With close to 5,000 readers having cast their votes in our poll on where we will finish in the Premier League this season, two in three think Newcastle will finish anywhere from 7th to 10th place – so that has to make it official.
😀
And that should suit Mike Ashley since his goal seems to be to have Newcastle finish in the top ten, with no threat of relegation – that seems to be the perfect season as far as the owner is concerned.
And only 1% think we will finish in the bottom three and be relegated.
Here are the results of the poll so far, and there is still time to vote – one vote per reader – to get a fair cross-section of fans’ opinions.
It remains to be seen if Newcastle will make an attempt to win a trophy this season for the first time in 45 years – how bold can you get? – by fielding strong teams in the League (Capital One) Cup and the FA Cup.
We hope they do just that – field strong teams and win something – but I’m getting carried away again.
Comments welcome.
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228 comments so far
Markaccus
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:52 AM
Comment #1I see there are 91 makems on this blog 😀
toonarmydownsouth
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:53 AM
Comment #2There are 91 people who really need to get some help
Our Toon
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:53 AM
Comment #3Which numpties think we’d finish in the bottom 3?
I’ve gone with 8th minimum we can’t have anything less as i feel we have the 8th best squad.
Lilongwe Geordie
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:54 AM
Comment #4Repost;
Tads,
Yeah, I agree, but when Chucky gets up to speed I expect he will come in up front and Riviere will move to the left, Cabella right and SDJ central. Sissoko out at that stage for me, unless there is marked improvement in his game for him to play in a deeper central role. He is more than capable of doing this, but he needs to show it.
Our Toon,
I fully expect Sissoko to play against Villa, I think I said in a post I wouldn’t drop him yet. I’m not sure if it is to combat their pace mind, I think Goofy could do just as good a job as a winger helping to cover the full backs. It would depend how Pardew wants to set up. Anita is the player that offers most cover when our full backs push on, so he may be very useful in this scenario as well, but not from out wide.
Sissoko has to be given the chance to show he can improve in these areas so needs a run of games. However I do feel when everyone is up to speed on current performance levels he is one of the players to miss out.
Markaccus
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:56 AM
Comment #5Our toon
I agree. 8th minimum. Anything else is an under acheivement. Two more players and we could even nick a Europa league spot, but i shouldnt say that in case ethiotoon thinks i am putting pressure on pardew
jazzyp
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:56 AM
Comment #6I’ll hazard a guess a numpty from norway put us in the bottom 3
Laurent Robert 32
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:57 AM
Comment #7Jazzy, Catchy said he put 11th to 17th I think it was.
Lilongwe Geordie
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:57 AM
Comment #8Our Toon,
I think we have the 8th best starting 11 at present. A couple of injuries in key roles and it won’t take long before we are struggling for options and playing substandard players.
7th through 10th was my vote. No key personnel picking up injuries then 7th is achievable. If we lost JanmaatDe Jong/Cabella for any serious period of time we could struggle.
toonarmydownsouth
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:58 AM
Comment #9Lilo
Possibly, haven’t seen enough of Chucky (only on FM!!!) to say whether or not he can lead the line, mind you yet to be seen if Rivière can find his shooting boots
Who knows, after watching Perez pre season and against Citeh!
Ethiotoon
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:58 AM
Comment #10Mark
I am confident we will beat Villa, but if u prepared to say it is a must win game,I disagree.this is our only second game on sat, I am not talking about the past
this is new season, so we have to concentrate on this season not the past record.by the way, I am defending pards b/c I am pleased with what I saw in the city cracker..
Our Toon
Aug 20, 2014 at 9:59 AM
Comment #11LG
I agree with your stance on sissoko, he would also have more affect on a game when the opposition is tired. I’m quite fearful of villa this weekend, they got a good result away to Stoke and haven’t made wholesale changes to there team.
Laurent Robert 32
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:02 AM
Comment #12I went for 11-17 but who knows, bottom three could happen. If it wasn’t for Bosingwa and Swansea we’d already be in a lower division.
Plus, our end of season form was relegation material. So it’s not that much of a joke.
