retired_brianrt

cheers Irish, appreciate it. Will keep following yours though matey :thup:

retired_brianrt

I didn't have a go at Kieron in front of the lads, that isn't my style. I just had a quiet word with him after the game, and just told him he could have cost us the game, and probably would have done had we been playing a top class Premiership team. He apologised and said he realised he had let the lads down, and accepted his warning without argument. That's done now, forget about it.
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I had some good news waiting for me in the morning. Anthony Vanden Borre, the young starlet from Anderlecht had agreed a 4 year deal, and I am absolutely delighted to have him join the club. A press conference was scheduled for 3'o clock this afternoon to announce the new signings the club had made, and so that the media could interview them. Craig Gordon had also signed himself to the club on a 3 year contract, and would be unveiled later, along with Vanden Borre, Fortune and Boyd. My most critical signing yet had not arrived though. Petit was pondering over terms from us and Stuttgart, and I was hoping he would want to join us, despite us not being in Europe.
The press conference went well, still heard some of the press talking bulls**t though. They are in my book, and I will have the last laugh.

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The second leg against Gent was a stroll in the park, literally. We never had to get out of second gear, and they just gave up once we took the lead through Kris Boyd. He doubled his tally and ours on 26 minutes when he hit a left footed drive from the edge of the area. Solano, starting in place of the suspended Dyer, was absolutely superb, as was our other wide man Emre. They were tormenting the full backs and putting in cross after cross. Shearer scored our 3rd on 64 minutes to make totally sure we went through to the nest round, where we would face a tough game against Spanish giants Deportivo La Coruna.

retired_brianrt

My scouts had been raving for a week or so now about a young Italian lad from Sampdoria, called Andrea Gasbarroni. He can play wide on the right, wide left or central midfield, and even fill in up-front if we are struggling. I watched the tapes my scouts had put together and read over their notes, and I decided he would make a good acquisition for the club. I made an enquiry to Sampdoria about the price they would want for him. I also received an offer of £1.8 million from Nice for Amdy Faye, which is a good enough offer for me. I faxed them a reply, and asked Katie to ring Faye's agent. I had also been contacted by the agent of our young Canadian midfielder David Edgar. I had given him a start in the home tie against Gent, and brought him off the bench in the first leg, and he caught my eye. Despite being a little lad, only 5'6, he was a strong tackler who had a good eye for a pass. He didn't shirk out of any tackles and was quick, and he looked a good prospect at only 18. His agent had asked if I would consider offering him a new contract. I would, but I would need to see him play a little more first, and his agent seemed satisfied at this. I will definitely be keeping an eye on him.
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The first leg against Deportivo was at St. James, and although it was only the InterToto cup I was disappointed to see only 27,000 fans there. I just hoped it wouldn't affect the boys, and we could get off to a god start in the match. We did exactly that, and came roaring at them for the first half. Emre, Luque, Boyd, Carr and Solano all had chances to put us in the lead, none of which were taken, partly through bad finishing but also through some wonderful goalkeeping from the veteran Molina. The inevitable happened and Deportivo took the lead with their sole chance of the match, and right on half-time too. This seemed to put a downer on the lads, and despite my best efforts to encourage them we were nowhere near as energetic in the second half, and limped to a defeat. The only bright spark was Scott Parker, who bossed the midfield and was man of the match.

retired_brianrt

I wasn't too disappointed to be going to Spain at a disadvantage, because as I said before, I could do without this competition. I saw these games as friendly matches to get the players back to fitness, and not a major competition to our team.
Petit completed his 775k move to us today, which I am thrilled about. The 28 year old midfielder will provide good competition for Scott Parker, and he will also give him some good advice, as Petit is an experienced campaigner in Domestic and European competitions. I was happy with my squad now, and felt that we had a decent chance to push for a top six spot, maybe even challenging the top four, although that would be difficult.

July 2005 results

AA Gent 0-1 Newcastle

Newcastle 3-0 AA Gent

Newcastle 0-1 Deportivo La Coruna

retired_brianrt

The month of August dawned upon us, and we were getting ever closer to the new Premiership season. I was happy with my squad, although felt a couple more additions would have been ideal. We had good strength in depth in all areas, although I need to start looking for a striker to take over Shearer's mantle, with his imminent retirement at the end of the season. My backroom team was good, and we all got on well together, and the squad seemed to be gelling. All in all it was coming together nicely for the start of the campaign.
We had the second leg of the Deportivo tie to play first, and I still decided to put a strong team out to give it a good go. We did give it a go, and we should have had a goal but it was disallowed for an apparent push, which I wasn't happy about. From the resulting free-kick they went up the other end of the pitch and scored, and I went to have a moan at the fourth official. Apparently I was too aggressive and the referee sent me to the stands. The boys were determined to do well, and we equalised on 37 minutes through Luque, and it was a damn good goal too, lovely one touch team passing. We were finished off in the second half though, when 2 good Deportivo moves brought Diego Tristan 2 goals in the space of 6 minutes, and after that we were out of it. Still, never mind eh? There's always next year.
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"Never mind boys, we gave em a good game and showed what we are made of. Lets get into Europe the f*****g proper way this time, and lets push the top 4 to the end of the season"

"Do you think we can do that boss" asked Alan inquisitively

"No, I bloody well know we can. We have got less games and trophies to worry about than the Arsenal's, Man Utd's and Chelsea's so lets go out and play. We have nothing to lose"

