Pre-season & preparation

Does anyone know what our pre-season looks like? All I have been able to glean so far is that it's pretty much a repeat of last years shambles, where the powers that be AGAIN decided to pitch in to some slipshod event in South Africa only for it to be cancelled, and instead we'll be round a pool in Portugal playing to crowds of 563 against the likes of Maritimo, followed by friendlies against Motherwell and Blackpool.

Sounds fcking hopeless if you ask me - it's just practically every other club seems to have a pretty defined plan around both the football, global brand building and so on.

 

I think Frank Spencer must be organising it as it seems to be going rapidly to ratshit.

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Have to say it's really really poor on the club's behalf that they've allowed the same thing to happen to our pre season for the second successive season.

It just smacks of more lessons that haven't been learnt. We need to be playing against higher quality teams than Motherwell and Blackpool and we should already have a training camp set up for when the players are due to report back. I'd imagine they're due to report back within the next 7-10 days and yet we still haven't got all of our pre season friendlies arranged, how are Pardew and his staff mention to condition the players properly if they don't know who or when we're playing???

Hope we don't make the same mistakes in the transfer window as we did last year too (i.e no signing anyone other than Anita).

It only takes a couple of signings to get fans onside and increase optimisim amongst supporters. Signing Douglas, Bony & another proven striker would certainly do just that in my opionion. Just another case of wait and see for both our pre season plans and our transfer activity I'm afraid.

 

Must admit I'm kinda glad this tour away in SA has fallen through. Not sure we need all that trekking with our fragile squad. Llambias has questions to answer though. Everton were on the same SA tour. They admitted they did not have a back up plan but rapidly got themselves involved in a slick tournament in the US involving some big hitters. By all accounts we are looking for a European option to make it more accessible for fans.

I'm not that bothered about the global brand etc at this stage. I'd prefer we get our **** sorted on the pitch rather than getting grand delusions. However if we haven't firmed up our plans in the next fortnight, we'll be handicapping the management early doors.

 

Yeah I'm not fussed about the global brand etc at the minute. I am however fussed about a lack of preperation for our pre season. I'd be interested to see how big a say Pardew has in this kind of thing though as surely he and his staff advise MA & DL how best to condition the players for the season and which opposition/part of the world will enable them to do this to the best of their ability.

 

I don't think the managers get much choice these days. I remember Ferguson commenting on how they do a global trek every summer. I think managers just accept its a necessary commerical evil. I'm sure they'd like to do very little travelling, giving them all the time they can to focus on fitness and tactical prep etc.

Its in the hands of the chariman, and club secretary with a little bit of input from manager normally. A mate who works for the club told me we might be going back out to America but nothing was definite. Lee Charnley (club secretary) does most of this stuff for us.

 

Not 100% sure how playing "good" opposition is better? Under KK's first spell all or most of games were against little clubs I had never heard of and we often spanked them. Thought it was more to get back to match fitness then anything else. Or am I missing something?

 

Well if you're dominating against a lesser team you're not having to chase the ball or work as hard as you'll have to in a league game. For example your keeper and defence won't have as much to do so their match fitness won't be at it's maximum.

Just my opinion mind, not saying that's definitely correct but there's logic behind it.

 

Or could it be that over exerting yourself when not match fit could cause further issues - see Cabaye, HBA, Raylor, Saylor as examples of this during league matches?

I personally think we should have several games against weak teams, around Europe so I can have a holiday as well as watch us and then a couple of tougher games towards start of the season, games like playing Motherwell and Blackpool! But thats just my opinion as well

 

The level of opposition is not critical for me. Getting fitness and some semblance of tactical plans in place is. We had this in 2011/12 and didn't in 2012/13. The results thereafter speak for themselves.

Ideally I suppose you'd start with a fairly easy going games where you have the opportunity to impose a style quite easily. At some stage have more difficult oppo's and then end with a couple of confidence boosters. Its nice if you can face a few different styles too.

 

sensible thing would seem to be to hop over to Holland or France and play whatever first and second division teams are available. decent standard of opposition, not much in the way of travel commitments and easy for supporters to go to watch and have a bevvy.

 

Sensible thing would be to simply have a plan. Fair enough, I was getting a bit ahead of myself with "global branding" (one can dream), but that the official website still has nowt isn't great, particularly for us as we fcked it up so badly last year and it was one of Pardew's (many, many) main excuses.

Arsenal have 7 friendlies arranged - a far east tour (granted we don't need this) and their own Emirates Cup. But that's Arsenal, you say. Yep, same for most decent clubs. So I had a look at Stoke City. Yep, 7 friendlies already lined up including a US tour.

 

Lets not get carried away with negative tendencies here, it is June 12th, there is plenty of time to get some decent fixtures arranged and complete the pre season schedule before they report back for pre season. If come July 1st we are no further forward then obviously its a different matter.

 

Just a few days on from the St. James' Park pitch being seeded last week, the first signs of grass are already showing through

By Dan King - Newcastle United Club Reporter

It's just a week and a half since nufc.co.uk brought you an exclusive photograph of the St. James' Park pitch looking like a ploughed field as the groundstaff began work to prepare the surface for next season - but already, the first signs of green grass are starting to show through.

Work started on Sunday, 2nd June to remove vegetation, grass and waste from the top of the hallowed turf before 150 tonnes of fibre-elastic product was added.

It was raked and seeded and already, barely seven days on, grass is rapidly growing ahead of the new Barclays Premier League season, which kicks off on Saturday, 17th August.

The lack of rain in recent days has meant Head Groundsman Andrew Tully and his staff have been busy with their sprinklers, but progress has been rapid with the area almost literally changing colour from brown to green by the minute.

Now, Tully and his team will simply allow the turf to continue growing for the next week before beginning to cut it at regular intervals, ready for the next campaign.

So it won't be long before the Please Keep Off The Grass signs go up once again at Gallowgate.

Click here to reserve a season ticket for the 2013/14 season

 

So far pre season is Motherwell July 16th £15 adult £5 kids also St mirren but price unknown and the date is 30th july

 

St Mirren is the u21s.

 

Whos making the trip up to motherwell for this pre-season meeting?
Motherwell have confirmed it but NUFC haven't as of yet.

 

Already been mentioned.

 

I'll pop up for that match. Might go to the St Mirren one as well if there's a few senior players going to be involved.

 

According to what I've seen it seems it's going to be a warm up game for the 1st team.

St Mirren will close out their pre-season programme with a friendly match against FA Premiership side Newcastle United in Paisley and it has also been confirmed that Danny Lennon will take his squad south of the border to play matches against Morecambe and Stockport County.

The match against English League Two side Morecambe will take place on 24th July and then Saints will face Conference North side Stockport County three days later.

Then on Tuesday 30th July Newcastle United will head to St Mirren Park for a match-up that will be Saints last pre-season outing before the big SPL kick-off four days later.