Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2013 22:46:11 GMT 1
This weekend brings the return of Premier League football although members of the Toon Army will have to wait until Monday night to see how we fair against Citeh. For some fans I'm sure Monday can't come soon enough while for others it may as well not come at all. Certainly given the preparation the Club has done during the close season and so far in the transfer window it's easy to understand why the latter is possibly a widely held view.
Let's face it Newcastle had a season to forget last year, finishing 16th more by good luck than good management or solid performances. But what can we expect from Alpha Papa and our New Director of Feckall Joe Feckinere during this coming season?
Last Season
To say it was from the sublime to the ridiculous last season for Toon fans doesn't do it justice, as APee and Newcastle somehow conspired to turn a fifth place from the season before into a gut wrenching 16th, just five points off relegation, something they flirted with for substantial parts of the year. Excuses came in by the bucket load mainly in the form of losing key personnel to injury and the cliched media speak of embarking on an at times arduous Europa League campaign didn't help matters of course (which annoyed the hell out of me FFS! it's hardly manual labour getting on and off a bloody aircraft). However regardless of the soundbites and other crap thrown to the media the writing was on the wall as soon as APee's men endured a winless November, in the middle of a spell of winning just two games from 13, stretching all the way through to the New Year. Even topping that lot off was the fact Demba Ba was sold to Chelsea in January yet remained Newcastle's top scorer in the league with 13 goals. Overall, a complete horror show and a season to forget.
The close season and transfer window
It's hardly been a hive of activity at St James's Park. Long term keeper and all round nice guy Steve Harper has left to stand between the sticks for Hull City, while Danny Simpson and James Perch have also flown the nest for pastures new. No-one's come in permanently which considering specific weaknesses have long been identified appears to me to be a big mistake. The signing of Loic Remy on loan appeared a sign of promise as he is a class act and, provided he can sort out his serious off-field problems, he should be able to weigh in with a decent amount of goals. That said he is injured and may not play until the end of September which doesn't exactly fill me with joy. Another Michael Owen is the last thing we need at Newcastle with no chance of scoring from the treatment table.
Newcastle have a decent squad on paper, but is light on quality in certain areas. For instance, Tim Krul missed a third of Newcastle's league games last season, and the departure of Steve Harper means Newcastle are currently without an experienced third choice goalkeeper should that happen again. That places a huge onus on Rob Elliot to also stay clear of injury. The Forward line is not in much much better shape should Cisse get hurt or Central Defence with Saylor and Colo.
The Manager and Director of Feckall
Alpha Papa had enough credit in the tank from his fifth place finish two years ago to avoid our most benevolent owners fleshy axe last season, but Pardew knows his boss and so called friend can be capricious. At the very forefront of his mind will be the need to start this term well, and aside from an opening trip to Manchester City, Newcastle (thanks to The Football Gods) don't have a start that could be described as overly taxing.
However, Pardew will be under pressure from the off. If his team don't perform in the first month or two, he will be on a collision course with the power brokers at the club. Relations are already reportedly under strain (despite the outward facing stuff spouted to the media) since the introduction of Joe Feckinere in a Director of Football role, and it's not too difficult to see this one ending badly. Apee already heads the Next Manager to Leave Position list as a 4.2 clear favourite. Strangely enough it's not his leaving that concerns me so much as the prospect of Feckinere taking over!
Expectations (I must be crazy for having any)
Improvement on last season is an absolute must. Newcastle were a byword for underachievement in the last campaign and that simply has to be amended. In fairness, fifth the season before probably represented a huge overachievement and the reality of where they're at is probably somewhere in the middle of the two.
Finding consistency and beating the other teams around them that finished from 10th down over last time out is key for the Mags this year. Should they set further foundations in their fourth year back in the top flight they'll essentially be an established Premier League team again. Anything more than that I will see as a huge bonus. Domestic cup improvement must also be on the agenda; the Toon were knocked out of both cups early on last season and some would say far too easily. I just don't believe given what has been served up during Mikey's tenure it's too much to ask the side to give their all to provide a decent cup run. As Wigan and Swansea proved last season with a good draw, these competitions can represent realistic shots at glory for them and the fanatical following which will turn out to support them round by round. I would certainly take a trip to a Wembley final over a relegation dog fight any day that's for sure.
