Newcastle Vs Norwich Match Preview

After 3 weeks of writing about what we could hope for against the 3 best teams in England, I thought I would have to find a different avenue this week. Hoping is ok against the big boys, but obviously after our difficult run of ‘hoping’, I was fully expecting a strong Newcastle team to bounce back in style.

It’s not so clear cut as that anymore though, with our squad seemingly crumbling as we enter one of the busiest periods on the footballing calendar.

This week we face Norwich, a team that like ourselves, are somewhat over performing and proving the critics wrong, currently sitting in a comfortable 11^th position. With 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats at home, they haven’t exactly made Carrow Road a fortress, but they have managed to surprise a few, only being narrowly defeated by an in form Arsenal, and ensuring the great unwashed left with nothing except red faces.

At home they have taken points off Sunderland, Swansea and QPR, whilst drawing against Stoke and Blackburn, bar Stoke, all bottom half teams. Their two defeats have come at the hands of Arsenal and West Brom.

Newcastle make the long trip to Norfolk this weekend with players seemingly dropping like flies. Steven Taylor is out for the rest of the season, while Coloccini’s thigh problem makes him doubtful, although speaking on Wednesday night, he would not rule himself out. Mike Williamson appears to be still some weeks off full fitness, which leaves us worryingly short at the back. Numerous ideas have been thrown about, some suggesting Davide Santon should play at centre back, a position he has played at for Italy U21’s. Pardew seems to prefer to use Perch rather than youngster Kadar, and despite much criticism in the past, the ex-forest man performed quite well under testing circumstances when he was called upon last week. Beyond that there isn’t a lot to choose from, with the likes of Remie Streete, Jeff Henderson and Stephen Folan all untested at the top level.

In midfield Danny Guthrie is out for around a month, whilst Cheik Tiote has still not returned-to me it all seems a bit dodgy. At first he was meant to be back for the City game, then the United game, and now it looks like it will be mid-December at the earliest. Murmurings in the week suggested he could be off in January, with some saying Chelsea have already agreed a £20 million fee. If true it’s disappointing, but not entirely surprising.  In his absence it seems Dan Gosling is poised to start alongside Yohan Cabaye. Gutierrez will be back from suspension, which will hopefully give Ryan Taylor the much needed defensive cover that was lacking against Chelsea. Marveaux remains out, so Obertan looks set to continue on the right.

Ironically, it is upfront, the position in which we tried and failed to bring in cover over the summer, that we are strongest, with all 3 first choice players; Ba, Best and Ben Arfa all fit. Shola came on last week and looked strong, but it seems that Pardew sees him as an impact sub, rather than 1^st XI material.

After lacking many goals recently, it’s important that we get back to winning ways. Looking back on both the City and Chelsea game, we could have easily scored 2 or 3 in each game. It’s important that we don’t look back on every game with this sort of attitude, and instead become more clinical in front of goal. Our latest poor run of form has seen us slip down into a perhaps more realistic 6^th place, with Fulham defeating Liverpool on Monday the only thing that stopped us dropping to 7^th. The gap between us and our realistic contenders for 7^th place- ie; Stoke, Villa, Everton – is currently 8 points. If we can keep that gap intact or even stretch it going into Christmas it will signal a very positive 1^st half of the season.

Even with injury, our squad is good enough to get something against Norwich. They have looked good this season, but it is our games against the mid-table teams that really count, and if we want to be sat in the top 7 come the end of the season, its games like these that need to be won.

HWTL

What can Newcastle hope for against Chelsea?

I’ve kind of being trying to do a weekly article lately, voicing my hopes and concerns for the upcoming match. I have already done City and United, so let’s give Chelsea a whirl.

The London club are the last of the ‘First real tests’ that we face, after a hard few weeks in competition with the League’s finest. Against City we were somewhat unfortunate, whilst luck was definitely on our side as we battened down the hatches and came away with a point against United.

I would say that Chelsea are definitely the weakest of the 3 teams to face us recently. City have quality in abundance, whilst United, although not firing on all cylinders are still extremely threatening, especially at home. With Chelsea it seems a bit different. Their team is very much in a transitional period, with their big name players that Abramovich assembled into the title winning sides of 2005 and 2006, coming to the end of their careers. Look through their line up in their defeat to Liverpool last week and you quickly realise just how old their team is:

Cech(29), Ivanovic(27), Ashley Cole(30), David Luiz(24), Terry(30), Ramires(24), Lampard(33), Mikel(24), Malouda(31), Mata(23), Drogba(33).

