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Jeff Stelling on Our Season So Far and FA Cup

Discussion in 'Newcastle United' started by Cal., Jan 6, 2012.

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  1. Cal.

    Cal. Active Member

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    Shortened his article to what's relevant to our club. Full version.

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    I used to think that FA Cup third round weekend was the greatest weekend of the year - even in the early days of Soccer Saturday - and I wasn't alone in holding that view. The competition was one of the major priorities in our national game and I'm sure every fan can recall the buzz that used to surround the ties, not to mention some of the shocks we've seen over the years. Hereford beating Newcastle in a replay in 1972 is one that instantly springs to my mind. Sadly, though, these days the FA Cup simply isn't a priority for many sides - including some in the lower leagues. Yes, there will be a raised eyebrow or two if one of the 'big boys' loses but in a few weeks' time the result will be all but forgotten. It seems such a shame...

    The demise of the FA Cup means that any club that does take it seriously has a fantastic chance of going a long way. I'd include Newcastle in that group. As impressive as Newcastle's victory over Manchester United was, Alan Pardew knows his side is not going to win the league, nor are they going to be relegated so why not make a statement and go all out to win some long-awaited silverware?..

    Over in Newcastle, celebrations are no doubt still going strong. I'll be honest - at the start of the season I had Newcastle in my bottom three. I could not see how they could earn sufficient points. In my European ignorance I'd never heard of Yohan Cabaye, I didn't rate Fabricio Coloccini at the back and I didn't think that Demba Ba would stay fit for long, let alone score as many goals as he has. Thankfully I'm not alone - a lot of people predicted tough times ahead for Newcastle.

    Instead, their season has been magnificent and every time they've looked like they've nearly hit the wall they've responded, and all credit to Alan Pardew for that. I love the passion he shows on the touchline and the way he celebrates the goals; tactically he's very astute, too, and the signings have turned out fantastically well. The harbingers of doom and gloom will now say that they'll struggle without Demba Ba when he leaves for the African Cup of Nations and I have to say I agree with those harbingers of doom and gloom, but as I've been so wrong up to this point I'm sure Newcastle fans won't be too worried. I'd like to be proved wrong, as well, because they've been a breath of fresh air this season and long may it continue.

    I had a school playground debate with Paul Merson on Soccer Saturday a couple of weeks ago about who is the bigger club - Aston Villa or Newcastle. Merse said Villa because of their history but I feel that history takes you only so far; Newcastle have got rabidly fanatical support and pack out home games. You never see a Manchester United or a Liverpool shirt in Newcastle - everyone has the black and white stripes. Football is a religion there even though they haven't won anything for such a long time.

    I just get the feeling though that if Pardew receives a little, little bit of financial support that Newcastle could win some silverware and the FA Cup would be a wonderful, wonderful place to start. As diminished as the FA Cup is, it is still one hell of a day out if you win it.
     
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  2. skalpel

    skalpel Active Member

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    Good write up, I like Jeff Stelling he always seems to have a soft spot for us - that or he is just a fair and unbiased pundit.
     
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  3. AH

    AH Active Member

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    Anyone else gutted Jeff has left Countdown? I was hoping one day we'd see Kammy in dictionary corner.
     
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  4. Beardsley's Rancid Sack

    Beardsley's Rancid Sack Well-Known Member

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    I like Jeff but I'm sick of these people who profess to 'not rating' Coloccini prior to this season. Alright fair enough if you had that view when we went down or maybe even prior to our promotion, but if you still didn't rate him after last season it's quite obvious you haven't seen us play that much, or people had refused to change their impression of him from his first season.
     
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  5. Why aye Cabaye

    Why aye Cabaye Active Member

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    Arise Sir Jeff.

    I want us to put out our strongest possible side tomorrow and show we mean business in the cup. The players have over a week until our next match. If we played QPR on Tuesday or Wednesday I may think differently, but other than the enforced changes I want a solid line up.

    If we didn't tit about with the Carling Cup we may have been looking at Wembley.
     
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  6. Wedge Head Tiote

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    I like how he's still going on about newcastle being bigger than villa.
     
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  7. Why aye Cabaye

    Why aye Cabaye Active Member

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    Cabaye certainly thinks so...
     
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  8. Snorlax

    Snorlax Active Member

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    He does support Hartlepool, so he has something for the NorthEast
     
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  9. Beatski

    Beatski Well-Known Member

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    Always liked Stelling <ok>
     
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  10. Spiderman-Mask

    Spiderman-Mask Well-Known Member

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    I've always thought Dictionary Corner would be a great name for a football ground
     
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  11. Darth Tash

    Darth Tash Well-Known Member

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    Glad he's still ridiculing that fat cockney twat for the Villa are bigger than Newcastle thing.
     
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  12. A November Night In Rotterdam

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    Someone I know from college tweeted during the game on Wednesday that Coloccini is one of the poorest players he has ever seen. I cannot see how anyone doesn't see Coloccini as one of the top 5 centre-backs in the league, or atleast top 10. Other than the West Brom game, he has been absolutely superb in every game this season and rarely puts a foot wrong. World class in my opinion.
     
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  13. goldie

    goldie Well-Known Member

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    Him a G Neville know the ****
     
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  14. You'veBeenTiote'd

    You'veBeenTiote'd Active Member

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    If less people rate him, then there's less chance of any other team buying him. As long as we know he's quality it doesn't matter what everybody else thinks <ok>
     
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  15. Samuel L Ameobi

    Samuel L Ameobi Active Member

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    Hes been on countdown!

    [video=youtube;pg3gHHzMrSc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg3gHHzMrSc[/video]
     
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  16. SirBR

    SirBR Active Member

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    Does anyone one remeber Steings rant about north east football on Soccer Saturday??

    It started about his beloved Hartlepool and he just went off on one, they eventually cut to a break but when they came back he carried on his rant.

    Was brilliant
     
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  17. A November Night In Rotterdam

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    I haven't seen it, don't suppose you've got a video? :)
     
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  18. TomTom94

    TomTom94 Well-Known Member

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    Stelling is a good egg. And fair play to him for admitting that he was wrong, something that certain other pundits just point blank refused to do for us earlier in the season <doh>
     
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  19. SirBR

    SirBR Active Member

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  20. A November Night In Rotterdam

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    #20
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