At 3.00pm GMT, today, it will be exactly 12 days until the first round of Premier League fixtures get underway.
At Ewood Park, Craven Cottage, Anfield, Loftus Road, White Hart Lane, The DW Stadium and at St. James' "We-don't-know-quite-what-the -stadium-will-be-called" Park, the first whistle of the season will blow, and with it, absolute joy will wash over millions of football fans up and down the country!
After the (shorter-than-it-seems) Summer period where limited football is played and the back pages become filled with news of Cricket and Golf, we will finally start to see normality return as football will start to dominate
The fixture list in full, then, for the weekend of 13th-15th August: Saturday, 13 August 2011 Blackburn v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Fulham v Aston Villa, 15:00
Liverpool v Sunderland, 15:00
QPR v Bolton, 15:00
Tottenham v Everton, 15:00
Wigan v Norwich, 15:00
Newcastle v Arsenal, 17:30
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Stoke v Chelsea, 13:30
West Brom v Man Utd, 16:00
It seems that a force grandeur 'has it in' for the Toon Army, as they embark on their tour of the states, with three friendly fixtures against Sporting Kansas City, Orlando City and Columbus Crew on the schedule.
First, Joey Barton, 28, was refused a VISA due to his criminal past. Having been jailed for 74 days in 2008 after admitting committing an assault in Liverpool in December, 2007, he was told that he would not be able to make the trip to the States. Instead, he travelled to Holland with Peter Beardsley and the Reserve team to face Hollandia, Utrecht and Almere City.
Secondly, Nile Ranger, 20, was denied his VISA after having spent 11 weeks in a young offenders home for his part in an armed robbery in 2006.
Thirdly, Newcastle's new signing from Lille, Yohan Cabaye, was refused his VISA initially based on claims he had unpaid dentisty work outstanding following his last visit to the States with his former club. Though this ruling was later overturned, with the 3-week period for re-application to go through, there was not enough time remaining for him to make the trip, and so he also links up with Joey and Nile in Holland.
For the final piece of bad luck, it was the turn of Hatem Ben Arfa to say goodbye to 'the Lads', after being stretchered off during the 0-0 draw in the first fixture with Sporting Kansas City. He lasted just 30 minutes before a challenge from Roger Espinoza put an end to his tour, his left ankle requiring a precautionary X-ray. The injury will be monitored over the next 48 hours, and will be treated with caution after he missed all but 4 games of last season with a double leg fracture since turning his season-long loan permanent.
Newcastle United may have retained their home kit from the 2007-08 season but they have released two great looking change kits for the new season of English football, starting with a purple away kit and now, a grey third kit.
The new third kit is made by Adidas using 100% polyester and features their trademarked APV and ClimaCool technology. Grey in colour, the round neckline is largely finished in white as are the famous three stripes of its manufacturer while other thin white stripes can be found around the underarms and waist sections.
The grey and white theme also extends to the shorts and socks.
Newcastle United have unveiled a new deep purple coloured kit for their travels in the 2008-09 season.
Made by sportswear giants Adidas using 100% polyester and featuring their trademarked APV and ClimaCool technology, the deep purple shirt features a collar and the three Adidas stripes in white. The deep purple and white theme also extends to the shorts and socks.
The goalkeeper's away strip features a bright yellow jersey with black Adidas stripes down the sleeves and black dots down the side of the body.
The destination of the Barclaycard Premiership trophy will be decided on the final day of the season after Chelsea's 2-0 win over Newcastle at St. James' Park last night.
Needing a win to stay level on points with leaders Manchester United, Chelsea's Michael Ballack opened the scoring for the visitors in the 60th minute with a header before French winger Florent Malouda wrapped up the win in the 82nd minute.
There were nervous moments for Avram Grant's side as the hosts had good chances of their own with Michael Owen going particularly close to scoring on a number of occasions.
Ultimately, Chelsea had too much class despite the absence of Ashley Cole, Claude Makelele, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, and Salomon Kalou from the side that beat Liverpool in the Champions League semi-final.
Chelsea will now have to win their final game at home against Bolton and hope that Manchester United draw or lose against Wigan in the corresponding game to clinch the Premiership title.
Tue, Apr 29: UEFA Champions League (Semi-Final 2nd Leg)
Man Utd 1-0 Barcelona
SUMMARY:
English Premier League leaders Manchester United will play in the Champions League final for the first time since 1999 after knocking out Spanish giants Barcelona with a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford last night.
