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11th September
PNE 3 Stoke City 0
PNE: Lonergan, Alexander, Curtis, Mawene, Lucketti; Etuhu, O'Neil (Skora, 86), McKenna; Lynch (Smith, 65), Healy (Jackson, 89), Cresswell.
Subs: Ward, Smith, Daley, Jackson, Skora.
Goals: Cresswell, 29 ,80; Healy, 81.
Stoke City: de Goey, Thomas, Clarke, Brammer, Noel-Williams, Akinbiyi (Greenacre, 84), Hall, Russell (Henry, 84), Halls, Barker (Asaba, 70), Taggart. Subs: Simonsen, Asaba, Greenacre, Hill, Henry.
Attendance: 12,759The fans have now got their team back after 2 years in the wilderness.
I haven't enjoyed a match as much as this since Craig Brown took over PNE & took the heart & soul out of my club.
This display had skill, enthusiasm & teamwork in abundance. It was so much better than anything else served up in the last two years. Yes, we have had the individual displays of Ricardo Fuller, but not the team performance we had today.So on to the match....
North End lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, after Broomes, Davis & Lewis pulled out due to injuries. The most important part of this formation was the four at the back. This has now gone TWO matches without conceding a goal ...unheard of with Brown in charge.Billy Davies had called on the crowd to back the team & after the turnaround started against Rotherham 2 weeks ago, the fans had their voice back. It takes a team pressing the opposition back, winning balls & playing slick attacking football to get the crowd going & we responded to the high tempo "in yer face" football. None of this stand off, square passing, let the opposition make a mistake first stuff that Brown served up. We were imposing our football on the opposition & not just preparing to counter their style.
Richard Cresswell scored his first goal of the day in the 29th minute after Chris Lucketti's header found him with his back to goal. Cressy spun around & in one movement slammed the ball past a helpless Ed de Goey in goal. Cue the team celebration & I mean everyone joining in, not just a back slap from a few. It's obvious that the reports in the press about the players enjoying the training again, has raised the team spirit greatly.
It seems that Billy Davies has turned this club around & reminds me of when Gary Peters took over from John Beck & completely changed the football on offer. I'm beginning to think we've found our new manager & he's not a clone of the clown we had in charge a few weeks ago. He even went off at half time & was encouraging the fans to sing up for the second half. There was even a chant of Billy Davies' Super White Army, unheard of when Brown was in charge.
Even though North End were in front, Stoke were no mugs, having come to Deepdale second in the table, undefeated & having only conceded 2 goals in 6 matches before today. Akinbiyi & Gifton-Williams were 2 big strong forwards who were putting themselves about, but Mawene & Lucketti at the back were more than equal to their shirt pulling & fouling tactics.
North End almost went two up in dramatic fashion after Cressy was fouled 35 yards out, David Healy spotted de Goey off his line & took a quick free kick which the goalie did well to tip round a post for a corner.
Stoke should have pulled a goal back at the end of the first half when Akinbiye, not the home fans favourite, put a header wide from 2 yards out to the Town End's joy.
The team came out for the second half with no changes, & proceeded to carry on from the first half with some very good passing movements all across the pitch, again something that was missing with the previous manager in charge. Stoke however were not going to lie down & give up. It took a further goal from Cressy, this time receiving a 40 yard pass from McKenna, to rifle the ball past de Goey's right hand into the bottom corner in the 80th minute to settle the game.
A minute later, David Healy, not to be outdone, fired in a shot from a similar position to Cressy which took a slight deflection & nestled the the top corner.
3-0 up & we're now cruising.
This goal resulted in the whole Town End rising to their feet & giving the Healy salute (as per his Northern Ireland sending off celebration). Apparently, whilst not too big a problem for the British, to an Italian referee, it was the worst possible gesture!In summary, a very good game & result for the North Enders, we're up to ninth now, two consecutive clean sheets & five goals scored.
We need to sort out the away form now, but I've a sneaking feeling that with a new found team spirit & game plan, we'll see some more points from our travels.One last point, though Brown's gone, Billy Davies' team is NOT a carbon copy, it's been rejuvenated. Get yourself down to Deepdale again & support the team.
I'd had enough after Sheff Utd, but my enthusiasm is now back & I've already convinced 2 other lapsed fans to return for the next home match.10th September
John Curtis has joined on loan from Portsmouth for a month. He can play either full back position or even central defence, which gives us cover for injuries to Tyrone Mears, Callum Davidson & Claude Davis.
