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Archive for category: Peter Lovenkrands.

Newcastle ‘Player of the Season’ Vote: 2) Midfielders and Forwards

May 17th, 2012 | 115 Comments |

NUFC midfielders and forwards.
Attack, attack, attack!
Following on from my piece on the contributions of our defenders and utilty players this season, let’s carry on with our assessment of Newcastle’s players with a view to deciding who is our Player of the season. I’ll be moving on the engine room now, and later the forwards. There are undoubtedly a few worthy recipients here!

Midfield: (more…)

Four or five players to join Newcastle in the summer?

March 14th, 2012 | 58 Comments |

According to press reports Newcastle may sign 4 or 5 players in the summer.
Corgnet still on the radar?
Newcastle United will look to strengthen the squad in the summer (according to press reports) but who are the ins and outs likely to be?

Much of the press is speculating that Newcastle will see a large influx of players in the summer, with some suggesting that as many as five new faces might be present in next season’s squad. The books will of course still have to balance, so what are the likely courses of action?

First, players will need to leave in order to free up the cash for fresh purchases and that will begin by getting Alan Smith – and his alleged extortionate wages – off the books. Lovenkrands’ contract is up in the summer too; I have no idea what sort of wages he’s on but I’m guessing his contract won’t be renewed.

I think two players who may make an exit are Cheick Tiote and Demba Ba. Tiote was signed for a fee of just £3.5m from FC Twente in August 2010 and I’d guess he’s now worth 2-3 times that amount with Chelsea apparently front-runners to sign him. Demba Ba was of course signed on a free and we’ve since heard Harry ‘Loudmouth’ Redknapp blabbing on about some sort of release clause in his contract and that might mean we don’t get too much for him, but his excellent scoring rate this season has certainly attracted attention. In fact, Demba Ba has just been voted ‘Best Signing Of The Season’ having accrued 56% of the vote from the League Managers’ Association (Phil Jones and Scott Parker were second with 13% each). (more…)

Blackburn Rovers vs Newcastle United match highlights and post match interviews..

February 2nd, 2012 | 25 Comments |

Highlights of Newcastle United’s 0-2 victory at Ewood Park, with the first being an own goal by Blackburn’s Scott Dann (a deflected shot off Ryan Taylor). The Magpies’ second coming from Gabriel Obertan after he picked up an excellent pass into space by Peter Lovenkrands.

I will update these with better / longer ones when they become available, along with UTD111’s full match report.

Post match interviews.

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Fulham v Newcastle United – Match Preview

January 20th, 2012 | 28 Comments |

Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage: Home of the "Cottagers"
Fulham are one of those inconsistent teams that seem to go from one extreme to the other. This season for example they have crushed Queens Park Rangers 6-0 at Craven Cottage, including a hat-trick for Andy Johnson, but also lost 0-5 to easy meat like Manchester United (did you see what I did there?). As far as this game goes, one of the factors influencing the result will be which Fulham team actually turns up!

This inconsistency could, of course, be partly due to their squad being stretched to it’s limits with their extra games in the Europa League. They are no longer involved in that particular competition following a draw with Odense which ended their interest. As a result however, the game against Newcastle United will be Fulham’s 38th match of the season, and more than one commentator has been heard to remark that they have looked a bit tired lately. Lets hope that continues for at least one more game!

2012 got off to a good start for Fulham with an impressive 2-1 home victory over London rivals Arsenal, and this was followed by a 4-0 victory over another London team, Charlton, in the FA Cup – also at Craven Cottage. Then the inconsistency kicked in when they travelled to struggling Blackburn last weekend and lost 3-1. The danger for United is that Fulham have a pretty good home record, having lost only to Everton, Spurs and Manchester United. (more…)

Eeh By Gum It’s FA Cup Time! Newcastle vs Blackburn preview

January 6th, 2012 | 35 Comments |

Blackburn Rovers fans.
Blackpudding Rovers fans: Up for t'cup on Satda!
Newcastle United will begin life without striker Demba Ba and midfielder Cheick Tiote in the FA Cup third round clash with Blackburn Rovers. Both are off to represent their countries (Senegal and The Ivory Coast) in the African Cup Of Nations.

But would either of them have been selected anyway even if they had been available?

The third round of the FA Cup used to be something which was seen as a major event in the English football calendar. Not only did it throw up the exciting possibility of a big club being drawn against a minnow, but for the bigger clubs it represented the first step in what could just possibly be a money-spinning path to the FA Cup Final – a fantastic day out in the full glare of the media, with all of the pomp, ceremony, posh new suits and possible glory that it throws up.

Sadly, times are changing and the romance of the FA Cup is changing with it – perhaps even sliding the same way that the League Cup has gone. Money is king in the modern game and some clubs are taking a different approach to the competition. As a result, we have seen teams shying away from fielding their best line-ups for fear of the extra injury risk to key players. For Premier League clubs, the difference in TV pay-outs attached to end of season league positions means that the risks are assessed more keenly.

Teams fighting relegation are in a particularly challenging situation, and often take the view that league matches have to be the priority. Which brings us nicely to Blackburn Rovers.

The Blackburn Perspective (more…)