RANTINGS OF A MAGPIES SUPPORTER

Magpies managerless..

2008-01-14T23:38:00.000+08:00

And what's new? The magpies seeks a new manager to take over the reigns at St.James Park.. I hope we attract a really2 good manager.. Please, no more Souness's or Roeder's.. Give us some one who was won silverware by the bucket load! Any one below will truly make my day.. Shearer has never managed any team you say, well.. in our case, he's 'the' special one.. =)

My Gran Turismo 4 Guide [Part 1]

2007-11-28T21:23:00.000+08:00

Gran Turismo 4 or GT4 for short is a kick ass racing simulation game for the PS2. For seasoned players who played GT 1,2 & 3, it wont be a problem unlocking the prize cars and getting enough dough to have that dream cars in your garage. For beginners though, landing $4.5 Million to buy the Toyota GT One is a humongous task when you start of with zero cars and $30,000! Fret not! My guide will help you rake in the money quickly.

The Toyota GT One..

With your initial money of $30k, get a $10k-$15k Skyline in the Used Car Dealer, then with the remaining money, upgrade your car's turbo stage to atleast 2 (3 or 4 would be better but you cant afford it unless you played GT3 before which means you can transfer 100k to your GT4 savegame and that gives you a $130k startup money instead of $30k!).. Tyre & brake upgrades are important too.. Get Soft Racing tyres and Racing brakes as it will help alot during those sharp corners.. Dont forget to give your car a wash and an oil change!

Next, take your car and race in the Japanese Championship under the Japanese Events section.. Once you complete the race by winning all 5 races you'll get the cool 350Z Concept LM Race Car. If your driving skill sucks and you cant win the races, use B-Spec and just be like a pit marshall and direct the races for the AI driver.. Repeat this event several times, keep the first 350Z Concept, sell the second one you get and upgrade your first 350Z Concept with stage 3/4 turbo.. Now you will just smoke the competition with this 350Z Concept for most of the beginner race events.. The 350Z sells for a cool $340k if i'm not mistaken.. So you will need to win the Jap event 4 times.. Why 4? 1st prize car for you to keep, 2nd to be sold off and use the $$$ as your upgrade funds and 3-4 to accumulate $700k so that you can get another super car to be your trump card in higher level race events..

350Z Concept LM Race Car, this car rocks!

The car that you need to buy is the Audi A4 Touring Car! Get it from the Audi showroom which sells it for $450k.. Max the car in the tune shop.. Give it max turbo upgrade.. And finally you can join (and win!) the mother of all money maker race events! The Deutsche Touring Car Meisterschaft race which can is located in the European Events.. The Audi will smoke the competition in B-Spec (set it at 5/Push and Overtake) and the prize car you are gonna get is the AMG Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car worth $700k++! Winning the car + championship money will give you close to a cool $1 Million for every round you win it.. Complete it 5 times and say hello to the Toyota GT One in your garage! =)

Audi A4 Touring Car, your top cash cow for this game!

So thats all folks on how to earn money in GT4! I'll explain further on the tricky spots in the game later on.. Good luck to all you racers! Couch racers that is.. =P

1 year on and we still SUCK!

2007-11-27T20:41:00.000+08:00

I gave up updating this blog a year ago.. The team was shambolic and poor then.. It's still poor today.. Nothing much to add.. The Portsmouth 1-4 mauling at home and 0-3 lost to Liverpool just recently really outlined our Euro credentials.. I hope Allardyce goes to manage England before the next transfer windows open! With the likes of Capello and Maurinho not in anyone's payroll.. We should atleast try our luck and sign them as our next saviour..

McLaren: "It's all up to you now Sam.."

On another note.. I'm making changes to this blog's concept.. No more pure rantings of my frustration on the inept team i currently support! It's time to talk about other things in life too.. Not in the tones of 'why are we here' or 'what's the meaning of life' ofcourse! I know my way around several stuff and i would really2 like to share what i know with you readers out there.. It will range from PC related stuff to cars.. So dont fret if you see me posting something about a broken engine mounting soon! =P

A Good Week

2006-11-28T10:07:00.000+08:00

Another one from Sibi!

3 games played since my last post but after each game i thought the team was getting better and better hence the non appearence of my rantings. Against Arsenal lady luck shone brightly for us when a pummeling was on the cards.. Against Celta Vigo and Pompey both pundits predicted the Magpies will be defeated by a single goal margin.. Were they terribly wrong! Eat yer words yer wankers!! With Dyer onboard, Newcastle looked a diferent team.. His workrate is an absolute gem linking up the midfield with the strikers.. It's what we've been missing all this while.. The game was really entertaining too! Let's hope we go on a good run and start climbing the league table..

Man City 0 - 0 Newcastle, 11/11/06

2006-11-14T09:27:00.000+08:00

A rare early kickoff meant i was full of energy when the game started at 9pm Malaysian time.. Fully anticipating a no holds barred encounter between 2 teams badly in need of a win, i was left fuming when the first half was over. Chances were few and far between with the game not even flowing at a decent rate. Bore draw was written all over it. Second half came and went and suprisingly Newcastle played the best football of their season in the last 5 minutes of the second half when chances after chances were created but no one could put it away. Dyer came on as a substitute and his trademark burst and short passes injected the much needed drive to win matches. Sadly his team mates were as determined as ever to NOT show any determination in winning games!

Richards brushes off Milner

Starting a half fit Shola rather then Rossi or Luque just shows that Roeder has totally lost the plot. With Luque now publicly stating he wants a January move, we'll be lamenting what could have been come May when we are still short of strikers and Luque picked up where he left and bangs more goals in La Liga. The January transfer window cant come soon enuff, it'll be Roeder's last chance salon to prove his worth and get the magpies some really good defensive signings, failure to do so and relegation is a possibility with his name tarnished beyond repair..

Watford 2 - 2 Newcastle(5-4), 07/11/06

2006-11-14T09:19:00.000+08:00

Sibierski heads the lead

Against a team tipped for relegation, Newcastle just managed to pip them for a spot in the last 8 of the league cup through penalties, but not before trumpeting it was a marginally deserved win. What the hell has the team come to? From a top 4 side to now this? Happy for a slim win over the likes of Watford? We've drawn Chelsea next! That's just great, a very slim chance to progress indeed but atleast that game will be shown live unlike this game. Will that game be pleasent viewing, most probably NOT if current performance is anything to go by. The heroics of Harper and Parker manage to delay the unavoildable.. Tick tock tick tock.. The clock is ticking for Roeder..

Newcastle 0 - 1 Sheff Utd, 04/11/06

2006-11-06T14:03:00.000+08:00

When will he ever get it right??

A clueless and inept performance not only from the whole team but the manager too! Picking a 4-5-1 approach against a team not having won an away game and even scored an away goal from the start of the season really dumbfounded me. We should have gone 4-4-2! With Duff returning to the left, milner on the right, Luque playing in the hole and Rossi up front! It would have made everyone playing in their favourite positione! Duff & Milner would be able to run at the opposition's back, Luque would be able to make use of his long range shooting abilities while Rossi, an intelligent player could try to sneak in, control a pass well and execute a well placed shot. I'm not plucking things out of thin air here.. It's what they are good at based on the matches I've seen them play.. The more Roeder insist the players of playing to his approach of long balls and low quality crosses the more we suck and loose games! His apparent bias at selecting Zogbia even when he's not delivering the good stuff on the left wing really irks me too. Its time he goes back to the basics and plays everyone in their best position! Moore and Bramble should be droped too because we are consistently loosing games with this CB pairing! Go for Taylor and Ramage you nitwit!

Somebody's head will roll.. Soon..