Veteran midfielder Paul Scholes, who missed the famous 99' final victory over Bayern Munich through suspension, scored a rocket of a goal in the 14th minute to win the tie 1-0 on aggregate for the Red Devils.
A strong defensive display from the United back-line thwarted wave after wave of offensive play by the Catalan giants with Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown (in place of the injured Vidic) marshalling the equivalent of a brick wall.
United have reached the final 50 years after the Munich air disaster and will face either Liverpool or Chelsea - the game will be played tonight - in Moscow on May 21.
Struggling Newcastle United ended their four-game losing streak with a 1-1 draw against fellow strugglers Birmingham at St Andrews Stadium overnight.
Playing alongside Socceroo Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins in a new look front-line, Michael Owen pounced in the 56th minute to score the equaliser and to earn Newcastle just their third point in 8 games - they are still without a win since Kevin Keegan took over as manager.
Owen celebrates his goal against Birmingham
The home side deservedly took the lead just after the half hour mark when James McFadden fired home to go into the break at 1-0. However, it was the visitors that emerged from the break looking the more menacing of the two sides and began causing the home defence all sorts of problems.
Owen finally made the all-important breakthrough when he was first to pounce on a loose ball after Birmingham keeper Maik Taylor could only parry Obafemi Martin's shot to salvage an important point for the Toon army.
Newcastle's much improved display in the second-half shows that on paper, this team is far from relegation material. In reality, however, they look completely disjointed at times and that is their biggest undoing. Will they get relegated? It's hard to say given their sporadic performances however the sneaking suspicion is that they will still be around in the Premier League in season 2008-09.
With two goals each from Wayne Rooney and Christiano Ronaldo and a late goal from substitute Louis Saha, Manchester United inflicted a 5-1 humiliation on Kevin Keegan's Newcastle in front of their own fans at St James' Park yesterday.
After the game, Keegan said, "Confidence is very low. We need a win, just to get the club moving forward again, it's been a long time. It gets to the players and everyone and takes confidence away. We've got a fight on but I believe in them. We need 40 points to avoid relegation this year, and we have got 28. Anybody who has not got 40 points can be relegated, and in the past, teams with 42, 43 have."
When Keegan took over just a few weeks ago, Newcastle had just lost 6-0 at Old Trafford. His arrival was greeted as the return of the messiah by the Toon army, but as a strange move by most of the rest of the football world.
Since his arrival, Newcastle are yet to win a game, and in their last two games, a 4-1 defeat at Aston Villa and yesterdays embarrassment, they have looked clueless and spiritless.
At this stage it is hard to see where the Geordies are going to pick up the twelve points Keegan says they need to ensure survival.
Maybe the mid-table mediocrity achieved under Big Sam Allardyce wasn't so bad after all. Do you think Mike Ashley and the Toon army might be regretting the way they treated him?
The second half performance of King Kev's Newcastle United in their 4-1 defeat at Aston Villa on saturday was one of the most woeful performances I have seen from any Premier League team.
The side looked dispirited, disjointed and totally out of their depth. How can this be? With players of the quality of Steven Taylor, Nicky Butt, James Milner, Damien Duff and Michael Owen, surely this team shouldn't be looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone.
"We are fragile. I believe we have enough to be a Premier League club next season but I'm under no illusions that we need to get to the 40-point mark." Keegan said after the game, "I have a big challenge. It's not a case of me coming in and waving a magic wand but it's down to me to solve it."
Keegan said of the players, "These players have taken a lot of knocks. We need spirit and togetherness."
I have no idea what 'knocks' King Kev is referring to.
The fact is that when Sam Allardyce was sacked, Newcastle were sitting comfortably in mid-table. They were not setting the world alight but Big Sam was just starting his job of turning the club around. He wasn't given a chance. Keegan has returned, and the team have drawn two and lost three games since he did. There is no doubt that the team is considerably more shambolic now than it was a few weeks ago.
Coach Nigel Pearson has resigned his position saying that he no longer wanted to work for the club. Dennis Wise has been brought in as a 'Director of football' type role which defies all known logic. Keegan is already beginning to look strained in the way he has done in the past, shortly before walking out on a job.
It is all going horribly wrong for The Magpies, and it is difficult to see how they can reverse their fortunes. They failed to sign anyone during the transfer window, despite trying for several. Keegan laughably said that he hadn't actually wanted to sign anyone as he was happy with his current squad.
