Summary
A bitterly disappointing comedown after punching above our weight last year, we’ve only got ourselves to blame after being chronically underprepared. A paper thin squad not helped by a manager without a plan b, it is still unacceptable that we flirted with relegation for as long as we did. I think a few people from…
21 May 2013
The penultimate weekend of the season saw emotional send-offs for Manchester United coaches present and future, as United and Everton both won. Chelsea secured their place in the top four with a win at Aston Villa while Spurs put Arsenal under pressure by beating Stoke. At the bottom, Newcastle and Norwich secured safety with big…
13 May 2013
For a moment there it looked as if Rob Elliot’s suicidal handball and resultant red card had plunged us back into the mire. An absolute moment of madness from a man who conspiracy theorists might point out would have much to gain in terms of first team appearances from any possible relegation to the Championship.…
13 May 2013
Following an embarrassing 6-0 hammering by Liverpool, and after a week where newspapers were warned against revealing the extent of Newcastle's dressing room tensions, this weekend's trip to West Ham feels like a particularly important game for Alan Pardew.
Newcastle are now in 17th, just one point away from the drop-zone. They could do without further…
3 May 2013
The last time that Alan Pardew looked a little hot under the collar was after he crowd-surfed into the East stand after Papiss Cisse grabbed a stoppage time winner against Fulham. He emerged from the jubilant Newcastle supporters looking like an exhausted member of Madness, after three encores, including an extended version of ‘It Must…
1 May 2013
A season that has already been desperately unacceptable has now descended into a disgraceful farce. Really, the facts speak for themselves: worst defence in the league, more defeats at home than in any of our previous Premier League campaigns and with two away days to go less points on the road than in the relegation…
28 April 2013
Forgiving Andy Carroll will not come easy for most of us. Our natural instinct is to remain uncompromising towards the wrongdoer, in order to protect ourselves from further distress. Yet there comes a time when one must analyse the pros and cons of prolonged sulking and, perhaps, offer that awkward olive branch; because, deep down,…
25 April 2013
Had someone had the presence of mind at half-time on Saturday to engage in a little of Question of Sport style what happens next with the away support I’m sure they would have been surprised by the amount of pessimistic retorts that would’ve been fired their way. After all, we’ve made the term ‘second half…
22 April 2013
As Eduardo Salvio’s stoppage time finish rippled Tim Krul’s net, an eerie silence crept over most of St James’ Park. The Argentine’s goal delivered such a deflating blow to the solar plexus that the home fans had no air in their lungs for the the usual hysterical profanities.
This breathless ten seconds gave Newcastle fans adequate…
17 April 2013
After the last Tyne-Wear derby in October it has taken what seems like an eternity for the reverse fixture to come back round but thankfully, finally, we’re on the eve of everyone’s favourite regional grudge match. Circumstances have certainly changed massively since that mid-Autumn meeting: expectations realigned, medical staff overworked, players coming and going.
The biggest…
13 April 2013
There was late drama in the three big games of the weekend, as Wigan's Shaun Maloney gave Harry Redknapp 'the worst moment' of his 45-year career with a late equaliser at QPR; Gylfi Sigurdsson rescued a point for Spurs in a 2-2 draw with Everton; and Sergio Aguero gave Manchester City a win at rivals…
9 April 2013
Andy Carroll has been told he still has a future at Liverpool, but only if he accepts that he will not be a regular starter for the team. PickourTeam’s intrepid reporter Iain Macintosh sat in on Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers breaking the news to the on-loan West Ham striker.
BRENDAN RODGERS: Welcome back to Anfield, Andy!…
4 April 2013
Newcastle United are set to face Portuguese juggernauts Benfica tonight in the Europa League quarter-final. For Tyneside football enthusiasts, this fixture has finally resuscitated their old and wheezy European football gusto, pumping fresh oomph into a somewhat deflated season.
The Europa League, now that it's no longer a league, is proving a very suitable stimulant for…
4 April 2013
There comes a point in every season where everything seems to come to a head; the boiling point towards which every last-ditch challenge, every jammy goal and 50/50 ball has contributed. All roads lead to this point and, ladies and gentlemen, that time is almost upon us. Benfica (A), Fulham (H), Benfica (H), mackems (H).…
2 April 2013
I think it is fair to say that we’ve not had to feel the same seething sense of injustice as at the full-time whistle at the DW Stadium for a long while. If anything that injustice has only heightened over the international break with no apology forthcoming from the Wigan Athletic camp, the FA its…
29 March 2013
It was news that was perhaps only half as galling as this Callum McManaman carry on but the confirmation last week that Hatem Ben Arfa would be out for the rest of the season carried with it an air of inevitability.
His skittering season had already saw a number of false comebacks and as return date…
19 March 2013
On one of the most dramatic nights in St James' Park history, it was the familiar 'Seven Nation Army' baseline chorus that echoed out around the stands: 'Paaaa-peace-Demba-Cisse.'
It was the Senegalese striker's injury time winner that sent Newcastle United through to the quarterfinals of the Europa League. Cisse latched onto the end of a delicious Sylvain Marveaux delivery and…
15 March 2013
It has been coming for a while and as a player he’s skirted the national consciousness ever since his wacky sniper antics against Aston Villa all those years ago but now it has finally happened: clamour for a Steven Taylor England call-up. An artefact of those high-minded days when Freddie Shepherd spoke of a team…
13 March 2013
It was a truncated week of Premier League action because of the FA Cup but there was still plenty of action and significant results at both ends of the table: Liverpool beat Spurs 3-2 to give hope to Chelsea and Arsenal's Champions League hopes, while QPR beat Sunderland 3-1 for a second straight win which…
11 March 2013
From the welcoming Welsh bosom of Swansea's Liberty City Stadium to the cold, glassy-eyed embrace of an empty Luzhniki Stadium; two away games in six days, two vastly different surroundings and contrasting approaches. Having dominated on the front foot for large spells on Saturday before ultimately surrendering the points we travelled to Russia with a…
9 March 2013