Average Age- 28

Compare that with Newcastle’s team for their game against City:

Krul(23), Simpson(24), Coloccini(29), Saylor(25), Raylor(27), Sammy(19), Cabaye(25), Guthrie(24), Gutierrez(28), Ba(26), Ben Arfa(24)

Average Age-24.9

Obviously, the likes of David Luiz and Mata have been purchased recently, but the core of the team from previous title winning seasons (Terry, Lampard, Drogba) will not be together for much longer.

For me, this is why Chelsea are not up there with United and City. Whereas United are in a transitional period and have begun the process of buying replacements, Chelsea are left with a team, that at its core is the same team from around 2004. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. Obviously, the great teams assemble a quality squad and keep the majority of it for years, but for Chelsea, the end is nearing for their core players, and as yet, they haven’t managed to replace them.

Looking through Chelsea’s team, you can see they have been weak in a number of key areas so far this season. Defensively, it is well documented that playing the high line as they have been doing doesn’t seem to be effective. This is illustrated by the fact that they have conceded 17 goals, and that they have already lost 4 games.

In goal is another place I feel Chelsea are weak. 4 or 5 years ago many would have considered Petr Cech to be one of the best ‘keepers around, but over the past few years there are a number of times where he has looked alarmingly average. Just take Leverkusen’s winner in the Champion’s league last week:

To me, a keeper of so called ‘world-class- quality should save that, whereas Cech kind of crouches and reaches, as if pretending to try to get it, but not really. A world class keeper can save you points, as Tim Krul did on Saturday, but a poor keeper can easily have the opposite effect, costing you heavily. I’m not saying I think Cech is a bad keeper, he isn’t, but he definitely isn’t what he once was, and I would like to think some way off our very own Dutch magician.

Offensively, the addition of Juan Mata appears to have improved them greatly. With Drogba not as heavily relied on as in previous years, Torres has begun to show glimpses of a return to form, although his best still seems a long way away. It is in Daniel Sturridge, however, that Chelsea really seem to have found their long term striker. At only 22 he is still not at his best, but last year began to hit form, whilst on loan at Bolton. While with the Trotters he bagged 8 goals in 12 appeaances, and since re-joining Chelsea has continued the form, with 7 goals in 14 appearances.

The public perception of the Chelsea one seems to be that out of our most recent matches, It is definitely the one in which we have the most chance of a win, by their own standards Chelsea have been poor this season, and with our home form consisting of 4 wins and 2 draws, points are definitely for the taking.

Last time out, Chelsea beat Wolves comfortably, running out 3-0 winners against Stamford bridge, but prior to that, defeats in Germany against Bayer Leverkusen, and at home to Liverpool had piled the pressure on Andre Villas Boas, who to me looks more and more like Roy Hodgson with every defeat.

If we avoid defeat it will signal a very impressive few weeks for the team, who despite losing their unbeaten record, have illustrated that our unbeaten run wasn’t a flash in the pan and can look to kick on with upcoming fixtures against Norwich, Swansea and West Brom.

What can Newcastle hope for against United?

After feeling upbeat and positive about our prospects against City, I wrote an article about our chances that many of you may have read. Perhaps next time I should write less from the heart and more from the head.  I’m going to try again, this time with our upcoming match against Man United.

I have to be honest; I was disappointed with the City score. On another day we could have had four or five- but if you don’t take your chances against top class opposition, you’re always likely to finish on the wrong end of the result. It’s definitely a match we can learn from though. On another day, we wouldn’t have given away two penalties, and a few more of our shots might have found the back of Joe Hart’s net.

Ironically, after the defeat to city, I heard more positive praise from pundits than I have done for any of our previous matches this season. Dan Walker, presenter of Football Focus commented on twitter that he was impressed with us, whilst even Paul Merson struggled to criticise us, saying that we played ‘very well’ and that prior to City scoring their first, they were ‘running out of ideas’.

After a few days to move on and forget about the result, I feel that we played relatively well in places. As mentioned, we could have had at least one goal before City scored, which would have made the game and entirely different prospect. As it was, two bits of poor defending from a usually solid Ryan Taylor gifted City a comfortable lead, and from then on we were always chasing the game, something which is pretty hard to do against the league leaders.