If Keegan can manage to rescue this season for the Toon army, he really will be crowned as King of the Geordies. I'm not holding my breath.
Michael Owen got on the score sheet yesterday for only the third time this season in Newcastle's 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough. This served as a timely reminder to Fabio Capello that he still knows where the goal is.
An interesting fact is that all three of Owen's goals this season have been headers from crosses. This has never been an area of Michael's game that has been significant at all.
The question is whether Michael has changed his game as he has had to adapt to all the injuries he has suffered, or if he is simply now unable to get behind defences in the way his blistering pace used to allow him to do?
I think the current Michael Owen is a mixture of those two things. He used to be quick and as a defender you let him turn towards your goal in your half at your peril. With his pace and a drop of the shoulder, he would leave defenders in his wake as he headed towards the goal. It was a magnificent sight.
The Michael Owen of today no longer has that ability in his locker, but what the 28 year old striker does have is a knack for scoring goals, 141 in 281 league games and 40 in 88 internationals, and a wealth of experience. Defenders and managers still do not like to see the name 'Michael Owen' appear on the opponents team sheet.
With the possible exception of Wayne Rooney, which English striker at this time is a better bet than Owen? The answer is that there isn't anyone. Despite his lack of goals this season, Owen should be one of the first names on Capello's teamsheet. He is still more likely to score for England than anyone else.
Kevin Keegan has made a sensational return to Tyneside as manager of Newcastle United for the second time in his career.
He managed the club from 1992-97 and returns to replace the sacked Sam Allardyce at St James' Park. During his first spell at the club, he took them from obscurity in the lower echelons of English football to almost winning the Premier League in both the 95/96 and 96/97 seasons.
The former England international and two-time European Footballer of the Year first arrived at St. James' Park as a player in 1982 and helped the club rejuvenate its on-field fortunes thus winning promotion to the top flight in his second season.
His departure as a player signalled the end of an era but in 1992, the fan's favourite returned to the club as manager where they enjoyed an exciting brand of football. Despite coming agonisingly close to securing a long awaited trophy, the club enjoyed the most success during that period which included the signing of home-town hero, Alan Shearer.
After leaving Newcastle in 1997 for personal reasons, he went onto manage Fulham and successfully took the club into the Premiership before one of the biggest jobs in world football came calling - the manager's position of the England national team.
His spell as England manager wasn't as successful as he would have liked despite taking the country to the Euro 2000. He offered his resignation in October 2000 after England lost to Germany in their first World Cup qualifier in the last game to be played at Wembley Stadium before its demolition and reconstruction.
Manchester City in the Premier League came calling in May 2001 and Keegan answered to become boss of club number three. His spell in Manchester ended after he quit in March 2005 thus announcing that he was retiring from football.
On January 16, 2008, Keegan sensationally came out of retirement to take the hot-seat at Newcastle for the second time.
The first managerial casualty of 2008 goes to Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce who was sacked by the club after just eight months at the helm.
The club released a statement saying that they had terminated Allardyce's contract by 'mutual consent' on Wednesday afternoon (GMT), ending the former Bolton manager's reign at the club after 24 games in charge.
Allardyce, a one-time candidate for the England managerial post, signed a three-year deal at the start of the season when he replaced Glenn Roeder in May after eight years in charge at Bolton.
Despite starting the season brightly, a string of unsatisfactory results has left the club languishing in 11th place on the Premiership ladder with 26 points from 21 Premier League games - nine points above the relegation zone.
The announcement still came as a surprise though with club owner Mike Ashley publicly backing his under-fire manager just a short while ago.
A clearly disappointed Allardyce was shocked by the announcement.
"I'm disappointed obviously but I'd just like to wish everybody at Newcastle all the best for the future and I hope things go very, very well.
Yes it was a shock, I didn't expect it."
First team coach Nigel Pearson will take charge of Saturday's game at Manchester United while the club begins its search for a new manager.
Fan's favourite and club legend, Alan Shearer, has been quick to rule out the possibility of becoming the next manager of the club.
Why? Perhaps the fact that the club has gone through six managers in just 11 years points to a poisoned chalice that is the Newcastle manager's position?.
Mark Viduka in Newcastle colours for the first time
Socceroos captain Mark Viduka has joined Newcastle United on a two-year contract with the option of a third year from Middlesbrough.
