The Past Present and the future of Newcastle United On the day of my appointment : (The Past) I had a little bit of fever and i had nt
slept all night !! i was just thinking about the date of my appointment as newcastle boss.After having managed a few teams in the asian subcontinent and after the recent failures of Kevin Keegan the newcastle board decided to make me the manager of their team
.
i woke up early did all my chores and took my car out to go to St.james park. i had a meeting with the chairman of the club
an interview sort of thing and i practiced my answers in my mind . What if he asks me the future plans then i would tell him in a soft subtle tone my plans,my strategies and the players i was aiming for . I knew i would nt get big players like Kaka and Ronaldinho into my team because i knew i had to build a team that would make these players come to Newcastle
I adjusted my tie and and my shoes properly so that i may look the best groomed man in the world . yes i was a bit fat but i knew i was nt the worst !
the chairman asked me to sit down and i sat down in a well furnished office with trophies in a cabinet that was gleaming ...it was then that the chairman asked me whether i would like to have something ..
the immediate response was " No...No sir"
So the chairman asked me whether we would get down to some serious talking and thus he began speaking about the club and his goals
he told me that he wasnt expecting big things from the club but stated that a top half finish is a must.. i knew i had to do a lot of work with the players .
he told me about the clubs history and how they won they championships that were kept in the cabinet.
i told him my plans for the club and he seemed impressed .. he said that even if i was a rookie manager he liked my way of thinking . i felt proud ..the last few sleepless nights had borne a few fruits
He told me that he would call me and then tell me when the announcement would be made public .
i came out of the stadium and stared at it .And told to myself..
THIS IS GOING TO CHANGE MY LIFE ..THIS IS GOING TO BE HUGE
TWO DAYS AFTER
i was called by Mike Ashley and he told me that he was going to make the announcement in the afternoon .. he told me to come to the club at 2:00 pm
I was very excited and as i reached there i stared at the people who were going around me .. i said to myself
" they dont know me now but sooner or later i ll be the name on their lips"
Mike Ashley welcomed me and said a few words about me to the media . i was a bit nervous . never had i faced such a huge number of cameras..
i was being made the manager of newcastle i informed myself .
to my right the newcastle skipper Michael Owen was sitting . We talked a bit about football and he told me that it would be great if we finish in the top 5 . you have my full support and the full support of the team
I was so happy that i michael said this . i knew that the first few months were gonna be difficult but what happens always happens for good
After numerous photographs with the press and after many question i went back home
I watched the television and most of them showed me .
i was delighted that after so many years of playing and managing i had finally got one of the best jobs at one of the best clubs
Tomorrow would be my first day in training and i was waiting for it because i wanted to meet all the players and have opinions on everything
Mike had also given me the team that i would manage and had told me to rack my brains to get the combination right No. Position Player
1 GK Shay Given (vice-captain)
3 DF Jos? Enrique
6 DF Ca?apa
7 MF Joey Barton
8 MF Danny Guthrie
9 FW Obafemi Martins
10 FW Michael Owen (captain)
11 MF Damien Duff
13 GK Steve Harper
14 MF Charles N'Zogbia
16 MF James Milner
17 FW Alan Smith
18 MF Jon?s Guti?rrez
20 MF Geremi
21 DF Habib Beye
22 MF Nicky Butt
23 FW Shola Ameobi
25 DF Abdoulaye Faye
27 DF Steven Taylor
30 DF David Edgar
31 FW Frank Wiafe Danquah
34 GK Fraser Forster
35 DF Ben Tozer
36 FW Mark Viduka
38 MF Kazenga LuaLua
39 FW Andy Carroll
40 GK Tim Krul
41 MF Mark Doninger
42 FW Ryan Donaldson
43 MF Jonny Godsmark
46 DF S?bastien Bassong
well all the players were present on time on the training field.They were doing their regular warm ups . i just wanted to spend this session bonding with the players . Michael came upto me and told me that all the players wanted to meet me ... i went there in my kit and the players greeted me .
I knew everyone by their name , wanted to know everyone even more nicely
The first player to come upto me and talk to me was Obefemi Martins .. he told me wat his strenghts were and wanted me to tell him wat were his weaknesses . I had seen his videos the last night and i told him that i will surely help him in the comin days .
We had an interactive session and my assistants helped me a lot . all the players were nicely behaved . The young lot did well too ..after the training all the players had breakfast and all of them shared jokes in the dressin room . It was fun to be one of the best clubs and i was sure that if we played to our best we would surely win .