For me it’s only positive from here. We have played the team, who on current form, are the best in the league by a mile. We can go into the match against united knowing that again, we’re expected to get beat, but that if we win, it will be massive for the team, and be an illustration of just how good we can be.

I think more NUFC fans are hopeful of a win this week than last. Against City, we did pretty well to keep the game competitive in my opinion, against a team who are streets ahead of us financially, and on the pitch. This week the outlook is somewhat better. Our squad still seems positive, so much so that Yohan ‘dreamboat’ Cabaye gave an interview claiming Newcastle will go into the game with United ‘playing for a win’.

I feel the game against United is a game we could definitely get something from. Really get something from, not like last weeks ‘I feel we give City a shock’, but really take more than we are expected to against the perennial title challengers.

Following their draw against Benfica in mid-week, they will be looking to bounce back in the league well. They best Swansea away last week, but only narrowly, and with Rooney and Welbeck doubtful, their ability to freely score goals is dramatically compromised.  It’s in midfield however, where I feel that we can really prosper. United have looked poor in the middle fo the park so far this season, lacking the drive or guile of previous seasons in which the likes of Paul Scholes have controlled the game. They have been a much better midfield side with Tom Cleverley included, but with him out injured, the door really is ajar for Newcastle to come in and steal something, especially with the hope that Cheick Tiote will be fit again and ready to rekindle his midfield partnership with Cabaye.

United have looked quite poor in my opinion for the last few weeks. I say poor, obviously they have to  have been pretty good to be sitting in 2^nd place. But for United, they don’t seem to have that usual spark Fergie’s teams normally have. As I have already said, it’s well documented how poor their midfield has looked this season, and with our midfield arguably being one of the best in the league 12 games in, we have a real chance of going to Old Trafford and coming away with something.

I really hope we can get something. To me, this match is more of a test than last week. We were always likely to be on the wrong end of a hammering from City, if you were to believe the pundits, but it never really happened. Yes we lost, but it wasn’t the battering many had predicted. This week we face the red half of Manchester who look far inferior to their neighbours, so it’s not impossible we could go there and surprise a few.

What can Newcastle hope for against City?

When the two remaining unbeaten clubs in the Premier League meet on Saturday, many will be expecting only one outcome. After City’s incredible early season form, which has seen them brush aside the likes of Spurs, Aston Villa and, famously, Manchester United, it would be perhaps fair to envisage only a win for the League leaders. What stands in their way however is a Newcastle side high on confidence. Without a league defeat since the 1^st May, Newcastle have without doubt surprised many, but even the most ardent Newcastle fan would surely be foolish to expect anything other than a defeat at the Etihad. Well, perhaps. Perhaps we might lose our unbeaten run, but then again, perhaps City will get a shock.

Speaking to the Manchester Evening News on Tuesday, ex Mag and Citizen Antoine Sibierski believes City should not take Newcastle lightly. ‘People say Newcastle are the shock team but I knew they would do well – they have so many French players… you can’t underestimate Newcastle – they are on a good run and have great team spirit, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they got a result.’ It’s clear from this that he thinks Newcastle will put up a good fight, something which perhaps the rest of the media disagree with. With Paddy Power, Newcastle are 9/1 to win, odds which you would normally associate with a top Vs bottom clash, not a 1^st Vs 3^rd. Fount of all knowledge and moustachioed match of the day man Mark Lawrenson will, no doubt have us to get beat by 3 or 4 in his weekly predictions, but whilst those who know best may have us on a hiding to nothing, things might not be so clear cut. When the two sides meet on Saturday, it will be the league’s top scorers, against the league’s meanest defence, so to predict Newcastle to ship 3 or 4, may be forgetting that Newcastle appear to be a changed team. Last year, perhaps it would be acceptable to expect a mauling at the hands of one of the big 4, but that was the Newcastle of old. Having only conceded 8 goals in the league this season, and with only 3 or those coming away from home, it surely is not inconceivable that we could go to Manchester and frustrate City.

