Coming Home Newcastle - All Posts

Toon Crier: Aubameyang, Tiote, Champions League

2013-05-24T15:59:58Z

Many apologies for the lateness of today's links post. We have football to watch this weekend. Saturday features the Champions League Final, the Hong Kong International Soccer Sevens Tournament, and plenty of MLS action. Sunday has the Championship Play-off Final, more HKFC Soccer Sevens, and Lille vs. St. Etienne if you're interested in tracking Newcastle (and everybody else) target Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Speaking of him:

Newcastle

NUFC favour Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as Carroll too costly | JournalLive
Newcastle's interest in Aubameyang hasn't been a secret, but for some reason a lot of people outside the fanbase didn't know about it until this article started making the rounds. It seems like there is far too much interest from bigger clubs for this to be a realistic possibility, but we said the same thing about Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa last summer.

Transfer news: St Etienne striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang linked with Anzhi | Sky Sports
See what I mean? ERRBODY is in on this guy.

Daniel Levy's Imaginary Shortlist: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang | Cartilage Free Captain
Nice profile of Aubameyang, who probably isn't going to Spurs.

Does Cheick Tiote Have A Future At Newcastle United? | Squawka News
Decent enough summary of Cheik Tiote's season.

Tiote is far from irredeemable, and he still brings plenty of tenacity to Newcastle’s midfield. However in his three seasons at St James’ Park, Tiote has made only 26, 24 and 24 league appearances, missing far too many games through suspension and injury than Newcastle would like.

Other Football

UEFA Champions League Final Preview: Borussia Dortmund vs Bayern Munich | Bavarian Football Works

This time, there are no excuses. The individuals are experienced, there is great depth in the squad and Schweinsteiger is and has been fully fit throughout the season. Add to that the fact that Bayern has actually beaten Dortmund twice and it is incredibly obvious that Bayern has nowhere to hide. They have won the battles and hence they are well prepared for the war. I am sure that I am not the only one who feels that the Bundesliga shield and possibly the cup with the green jewels will mean very little if Bayern does not win the cup with the big ears.

Champions League Preview: Dortmund Resilience Will Be Tested Without Götze | NYTimes.com

As this season’s Champions League campaign has shown, Dortmund’s uncanny ability to overcome lesser and greater opponents alike has been down to the squad’s ability to cohesively outperform the other team. If Bayern is to be defeated on Saturday it will be through a system of hard work and selfless football, not an outstanding individual performance.

Champions League Preview: History and Redemption on Line for Bayern | NYTimes.com

All that stands in Bayern’s way then is a big black-and-yellow wall, but the momentum and history both appear to be on Bayern’s side. Thomas Müller summed it up best in the lead-up to the final, in words that echo both his and the team’s urgency and determination: "It’s about time I won the thing. If you’re beaten three times, you’re branded a loser."

Dortmund vs Bayern Munich Champions League Final preview | GQ.COM (UK)

While the Bundesliga might eventually emerge as the strongest in Europe - unlike a good number of English clubs, German clubs are profitable and financially stable - at this point in time, the numbers don't suggest that the Bundesliga will reign unchallenged in Europe for the next decade. The numbers tell us that the visit by Bayern Munich and Dortmund to Wembley is just that - a brief weekend in London - rather than an invasion the Premier League needs to fight on the beaches, on the landing grounds, in the fields, et cetera.

The secrets of Juergen Klopp’s success | Yahoo! Eurosport UK
A good read if you're at all interested in tactics or BVB.

Crosses key in Champions League final | ESPN FC
A brief statistical preview of Saturday's match.

The Joy of Six: Football League play-off finals | guardian.co.uk
I enjoyed this foray into the history of the play-off final.

The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Football Is Wrong | The Guardian
I'm really looking forward to this book. Having not read it yet, I can't speak to whether or not the review itself is fair, though it is fairly even-handed about the role of statistics in football, even if the author completely missed the point of Moneyball.

Begovic Claims Liverpool Deal Nearly Sorted | The Liverpool Offside
Whether this is true or not, Begovic seems intent on trying to make it happen.

