Newcastle United will have two weeks after Saturday’s game at Villa Park, to prepare for the late afternoon game on Saturday 23rd February, against Manchester United.
Keegan - looking forward to 2 weeks of interrupted training with the squad
The KO time is 5:15 PM for the Red Devils and it should be a tough game for us.
But Keegan seems pleased to have this time with his players and plans to work with them in Newcastle and not take them away anywhere to a sunny climate. The weekend of February 16th is the 5th round of the FA Cup, and of course we were knocked out by Arsenal at the Emirates in the 4th round.
The Newcastle manager spoke to the Evening Chronicle today:
“I am not going to take the players away anywhere because I think the things we need to do, we can do at our training ground.”
“The only reason I would take them away was if the weather got really bad.â€
“We’ve hardly been able to train because of the wind and snow that we’ve had, but everything that we need to do, we can do among ourselves.â€
This will also allow Keegan to become acquainted with his 4 African stars, Geremi, Faye, Beye and Martins, who have been off playing the African Cup of nations, and all of whom are decent players.
For this Saturday’s game at Villa Park it turns out that Keegan has a great management record in the Midlands. The Chronicle reports that in games as manager of Newcastle, Fulham and Manchester City, Keegan’s record is 10 victories, two draws and a single defeat. Not bad at all.
We don’t really expect anything out of Saturday’s game against Villa, so a draw would be good and a win would be great.
Comments welcome.
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14 responses so far ↓
1 nightfall // Feb 5, 2008 at 13:20
one question..what’s with this gabriel obertan (PSG)…french kid (21)…apparently he’s can be as good as c.ronaldo…any truth in that?
2 Chicken // Feb 5, 2008 at 13:32
Keegan’s previous record in the Midlands won’t count for diddly squat on Saturday.
As far as I remember he won every game against the Smoggies and the Mackems last time round at NUFC - and that record lasted for about 5 minutes this time round.
3 Bill F // Feb 5, 2008 at 13:44
Lets hope it’s more productive than the gelling oportunties that Sam used to bang on about.
Despite my cynicism it has to be a good thing.
4 paul p // Feb 5, 2008 at 13:44
i think it is a good thing that keegan has got 2 weeks with the players until the next game. it will be sort of like a pre season type of get together if you know what i mean. he will have all the players with him, so therefore he will be able to get his idea’s and style of play accross to the players. they will be able to work on things in training, which as keegan has said which i did not know that they have hardle’s done any training at all. so it will be a good 2 weeks for him and the squad. lets hope he can restore the confidence in everyone until the end of the season. then we can start and re-build the team.
5 ChrisL // Feb 5, 2008 at 14:02
Ed,
When you write your review of the villa match, if we lose it, don’t have a go at certain players or the team, remember that you wrote:
“We don’t really expect anything out of Saturday’s game against Villa, so a draw would be good and a win would be great”
6 Leo* // Feb 5, 2008 at 14:11
hopefully we will come out of this training as strong as ever and put the proformances in
7 Rich // Feb 5, 2008 at 14:12
Im sorry but i expect something on Saturday we should be able to go there and match them and at least aim to get a point, Villla are doing well this year but i still dont think their team is any better than our underachievers, at the start of the season we would have expected to get something at villa so lets go for the points and get us started!
8 hanzemre // Feb 5, 2008 at 14:16
KK got to try Martin-Owen combination, Faye-Emre in CM, to gel good, forget to sart with Butt, Smith,Viduka.
9 Marty // Feb 5, 2008 at 14:21
Hope we get somethin or 3points at villa but manure is again gonna be a painful experience….
lets get a few wins under our belt n smiles on the faces n bring in some good quality in the summer again…bye bye butt n others that cant pass the ball
10 paul p // Feb 5, 2008 at 15:24
every game we will get better and better once kk gets his points, idea’s, how he wants us to play translated to the players. yes there are some not good enough for the shirt, but there is no reason why we can not go to aston villa and get at least a point. if we are going to think about moving up the table or getting closer, then its teams like these were we need to be picking up points. yes they have had a good season, laurson has got a few goals, but as fulham proved, they can be beaten and i see no reason why we can not go there and get 3 points. if the players believe it and want it, it is there for them.
11 Dan // Feb 5, 2008 at 15:24
anyone else fortgot what a win feels like?? i fully expect a win on saturady, for god sake any team with owen, barton, martins,given,emre and taylor should be capable of beating anyone, we also have duff, milner and zogs, Expect the unexpected with them, all worthy of winning any game, also expect to see the zogs n duff and beye and milner team up well on each flank for rest of he season, our season has only just started fellas.
12 ChrisL // Feb 5, 2008 at 16:33
I know what you mean Dan, but I’m just trying not to get my hopes up. Villa away is one of the tougher fixtures for any team this season & Newcastle this season have on the whole been very disappointing in terms of points gained & performance level (till recent games), so… if we pick up anything, I’ll take that as a bonus. It also means that I’m not in a cr*py mood for the rest of the day.
13 Ausgeordie // Feb 5, 2008 at 17:13
We cant seriously already be putting an away win against Villa down as an impossibility. They have a had a good season but we can still get some points. We need fast, clean passes and chances for the strikers. Too many of our games are played at snails pace with no pressure being put on the other teams.
14 briss // Feb 5, 2008 at 19:42
yea Dan i feel the same way its about that time for 3 points and have a happy weekend!
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