There is a strong Francophone presence at Newcastle…

Nice article by Paul Doyle from the Guardian.

Newcastle United are developing stability. That should probably be trumpeted across the headline of this piece; it certainly explains why the team have defied hysterical pre-season forecasts of doom and are in the upper part of the table, unbeaten from their first five matches. Wasn’t Mike Ashley supposed to be presiding over the ruin of this club?

The sales of high-earning players such as Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan, José Enrique and Joey Barton were said by some, not least Barton, to be catastrophic for Newcastle. But this accomplished performance was the most persuasive evidence yet that the players hired to replace the departed – for modest fees and on sustainable salaries – are in fact talented enough to achieve the club’s ambitions and not merely on the balance sheet.

Cutting cost without slashing quality requires canny recruitment. Newcastle challenged for the Bargain of the Season award last term with the purchase of the Ivorian midfielder Cheik Tioté for £3.5m from FC Twente – and his new central midfield partner looks set to compete for that prize this term. Yohan Cabaye was the best player on the pitch against Villa; he and Tioté established a platform that enabled the visitors to dominate for long periods. The £4.8m summer signing from the French champions, Lille, has an eye for a cutting pass and a knack for finding space to shoot from the edge of the area.

He struck one shot inches wide in the opening minutes against Villa, for whom Gabriel Agbonlahor opened the scoring in the 13th minute; then he hit another against the crossbar just before Leon Best’s equaliser in the second half. He almost secured the victory that his team deserved with a third shot late on, only for Shay Given to produce a superb one‑handed save.

Cabaye scored 18 goals in his last two seasons for Lille. That led to him earning six caps for France and the Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew, is justifiably excited about the impact he is starting to make in the Premier League. Once the 5ft 9in schemer fully adapts to the physicality of the Premier League, he should be a formidable force.

“I don’t want to build him up to much at this stage because he’s still learning his trade,” said Pardew. “There have been a couple of games this year where he’s struggled – he needs to get a grip of the hurly-burly of the Premier League but if we can get him on the ball he’s an outstanding player. There’s no mystery why he’s in the French national team. He has a gift of a pass – his vision is his real quality. He has that special intelligence. He showed that against Villa, where he and Cheik controlled the midfield, with help from Demba Ba, and that’s something we didn’t do very well last season.”

The French winger Gabriel Obertan also impressed against Villa. With Hatem Ben Arfa scheduled to return to action in the Carling Cup tie against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday after almost a year out injured, and two other summer recruits from the French league also in line to feature in that match – the winger Sylvain Marveau and the midfielder Mehdi Abeid – there is a strong Francophone presence at Newcastle, producing signs that the club’s strategy is paying off.

“It hasn’t been a planned process to sign French players, it’s about making sure that we’ve got players who fit our salary system and can take us forward,” said Pardew. “That’s not easy but we’ve worked very, very hard to get these players and they’re gelling nicely.”

A French Person Yesterday

NUFC to face Fiorentina

NUFC have confirmed they will play Italian side ACF Fiorentina on Saturday 6th August. Fiorentina who are 5th ranked in order of Serie A appearences will bring a side to face Pardews men in their last pre-season match before the opener against Arsenal on the weekend of 13th August.

Fiorentina have won two Italian Championships, in 1955–56 and again in 1968–69, as well as winning six Coppa Italia trophies and one Italian Super Cup. On the European stage Fiorentina won the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1960–61 and lost the final one year later, they finished runners-up in the 1956–57 European Cup losing against Real Madrid and also came close to winning the UEFA Cup, finishing as runners-up in the 1989–90 season.

Since 1931 the club have played at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, which currently has a capacity of 47,282. The stadium has used several names over the years and has undergone several renovations. Fiorentina are known widely by the nickname Viola, a reference to their distinctive purple colours.

Leeds v NUFC - Sunday 31st July

Mags have now pencilled in a trip to Leeds United following their tour of the US preseason, the Mags will take on Leeds on Sun 31st July @ 2pm.

You got there through cheating young man, CHEATING!

WHU 1-2 NUFC: Archie’s Alternative Assessment

3 points are 3 points. Getting them in one game is always better than getting them over a month. So we should be celebrating.

But let’s not get too carried away. It was West Ham. Their position at the bottom of the pile would suggest that every bugger else is kicking their sorry arses claret and blue, and so should we.  

 
It’s also very important that we don’t get too carried away with what’s happening with the league table at the moment. Before Saturday’s match we were 17th. After the game we were 9th. It’s not that long ago we were 5th. Let’s wait a month until we get a few more games under our ever stretching belts before we decide if the board should be hung or Hughton should be canonized.

We may have been dominant but the antics of our defence are the reason I have stopped watching the games from the comfort of our suede recliner and now sit on something of a more washable construction. 
 
Krul – 6
In a radical new concept for Newcastle United we seem to have found a keeper who can actually catch the ball, though he needs to consider punching now and again. Maybe Carroll can give him some tips.
Krul played well considering how badly his defence leaks. Always With Wings springs to mind.
 
Simpson – 7
I was concerned previously about Perch’s inability to pick up the runners on the wing, but Simpson does the same - this is obviously a tactic we are playing to push them out wide and beat them up out there. It’s a bit like laxative tea - Can’t say I like it but it seems to work.
There were times early on when Obinna was just taking the piss out of Simpson and Williamson. Had them running round like Sifakas – the famous dancing lemurs of Madagascar.
Even so – I give him my Man Of The Match
 
Williamson – 6 
The right side of defence looks a little bit better with Perch taking a rest but we still seem to think that we are sharp enough and fast enough to hold the high line and track back.
Sad thing is - we’re not.
We’re not that good at dancing like Lemurs either.
 