Off-topic

Nationals made t-shirt of pitching coach's Playgirl photo | SBNation.com
Okay, this is funny. SFW

Self-Promotion

San Lorenzo Chief: "I have the intention of meeting with Fabricio" | Coming Home Newcastle
Leave us alone, Matias Lammens.

Pardew to Remain Newcastle United Manager for 2013-14 Season | Coming Home Newcastle

So here's your semi-annual lesson on the transfer window: If the person tweeting (or posting on a forum, or whatever) doesn't have any reason to be accountable for their words, you had better have a very good reason to believe them, and that reason should not be that you want whatever they've said to be true.

Newcastle United Set to Defend HKFC Soccer Sevens Title This Weekend | Coming Home Newcastle
All you need to know to get ready for this weekend's tournament.

Tweets of the Day

Interesting to read claims by San Lorenzo president that he's trying to broker a deal for Colo. He's had ZERO contact with #nufc
— Mark Douglas (@MsiDouglas) May 23, 2013

News of Pardew staying largely going over like a fart in church... predictably. Also see some calls for patience: (c)
— Jim McMeachin (@CHNOSotP) May 23, 2013

#ChurchFarts

Follow @ComingHomeNUFC

Poll

Who are you rooting for in the Champions League final?

San Lorenzo Chief: "I have the intention of meeting with Fabricio"

2013-05-23T19:32:09Z

On the heels of the statement released by the club ensuring the supporters that Double Manager of the Year Alan Pardew would be staying with the club, it would have been easy to wonder what the Newcastle support would have to talk about. Well, not really... the Alan Pardew complaint wheel is spinning with just as much vigor as it has since the end of the season (and before, honestly)... but there is a new story to lay on the top.

In January, Fabricio Coloccini attempted to orchestrate a move to his hometown club San Lorenzo, reportedly in attempt to save a shattered marriage if you're into needing to know those kind of things. San Lorenzo, for their part, were glad to say that they would welcome Coloccini with open arms, just so long as they didn't have to pay for him. It was a certainty following the close of the January window that the story would return.

Cue today's reports once again linking Newcastle United's captain to the Argentine club. Well... sort of. The exact quote that is bringing this wonderful story back into the public eye is this:

I have the intention of having a meeting with Fabricio and talking about the conditions of his arrival to San Lorenzo," he told La Cicloneta.

--via SkySports.com

While this story may well still hold water (it's unknown what the status of Coloccini's personal life is, for one thing), it is important to note that the story itself admits that no contact has actually been made between San Lorenzo, Newcastle United, Fabriccio Coloccini or Matias Lammens. Welcome to silly season.

Newcastle United Set to Defend HKFC Soccer Sevens Title This Weekend

2013-05-23T14:19:09Z

The Newcastle United reserves, coached by Willie Donachie, have arrived in Hong Kong for the HKFC International Soccer Sevens, an event that bills itself as the world's best seven-a-side tournament. Newcastle won the title last year, led by Adam Campbell and captain James Tavernier, and they have sent a strong side back over to defend their trophy.

The ten players who made the trip are goalkeeper Jak Alnwick, defenders James Tavernier, Remie Streete, Paul Dummett, midfielders Bradden Inman, Michael Richardson, Rolando Aarons, Conor Newton, Steven Logan, and forward Sammy Ameobi. Ameobi and Tavernier have senior experience with Newcastle, and Inman, Newton, and Dummett did loan spells this season - the former at League One club Crewe Alexandra and the latter two at Scottish Premier League side St. Mirren. Aarons and Logan are the only players to make the trip that are listed on the Newcastle Official Site as Academy players.

