. Young promising junior Danny Ings from Burnley seems to be getting a lot of speculation at the moment.

 

[scon]

[/QUOTE]
That's just superb!
Encapsulates so much,so well!
I tip my hat to that person.Tough,hard in opposition and tougher in unity.
I'm in Thailand at the moment and am watching ABC international broadcast.They're showing footage of the floral tributes at Sir Bobby's statue.
They've got Liverpool v Preston North End live.I'm here for another week or two so I'm hoping they might show some of the NUFC games from across the ditch.Probably dreaming but that's because I'm just a wee bit addicted.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

That's just superb!
Encapsulates so much,so well!
I tip my hat to that person.Tough,hard in opposition and tougher in unity.
I'm in Thailand at the moment and am watching ABC international broadcast.They're showing footage of the floral tributes at Sir Bobby's statue.
They've got Liverpool v Preston North End live.I'm here for another week or two so I'm hoping they might show some of the NUFC games from across the ditch.Probably dreaming but that's because I'm just a wee bit addicted.[/QUOTE]

Read this morning the Sunderland donations have hit just under $20,000 which is a massive effort!

Wow, sounds like it might be a bit warmer over there scon (compared to here in Melbourne!). Hope you enjoy it over there mate, maybe you'll bump into some of the Thai Toon army. I believe our friendlies will be televised on Fox Sports here in Australia so you might get lucky given how much Asia (and the rest of the world) seem to love the EPL!

I'm super keen to see some of the new boys in action, this transfer window has definitely given my Toon interest levels a big boost!

Some rumours we might be looking to bring Carroll back for a cool $15m. I'd love him back in the black and white stripes but for 15m, I'd not be so interested given he's had a lot of injury problems since leaving us. Maybe if the fee was closer to $10m. Personally, not sure that rumour has much substance though - maybe just paper talk to sell papers

 

[scon]

Should use some of that money to put a cracker in Putin's clacker!
I'll have a look at Foxsports programme guide and get the games recorded back in Oz if they're on.Cheers for that.
Yeah nice and warm here and you're right there's EPL club shirts everywhere over here but I haven't sighted one of ours yet.
Carroll was only just starting to develop when he left.Was it Dalglish who wanted him so badly??Someone saw something pretty serious to pay the silly money they paid and then injuries.So the jury's still out in a way but I wouldn't be rushing to sign him for that money;depends who else is available for a similar fee.
Remy is the best I know of who might be gettable.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

No worries! It's definitely being televised by someone as I believe Sydney FC were going to be watching the game at their supporter's pub. Hopefully I can find a stream to watch it myself .

Agreed on Carroll, in hindsight, Liverpool paid overs for Carroll but they had sold Torres and he was seen as their replacement for the next decade. From what I'm reading, it seems Liverpool are the front runners for Remy now but hopefully we can come in and nab him (though I suspect them offering champions league football will give them a big edge, though he'd be a guaranteed starter for us whilst he might have to sit on the bench for them). The boy from Lyon we were also getting linked with Lacazette looks like he will be staying put so it might be out of Remy, Carroll or this youngster Ings (who's unproven in the top flight) unless Graham Carr pulls someone out of thin air!

Looks like the club is also ramping up their attempts to force Ben Arfa and Marveaux out by not giving them shirt numbers for this coming season (according to reports in France at least).

 

[scon]

The club does play a risky game the way it offers those really long contracts to new signings.Even Pardew is contracted until he's in a zimmerframe.
Things simply aren't that predictable and guaranteed no matter how good Graham Carr might be.Ben Arfa does have workrate issues and may never fulfil his potential because of them,but that's what good managers do:improve and develop the players in their squad.Obertan's another one who was given some stupid bloody contract on high wages for 5 or 6 years or something daft.
I can understand them offering lucrative long-term deals to proven quality but when they had Remy they didn't do it??
All too hard for this little black duck to follow

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Yeah, I think most of our new signings are on 6 year deals...the cynic in me reckons that is just to give Mike Ashley a stronger hand if another club comes sniffing and wants to buy them. 'Hopefully', they don't turn out to be flops though otherwise we may have a hard time trying to clear them off the wage bill!

Saw this over lunch, good to see the traveling Toon army setting up shop and making themselves feel at home

Also, the club may be right about Ben Arfa returning from his break a bit overweight judging by this pic

 

[NUFC Tiger]

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spor.../meet-newcastle-uniteds-secret-weapon-7459756

Like the sound of this guy! Could prove to be our best signing this window