Kevein Keegan as ever was looking on the bright side, after last night’s disappointing display against Hertha Berlin.
Kevin Keegan – game will do the lads a world of good
For the second game in a row, a poorly conceded late goal took Newcastle to a 1-0 defeat, but in a 3 team tournament it must we hard to win anything now.
Kevin revealed after the 1-0 defeat last night that some of his players had lost up to 3 kilos in weight (6.6lbs), in the humid conditions in the stadium.
However, Kevin still believes that Newcastle’s five-day stay on the Balearic Isle is ideal preparation for his squad, and he’s probably right.
It’s certainly a beautiful place to stay, if a little hot.
Kevin said after the game:
“It was a good workout, especially given the heat,” “You never like getting beat but from the point of view of pre-season it was good.”
“Some players lost as much as three kilos because of how hot it was but, like I said, it was a good workout.”
“There’s lots of things we can improve on but that’s why you have pre-season games.”
“We haven’t done a lot of work on shape and set-pieces so far because our onus has been on fitness.”
Damien Duff looked all action again in the second half, and he now looks like a transformed player under Kevin Keegan, all action, determination and spirit, and young Charles N’Zogbia is also looking good.
But our two men up front, Ameobi and Smith, may not be good enough for this squad.
We know Shola will be on his way soon, and we also expected Smith to be leaving in the summer, because we just cannot see him get a game, once Owen, Martins, Viduka and Carroll return. So we thought leaving would be in his best interests, so he would get a game elsewhere.
It’s these matches that are Alan’s big chance to shine, but he isn’t taking that chance, and looked fairly hopeless last night.
Oh well, let’s see if we can take Real Mallorca apart on Sunday night, as preparation for what we’ll do at Manchester United in a couple of weeks time. 😀
Comments welcome.
32 comments so far
Allman20
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Comment #1Bye bye smithy and shameobi i say!
Robert
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Comment #210-0 to the Toon,lol,just kidding,but it would be awesome,realistic 2-1 to the Toon,players will play better then against hertha,for sure
elliott
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Comment #3We really need
a) 1 AM who can bang in 10 goals or set up 10
b) 1 winger with pace who can put in a decent cross and beat his man
c) 1 big, mobile striker, preferably young to shadow Viduka.
d) Between these players or the new left back to find a player who can take a decent corner and a decent direct free kick.
We’re really lacking in attacking options, Milner was very very poor last night and should not take a wing position, I’d snap someone’s arm off for £8m for him. Duff was OK. We had no ideas in CM and we didn’t all last season either apart fdrom some nice through balls by Barton.
I reckon to do any good in the EPL you need to be sure of at least 25 goals from your midfield and at least 15 from set pieces. I don’t see us getting anywhere near that with our current squad. Kev knows that, he’s not an idiot.
We need 2 midfield 1st team signings without a doubt.
Smith should move to Hull and take Shola with him.
ginkoh
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:33 AM
Comment #4Look like Smith lose his movement and instinct in front of goals. If his still don’t know how to change the game, how can he score ?
Jeff
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:35 AM
Comment #5I am expecting Smith’s departure too…but I just can’t see any premiership side linked with him…
toonbully
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Comment #6Only got one thing to say Doncaster 0 – Bolton 4 , why we couldn’t do that last week only KK knows !!
We still need a good striker the one we should have bought last year instead of alan smith !
9 Shearer
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:47 AM
Comment #7With all due respect KK, you have talked about fitness but our boys were not running throught the game they jst looked on sometimes but am not the Messiah. There is only one, KK.
bingo wing
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Comment #8there not leaving where stuck, who is gonna want to buy them?
sean667
Aug 2, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Comment #9the game showed alot of huff and puff and no class, i fear for our season we defo need some creativity in mid- field, our crossing was also very poor apart from when duff came on.
Did we have any strikers on the pitch????
sean667
Aug 2, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Comment #10Still hopefully some good news on the defender situation today……….
Stay Tooned
Aug 2, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Comment #11I really hope we are working on more than one transfer at a time because we do need a few more players in and quick. It is a shame that some of the younger strikers ie Zambrela (?spelling) and Carroll are not available to play because they could have done better than Smith and Ameobi.
Clarke_19_rangers
Aug 2, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Comment #12Allman20: that would be the perfect thing to do with our rising wage bill
Robert: all i have to say is : facepalm
Did you even read what ed put??
elliot : We really need:
1.Mati Fernández :a great attacking midfielder who is young and would be a steel for £10 million.
watch these to see how good he acctually is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY7gzBB0vY8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns6eKbkuPOU
2.Aaron lenn0n for £7million??? I think he would be a great signing because he can do all of them more
3.Andy Carrol? He meets all of you criteria
4.martins/lennon/Fernández for freekicks and geremy for the cornors is the best we could do with these signings but that will all be solved in january
milner would be a great loss for only £8 million
if kev keeps him on the bench for a few matches he will be back to him old self raring to go.
eric crammy mag
Aug 2, 2008 at 11:10 AM
Comment #13toonbully, we couldn,t do that cos we had smith and shirley up front might as well start with 9 men
Danny
Aug 2, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Comment #14A mispelling in the first word in the article…Kevein Keegan?? 😛
Whats going on with Shola, it’s been strangely quiet around him the last week…
I think KK will keep Smith, i think he sees his potential and would like to bring it back up to higher standards.
Punk Skunk
Aug 2, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Comment #15Don’t know how we expected to win last night with only 9 players on the field…How y’gonna score without a striker?..
