Coventry City have nominated Newcastle’s on loan striker Adam Armstrong for the League One Player Of The Month award for August.
This follows Adam’s great start to his six month loan spell at Coventry, when he scored 5 goals in his first three games for the club, and some of them were spectacular efforts.
18 year-old Adam Armstrong – in Coventry colors
Armstrong scored in the wins against Wigan, Millwall and Crewe, and the Geordie striker is on a short list of four for the award.
The other three are Gillingham’s Bradley Dack, Walsall’s Sam Mantom and Rochdale’s Jim McNulty, and the winner will be announced on Friday.
Adam must have a great chance of being named the winner.
Here’s hoping.
Comments welcome.
90 comments so far
Munster Mag
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:13 PM
Comment #41Ibiza, if Pardew or Carr had wittered on about Northerners wanting tough aggressive teams or young strikers being menacing because of their Serbian background we would all have winced. Pardew would have been called a stupid cockney. Anyone remember when Keegan went on about Geordies not being interested in Theatre ( or something ? ) . Talk about stupid stereotying…..( mind u what wud i know, i’m only a thick Paddy 🙂 )
John Tudor
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:13 PM
Comment #42but lets wait for the tenth game
pawl250
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:18 PM
Comment #43Ibiza
Southampton – we drew 1-1 with, and could and should have won as we actually were the better side on the day. Could argue we are rubbing shoulders with them.
Swansea – it was 1-0 when Janmaat got sent off. We were hardly miles away when the game was 11 v 11. I think they will be the team that pushes the standard top 7 this year though.
Ibizatoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:22 PM
Comment #44Bobbybee…”This time next year is the safest time to make judgement imo, when we know exactly where we stand and if Ashley has backed his promises with actions. So far so good, but it’s early days yet.”
I agree with that completely. What do we do in the meantime though? For some, it really isn’t as simple as just hoping and believing.
Munster…It is rumoured that Obertan was a Pardew buy. Marveaux was a free, and to be fair, he didn’t make it but he is a technically good player. Worth the risk imo. Wasn’t Gouffran a ST?
Ill save us the mbiwa debate again – it’s going nowhere 🙂
Munster…I think you might have a somewhat distorted memory of Pardews time here. For sure, with some, he was never ever going to be good enough, no matter what. However, a lot of people gave him a reasonable chance. Steve is getting the same.
I just see some early signs of things that turned people against Pardew and I’m not sure why, in this new world of NUFC, why he needs to?
Ibizatoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:26 PM
Comment #45Pawl…Individual performances I agree. Close.
I think JT’s point is that the table doesn’t lie. Let’s hope things improve or we’ll be left with the also rans, again.
John Tudor
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:27 PM
Comment #46almost rans also rans try harder
Ibizatoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:29 PM
Comment #47JT…I missed the first 2 games. Not sure I can fault the players commitment in the Man U or Arsenal games tbh.
martoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:29 PM
Comment #48Munster Mag @41 – Nothing irritates me more (except certain bloggers on here 🙂 ) than these sweeping generalisations. The perception of a North Easterner seems to be a cloth cap wearing shipyard worker or miner. The fact that none of these industries exist now and a lot of us now work in offices or IT seems to be neither here nor there. Oh and most wear baseball caps these days 🙂
Bobbybee
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:30 PM
Comment #49Half the problem with scouting is judging how they might be in your team. How many players have looked great for us, then flopped for the team they joined? It works both ways. A player can look brilliant in one team, then look awful when they come here. Carr has a difficult job in that sense. That said, he has probably done better than average for someone on a restricted budget. Anybody could scout for Chelsea or City etc, where if you get it wrong they slide into reserve team obscurity to be replaced by another overpriced prime donna, then let slip away for a huge loss. As the target price for players increases, I think we’ll see the best of Carr. Apart from Mitrovic, who needs a bit of fine tuning, the signings this window have adapted to the PL quickly and easily, which augurs well for the next two windows. He might not be the best chief scout, but he’s far from the worse imo.
John Tudor
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:32 PM
Comment #50no the players were committed
martoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:33 PM
Comment #51Ibizatoon @45 – The table does lie after 4 games – it is after 38 games that it is a true reflection!