Newcastle has been placed in Group B along with Southern District Football Club, a team playing in Hong Kong's First Division, co-host HKFC Captain's Select, and Leicester City. Other English and Scottish teams competing include Aston Villa, Manchester City, Sunderland, and Rangers FC. Teams will play each other one time, and the top two will advance to the quarterfinals. Group play will take place on Saturday, with the playoff matches happening on Sunday. Here is Newcastle United's schedule (Note: Hong Kong is UTC+8, currently 7 hours ahead of British Summer Time and 13 hours ahead of US CDT):

Saturday, May 25

Newcastle vs. HKFC Captain's Select, 15:57 local
Newcastle vs. Southern, 17:39 local
Newcastle vs. Leicester City, 19:38 local

Sunday, May 26

Plate Quarterfinal 3 (If Newcastle finish third), 09:12 local
Plate Quarterfinal 4 (If Newcastle finish fourth), 09:30 local
Cup Quarterfinal 3 (If Newcastle finish first), 11:50 local
Cup Quarterfinal 4 (If Newcastle finish second), 12:15 local

Plate Semifinal 1 (from QF3), 13:35 local
Plate Semifinal 2 (from QF4), 14:00 local
Cup Semifinal 1 (from QF3), 16:05 local
Cup Semifinal 2 (from QF4), 16:30 local

Plate Final, 17:30 local
Cup Final, 19:00 local

Games are fast-paced and the halves are only seven minutes long in the beginning stages. To give you an idea of what the game play is like, here's a video of Newcastle's 2-1 victory over Aston Villa in last year's final:

Pardew to Remain Newcastle United Manager for 2013-14 Season

2013-05-23T12:57:07Z

Colin Young of The Daily Mail is reporting that Newcastle manager Alan Pardew's summit meeting with owner Mike Ashley and Managing Director Derek Llambias is completed, and that the pair have "given assurances that [Pardew's] job is safe." This is in contrast to reports from several sources claiming to have inside knowledge of the organization, who over the course of the last 2-3 days indicated that Pardew had already been sacked.

As it turns out, the meeting was solely about formulating a strategy for the upcoming transfer window and was never about Pardew's job status, according to George Caulkin of The Times:

Since QPR,mood music from #Nufc absolutely consistent - full support for Alan Pardew, who has himself said "100%" confident of staying on...
— George Caulkin (@CaulkinTheTimes) May 23, 2013

That remains the case. Told this week's meeting wasn't a summit about Pardew's position. Yet none of that has stopped rumour-mill ...
— George Caulkin (@CaulkinTheTimes) May 23, 2013

... not all Twitter-fuelled, which is interesting. Part of that may be because it's impossible to completely 2nd guess Mike Ashley. #Nufc.
— George Caulkin (@CaulkinTheTimes) May 23, 2013

So here's your semi-annual lesson on the transfer window: If the person tweeting (or posting on a forum, or whatever) doesn't have any reason to be accountable for their words, you had better have a very good reason to believe them, and that reason should not be that you want whatever they've said to be true.

As for Pardew, he'll have another season (or at the very least a part of one) to right the ship. Based on his comments in the press over the last week or so, we can expect that he petitioned Mike Ashley for enough funds to bring in a quality striker and some experienced depth (with a possible emphasis on English players). Whether or not Ashley has granted him that freedom is another story. As Caulkin rightly points out, there's no use guessing what Mike Ashley will or won't do.

Toon Crier: Carroll Not Signing, HKFC Soccer Sevens, Pardew Speaks

2013-05-23T05:11:11Z

Another slow news day, but at least there's football to look forward to this weekend.

Newcastle

Transfer News: Newcastle not interested in re-signing Andy Carroll | Sky Sports
This was widely reported yesterday, and a lack of activity seems to confirm that Newcastle will not be pursuing Andy Carroll further. Still...why hasn't he signed with West Ham yet? Show us the shirt!

Newcastle names top squad for HKFC soccer sevens | South China Morning Post
Tavernier heads lineup that includes five players from last year's victorious side.

Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew has Liverpool firmly in his sights | Chronicle Live

Pardew said: "It is a difficult league. We could have finished in the top 11. If you’d have said that at the start of the season, and getting to the last eight of the Europa League, you’d have said it was OK. It is just the way we got there was unsavoury, and some of the performances."

Other Football

Premier League Managerial Power Rankings | SBNation.com
Anybody want to guess where Alan Pardew ends up in this ranking?

