Well the Newcastle result last night was not quite as I had predicted although the outcome remains the same, no European football until next season at the earliest. The performance was about what we could have expected at this stage of the season and with the team we put out. We looked bereft of ideas on how to get the ball forward and an aged, slow Alan Shearer is not going to frighten many defences this season from open play. James Milner grabbed our goal but once again failed to impress, his crossing both from open play and dead ball situations was appalling.
The positives to come out of the game were in the shape of the performance of our two new midfield players Emre and Scott Parker. Both were making their debuts and Emre in particular looks as if he could cause problems for opposing teams with his dead ball delivery. They worked hard throughout the game and even when it was obvious we were not going to get anything out of the tie they still played with intensity.
The defence, responsible for the 2 goals conceded, is not our ideal starting back four but due to injuries and lack of transfer activity is the one likely to start the season against Arsenal, joy of joys. The newspapers this morning have linked us with a loan move for Inter Milan’s left back Francesco Coco…I’ll forgo the clown jokes for the moment. Coco has played sparingly over the last couple of seasons for Inter and spent some time on loan with Barcelona. He has the reputation of being a bit of a playboy (when will we learn?), owning several bars in his hometown so he should feel quite at home down on the quayside. I wonder if Graeme Souness has been picking Emre’s brain about possible Italian recruits.
Meanwhile the holiday saga continues and if it goes on much longer it will be a Saga Holiday we will need to book. I have finally gained agreement on the dates I can take so hopefully that is the last hurdle to getting something booked. The dates we want to be away for include week 3 of the La Liga season and Espanyol are playing host to Real Madrid so I think tickets for that may be in order. In a previous visit we had the pleasure of catching Barcelona against Fiorentina in the Champions League and would look forward to seeing another game.
The positives to come out of the game were in the shape of the performance of our two new midfield players Emre and Scott Parker. Both were making their debuts and Emre in particular looks as if he could cause problems for opposing teams with his dead ball delivery. They worked hard throughout the game and even when it was obvious we were not going to get anything out of the tie they still played with intensity.
The defence, responsible for the 2 goals conceded, is not our ideal starting back four but due to injuries and lack of transfer activity is the one likely to start the season against Arsenal, joy of joys. The newspapers this morning have linked us with a loan move for Inter Milan’s left back Francesco Coco…I’ll forgo the clown jokes for the moment. Coco has played sparingly over the last couple of seasons for Inter and spent some time on loan with Barcelona. He has the reputation of being a bit of a playboy (when will we learn?), owning several bars in his hometown so he should feel quite at home down on the quayside. I wonder if Graeme Souness has been picking Emre’s brain about possible Italian recruits.
Meanwhile the holiday saga continues and if it goes on much longer it will be a Saga Holiday we will need to book. I have finally gained agreement on the dates I can take so hopefully that is the last hurdle to getting something booked. The dates we want to be away for include week 3 of the La Liga season and Espanyol are playing host to Real Madrid so I think tickets for that may be in order. In a previous visit we had the pleasure of catching Barcelona against Fiorentina in the Champions League and would look forward to seeing another game.
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