Jib
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:34 PM
Comment #52McClaren now has 14 games plus cupties to find his best team and improve players beyond recognition from last season and bed in the new signings , before the Winter window.
He started with Colo who is a new man after last season.
Anita is looking the biz , Sissoko seems revitalised , Mbemba , Wijnaldum , and to certain degree Thauvin have hit the ground running and look class .
I now fully expect dramatic improvements in Taylor , Dummett , Lascelles ,Tiote , Riviere , Gouffran , Aarons , and Marveaux.
Perez , Colback , Haidara , Janmaat , De Jong are already there and just need game time.
Obertan is past redemption unfortunately
Ibizatoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:35 PM
Comment #53JT….Fair enough.
pawl250
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:38 PM
Comment #54Ibiza
Pardew was brought in under odd circumstances given Hughton had a rapport with fans and was actually doing well given we were newly promoted he had us firmly mid table. That alwasy put him on a negative footing with the fans.
I somewhat agree with Munster. The year we finished 5th our fans wanted 4th, its typical NUFC fan base really. If we finish 2nd (not going to happen) this year it would never be good enough, it would be we should have won the league.
Pardew had us firmly mid table again when leaving and we were in free fall the remainder of the season. People sometimes forget the amount of injuries we had the year before last and since the noises he has made in which it sounds like Pardews hands were tied at most times when no additions were made to our jaded squad after key players being sold. We could have done alot worse.
That said we are not a selling club. Name a player outside of Ba, who had a clause that we sold for a value that you may consider undervalue. I cannot think of any!
Yet an area Pardew really failed at times to understand was what the fans wanted. At 1-1 we do not want to see STaylor come on for Perez, we want to win the game, especially against similar levelled opposition. That is the only critical thing I can say about him, and I suppose the odd headbutt incident which was a disgrace.
He has done extremely well at Palace, the only dodgey typical Pardew signing being Whickham for stupid money. That said he has improved them enough to look like solid mid table looking up opposed to down.
I work in a very Sunderland biased office, of which I hear the words “what we would give for a mid table finish with no relegation on the cards going into final 8 games of the season”
My arguement to that is if we are 10th with 8 games to go, our fans and any fan naturally wants to finish higher, Then improve the following year and so on.
YET I think we need to be realistic and look at the money being spent at Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea, City, even Arsenal when they do get going and realise even if we improve our team, they will simply improve theirs more!!! Its like swimming against an ever constant tide, we may have a shot for 1 season, like Southampton most recently did, but the following the bigger fish will simply pick you apart and you cannot stop them because they have the money to do it and the current game players tend to hold more power than the club who has them under contract.
Ibizatoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:39 PM
Comment #55Martoon…Indeed. I thought my comment had covered the fact that we still have time to go and was only a possible scenario, rather than a prediction 🙂
Bobbybee
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:43 PM
Comment #56Ibiza, not sure what anybody can do in the mean time. The signings are done until January and nobody else is leaving, so what else can we do? I don’t see the point in fretting over something that you can no longer effect. Now is the time for hoping and believing surely? Literally, only time will tell how things work out, but we can’t alter it right now. January is the next time we can make changes and all we can really do to effect the results is get 100% behind the team and make SJP a hard place to come. The more hostile, the better.
LGFUAD21
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:44 PM
Comment #57In pretty chill on the start we’ve made this season.
Is it the best? Far from it. Pretty poor. But in not worried yet.
We didn’t have a good pre season. Mcclaren needs time to get his best team playing his way.
I’ll judge after 12 like macca said. Even then there’s still 28 more games.
We defender well against two good teams. We may have changed conceded to arsenal but we always coped with a hell of a lot thrown at us with 10 men.
Be nice to see what we can do against a standard team if we keep ten men on the pitch.
LGFUAD21
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:45 PM
Comment #58*11 men
pawl250
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:46 PM
Comment #59Ibiza
That table doesnt lie at the end of a season not 4 games into it.
We have had arguably the hardest start compared to teams around us.
When you look at Sunderland who have had Villa, Swansea, Norwich and Leicester you would assume they should have more points on the table given 3 (Swansea being 1 that is not) of those teams you would arguably be in contention with for relegation come March/April next year.
Its about winning the teams around you.