Coloccini – 6
Obviously there is no word in the Argentine language for “diagonal”.
At school in the playground there were always moochers or goal hangers who would just loiter round waiting for the chance to score. Colo is sometimes a mooching defender. He just hangs around waiting for the ball to come to him. 
 
Enrique – 6
Hughton needs to get out his Etch-A-Sketch and draw a pitch. Between the edge of our box and the halfway line he should draw a line. He should then explain to Henry K “if you dick around this side of that line, we cut your nuts off! Comprendez?”.
It’s not so much that he thinks he’s good, he just thinks everyone else is crap.
He will get caught out. It will cost us goals.
 
Barton - 5
Barton was spraying it all over like my dogs in next door’s garden.
He put in 3 decent crosses all night. That’s just not good enough.
Maybe he could try acting –a cameo in “Lost” perhaps?
 
Guttierez – 6
Usual stuff – Jonas is like the half of the duck that’s under the water, frantically thrashing around, anything but elegant.
Unfortunately there are times when I think I’d prefer to have the duck out there.
 
Tiote – 6
I have lots of crosses in my notes next to his name and I’m pretty sure they are not kisses. As with a few of our boys Tiote seems to think he’s a lot better than he is. I’ve never seen a Toon team with so many players being tackled, so many bad touches and so many bad passes.
Perhaps if there was a little more earnest effort and a lot less fannying around we could change that. 
 
Nolan – 5
As that well known Toon fan Aristotle once said “One Swallow Does Not A Summer Make”. Just because Nolan bagged another goal doesn’t mean he played well. A Captain’s performance perhaps? If you happen to be the Captain of the darts team at the Whistling Duck.
 
Ameobi - 6
Maybe my approach to Ameobi is all wrong. I expect him to dazzle us with mazy runs, split the defence  with a string of inch perfect passes, rise empirically above the minions and have us staring in open mouthed amazement as he bursts the net from 25 yards.
Maybe I should be a little less ambitious. Maybe we should just be looking to bounce it off him in front of the goal.
In fairness he was better than some of them out there.
 
Carroll – 7
A few good touches but he needs to get smarter. Being big might be enough when he’s out on the piss but we need smart when he’s out on the pitch.
Maybe if he had a few more smarts his Range Rover might be in better nick.
Now that Carroll has signed a new contract do you think it’s at all possible that he might go out and buy a razor?
 
Hughton – 7
I was impressed that they managed to adjust and cope better with Obinna later in the game, but I have to say that I thought it was a little disheartening to hear Hughton describe a scraped win against bottom of the table opposition as his best game since taking over.
We do have potential – maybe Calderwood’s replacement will add that needed extra creativity.
 
Archie

QPR Away - Pre Match Preparation

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SJP ready for party time

ST JAMES’ PARK is bracing itself for its first promotion party since 1965 tomorrow night.

And Newcastle boss Chris Hughton admits that clinching a return to the Premier League on home soil would be a fitting tribute to the loyalty of the Magpies long-suffering supporters.

Newcastle are all but promoted already after yesterday’s win at Peterborough left them 15 points clear of third-placed Nottingham Forest with a massively superior goal difference and the Midlanders with just five games left to play.

Hughton admitted that his players expect to finish the job officially against Sheffield United – and will already be up if Forest fail to beat Cardiff tomorrow afternoon.

But while hopes of confirming top-flight status next season were frustrated yesterday, Hughton is happy that the task looks set to be completed back on Tyneside.

Reflecting on a day when Newcastle could not quite afford to celebrate too wildly, Hughton said: “There’s a sense of relief in the dressing room and I also think a bit of anticipation.

“It will be fitting to do it in front of our own fans. A lot of people would like to do it at St James’ Park.

“To have had the outstanding support that we have had, we just all hope we can finish off the job.”

While a packed away end at London Road listened for news of Forest’s game at Bristol City – where a home win would have confirmed Newcastle’s promotion – Hughton insisted he had no idea of events at Ashton Gate.

“I didn’t know what was going on at Bristol, but I was aware a pocket of our supporters looked in joyful mood at one point,” he said. “But both we just had to concentrate on our job, which was challenging enough today.

“It was a very difficult pitch, and they dealt with it better than us in the first half today.

“But although we let them have too much possession, they didn’t threaten us too often, and the fact that we were able to get the goal just before half time made a big difference.

“I told them at half-time that we needed to press the ball more and be a threat more in the final third.

“After how things went early on, there’s a big relief that we go the result today – it was a game which could have gone either way.

“But all season we have shown our resilience, and we did it again here.

“Now it’s in our hands back at St James’, which might put a couple of thousand extra on the gate, and we are all looking forward to that.”

Peterborough boss Jim Gannon warned that the Magpies’ squad will still need significant strengthening this summer.

“Everyone knows how hard it is for teams to go up,” said Gannon.

“So I’m sure Newcastle are making contingencies for strengthening Chris’ options this summer.

“I’m sure they will learn lessons from when they were last there, and in a manger like Chris, they have stability.”

Story written by Neil Farrington of The Sunday Sun