Newcastle
League Position - 10th
Current Away Form - W D D W W W
Top Scorers - Martins - 11 goals
Siberski - 7 goals,
Dyer - 5 goals,
Recent Encounters between teams
20-09-06 Newcastle (H) WON 2 - 0 (Kuyt,Xabi Alonso)
19-03-06 Newcastle (A) WON 3 - 1 (Crouch,Gerrard,Cisse)(Ameobi)
26-12-05 Newcastle (H) WON 2 - 0 (Gerrard,Crouch)
05-03-05 Newcastle (A) LOST 0 - 1 (Robert)
19-12-04 Newcastle (H) WON 3 - 1 (Bramble OG,Mellor,Baros)(Kluivert)
Interesting Facts
*Many Newcastle Fans feel Shearer was never as good at Newcastle as he was at Blackburn.
*Newcastle lifted the Intertoto Cup this year, there first trophy for over 50 years.
*Newcastle have the 3rd biggest ground in the Premier League.
*Martins, is the subject of a debate about his real age, his passport says 22, but some believe him to be around 28 years old.
Club Honours
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
1904-05, 1906-07, 1908-09, 1926-27
CHARITY/COMMUNITY SHIELD WINNERS
1909
F.A. CUP WINNERS
1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952, 1955
And now thanks to the utter, utter tits at www.newcastle-online.com
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HOT TOPIC! -NEW!
Your views on our manager calling Everton a "small" club, which obviously they are!
BRUMMIE: There are many more ways to judge the size of a club than crowds. Such as silverware won, for a start. I've no idea what Liverpool's crowds were like in the late 70s and 80s, but I certainly remember how much they won.
I'd also point out that Everton's spell of success coincided with football as a sport being almost dead and crowds everywhere being awful. I always thought that, had they had the chance to compete in it rather than be denied by the post Heysel ban, that Everton side was a banker to win the European Cup.
I think Benitez was probably talking about expectations, and Everton as a "small club" in the sense of a club that would go to Anfield without any real expectations that they could win. That's a description that fits an awful lot of clubs these days, regardless of what size crowds they get.
DAVE:Storm in a teacup tbh. All he said was "When you play against the smaller teams at Anfield you know the game will be narrow.".
Everton are currently smaller than Liverpool.
PARKY:Rafa has yet to be right about anything since he arrived on these shores.
COACH: Everton's pathetic reaction to these nothing quotes does give credence to any notion that they are indeed a small club. However, traditionally they are and always have been a big club. Attendances aren't the true measure of a club's size anyway, but even so historically their average attendance is pretty much the same as ours, 30,000 plus. Just to show how meaningless attendance stats can mean, the number one supported club in the UK's average attendance historically is a mere near 6,000 more than our own figure - Man Utd's. Not a great deal higher is it?!
No, the true measure is success and logngevity at the top and Everton along with Arsenal have enjoyed more years in the top-flight than any other club while success wise they are above us in the table and have won titles in every decade bar the 90s and now the naughties.
That's traditionally, in the age of the history counts for nowt, it is all about image and wealth Premiership then yes, Everton are a small club, but by the same token, these new 'rules' have allowed us to become a big club, or certainly move ahead of clubs like Everton, Villa, Spurs et al who were all previously above us in the reckoning prior to '93.
In short though, the whole big club debate is a load of shit and really, who cares. Those that constantly ask the question whether their club is bigger than what it is or how their club compares alongside others in the "big club" stakes have little syndrome.
What isn't in question here regarding Everton is that they are and always will be the ugly little sister of their neighbours Liverpool who shadow them like a Blue Whale shadowing plankton, as their pathetic reaction to Rafa's comments highlight.
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THE QUESTIONS
Slap bang in the middle of the league at 10th, how happy are you with your teams performances so far this year? What are your hopes for the rest of the year?
MICK: 10th in the league isn't good enough for a club that gets more than 50,000 for most home games although it's better than our performances have probably justified.
We have two major hurdles to overcome, the chairman and the manager. One is a total embarrassment to the club and area, the other is totally out of his depth in the Premiership. No ambitious chairman would replace Souness with Roeder, Shepherd appointed a puppet who will do his best without rocking the boat.
If you're interested in the direction in which Shepherd leads the club then go to http://www.nufcmismanagement.info it'll tell you everything you need to know about that fat ginger-haired love machine.
ALBERTO: Satisfied, considering all the injuries we’ve had and the apparent lack of money that’s been available, i think it’s a solid start. We’rev out of the F.A and League Cup, which is disappointing, but in the last 32 of the UEFA and in with a chance of making the top 6… it could be worse. If we can get through to the latter stages of the UEFA and hopefully get back in for next season we couldn’t ask much more coming from a depleted squad which definitely needs defensive reinforcements.