The game was a bore to watch and i nearly doze off! This game was shown live at 1am in the morning! I was thinking of going to sleep when Sheff Utd struck.. Sigh.. Looks like the Palermo game was another false dawn.. Or was it the 6 changes made for this game was the cause of the lost? Who knows and i dont give a damn! With the names on the team sheet, we should have won against a team of mostly Championship material but sadly, most of the players was found wanting with Parker and Duff the major culprits.. No point rambling on about how they suck so much, we lost out to a team without an away win all season! Typical Newcastle, when a team needs a break or wants to break a duck, just wait for the match against Newcastle, we will surely do you guys a favour! Boos was aplenty at the end of the game, some going to the extent of making a loud gathering seeking Shepherd's removal.. Sad day indeed..

Palermo 0 - 1 Newcastle, 02/11/06

2006-11-06T13:43:00.000+08:00

Luque's flying but Roeder doesn't care

Against all odds and fielding half the team of of non-regular players, Newcastle managed to pull of one of the suprise victories for all european matches played that night. Luque was handed a start and played well in patches but what's important is he manage to score the winning goal.Tim Krul was another shining example with a very good perfomance for someone making a debut on a european night, away from home and with the home team expected to win big. The defence which contained Bramble from start till finish managed to hold out for the win eventhough they were bombarded in the second half, and when they failed, in comes Tim Krul with several top drawer saves. It's too early to tell but in him i think we have a good replacement for given and harper in a few years time. I didn't catch the full game as this game was shown as a delayed match at 8am in the morning when i'm well on my way to the office!! Oh Astro please show replays at more appropriate times! :(

Newcastle 0 - 0 Charlton, 28/10/06

2006-11-05T03:22:00.000+08:00

The keeper gets a mouthful from Rossi

Finally a match shown live on our shores, at 12midnite! oh well.. better then nothing.. Playing against a team from the bottom 3, it should be easypickings for all 3 points, but i was wrong.. Newcastle United struggled to beat a team of average joes which makes me wonder, are our team full of average joes too? Bramble was restored in the starting lineup and the customary lapse of concentration happened in the 60th minute but lucky for us, Bent sent his shot wide.. We were not punished this time.. Solano too was poor.. After plundering 2 goals in midweek he was wasteful in his distribution of the ball in this game,quality delivery in the final third was lacking and he just cant track back fast enough.. Nzogbia is another player guilty of being wasteful too.. He's too easily dispossesed.. Duff and Rossi deserves a mention for being a handful in this game but still the winning goal eludes them both.. I hope we have better luck infront of goal in our next game against Palermo.

Newcastle 3 - 0 Portsmouth, 25/10/06

2006-10-29T14:09:00.000+08:00

Again! Not shown live here.. :( but hey we won! :) Rossi started and played well while Solano grabbed a brace.. Now that's rare.. Too bad Luque didnt get the chance to play while Dyer in on the comeback trail with 30 minutes of football! Let's hope this will be the start of a decent run of results or Roeder could be in trouble by January.. :O

Boro 1 - Newcastle 0, 22/10/06

2006-10-29T13:15:00.000+08:00

No points for guessing who's blaming who

The game was not even shown delayed! Bummer.. Had to stay up till 1.30am to catch Final Score only to see that we lost by a single goal.. Woodgate had a good game based on the match report but sadly not our defence as usual.. With Bramble demoted to the bench, we were still prone to conceding in the final minutes of the game when Yakubu powered a header while unmarked in the penalty area.. Game over..

Newcastle 1 - Fenerbache 0, 19/10/06

2006-10-20T10:30:00.000+08:00

Rejoice! Rejoice Newcastle fans for Shambles is not in the starting line-up!! Ramage and Taylor were both given the chance in the absence of Bramble and Moore while Duff was made leftback for tonite's match! Carr remains on the rightback slot.. The game was shown live here at 3am in the morning, thanks Astro! It would have been painful watching had Bramble made the start but thankfully Roeder came to his senses and benched the awful centreback wannabe..

Emre tussling for the ball

The game was played at an entertaining pace but the end product of both teams were duly missing.. Few clear cut chances were created and the best of the first half fell to Taylor in injury time! Sibierksi tried to linkup play between Martins and the midfielders but honestly he did JUST ok.. The defence played as a unit, thankfully Ramage came to the rescue on several occasions when Taylor was left for dead or made an awful lunge at Kezman or Alex.. Butt came in the 50th+ minute for Emre who got off injured, he performed ok by making some decent tackles and mistimed a few too! Most probably caused by his rustiness of being on the bench most of the time.. Solano came in for the ineffective Zoggy and later Shola for Martins..

We deserved all 3 points with a disciplined perfomance but against a side which gameplan is to get 1 point, we could have scored more if our wingers today were better players! Zoggy and Milner was just poor.. They didn't lack in determination, just that the crosses from both flank was totally predictable! Many opportunities in the final 3rd were wasted by the lack of quality.. Let's hope we continue to improve as a team and grab another great result in this week's derby!

Newcastle 1 - Bolton 2, 15/10/06

2006-10-16T01:15:00.000+08:00

How do i start this post? It's another superbly dissapointing game to watch and seeing Roeder field Bramble back at the centre of defence sends me praying to god, oh please not another game.. In the dead.. What i feared happened again, all too many times.. We shot ourselves in the foot.. For how many times i just dont care.. Bramble can go home tonight and i sincerely hope he contemplates to shoot himself in the head.. What a dumbass moron.. You dont event deserve to play in league 1.. how bout division 2?

'Use your head Roeder, Bramble is crap!' is probably the intended message

Sure we deservedly won a penalty and Shola tuck it away but it was downhill since the start of the second half.. Both forwards was anonymous.. Most suprisingly, the most underperformed player in a black & white shirt for tonite is Parker! Our captain! What happened to you? There was no passion or inspiration in his performance tonite.. Combine that with our preference for comical defending, we conceded 2 super sloppy goals in a space of 2 minutes!! Yup.. Just 2 minutes is all it takes to undone all the hard work done in the first half..

Crudely done? Yes, but strong indication of his current popularity nonetheless

Bramble goes to sleep for the first goal! What else is new.. Roeder.. please have your head re-examined.. your tumour might be coming back since you blatantly cant see how absolute crap Bramble's defending is.. For the second goal, i tried my best not to put the blame on Bramble, i was asking where was Carr when Diouf sneaked in the back post but alas the pundits corrected me with several replays and putting the 2nd goal blame squarely on Bramble's shoulder when he left Diouf to attack the ball, completely missed it and gave Diouf a free header for his second of the night.. Thanks Bramble! I could always count on you to fuck up our chances of winning a game.. Please do lots of the geordie fans a favour by dropping dead tonite and never ever wear the black n white shirt again!

Man Utd 2 - 0 Newcastle Utd, 01/10/06

2006-10-02T14:40:00.000+08:00

Nothing new to report here! NOT suprisingly we lost to a far superior team who looks well organized and fluent in their attacking forays while the Magpies sadly, looked out of depth. Playing 4-5-1 to crowd out the midfield only worked till the 41st minute when ManU scored but evidently from the kickoff, the Magpies was on the backfoot all the way through the game.. The goal frame made 4 saves itself(could be deemed our 12th player on the field) while Harper too, was busy in keeping the score down. We are lucky to escape with a 2-0 defeat. Roeder must be pleased!

Ronaldo cant believe the linesman missed The Stevie Taylor Show!

We are very very lucky Shambles er i mean Bramble is not on the team sheet. This gives Taylor the chance to partner Moore while Ramage is pushed to the leftback slot, Carr makes up the back four. Our backfour sucks! Ronaldo was running rings around Carr, Moore lost concentration on a couple of times including causing the first goal when he played Solksjaer onside! All the other 3 defenders were 5 yards up the pitch while Moore was in no mans land watching Ole stabs the first in. 1-0 to ManYoo and Moore, you SUCK! We nearly conceded a penalty in the second half when Taylor handled the ball but his theatrical fall manage to con the ref into thinking it hit his stomach.. Oh what did i do in this life to deserve watching that? The acting was awful and blatant, i would never condone it even if its done by the team i support. And since this is his second stint at acting, how bout a video review and a ban? What? What kind of supporter am i? I support the team you nitwit! Not players who underperform, gives the team a bad name and made us the laughing stock of the english premiereship football!