We’ll have to see how much these new players handle some losing streaks.
Our Toon
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:02 AM
Comment #13LG
As with anyone outside the top 7 a couple of injuries and they don’t have the depth to cover. Will be an interesting season none the less.
beermonkey
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:02 AM
Comment #14top of the morning
when is cisse due back cant be long if pards is mentioning him
Lilongwe
what would you say sissoko needs to improve to play in the middle
Markaccus
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:02 AM
Comment #15Ethio
I didnt say must win! I said SHOULD win and i will be disapointed with anything less. If we play negatively, dissapointment wilk turn into anger. Pardew HAS to use this squad in a positive attacking manner against teams like villa.
Our Toon
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:04 AM
Comment #16LR32
I think with SDJ he will being a level of calm both on and off the pitch, if he do go on a bad run I’m certain he can make the difference as a leader. Colo seems like a quiet leader where as SDJ leads both on and off the pitch.
Laurent Robert 32
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:04 AM
Comment #17They were talking about Villa on Talksport yesterday saying Lambert will get on with the organising and Roy Keane will get on handling the dirty work of keeping players on their toes so-to-speak. It may work well for them.
Lilongwe Geordie
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:04 AM
Comment #18Tads,
I’ve seen nothing of him, but he got high praise from our South American bloggers. If he isn’t to lead the line I’m not sure why we have bothered with him.
Riviere hasn’t convinced me. His snatching at chances against City was something that was mentioned in every report I have looked up on him since he signed.
Rotonda heights
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:05 AM
Comment #19Ethio
Ed trying to pressurise the manager!!!
Every manager is under pressure but unless you’ve been living under a rock the last 2 seasons, our manager, since all the signings, is rightly under more pressure than most to succeed, when any other manager with the same records would have been sacked a long long time ago.
Pardew is very very lucky to still be here, courtesy of an owner who doesn’t seem to care an awful lot.
Markakkus
Quite right in your analysis of Saylor. Just not sure Richards is necessarily the answer, given his awful injury record.
Saylor out and one of Nastasic or Coates on loan I would have thought would be a good compromise for now.
As for this recently appeared Sinclair link – why? when we have Cabella, Aarons, Riviere, Gouffran, Obertan and Sammi.
Laurent Robert 32
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:06 AM
Comment #20Our Toon, I think Siem is a really good buy from Carr. As are a few of the players brought it. Pardew is lucky that Carr is patching over his weaknesses through good players.
Our Toon
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:06 AM
Comment #21Sissoko for me lacks concentration, his passing can be erratic and his 1st touch isn’t the best. When he goes on galloping runs he gets over excited and knocks the ball to far forward at times.
Markaccus
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:07 AM
Comment #22Our toon
If you are going to include lucky moments in our survival, you also have to include unlucky moments. Every team gets their fair share of good and bad luck over the course of a season….
So man city are lucky to be champions because Gerrard fell over, and the best team over the course of the whole season did not win the league.
jazzyp
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:07 AM
Comment #23Lr32
On that performance against the league champions sunday and the players we have signed as of yet.Do you think we will finish anywhere near the bottom half of the table ???
Rotonda heights
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:08 AM
Comment #24tads
i was praying perez’s shot would go in as his confidence would be high sky and could have been a real launch pad.
Vagabond of the Western World
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:09 AM
Comment #25Morning chaps.
Aye man, we’re all sorted for Villa man. Nae sweat.
De Jong’ll saunter into the starting XI man.
The Stringpuller. The Slideruler. The can opener.
They’ve got no chance man – De Jong and Cabella picking the ball up in and around their box, slipping it through to Riviere or causing havoc with some tasty one-two’s and some neat crisp snap shots in the area.
It’s a no brainer man. We’ll turn them over good and proper. Ain’t nae denying.
Laurent Robert 32
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:09 AM
Comment #26Lilongwe, snatching at those chances and taking them too early yelled out nerves and lack of composure for me, which was a bit worrying. He might calm down though.
