The news over the weekend was that for the first time ever it seems, Newcastle owner Mike Ashley went into the dressing room after the game to congratulate the manager and the players on their first league win of the season.
Mike Ashley on Saturday – a smiling owner
As we’ve mentioned before the very last thing Mike wants is to see Newcastle back in the Championship, and he will do anything possible to keep the team up this season, even if it means bringing several players in over the January transfer window.
And Mike was seen to be smiling during the game – maybe that’s a new PR ploy – because he was sitting next to PR man Keith Bishop.
This is some of what Alan Pardew said after the game:
“It was a surprise – we didn’t expect to see him,” ‘I teased him about the cheap telly and he took that in good spirits. We all had a bit of a laugh about it.”
“But he spent about 10 minutes congratulating everyone. If anyone has ever doubted his commitment you saw it there. He was as happy as any fan at the win.”
‘That is the first time since I have been here that he has been in the dressing-room straight after the game. It shows what that result meant to him.”
It was the result we wanted badly, but it was still a tough game, and even near the end of stoppage time, Leicester City came very close to getting the equalizer, much like Crystal Palace had done several weeks ago, when they equalized after five minutes of stoppage time.
But this time we held out and almost doubled our points total to 7 points from our first 8 games, which isn’t too bad given the terrible start we have made in the league this season, and it was our first league win since May 3rd.
On that day we beat Cardiff City 3-0 with two late goals, and that was our only win in the last eight league games of last season – we lost the other seven.
Newcastle were expected to beat Leicester City at home, but we will not be expected to win either of our next two league games – at Tottenham and at home to Liverpool.
The last thing we want in those two games is two defeats, and we must try to pick up points in both of those games..
Comments welcome.
You can follow us on our three social media sites below:
16 comments so far
Laurent Robert 32
Oct 20, 2014 at 1:27 AM
Comment #1It’s most definitely a nudge from Bishop I reckon.
Just like the rest of the propaganda.
Reyantoon
Oct 20, 2014 at 2:00 AM
Comment #2I’m not satisfied with the score line,but happy with the win.The scoreline suggests we are still not convincing and struggling in front of goals.The good thing is we grabbed 3 pts with that single goal,the bad thing is we didn’t climb up the table.
BBC pundits and commentators claim we played tremendously well with hanger,especially in the second half,and deserved the win.
They also claim in BBC radio that David Moyes was in the directors box watching the game.I’m not sure I heard it 100% correctly but I think I heard them saying that in BBC radio transmitting live
stoke v swansea game yesterday.Whatever happens,there is still a lot to be done on the players as well as the manager.I am not sure Moyes is the right choice,but I think is better than pulis & bruce..
meanwhile;
Glad Steven T took his chance and finished the game with cleansheet. I’m sure he will start again in the next game together with obertan. Hopefully, as the BBC people said,this win will be a good platform to build on, for our own sake!!
Average_Contents
Oct 20, 2014 at 2:03 AM
Comment #3Most definitely LR32.
Makes me sick the way the king gushes and gets a wide-on when referring to fatty. No need for it. As for the back slapping I think it’s more a case of cok slapping in particular fatty’s all over the king. Ewwwww just been a little bit sick in my mouth 🙁
swemag
Oct 20, 2014 at 2:06 AM
Comment #4That was a nice win.
Still this season will be a struggle. We have some decent players, but we are missing that one player that can make the others grow, that can install confidence and that will make the team work as a unit.
We used to have that player in Cabaye. Every single Toon player was a better player when he was around.
Looking at this from an investment point of view one could say that Newcastle should have done all in their power to keep him. Meaning offering a contract that would make even the PSG money look merely ok.
In the past you could say that players such as Barton and Kevin Nolan had that effect on the team. Today we have no one. As we all know our captain is not that guy. Collo just does not have that quality and one might wonder if it was a good idea to handle him the captaincy.
With the current strategy it is hard to see where this player will come from that will lift this team, Grenier could be it but he obviously wasn’t too interested in coming up north.
This character is more important than the additional defender or attacker that we are missing.