Fulham finally land Derek Boateng and Fernando Amorebieta | guardian.co.uk
Good business for Fulham, who got two quality players for free.

Mario Goetze will miss final at Wembley | Google Translate
Of course he will.

Gotze-less: Examining Borussia Dortmund's Tactical Conundrums | Bavarian Football Works
Mario Gotze will most likely be unable to play come game time this Saturday, so we take a look at the alternate options available to the man with a blonde badger perched upon his head and at Bayern's response.

Self-Promotion

Coming Home Podcastle Episode 7: Restore The Former Glory | Coming Home Newcastle
We spend this week decompressing a little bit more following the awful season that was. Discussions include reshaping the squad moving forward and identifying potential transfer targets - including one very interesting potential recruit from the US.

Newcastle United End-of-Season Roundtable, Part 3 | Coming Home Newcastle
The thrilling conclusion to a collaborative effort to recap Newcastle United's 2012-13 season.

Tweet of the Day

Disgraceful what has happened in woolwich! Grew up 2 mins down the road!! Thoughts with victims family!
— Robert Elliot (@the_dilsh) May 22, 2013

Follow @ComingHomeNUFC

Newcastle United End-of-Season Roundtable, Part 3

2013-05-23T05:00:03Z

Our end-of-season roundtable concludes today with a look ahead to the transfer window and a discussion on Alan Pardew's job status. Check out parts 1 & 2 as well.

7. What current players under contract would you like to see sold this summer?

Callum Kane (@CallumKane__): Gutierrez, Ameobi(s), Gosling, Steven Taylor, Cheick Tiote and Obertan.

Alan Hoffmann (@AlanHoffmann): The name I keep seeing pop up to be sold is Jonas, and I'd agree with that. He's under performed a lot this season. He hasn't necessarily been bad all year, but we aren't getting the production from him that we need. Good on Jonas for sticking with the club through relegation and helping us get back, but he isn't performing up to standard now.

Jim McMeachin (@CHNOSotP): We began to discuss this a little bit during the podcast, and I don't necessarily have a more focused answer than I did then. I think that it makes sense to move one of Cabaye/Anita/Tiote - and we talked that through to a decent sounding end in the podcast (Listen to it. Do it.) although I would not necessarily be looking forward to a world without any of the three of those players. I could see moving Jonas Gutierrez, although again you're talking about a player who I have a great fondness for (and who I expect to be in much better form next year than this year)... but I would much rather have a left side of Marveaux/Gouffran than just about any other combination that we can put together with the current squad - although selling Jonas would completely depend on Shane Ferguson's readiness (or lack thereof). Perhaps the closest to the exit door is Gabriel Obertan, although I stand by my assertion that he has yet to be used in what I feel could be his strongest position (roughly as a number 10). I'd sure like to see this happen, and it's not like we don't need a player to try to fill that role...

John Murphy (@johnjmurphy17): He has been my favorite Magpie since he joined the club, but Jonas's time has come in the black and white. He had his worst year by far this season, and seemed slow, frustrated, and generally ineffective. I think his price would still be solid, and he would be happy moving to Italy or back to South America. It's time to employ Marveaux, Fergie, and Gouffron in more dramatic ways, so Jonas's departure would allow that freedom in the lineup. I also think it's time we just threw our hands up and said screw it on the Dan Gosling experiment.

My second departure won't be popular, but I think it's time the back line evolved past Colo. His antics in January, I thought, we very underplayed by everyone involved, but it seemed all of the statements and rumors that were floating around were absurd. If we wants to leave, he should be granted that right. We can demand a high price for him and move on accordingly.

Robert Bishop (@BishopSBN): I'm not a believer in addition by subtraction. It's a fallacy to believe that selling a player you don't like will improve the team. For that reason, there really isn't anybody that I necessarily want to see gone, but I advocate selling any player that receives a bid higher than his valuation, short of Tim Krul, Fabricio Coloccini, Papiss Cisse (because of the positional need), and perhaps one of Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye. That means either HBA or Cabaye is likely out the door, as well as Davide Santon and one or two others. Obviously, I only support their sales if the money is immediately reinvested - not a given for Mike Ashley's Newcastle United.

