EPL Talk » Shola Ameobi

Manchester United’s Pride Park Night, The Busy Day in Newcastle and Other Various Musings

Johnathan Starling — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 05:11:32 +0000

Congrats to Derby County. On a day where Cricket was the headline in England throughout (thanks ECB), Derby County came up with another dozy…technically being 180 minutes away from European competition.

However that’s where the hyperbole stops for me. Sir Alex Ferguson obviously had a plan in mind for tonight’s game, damage control. While yes the 1-0 scoreline could be considered flattering for the number of chances Derby County had, Derby were unable to really punish Manchester United and the lighthearted nature they took this first leg. When the ninety was up, the scoreline should have read at least 2-0.

But let’s be honest about this game. Manchester United have a big tie Sunday against Chelsea at Old Trafford and they host the return leg to this tie in two weeks time. Sir Alex killed one bird when tonight’s game ended 1-0. He was able to rest key players and with the damage held to a minimal, should be able to turn over a Derby County side that will have the post manager change glow wearing off in a fort night. So let us all not over blow this result. While yes it’s a bit of a shock, let’s put this into perspective first. If Derby manage to hold on at Old Tafford for the Wembley final, then we can wonder about the what ifs of this night.

Busy day at St. James Park. First we find out Shola Ameobi signed a new 3 year deal. Let’s hope he gets healthy to play a large part of those 3 years. Secondly we find out that Obafemi Martins is off to see the hernia guy in Germany. See ya in six weeks. However if I was Martins, I’d tell his agent to shut up about blasting the club and the medical staff saying ‘The Newcastle medical staff is woeful’. Why state the obvious when at any time you can look at their injury list and go ‘is this West Ham from last season’? And finally we find out that Alan Smith looks to be sold from the club. For some odd reason that will probably come to me later, that surprises me.

Other Stories
Mark Hughes believes in an open door policy. I guess his players just don’t want to take him up on that offer. If players are taking up their grievances in player only meetings and with chairmen, then in my mind the players have either revolted or no longer care about you as a person.

We have a new leader in the club house in the Richest Club Owner Invitational, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Manchester City. That’s what happens when you have more money than everyone else. Roman Abramovich falls to third.

Tell me if I’ve got this nightly Jermain Defoe update correct. 1) The story comes out that Defoe made his own deal. 2) Bitter ex agent who is suing Defoe over breech of contract makes claim that Defoe’s mother helped broker the deal. So would that make 3) Bitter ex agent is trying to get both Defoe and Tottenham in trouble? Now I just want this story to end!

So John Terry is disappointed to see Wayne Bridge go. I guess they must have become great friends on the Chelsea medical tables.

Major League Soccer bust Denilson is on trail with Bolton. Hey Gary, you can’t be that desperate for players.

Here’s our daily warning from Middlesbrough saying Stewart Downing isn’t for sale.

How To Make Newcastle United A Successful Club Again

The Gaffer — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:58:55 +0000

Contrary to popular belief, Newcastle United is not a poisoned club. Nor are they jinxed with injuries. At worst, they’re a poorly run club who has made one bad decision after another after another.

With news that a Nigerian consortium are interested in buying Newcastle, Toon fans will be keeping their fingers crossed that current owner Mike Ashley only has a limited time in charge. A new owner, whether they’re from Nigeria or another country, is inevitable, but simply changing owners won’t be enough to change Newcastle’s fortunes.

Instead what’s needed is a sound plan that is backed by financiers willing to spend money in the transfer window coupled with an understanding and desire to embrace the Geordie spirit.

It’s time for the passionate Geordies to feel like their club is theirs again instead of being run by a “cockney mafia” (Ashley and Wise). Dennis Wise needs to be sacked as soon as the takeover occurs as well as executive Derek Llamblas. But what’s crucial is that the new owners of Newcastle United bring in someone to the club who has a deep connection with the city.

I don’t feel there’s a Geordie out there who has the experience needed to manage the club at the highest level. Instead, the new owners need to convince someone like Alan Shearer to come in again as an assistant manager to work with a world-class manager.

Newcastle fans need a charismatic leader who knows his football and has a passion for attacking football as well as the ability to know when to play gritty football to pull out a result.

The list of managers available that fit those criteria are few and far between. One candidate that should be considered is Roberto Martinez, manager of Swansea, who has transformed the Welsh club into a side playing beautiful and effective football even in the “kick and run” Championship League.

