Sebuah skuad yang lebih berminat untuk menyerang, peminat-peminat yang setia dan sabar, dan pemain-pemain yang komited. Inilah jelmaan skuad Newcastle United yang pernah mencabar kejuaraan Premier League pada 96 dan 97. Cuma kali ini kita di tahap yang lebih rendah.

Tetapi kali ini kita memenangi Championship, satu kejayaan yang memang kita berhak atasnya. Inilah masa untuk kita bergembira, tetapi masa yang sukar akan menjelma tidak lama lagi.

Ini adalah satu kemanisan yang tak dapat diungkap. Kembali menyaksikan kem Newcastle berjuang untuk menempatkan nama Magpies gah di dunia bolasepak.

Kita akan kembali digoda, percaya bahawa masa gemilang kita telah kembali. Namun, layakkah kita?

Kita ada barisan pemain Premier League seperti Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, Alan Smith, Fabricio Coloccini, Peter Løvenkrands, Jonás Gutiérrez dan José Enrique, dan kita ada pemain dalam buatan seperti Andy Carrol, Nile Ranger… namun kita tak patut berlari sebelum fasih berjalan.

Kita kena mengakui bahawa, seperti mana pasukan lain yang telah promoted, objektif utama pada masa depan adalah untuk kekal di dalam Premier League. Kita kena tanamkan ini dalam hati kita.

Masanya akan tiba buat kita untuk bersaing, ya mungkin untuk kekal adalah tujuan utama, namun sebagai the Toon Army, atok sentiasa berasa bahawa kita layak untuk gah, menang dalam perlawanan-perlawanan di EPL, walau menentang the Big Four.

Wigan pun boleh belasah Arsenal, apatah lagi kita?

Apa yang penting, kita mahu menyaksikan para pemain kita bersemangat waja. Anda di kelab yang besar, anda di Newcastle United!

Dengan baki 2 games, 98 points yang dimiliki NewcatleUnited telah mengesahkan The Magpies sebagai juara Championship musim ini.

Waima ramai yang sebelum ini menyatakan Newcastle bakal menjadi the next Leeds United, namun skuad bimbingan ChrisHughton ini akhirnya berjaya disatu-Newcastle-kan untuk merampas kejuaraan. Semoga semangat 1Newcastle ini terus berkekalan dalam musim seterusnya di EPL.

The Toons sekurang2nya harus rasa bertuah kerana FA Engaland tidak diterajui SultanPahang, kalau tak, dah menang pun belum tentu dapat naik.

Penyokong Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan.

Love United (Newcastle), Hate Gazzler!

Steve Harper

Newcastle United keeper Steve Harper is desperate to collect a Coca-Cola Championship winner’s medal as well as return to the Barclays Premier League.

Harper has called on his teammates to ensure they pick up the points needed to repel West Brom’s challenge, starting with a win at home to Ian Holloway’s play-off chasing Blackpool on Saturday.

Speaking on the Give Me Football site, the 35-year-old said: “We have got to see it through now. We need six or seven points, so that’s the next aim, starting on Saturday.”

He added: “To bounce back at the first opportunity is a big achievement, to be promoted with six games left is fantastic and testament to a lot of hard work from the manager, his staff, everybody behind the scenes and the players in that dressing room.

“There will be some celebrating for a couple of days before we get our minds back on the job.

“We have achieved our first aim, now we have got to achieve the next one, which is to go on and win the league.”

Malam semalam Kevin Nolan telah dinamakan sebagai pemain terbaik di luar Premier League dan menerima hadiah FourFourTwo Coca-Cola Championship Player of the Year di Football League Awards.

Nolan telah menjaringkan 13 gol sebagai midfielder pada musim ini, setakat ini. Sekaligus membantu Newcastle United berada di tempat pertama dalam liga Coca-Cola Championship 2009-2010.

Kevin Nolan merupakan salah seorang pemain yang atok tak berapa nak kenal walaupun dia terkenal di kalangan Toon Army. Atok lebih kenal N’Zogbia berbanding dia.

Apa-apa pun, syabas buat Kevin Nolan. Teruskan meningkat terutamanya dalam EPL musim depan.

Kevin Nolan

Newcastle have completed the deadline-day signing of striker Leon Best from Coventry for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old has put pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year contract and will go straight into the squad to face Cardiff at St James’ Park on Friday.

The Republic of Ireland international has been handed the number 20 shirt.

Best’s contract at Coventry was due to expire in the summer and, even though a fee would have been due as he is under 24, the Sky Blues have cashed in now.

“The situation with Leon’s contract has been well documented,” said chairman Ray Ranson.

“When it was apparent that we couldn’t agree terms for him to remain at Coventry, we knew we would have to listen to offers and act in the best interests of the club.”

He joins the Coca-Cola Championship leaders having spent two-and-a-half years with Coventry following his 2007 switch from Southampton.

Ipswich Town 0 Newcastle United 4

ROY KEANE was as surprised as everyone else inside Portman Road when Kevin Nolan scored the first three-goal haul of his Newcastle United career. “Don’t know if he has scored many hat-tricks, but I bet he thought it was Christmas,” said the Irishman, referring to Ipswich’s awful defending.

