Newcastle United - The Future is Bright, The Future is Black and White

[douglas11]

Any comments and tips?

[douglas11]

Originally Posted by douglas11

Newcastle United seal Lennon transfer




The 21 year-old speed demon signs a three year deal at Newcastle United

Newcastle United have completed the signing of winger Aaron Lennon from Tottenham Hotspurs for a fee of £11m.

Lennon, 21, who spent the 3 seasons in White Hart Lane has signed a three-year deal and becomes Ketsbaia's third signing of the summer.

The England international signed a five-year contract at Tottenham Hotspurs last year but handed in a transfer request last week.


Harry Redknapp admitted it was difficult to let Lennon leave, but insisted it was a move sanctioned by him.

"He's a player, in an ideal world, you would not want to lose, but I just want to make it absolutely clear that at the end of the day, it was my decision to sell him," Redknapp said

"We got an offer that I feel was his value. We are all aware Aaron has had a difficult time - he almost signed for them once last season and was dragged back, but he has gone to Newcastle now, so we have to move on" He added

Lennon may go straight into the Newcastle side against Fiorentina.

If anyone missed it, here you go

[douglas11]

Comments please?

Report against Fiorentina will be up later today

[douglas11]

Any comments on my new signing? it seems like I am the only one posting here

[Camo]

lennon is class

great speed to

will score a few goals aswell

[douglas11]

thanks for commenting on my MM, its rare to see that happen lol

[Everton08]

Lennon will be good for you mate, this is a good thread...keep it up aye? You will find if you comment on others threads u will get it back as well. Awesome work, keep it up. i hate newcastle though lol

[douglas11]

Thanks mate, for commenting, Sorry guys I don't think I will be able to type the match report up tonight, I've got school tomorrow so hopefully I can type it up after school tomorrow

[douglas11]

Guys, I will type up match report now, give me half an hour and it will be up

[BristolR1883]

Play Lennon just behind the strikers, he can break through the middle that way. don't play him on the wing
his crossing's dreadful

[douglas11]

Pre-Season Friendly - Match Report

NEWCASTLE UNITED - FIORENTINA

Newcastle United boss will want to get his first home win at the great St. James Park infront of 52000 shouting geordies.

Newcastle Line-up:

------------------------Given-----------------------
Beye-----Coloccini-------Taylor-----Drenthe
Jonas------Guthrie-------Barton----- N'Zogbia
--------------Owen----------Martins--------------

Subs: Harper, Enrique, Duff, Bellamy, Lennon

Aaron Lennon may make his debut as he is put onto the bench
Match Report

First Half
Newcastle kicks off

7th - Kuzmanovic tries a lobbing long shot, but it just shaved the crossbar. Good effort.

11th - Martins shoots from a way out but it was too close to the goalkeeper.

19th - Oh! How unlucky, Michael Owen's shot came off the left hand post!

30th - Martins forces his way through the defense and he has a clear 1 on 1 chance! But Sebastien Frey knocks it out for a corner.

35th - GOAL! Adrian Mutu scores! Poor defending from Newcastle, and Mutu just places the ball behind Given.

0-1

42nd - Michael Owen is clear through for a 1 on 1! But again, Frey manages to get it out for a corner.

43rd - GOAL! Martins's head meets N'Zogbia's cross! Good header from the young Nigerian.

1-1

Half time whistle blows as the score is 1 a piece.

Second Half

Substitution: N'Zogbia off, Aaron Lennon in
Fiorentina kicks off

50th - Free-kick to Newcastle! Barton takes it but it was tipped away by Frey. Outstanding goalkeeping today.

57th - Guthrie crosses in from the right but Frey was the first one to the ball.

65th - Adrian Mutu has a chance! But Shay Given knocks it out for corner.

Subsituition: Drenthe off, Enrique on
Jonas off, Duff on

81st - Duff takes a shot at a almost impossible angle and it hits the side netting.

84th - Aaron Lennon show signs of promise to the Newcastle fans as he dribble past 4 players but unable to get a shot in.

Full time whistle blows as the game ends in a draw.