There is a high chance that we will go there and get beat, but I still feel that we have a better chance than many might suggest. I read something the other day about our position. We are now well over a quarter of the way through the season, and we currently sit in 3^rd, 1 point behind Manchester United, and 6 behind City, yet we are still 250/1 to win the league. If it was Liverpool in our position, would they be considered title contenders? The answer for me would be yes, so why aren’t we? I’m not saying we are going to win the title- I don’t think we will be anywhere near- but at this moment in time, still unbeaten and sitting in 3^rd, we are surely should be taken seriously. Our run was tipped to end at the hands of Spurs, and then again at the Britannia, but so far, it’s still going and there’s no reason why it should end this weekend.

Come Saturday evening, it is probable that there will only be one team left in the league left unbeaten, and whilst most would suggest that Lineker and co will be drooling over multiple goals from the likes of Aguero and Dzeko, it’s not all that unlikely that they could be sat there starting the take Newcastle a little bit more seriously.

Can Newcastle be the best of the rest?

Newcastle's 2-1 win over Everton on Saturday extended their unbeaten run this season and yet again disproved the opinions of many, who thought we might come unstuck against the Toffees. United currently sit in 2nd place in the league, although that will soon become 3rd, assuming Manchester United get an expected win against the great unwashed. Since 4 or 5 games in, so called pundits have tipped our unbeaten streak to come to an end, but so far we have proved them all wrong, managing over a quarter of the season without tasting defeat. The question is though, just how far can Newcastle go?

For a few weeks now, people have beginning to sit up and take notice of Newcastle. Our early season form surprised many, but led to most suggesting we 'hadn't played anyone yet'. Despite this being highly insulting to the teams we have played, I feel it is incorrect. Last season Newcastle finished 12th. Teams that finished around us include Stoke, West Brom, Sunderland, Fulham and Everton. So far from those teams we have beaten all of these, except West Brom who were are yet to play. What I'm triying to say is that for me, it doesn't matter that we haven't played 'anyone' as the teams we need to beat are the ones who were in and around us last year. If we do this, which we have, then it shows a marked improvement on last year, and can only point to a higher finishing position come May.

Since our win over Stoke last week, the experts have started to take note. Stoke hadn't lost at the Britannia all season, so for Newcastle to go there and win so comfortably was a warning to others to take United seriously. People are now beginning to wonder if we could finish in the top four, having occupied a Champions League spot for five or 6 weeks. For me, Newcastle won't finish fourth. I don't want to put a dampener on it, but we simply don't have as much strength in depth that the bigger teams have. Take City for example. Their bench for the 6-1 annihilation of rivals United was as follows: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Kolarov, K Toure, Nasri, De Jong, Dzeko. Apart from 'keeper Pantilimon, and perhaps Zabaleta, I would argue that all 5 other players would walk into every team in the league. It's the same for the other teams at the right end of the League. Chelsea, Manchester United  and Tottenham all arguably have enough quality players to field 2 or 3 teams capable of doing well in the Premier League. Newcastle don't really have this luxury. An injury to someone such as Demba Ba, or Coloccini and very suddenly our team is heavily weakened.

I do feel however, that Newcastle can be the best of the rest. Take off say, both Manchester clubs and Chelsea, and I feel Newcastle can finish in the chasing pack slightly behind them, with the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs. Anywhere between 4th and 8th is a realistic aim for us. Even if you say that the 6 mentioned teams finish above us, that leaves us in 7th; hardly a bad position. If we are to do that, we need to beat the teams below us, which is when the suggestion that we haven't played anyone again is shown to be rubbish. Assuming finishing top 6 is beyond us, then the team we need to be beating to finish 7th are the teams who will finish 8th downwards, ie; Stoke, Fulham, Everton, Sunderland, Blackburn, Wolves, Wigan, QPR; all of whom we have taken points off. If you look at it that way, we have played 'someone'. We have played the most important games. The mentioned teams will also get beaten more often than not against the likes of Man City, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc, so even if we do lose our first game in a fortnight's time at City, it doesn't matter too much. We aren't competing against City, we are competing against the teams who will be the best of the rest, who hopefully come May, we will be leading.

HWTL

FIFA 12 REVIEW

When FIFA 12 dropped through my letterbox last Friday, my excitement was unparalleled. Having pre-ordered my copy months previously, I had waited it’s delivery with bated breath, hoping that the latest itineration of EA sport’s series would live up to all the hype. I wasn’t to be disappointed.

Many might see each new edition as simply a re-hash of the previous year’s FIFA, with a new picture of Rooney on the box, with more luscious locks, of course. EA have never really been the sort of developer to merely update the player roster and then ship out the same game, though. Having become the favourite footy sim a few years back, FIFA has continued to strive to improve, in an attempt to leave competitors, Konami, treading water with Pro Evolution Soccer.