Man Utd, Arsenal are not going to be teams around us, and in reality any point is a bonus from them for any team outside the top 6.
Southampton will be firmly mid table, and Swansea will be looking for top half. These are teams we should be looking at and we drew against 1 and played with 10 men for over half the game with the other. We are not too far away with those said teams we are competing against.
If we started losing against the likes of Watford, then yes we need to take a long hard look. Yet Southampton would have done us for 4 goals last season most likely, and Arsenal at home with 10 men for 80 minutes we would have crumbled last year. This year we looked surprisingly solid, taking a flukey og to beat us.
Ibizatoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:51 PM
Comment #60Pawl….”The year we finished 5th our fans wanted 4th, its typical NUFC fan base really.”
Fans? I can think of maybe 2 or 3 on this site that said such things. If I remember correctly, Simpson cost us CL too.
You are right about his appointment though, he started off on the back foot (not a tactics dig – honest), but did actually pull that back with the majority.
I don’t think the definition of a selling club is one that sells players undervalue? For me, most clubs are selling clubs. It’s the replacement policy I’ve objected to in the past.
“what we would give for a mid table finish with no relegation on the cards going into final 8 games of the season”
I’d take that too at the moment 🙂
Your last point is an interesting topic for me and I know it’s a big issue many fans have towards Ashley. Why did we need to fall so far behind before trying to compete again?
Were the last 2 summer windows worth the yeaar of non-buys the season before?
What can a team outside of the top teams realistcally aim for? Despite my less than optimistic views on NUFC these days, I am a dreamer who believes anything is possible.
What is it Ashley wants though?
I get a few fans just want to focus on the here and now. That’s fine. For me, sometimes to know where you’re going, you need to look where you’ve been.
On that, I’m going out, as I didn’t earlier 🙂
DaraghL
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:54 PM
Comment #61My stance on this is, I’m content with the ‘new regime’. They have bought 4 players I can get behind. 4 players that if they perform to the best of their abilities can be stars in the premier league.
To couple that I like McClaren’s changes, attitude and general demeanor. I did not like Pardew as a person, therefore making it hard to support him.
I feared how we would tackle our first 8 games. I believe we have performed admirably with 2 draws and 2 losses with 10 men.
I am not happy with our start but feared it could have been worse. I am cautiously optimistic.
The important point, something I have struggled with under Pardew (bar the year we were 5th for obvious reasons), I feel I am now supporting a team I can get behind again and I thank McClaren for that.
Graeme
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:56 PM
Comment #62Reasons to be cheerful – Part 2!! Mitrovitch is a better buy than Martial!!
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastles-aleksandar-mitrovic-worth-more-9974944#rlabs=2%20sitewide
Ibizatoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:59 PM
Comment #63Pawl….I may be reading this wrong, but you’re responding to me as if I’m being some drama queen?
All I pointed out is that we will need to improve, we’ve got one point out of six, from teams we’re supposed to be on par with.
Circumstances went against us for sure, the season is not yet over, there is plenty of time, I haven’t written us off.
Not sure where the problem is? 🙂
Bobby…All due respect, but that’s what you’ve said pretty much all window 🙂 As match attending fans, I do agree with you. All that can be done is support the lads and assess how things go. But this is a blog to discuss the pros and cons of all things NUFC. I don’t see why it needs to lean towards blind faith?
Right….I am going 🙂
DaraghL
Sep 2, 2015 at 12:59 PM
Comment #64Ibiza –
“I don’t think the definition of a selling club is one that sells players undervalue? For me, most clubs are selling clubs. It’s the replacement policy I’ve objected to in the past.”
Very well put. Sell Yohan for £20 odd if you can get ir…but go out and buy 2/3. Sell Andy for £35m but if I see Kuqi on the teamsheet…
Bobbybee
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:03 PM
Comment #65Pawl, there was something in one of the papers over the weekend that used the dreaded stats to show why us and west brom shouldn’t panic yet. Their stats showed that our start to the season as the most difficult by far. We don’t need stats to tell us that really, as common sense and a basic understanding of football would reach the same conclusion. Following the Chelsea and City games we have a run of games – home and away – which should give us a better idea where we stand. Games we will be targeting points from.