So a mid table finish, say in 9th, would be nice and a Capital One Cup Final with a victorious outcome are what I'm praying for, but whether it turns out that way only time will tell.
Lights Oot!
Let's face it Newcastle had a season to forget last year, finishing 16th more by good luck than good management or solid performances. But what can we expect from Alpha Papa and our New Director of Feckall Joe Feckinere during this coming season?
Last Season
To say it was from the sublime to the ridiculous last season for Toon fans doesn't do it justice, as APee and Newcastle somehow conspired to turn a fifth place from the season before into a gut wrenching 16th, just five points off relegation, something they flirted with for substantial parts of the year. Excuses came in by the bucket load mainly in the form of losing key personnel to injury and the cliched media speak of embarking on an at times arduous Europa League campaign didn't help matters of course (which annoyed the hell out of me FFS! it's hardly manual labour getting on and off a bloody aircraft). However regardless of the soundbites and other crap thrown to the media the writing was on the wall as soon as APee's men endured a winless November, in the middle of a spell of winning just two games from 13, stretching all the way through to the New Year. Even topping that lot off was the fact Demba Ba was sold to Chelsea in January yet remained Newcastle's top scorer in the league with 13 goals. Overall, a complete horror show and a season to forget.
The close season and transfer window
It's hardly been a hive of activity at St James's Park. Long term keeper and all round nice guy Steve Harper has left to stand between the sticks for Hull City, while Danny Simpson and James Perch have also flown the nest for pastures new. No-one's come in permanently which considering specific weaknesses have long been identified appears to me to be a big mistake. The signing of Loic Remy on loan appeared a sign of promise as he is a class act and, provided he can sort out his serious off-field problems, he should be able to weigh in with a decent amount of goals. That said he is injured and may not play until the end of September which doesn't exactly fill me with joy. Another Michael Owen is the last thing we need at Newcastle with no chance of scoring from the treatment table.
Newcastle have a decent squad on paper, but is light on quality in certain areas. For instance, Tim Krul missed a third of Newcastle's league games last season, and the departure of Steve Harper means Newcastle are currently without an experienced third choice goalkeeper should that happen again. That places a huge onus on Rob Elliot to also stay clear of injury. The Forward line is not in much much better shape should Cisse get hurt or Central Defence with Saylor and Colo.
The Manager and Director of Feckall
Alpha Papa had enough credit in the tank from his fifth place finish two years ago to avoid our most benevolent owners fleshy axe last season, but Pardew knows his boss and so called friend can be capricious. At the very forefront of his mind will be the need to start this term well, and aside from an opening trip to Manchester City, Newcastle (thanks to The Football Gods) don't have a start that could be described as overly taxing.
However, Pardew will be under pressure from the off. If his team don't perform in the first month or two, he will be on a collision course with the power brokers at the club. Relations are already reportedly under strain (despite the outward facing stuff spouted to the media) since the introduction of Joe Feckinere in a Director of Football role, and it's not too difficult to see this one ending badly. Apee already heads the Next Manager to Leave Position list as a 4.2 clear favourite. Strangely enough it's not his leaving that concerns me so much as the prospect of Feckinere taking over!
Expectations (I must be crazy for having any)
Improvement on last season is an absolute must. Newcastle were a byword for underachievement in the last campaign and that simply has to be amended. In fairness, fifth the season before probably represented a huge overachievement and the reality of where they're at is probably somewhere in the middle of the two.
Finding consistency and beating the other teams around them that finished from 10th down over last time out is key for the Mags this year. Should they set further foundations in their fourth year back in the top flight they'll essentially be an established Premier League team again. Anything more than that I will see as a huge bonus. Domestic cup improvement must also be on the agenda; the Toon were knocked out of both cups early on last season and some would say far too easily. I just don't believe given what has been served up during Mikey's tenure it's too much to ask the side to give their all to provide a decent cup run. As Wigan and Swansea proved last season with a good draw, these competitions can represent realistic shots at glory for them and the fanatical following which will turn out to support them round by round. I would certainly take a trip to a Wembley final over a relegation dog fight any day that's for sure.
So a mid table finish, say in 9th, would be nice and a Capital One Cup Final with a victorious outcome are what I'm praying for, but whether it turns out that way only time will tell.
Lights Oot!
I've seen Newcastle United win silverware!