Match Ratings
Given - 6.5
Beye - 7
Taylor - 7
Coloccini - 7.5
Drenthe - 6.5
Jonas - 7.5
Barton - 8
Guthrie - 8
N'Zogbia - 6.5
Martins - 8.5
Owen - 7.5
Lennon - 6
Enrique - 5
Duff - 5

Man of the Match

Newcastle United's number 9 - Obafemi Martins

Final Score - 1-1

[douglas11]

Thanks for the tips BristolR1883, but too late I just finished playing the game

[BristolR1883]

Great update
I'm a reader
can you read mine ??
Rivaldo 1

[douglas11]

Thanks mate, yeah, I will check yours out

[GK01]

Hey, good but unlucky draw, Fiorentina are a tough team.

[douglas11]

Thanks for the comments

[douglas11]

Barclays Premier League 08-09 Preview:
Most Lethal Teams

The Barclays Premier League is proud to present you the "Most Lethal Teams" for the upcoming 08/09 season.

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Manchester United are the most successful Premier League club having won the title 10 times. It all began in 1993 when manager Sir Alex Ferguson ended a 26-year wait to lift the Premier League crown.

The signing of Eric Cantona for £1.2million from Leeds United proved a masterstroke as the Frenchman was instrumental in the title victory, along with the likes of Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin, Ryan Giggs and Paul Ince.

United retained the trophy in the following campaign and romped to further titles in 1994, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003. More silverware was added to the Red Devils' burgeoning trophy cabinet with FA Cup success in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2004, plus League Cup victories in 1992 and 2006.

Perhaps the most memorable time in the club's history was the treble-winning season of 1999 when they added the European Champions League trophy to the league title and FA Cup.
Chelsea briefly broke their league dominance with title wins in 2005 and 2006. But in the 2006/07 season, the Red Devils roared back to regain the Barclays Premiership.

They went one better last season, enjoying their most successful campaign since winning the treble. They saw off the challenge of Chelsea and Arsenal to win an exciting Barclays Premier League title race and defeated the Blues on penalties in the Champions League final after a 1-1 draw between the two sides in Moscow.

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Chelsea will be desperate to regain the Premier League crown after finishing second to Manchester United in the last two seasons. Former manager Jose Mourinho, bankrolled by owner Roman Abromovich's millions, brought the first title to Stamford Bridge for 50 years when the Blues lifted the trophy in 2005. Chelsea became only the second team to win back-to-back Premier League titles when they clinched it a year later. Mourinho left the club by mutual consent in September 2007.

Although Chelsea reached the FA Cup final in 1994, they hardly set the world alight in their early Premier League days. Ruud Gullit became manager in 1996 and steered the Blues to an FA Cup triumph in 1997, while his successor Gianluca Vialli guided the team to victory in the League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup in 1998.

Shortly after, he led the team to the UEFA Super Cup after a 1-0 win over Real Madrid. The FA Cup followed in 2000. Vialli was replaced by Claudio Ranieri in 2000 and he led Chelsea to another FA Cup final appearance in 2002.

Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich bought the Blues for £140 million. After a trophyless season, he appointed Mourinho as new Chelsea manager and there was instant success. In 2005, Chelsea won the Barclays Premiership and League Cup, along with a Champions League semi-final appearance.

And Mourinho retained the Barclays Premiership crown the year after, equalling the club's own Premier League record of 29 wins set the previous season. They were league runners-up in 2006/07 and also claimed the FA Cup and League Cup double.

They were also runners-up in the 2007/08 campaign, but by this time Mourinho had left the club. He was replaced by Avram Grant who led the Blues to the final of the Champions League and Carling Cup.

Grant left Stamford Bridge at the end of the season and was replaced by Luiz Felipe Scolari who will be charged with bringing the title back to the club.

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Liverpool have maintained their status as a domestic and European force since the Premier League began in 1992, rarely finishing outside the top positions. The club have won seven major trophies since then, including the Champions League, Uefa Cup, two FA Cups and three League Cups.

Indeed, 2001 saw the Reds claim an unprecedented League Cup, FA Cup and Uefa Cup treble. Having won more domestic and European trophies than any other English club, Liverpool's status as giants of the domestic game is undisputed.

