Comments on: Are Newcastle Cursed? We Think So

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 07:09:40 +0000

Tis a curse alright, a foul wind that blows from the swamps of sunderland, arrrr.

Anyone know any shamens, witch doctors, prophets, gods, or other such curse-lifters? My address book is lacking in that department. Blind optimism might work

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 22:18:09 +0000

Gavin… bring the curse on…
BSA would have too looked a long way down to see Stephen Carr

By: Mal

Mal — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 18:30:59 +0000

There are NO SUCH THINGS AS CURSES, PERIOD.

We’ll still have an excellent start to the new campaign and get back in the UCL.

By: Dingo

Dingo — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:43:24 +0000

I have this feeling that ever since we lost the Newcastle Brown Ale shirt sponsorship things have gone a little arse over tit…. bring back my beloved blue star and watch us win the league!!!!!

By: Obafan

Obafan — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:35:46 +0000

It really is a negative issue that we have to mention to our team. Every year key players have had bad injuries (Duff, Owen, Luque, Shearer, now Barton, …). When will this s**t end? I think the biggest change this season will be the methods how we will handle the injury. In the past players did not get enough time to recover untill they were complete fit again. Take the example of Luaue (no wonder that he didn’t reach his normal level; he has an injury which was not well healed).

The injury of Barton is just bad luck. How many times is there a contact between players in which nothing happens? So hopefully these injury stories will go to an end so we can concentrate on gelling a good and quality squad.

I read in the news that BS wants Baptista; well in this case go for him for 500%; he has got EPL experience, can play as a midfielder or as a striker; and we need him now that Barton and Emere are out.

When will Emre return in full fitness?

By: Adam

Adam — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 12:32:58 +0000

I don’t think we’re “cursed” either, but we need to get all of our players very fit and we need a bigger squad. It seems that in the modern game players get injured so easily and so frequently. Ideally we could do with a miminum of two defenders in soon PLUS a mf – two if Dyer leaves – and striker (though maybe a young, promising striker who would be happy to be on the fringes for now).
I’m sure it’s not that simple, but I’d like to see us make double or triple transfer bids this week rather than labouring with one very slow transfer attempt at a time.

By: Gavin

Gavin — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:57:03 +0000

Ken – In that case I hope Steven Carr is linked to the captaincy

By: Ross

Ross — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:46:24 +0000

i was really looking forward to seeing barton against juventus next week.
big sam has been saying its the first 10 games that are the most important, and we’ll be missing a key player for the majority, if not all of them.

Ed the article may have been tongue in cheek, but by the way things have gone and are going, the word curse becomes more beleiveable with every injury we sustain!

By: Ivan

Ivan — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:27:58 +0000

Cursed??

Well, look at the bright side, after being cursed for so long, there has to be a silver lining somewhere, it takes effort to achieve and also faith.

enough bout that, can we please sign deco, he’ll definitely make a good partnership with dyer in midfield. btw, where is the big cash ashley promised??

By: BIG B

BIG B — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:20:58 +0000

There’s nothing Science or magic could do to help JB, it’s a broken foot…Sh*t happens…. just a case of bad luck….(I KNow)……it’s alsway a case of bad luck…but i think with BSA you’ll see less muscel problems and fatigue issues….

By: Craig Allen

Craig Allen — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:41:34 +0000

Sticking with the tongue in cheek theme I beginning to suspect we might have the biggest injury budget in the EPL .. that or the physios are that good looking

By: The Big P

The Big P — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:37:04 +0000

How long before Joey can make an impact? 6 weeks to recover then how many more as he is eased back into the squad after bringing his fitness back up and without risking further injury? 6 weeks is hopefull.
There should be a trophy for sustaining the most injuries to key players during a campaign and not getting relegated. We would surely have ended the trophy drought then!!

By: Ed Harrison

Ed Harrison — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:17:52 +0000

just so people know – this article was a bit tongue in cheek and light-hearted – except for the last part about winning the league of course.

By: david

david — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:15:57 +0000

cursed – no, I don’t think so; personally I don’t believe in curses, but if we have been then maybe we can become blessed

unlucky – possibly, but I think the club has been unprofessional and short-sighted in the past in dealing with injuries; hopefully this will change as of now

By: Andy H

Andy H — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 10:15:00 +0000

I can’t belive how unlucky we are with injuries. Everyone was looking forward to seeing Joey at the start of the season but without him the midfield may be fragile for the first few games. For this reason I think we will now definitely hang on to Dyer and given the opportunity to have an early run of games in the middle of the park I think he’ll to as well as Barton in a box to box role. However, this relies on BSA making sure he is committed to the cause, (even Luque as at the moment) because if we could get Â£10mil from West Ham, although I would be sad to see him go it would give us a chance to sign a replacement.

With this injury to Barton I feel BSA will have to sign at least 1 midfielder, although I thought that before so maybe 2 (3 if Dyer goes). Perhaps Hangeland could be brought in as a defensive midfielder – his height would be really important but we also need a top class creative midfielder as well.The Mirror today links us with Baptista who could probably score goals from midfield, provide cover for the Strikers ( I don’t think he is a natural goalscorer although he has hit 20 in La Liga in the past) but, more importantly would bring a physical presence – height – that none of our midfield has.

One thing that worries me about the injury is that Joey will be so eager to get back playing and prove himself to the club that he may rush the recovery. BSA cannot let this happen as we cannot risk further injuries accumalting over the Christmas period and should have the cover, barring any other major injuries, to cope without him.