Mo Diame says he’s not as fit as he wanted to be at the start of the season, but he was impressed by the way Newcastle came back into the game against Spurs yesterday.
After we had gone down 2-1 after 18 minutes we came back into the game in that first half and the lads put in a spirited performance in the second half.
And – not for the first time – Mo has criticized his own performance – and said he wasn’t up to par in the first half.
But he put in a good performance in the final 45 minutes as Newcastle hit the woodwork twice but we just couldn’t get the equalizer.
Mo Diame – in action yesterday in the second half
This is what Mo Diame has said on the Newcastle website:
“I thought we had a bad first half, and I thought I had a bad first half personally, so it wasn’t easy,”
“But second half, I thought we deserved a draw. We need to take the positive things, and come back quick and be ready for Cardiff.”
“There was a lot of excitement to start this game. We’ve been waiting for this game for a while.”
“We saw a lot of balls lost in the middle – from us and from them – and that’s why it was an open game.”
“The second half, we did well – we came back in our shape and did things in the right way. Hopefully, we’re going to keep going in this way. “
“We have to keep that second half in mind.”
“Rondon and Muto did well. They brought us the fresh things we needed for the second half. “
“Hopefully, they can keep going and bring something more for the team.”
“It was a long pre-season. I would have expected to be more fit than I was today, but I couldn’t play 90 minutes in the last friendly because I was injured.”
“I’ll be OK.”
“The injury is much better now. I wasn’t sure I’d be here today, but I’m all right, and I’ll be OK for Cardiff and Chelsea.”
Mo will be under severe pressure this season from Ki Sung-yueng for his holding midfield position.
The captain of South Korea has played there before with Jonjo Shelvey at Swansea, and he has looked a talented and experienced player in preseason.
Comments welcome.
85 comments so far
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 5:00 PM
Comment #1From the comments from the players
it’s clear that as well as training the lads
Rafa gets them thinking about the game.
Much better than the “collect the money”
and “go through the motions” attitude under
former managers/coaches .
Ancient6
Aug 12, 2018 at 5:05 PM
Comment #2See that Corbyn is in the crowd at the Emirates and was involved in a row just before half time over anti semitism. He triggered the row apparently by rudely pushing past people.
Rift deepens but why go to a football match what a tool.
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 5:06 PM
Comment #3I bet he won’t go to a Spurs home match
😀
Pearl Geordie
Aug 12, 2018 at 5:14 PM
Comment #4https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/steve-parish-leaps-defence-newcastle-15020767
Every one is the business world shows that the money Ashely used as the interest free loan as an investment and I might agree with it.
Mike bought Newcastle to be his marketing tool as u see it has helped him and he will use it in his best way he will see it fit.
Mike will never put money into the club to buy players he doesn’t see it as an investment so he will put pressure on Charnely and Rafa to make there own money and buy their own players with their money.
Mike will protect NUFC not run into administration and keep it in EPL for his marketing purpose.
The earlier we understand this to more we support our club coz I am not going to waste my time on politics.
Sammy
Aug 12, 2018 at 5:40 PM
Comment #5Pearl
Try telling AncientC not to waste his time on politics on a Football Blog.
hibbit
Aug 12, 2018 at 5:44 PM
Comment #6Pearl Geordie
so far he hasn’t done a very good job of keeping us in the Prem and protecting his investment,
it’s his stupidity that has relegated us twice and cost us very dearly
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 5:56 PM
Comment #7Hibbit
Do you think Ashley deserves praise for our fifth
place in 2011/12 and the Europa League semi
final the following season against Benfica the winners ?
Pearl Geordie
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:03 PM
Comment #8I believe mistakes have been made but we need to back the team with its business approach. Coz it has kept us afloat did many reasons. How do u blame an owner for relagation like he is the one coaching the team??
First relegation I blame it to fans, Joe Kinnear’s heart attack and Allan shearer’s inexperience.
The second one I blame it on Charnley he took long to axe Mcclaren while he already had Rafa as his choice. (I remember the rumour that he had even contacted him even before he went Madrid)
I don’t see where Mike steps in.
Pearl Geordie
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:06 PM
Comment #9Mike Ashley protected us from paying interests to the bank with an interest free loan same with the 60m he put in when we were relagated.
That’s protecting ur investment.
Let’s leave the politics away for once. Coz as usual Politics divides the populations (here it’s us the fans)
Jail for Ashley
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:08 PM
Comment #10Europa League semi final, well how about that, was that not the Falcons you buffoon 😮
Ron Knee
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:09 PM
Comment #11NUFC record under Cashley to 2016/17:
43 – 2007/08 – 12th
34 – 2008/09 – 18th
(102 – 2009/10 – 1st in Championship)
46 – 2010/11 – 12th
65 – 2011/12 – 5th
41 – 2012/13 – 16th
49 – 2013/14 – 10th
39 – 2014/15 – 15th
37 – 2015/16 – 18th
(94 – 2016/17 – 1st in Championship)
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:12 PM
Comment #12Jail were you at the (original) Stadium of Light
in April 2013 ?