OzzieMandias:Not very happy, but I didn't have high expectations. At the start of the season I said I thought we'd finish 11th. I still think that's about where we'll probably end up. It's not wildly unrealistic to hope that we'll get a UEFA place, though.
GEORDIESNED:Our form has been patchy to say the least this season, from the lows of losing at home to Sheffield United in one of the worst performances at St James' Park for years and the humiliation in the FA Cup against Birmingham to the relative highs of the wins at Blackburn and Spurs (although we could have actually been 4-0 down within 20 minutes in that one!). My hopes for the season seem to change on a weekly basis at the moment. Following a win I start looking up the table at the European places and an all too often abject defeat leaves me looking nervously down. Realistically, we should be trying to push on for a UEFA Cup place but we're that inconsistent that could be out of our reach.
Michael Owen used to be a hero at Anfield, how do you think he has done so far at Newcastle? Will he ever be the same?
MICK: Signing Owen for so much money was ridiculous, financial suicide. To blow Liverpool out of the bidding by such an amount was the actions of a lunatic. He's an excellent player but we could have done more with the money than buying an injury-prone player who was going to also cost £100,000 per week.
ALBERTO: Time will tell… there’s no doubt he’s a proven goalscorer at any level but it remains to be seen if he’ll play enough games to become a success at Newcastle. In the games he’s already played I don’t think there can be any complaints, he scored pretty much in every game including the hat-trick against West Ham. On the injury, it’s difficult to say if he’ll be the same because he’s had so many injuries in his career but there’s no doubt Mr.Steadman is the best man for the job, if anyone can save his career it’s him.
OzzieMandias:Did great when he actually played. I still wish we'd seen more of a Shearer-Owen partnership; they obviously enjoyed playing together and there was something infectious about that. Owen probably won't ever be the quite same again -- Shearer wasn't, after the injuries he got shortly after joining us -- but you never know. I certainly don't think his career is over yet, and he's certainly intelligent and commited enough to change his game, if that's necessary.
GEORDIESNED:When he's played he's been terrific. But there in lies the problem, we've hardly seen him play! Only time will tell whether or not he'll ever be the same again. He's still young enough for his body to recover but it's very much a case of fingers crossed.
Who has been your best player(s) so far this season?
MICK: The player who has probably had the most impact is Nobby Solano, the defence and team improved when Nobby went to play at the back, not just because of his defending but also because of his passing ability.
ALBERTO: Obviously Obafemi Martins has been a class act for us since he came especially after the criticism he received early on but James Milner is right there up with him, when the games haven’t been going our way he’s the one whos got stuck in and tried to make things happen and him not going to Villa in the summer was massive for us looking back in hindsight. Other mentions such as Kieron Dyer who is finally having a good run without any injuries and not only that scoring a few goals along the way, him and Martins have looked good when played together, Antoine Sibierski, a panic buy many thought including myself has been somewhat of a snip and has scored a few important goals mainly in the UEFA, Nicky Butt’s been much improved, Shay Given and Solano have been consistent as ever but I’d like to see more from our captain Scott Parker.
OzzieMandias:Martins, Dyer, Milner, Butt and, as usual, Given.
GEORDIESNED:Shay Given (again), James Milner and a shock to every Toon fan Nicky Butt
Emre - did he or didn't he?
MICK: He's innocent until proven guilty, if he is guilty then he should be sacked, if he's proven innocent then something should be done to those who made the accusations.
ALBERTO: Only he knows but I’d be extremely disappointed if this was the case, especially taking into account his best mate is supposedly Obafemi Martins, however I’m a bit unsure to whether his disappearance is to do with injury or the racism issue.
OzzieMandias:NO COMMENT
GEORDIESNED:If found guilty then it's hard to defend him but the FA have already hinted that there are discrepencies in the statements given by Everton players. It's also ironic that he should be accused of racism at Goodison Park where according to nufc.com (who I have no reason to doubt) sections of the home support spend 90 minutes making monkey noises at Oba Martins
Liverpool and Newcastle served up a 4 - 3 cracker in the late nineties twice! What are your memories of the games?
MICK: My main memories are of the first game, the main memories were of Keegan burying his head behind the advertising board, also I thought that we were going to at least get a point, and then I thought that if we were playing Liverpool and winning meant that the mackems won the league then I'd rather lose. I couldn't get my head around Liverpool trying so hard to win although they were right to do so.
The second game wasn't as important or as good.
ALBERTO: I wasn’t so old at the time, maybe 11 or something but I definitely remember it, it was devastating and ultimately the time when the fans realised the title was slipping away… the commentary still sticks with me “Barnes..Rush..Collymore closing in” and then the year after I believe Fowler killed us with a late header which is typical Newcastle I guess, I’ll be hoping for a better result when this game comes round.