…Duff looked the fittest i’ve seen him for a couple of years & brought a spark to the game…Don’t play Zog at LB unless we have no option, absolute last resort!..Gutierrez looked well good goin’ forward, linking up play & tracking back…Guthrie looked promising too, nice pass on the lad!..Butt worked his ass off…Milner did some good moves, but still can’t cross, play him more centrally, he likes the ball at his feet, not bouncing off of him…Zog wasted at LB!..
daiv
Aug 2, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Comment #16Smith is going nowhere. Who will pay his wages of £65K a week.
Milner is not a winger unless you count him as a winger who cannot cross a ball.!!!
Desperate for an attacking creative midfielder.
Nzog is a headless ckicken who does not look up to deliver a pass. Vastly overrated. Arsenal will never buy him.
We need at least two more quality signings to make any impression. Otherwise we are in for a struggle this season
We could have played all year and not scored.
clinta
Aug 2, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Comment #17As i’ve said before ed, bfore a player like smith can move on (even if he wants to) you have to find a club willing to match his wages and the fee we would want for him, which i’d assume given what he’s done since joing us would be just to get our fee back.
factor these things in and i doubt anyone would touch him? do you?
Punk Skunk
Aug 2, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Comment #18Hoy smith in the Tyne & claim on the insurance!..Give Shola to s*land!..
t-g-w
Aug 2, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Comment #19What if we told Smith he could either take a 50% wage cut or he could leave? Cos he should not be getting a game this season. But I still hate the thought of paying him even 30k a week.
CRAIGG
Aug 2, 2008 at 12:03 PM
Comment #20Daiv I am a big fan of Milner and Zog (Needs to play in midfield) but both still arent good enough crossing wise this is pretty much a make or break season for both.
As ive said on another post there were positives as Taylor and Gutierrez played well, Duff gave us a spark and Butt was good in the middle.
We were without Given, Beye, Faye, Barton, Lua Lua, Owen, Martins, Viduka and Carroll all who could have done better than the guys in their positions last night.
And with 3 more in preferably Warnock, Collocini and De Jong we will do much better next time round, The pre season matches to judge the team on are the PSV and Valencia ones as the majority of our absentees will be back and we should have most of the transfers complete.
dougnufc
Aug 2, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Comment #21On Wikipedia, it says that we are in talks with Eren Derdiyok.
“On 29 June 2008 it was reported by the English media that he is in talks with Newcastle United representatives”
-Wikipedia
It is wikipedia so don’t expect much from it
CRAIGG
Aug 2, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Comment #22Thats over a month ago
daiv
Aug 2, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Comment #23Craig
Zog wants away so I’ve got no time for him. He is a dribbler who does not look up and cannot cross. he is thus neither a winger nor a very creative midfielder. A poor version of Lennon.
I have a lot more time for Milner who at least works his socks off.
ED
Aug 2, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Comment #24It seems Ameobi’s not off to Norwich unless we lower our demands, as Roeder did an interview with SSN praising the player but then concluding by saying that he is too expensive.
This may be bad news, but from what Roeder was saying, we could still offload him to them if we lowered the asking price, and i think it may be worth it considering his wages.
Either way, Smith and Ameobi should never play a premier match for us again.
Punk Skunk
Aug 2, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Comment #25Whatever it takes!..There again, how would you feel playing up front with smith?..Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, does it?..
Ian
Aug 2, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Comment #26I was really impressed with Newcastle and the new found youth policy, top players were missing yet we didnt bother to try our reserve strikers and midfield players plus Edgar.
I can see us flying high buying quality young players then not trying them in the first when opportunities such as these arise, all of the first team players missing could have been replaced with reserve players to see how they interact, we will do the usual, throw them in to a Chelsea game at a crucial part of the season when we are missing players.
Training isnt always a good indication of how a player will perform in a real match.
Chicken
Aug 2, 2008 at 1:22 PM
Comment #27What a pile of sh!te that was last night. It may only be pre-season but it doesn’t bode well for Manure in 3 weeks, or the rest of the season for that matter. Unless we make some serious signings soon I expect us to struggle to keep our heads above the bottom half of the table.
Nick Dryden
Aug 2, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Comment #28Allardyce strikes again!!
He put Smith on 60K a week. Where else would Smith get that? Fergie’s not stupid
Marty
Aug 2, 2008 at 2:07 PM
Comment #29Daiv,it`s all good n well that Milner works his socks off but that doesn`t cut it in the PL.We need wingers that can cross,if not get rid IMO.
He runs his socks off cause he sends the ball to the opposition.
Duff is goona have a good season n jonas too i hope but we need more signings
Marty
Aug 2, 2008 at 2:08 PM
Comment #30“Some player lost 3kilos”
Tis a shame VIDUKA didn`t play then
Incognito
Aug 2, 2008 at 2:55 PM
Comment #31Just to think that we still haven’t renewed Owen’s contract. Last night should be a wake-up call to Ashley and co if they want to score goals next season.
Smith and Ameobi are shocking; Smith mades zero impact and Ameobi has the urgency of a sloth.
Ian
Aug 2, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Comment #32Newcastle without doubt need either a specialist goalscoring coach or a consultant in on a temporary basis – Shearer would be good on a short part time contract purely to work on players shooting for goal from every possible angle and with various balls played to them.
There is definately something wrong and long before Keegan about players feeling they can have an attempt on goal, look at all of the players who have joined Newcastle and havent scored straight away, all of them have dropped both in attempts on goal and their goalscoring ability, it needs looking at, Keegan has improved things but I think he will need assistance.