Under Rafa Benitez, Liverpool have secured Champions League football in each of the last four seasons. The Spaniard guided them to third place in the 2006/07 season and an appearance in the Champions League final where they were beaten 2-1 by AC Milan. They lost to Chelsea in the semi-finals of the competition last season and secured a fourth place finish in the league.
Liverpool's first-ever competitive match was in the Lancashire League, where a predominantly Scottish team defeated Higher Walton 8-0 on 23rd September 1892.

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Arsenal may have been off the pace in the inaugural Premier League season in 1992/93, but they made up for it by winning both the FA and League Cups.

The Premier League crown eluded them until 1998 - two years into manager Arsene Wenger's tenure - when they did the league and FA Cup double. Under the Frenchman, the Gunners shook off their "boring" image and began to play some of the most attractive football in England.

In eight of his 12 seasons at the club, Arsenal have finished first or second. And together with star players such as Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp, Wenger took Arsenal to another "double" in 2002.

The Gunners reached the Champions' League final in 2006, becoming the first London team to do so, but lost to Barcelona. Their Barclaycard Premiership title in 2003/04 saw them become only the second team to win the league without losing a match - earning them the title "The Invincibles." Overall they went 49 matches unbeaten, which is a national record.

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Tottenham Hotspur have been in the Premier League since its inception and have lit the competition up with their flamboyant style of play. With Jurgen Klinsmann and Ilie Dumitrescu, the team was built around goals, but points were harder to come by. Relegation was only narrowly avoided in 1998, but fans' relief was short lived as their next manager was a legend from fierce north London rivals Arsenal - George Graham.

He led the team to a League Cup victory in his first season - Spurs' first trophy since the Premier League began. However, it wasn't until Martin Jol took over in 2004 and started building a team for the future - firmly placing his faith in youth - that Spurs began to climb the table. They only narrowly missed out on Champions League qualification in the 2005/06 season and secured another fifth place finish the following campaign.

But a slow start to the 2007/08 season saw Jol replaced by Juande Ramos. The Spaniard repeated Graham's trick of winning the League Cup in his first season by defeating Chelsea in the final at Wembley Stadium and also lifted the club up to 11th place in the league.

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Manchester City have spent 10 years in the Premier League since its inception in 1992. In the 2002/03 season, they became one of only two English teams to have qualified for the UEFA Cup through the 'Fair Play ranking'. This meant that the plush new City of Manchester Stadium was treated to European football just weeks after opening for the start of the following campaign.

Kevin Keegan and then Stuart Pearce, established the club in the Premier League, and under the latter, they finished in 14th place in the 2006/07 season. He was replaced by Sven-Goran Eriksson who guided the club to a ninth place finish in the 2007/08 campaign. City also secured UEFA Cup football via the 'Fair Play ranking' for a second time.

However, Eriksson was replaced by Mark Hughes in June and the Welshman will be looking to improve on the club's league position last season as well as overseeing a strong European campaign.

Manchester City were relegated from the First Division in 1938 despite scoring more goals than any other team.

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Everton have maintained their place in the Premier League since its inception in 1992. The Toffees claimed a famous 1-0 win over Manchester United in the 1995 FA Cup final courtesy of a goal from Paul Rideout. Everton have often been overshadowed by their Merseyside rivals Liverpool but they have a glorious history of their own.

A fourth place finish under manager David Moyes in the 2004/05 campaign, coupled with sixth and fifth place finishes respectively in the 2006/07 and 07/08 seasons, have cemented the club's status in the upper echelons of English football.

The club have contested more seasons in the top flight than any other and are the fifth most successful English club in terms of trophies won.

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The inaugural 1992/93 Premier League season saw Aston Villa miss out on their first title in 12 years when they finished runners-up to Manchester United. Villa got their revenge over the champions by beating them in the League Cup Final the following season.

Chairman Doug Ellis had been unimpressed by Villa's league form and replaced the flamboyant Ron Atkinson with Brian Little in 1993/94. The former Villa player led the club to a 3-0 win over Leeds United in the 1996 League Cup final.

In 2000, Villa reached their first FA Cup final since 1957 but were defeated by Chelsea. Although Villa remained a hard side to beat, the loss of several star names and further managerial changes did little to help consistency.