Ameobi was half fit and he's prefered over Martins and Luque?? Roeder sometimes you amazes me with your blind faith in your players, did they pay you back? We lost, so guess not!! Even when martins came in and the team switched to 4-4-2, we defended too deep because of our lousy back four. The midfielders drop deep to help out which in turn causes the front two to be deprived of any decent service! We should start playing to our strength and let the defence sort themselves out.. Loosing 4-2 would've been better then 2-0 cos atleast we showed we can score!! A 2-0 scoreline with 85 minutes spent in our own half is depressing viewing even for the most optimistic supporter. Just ship Shola for the hip op ASAP and let Luque partner Martins for 5 straight games! Now thats the true meaning of having faith in your players, like what Mourinho is currently doing with Shevchenko!

Newcastle 2 - 1 Talinn, 28/09/06

2006-09-29T09:09:00.000+08:00

We won and soccernet screws up.. A minor one atleast.. Refer to the headings of the screenshot below to see what i mean.. :) Why does this matter? Well thats because the game wasnt shown live and the first piece of news i read about the game is on that page.. Anyway, after reading how we performed.. I fear the worst for our team come this Sunday.. Away to Old Trafford!

Finally the backflip is executed infront of the Gallowgate end! :)

We played so badly against a small team for the first half and Harper conceded a soft goal.. Thankfully the second half was better with Martins getting a brace.. His finishing i read, was quite good.. Lets hope there will be more to come from Martins.. And how about the coming game this weeked? I'm predicting a 4-1 defeat for the magpies.. Call me what you want but i will never be a naive and unrealistic supporter.. We can win this game? Dream on! Not with the current defence and maybe.. THE MANAGER! Come on! Prove me i'm wrong Roeder, i would absolutely love it..

Newcastle 1 - 1 Everton, 24/09/06

2006-09-25T12:27:00.000+08:00

Bramble is a pathetic & stupid centreback!! Not only was he bailed out 3 times by parker of his mistakes at the back, he even manage to get sent off later! What a retarded idiotic baboon! WTF! Sell him in January please!! He's a liability to the team and with him around, it effects others! Look at Moore, his performance in this game is strewn with errors, poor man marking, poor passess, in no mans land, etc.. Hell we have the poorest centreback pairing in the english premiere league! The only reason we are not rock bottom is because of the contribution of our midfielders (esp. parker) and forwards.. Our back four are relegation material PERIOD! It's evident Roeder cant 'work' his magic on our current centrebacks, so he should either ship them out or you Mr.Roeder are just as clueless as previous managers in knowing the importance of getting a good pair of centrebacks! And i really would write this season off if you continue giving unwarranted loyalty to a pathetic excuse of a centreback, Titus Bramble! It wont be long before the fans calls for your head!

The look tells it all!

And a deserving mention for Bramble from soccernet who picks Bramble to be in their team of the week FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS! Here's the text:

"Titus Bramble was at the heart of everything Everton did well in the 1-1 draw with Newcastle. The Magpies defender let his man go on multiple occasions, failed to make key tackles, could have concede a penalty, stood and watched as Tim Cahill headed Everton's goal at the back post and then got sent-off......this is Team Of The Weak isn't it?"

The game was end to end stuff indeed but were damn lucky it's Everton on 4-5-1 that we are up against.. If its Arsenal, we would have lost by atleast 6 goals! The defence was ultra crap.. There was no genuine creativity from every deparment of the team, the keeper was kicking the ball way upfield and returning possesion to everton super quick, the defence keeps lumping long balls, the wingers was delivering hopefull low quality crosses into the box and the forwards wasted a lot of chances.. Again.. only the pair of Parker and Emre deserves any credit for giving the gameplay any sense of meaning and industry.. How bout the manager? I havent write anything bad bout Roeder yet but my gut feeling tells me it wont be long, i cant believe he didnt say a word about Bramble's super poor performance in todays game report! I wish i could knock some sense into his head! Bramble sucks big time! Tell it like it is and stop protecting him!

Liverpool 2 - 0 Newcastle, 20/09/06

2006-09-21T17:08:00.000+08:00

We lost because we were second best in every department(eventhough we had decent calls for a penalty or two). Watching Ameobi mindlessly working his same old routine is tiring. Where is the talent? The exciting attacking flair we crave so much? There was not much trust between the midfielders that they rather pass it back to the defence who then lump it upfield, we lose posession like 30 times by doing this! I am tired of watching this kind of football, it just sucks.. Emre did well when he had the ball and so should have been given more of it but instead he had to come within 5ft of our own player to ask for the ball!? come on! cant we pass it to him further up the field when he can do more damage?? parker was playing DM so it is understandable he's further down the pitch but with emre constantly nearby, we are always too far back and this gives ample time for liverpool to reorganize and defend.

Alonso did well to execute a perfect through pass but finnan still had to find a pass to beat 2 defenders before kuyt could get to the end of it which in fact he did. It was easy to spot that ramage and moore was man marking and when the cross came both attackers switched resulting in kuyt moving to the near post while bellamy going far, this leaves moore on the wrong side of kuyt to block his attempt. it was poor, an intelligent pairing would've gone zonal to cover for that low cross.. And who was suppose to man mark an overlapping fullback? Our left winger, Mr. Duff! :(

Liverpool was not at their best, they were shaky and we played right into their hands by not going forward enough. The defence was overworked, Emre and Parker did ok but our wingers and forwards was totally anonymous! Its just sad to see that the team is not good enuff to compete with one of the big boys when the big boy has a day off!

The look on that face is priceless!

Finally the sucker punch! Alonso scores with a lob from inside his own centre circle!! Harper was scrambling back and slipped. COME ON!! That was a very poor goal to concede! Sure some people will say it was sublime, sublime? come on.. it was just a lob and it bounced before going in.. If it was a screamer from the middle of the pitch and ended at the top corner, now THAT is sublime! This is just a normal lob aided by a clumsy keeper!! I just pray the team will fare better against Everton..

West Ham 0 - 2 Newcastle, 17/09/06

2006-09-18T12:07:00.000+08:00

Martins scored the 2nd goal!

We won! It's confirmed! We are West Ham bogey team! The last time they won against us was 5 years ago! And since we won, this entry will be a short one! Heheh.. Both of our big buys got off the mark.. Duff's goal was wicked while Martins's finish was super cool.. The workmanlike performance of each player contributed significantly for our win.. The were no excuses from the hammers like 'newcastle was lucky to get 3 points' whatsoever.. We edged them out in every department and got a deserved win! I hope we will produce the same performance for the next game against Liverpool.

Ratings:-
Given - 7.5, Did well when called upon, to bad got injured at the end
Babayaro - 8, Performed well at the back n going forward! Rare indeed..
Carr - 8, Used his brain more then usual, starting to look like a good right back!
Ramage - 7.5, First composed performance at the heart of the defence
Moore - 7, Did well but not 100% error free perfromance
Duff - 8.5, Scored! Looks like nearing his best anytime soon!
Milner - 8, More inventive with the ball, doesnt loose it and tracks back well!
Emre - 7.5, Worked the midfield well, nice long range shots..
Parker - 8, Played DM and made some bone crunching tackles!
Ameobi - 7.5, Kept the hammers defence busy, holds the ball well too
Martins 8.5, Made several good attempts before scoring the 2nd!

Subs
Butt - 6, Came in the 90th minute, sit back n relax :)
Sibierski - 6, Replaced tiring Ameobi, didnt get much service
Harper - 6, Made some routine saves

Levadia 0 - Newcastle 1, 14/09/06

2006-09-15T09:46:00.000+08:00

This UEFA Cup game was shown live on ASTRO! Thank you ASTRO!! Too bad when the game ended I was not in a happy mood. Based on the performance of the Magpies team, Levadia were unlucky not to get away with a point. The defending was comical as ever! We are talking a game versus an Estonian team here! Newcastle was in control most of the time but when Levadia got forward and into our final 3rd, the defence looked jittery and was carved out too easily.. We were lucky the finishing of the Levadia forwards were awful! Thank god Bramble was substituted but then it got me worried cos Ramage was pushed in to CB(bummer!) and Duff was pushed to left back!! What the hell.. Zoggy is the one who is supposed to drop down to LB and let Duff move to the left wing.. But it doenst matter cos both was dissapointing on the left flank. Milner who came in for Bramble started brightly but wasnt really effective on the right flank.