OzzieMandias:Feeling gutted.
GEORDIESNED:I was at both games and it has to be said that despite the identical scorelines, the games couldn't have been further apart. The first match was an absolute classic and a defeat that left me gutted being that we were going for the title. We didn't deserve to lose one having played some fantastic football. I can still remember all of our goals clearly from that match including one of the best goals I've ever seen by Asprilla. I'm pretty sure that Robbie Fowler "Toxteth prowler" sames the same in his autobiography.
The 2nd match however, despite our comeback , we definitely did deserve to lose. How we managed to score 3 in that game I'll never know as we were awful throughout. Our league position at he time also meant that it didn't hurt as much as the previous season.
What are your views on the current Liverpool squad? If you could have one player till the end of the season who would it be?
MICK: I'd rather have your manager; he'd make a bigger difference than one of your players, not that I have a problem with any of them. I don't rate Crouch but he keeps finding the net so it's hard to fault him, he didn't cost a fortune but does give the team something different which is handy at times.
ALBERTO: I think you can’t look any further than Steven Gerrard, the lads a class act, he’s got everything from tackling to scoring goals and the commitment and drive is something special. Other players would be Jamie Carragher who would be a massive asset to any club but with our defence,he’d be a gem.
OzzieMandias:Gerrard, probably.
GEORDIESNED:Rafa has built a good squad over the last year or so. Kuyt was an excellent signing and whilst I was surprised at the signings of Crouch, Pennant and Bellamy all have proved good buys. I'm sure how much strength you've got in depth though if injuries strike?
As for taking one player off you, well the obvious one would have to be Gerrard, however, given the alarming number of goals our makeshift defence have gifted the opposition this season I think I'd have to go for Jamie Carragher.
Your views on our manager Rafa Benitez?
MICK: He's an excellent manager, a class above anything we've had since Sir Bobby was sacked.
ALBERTO: Love him or hate him you won the Champions League under him which the fans should never forget, winning the Champions League is special at any club and to do it so early in his tenure it was brilliant for Liverpool. I felt this season Liverpool would be much closer to the top but it hasn’t happened for whatever reason, tinkering with players is the common suggestion but I believe this is the guy you should go with if your ambitions are to win the league considering he’s already won the La Liga with Valencia using the same strategies.
OzzieMandias:Good manager, obviously. A bit boring, media-wise, although I suppose that's no bad thing.
GEORDIESNED:Overall he's doing a good job but every now and again some of his decisions leave me baffled. His team selection for the Carling Cup against Arsenal for instance and his use of substitutes is also sometimes baffling.
Newcastles known for its mad fans and its fit birds - what can the travelling Liverpool faithful expect of the Newcastle crowd? Noisy bunch etc. Are the girls as dirty as they sound!?!?!
MICK: They're not all fat; the fat ones are probably just in your face because they have to be to get anybody, the fat ones will take anything on offer.
ALBERTO: Your asking the wrong person as I rarely manage to get down to games due to the location I’m in. Looking at this season’s attendances and the comments some people have made the crowd don’t seem to be as loud as previous years under Sir Bob, I think the Souness era knocked the stuffing out of the atmospehere and with Roeder not been the biggest footballing name it doesn’t seem the same, however the team is the reason for giving the fans something to shout about and with luck they can do that against your lot.
GEORDIESNED:I think the crowd will be up for this one. The atmosphere has been poor for some games this season especially when we've fallen behind. The main reason was that we often couldn't see where an equaliser was coming from. However, we've shown over the last few weeks, with the help of a few key players returning from injury, that we can get goals so even if we fall behind I think the crowd will stick with them. I certainly will!
and finally can you predict the score for the newkit forum?
MICK: 1-3 and a Liverpool win although we do seem to lift our game against the better teams, if Liverpool come at us and keep up the pressure then it could be as big a defeat as against Birmingham.
ALBERTO: I think it’ll be tight as Liverpool are unpredictable at times, especially away from home and I believe we’ll take a point from this seen as we’re at home, 1-1.
OzzieMandias:No.
GEORDIESNED:These ties are generally hard to predict. We need to bounce back from a shocking performance at Fulham and you'll want to get back to winning ways after sharing the spoils with the Scouse Mackems. I'm going to go for 1-1.
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Rafa-Dodd
* Let us know what you think of the "HOT TOPIC" part, I done the questions as per usual and started a new topic for the whole forum to give insight into, as normally a lot dont bother with all the questions.
* Also the worse bunch of fans in the league so far, utter, utter gobshites.
Good work though Rafa , keep it up .
in!
