Newcastle United - Lifting the Fog on the Tyne

August Update

13/8/11 H vs Stoke 1-1
Cheick Tioté
Kenwyne Jones



27/8/11 H v Man City 0-3
Sergio Agüero
Samir Nasri (2)

Carling Cup 2nd Round
24/8/11 A vs Doncaster Rovers 3-1
Christian Eriksen
Sylvain Marveaux
Steven Taylor
Billy Sharp

Not a great start to the league campaign, with a disappointing draw at home to Stoke, who played with 10-men for the majority of the game. The loss against Man City was expected to be honest, but the result was actually quite flattering to City, as we matched them in possession and even had more shots, though their cutting edge really told, with Agüero and Nasri scoring their goals. There was a solid away win over Doncaster in the Carling Cup, though we were absolutely expected to progress there.

Transfer update
I finally succeeded in adding some firepower up front, completing the signing of two players from Montpellier. Fodé Koita, a big strong striker, who looks like he will make a good target man in future, and Olivier Giroud, a solid all-around striker. In addition, I had a bid accepted for Twente's Luuk de Jong, though ultimately, I preferred Giroud. Giroud also proved to be a less expensive option with Ajax refusing to budge on their £13m valuation of Iceland's Kolbeinn SigÞorsson and Sochaux demanding £16m for Modibo Maïga.
In addition, to replace the loss of Coloccini, I signed West Ham's young defender James Tomkins. I also had a bid accepted for Jan Vertonghen, the Belgian defender, though at £11m, I wasn't prepared to complete the deal, particularly when taking into account Vertonghen's 50k per week wage demands.

Transfer round up




CHEICK TIOTÉ Played 3, 1 goal, average rating 7.4
Tough to award after just two games, one of which was a 0-3 loss! However, I have decided that the award ought to go to Cheick Tioté, who has taken part in all three games, including scoring the equaliser against Stoke, a screamer from 30 yards. He also put in a solid shift against both Doncaster and Man City.