Curtis has received a glowing report from David Healy on the official PNE site, now didn't Healy also give a glowing report about Andy Smith?!!!Interestingly, Julian Darby has been promoted to caretaker assistant manager by Billy Davies in front of Simon Davey. He's been training the U-19 team for the last 3 years after retiring. Whether this means he is preferred by Davies over Simon Davey or not, only he can answer.
Bobby Robson to apply for PNE job?
Can't make my mind up on this one if true. He's 71 now & if Craig Brown was thought to be going senile with his team formations, selections & after match interview drivel, then what will our Bobby come out with. It's well known he can never remember players names.Here's some stories about Robson:-
The £7.5 Million Pound Mistake
In the early days of managing Newcastle, Bobby Robson saw Jason Euell playing upfront for Wimbledon and thought he was a fantastic player.
But Bobby Robson is not very good with names and tells his scout to make enquires about the young black lad, England under 21 player, who plays upfront for Wimbledon.
The only problem was that Wimbledon had moved Jason Euell back to midfield and put Carl Cort up front for Wimbledon, who was also a young black lad and England under 21 player.
So the scout comes back and asks Bobby Robson if he wants to put a bid in for Carl Cort and Bobby Robson says yes put a £7.5 million pound bid for the young black lad, England under 21 player, who plays upfront for Wimbledon.
Now Jason Euell is arguably a much better player than Carl Cort and maybe worth £7.5 million pounds, but Carl Cort is not worth that much, so when Wimbledon received a bid of £7.5 million pounds for Carl Cort, they could not sign fast enough.
So after a short while, Bobby Robson finds out that he has bought the wrong player but didn't let it slip out.Reporter to Newcastle's Shola Ameobi: 'Do you have a nickname?'
Ameobi: 'No, not really'
Reporter: 'So what does Bobby Robson call you?'
Ameobi: 'Carl Cort.'
"Now we've got Southgate..." (on just signing Jonathan Woodgate)"We're taking 22 players to Italy, sorry, to Spain... erm, where are we, Jim?"
9th September
Billy Davies looks to be getting the chance to prove himself as manager as he's now been given till the end of September before an announcement will be made regarding Brown's successor.
Two views here - either he's proving to be the man or it's a cheap option, take your pick.
I'm prepared to give him a chance, but the board says we can't sign any players, except on loan, till an appointment is made permanent.Callum Davidson has had a scan on his troublesome calf & it appears there's no damage showing up, however he's been asked to rest for another 2-3 weeks (no change there then).
He's now got to have special insoles for his boots as he's imbalanced from an ankle tissue operation a few years ago. One leg longer than the other?
If he sets off running from left back position, by the time he's at the other end of the pitch, he's on the right wing!!!!7th September
Well, well, Brown's legacy of signing crocked left backs goes on!!!!
Callum Davidson's calf strain that he had when signing in early August is still there.
After the Briscoe fiasco where we paid him a full season's wages for just 2 games, we go ahead & sign another left back who hasn't yet got himself fit for a full game. There's a clause in his contract that says he can be offloaded if he cannot play in a certain amount of games, so I suppose we are covered to a degree, but we already paid out a five figure sum for next to nothing.How long are supporters going to put up with paying their hard earned money to support overpaid underperforming players? Probably as long as overpaid underperforming managers sign them I expect!!!!
5th September
Filipe Oliviera will not be coming to Deepdale at the moment. Chelsea manager Jose Muorinho has decided he wants to see Oliviera playing some more before deciding if he needs shipping out on loan or even sold.
North End are now looking at other alternatives & someone should be in on loan early next week.3rd September
North End, without 5 internationals who are away on World Cup duty, beat the old enemy Blackpool 3-2 at Gloomfield Rd in a behind closed doors "friendly" today.
The goals were scored by Lynch, Etuhu & McCormack.
It doesn't appear that any triallists played, so it was just to keep the first team players, & those who are on the fringe on their toes.Derek Shaw has revealed more details about the Ricardo Fuller transfer deal, which works out at £250k up front, with £125k being paid for every 10 games up to 60 total. This gives a round £1million to PNE, but due to current losses it doesn't look like the manager will see all this money for replacements.
Moving on to Paul Sturrock's departure from Southampton & whether he's PNE manager material, take these comments into account from the Saints Forever website via a fans meeting & their messageboard:-
"Rupert Lowe (Saints chairman) explained why Sturrock left by mutual consent and stressed that it was a decision that both parties agreed with in the end. He also went into private details of why it never worked out with him, which the Chairman requested stay private amongst those in the meeting. I have to respect that request and all I can say is that I do now feel it was in the best interests of Southampton FC and its fans that Sturrock left.