(Also follow @ComingHomeNUFC)

8. How would you prioritize Newcastle's needs in the transfer window this summer? What would constitute a success?

Callum: I think we need another RB, two centre backs, two wingers and a top, top striker (Andy Carroll). That for me would be a success.

Alan: Like I said above, I think we need to find someone to play up front with Cisse that can help him maximize his potential. We may also need a stout defender should Coloccini leave. I think tour French signings will do us a lot of good next season, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be aggressive in signing some new players. I think those should be our two main targets, and then if we can add depth, it would be great. No European competition to worry about, but wouldn't it be nice to have some runs in the FA Cup?

Jim: Excepting any movement out, I think it goes something like this 1) A physical presence to pair with/play behind Papiss Cissé (or a more creative number 10 type) that can also score goals, 2) Another top striker, 3) A first-team ready center back in anticipation of Coloccini leaving after this upcoming season. Ultimately, success will have to be defined as addressing whatever it is that Alan Pardew wants to do tactically. Clearly he is not going to shift his ideas to fit the players that he has at his disposal, so I guess it'll have to work the other way around.

John: If Jonas leaves, we'd need another winger for insurance. A cheap, young player would be nice. If Colocinni leaves, then CB goes from "big" issue to "glaring" issue. That's OK as long we can bring in some proven talent on the back line. Maybe some older Frenchmen currently disillusioned with their club would be a nice fit. I think we also need to go out and get Cisse a partner, but given that strikers are ALWAYS at a premium, that's going to be difficult. Success, to me, would be minimal departures, a return to health, a smooth transition of the armband between Colo and Cabaye, and some more building blocks to work with Steven Taylor.

Robert: Number one is a striker, preferably one that will develop chemistry with Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa to link the midfield with the final third. Number two is squad depth everywhere. Number three is another striker. A net gain of at least 2 strikers, 1 midfielder, and 2 defenders is a success for me - nothing less. This team needs Premier League ready players, European competition or no.

9. Should Alan Pardew return as manager in July?

Callum: One word: No.

Alan: I say yes, just because of all the injury woes that plagued Newcastle. It's hard to manage around that. That said, Newcastle have to perform better from the get-go next season. If we find ourselves digging us a hole early in the season. it may be time for a change. I think he deserves some credit for the job he did a year ago, but any goodwill that he had built up is likely gone. I don't mean to say that Newcastle have to come out of the gates blazing next year, but they have to show significant improvement, or we may be looking at an October sacking.

Jim: I've become completely ambivalent to this situation. I'm not going to be bothered if he goes. I'm not going to be bothered if he stays. I suppose that with a whole summer with the expanded squad, it's worth it to give him a shot to at least get the season started... with a pretty short leash and a backup plan (stop laughing) in the front of our minds.

John: Yes. Stability is a good thing. No need to beat a dead horse there. Fergie didn't win his first silverware until his fourth year at MUFC (against Pardew in the FA Cup, coincidentally), so I think patience is key. I love our silver fox. SEVEN MORE YEARS!

Robert: Callum and I debated this a few weeks ago, and I'll stand by my conclusion. I wish I had made the stability argument a bit better though: It's not about blindly standing by the manager when things have gone wrong for the sake of some buzzword, it's about giving him enough time to see his vision realized. I believe Alan Pardew deserves another year to prove that his long-term plan is a viable one.

My thanks to Callum, Alan, Jim, and John for participating in this exercise with me.

Coming Home Podcastle Episode 7: Restore The Former Glory

2013-05-23T00:46:39Z

My apologies that this is going up a touch late - I have to move next week due to some rather irritating circumstances regarding my lease... one month before we head off across country for Athens, GA. Anyway, it is recorded, all technical issues were non-factors and I've got it uploaded now. This week, we:

Acknowledge the "restoring the former glory" of the Gallowgate end as the removal of the Sports Direct logo feces from around the ground starts, courtesy of Wonga.
Read a paraphrase of Steve Harper's last address to the Newcastle dressing room
Finally get around to answering a twitter question from a couple weeks back about reshaping the squad
Discuss transfer targets, including one very interesting if unlikely (and certainly not rumored at this point) potential target.
Add in very small dash of Champions League talk
Make completely unconnected yet significant cultural references including but not limited to George Orwell.
Give a vocal version of the "Until they're photographed holding a shirt" edict of making it through a transfer window in the Twitter era.

