One Story Up Front And Two In The Back
If I could offer the Fire a little bit of advice, it's that if you draw 14,000 to a mid-week match (especially as part of a children's promotion), you shouldn't lose to Kansas City, especially not blowing a 2-0 lead to do it. See, I think this is the Fire's curse this year. They'll win until people realize they exist again and then they'll just hit the skids.
The next game is against Landon Donovan (I mean the Los Angeles Galaxy). So the couple of Galaxy fans that read this, get ready for your first win outside the Home Depot Center in front of 16,000. :)
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Speaking of prolific drops, I'm going to say this only once, but I'll say it in all caps and bold. :)
NEWCASTLE UNITED IS NOT FINISHING TOP 10 IN THE PREMIERSHIP!
I think that fans of the Premiership are about the last group of people to realize this. Their transfer targets have all seemingly looked at the rest of the roster and said, "what's the opportunity for advancement in this company?"
In the last few days, the list of people who haven't been able to negotiate personal terms seems to keep growing. And in the biggest blow Fenerbahce has told the stripers, that Nicolas Anelka is not for sale.
But an even worse blow mentally for Newcastle has got to be that they couldn't negotiate personal terms with a transfer that they had already bought - Francesco Coco.
The list of players who have rejected or didn't complete a move to Newcastle United could make a great basis for a team all by themselves (adding Mark Viduka, Robbie Keane and Luis Boa Morte).
And in a hot off the presses news story, one of the strikers that Newcastle United planned to use in this week's match against Chelsea to second a probable Alan Shearer, Michael Chopra, got injured!
Now of course if they sign Michael Owen, they may finish as high as 8th. But, if Owen has an ounce of sense in his head, he's not going to board the sinking ship in northeast England.
I've already got a beer wagered on this fact and am willing to bet the same with anyone who thinks Newcastle United are going to finish top 10 this season. They're more likely to implode completely and finish 17th.
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One last half Fire related story. Goalie Zach Thornton finally flipped his lid completely yesterday (it's been building all season) and got red carded by the officials for arguing at the end of the first half.
Were he not nearing the end of his career, I'd say his antics were trying to get him back to Europe and play in England (though as someone who's not a national team member, he's not eligible to play in England).
England, however, is cracking down hard this upcoming season on that sort of antics. According to a spokesman for the FA officials:
Or, we can just "politely" (pun intended) refer to this as the Wayne Rooney rule. :)
---
While Thornton was left off the national team again, the roster that was chosen for the qualifier against Trinidad & Tobago is an interesting one. While the United States haven't wrapped up a spot in Germany yet, it looks like Bruce Arena is trying to fill in the last pieces of the World Cup roster with some of the MLS' finest performers this season.
Kevin Hartman, Jeff Cunningham, and Taylor Twellman all get nods (along with many of the usual suspects). Carlos Bocanegra is being left in England while fighting against injuries and for a spot with Fulham.
In Twellman's case, I think this cap bring him close to making him eligible to play for Newcastle United. Look out my fellow Revs supporters (especially the ones for whom New England is their primary team), you may be missing Taylor for the playoffs because the Magpies are desperate. :)
The next game is against Landon Donovan (I mean the Los Angeles Galaxy). So the couple of Galaxy fans that read this, get ready for your first win outside the Home Depot Center in front of 16,000. :)
---
Speaking of prolific drops, I'm going to say this only once, but I'll say it in all caps and bold. :)
NEWCASTLE UNITED IS NOT FINISHING TOP 10 IN THE PREMIERSHIP!
I think that fans of the Premiership are about the last group of people to realize this. Their transfer targets have all seemingly looked at the rest of the roster and said, "what's the opportunity for advancement in this company?"
In the last few days, the list of people who haven't been able to negotiate personal terms seems to keep growing. And in the biggest blow Fenerbahce has told the stripers, that Nicolas Anelka is not for sale.
But an even worse blow mentally for Newcastle has got to be that they couldn't negotiate personal terms with a transfer that they had already bought - Francesco Coco.
The list of players who have rejected or didn't complete a move to Newcastle United could make a great basis for a team all by themselves (adding Mark Viduka, Robbie Keane and Luis Boa Morte).
And in a hot off the presses news story, one of the strikers that Newcastle United planned to use in this week's match against Chelsea to second a probable Alan Shearer, Michael Chopra, got injured!
Now of course if they sign Michael Owen, they may finish as high as 8th. But, if Owen has an ounce of sense in his head, he's not going to board the sinking ship in northeast England.
I've already got a beer wagered on this fact and am willing to bet the same with anyone who thinks Newcastle United are going to finish top 10 this season. They're more likely to implode completely and finish 17th.
---
One last half Fire related story. Goalie Zach Thornton finally flipped his lid completely yesterday (it's been building all season) and got red carded by the officials for arguing at the end of the first half.
Were he not nearing the end of his career, I'd say his antics were trying to get him back to Europe and play in England (though as someone who's not a national team member, he's not eligible to play in England).
England, however, is cracking down hard this upcoming season on that sort of antics. According to a spokesman for the FA officials:
"Any player who provokes a direct confrontation with a match official and uses offensive, insulting or abusive language will be dismissed."
Or, we can just "politely" (pun intended) refer to this as the Wayne Rooney rule. :)
---
While Thornton was left off the national team again, the roster that was chosen for the qualifier against Trinidad & Tobago is an interesting one. While the United States haven't wrapped up a spot in Germany yet, it looks like Bruce Arena is trying to fill in the last pieces of the World Cup roster with some of the MLS' finest performers this season.
Kevin Hartman, Jeff Cunningham, and Taylor Twellman all get nods (along with many of the usual suspects). Carlos Bocanegra is being left in England while fighting against injuries and for a spot with Fulham.
In Twellman's case, I think this cap bring him close to making him eligible to play for Newcastle United. Look out my fellow Revs supporters (especially the ones for whom New England is their primary team), you may be missing Taylor for the playoffs because the Magpies are desperate. :)
posted by incendiarymind at 6:58 AM
2 Comments:
When I did my predictions last week, I very nearly put Newcastle in the drop, but put Blackburn in their stead. But I think that Blackburn and Newcastle are going to be fighting for survival, that is for certain.
Blackburn looked like crap today, that's for certain. But huzzah West Ham for getting off to a flying start in their survival campaign.
I haven't lose faith in Blackburn yet. Savage and Bellamy should be a great combination - although together not on the pitch, they'll probably end up in jail. :)
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