I was
Bigjim67
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:13 PM
Comment #13If any investigation found that the £90m used to purchase hof was actually the clubs TV money, could Ashley face any penalty /sanctions legally or would it just be regarded as his own money? Seems dodgy to say the least.
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:15 PM
Comment #14Ah – I see I put semi – instead of quarter
My bad
I wondered why you’d crawled out of your hole
lochinvar
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:15 PM
Comment #15Jib
Missed this conversation
Where you there as a fan or a mascot ?
In the interests of clarity clarity please state which team.
c-dog
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:18 PM
Comment #16I’d say he’s protected himself by funneling profits through MASH
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:18 PM
Comment #17I was the guy that fed the eagle
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:23 PM
Comment #18c-dog
A holding company (the parent)
holds shares for its subsidiaries
and doesn’t trade.
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:32 PM
Comment #19Janick Westergaarde who we tried to get when McClaren was here
looks half decent for Southampton to be fair
c-dog
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:35 PM
Comment #20Was convinced MASH still owns all subsidiaries assets and posted gross revenues and annual profits.
Toonces
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:36 PM
Comment #21Manquillo is a poor player and defender. He gets caught like a deer in headlights and is afraid to get stuck in. He backed out of several challenges last year instead of competing for them. I wish he was better and if he plays I will cheer him on and hope he makes me eat my words but I hope he never has to pull the jersey on for us in anger.
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:38 PM
Comment #22https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/06861426
c-dog have a cruise around this
I don’t want to hand you your arse on a platter twice in 24 hours
ronaldo aarons
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:41 PM
Comment #23Have to say past few days there’s been plenty of ‘new’ posters or those that I don’t recognise in contributing to the blog before coming on and having digs at ancient and corbyn. Fair play to ancient he hasn’t risen to any of it which is quite embarrassing for these posters. I mean what are they good for then? These posters are pretty worthless at best, don’t come on to talk football or nufc but come on to throw jabs at a regular poster to see that they don’t even land. Why bother in the first place, perhaps school holidays getting boring maybe?
Optimistic Panda
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:43 PM
Comment #24I bet Ashley sees the season we finished 5th as the only blip on his perfect 11 year record.
Ill ad, its the only mistake he hasn’t repeated.
NY Mag
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:45 PM
Comment #25Jib,
MASH is not the holding company for NUFC, St James Holdings is
Which rolls up into MASH, and MASH does trade
ronaldo aarons
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:48 PM
Comment #26Pearl
I agree that mike Ashley primary purpose when buy the club was to promote sports direct. That’s something that john hall stated back then. Unless that changes, I feel he’s here to stay. Unless someone comes along to over pay on what the club I say worth right now.
The only thing I would say is most fans aren’t asking him to put his own money into the club for players. Just to let the club spend what it generates like he states. I don’t think he’s really done that and with him handicapping us in terms of commercial income it’s almost like he’s asking us to wipe our own nose but cuts our arm off.
Ron Knee
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:50 PM
Comment #27So our average PL position to 2017 is an earth-shattering 13th.
c-dog
Aug 12, 2018 at 6:55 PM
Comment #28I shall jib but you know well you were schooled earlier, I shan’t repost the posts.
Charlie in the Gallowgate
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:01 PM
Comment #29Ron Knee
Be interesting to work out
All teams average position say In 15 seasons in premiership and there spend
And I bet it works out we are top in value for money spend/position
Bit like Sports Direct
JohnJ
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:02 PM
Comment #30Here is this seasons squad numbers – my apologies if they have already been posted:-
1 Rob Elliot
2 Ciaran Clark
3 Paul Dummett
4 Ki Sung-yueng
5 Fabian Schär
6 Jamaal Lascelles
7 Jacob Murphy
8 Jonjo Shelvey
9 Salomón Rondón
10 Mohamed Diamé
11 Matt Ritchie
12 Martin Dúbravka
13 Yoshinori Mut?
14 Isaac Hayden
15 Kenedy
17 Ayoze Pérez
18 Federico Fernández
19 Javier Manquillo
20 Florian Lejeune
21 Joselu
22 DeAndre Yedlin
25 Jamie Sterry
26 Karl Darlow
30 Christian Atsu
36 Sean Longstaff
37 Callum Roberts
41 Freddie Woodman
No number for Rolando Aarons then?
lochinvar
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:03 PM
Comment #31Bursa based newspaper Olay claim Bursaspor have finally decided on signing Henri Saivet from Newcastle United.
So who’s left to get a move out to Europe or beyond ?
