Alan Pardew held his first press conference for a couple of weeks after coming off two fantastic league wins against Chelsea and Tottenham, but now we are up against a Norwich City side who we cannot under-estimate and manager Chris Hughton would like nothing better to get his first win at St. James Park since he was ruthlessly fired almost three years ago.
Alan Pardew directs things during Chelsea game – get out wide!
Alan talked this afternoon at his press conference about the fitness levels of the squad, which have been good, and we haven’t picked up too many injuries this term, well at least not compared to last season.
This is some of what the manager said today at the Benton Training headquarters:
“We knew that at the start and our Performance Director put a program in that was really tough, knowing that at the back of this season, they have a World Cup.”
“Their preparation has been very good and they have worked very hard, so where we stand today six months away, they are in great shape.”
“Yohan Cabaye being at the centre of that and Mathieu Debuchy playing both games for France was really good news for us, so our guys are really pleased about that.”
“Now it’s about focusing on an important game for their club. Today was about letting that one go. It’s great for them, they can look forward to the draw and the World Cup.”
“But for us, Norwich is the most important game. Hopefully they stay clear of injury and we have a good season and at the moment, the signs are good.”
The Performance Director is Faye Downey, and we wonder how much she has been involved through this season, and we assume her appointment as Performance Director is a long term appointment at Newcastle – we hope it’s a long term appointment at Newcastle.
It’s a winnable game on Saturday against Norwich, but Newcastle Achilles heel over this season has been our inconsistency, but the lads will get a chance to prove we are much stronger and more consistent side than we were last season.
And a win on Saturday could take us into the top eight in the Premier League.
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45 comments so far
Jail for Ashley
Nov 21, 2013 at 10:39 PM
Comment #41bollance, you know the score, there won’t be any first team signings in January. If of course we have mid table assured.
Jail for Ashley
Nov 21, 2013 at 10:43 PM
Comment #42NUFC.com, my favourite Newcastle United site until I discovered this one in 2007, I presume everybody on here reads it !
jimmysmith
Nov 21, 2013 at 10:47 PM
Comment #43I’m happy enough to see us sign Ince, but we are talking a guy Liverpool let go and who is not a walk up start for the England under 21’s, nor has any top flight experience, so, really nothing to get too excited about, even relative to the wide men we already have.
Zaha, in comparison, you’d think would press for a place, which would have an immediate impact, even if only for the rest of the season. Ince is more one for the future, fine, but no big whoop when we really probably need one or two that are good to go.
stan anderson
Nov 21, 2013 at 11:27 PM
Comment #44TDS @33 What is complete?,a team to win something or a team to stay in the P L .What.s your expectations then?
Sav
Nov 22, 2013 at 12:24 AM
Comment #45Now Williamson is being touted for England, are we going to do a spot of Hatem bashing now? The lad may not have looked entirely fit this season and he may have had a couple of anonymous games, but he has also had games for us where he has worked hard and wherever he plays, the opposition are always going to leave an extra man to deal with him. And when he’s in the mood, that won’t help to stop him.
I’d rather see fans support the lad and help him get through this period. H is still the most exciting player we have had in years. Lets not boot him out prematurely. He’s no Luque or Marcellino. He wants to play and do well, so give the kid a break.Its bad enough with Sports Direct undermining our players. Let the fans stick up for them.