Jib
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:06 PM
Comment #66Magpies 24/7 Episode 8 is on NUFCtv for those who can watch it.
DaraghL
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:06 PM
Comment #67October 17: Norwich City (H)
October 24: Sunderland (A)
October 31: Stoke City (H)
November 7: Bournemouth (A)
November 21: Leicester City (H)
November 28: Crystal Palace (A)
December 5: Liverpool (H)
December 12: Tottenham Hotspur (A)
December 19: Aston Villa (H)
December 26: Everton (H)
December 28: West Bromwich Albion (A)
Things get a lot easier after the Chelsea, City games.
DaraghL
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:07 PM
Comment #68Jib –
Last one I watched was episode 4. Have the most recent ones been any good? Has somebody broken Haidara’s selfie stick yet? Is Obertan still as bad at FIFA as he is in real life…tune in next week
dok - the horrid colonial
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:08 PM
Comment #69if arma does win the award, does that count as us winning something to Ashley?? 😉
Toon-Prodigy
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:14 PM
Comment #70Wow, Chelsea have loaned out 33 players who cost them something like 70 mil.
That’s bizarre.
Reet, dinner time for me.
Bobbybee
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:24 PM
Comment #71Daragh, cheers for that mate, saved me doing it 🙂 Clearly we’ll know a lot better as to where we are by the January window, following those games you’ve posted. This will highlight to the board exactly where we need to strengthen and how urgently. We’re capable of picking up a lot of points from games between now and the end of the year and we should see some entertaining football to boot.
Carryingcoals
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:38 PM
Comment #72On the subject of Armstrong, it’s quote thrilling to see how well he’s doing. I think for us to get Austin however we’d need to offload some people on the wage bill, I’m thinking Riviere.
Some thoughts on why I’m not actually a fan of the transfer window:
http://bdai.ly/RKw6
Bobbybee
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:44 PM
Comment #73Ibiza, my faith isn’t blind, it’s based on what I see happening. Not just me either. The whole ground is feeling it and it’s reflected in the supporters level of noise, which is definitely on the up as you’ll have heard yourself. I am an optimist by nature, I’ll concede that, but I try to give credit where I feel it’s due and vice versa. The past is gone and can’t be changed so I concentrate on the future and the here and now. Ashley has failed to win my support in the past because of how he ran the club, but if he has genuinely learned from his mistakes and wants to leave football matters to football people, whilst giving them the finances to take us forward, then I’m willing to see how it goes. My view is so far so good, whilst accepting there’s still scope to mess up big style. One step at a time and so far, the steps have been promising.
martoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:51 PM
Comment #74Just noticed a couple of interesting tweets from Soccer Sauce who are normally quite reliable:-
Our information is that #NUFC made a bid in the past 4 hours for Leeds player Sam Byram, but the offer was quickly rejected #LUFC
Also hearing that Brighton were keen on signing Mike Williamson but were unable to match fees required for the player #NUFC #BHAFC
Ron Knee
Sep 2, 2015 at 1:52 PM
Comment #75martoon
Re Williamson: I imagine Brighton’s fees were too high.
Bobbybee
Sep 2, 2015 at 2:03 PM
Comment #76Carrying coals, got to agree on the point about the window carrying on into the season, but surely football has always been an entertainment? That bit I find strange! The reason English players cost so much can be blamed on the so called big clubs paying inflated prices, surely? Would Madrid, Barca, PSG etc have been willing to pay 49m for Sterling? Or City for an equivalent player abroad, for that matter? I doubt it. I think the majority of fans would like to see the window closed before the season begins, but whether that will ever happen – I doubt it myself. Worth reading though, canny link matey.
Jib
Sep 2, 2015 at 2:15 PM
Comment #77The logical thing with Brighton was to do a swap for Dunk . I think Hughton probably proposed that and the Toon told him to do one.
hibbit
Sep 2, 2015 at 2:18 PM
Comment #78ron the club asked boro 2m for willo 3 weeks ago willo
Ron Knee
Sep 2, 2015 at 2:21 PM
Comment #79hibbit
What happened about Gouffran? Any info?
martoon
Sep 2, 2015 at 2:21 PM
Comment #80Jib @77 – I would of thought the other way around. We wanted to swap and Hoots told us to get stuffed!