Until that player arrives, we will struggle.
ash1001
Oct 20, 2014 at 4:47 AM
Comment #5Sorry Ed, that photo is not even from Saturday’s match, as for congratulating them for a win, if that’s the standard of play he’s happy with then he needs to think what league we should be playing in, because it was a crap performance.
lesh
Oct 20, 2014 at 4:49 AM
Comment #6Reyantoon
Notes was at the Burnley game, sat with Alistair Campbell.
lesh
Oct 20, 2014 at 4:50 AM
Comment #7Repost
Reyantoon
David Moyes was at the Burnley game, sat with Alistair Campbell.
Reyantoon
Oct 20, 2014 at 6:10 AM
Comment #8lesh… probably u r right, I must heard something els
Canny in Canberra
Oct 20, 2014 at 6:46 AM
Comment #9Your a very pessimistic lot.
Why is it so strange that an owner would be happy he’s teams won or that a manager would be please that they were personally supporting the players.
Sorry no can’t keep a straight face.
Canny in Canberra
Oct 20, 2014 at 6:48 AM
Comment #10We’re between a rock and a hard place.
If we win and move up the ladder things stay the way they are regime wise.
If we loose we go down.
Damn just depress myself.
Lilongwe Geordie
Oct 20, 2014 at 7:07 AM
Comment #11I doubt that beating Leicester made Pardew’s job any more or less secure. Ashley hasn’t shown any inclination to sack him so far, and will move if and when he feels like it. That isn’t to say those who protest shouldn’t, they should be able to voice there opinions.
Still, that was a desperately needed 3 points,even if we haven’t moved up the table. Not the best of performances, but on balance we deserved to win.
We now have Spuds and Liverpool, where a point in each would be decent, but likelihood of zero points being realistic. Then we have 4 crucial matches – West Brom, QPR, West Ham and Burnley. We will need 7-12 points from those 4 to have a realistic chance of not being in the relegation spots at the turn of the year.
Mag52
Oct 20, 2014 at 7:33 AM
Comment #12Just thinking a bit more about that post from Sparky a few threads ago, about his mates hearing Ryan Taylor’s dad saying that Ryan could have been on the bench on Saturday but Ashley was against it.
It wouldn’t be the first time in the history of the game that an owner gets involved with team selection, and there are a few pointers which suggest it might be true.
Lilongwe Geordie
Oct 20, 2014 at 7:55 AM
Comment #13Mag52,
What is this about?? Ryan Taylor’s dad said that Ashley said Ryan couldn’t be on the bench?? He has played in 2, maybe 3 reserve team friendlies. I am more inclined to think that he isn’t playing cause he isn’t ready. He is in the squad for the U21’s league game tonight I think, which would be his first competitive minutes. He definitely won’t have been ready to drop into a Premier league match.
Out of interest, what other signs point to Ashley making team selection? I highly doubt he has anything to do with it, but am willing to listen to why others think he might be.
Laurent Robert 32
Oct 20, 2014 at 8:06 AM
Comment #14With Pardew being an imbecile and playing a not fully fit Ben Arfa in that freezing, plastic pitch Europa game, plus risking Cisse to dig him out after only having trained 4 days, and the other idiotic decisions, there’s a possibility that the directive from above could have been to warn bird brain Pardew not to risk yet another player being injured. Especially after such a severe operation.
I can’t see Pinocchio never being allowed to play him, so it may be to cover him to start with.
Just another angle on it though.
Mag52
Oct 20, 2014 at 8:12 AM
Comment #15Lilongwe.
It’s that Ashley seems to have changed his approach to the team this season. He has been turning up at matches all over the country, which I don’t remember him doing to this extent in previous years.
He paid his first post match visit to the team’s dressing room in Pardew’s time as manager after Saturday’s game, to congratulate the team on the win, and, let’s face it, very few managers would have held on to their job after the dire run of results we have had since last Xmas. If Ashley is involved in team selection, surely even he wouldn’t have the brass neck to fire the manager for bad results.
Could simply be a conspiracy theory, but Sparky seemed sure that his mates who got the info from Raylor’s dad were doing their nuts.
Reyantoon
Oct 20, 2014 at 8:24 AM
Comment #161949bh
Lacazatte is on fire and deadly.U r talking about the cold in NE and how short he is.Looks like u are watching something else,Guingamp or something…