Lilongwe Geordie
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:10 AM
Comment #27Beer,
I mentioned it earlier. He needs to start using his size to his advantage. Too many times last season he was brushed off by people far smaller in stature than him. He either hasn’t got the heart for a scrap, or doesn’t know how to use it. Lets hope the latter as he can learn that.
Secondly, his short passing is awful for a player at this level. If he is in a deeper central role that could become far more costly then when he plays further forward. His touch is inconsistent as well, so that needs work.
Finally, there were a number of times when he lost his concentration and let his man run off him last season. Again in a deeper role that would be more noticeable to people as we would be punished for it more often.
He might have got away with these to an extent in the poorer French league, but he won’t in the Prem. I still think he has what it takes, just he needs to work on it and get to grips with it this season. At 25 we shouldn’t be talking of potential anymore. From here on in it should be more fine-tuning.
Rotonda heights
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Comment #28I think there were good signs v city certainly.
Just hope pardew genuinely is trying to move away from just containing, no movement in midfield and defending too deep, as these new players will not be seen the best of otherwise.
Laurent Robert 32
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Comment #29Jazzy, I’d prefer not to look at one game and make the swallow into a summer, but go on what Pardew has done on average. Average being a fitting description.
Markaccus
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Comment #30Rotonda
Yeah thats the one question mark on Micah. He has been a sick note for a while. There are better options, but if we cant get one, then i suppose id take him rather than have no one.
Our Toon
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:12 AM
Comment #31Rotonda
I think Richards is the type of player who needs to play regularly in order to stop picking up niggling injuries. Don’t forget he was voted citeh player of the year in 2011 following season in cam Zabaleta and Richards rarely featured.
Richards bombing forward from full back isn’t his game anymore, he’s more likely to pull something or tweak something, I’d play him CB where the kid started his career and also represented England in that position. The biggest asset he’d bring to the team is someone that will attack the ball from crosses, he has a better leap than Les Ferdinand in my eyes and he was a big threat from corners.
If he replaces saylor than what have we got to lose? Saylor doesn’t play as it is so Richards playing 10 games a season in much better than having Saylor in reserve.
Lilongwe Geordie
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:13 AM
Comment #32LR32,
I agree, he might, but it is something that I have read about him a number of times. If he can get that right he could do well for us, but I think he would be better slightly deeper. By all accounts it is from deeper where he has looked best.
Rotonda heights
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:13 AM
Comment #33Vagabond
when you put it like that it sounds great, just hope pardew lets them off the leash.
Markaccus
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:14 AM
Comment #34Rotonda
The thing i liked about Sunday, was that Citeh made a defensive change because of the pressure we were exerting! When was the last time newcastle forced a team to defend. Pardew used all three offensive subs, although the fact that one of them was squidward wa a shame!
beermonkey
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:15 AM
Comment #35our toon
defo his first touch needs to be improved
I do like him as part of the 3 that started against villa
when sdj comes into the team he will drop a little deeper and it should all link together
Ethiotoon
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:15 AM
Comment #36mark
you are saying pards should play the team like barca, u r not one or two but ten steps forward while we are in the 2nd world.may be???
of course I also will be disappointed if we don’t get a win but putting the mgr under pressure like ED..
is unnecessary.esp in the start of the season.
He knows what he’s doing,trust me..
Laurent Robert 32
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:16 AM
Comment #37The new players will be looking to impress on opening day as will the other players for a first game back. They will bound to be looking up for a game and have extra energy.
Wait ’til the new club novelty wears off and see how they settle in with the containing football.
At the moment the new players are in the mindset and form of their previous clubs, just like Cisse was.
Our Toon
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:17 AM
Comment #38Markaccus
All teams need luck mate but some teams create there own luck, that is somewhere we fall down.
Jazzy
We didn’t have a shit on target against the team that were weaker than last year and we were stronger yet we gave them a better game last year would you not agree? They won the league last year’s season I don’t think they’ll win it this time!!
Our Toon
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:18 AM
Comment #39Hahahahaha oops shot on target not what I put….fat fingers on me phone.
tequilamag
Aug 20, 2014 at 10:19 AM
Comment #40OT that kind of thing will only get you a red card