Once we are 1 goal up, the whole team seemed to relax and started playing 'exhibition football'! There wasnt much intent on getting more goals which really got me pissed off.. Sibierski got off the mark on the 10th minute but after that he completely disappeared from the game. It was left to Martins to create his own half chances, his finishing still needs more polishing based on a few snap shots he executed.

The second half was a total bore. Butt was the second substitute to come on and didnt do much. Luque came for the final 10 minutes and did ok, he did whip in a wicked cross from the left but no one got to the end of it. He's quality alright, give him more playtime Glen!!

Player Ratings:
Given - 7, kept a clean sheet and stayed alert to deny a few decent shots from Levadia
Bramble - 4, poor again, against an average team!
Carr - 6.5, did ok
Moore - 5.5, a centreback? yes, commanding? not even close!
Ramage - 5.5, looked shaky, did just enough, but this is against Levadia!
Duff - 7, full of running and was smart on the ball, too bad had to play LB
Emre - 6, was crowded out in midfield
N'Zogbia - 6, made some threathening runs and thats about it
Parker - 7, good game snuffing out the Levadia attack, could have scored too
Sibierski - 6, got a goal but then went AWOL
Martins - 6.5, lack propoer service and created his own chances

Subs
Milner - 6, full of running but end product lacks quality
Butt - 5.5, did ok coming on late in the game
Luque - 5.5, same as above :P

Newcastle 1 - Fulham 2, 09/09/06

2006-09-11T09:49:00.001+08:00

We managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory! Bravo!! Bravo indeed.. Before the 80th minute everything was rosy, the defence didnt put a foot wrong, the midfield was controlling the match and the strikers was inching closer and closer for the second goal. Until Parker was substituted that is, then everything went down the drain real fast.. Fulham got the equaliser when Ramage slip and let Routledge an easy way in for him to cross and guess who is marking McBride at the far post? NO ONE!!! WTF is wrong with the defence?! Where's Carr? Why is Bramble marking our own player, DUFF while McBride is just 4ft away?!

Astonished Fulham can't believe their luck!

Adding insult to injury, the second and winning goal came a few minutes later with Bramble(AGAIN!!) at fault for not man marking McBride on a second cross! McBride had a free header at goal but it bounce of the bar and Bocanegra bundled it in with his shins.. Thank you Bramble! Game over for the magpies and a healthy dose of boos right at the final whistle.. You guys totally deserved it! Bramble should shoulder most of the blame in this defeat.. He is a liability to the team.. I hope he gets booted from the first team for the next match! Replace him with Taylor please!! Enough is enough.. His attention span is pathetic as a football pro.. Let him rot in the reserves..

Roeder, you're running out of excuses.. The team made the same mistake a.k.a shooting themselves in the foot as did previous teams under Gullit, Sir Bobby and Souness!!! The defence is worth shyte, you signed forwards and midfielders and still pin your hopes on the comedic defence to buck up.. How much longer will you go down this same old road? Get this into your thick skull! The central defenders we have is CRAP! Ship them OUT! Get world class defenders IN! Is that so hard to do?

Ratings
Given - 5, nothing much to do the whole game but still conceded 2 goals..
Carr - 6, did better then last game but then we are talking Fulham at home here..
Ramage - 4, started at average and ends up at poor
Bramble - 3, extremely poor, must be benched for next game!
Moore - 5, average performer
Duff - 6, should have been more productive with the ball and in the final 3rd
NZogbia - 5, anonymous, no telling contribution whatsoever
Emre - 6, just OK, bossed the midfield and provided the cross for Parker to score
Parker - 9, The only person to emerge with credit from this game!
Ameobi - 5, anonymous.. No decent attempt at goal..
Martins - 5, received poor service, needs more time to gel
Rossi (sub) - 5, received no service at all, must have wished he was back at Man United
Butt (sub) - 5, came in late.. Couldnt do much as the defence imploded

Dateline transfer blues..

2006-09-08T15:51:00.000+08:00

Thats what i'm having right now.. The dateline transfer blues.. In one hand we signed 3 people! On the other, they are currently not world beaters :( Oh well.. Any signings is better then none.. Too bad Rossi's move was not a permanent one, i saw the video clip compilation showing he scored some really sweet goals.. What a shame.. I just hope he stays past January and all the way till the end of the season..

The gaffer with his signings

Ollie bernard made a suprise u-turn by signing for us and not Leeds on transfer dateline day! Thank you, hopefully he'll give Baba the kick in the arse he needs for further motivation and buck up! Earning thousands of pounds per week is not a sufficient source of motivation these days for the so called football pro! Bernard played in a midweek reserve game and he looks OK but not match fit.. He should get a few more minutes when we meet Fulham at home assuming we are cruising with a few goals.. :) And then we have Antoine Sibierksi, signed from Man City for a small fee.. Money well spent i guess cos i see this guy knocking down headers with ease.. Expect to see our midfielders getting to the end of his knockdowns when he plays..

The Newcastle vs Fulham game will be shown delayed here, bummer.. Midnight slot.. All you malaysian magpies fan out there, dont miss it! Lets hope we win this game with Martins scoring a few goals and the defence keeping a clean sheet! :P Yeah i know.. Wishfull thinking for a magpies fan.. :D

Villa 2 - Newcastle 0, 27-08-06

2006-08-28T09:44:00.000+08:00

After 12 consecutive unbeaten run, we finally lost in this away fixture. The manner which we conceded both goal was awful, dreadful, terrible defending! The first goal was a snap shot just inside the penalty box at the center.. Carr and Moore tries to block from either side while bramble was not positioned well enough to block the shot direct on.. 1-0 to Villa.. Sigh.. Just 2 minutes into the game and we've conceded a soft goal..

Martins made his debut upfront alongside Milner! Milner is a willing runner and a very determined player but a striker he is not.. He doenst have the mindset to be a striker and tends to drift wide.. Martins meanwhile has to play targetman which doesnt suit his abilities at all.. He did show flashes of his skill with his good ball control and short distance pace, but with villa defending with 2 layers of defence, it was hard for him to utilize his abilities.. Too make things worse, he was strechered of in the 60th minute clutching his knee! Dejavu? Landing akwardly ala Owen? Its like a bad omen for strikers to put on a black n white shirt as they will be jinxed with a long term injury! Sighh... Oh yeah we conceded a second goal from a supposedly delightful through pass when it can actually be cut out if our centrebacks had ANY DECENT PACE!!! Bramble and Moore cant sprint even if their lives depended on it!

Angel slots the second goal :(

Solano and Babayaro were both correctly substituted at half time, Solano was just not effective and SLOW while Babayaro was easily beaten time and again by the villans right wingback.. In comes NZogbia and Luque.. There were some moments of promise after the start of the second half but after losing Martins in the 60th minute, we lost our impetus to attack and Villa was content with 2 goals with the occasional counter attacks.. To the ratings:

STARTING LINEUP:-
Given - 7
Did ok but honestly, he could have save both the goals he conceded

Carr - 5
Was not solid at the back, extremely poor at crossing! Shitty service from the right flank!

Babayaro - 4
Defensively weak, forward foray not worth mentioning!