"Come on lads, the gaffer's right. We can push these lot all the way, lets do it"

A distinct sea of nodding heads and grunts cam my way, and I was delighted the boys saw where I was coming from. We needed a good start though

retired_brianrt

I had pulled Shearer to one side after the meeting for a quiet word

"Just wanted to say thanks for the support in there Al, it meant a lot. I feel as if the team are really behind me now"

"We are boss. You play good football, in the Keegan mould, and you haven't gone ballistic on the spending and brought in a new squad, so they all feel like they have a chance to play"

"That's right, and I won't be assessing contracts till Christmas time, when everyone has had a good run in the season"

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It's the eve of my first Premiership game in charge of my beloved Newcastle. Having had a quick scour over the fixtures when they came through, I obviously looked for the derby games with Sunderland, and the first was in October. The first four league games looked deceptively easy, at home to West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City, and away to Birmingham and newly promoted Wigan. I know that no game will be easy, especially in the Premiership, but it is necessary to get a good start, maybe 5 or 6 games unbeaten.

retired_brianrt

I was scheduled for an interview with a national tabloid, and when the journalist came I expected a bloke. Instead I got a stunning looking woman, probably in her late 20's but she had a stunning figure and a great set of legs. I hope she doesn't distract me....

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MAGPIES BOSS TO CHALLENGE TOP 4

Newcastle United boss Nicholas Simpson believes his side can challenge for the Champions League spots. Speaking on the eve of his side's opening Premiership fixture with West Brom, the Magpies boss had this to say:
"I believe that with the squad I have at my disposal that we can challenge for a top 6 finish at least, and maybe even push the top 4. Obviously Chelsea are the favourites, and we are not quite in their depth yet, but I feel we can more than hold our own against Arsenal and Liverpool. I believe we can make European competition"
That is a bold prediction from the new manager, and with his side not expected to finish higher than mid0table he will need to push his players to their limits.

retired_brianrt

Despite West Brom just surviving the drop last year I still expected a tough game. I was desperate to get a full quota of points of points in front of our fans to start the season. I had to decide which of the new lads to give debuts to, and in the end I opted for Vanden Borre and Kris Boyd, with Gordon and Fortune on the bench. Petit was injured and Benshcneider wasn't in the squad. We still had Michael Owen and Titus Bramble out to injuries, but other than that had a full squad. We started well yet again in this game, but once again we couldn't find the breakthrough early. Parker, Boyd and Luque all missing guilt-edged chances, with Kirkland pulling off an amazing double save, first from Boumsong and then on the rebound from Vanden Borre. We managed to score in the 54th minute, an Emre cross met by the head of Albert Luque to score his first Premiership goal. We had never looked threatened by a poor Baggies attack, and held on for the 1-0 win and 3 points. A good start for myself and the lads, and the reception from the fans was nice, to clap me off at the end.

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We had another midlands side in our next game, having to travel up to St. Andrews on the coach. We had a good laugh on the coach, and we all had a bit of a sing-along karaoke (and the lads were laughing at my expense probably). In the dressing room I stated to the lads that we needed to build on the first game, and make it 2 for 2 against the midlands sides. We started slowly for a change, giving the ball away and being sloppy with possession. Only a piece of magic from Scott Parker brought an otherwise dull game to life, as he beat 3 men and slid the ball through to Alan Shearer to drill home to put us one up. We scored a second on the hour, Solano crossing for substitute Shola Ameobi to head past Maik Taylor, and to wrap up the points. 2 games, 6 points and 2 clean sheets. Not a bad start but we have to keep building on that.

retired_bbcarr

nice start, sherm

retired_brianrt

Cheers Terk, much appreciated

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The lads seem to be getting used to the system I play, favouring the more continental and free-flowing style football than some of these English teams. If I am 1-0 down with 25 minutes left, I take a defender off and put a striker on, and go for 3 points. I would rather get beat by 3 or 4 having gone for it than by 1 goal having not. I spoke with the coaches today, and they said that Scott Parker, Albert Luque and Tim Krul have been the best players in training this week. David Edgar has been impressing in the reserves too, and with the injury that Emre picks up in training I call him up to the squad. In the end, he has to start against Man City thanks to an injury to Petit, so he makes his first Premiership appearance at the tender age of 18. He had a blinder too. He was tormenting big Richard Dunne all game, and he managed to thread a through ball into Kieron Dyer to slot home the goal on the 35 minute mark. City would come back though, and a equaliser from Darius Vassell was enough to give the visitors a point that, in fairness, they probably richly deserved. We created chances, more than enough to win the game, but again couldn't capitalise. This lack of finishing is beginning to worry me. We need Owen back, and soon.

That worry soon left me, as the game against Wigan was a cracker. It was live on TV, and I think the new boys wanted to show the viewers what they could do. They started the better and came out like a house on fire, but we managed to sneak a goal against the run of play through Ameobi. Shearer scored our second 7 minutes later, but the home team kept coming. They got the goal they deserved through David Connolly right on half-time, and we managed to go in 2-1 in front. Ten minutes into the second half we got a third, Luque pulling away at the back post and slotting home past Pollitt. We scored our 4th with Shearer's second, and the game looked all but over. Wigan had other ideas. Theys cored 2 goals in 7 minutes, in the 74th and 81st minutes, to give us a real hairy last ten. Thankfully we held on for 3 points, and a good month.