The truth, though, is that Nolan was equally astonished by his achievements in front of goal in Suffolk.

If scoring his first after half an hour was celebrated, his second two minutes later took him by surprise. To add a third just five minutes after half-time completely stunned him.

“It’s the first time I have had the matchball in my professional career,” said Nolan, born in Liverpool and a regular for the city’s schoolboys team. “The last time I scored a hat-trick was in a school final when I was 15. I didn’t get the matchball then but I’ve still got the shirt.

“I’ve scored a few braces in my time but when the third one went in it was like ‘it’s happened!’. I’ve got the ball for my daughter Jasmine. I am absolutely delighted.”

During ten years at Bolton he scored 40 times. When he arrived in January in a £4m deal, Newcastle supporters expected goals, but they dried up.

He went through the final five months of last season failing to add to the one goal he scored for the Trotters, while Saturday’s haul doubled this term’s tally to six.

“The last couple of seasons I have been struggling with injuries but since I have got to Newcastle, they have looked after me and that’s been a big plus,” said Nolan. “The last six months have been the first time I have trained every day for a long time.

“It has been really good. I have really enjoyed training every day and that is why I am starting to produce on the pitch. Long may it continue.”

Nolan’s renaissance is typical of the transformation across the Newcastle squad since relegation was confirmed at Villa Park in May.

When the 27-year-old arrived he labelled it a dream move and never envisaged he would end up in the Championship.

But, like so many of his team-mates, Nolan has looked a different prospect from the one who suffered the ignominy of dropping out of the Premier League.

Not only does he look slimmer, he is also starting to resemble the player who once attracted interest from top four clubs.

“Since I arrived, I have enjoyed every minute. Don’t get me wrong, the last day of the season was the worst time of my life. But the next day, I went for a pint with my dad and it was like ‘I can’t wait to get back,’” said Nolan.

“We have worked together as one. It is only a start. We are only nine games in. There is a long, long, way to go but it is the start we wanted. All the teams which have gone down have done well. We had a blip but we bounced back.”

After losing their unbeaten start to the season at Blackpool almost a fortnight ago, Newcastle have responded by defeating both Plymouth and Ipswich in the league.

Victory at Portman Road always looked likely once the pre-match tributes to Sir Bobby Robson had been made and Nile Ranger had forced Richard Wright into a low save inside four minutes.

Once Nolan directed Ryan Taylor’s free-kick into Wright’s top left corner with a powerful header there was no stopping the Magpies.

Ipswich were awful. Their defending was atrocious; worse, if that was possible, than they were at Middlesbrough two weeks ago.

Nolan made the most of that by turning defender Pim Balkestein inside out with a casual drag back before rolling his finish underneath the Ipswich goalkeeper.

Wright, a former England keeper, then moved off his line to allow Taylor to curl in a 30-yard free-kick over him into the net to leave Ipswich three down in four quick-fire minutes.

Inbetween angry chants directed towards Mike Ashley, there were favourable songs sung about Hughton, which were further justified when Nolan added his third five minutes after the break.

A bursting run from Zurab Khizanishvili led to Taylor centering deep into the Ipswich box. Ranger rose to nod goalwards and Nolan arrived to crash his side’s fourth beyond a hapless Wright.

Keane, who knows Hughton from their Ireland days, is convinced Newcastle are heading for the top flight again.

“I can’t comment on other clubs, but when you talk about the long term I bet Big Sam (Allardyce) thought he had the long term there to work towards and he didn’t get it,” said Keane.

“Chris will probably end up being there the longest of them all. He should just enjoy it. He has focused on the job, they have started well, and they have a great chance.”

Newcastle’s victory put them two points clear of West Brom and four clear of thirdplaced Preston, while Ipswich remain rooted to second from bottom.

And the former Sunderland boss, who delivered promotion to Wearside in his first season in charge, said: “We can’t compare where we are to where Sunderland were when I took over. It’s like chalk and cheese. What I did get was a bit of luck up there, maybe I was very, very lucky and I’m being found out.”

If Keane has been found out, Hughton certainly hasn’t.

The former England Under-21 captain is attracting more Premier League attention.

Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor could be on the verge of a Premier League return after a number of scouts where sent to St. James’ Park on Wednesday.

The Magpies saw off Sheffield Wednesday thanks to Shola Ameobi’s fourth goal of the season and Taylor was instrumental at the back.

The Former England Under-21 captain has been a long term target for Arsenal but it appears Everton are leading the chase to sign the defender.

Reports in The Newcastle Evening Chronicle suggest Taylor is seen a possible replacement for Manchester City target Joleon Lescott, who was dropped by manager David Moyes for poor conduct during the transfer saga.

Moyes sent his trusted scout Jimmy Lumsden to St James’ Park just moments after axing Lescott from the squad to face Sigma Olomouc in the Europa League play-offs.

