Newcastle United - Race to Europe....

Currently in 6th position with close points between the magpies and 5th placed Chelsea, Newcastle look like a likely customer for a ticket to Europe.

The Toon has been victorious in Europe before, winning the Inter-City Fairs Cup in 1969, the Anglo Italian Cup in 1973 and lately the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2006. If Newcastle were to reach Europe again their expectations will be far higher, such as the Europa Cup.

Newcastle are joined by Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool for the Europe spot, which will be a hard battle. Chelsea are currently in the Champions League spot but are not far ahead of Newcastle and 5th place Arsenal. With not that long left of the 2011/12 season it is all to play for.

The latest form for us has slipped a bit in recent weeks with only 2 wins out of 5, and a well fought draw with Sunderland. With tough games to come and which will determine the European place Newcastle have to step up their game. The main players that could help us to get that spot, and my favourite players are Time Krul, captain Coloccini, Davide Santon, Cheick Tiote, Hatem Ben Arfa and the two Senegalese strikers.

My view and many other Geordie views are that the players have fought very hard this season which has been one of our best for many years. But if Europe comes, facing teams like Ajax and Athletico Bilbao, the players will need to give it that extra push for glory.

For many seasons, the fans have motivated the players to the win and in Europe they will sing their hearts out to get a trophy the north east side deserve. With one of the biggest fan based teams in the country, the Toon army will love travelling all around Europe watching the team play.

The current season, we have been phenomenal in attack and midfield, but still slack at the back. With the loss of Steven Taylor in early season due to an injury which puts him out for the rest of the season, Mike Williamson had to fill the shoes of the first team Geordie centre back. Williamson is not the most experienced defender in the Premier League and that has cost us in many games, but Colo, Santon and Simpson have been outstanding, and not to forget the fling Dutchmen Tim Krul, who has been one of the outstanding players this season.

 

Newcastle United - February Wrap Up

The month of February has been a big month for the Premier League calender as it is off the back end of the Window. Newcastle have signed one player, Cisse, which has been a big hit in February, with two goals.

Newcastle United's form in February: WWLD

This is not the best run of form as we only picked up 7 points out of the expected 9, that was 2 points dropped at a fighting club Wolves. My player of the month will go to Davide Santon, due to his great tackling which included pace, and his great performance against Villa. Santon has helped the attackers out a lot whilst he pushes up from the back.

The magpies first game of the month came to Blackburn away which we got all 3 points. The goal scorers were Scott Dann (OG) and his first of the season Gabriel Obertan in the 90th minute to secure the win. This win put pressure on 4th place and 5th.

The second fixture of the month brought us to St.James Park against Villa. With Demba Ba opening his account from his first game back from the AFCON, Newcastle were 1-0 up. With a massive injury time added on at the end of the first half due to Leon Best and Ryan Taylor suffering an injury, Robbie Keane managed to pull it to 1-1 at half time. With Best off the debut Papiss Cisse replaced him, we surely had the upper hand. With a lovely cross in from Jonas, Cisse used his finishing touch to put the magpies 2-1 up and making it his first goal for his new club. This win had our chins up for the rest of the month.

The 3rd game of the month came to White Hart Lane against high flying Tottenham. Earlier in the season we managed to knick a point at home, but they were the in form team. With a dodgy start Newcastle were 2-0 down within the first 10 minutes. By half time Spurs were 4-0 up....and it doesn't stop there. I don't know what Pardrew was saying in the dressing room, but he defiantly messed up hit tactics. The final score came to 5-0, a massive shock in Tyne-side. This was no surprise as Spurs were a real challenge for the league title.

The final game of the month was at home against struggling Wolves. Wolves with their new manager was looking forward to the game. Newcastle went 1-0 up at the 6th minute by his second goal for the club Cisse, then 12 minutes later Jonas put the toon 2-0 up with a stunning strike which was never going to be saved. At half time Newcastle were in the driving seat and looked like getting 3 points. Wolves came out the dressing room determined to pull it back. Jarvis and Doyle secured a point for battling Wolves but Newcastle dropped their heads in disappointment as they let a good lead wash away. The game was over and a point was rubbish for our standards.

The month was over and 7 points is average if you look at the teams we had. March will have similar kind of fixtures with the derby game at home against Sunderland, then away to Arsenal, then home to Norwich and then finally away to West Brom.

My rating of the team in February: 7.0.

POTM: Davide Santon