Ron Knee
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:03 PM
Comment #32Charlie
Looks like we’re Balance Sheet Champions. Cashley, take a bow.
ronaldo aarons
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:06 PM
Comment #33https://www.nufc.co.uk/news/latest-news/magpies-confirm-signings-of-under-23-pair
Finally official. Yannick toure and rosaire longelo.
c-dog
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:07 PM
Comment #34For example –
https://document-api-images-prod.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/docs/GpQmpYE9t-SYQw7Z3uYcGEHoK_bmRdnEoWjxVV4ZtRM/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3JPZVEHGB%2F20180812%2Feu-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20180812T175650Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=FQoGZXIvYXdzECgaDDvYbfh48dNANO%2BjLyK3AxWv8yS3iftjLnu7TGxZIK5etzrGmnpDY2OIQC8w3NGP3XFyD3OLw4TwR%2BRJMiBw59AcGKFf8IT2CPuhLhKpQ9lBenum2NuONg0ZrUhP4i06QOb8NuRCsIJm7bB3XmyRW9j0oqvCyKaCzuO7DynMKRqBSM7cOaBZ%2Bl%2FG%2Bg9z6bSzwU17gHRfFJBQhT9xfPnqBywSsmMFx74N4mt%2FlTR4Sq7V6R9txnGt417C8PURFrHCKCg5%2F7vlKNU2xPzon0KLM0ur5lPyud4sDEV4111tZqWHB7TxHX%2FZNvwM50WzWaeG20pwEcn4dTW7K0OZF4jjgM%2FAZdwCMUsgp0pJ0dPa2s5HzGgFSoDzwMyy%2FsNAs32%2FkqbMa4UXW7DUgYfKsuJuZ%2FRV1WObKuQLMV63KUlZjir%2FFNg3ImCM15JcP2EL5lGELENMdD9u%2Fmih%2Fids7egYpy3Uw3xCupw7NbmHUldC5rDu7cr%2BhZfRLvRqUjOahaY4cbgps021IJJ07YX0nkH2WBnmkLpna4NozukkP7hKaZAuUMeZwzpULrY0rpP3Gup0RBBQACCxB09x2blB7kjP6cHrp4GlgUIomInB2wU%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=27fcb5769f6c5f688ef005829958aea26ac89ed456a9b4766b688a827c019239
doesnt Really corroborate any point you make Jib. Alls these reports tell us that the clubs sole purpose is to the benefit of mash
lochinvar
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:07 PM
Comment #35Ed – know that you had a visit to your specialist last week so trust that was a planned regular check up and that all is well.
ronaldo aarons
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:10 PM
Comment #36I’ve mentioned this a couple times since last night but I still cannot get my head around Andy Grays comments. Mike Ashley gave Rafa £100m last season after promotion?? Remember though, he is NOT taking sides. From the chronicle:
On BeIn Sports, Gray – alongside Peter Reid and Richard Keys – debated Benitez and said that he was “looking after himself” with his complaints.
“In Mike Ashley’s defence – and I’m not taking sides with anyone – Rafa was given the biggest budget in the Championship from his chairman: ‘Get us up’. He did that,” he said.
“Mike Ashley then invested another £100million to make his group better. Every year, has Mike Ashley allowed Rafa Benitez to improve the squad? I have to say yes. £100million last year, seven players they’ve signed this year – Dubravka the goalkeeper, he’s brought back Kenedy and they’ve added five new players and they haven’t lost anyone who you’d think ‘Wow, that’s a blow’.
“Dwight Gayle? No, not really. You’ve got Rondon in – well Mitrovic, he didn’t want him, he never played. Mbemba was in and out of the side. Mike Ashley can sit there and say ‘Listen, we finished tenth last year and I’ve allowed you sign seven new players that you want because you’ve signed them’.
“So I’ve given you a better squad than you had last year.”
Charlie in the Gallowgate
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:14 PM
Comment #37Ron
Trouble is you win nowt for being balance book champions
Jib
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:19 PM
Comment #38You mongoose
If you link a humungous url
It screws the blog pagination
Your Uncle Tsunki told you
this until he was blue in the face
Charlie in the Gallowgate
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:20 PM
Comment #39Ron
Also in a stupid perverse way I have quite enjoyed following the Toon for the past few seasons the ups and downs the pain of relegation and the ecstasy of promotion and the staying up of last season
Plus would you rather be a Toon supporter or be like a Everton supporter – living on the shadows of the dippers spent a bloody fortune and what have they achieved mid table mediocre
Toonces
Aug 12, 2018 at 7:21 PM
Comment #40Ronaldo – that is some very selective debating and how does he get 100M in spending for last season?
If Ashley is taking out dividends or loan repayments it will eventually show in the books. Unfortunately you can’t see last season’s books until next summer. Wonder if those special one time payments on the backend of the promotion season were to help him hide money coming out of the club?
When Ashley bought Newcastle, it was a bigger brand, more famous, than it is now, relatively speaking. His approach and business plan has seen the club become less relevant over the tenure of his ownership. But it still has enough people around who remember the entertainers and the whole “everyone’s favorite second team” mystique. Any growth in the club’s value is in spite of Ashley and riding purely on the wave of the success of the Premier League.