Moore - 5
Below average performance, poor clearence, looks poor against pacey strikers

Bramble - 5.5
Could be blamed for both goals but gave a better second half performance and help kept the scoreline down

Solano - 4
Poor performance, doesnt have pace, passing wasnt good, poor deadballs delivery too

Duff - 6
After running riot against Ventspils, had a 'quiet' game, tends to drift in then hugging the right toucline, had some attempts at goal and not many crosses

Parker - 7
Was all over the pitch, contributing in attack and defence including a last ditch tackle, just no end product in the last 3rd of the pitch

Emre - 5
Not affective against 2 layers of defence, cant break it down with his range of passes, suspect temperement, overall should have done better

Milner - 5.5
All running but poor end product/crosses, doesnt have the mentality to be a striker

Martins - 5.5
First debut for the magpies, showed some nice touches/ball control but then got strechered off injured! :(

SUBS:-
Luque - 3
Lazy, poor first touch, looks clueless on how to perform as a striker.. Went AWOL after Martins went off.. His mindset of a forward must change to suite premiership games! NOT the other way around!!

NZogbia - 7
Did well and must start next game.. Played well as a pacy leftback! He should play there more often! Then Duff could play on the left and Milner on the right..

Butt - 5.5
Did ok shielding the back four but was caught way upfield when villa executed some fast counter attacks.. Should be given the chance to partner Parker in midfield

Newcastle 0 - 0 Ventspils, 24-08-06

2006-08-25T11:52:00.000+08:00

A bore 0-0 draw? Far from it! The game was very entertaining right from the start! From the first whistle onwards, Newcastle went right for the ball with some robust tackles(Ventspils kicked off the start) but thankfully the game settled into a more decent pace with less robust tackles, yeah i was worried we could end up with 10 or even 9 players if the robust tackles were to continue.

Sidetrack: Obefami Martins was introduced as our new 10 million pound signing at the center circle before the game started and was later spotted on the stands watching the game! Yeehaaa! The black & white army welcome you with open arms Martins! I hope he starts in the next Villa game! :) Now back to the game..

A soon to be familiar sight at St.James Park! :)

The team selection was quite suprising for me as we played a 4-5-1 formation with 3 wingers in Duff, Milner & N'Zogbia! I thought Butt will start as DM which would give more freedom to Parker and Emre to roam forward, and the 2 wingers.. But it seems Milner is to play upfront as a striker once we're in attack, changing from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2, BUT then the plan didnt quite work out.. Milner was more oriented towards hugging the right touchline with Duff nearby, this leaves Luque all alone upfront.. And since he's not a target man, most chances went begging or astray..

The defence coped well with the Latvians while Harper had only a few crosses to claim during the whole match.. There was not even 1 shot on target from the Latvians.. Our midfield on the other hand kept the opposing keeper very busy.. Too bad we left our shooting boots in the lockers cost most shots went wide.. Special mention must go to Duff who ran the Latvian defence ragged.. He was defeating the defenders at will, beating 2 to 3 opposing players at 1 go, the runs he made reminded me of a previous great winger in a black & white shirt which i idolize: David Ginola! Lets hope Duff will even be a better player then Ginola! With Martins, Owen, Duff, Nzogbia, Milner and Dyer(when fit :P), our team oozes with pace.. The future will not necassarily be bright but it will certainly be entertaining! :)

Player Ratings:
Harper - 6, not much to do all night
Carr - 7, did ok going forward but wasteful sometimes
Babayaro - 6, was not effective going forward
Taylor - 7, after a long layoff, he's getting good
Bramble - 7, didnt make any mistakes!
Parker - 8, all over the picth, leading by example!
Emre - 7, did just ok in dictating play, should have been better
Duff - 9, Man of the match performance, superb dribbling skills
N'Zogbia - 7, Did ok, lacks telling end product
Milner - 7.5, Made some good crosses and tracks back well
Luque - 6, caught in no mans land too many times, was never a targetman in the first place

Bumbling Boumsong bagged by Juve!

2006-08-23T12:09:00.000+08:00

Bye bye boom! :)

Finally! They guy moves on.. From my tone, it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out i bloody hate this guy.. He sucks as a central defender.. Imagine paying 8.5M pounds for a centreback who drop clangers in EVERY game! Utter waste of money.. Good riddance! And i wish Juventus a huge amount of luck cos you guys will need it with him around.. The UEFA cup qualifier game with Ventspil (did i get it right?) will be shown live here on Friday morning.. 3am to be exact! Yippee.. Just cant wait.. Hopefully Obefami Martins will be in the stand watching it too after formally signing for us!!! :)

Newcastle 2 - Wigan 1, 19-08-06

2006-08-21T10:41:00.000+08:00

WTF!!! The game was not shown live! Not even delayed!! Who the hell wanna watch Everton vs Watford!? That game stinks! I could not fanthom how the magpies was not shown live! Bloody idiots! Arghhhh! I'm really pissed! See all this exclamation marks! That's how pissed i am!!!! Sigh..

On a slightly happier note we won! Stayed up till 1am so i could catch the result and maybe some short footage of how the game went.. Parker was definitely a good choice as captain, he even scored a goal.. Then our concentration went AWOL, Carr made a very poor clearence and with 4 defenders between our goal and McCulloch, he still manages to score!

Steely determination from our new captain, pic from Soccernet!

Luckily for us, it was one of those days where Ameobi can put away half chances with aplomb! He sinks the second goal for the magpies and restores the lead.. The scoreline was maintained till the end eventhough Wigan came back stronger after the 2nd goal and there was also a shout for penalty in the dying seconds when Bramble fouled a Wigan player.. In the end it's 3 points in the bag! It's great that we start the season with a win, i cant remember the last time we got all 3 points from an opening day fixture! Goob job team! Good job Roeder!

I hope this week would even turn out better! A midweek WIN in our UEFA Cup Qualifier game(on Thursday) and 3 new signings to be exact! It's all over the news that Obefami Martins is in the bag, he was over on Tyneside on Sunday for a medical! With a reputation of below 11 secs for the 100m sprint, he will inject alot of pace to our attack! Yippee! Gravesan could also be signing, but the lack of quality defenders shortlisted to join us is really bugging me.. I really hope we sign atleast 1 defender before the transfer window closes!

Duff for 5M = Good Business!

2006-07-25T11:51:00.000+08:00

I cant believe it! We bought a world class winger for 5M pounds! Also Duff played a part by insisting to come to the northeast and not Liverpool or Spurs.. Thank you! Thank you!! May you get 50 games on our left wing, 25 assists and 10 goals this season! I hope we sign Klose, Campbell and Sorin next! :P Yeah.. wishfull thinking i know.. But then so was Duff! Here's some pics of Duff for the Toon!!

A New Season Starts This Saturday!

2006-07-11T11:51:00.000+08:00

Yup.. while some teams are still on holiday.. The Magpies have been training since last week for the coming Intertoto game this Saturday! Officially our season starts this week!! Hooooorayyy! The Magpies will be up against a norwegian team called Lillestrom.. Having played Championship Manager all my life, Lillestrom does have some decent players.. Lets hope we dont shoot ourselves in the foot aka 'giving' them an away goal.. The return match on their turf will be a midweek game.. I hope both games will be shown live here.. Last year Astro was good enough to show the Intertoto games live on our shores! I could only pray..

On a less positive note.. Newcastle United has not sign any new players!! Damn you Freddy! I hope we get Klose & Saviola!! :P Add another centreback and a fullback and i think we are set! Campbell is a free agent right now! Go after him! We should be adding quality signings into the squad, not young players with huge potential ala Bramble! OK Bramble did improve in the end but the mistakes still cost us games.. Come on Freddy we want to see the signings NOW!!

Next season first eleven?

2006-05-16T15:18:00.000+08:00

Had a look at the magpies lowyat forum today and the topic for today was the coming and goings of our black and white players.. I turned on my day-dreaming juices and mixed it up with a healthy dose of reality, here's the result :D :

Newcastle United 2006/2007 ;)

Farewell Al, Thanks for the 10 great years! ;(

2006-05-12T10:21:00.000+08:00

Now starts the post Shearer era. I'm sad, really sad. Shearer was the best striker in his time and I am going to miss him very dearly. I'm addicted to seeing him with his trademark salute after scoring each goal. You will never be replaced, you're a one off special guy, I just hope in Michael Owen we have the next special one..

A special guard of honour for our No.9

A 'full house' testimonial

Luque scores and that looks familiar!