The signing of "Dukes" was confirmed by the the Toons upon passing a medical in London thus becoming the first signing of new boss Sam Allardyce.
The 31 year-old striker told the club's official website: 'I am over the moon. I am really happy.
'The main thing that attracted me to the club was that it is moving in the right direction.
'I think a new era is about to start. Sam Allardyce has come in and if we can get success then it will be something special.'
Dukes could very well be linking up with England front-man Michael Owen should the latter decide to stay at the club and shall form a formidable partnership should they grace the black and white strip of Newcastle together.
Middlesbrough were desperate to keep their top scorer (19-goals in 06/07) Australia striker - manager Gareth Southgate urging the player to stay with the club on numerous occasions - but the size and the direction Newcastle were heading in proved too hard to ignore for the big man.
'The potential here is enormous and I am really pleased to be part of it.
'It is definitely one of the biggest clubs in the country.
'Talking to Sam was a big turning point for me. I really wanted to hear what Sam's plans were for the new season and what players he was looking to bring in, and his answers matched with what I was thinking myself.
'I want to win things and Newcastle United is a club that has all the ingredients to do that, especially with Sam coming in.'
Viduka will be a great signing for Newcastle, no doubt about that. His ability to score goals and hold the ball up in the final third of the pitch would be an asset for any club.
He will be a fantastic partner for Michael Owen in the Newcastle attack. The 'little' and 'big' combination will do both players plenty of good - Dukes' fantastic hold up play and unselfishness will see Owen poach a lot of goals.
On the other hand, Dukes' natural scoring ability will see him notch up a few for himself should opposition defenders be dragged away by the pace of Owen.
Here is a short video clip of Mark Viduka at his very best - an amazing 4 goals against Liverpool while still at Leeds United.
Soccer.org.au wishes Mark Viduka all the best at Newcastle United.
English Premier League side Newcastle United as unveiled Sam Allardyce has the new club manager.
The former Bolton manager succeeds Glenn Roeder as the boss at Tyneside and one of his first tasks would be to convince England striker Michael Owen that his future lies at Newcastle.
Allardyce said: "One of the first things I will be doing is sitting down with Michael Owen and having a little chat with him.
'I will be asking him does he want to stay with us or go? Obviously I would like him to stay because he has that rare commodity of being able to score goals.
'What I think Michael needs is more time to get on track for us and hopefully he will decide to take that time."
Allardyce also said his ambitions for the under-achieving club was to "win a trophy or qualify for Europe over the next few years".
He brings a proven track record from his time at Bolton where he was able to attract big name signings to the as well as implementing successful scientific training methods which saw his former club qualify for Europe next season.
No England supporter would ever have imagined themselves saying this, but boy did England miss out on the goal-scoring 'prowess' of Liverpool striker Peter Crouch.
The England striker signalled his come-back from surgery to a broken nose with a sensational hat-trick against Arsenal at Anfield.
The Bean-pole striker's first goal came as early as the 4th minute when Jermaine Pennant and Alvaro Arbeloa exchanged exquisite back-heels to setup the first goal.
Half an hour later, Crouch doubled his side's lead from a set-piece after being fouled by Kolo Toure. Xabi Alonso delivered a pin-point free-kick into the box for Crouch to power home the header. 2 - 0 Liverpool.
Rather than sit back and defend their lead, the Reds came out for the second-half in search for more blood and Daniel Agger delivered the third goal with a glancing header in the 60th minute.
Soon after, Arsenal bundled in a consolation goal through former Chelsea defender William Gallas - why do centre-backs always seem to have a knack for scoring against Liverpool (think Rio Ferdinand earlier this season).
Peter Crouch, high on confidence after two great goals in the first half, completed his brilliant hat-trick in the 81st minute when he danced around in the box before firing a left-foot shot pass the helpless Lehmann.
A fantastic result for the Reds that could go a long way in determining who ends up with the coveted third spot in the league as well as revenging the cup losses to the Gunners earlier this season.
And what about the main man Peter Crouch? I have never sung his praises, but he deserves a huge pat on the back for such a tremendous performance. Hat-tricks don't get any better than this and some would describe this particular one as 'perfect' - one with the right foot, one with the left, and a header.
Amazing.
Elsewhere, Manchester United came from behind to record a 4 - 1 win over Blackburn at Old Trafford.
