Newcastle United Story by FM Junkie
Average Rating: 7/10 Hits: 1939 Submitted: Feb 3, 2008
Newcastle United are a club of large ambition. They are not the team they were ten seasons ago however, not at all. The squad is decent with a few particular highlights (Owen, Given, N'Zogbia) but destined for a mid table finish at best. Big Sam, having done a fantastic job on a shoe string budget at Bolton , was sacked for being round out about where I would expect Newcastle to be half way into the season. To be fair to Mike Ashley, Sam was appointed before he came to power. His Newcastle side also lacked the entertainment factor that the fans craved. Something told me I could do better. What if Ashley had gotten rid of Sam from the off and placed the fate of his club in my hands?
Unusually for me I have the resolve to march on despite a stuttering start. We take only a point against Wigan in a 2-2 draw before losing 1-0 to City at our place. A 4-0 victory over Fulham follows and suddenly I am a good deal more optimistic about our season and my abilities. A 2-1 defeat to Liverpool is not enough to dispel the optimism though what comes next proved hard to take - a 2-1 loss to Reading and then a 1-1 stalemate with Derby at St. James Park was not what I had expected.
We picked up however. Fortunately, that was the lowest point of our season and from then on in we managed to show Sam Allardyce just how it is done. Suddenly we found form and aided by the January arrivals of Nicholas Anelka and Lorik Cana we even had ourselves a late title push. That was until Manchester United crushed us 5-0 at least and quashed any such hopes but had that result gone our way, who knows.
I was not at all unhappy to end the season fifth in the table. We began to look a little like Keegan's Newcastle, certainly in the entertainment steaks. 7-3 V Reading, 6-1 V Bolton, 5-3 V Sunderland were all great to watch ( or read you might say as I am in the commentary only camp for reasons I may tell another day.)
A League Cup run was also fun. We made it all the way to the final, surpassing the board's expectations and making up for our swift FA Cup exit in the fourth round against Blackburn. We could not see off Chelsea at the final hurdle but nevertheless I was proud and so were the fans if supporter spokesman Phil Collins is to be believed.
It's a good start. UEFA Cup qualification was my aim and that is what we got. We very nearly managed to break our way into the top four and that is worthy of plaudits. Next season we can look forward to attempting success in Europe, attempting to break into the top four and some more high scoring football. I have gone into every game with an attacking mentality, my aim being to simply outscore my opponent. It did not always pay off, in hindsight playing in the same manner at Old Trafford was suicide but so what, at least we are entertaining and are not afraid to give any team a go.
We picked up however. Fortunately, that was the lowest point of our season and from then on in we managed to show Sam Allardyce just how it is done. Suddenly we found form and aided by the January arrivals of Nicholas Anelka and Lorik Cana we even had ourselves a late title push. That was until Manchester United crushed us 5-0 at least and quashed any such hopes but had that result gone our way, who knows.
I was not at all unhappy to end the season fifth in the table. We began to look a little like Keegan's Newcastle, certainly in the entertainment steaks. 7-3 V Reading, 6-1 V Bolton, 5-3 V Sunderland were all great to watch ( or read you might say as I am in the commentary only camp for reasons I may tell another day.)
A League Cup run was also fun. We made it all the way to the final, surpassing the board's expectations and making up for our swift FA Cup exit in the fourth round against Blackburn. We could not see off Chelsea at the final hurdle but nevertheless I was proud and so were the fans if supporter spokesman Phil Collins is to be believed.
It's a good start. UEFA Cup qualification was my aim and that is what we got. We very nearly managed to break our way into the top four and that is worthy of plaudits. Next season we can look forward to attempting success in Europe, attempting to break into the top four and some more high scoring football. I have gone into every game with an attacking mentality, my aim being to simply outscore my opponent. It did not always pay off, in hindsight playing in the same manner at Old Trafford was suicide but so what, at least we are entertaining and are not afraid to give any team a go.
This item has multiple links
| Title | Date Added | Hits |
|---|---|---|
| Part One | 2008/02/03 | 696 |
| Part Two | 2008/02/03 | 422 |