With this year’s game, FIFA promised a host of changes. The menus all look so much smoother, whilst game modes have become more comprehensive and graphics have been sharpened. It is the basket that is the three key changes to gameplay in which EA have placed all their eggs, however.

Since the end of last year’s Premier League season, EA have been banging on about their three changes: Close control, the player impact engine, and tactical defending. But are these all merely tweaks and are the Canadian developers just fiddling with a game in FIFA 11 that many saw as the best football sim ever? The answer definitively is no.

Every year EA seem to claim they have made close control better. That running and changing direction, whilst keeping the ball at close quarters is now easier than ever, so when they said it yet again this year, I was slightly disappointed. I shouldn’t have been, as the new close control system has changed the way I play. By pressing one of the shoulder buttons, your player is able to move and turn with the ball in very small areas. Used properly it allows you to jink past players, or grab that vital yard needed to unleash a shot on goal.

Perhaps the most talked about addition to FIFA this year has been the player impact engine. In previous FIFA’s, players used to kind of ‘go through’ each other. Contact was minimal and players did not really react to being tackled, beyond falling over in a rehearsed manner. The impact engine is designed to prevent this, and it works. The game is now full of off the ball collisions and tussles. Players ride tackles and when felled, go to ground in an altogether more realistic fashion. Sometimes the engine results in almost puppet like physics, with players contorting into impossible shapes, but for the most part, the new addition works very well.

The third and perhaps most important change to FIFA 12 is the new ‘tactical defending’. Previously games were very heavily focused on attacking. Defending meant bashing buttons mindlessly until one of your players got the ball, but no longer. The traditional tackle button now results in a much more of an attempt to tackle, meaning that mistiming can easily result in fouls. It is more important than ever to defend as a team, as simply running after the ball will result in a defence resembling headless chickens, through which the opposition will merrily skip. The new system has resulted in much frustration. My twitter feed has been full of annoyed players, unable to tackle. Yes it is much harder, but it is very rewarding and has created a game that has a greater balance between attack and defence than previous versions.

As always, FIFA’s array of gameplay modes, both on and offline mean that the game will last for literally weeks worth of play. Graphically, things look much sharper. Stadiums are more detailed and more players than ever have been created using photos. As ever, club kits are brilliantly recreated and matches genuinely buzz, with the crowd looking and sounding better than ever.

Some might think that they could save some money and stick with FIFA 11, but if you consider yourself to be a fan of football, or gaming, or both, you need this game. Why are you still reading this? Go and buy it.

97/100

Premier League Predictions - Saturday 23rd September

After last week's miserable attempt (on my other blog you can find here), I decided to give predicting this weeks premier league results another go.

Manchester City Vs Everton

City have been in sparkling so far this season, with last week's draw against Fulham the only blot on their copybook. The additions they made over the summer have given City a real chance of winning the title this time round.

After a slow start to the season, Everton are four games unbeaten, including a hard fought 2-1 win over West Brom in the Carling Cup. They always seem to play well against City, winning 7 of the last 8 games between the two, so I expect them to come away with something here.

My Prediction: 2-2

Arsenal Vs Bolton

Both of these team have had very poor starts to the season. Arsenal shipped 4 goals to Blackburn last week, after looking comfortable for large sections of the match. I think that more than anything, they need a performance to boost confidence.

Bolton are struggling, and with only one win in their last 10 Premier League games, don't expect them to come away from the Emirates with much.

My Prediction 3-1

Chelsea Vs Swansea

Chelsea were very unlucky last week at the hands of Manchester United. A United season ticket holder told me how he cannot believe Chelsea didn't score 5 or 6. Despite his shocking miss, Torres seems to be coming back into some form. With him and Mata playing well, Chelsea are definite title contenders.

Swansea broke their Premier League duck last week, scoring the first, second and third goals of the season. When you think that their first 5 games have included Man City and Arsenal, I think Swansea have done remarkably well to be sitting as high as 14th in the table.

My Prediction 3-0

Liverpool Vs Wolves

Wolves were strong against the so called big four last year, but after a good start to this season, they have suffered back to back defeats.