So in summary, I am now satisfied that Sturrock leaving was best for the club"Saints messageboard postings:-
"It really was internationals refusing to work in the way requested by the clubs appointed coach (Sturrock) wanted"
"Sturrock was getting too stressed and because he didn't release this externally, it was contained internally, and therefore his psychiatrist recommended that he left before he had a nervous breakdown."
"I know we all hate these sourceless rumours, but I'm not revealing my source and I have it on very good authority that Sturrock left by mutual consent because the job was making him a nervous wreck."
If this is true, do we want this man in charge?2nd September
Surprise, surprise ...Richard Cresswell says he wants Billy Davies to stay on as manager. No wonder when this player (I won't use the word striker) has scored 4 goals in 53 games since the start of last season. I wish I could perform as badly & still be in a job. What does he have to do to get dropped?
Supposedly leaked is the list of 15 applicants for the manager's job so far. Make of it what you will. The names are:-
Eric Black (could be worth a shout)
Bryan Robson (.....NO)
Steve McMahon (.....NO)
John Aldridge (average)
Andy Ritchie (average)
Danny Wilson (average lately)
Mick Wadsworth (too old)
Jimmy Quinn (average)
Steve Parkin (lower division manager only)
John Barnes (keep up the commentating, that's bad enough though)
Jim Smith (too old)
John Gregory (will cause chaos, too stubborn)
Jim Jefferies (Scottish, nuff said)
Phil Parkinson (could be the one to come from the pack, promising managerial start at Colchester, my pick of the bunch)
Howard Wilkinson (too old & set in his ways)You'll notice Paul Sturrock is not on this list.
As he was interviewed when Brown was appointed, maybe Derek Shaw knows too much about him already.
Also, why was he booted out of Southampton?1st September
Billy Davies is allowed to bring in loan players, but no purchases until the new manager is in place. There's been 15 genuine applications so far, hope one of the joke ones is from Stan Ternant, we don't this man anywhere near Deepdale.
Going back to the loan players, Chelsea's Filipe Oliviera was injured playing a reserve match last night & North End are checking on his fitness before committing to a year long loan deal. Chelsea won't sell though.
The other loan being mentioned is Matt Jansen from Bandwagon Rovers, but wages will be a problem unless Souness decides they'll pay some of it. However, fans of Rovers says he's had it after his motorbike accident in Italy a couple of years back. He suffered a five per cent brain haemorrhage and was in a coma for four days after a serious blow to the head resulting from a collidision with a taxi.Here's some views from the Plastics fans:-
"When I saw Jansen last season, he did put the effort in, but still looked well off the pace in possession. Trying hard isn't enough. He looked ineffective to me and a yard behind the defenders.
Do you go to all the reserves games then do you? Because from what Lee (Admin) has been saying, Matty has been pretty awful! He is in his last year of his contract, Souey has done the right thing by challenging him to stop moaping about and fight for his right to be amongst the 1st team squad!""The manager sees Jansen in training every day, he's played reserve match after reserve match, he's made occasional first team appearances, the management know what they're doing and if Matty isn't up to it anymore then he needs to leave and play at a level where he is up to it, and it certainly isn't Premiership. He's been brilliant in the past, but we can't keep holding out hope that he's suddenly going to turn into his old-self, that just isn't gonna happen, and anyone who does think so is just kidding themselves."
"I'm one of Jansen's biggest fans, but two years on from the injury, including an unimpressive stint at Coventry, have shown he is no longer and probably never will be the player he once was."
31st August
Craig Brown's targets prior to his sacking were:-
Derek Riordan from Hibs
Danny Webber from Watford
Jay Bothroyd on loan from Perugia
Neil Shipperley from Crystal Palace
Filipe Oliviera on trial from Chelsea
Kris Boyd from Kilmarnock.
All of them are strikers.
Out of these I'd fancy Oliviera as he's one for the future & only aged 20. He was signed by Chelsea in late 2001 from Porto for £500k & will find it difficult to get into their first team. As he was coming for a trial, surely the deal could still be on even with caretaker manager Billy Davies in charge. No doubt we'll find out soon.The other one worth pursuing is Danny Webber, though we could have signed him on a free from Man Utd a year ago, no chance now without paying big money & very unlikely to be signed until a new manager is appointed.
