2012/2013 Season
Review:
After a
highly successful previous season, in which Newcastle narrowly missed out on
Champions League football on the final day, settling instead for the Europa
League, the Magpies made only a couple of pre-season signings, with French
right-back Mathieu Debuchy and Ajax’s Vurnon Anita joining the ranks. More of
the same success were expected by the Geordie fans, with the clinical
Senegalese strike force of Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse looking particularly
dangerous. The season began encouragingly, with a 2-1 home victory over a
Champions League rival from last year, Tottenham. Whilst a 2-0 defeat at
Stamford Bridge followed, Newcastle managed to make it into the Group Stages of
the Europa League, a competition that would eventually take its toll on the
calendar and fatigue.
4 draws
out of 6 games in September followed, leaving the Magpies a long way off the
pace of the league leaders, and dumping them out of the Capital One Cup at Old
Trafford. After Europa League victories against Bordeaux and Club Bruges,
Newcastle were becoming favourites to progress from their group. However, as
has so often been the case, the European success was beginning to take its toll
on their league form. A disappointing 0-3 home defeat to Manchester United
began to illustrate the cracks in the team, before a heartbreaking late Demba
Ba own goal denied Newcastle a morale-boosing victory in the Tyne-Wear derby at
the Stadium of Light. After a late October victory at home to West Brom,
Newcastle’s over exertion really began to show, going the entire month of
November without a win, picking up only one point in the league. Relegation
form for any side, and a sign of what was to come.
Newcastle’s
‘hit and miss’ form was most evident during December. Starting with a strong
3-0 victory, and progression in the Europa League looked like Newcastle had
turned a corner. However, subsequent poor performances in their next two
outings, before a narrow win over QPR, left Newcastle with two difficult trips
in December. Firstly, at Old Trafford, Newcastle performed admirably, leading
firstly 2-1, and then 3-2, before being pegged back by the champions elect to
lose the game 4-3. A game at the Emirates followed, and after a rather drab
first 50 minutes, Newcastle’s fatigue finally got the better of them,
eventually being thumped 7-3. These results put Newcastle firmly into the
relegation battle, leading Alan Pardew to ask for reinforcements in the January
transfer window.
The
month started in a very negative manner, with a disappointing exit from the FA
Cup at the hands of Brighton, and then the loss of talismanic striker Demba Ba
to Chelsea. Newcastle reacted sharply, making 3 French signings: Mapu
Yanga-M’Biwa to sure up the defence, Moussa Sissoko, to give more drive in the
midfield, and Yoann Gouffran to replace the outgoing Ba. It was the midfielder
Sissoko who made the immediate impact, inspiring Newcastle firstly to an away
win against Aston Villa, before spearheading Newcastle’s last minute victory
over Chelsea. The game against Chelsea also saw the return of Ba, who lasted
only 30 minutes until being forced off with a broken nose from a very nasty
looking challenge from Newcastle’s Fabrizio Coloccini. These two successive
victories led pundits to assume that Newcastle had begun to stabilise and had
too much quality to stay up.
The
Magpies showed no such inconsistency in their Europa League form, dispatching
firstly Metalist Kharkiv, before seeing off oil-rich Anzhi Makhachkala to reach
the Quarter Finals. Unfortunately, their performances on the continent
continued to be their only shining light of an otherwise poor season, as they
continued to leak points, especially to those sides around them. By the end of
March, Newcastle remained in the middle of a relegation dogfight, and
desperately needed to pick up points to drag themselves away.
The
Europa League fairytale came to a premature end at the hands of Portuguese
champions Benfica in mid-April, after which Newcastle capitulated, being
thoroughly outplayed in the return Tyne-Wear derby at St. James’s Park. The
game will best be remembered for the ugly scenes outside the grounds, where
violence broke out between opposing fans, and eventually a police horse ended
up bearing the brunt of a Newcastle fan’s rage. It will also be remembered for
Paolo di Canio’s celebratory antics on the touchline in his first Sunderland
game as manager. A 0-6 aberration against Liverpool swiftly followed, leaving
Newcastle in deep trouble by the last three games. Fortunately for Newcastle,
the sides around them failed to adequately take advantage of their errors,
allowing the Magpies to avoid the drop with a 2-1 victory over QPR on the
penultimate weekend.
Overall,
although Newcastle reached the Quarter Finals of a continental competition, a
16th place finish in the Premier League is simply not good enough
for a club of their stature. Pundits have blamed the complacency of a manager
recently having been handed an 8 year contract, but I believe their exertions
in the Europa League left the Magpies, a side who have only recently reclaimed
their position in the Premier League, irretrievable short on players and
energy. Without the distraction next season, I firmly believe we will see a
better performance.
Player of the Season:
Yohan Cabaye – Before the departure of Demba Ba, the Senegalese striker
would have been my pick. Despite missing sections of the season through injury,
Newcastle’s Euro 2012 representative in the French squad deserves a mention.
When without his presence in the centre of midfield, Newcastle’s performance
suffered. He was also at the heart of much of their positive aspects throughout
the season and will be a major contributor to any future success.
Game of the Season: Newcastle
3-2 Chelsea – The game in which Newcastle’s new French signings, and in
particular, Moussa Sissoko, endeared themselves to the Geordie fans. Having
fallen behind after an hour, it looked as if Newcastle would throw away another
three points in their bid for survival. Two goals from Moussa Sissoko,
including an injury time winner, sent St. James’s into delirium, and decided
what had been, at times, a rather bad-tempered contest.
Summer Transfer
Targets (What I Think They Need): The simple answer: to bed their new
French contingent into the squad better.
Rumours of squad unrest and problems with the language barrier were
commonly reported from the Newcastle camp towards the back-end of the season.
Another striker may well be the only position I would recommend, with Loic Remy
being a good choice.
Transfer Gossip
Links:
In:
James McCarthy (Wigan Athletic, CM)
Out:
Papiss Cisse (Borussia Dortmund, ST)
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