Listen - share - download - rate us in iTunes. Spread the good word!

Poll

Did you listen to Episode 7 of Coming Home Podcastle?

Toon Crier: Newcastle Transfer Policy, TV Money, Ryan Taylor's Leg

2013-05-22T07:00:03Z

Newcastle

Newcastle United boss Alan Pardew fears bids for his star players | Chronicle Live
There's not much here that we don't already know, although I found it interesting that the club "slapped a £15m price tag on all of their players last summer."

Season-201213-TV-Broadcasting-distribution.pdf | premierleague.com
Newcastle's total TV payout for the 2012-13 season was £45,168,771. The total pot for next year is thought to be around £2 billion - just under twice what it was this year.

Wigan Cosmos play Goose Green at St James' Park | BBC News
Obviously it would be preferable if this weren't a story at all, but I'm proud of the way the club has turned a negative into quite a positive.

Why sacking the manager does little to boost results in long term | The Times

The results? Even without sacking the manager, the performance of the control group bounces back in the same fashion and at least as strongly as the performance of the clubs that fired their managers. It’s a phenomenon called "regression to the mean". An extraordinary period of poor performance is just that: extraordinary. It will auto-correct as fortune shines her light on you once more. Sacking managers is not a panacea for a team but a placebo. It is an expensive illusion.

(I nominate this book for a future CHN Book Club reading)

Other Football

Tony Pulis sacking was largely down to Stoke's failure to raise the bar | The Guardian
A nice post-mortem of Tony Pulis' time with Stoke City. At the bottom is a list of potential candidates to replace him. If you want Pardew out, here's who you're looking at for Newcastle as well (and please realize that availability does not equal desire to work under Mike Ashley): Rafael Benitez, Roberto Di Matteo, Gus Poyet, Mark Hughes, Phil Neville. No thanks.

Tony Pulis Departs: Stoke City Fans, Be Careful What You Wish For | EPL Talk

West Brom (under Tony Mowbray), Burnley and Blackpool all came up to the Premier League in Stoke’s first three seasons up and went right back down despite critics lauding the open and free-flowing football the sides provided. Yet Stoke, attacked by critics consistently for negativity, has not been seriously relegation threatened in Pulis’ tenure. The club serves as a model for responsible spending, savvy tactics to stay in the division and rejecting the advice of critics in the media (and among supporters) and doing what is best to remain in the top flight. It is a model newly promoted sides would be wise to follow.

How They Got Here: Dortmund and Bayern's Road to the Final | Bavarian Football Works
Though many predicted one of, if not both these teams to reach this match, both campaigns had their moments of doubt and of triumph.

Mario Götze injury: Dortmund star trains, but leaves early | SBNation.com
Dortmund midfielder Mario Götze participated in training today but was forced to leave after an hour with apparent discomfort in his injured hamstring.

Borussia Dortmund's banner plans blocked by Wembley red tape | guardian.co.uk
Wembley officials: Killers of fun.

New York City FC is MLS's newest expansion team | SBNation.com
Ladies and gentlemen: America's new most hated team.

EPL Transfer Rumors: Your Guide to Deciphering Fact From Fiction | EPL Talk
A humorous look at the transfer window. Seems relevant after some idiots held Twitter hostage on Tuesday.

Tweets of the Day

Can anyone guess what this is, and where it came from?? twitter.com/TaylorR1984/st…
— Ryan Taylor (@TaylorR1984) May 21, 2013

That was in his LEG. I need some Tramadol.

An NYC MLS team pretty much has to be called the New York Kickersoccers.
— Matt Sussman (@suss2hyphens) May 21, 2013