One final spotkick..

Thank you for the 10 great years!

4-1 to the Magpies in the northeast derby!

2006-04-18T09:32:00.000+08:00

I've been hanging out with other magpies supporters in a subforum at LowYat.net.. Here's a post on what i think of the game:

"..i watch the delayed game too..it was nice to see we win 4-1 but we have to thank the sunderland team for shooting themselves in the foot THREE times!!

First caldwell let chopra waltz on goal, then hoyte conceded a penalty and luque scoring after both their central defenders collided among themselves.. if we were still managed by souness, the game would've been a 4-4 draw! nzogbia's goal was a good placed shot after a mazy run which the sunderland defence simply cant cope.. from the starting line up we looked pear shaped because roeder opted for clark and faye in the centre of midfield(both more in the DM mold).. this is the main cause why we played so badly in the first half.. both of their performance was awful.. faye in particular cant even pass! his one touch passing is an eyesore.. it bounces everywhere and causes the receiving team mate trouble to control.. and in a derby game, tackles comes in thick n fast.. damn you faye! clark was below average with no creativity to dictate play.. we really missed parker & emre..

In the end.. the substitution in the 60th minute was a masterclass by roeder..if he gets us a UEFA cup place, HAIL ROEDER! ROEDER FOR DA MAGPIES!! and not to forget Luque.. his finishing was cool but his goal celebration was suprising, not only dedicating his goal to the magpies but asking them for forgiveness with the way he shakes his hand together.. dont you guys think so?.."

The magpies have been giving good performances all round with Roeder incharge hence i dont have much rantings to do these days.. :D

2 wins out of 2 for Roeder Regime

2006-02-13T09:31:00.000+08:00

2 wins out of 2 since souness was sacked! This certainly brought me back to my blogging trail.. The villa game was not shown live and i'm beginning to wonder whether the cable company feels the magpies are not worthy of a live slot.. Given was man of the match as usual but thankfully the team played well (except for bloody baba who got a red card!) . Shola and Nzogbia scored! Nzogbia is getting better n better, which means Luque is left out again, not even on the bench.. What a waste, i just hope he works harder in training and shows the manager what he's missing.

Who will be the next Newcastle United manager? According to todays news, Martin O'neill is in the driving seat to get the job. No disrespect to him but i cant believe Otmarr Hitzfield doesnt even get a mention! His CV is 3 times longer then the ex-Celtic manager. Sigh..

YESS!!! SOUNESS SACKED!!

2006-02-03T10:45:00.000+08:00

Off you go..

Finally! After a meek 3-0 surrender to Manchester City, the board finally sack Souness! Hopefully FF will now bide his time to find an able replacement with a good track record.. Here's my wishlist: 1. Ottmar Hitzfield, 2. Guus Hiddink, 3. Martin O'neill and 4. Paul Jewell.

1, 2 and 3 does have the credentials and has won silverware but if we end up with 4th choice, he would still be way better then souness who doesnt have a clue how to instill team work!

Hopefully the team can finish on the top half of the table. Roeder and Shearer as the caretaker team? Best of luck to you guys..

Fulham? Blackburn??

2006-01-23T15:49:00.000+08:00

We lost both game 1-0.. I'm not interested to blog for the moment on a team currently not producing result.. What pisses me off more is we have a prick as a manager who doesnt admit his coaching style is a direct result of the team playing piss poor div. 1 style football!

Souness OUT!!

Newcastle vs Mansfield, 7th January 2006

2006-01-12T17:48:00.000+08:00

The game against the Stags was not shown live here but i did manage to catch Football Extra at the end of the day. The team played ok in patches and got away with a slim 1-0 win, thanks to the Stag's awful finishing, the magpies proceed to the next round. The defence was shyte as usual. On a more positive note, Shearer has grabbed his 200th goal for newcastle! Excellent, now i hope he goes on to score a few more till the end of the season.

Unbelievebly in January, there's no transfer dealings going on for the magpies! We must be seriously broke! To the tune of 90 Million pounds! That's what i read in the paper actually, but you can't believe everything you read this days. Our pool of targets is shrinking by the day, Anelka is now a prime target for Everton, Meite is going someplace else and Nihat who looks to be on his way to Tyneside has now instead set his sights to Moscow. And we gave trial to a guy named Lanchor, Lanchor who? Yup, it's really that bad..

Newcastle vs Middlesbrough, 2nd January 2005

2006-01-05T09:41:00.000+08:00

Thanks to an injury time goal from Lee Clark and Viduka's inept finishing, Souness is still a Newcastle United manager! A 2-2 draw might be a fair result for both teams but the chants of 'Souness Out' after the final whistle clearly showed what the fans thought of the teams AND manager's performance. The game was shown live but i completely forgot about it and instead watched a Battlestar Galactica movie.

I wont comment anything more about the game since i missed so i'll direct my ire towards some news item i read today. Firstly, parker goes under the knife on his knee. That's just great, our second best player goes out for the next 2 months! Second best?! Cos Shay Given in my opinion is our best player for this miserable season by a very long mile! Souness said this in the news item regarding parker's operation:

'..It's a shame for Scott because he has been our best player this season and to lose him is a blow for everyone concerned..'

He doesnt have a fucking clue who the best is.. Shame on you Souness.. Given, just hand in your transfer request, the fans will understand.. You deserve better!

Other news worth noting are the transfer of Laurent Robert to Benfica and Sam Allardyce as the no.1 target to replace Souness WHEN he gets the sack.. Hmmmm.. i still prefer Otmar Hitzfeld(i dont think i got the spelling correct :P) or Guus Hiddink as they are more shrewd tactically and a few notches up then allardyce, whether they'll be interested to manage the toon would be a completely different matter, but i'm crossing my fingers!!

vs Tottenham, 31st December 2005

2006-01-03T10:02:00.000+08:00

We lost the game 2-0 and the match wasnt even shown as a delayed match here. I woke up early the next morning to catch 'Football Extra' to see how we fared in the game. A short 2 minute highlight of the game did give a clue that we were horrible in the game, owen got injured (and will be out for 3 months!!), the defence opened up too easily.. and ameobi missed a sitter in injury time.. Same old story, same old mediocrity.. The pundits on Football Extra was very vocal with both the defence of the magpies and souness, all of em needs to be shipped out! I totally agree with you dudes!!

There was also a reported bust up between Carr and Souness causing the player to give this game a miss.. We should coin a new term, a 'Souness bust up' whenever a bust up occurs between a player and a manager, cos that's what he has mastered after all this years in football management! What better way to be remembered in the history of football!

I also did some reading on the net after the spurs game was played and talk about Luque moving on to Real after only playing 4 games for us is ridiculous! He's a class act and should be given a full season to get his game together! Bowyer and Faye on the other hand are footballing misfits who deserve to ply their trade in the lower divisions! Either that or a new manager who could improve them tremendously as a player.

I end this post with a quote from Newcastle Online:

"..If you're reading Joaquin, stay well fucking clear of Newcastle United, a club fast becoming a graveyard for footballers (Luque, Owen et al), a holiday camp for wasters (Kluivert, Dyer et al) and a retirement home for piss poor managers (Souness).."

True indeed..

Newcastle vs Charlton: game postponed..

2005-12-29T09:47:00.000+08:00

Damn.. the game was postponed because of the wintery conditions. Could be a blessing in disguise as the team can rest longer from their last game(yeah the game sucked!). Lets pray they can string a few passes together! No more lumping the balls upfield you fullbacks!! And our next game is an away game at White Hart Lane, against the much improved spurs. I wouldn't be suprised if Jenas scored on that day and has a good game! He would've been a much better bet then one Amdy Faye! Sheeshhhh... I still cant believe we sold him because we had 'adequate cover'.. Adequate MY ARSE!!

vs Liverpool, 26th December

2005-12-27T09:17:00.000+08:00

A very poor game. We lost 2-0 when the score could have been bigger, thanks to Shay Given as usual! We gave liverpool the win on the platter. The performance of individuals and as a team was horrible! Souness definitely must shoulder the blame, i still cant believe after 50 games in charge of the team, they still cant string a few passes together and the organisation of the defence was shambolic to say the least! Time and again the defence was all over the pitch trying to contain the liverpool forwards, it was not helped with the lacklustre performance of Faye, who was at fault for the first goal. A pathetic man marking attempt on Steven Gerrard indeed. We definitely missed Parker. The second goal, a cross from the attacking left side of liverpool, finished of with a towering header from Crouch, guess who's defending there.. Ramage! Yippeee..