Matters came to a head in 2006 when manager David O'Leary left in acrimonious circumstances, but Martin O'Neill has been heralded as the man to lead them up the table. Aston Villa - along with only Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers - have finished in every position in the top flight.

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Portsmouth have not looked back since Harry Redknapp steered them to promotion into the Barclaycard Premiership in 2003. The top flight's most southern team comfortably remained in the division the following season and were successful in their fight against relegation in the 2005/06 campaign.
Once survival was secured, Alexandre ***damak took over the club and has injected several million pounds into bolstering the squad. The 2006/07 season saw Portsmouth come within a whisker of qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

Redknapp's ability to attract the likes of Sol Campbell and David James as well as a number of overseas players such as Kanu helped the club to a ninth-place finish, beating the likes of Manchester United and avoiding defeat against Arsenal.

They achieved the goal of UEFA Cup football last season as they won the FA Cup for the first time since 1939 after beating Cardiff City 1-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium. They also went one better in the league, finishing eighth.

Redknapp had resigned from his post in November 2004 but was reappointed in December 2005 after a stint at local rivals Southampton. He left in October 2008 to take over at Tottenham Hotspur.

Portsmouth were the first club to stage a Football League match under floodlights when Newcastle United visited Fratton Park in 1956.

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Newcastle United fans have had a rollercoaster time since the inception of the Premier League. When Kevin Keegan took over the reins in 1992, the club was on the brink of relegation to the old Division Three. But under his management, they romped to the title and took their place in the FA Carling Premiership in time for the 1993/94 season.

With a goal-hungry Andy Cole and veteran Peter Beardsley at the forefront of an attacking team, they were dubbed "The Entertainers". Attack was the first form of defence and it worked as the North East outfit finished third in their first season. They went even closer two years later. Leading Manchester United by 12 points, they eventually slipped to second.

Signing Alan Shearer for a world record £15million eased the Toon Army's disappointment and again they were runners-up. Managerial upheaval has seen the club fail to reach those dizzy heights since. Sam Allardyce took over for the 2007/08 campaign but was sensationally replaced by Keegan later that season. The club will hope that the manager can bring back the kind of swashbuckling football he introduced in the 90s.

St James' Park is the only Barclays Premier League stadium not to have a scoreboard of any kind.

[Scuba Steve]

Nice preview mate. good luck with the season!

[douglas11]

Thanks, match preview will be up later

[safcrhys]

Good MM mate, thats from a Sunderlamd fan, keep at it. I'll view as much as I can.

[douglas11]

Thanks mate, I can't believe I said thanks to a mackem but oh well.

[douglas11]

Premier League - Match Preview
Manchester City vs. Newcastle United







Barclays Premier League
Matchday 1
13/8/08
City of Manchester Stadium
Kick off time: 15:00

Team News
Newcastle United's skipper have been reported with an injury and will return in two weeks time, and will definitely miss the first two games of the season.

Mark vs Ketsbaia
Both new managers - Mark Hughes and Ketsbaia - will be looking forward to the first game of the brand new season with their new club. Both will be definitely looking for their first win and it is no secret that Manchester City will get the benefit by playing at home.

Can Newcastle's defense cope with Man City's strike-force?
Newcastle United have conceded 5 goals but it could have been more if it wasn't Shay Given in goal. The partnership of Steven Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini have started to look promising in the Fiorentina game but will the back four cope with the strong attacking force package that includes - Robinho and Jo?

Predicted Newcastle United starting eleven
Shay Given, Habib Beye, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Royston Drenthe, Aaron Lennon, Joey Barton, Danny Guthrie, Charles N'Zogbia, Obafemi Martins, Craig Bellamy

Subs: Steve Harper, Sebastien Bassong, Jose Enrique, Nicky Butt, Damien Duff, Jonas Gutierrez, Alan Smith

Key Players:
Manchester City - The big hit Brazilian - Robinho have shocked the world when he joined Manchester City instead of Chelsea FC.

Newcastle United - The Nigerian hitman - Obafemi Martins have proved to the world that he is a great scorer when he scored 3 goals in the pre-season matches.


Score Prediction: 2-1

[douglas11]

Guys, feel free to predict the score

[safcrhys]

Hmm, going for a 2-2 draw.

[douglas11]

Game will be played when I come home from school