That Afternoon i had a meeting with Mike over the potential transfer targets that we were aiming for
First on the list was Arshavin .. this guy had a wonderful european championship and i wanted him to come to Newcastle ..
i was desperate to get him because i wanted a young team ...young players to come to newcastle
The first thing we did was call zenit president to see whether he was on sale or not and that really din matter because i wanted him at any prize and they din dissappoint ..he was on sale but a lot of clubs were interested ...
we said we ll quote our price tomo and he said he was looking for big money
THE NEXT DAY :
We made our interest in Arshavin public and made a 19 million pounds move for him ..
the zenit president accepted it and we were positive that he would come here ..
the next few days we were discussing even more targets .
and the next target was young Luka Modric who played for Dinamo ..
i thought he was really good ..we had always lacked a player with creative intent and i thought he was going to be the one
So we offered Dinamo a 6 million pound bid for luka which was immediately accepted and Luka also wanted to come here .
So the first major signin was LUKA MODRIC .. i was happy that we got him and he was going to come to Newcastle in a few days .,he was due to arrive in a week and was going to have his medical done.
i was happy that finally i had a lot of work to do to make this team up
It was the weekend the following day and i had advised the players to take a much needed rest ...all the players had lunch together and the we had the club doctors assesing the players about their diet plans for the entire week...
it was then that Mike called me and told me that Palermo had called us and asked about Obafemi ...the first thing i told to Mike was the he would nt be sold at any cost ..He was one of the best players .
i knew tat my transfer budget was limited and i wanted more cash but i was determined not to get Obafemi go . He featured in my team plans ..
but out of curiosity i asked Mike at what price they had offered Obafemi
Mike said " They are offering 18.5 million pounds + a player"...
Mike said " i have already accepted the deal and he has to leave next week"
I was left in tatters ..how could he even do it without asking me ...
i din want to know who the player was coming..i wanted obafemi to stay back ..i tried persuading Mike to please let him stay but he din budge...and i had no choice ... i was no Jose Mourinho or Rafa ....tat i could jst give the board an ultimatum ...i was new ...i kept mum!!!!
That night was a little difficult as Obefemi got the news that he was gonna leave .. he wasnt happy but he said tat he would go and he would always remember his times at Newcastle !!!
I felt bad too ...i couldnt do anything to keep him here ...that is what i felt bad about !
Mark Bresciano was the player that Palermo had transferred to Newcastle .. He was an Australian and i had seen him playing a few times in the 2006 world cup..i thought he was good player ...the loss of Obefemi still lingered but i had to look at the future ..WHAT IS GONE IS GONE i said ..The media criticised us a lot saying it was the wrong step but one thing i had to say that he was gone and there is nothing that anyone could do about it ...!!!
Amongst all this one more thing started...Michael owen had attracted a lot of attention from big clubs such as Juventus,Chelsea,Arsenal,Barcelona,AC Milan ...and they were ready to pay as much as 40 million pounds for him .. i was not ready to let this player go .. he was my main man ..the person who would get me the goals up front ... Mike refused all the offers to my happiness ..but Michael went straight to the media claiming that he wanted to play champions league football !!! I did not talk to him about it the next day ...One thing i knew ...If Michael went things were not gonna be hard ...they were gonna be harder
Modric,Arshavin and Bresciano were all presented before the press ..after much questioning and after a very heavy training session..the players decided to organise a party to welcome the three to the club ..the party went off well and most of the players interacted well with the new players..
tomorrow was going to be the final day of training before my first match in charge ..
We were going to face Sevilla in the first match and i was pretty confident that my team was going to do well
i had already told Modric that he was going to don the creative players hat and and the rest of the things would be managed by Joey .Joey on the other hand had impressed me in training and i think he had a lot of potential to be one of the best ..he was nearly there but he had to prove to me that he could stand up to the best and beat the best..
Mark would be playing down the left side while Arshavin would be going by the right side ..
my Midfield was done !!! i had to plan my attack and defence the following day!!!
The Following day : After the training session I made up my mind to what team i would play and had stuck it up in the locker room My team would be :
1) Harper in goal
2) Habib Beye at Right Back
3)Enrique at left ( my assistant gave +ve feedback on his recent training sessions)
4) Steven Taylor (under 21 captain....he was impressive)
5) Cacapa
6)Modric ( centre of Midfield : Creative midfielder)
7)Joey Barton ( defensive midfielder helping out Luka)
8)Andrey Arshavin ( RWM , Creative Freedom given )
9)Mark Bresciano (LWM)
10)Alan Smith
11)Michael Owen
I would decide about the substitutes later on !!!