Luque was very ordinary yesterday, so was Owen. In some sense, it's a compliment to be branded ordinary last nite 'cos half the team was way below par, a few was even out of their depth! Definitely league 1 football for you guys next season. And what's not to talk about the red card? Come on!! Bowyer did deserve his card but what about a few other liverfool players, acting like a bunch of thugs shoving players to the ground and on the back (gerard on shearer, watch the replay of the incident pls!).. I hope the video panel reviews the incident and make the necessary adjustments!

Mediocre performance from a mediocre team, let's just pray the next home game against Charlton will be a worthwhile effort to watch. Hmmmm.. something just crossed my mind, if the team looses all 4 games, Souness will definitely get the boot! That thought definitely cheers me up! :)

Good Quote for the Game:

"Newcastle have spent their riches on a valuable attack, but have a defence rich only in comic value.." - From The Independent -

And of to the ratings:

Given : man of the match! period..

Ramage : Mediocre, League 1 quality..

Taylor, Bramble, Babayaro & Boumsong : Looks awfully out of sort (or clueless defending? how bout comical? yup thats the word), i dont know whether i should blame them or the coaches\manager..

Bowyer : His reputation doesnt help him, we've seen players given a yellow for similar tackles..

Faye : Useless throughout the game, back to his best of being mediocre..

N'Zogbia : Anonymous in the first half, substituted..

Solano : Below par, nearly gave away a penalty..

Luque, Shearer & Owen : Just plain ordinary..

Ameobi : Came on for the last 5 minutes, did ok..

4 games in 8 days?!

2005-12-23T17:45:00.000+08:00

What a treat! what a treat!!! Ermmm... I'm crossing my fingers we'll win all 4 of 'em.. Heh, the eternal optimisim of a magpie fan never cease to amaze.. :)

Here's the schedule for the coming 4 games:-

December 26th : Liverpool vs Newcastle
December 28th : Newcastle vs Charlton
December 31st : Tottenham vs Newcastle
January 2nd : Newcastle vs Middlesbrough

Looking at the teams we're facing, 2 home wins and 2 away draws would be an OK result. 1 thing we should hope for for the coming games are we dont get any new injuries while playing all those games in a span of 8 days! 4 nights of staying up! Let's hope the team makes it a worthwhile effort.. :P

vs West Ham United, 17th December 2005

2005-12-19T14:34:00.000+08:00

I was expecting the game to start as soon as i turned the telly on at 11pm but suprise, suprise.. it's the portsmouth game instead! Some talk about an accident delaying the kickoff means i'll have to wait till 1.30am to see the delayed telecast of the match. The waiting was worth the wait though. A 4-2 scoreline in favour of the magpies does mask the fact that west ham was in control most of the time but who cares! We won & Owen got a hatrick!!

The game was interesting to watch because a lot of goals were scored and the anticipation of when the magpies will self destruct kept me wide awake. Luckily for us, we scored 4 while ONLY pressing the self destruct button twice. OK so the own goal was a tad to harsh but Shola's handball was.. i just cant think up a suitable word for that, thankfully soccernet's The Insider gave a good account of that:

"..Game over it seemed, but putting on a black and white shirt seems to be a signal to commit crazy acts and that is just what Shola Ameobi did as he punched a cross to give Marlon Harewood the chance to bring West Ham back into the game. He converted with ease and you have to wonder what Newcastle's centre-forward was up to. If you read this report Shola, please reply at the bottom to explain your moment of madness. ."

Yeah shola, i would really2 love to hear your explanation too..

As a whole, the team was shaky but thank god it didnt crumble to pieces as the pressure builds up. 1 player who has gone back to his anonymous best is Faye. After watching him bossed the arsenal player's, he was MIA in the west ham game from start to finish (ok minus the last 5 seconds of the game where he sets up Owen for the last goal but THAT was it). 2 additional points i would like to highlight is why is luque, our 9M pound man sitting on the bench?! Ameobi is just not a left winger! And let's not forget he gives away a penalty too! And finally, Elliot is just not good enough, how many times does he need to be at fault for goals conceded until people realize he's not premiereship material? Harewood's hard low cross from the right wing was not that hard to cover! Once the transfer window open again in January, I reckon a pair of fullbacks for both our left and right flanks would certainly improve over what we have currently as backup to Carr and Baba who are out injured most of the time.

Player Ratings:

Shay Given : Very good performance, 8/10

Jean-Alain Boumsong : Did enough + huge amount of brownie points for playing while daughter and wife was terribly ill, 7/10

Titus Bramble : Cleared a ball towards a team mate who is only 2 feet away, resulting in an own goal, but otherwise did ok, 5/10

Robbie Elliott : Doesnt matter if you wear your heart on your sleave when you're just not good enough, keep lumping the balls upfield, 4/10

Peter Ramage : Blooding youngsters? Their mistakes cost's the team goals! Also favours lumping the balls upfield, 4.5/10

Amady Faye : Dissappointing, anonymous, unproductive, adequate brownie points for the last second assist, 4.5/10

Scott Parker : Did ok shielding the defence, went forward a couple of times, 7/10

Nolberto Solano : Good deliveries on a few set pieces, but can be awful sometimes, and ofcourse, the own goal, 5.5/10

Shola Ameobi : Not effective at all as a left winger, wastes possesion and gives away a penalty, it would be pathetic if he starts next game and luque is still on the bench! 4/10

Michael Owen : Hatrick Hero plus 1 assist for shearer's goal, 10/10

Alan Shearer : Good in leading the line, came up with a goal and an assist, 9.5/10

Substitutes
L Bowyer [for N Solano (79) ] : Didnt do much, 5/10

Newcastle vs Arsenal, 10th December 2005

2005-12-11T04:10:00.000+08:00

Finally a performance worthy of 3 points! A 1-0 win for the magpies over the gunners was capped by several very determined performances of players in black n white. The game certainly was very physical, arsenal deserved to go a man down entering the 60th minute when gilberto got his marching orders after a second bookable offence, but newcastle united were very2 lucky indeed not to suffer the same fate. Luck, it seems were abundant for the home side tonite. Not only did some players escape bookings and possibly a red, the single goal scored by nobby had a small helping of luck as nobby dispatched his shot to the far post looking as if he lost his footing at the vital moment. And let's not forget both henry and persie's miskick when arsenal was just about to pull the triger.

Enough about luck! Luck alone cant win you games. The team's performance put forward was exceptional. The determination to win was never in doubt. Given made a terrific save against henry, bramble and boumsong didnt make the suicidal mistake i was expecting, infact, their clearences made against arsenal efforts time and again was the best i've seen so far this season. Ramage and elliot had a good game too, thanks to the cover provided by the midfield quartet of solano, parker, faye and ameobi. Shearer was teaching Physical Ed. to the gunners througout the 90 minutes while Owen's presence alone was enough to convince the gunners back four to clear into touch every time our team punts the ball upfield! Special mention goes out to Parker who put in a '2 man' performance as the pundits term it and ran himself to the ground(LITERALLY!) and Faye who i would pick as the player who delivered the biggest performance since his move from pompey. A 50-50 situation between him and 3 arsenal players ended up with the ball at his feet as the 3 gunners shirked away from the challenge! Now that's what i call physical presence!

My only gripe about the game was the magpies defence keep punting the ball upfield, loosing possesion all too easily in this manner. Hopefully with the return of Dyer and Emre in the near future, our approach play would be much2 better and entertaining. Keep up the good work, all of you deserved a 9 out of 10!