After falling behind to a Matt Derbyshire goal in the 29th minute, the Red Devils had to wait until the second half before finding the net and the floodgates opened thereafter.
Paul Scholes opened the scoring with a shot into the bottom corner and Michael Carrick (73), Ji-Sung Park (83) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (90) chipped in to send United 9-points clear at the table momentarily.
Chelsea only just managed to stay in touch with the league leaders courtesy of substitute Salomon Kalou's injury time goal to keep Chelsea's Barclays Premiership hopes alive.
Elsewhere, wins were recorded for Bolton, Manchester City, Charlton, West Ham and Tottenham.
Man Utd 4 - 1 Bolton
Chelsea 3 - 0 Sheff Utd
Middlesbrough 0 - 2 Man City
Reading 0 - 0 Portsmouth
Tottenham 3 - 1 Watford
Wigan 0 - 0 Fulham
Blackburn 1 - 2 West Ham
Sun, Mar 18:
Charlton 2 - 0 Newcastle
Aston Villa 0 - 0 Liverpool
Everton 1 - 0 Arsenal
SUMMARY:
Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung and Wayne Rooney both scored a brace in their team's 4-1 victory over Bolton at Old Trafford.
However, the chief tormentor for Bolton was none other than in-form Portugal international Cristiano Ronaldo who played a part in three of the four goals, including a stunning 80 yard run from the edge of his own box to setup Wayne Rooney for a chipped goal.
A serious-looking ankle injury to skipper Gary Neville in the 10th minute was the only sour-note of a dominant Red Devils performance and with six senior players already on the treatment table, the latest injury blow will truly test the depth of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad.
Chelsea are still in hot pursuit of the league leaders with a comfortable 3-0 demolition job on struggling Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.
Goals from Andriy Shevchenko, Salomon Kalou and substitute Michael Ballack were more than enough to settle a game in which the home side were rarely in trouble.
Arsenal and Liverpool, however, were unable to keep up with the top two sides with a loss and draw respectively.
The Gunners lost to an injury time winner from Everton's Andy Johnson which came from Mikel Arteta's corner. Arsenal chose the worst time to lose concentration and failed to clear the ball allowing the striker to drill home with a left-foot shot.
Meanwhile, Liverpool dominated possession at Villa Park but was unable to find a way past a resilient Aston Villa defence, reinforcing the need for a world-class striker in the off-season.
The man known as "God" to Liverpool fans, Robbie Fowler, replaced Gerrard with six minutes left and almost won the game for Liverpool when his header was turned around the post by Sorensen.
Oh what might have been had Fowler been brought on earlier when it was clear that a goal-poacher of his quality would not go amiss.
Liverpool 0 - 1 Man Utd
Arsenal 2 - 1 Reading
Fulham 1 - 1 Aston Villa
Man City 0 - 1 Wigan
Newcastle 0 - 0 Middlesbrough
Sheff Utd 1 - 1 Everton
Watford 2 - 2 Charlton
Portsmouth 0 - 2 Chelsea
Sun, March 4:
Bolton 1 - 2 Blackburn
West Ham 3 - 4 Tottenham
SUMMARY:
Liverpool's unbeaten home run was ended in dramatic fashion when Manchester United defender John O'Shea's shot from a loose ball ended in the back of the net in the dying seconds.
Manchester United visited Anfield knowing that a win would give them a hand on the prized Premiership trophy but Liverpool had other ideas and dominated the game throughout the match.
However, in the dying seconds, the Red Devils pulled off an amazing "smash and grab" when O'Shea scored after a Ronaldo free-kick had rebounded off Liverpool keeperJose Reina.
Sir Alex Ferguson claimed Manchester United were lucky to beat Liverpool - and admitted the referee was right to send off Paul Scholes, who flung a stray arm at Xabi Alonso, for violent conduct.
Manchester United now has a nine-point lead in the Premiership race with just nine games remaining and the win at Anfield may have just sealed it for the Red Devils.
Chelsea remains within sight of the leaders with a 2-0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park courtesy of Didier Drogba's 29th goal of the season and Salomon Kalou's 82nd minute goal.
Arsenal bounced back from their recent disappoint to beat Reading at home to move within a point of third place Liverpool.
Elsewhere, West Ham's relegation battle looks doomed after throwing away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-4 to Tottenham. The Hammer's defensive frailities were cruelly exposed when Tottenham scored twice in as many minutes to down the fellow Londoners.
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