The only thing on my mind was how would we cope up with the spanish type of play ..yes i did have a few slow legs in my team but i knew the real attack would be coming from the counter attack
and i listed down a few names and named them Taylor : Kanoute
Barton : Navas
Enrique/Beye : Fabiano If these players be marked properly i knew this game would be in our hands !!!! and tomorrow would be my first game in charge ....!
COME ON i said .....
"i did not take this job to get nervous ....!! i want this team to win ...MY TEAM "
THE FIRST GAME IN CHARGE: I was very nervous about this game ..i had seen sevilla last year and they were a very good team ..but i made sure that none of my nervousness showed on my face. I wanted the team to feel confident ..
My assistant took care that all the things were in order...I went to the dressing room and the atmosphere was fantastic..No one was talking , everyone was concentrating on their game..I came in and everyone s eyes were on me :
I started " Well this is my first game incharge and doesnt mean we go there and play as we want..We know they are good ...a very good team ..but we know we are better than them ..just apply wat u did at the training field..Jose and habib have to try to stop Fabiano....Stevie u got a job u gotta stick with Kanoute and the rest will be done by the rest..the positive aspect of this is that our counter attack is really good and we know that .. We have one of the best wingers in the world ..get the ball to them and we will see the magic.. ALL THE BEST "
THE GAME:
Well we started off well .. we were creating chances..Arshavin was playing really well ..... he was cutting inside from the outside and no one was able to stop him ...Modric was playing the role fabregas plays for Arsenal ..playing short passes ....dictating tempo......
21 st Minute : Luka gives a perfect pin point pass to Arshavin who crosses it in the box ....Alan Smith heads in a perfect header to give Newcastle the lead
29th Minute : Fabiano cuts in ...Beye left stranded...what a run by Fabiano ...Oh he beats another one and score a placed shot...Beautiful goal...One of the best goals
35th Minute : The goalkeeper feeds a high ball ..Headed up front by poulsen...Alves running down the wings..A perfect ball for alves who looks to find kanoute ..kanoute chests the ball down and blasts it past Harper!!
Newcastle looking in tatters 2-1
Half time :
55 th Minute : Michael Owen steals the ball from alves and runs down the flanks,..he plays the ball outside the penalty area..And Luka Modric hits a wonder shot...It curls perfectly and the shot goes into the back of the net
a wonder goal
Both the teams are keeping possession of the ball and none want to give it away...
85th minute : Viduka who has been brought on for smith is brought down in the penalty area...PENALTY!!! ..Given!!......
Modric steps up and scores
Newcastle 3-2 Sevilla
89th Minute : joey barton is involved in an incident with Poulsen ....Barton given red and Bresciano given yellow for arguing
The first win had given me a lot of confidence. .The first game of the season was against portsmouth and i knew that it was going to be a physical game and the fact that none of my midfield players were big and strong as their counterparts proved to be a headache for me ...Although i knew i could trust joey with the DM role the rest of the guys had to give their 100 percent if we had to win the game ..!! the trainers and the coaches had worked a lot from the last few days and after all the startegies were drawn..the main team looked like this Harper
Beye
Cacapa
Taylor
Geremi
Modric
Arshavin
Barton
Bresciano
Smith
Viduka
(Owen being injured i was left with no option)
THE GAME :
Portsmouth were dominating from the start ..Keeping possession and playing the airiel game .....we were jst left ball watching when kanu headed the ball calmly in the back of the net in the 9th minute PORTSMOUTH 1 - 0 Newcastle
22nd minute : Smith had a great opportunity to score but the ball hit the crossbar and went out of play.....A great chance goes begging
33rd minute : Papa Bouba Diop hits a great long range free kick ..one of the goals of the season ........He s blasted it ...Harper left with no chance
PORTSMOUTH 2 -0 Newcastle
At half time i realised that i had to apply the short passing game ....and i knew it was gonna work ..i told Luka that he take all the creative freedom he wanted but to set up goals for us
And he did not disappoint ..he provided a perfect through ball for Arshavin who cut it back from the corner and Barton blasted it from the end of the area to get Newcastle back in the hunt
NEWCASTLE 1 -0 Portsmouth
The game got even then with both teams keeping possession and trying to play the waiting game ..waiting for mistakes in the opposition
My changes were ...Duff for Bresciano and Milner for Arshavin ...
88th minute : Newcastle get a free kick at the right hand side of the pitch near the portsmouth penalty area..
Milner is standing over the ball ......All the player come inside the penalty area for the header...Milner Delivers...Wat a ball ..Taylor loses his marker ....!!!
A goal ....wat movement from taylor ...A truely magnificent goal ...!! NEWCASTLE 2 -2 Portsmouth
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