Newcastle vs Aston Villa, 3rd December 2005

2005-12-06T00:22:00.001+08:00

The game was so boring that i was dozing off and on 10 minutes before the half time break! The collective shouts and sighs from the crowds responding to the on-pitch action awakens me every now and then. The first half wasnt the "all guns blazing" approach i had expected. Sure we were 1 up after Shearer's penalty but the hunger and desire to win was terribly missing. Same old things are still happening, stray short passes, lumping balls up-field, poor first touch and miss communication (not among 2 but 3 players!) to name a few.

I wont do the usual player ratings as i didnt watch the game completely but suffice to say some players did improve from last week's very poor performance, some suprisingly didn't. Supprising because after all the commotion about their performance last week, i expected everyone to be playing like their future depended on it. Sadly, some still performs like they did last week. Souness said before this game that it's time for the players to show what they're made off, i hope he see's those that didn't perform and draft in the relevant replacement come January, or at the end of the season (if he's still around).

No thanks to Gareth Barry too for fluffing the penalty and giving Souness more breathing space. I'm not a supporter of the current manager from the first day of his appointment. I believe in track records and his record is not exceptional enough. I would've prefered Sir Bobby to stay on.

vs Wigan Athletic, 30 Nov 2005

2005-12-02T10:39:00.000+08:00

Diabolical, deplorable, dreadful, shocking, pitiful, pathetic, embarrassing, unbelievable, dismal, feeble, useless, awful, appalling, abysmal, shameful, astonishing, staggering, atrocious, inexcusable. That's how NUFC.com described the team's performance against wigan! Choose any one of the words? No please, you lot can have 'em all! What a bunch of overpaid and under-performing pros!! Souness OUT!! Souness OUT!!

The game was selected as a delayed telecast here plus it's midweek, which means the kick off is at 5.30am, no worries, i'm used to waking up at any hour of the night/morning to watch the team I support most but this game takes the cake for being the worst 2 hours of my life wasted by watching a bunch of football pros make a mockery of their supporters! They were totally clueless in the first half, going into the dressing room at halftime with the score still 0-0 is a really2 big sign luck is on your side when it should've been 4-0. It was such an inept performance that no one blamed 'lady luck' for not helping us out. We should though thank half the Wigan team for showing up without their shooting boots!! The second half showed glimpse of promise that things would turn for the better but it didn't materialise. Empty shallow promises. Some of the players was just gutless or were they afraid of their own shadows? When we are pinned down i thought we would rough it out or stamp a feet or two, it would've been more acceptable then letting your opponent waltz all over you like you're a pub team, wait, i'm sorry if i offended any pub teams out there, you guys are a more determined lot then the one i watched on telly yesterday morning.

So straight to the Player Ratings! :

Shay Given : Best player for the team again, kept the score down with the help of wigan inept finishing, wouldn't fault him if he leaves any time soon. 7.5/10

Jean-Alain Boumsong : At sixes and sevens to stop a second string Wigan side, brownie points for better clearances a.k.a lumping the ball upfield. 4/10

Robbie Elliott : No suicidal back passes this time but gave away a penalty?! WTF!! 3/10

Peter Ramage : First team football is not a good place to blood youngsters! The First Division for you. 3.5/10

Lee Bowyer : Another round of running like a headless chicken! 3/10

Belozoglu Emre : Got of injured, lucky him. 4/10!

Charles N'Zogbia : Largely anonymous. 3.5/10

Scott Parker : At some point we played 5 in midfield, i still cant comprehend how wigan could outplayed our midfield. Scotty should shoulder some of the blame. 3.5/10

Nolberto Solano : The creative outlet of our team? Of no use when the other 9 outfield player are as static as a brick wall!! 4/10

Albert Luque : Doesn't do enough for the cause, blames lack of first team action. 4/10

Alan Shearer : Piss poor. Can always blame others for 'lack of service'. 3/10

Subs
M Brittain for L Bowyer (45) : Not as awful as bowyer but doesnt improve the team either. 3/10

M Chopra for A Luque (57) : Suprisingly did better then Shearer in terms of being a nuisance to the Wigan's defence, but that's about it. 4/10

A Faye for B Emre (71) : The epitomy of a clueless and overpaid football pro. Should've never been bought in the first place. 2.5/10!

Next up, a home game between the Magpies and Aston Villa, who also lost the carling cup game to a Div.1 team with a piss poor performance. Should be an interesting watch, shown here as delayed telecast at 1am. Here we go again..

vs Everton, Sunday 27 Nov 2005

2005-12-02T09:46:00.000+08:00

The Everton vs Newcastle United game was shown live here at 9.30pm and after a nice dinner, sat down and prepared myself for a good match between two teams who desperately needs a win to move up the table. It WAS suppose to be a good match with 2 teams having a go at each other but in the end i was truly dissapointed. Firstly, there's no Michael Owen! Dammit! Now i'm wondering where's the goal gonna come from?! Shearer? Only from spot kicks. Ameobi? Once in a blue moon. Midfield? You gotta be joking! Ok, maybe not under the current regime. The team played awfully, they were lumping long balls up the field, no creativity from the middle of the park, there was no drive, no determination! And the ref? We cant leave out as a talking point cant we? He was horribly inept!! I hope there's something like a board of ref's to review the performance of each ref after the game and tell him that he's a bloody joke! Both teams are awfully lucky to have 11 players on the pitch after the final whistle. Elbows were flying high and low and clear cut penalties were not given. Damn you ref!!! As if watching the team you support play horribly isn't enuff, we have a donkey ref for value added entertainment! bravo! bravo indeed..

My ratings for the our players on that day:

Shay Given : Best player for the team.. As always.. 8/10

Celestine Babayaro : Hasn't got a clue what determination, hard work or team play means.. Gives the ball away way to easy.. Inept passing too.. 4/10

Jean-Alain Boumsong & Titus Bramble : Combined efficiently to stop the single threat of 1 Everton striker with an abysmal strike rate, thank god they played with only 1 striker! Both 5/10

Peter Ramage : Youth player doing ok, waste the ball sometimes with awful passing or over ambitous? 5/10

Belozoglu Emre : Did ok in the middle, above average passing but lacks the opening other team mates provides to make use of his passing.. Could do better.. 5.5/10

Charles N'Zogbia : Largely anonymous.. Should utilize his pace and trickery more in trying to breakdown the everton defence from the left side of the field.. Played as a leftback by the end of the game. 5/10

Scott Parker : Work horse of the team, playing as DM, did ok. 6/10

Nolberto Solano : Should stick to playing on the right side of the field, comes in the middle way to often, no telling pass to show for in the whole game. 5/10

Shola Ameobi : Over elaborate ball controls robs him of time for a shot at goal, should practice more on 1 touch set up and shoot!! Drifts wide to often but that's because the supposed wide man of the team doesnt go wide!! 5/10

Alan Shearer : Ineffective, only has aggression and determination to show, has 1 v 1 chance with the keeper and fluffed it.. Should've been more vocal in reprimanding his inept team mates as team captain. 4/10

Subs
A Luque for C Babayaro (51) : Did ok for someone who's not played for over 3 months! 5/10

L Bowyer for N Solano (60) : All huffing and puffing but no end product, brownie points for aggression and determination shown when on the pitch. 5/10

First blood.. First post..

2005-12-01T13:05:00.000+08:00

I started this blog with the idea of logging my daily thoughts about Newcastle United Football Club, my most beloved club that i support eventhough i'm not english and live halfway across the globe.. It will be good to be able to sift through my thoughts one day when the magpies finally win something.. All this anguish and frustration from supporting the team needs an outlet and what better way then a blog.. IF i get readers from this pet project, then it's a plus.. If there are 'trolls' from other teams.. i WILL ignore or delete your post.. You have been warned.. It's my blog and i can do whatever i want to with it.. :P

Coming up.. Review on the 2 games played this week, away to Everton and Wigan.. And maybe something on Baba 3 match ban.. What an idiot!!

Reef..