Martinez has made shrewd transfer signings in the summer. Plus he has the experience of playing in England and managing in the country albeit at lower levels with the Swans.

No matter who the next manager will be, he needs the financial backing in the January transfer window to bring in star talent as well as to replace the dead wood (Alan Smith, Cacapa, Shola Ameobi and Nicky Butt) and trouble makers (Joey Barton).

Ultimately where it matters the most is on the pitch where the Magpies need a massive confidence boost as well as hunger to win. Earlier in the season, Newcastle showed glimmers of hope but there’s still so much work to be done before Newcastle United is anywhere near a decent side.

No matter who the new owner is, they need to improve communication with the fans and players. The club needs to have a plan with realistic goals that they can share with its fans so that they’ll be patient, to an extent, and that everyone will be working towards a common goal. With Newcastle, there is hope. The sooner they get an investor who is qualified to run the club, the better.

Marlon King Further Dampens Day As Newcasle United Fans Protest

Johnathan Starling — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:11:26 +0000

Before I write, I want to thank everyone for the turnout this weekend for the EPL Talk Chat. You honestly have no idea how happy it made me. Anyways enough of the gushing, back to the meat of this post.

Marlon King’s double was enough to see off Newcastle United 2-1.

I have to admit, I’m torn about what direction to take this particular article. Really this should be about how Hull City was able to take advantage of a club in crisis and get a win at St. James’ Park. Instead, I’m more focused on what happened in the stands to start the second half.

As the ‘Cockney Mafia Out’ banner circled the ground to start the second half, I actually got disgusted. Yes everyone in the world knows Newcastle United fans are not happy with Ashley at the helm and they sure as hell aren’t happy with how Kevin Keegan had to leave the club this time around. But to parade around with a sign is just disgraceful to those on the pitch trying their best to get a result for the club that you claim to support. To make this protest even more comical was the fact Ashley or Wise weren’t even there, and it was pretty obvious they weren’t going to be. Yes they didn’t take their venom out on the players, but if you’re focusing your time on taking it out on the board, can’t you argue fans are taking it out on the players by ignoring what they do on the field?

Look, if you want to protest to your club about what is going on there, it’s pretty simple. Don’t buy anymore merchandise. Protest outside the club, don’t show up. If you want to even sing songs of protest to the board, while I’m not thrilled with it, I can even understand that. But to draw attention to yourselves by circling the ground with a banner is about as low as it can go as far as I’m concerned.

What’s even sadder is this game was more or less a side show to the protests on offer at the ground. The game itself though wasn’t that great of a game. Newcastle United had the promising start, but couldn’t take advantage of their three best chances to score inside of half an hour. Then the penalty and I’ve gone back and forth on this one. The way I see it, Peter Halmosi came back into the tackle of Nicky Butt. From my vantage point, it shouldn’t have been a penalty, but I won’t fault Andre Marriner for awarding it. Marlon King did his job from the spot even though Given guessed correctly and Hull had their lead.

The start of the second half was pretty much more of the same for Newcastle. Create chances, but got caught out on one quality counter. Charles N’Zogbia should be taken to task for being caught so far out of position. Marlon King had plenty of space to run in and even with N’Zogbia tracking back, it was too late. King did well to keep composed on the ball and slot home far post.

Xisco I felt had a good game, and got his reward nine minutes from the ninety. It was simply clean up duty as Charles N’Zogbia found space through the traffic to go far post. Myhill dove for it and was simply not able to get up in time as Xisco did well to stay onside and finish.

The ending though has to leave a black eye on the fans who did come out. Danny Guthrie has to know better that you just can’t go in and attack the legs unprovoked. Hell he got away with one hack at Caleb Fagan’s legs, but to blatantly dive in with what appeared to me an intent to injure is a joke.

In the end, Hull City get three points and do the business in the strangest of environments. Newcastle United just have too many issues to deal with right now and while they have enough talent to stay away from true relegation hell, it’s going to be another long season of turmoil for them.

A Few Other Observations:
1) If Geremi is Newcastle United’s best crossing threat, that’s not a good thing.
2) Could Shola Ameobi have had a worse game? At the moment, he doesn’t even look league one standard, even if he is coming off an injury.
3) If Dean Windass doesn’t have a realistic chance weekly to come on, shouldn’t he be smart enough to just step aside and let those who are more able in? It their four matches this season, the only one he’s come on in was during a blowout.

I’ll be back tonight with a review of Stoke City taking on Everton.