Liverpool invested heavily over the summer, but so far look to be still some way off reclaiming a top four spot. They were embarrassed at Anfield by Wolves last season, so will be looking to set things straight.

My Prediction: 2-1

Newcastle Vs Blackburn

Newcastle have had a strong start to the season, currently sitting 4th in the league. They will see the visit of relegation tipped Blackburn as a chance to extend their unbeaten run.

Blackburn come into the game off the back of a stunning 4-3 win over Arsenal. Typically they do well in the North East, winning their last 5 in a row at St James' Park and Steve Kean will want to keep the unrest amongst the fans at bay with another win.

My Prediction: 2-1

Wigan Vs Tottenham

I worry for Wigan this year. They sold arguably their best player in Charles N'Zogbia, and have not strengthened the team. They always struggle for goals, but with Rodallega injured for at least the next few weeks, they may find goals even harder to come by.

Tottenham were very good against Liverpool last week, with Modric seemingly over his protracted move to Chelsea. If they can keep him happy and playing well, the top four might not be beyond Spurs this season.


My Prediction: 0-2

Stoke Vs Manchester United

Stoke were looking good until their battering at the hands of Sunderland last week, so it will be interesting to see how they bounce back from that.

United are in sparkling form and seem to just brush aside their competitors. If their latest victory over Chelsea is anything to go by, then their only genuine title rivals are Manchester City.

My Prediction: 1-3

West Brom Vs Fulham

West Brom have started very poorly this season, something that Roy Hodgson will be looking to put right with the visit of his old club. So far the y have lost both of their home games, something that needs to stop if they are to climb the table.

Fulham have also started poorly, and are struggling to score goals. Their new signing Bryan Ruiz has looked poor so far, and Fulham are heavily relying on him to settle quickly

My Prediction 1-1

Are Newcastle a better team than they were last season?

After much whispering and rumours, the transfer window closed with Newcastle failing to add a striker to squad as promised. The failure to sign anyone on the final day of transfer dealings was far too predictable for many, mirroring the failed attempts to bring in a replacement for Andy Carroll on the final day of the January transfer window. The lack of incoming striker has tainted what was otherwise a relatively good window for the North East club. Although losing key team members such as Nolan, Barton and Enrique, the Newcastle hierarchy managed to add the likes of Cabaye and Obertan, with left back Davide Santon the latest player to sign for the Toon as a much needed replacement for the departed Enrique. After having 7 months to plan possible signings, it is disappointing that no striker could be brought in to alleviate the concerns of the Geordie faithful, and also to fulfill the promises made by manager, Alan Pardew. I feel genuinely sorry for the former Southampton man, as he has repeatedly stated since the arrival of Sylvain Marveaux that he would recruit 2 further players; a Left Back and a Striker. Less than 2 weeks ago he stated 'We’re trying to make sure this club is stronger than it was last year, as it stands, when we started the season, I’d say we’re not at in position yet. But hopefully we will be.' I understand that Pardew was trying to excite the fans in his statement, but surely he must have been aware that saying the team is not better than last season, after having 3 months to strengthen, is a high risk strategy should the club have failed to get any further players through the door. As it turned out, he managed only one further addition in left back Davide Santon. So if we are to believe what Pardew said, then that means we are still worse than last season? I must say, I believe we are a much stronger team, and the lack of striker is not as big a problem as some people say.


Since June, Newcastle have been linked with an array of strikers, from English talent such as Jermaine Defoe, to relatively unheard of foreign forwards like Brest forward, Nolan Roux. I liked the way that we had gone about recruiting our other targets. We seemingly had a list of potential buys that had been identified, and we managed to sign up some very promising talent. However, when it came to finding a striker the cool and calm recruitment that had led to the signatures of Cabaye, Marveaux and Ba seemed to go out of the window. It seemed, especially towards the end of the window that we were just desperate to recruit anyone who would cost around £10m. When we were linked with an offer for Fulham target Bryan Ruiz in the final hours, it felt very much as though we were just desperate. I am glad Ruiz headed for Fulham. When David Craig appeared on Sky Sports News telling the nation that we had a helicopter ready to bring Ruiz to the north east, I must admit I got rather excited, especially after watching videos of him on Youtube. I'm glad we didn't sign him though, as he was a player, that until that final hours of the window has not been linked with Newcastle, and I feel that it is a more sensible policy to wait, before spending an over inflated price for a striker who has excelled in a pool dutch league. Remember Afonso Alves?