The £8 million-rated defender has suggested he would stay at his boyhood club if Alan Shearer was appointed manager, however he has suffered growing frustrations at the club’s situation and their drawn-out takeover.

Arsenal and Liverpool also sent scouts to the game whilst Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa were also previously linked with a move for the center-back.

David Kifford, Goal.com

Newcastle striker concerned by squad size

Newcastle striker Shola Ameobi has called on the club to bring in reinforcements to aid their bid for an immediate return to the Premier League.

Ameobi has spearheaded the Magpies’ solid start to life in the Championship, with his winner against Sheffield Wednesday coming hot on the heels of his weekend hat-trick against Reading.

The rangy forward believes that Chris Hughton needs more options at his disposal after the summer exits of several key players and a shortage of new arrivals.

Hughton remains at the helm with owner Mike Ashley still looking to sell the club, although there has been precious little progress on the takeover this summer.

And Ameobi does not believe the Magpies have the depth available to cope with the 46-game Championship season, not to mention additional cup competitions.

Dig deep

Speaking after the win over the Owls, he told The Chronicle: “We haven’t got many players. I thought that showed. There are a lot of heavy legs.

“There’s a lot of games, and we haven’t got many players to rotate.

“The games are coming thick and fast, and we had to dig deep now.

“We haven’t been used to playing back-to-back games like that, but we ground it out and produced the win.”

Ameobi is more than happy with his personal return of four goals from three games so far and is eager to continue in his current scoring groove.

He added: “For strikers, goals breed confidence. That’s nothing new.

“I’m obviously delighted to have contributed. I’ve got a lot of confidence and, hopefully, I can ride it and help us win as many games as possible.”

Shola Ameobi was once again the Newcastle United matchwinner as the Magpies made it seven points out nine in their Championship quest.

That’s four goals in five days at St James’ Park for the gangly striker as Sheffield Wednesday slipped to their first defeat following two opening draws.

But this was no plain sailing for Newcastle as they had Fabricio Coloccini, Alan Smith and Steven Taylor all cautioned against the hard-working Hillsborough outfit in front of a crowd of 44,904.

The big difference was in defence where Newcastle were rock solid as they kept successive clean sheets.

Wednesday only had one real chance of any merit, a late chance for substitute Francis Jeffers that was blocked by Steve Harper.

Joey Barton failed to recover from the knock he picked up during Saturday’s win over Reading which meant Ryan Taylor switched to his midfield slot on the right and there was a debut at right-back for Manchester United loan player Danny Simpson.

Wednesday were unchanged from the side that drew 1-1 at Peterborough.

Newcastle attacked from the off and Kevin Nolan finished off as fine move by driving just over.

Wednesday got back into the game and the determination of Harper and Steven Taylor was necessary to crowd out Sean McAllister, who only managed to fire high and wide under pressure.

Skipper Smith was booked after 14 minutes following a rash challenge and from the Wednesday free-kick, it was Newcastle who ultimately went ahead.

Wednesday keeper Lee Grant hit the free-kick straight at Harper who in turn launched it straight downfield where it was headed on by Andy Carroll and Ameobi superbly swept the ball beyond Grant.

Ameobi then came close to a second goal a couple of minutes later, rising well to head a Ryan Taylor corner that Grant held just under the bar.

Despite their neat and tidy approach work, Wednesday did little to trouble Harper in the half first as far too often they were let down by a poor final delivery.

Ryan Taylor, yet to open his United account, came close to doing so after 52 minutes when his 25 yard free-kick was acrobatically turned behind by Grant and from the flag-kick a Nolan thunderbolt flew just over the bar.

Carroll limped off after 58 minutes to be replaced by Xisco with United having clearly lost their first-half momentum.

Wednesday looked as if they had a goal in them and came close after 64 minutes when hard-working former Sunderland player Michael Gray’s free-kick was turned behind by Harper.

Wednesday had a wonderful opportunity to draw level four minutes from time as Newcastle desperately lost their way.

A ball over the top was superbly controlled by substitute Jeffers, who worked himself into a shooting only to be denied by a brave Harper block.

By Craig Hope

SHOLA Ameobi left St.James’ Park on Saturday night as the proud owner of his first-ever matchball.

The Geordie striker shot to the top of the Championship scoring charts as his treble saw off the challenge Reading in a 3-0 triumph for Chris Hughton’s men.

nufc.co.uk photographer Ian Horrocks was at Gallowgate to capture all the very best action and below our fast-fingered snapper brings you his latest picture gallery …

United stars join in minute’s applause for Sir Bobby Robson …

Shola heads United into 37th-minute lead from Jose Enrique’s centre …

Before being mobbed by his team-mates …

Skipper Smudge gave another committed engine-room display …

Big Andy goes in search of his first goal of the season …

Jose caught the eye with his left-wing adventures …

A clean sheet for Steve …

Nolan was instrumental in laying on United’s second …

Which was finished, again, by the head of Shola …

Joey will be hoping a foot knock proves to be not too serious …

Shola steps up to fire home for his treble …

And celebrates with the his smoking gun routine …