I sometimes feel that British fans are quite gullible when it comes to foreign talent. For example, we were linked with Modibo Maiga, a Malian international playing for Sochaux. The french league is a league much worse than the premier league, yet 23 year old Maiga has only scored 14 goals in his 36 appearances for the club. Compare this to 24 year old Irishman Leon Best, who has scored 8 goals in 15 premier league matches. the same could be said for Kevin Gameiro, who we were linked with earlier in the transfer window. He had a record of around 1 goal in 2 for Lorient, again in the poor French league. He signed for PSG for around £10m. Best, who has a similar scoring record in a far superior league, yet he was linked with a £3m move to championship side Birmingham over the summer. I understand that his scoring record is only across a small number of games, and is therefore not perhaps as accurate, but surely at only 24 he is worth retaining and given the role as our main striker? He did very well last season following the sale of Andy Carroll, when Newcastle were tipped to struggle.

Maiga- an improvement on what we have?

If we look at the stats, it shows that goals were no more hard to come by in the second half of the season following Andy Carroll's departure, than they were in the first half. In the first 19 games- up to Carroll's final game against Tottenham on the 28th December, we scored 28 goals. If the loss of Carroll is to be believed as being so catastrophic as some say then you would think that we scored much less in the second 19 games of the season. From Carroll's last game on the 28th December, until the end of the season we scored 28 goals- exactly the same number as with Carroll.


So then, the lack of Andy Carroll is perhaps not as important as you might think. When you also consider that Kevin Nolan scored only 2 of his 12 goals following the Gateshead born striker's departure, then you start to think that perhaps  the Newcastle strike force was more balanced without Carroll, as Leon Best, Peter Lovenkrands and Shola Ameobi stepped up to fill the void.


Moving away from the failure to recruit a striker, I also feel that the team are stronger in midfield. Previously we were playing Joey Barton as a makeshift right midfielder. Over the summer we have signed Sylvain Marveaux; who can play at a number of positions across the midfield; and Gabriel Obertan, an out and out right winger.


Centrally, we lost Kevin Nolan, due to the refusal to give him a long deal. At the time people saw it as a major error by the board, as he was at many times last year, our best player. Following watching Yohan Cabaye for the first few games of the season however, any worries have quickly evaporated. Cabaye looks like a very good player. He is younger than Nolan, more mobile and seems a bargain for his £4.3m price tag.


Defensively, Jose Enrique left to Liverpool, after one of the most protracted deals of the summer came to an end in August. Similarly to the vacant striker's position, a host of names were linked, including PSV's Erik Pieters and Aly Cissokho, however Newcastle eventually plumped for Inter full back, Davide Santon. Descrobed as the next Paolo Maldini by Jose Mourinho, he is an exciting prospect and at only 20, has his career ahead of him. Although perhaps not at the standard of Enrique yet, he definitely has potential to grow into a player surpassing the quality of the Spaniard.

So to answer the question, as to whether Newcastle a better team than they were last season, it seems only fair to compare the teams. If we count Andy Carroll as a major loss, then we should perhaps assess the recovery of the side following his departure. The squad for the first game after his move to Liverpool; a 1-0 defeat to Fulham, was as follows:

Harper, Coloccini, Enrique, Williamson, Simpson, Nolan, Barton,Guthrie, Gutierrez, Best, Ameobi

Subs: Krul, Campbell, Perch, Ferguson, Lovenkrands, Ranger, Richardson

Compare this with our team in our 2-1 victory Fulham last week:

Krul, Coloccini, Simpson, R. Taylor, S. Taylor, Cabaye, Gutierrez, Tiote, Lovenkrands, Best, Obertan

Subs: Soderberg, Smith, Marveaux, Vuckic, Ferguson, Ba, Sammy Ameobi

Consider that to add to that team is Santon and Ben Arfa, as well as Shola Ameobi, Harper, Gosling, then I believe that considering we have lost possibly our four best players, in Carroll, Enrique, Nolan and Barton, we have done remarkably well to retain the core of the team, whilst also making additions that show progression from an aging team, into one full of youth and potential. The failure to add a new striker is a source of frustration, but with the likes of Krul, Cabaye and Ben Arfa our team has very exciting young players, and with the momentum created from our first 3 results, Newcastle have a very good chance of improving on the 12th place finish of last year. HWTL