Newcastle United Monday Links: We're Not Going Away Edition

Another weekend, another win. In my head, that goes to the tune of "Another Openin', Another Show" from the musical Kiss Me Kate.... it's certainly not intended to treat the victory over Aston Villa on the weekend in any sort of dismissal manner. It was certainly a case of "what price glory", though, as the Toon lost both Leon Best and Ryan Taylor to injuries within the first 33 minutes of the match. I don't want to make too much of it, but both of them did get injured under challenges from Villa defenders. In fairness, the tackle that led to the worse of the injuries (Leon Best) was a clean tackle and can fairly be chalked up to being "just one of those things"... however the tackle that led to Raylor's injury was... aggressive, executed with studs up. It would be my desire that the FA look at that tackle again... but I don't get to pick.

Also, on a personal note, the OSotPgf has been matched for an internship in Seattle, so the OSotP Dog and Pony Show™ will be moving east west (ed. fixed because of, you know, geography and stuff) in June... West Coast Mags, you're on notice.

As a consequence of trying to get into the website that announces such things, I've run short on time, and I'll need to rush through the links... so I apologize. In quick order, here they are!

Two more join the Newcastle United injury list - NUFC News - NUFC - JournalLive

"(The work-rate) is a feature of, not just our team, our squad. We work hard every week trying to emphasise how important the work-rate in terms of in-possession, out of possession is," Pardew said. "We make sure the players know – we stick it on the board and make sure they can see each other, so if you are not quite up on those figures, all the other players are going to know, so you best put your performance in. Little things like that all add up, but we have got a good discipline in that dressing room and a camaraderie that keeps us nagging away at the top of the division."

If you want to be honest, achieving what we have with the injuries we've had... the talking heads and the league wish we'd go away, but it's just not going to happen. #AnInconvenientClub

Disaster struck Leon Best's big stage - NUFC Latest News - Newcastle United - ChronicleLive

ALAN PARDEW has revealed he set the big stage up at St James’ Park for Leon Best to illuminate Newcastle United’s battle with Aston Villa – only for disaster to strike for the Republic of Ireland international. And the Toon striker was today facing up to a six-week stint on the sidelines. Best suffered medial ligament damage during the 2-1 win over Villa after a collision with Stephen Warnock and now faces a spell on the sidelines. Pardew said today: "It was unfortunate for Leon, he’s done great for us. "I was hoping that Leon would play for 65 to 70 minutes and do a job for us to get us in the lead, then we’d bring Papiss Cisse on to lift the place.

It's pretty clear that Best's opportunities this season were going to get fewer and fewer with Cisse's arrival, but I hate this for him. He hasn't scored a ton, but man he's put in graft for the team. Top class Mag, Leon.

Pardew delighted with Steven Taylor's progress - NUFC Latest News - Newcastle United - ChronicleLive

Taylor this week removed the protective boot he has been wearing for nine weeks and is now walking freely again after sustaining the agonising injury against Chelsea. The player joined United during their warm weather training camp and took part in some lighter activities.

It's not all bad news on the injury front... keep getting better, Steven!

Point proved to critics says Danny Simpson - NUFC Latest News - Newcastle United - ChronicleLive

DANNY SIMPSON feels that Newcastle United have made their point to those who wrote off their chances at the start of the season. The Magpies’ win over Aston Villa yesterday resulted in Alan Pardew’s team smashing through the 40-point barrier. Their current tally of 42 at the start of February is just four points short of their entire collection last season. Summer departures for Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton and Jose Enrique even resulted in a clutch of pundits – headed by Stan Collymore – predicting a relegation battle.

The pundits be damned. We're going to challenge for Europe if we want to!

DOUBLE DEMBA!

The Double Demba era could not have started better, eh?

Alan Pardew delighted with Cisse's goal - NUFC Latest News - Newcastle United - ChronicleLive

Pardew told the Chronicle: "We’ve had an explosion of a goal from our new number nine. "It couldn’t be better, really. The fact that Papiss smashed it in the top corner with the left foot is a bonus." Pardew now hopes that there will be more goals to come from Cisse with the player linking up excellently with international team-mate Demba Ba. Incredibly since last season kicked off, Ba and Cisse have scored 61 goals between them in just over 18 months. And Pardew knows he has the real deal on his hand. "This isn’t a novice we’re talking about," he said. "He’s a solid age, and has a tremendous record in the Bundesliga."

I've seen Pardew quoted saying the left is Cisse's weaker foot. He's sure not shy of his weaker foot, then... I remember thinking during the match that I felt surprised that Papiss was left-footed. Guess he's not, though. Oh, also... 61 goals between the Dembas in 18 months. That's going to cover two summers as well, let's not forget.

Boy from Senegal can be better than Ba, says Pardew (From The Northern Echo)

"Even with his first movements, I think his first touch was a turn, he looked a threat, but his goal was something special and it lifted the roof off the place. It really was a great hit and it wasn't too bad for his weak foot! "I think if you're going to wear that jersey at Newcastle you need a good start and he's had that, it's a boy's dream, but his all-round performance, I think any Newcastle fan would have been nudging their mates saying, 'we've got a good one here.' "I've been lucky with strikers on debuts and that's struck again. I'm really pleased, because it's a big investment for the club. Mike sanctioned it and it's fans money I'm spending so I like to spend it well. We've worked hard to get him and we've been rewarded straight away

There is much to be excited about with Double Demba. Not only have we doubled our every-touch goal scoring threat at the top, they have diversified the attack we can bring. If they're taking away Demba, Cisse attacks in a different way and vice versa. It is an extremely small sample size at this point... but man.

Ba and Cisse can be the new Les and Shearer - NUFC Latest News - Newcastle United - ChronicleLive

ALAN PARDEW is confident that Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse can strike up a partnership as exciting as Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand at St James’ Park. The dynamic duo grabbed a goal apiece in their first outing together to help floor Aston Villa on a day that few will forget at Gallowgate. Pardew knows that Cisse and Ba’s chances to play together have been limited for Senegal. However, he is ready to unleash them on the Premier League.

I had seen this put out there over the weekend as well. I suppose time will tell, but... yes, please.

Can We All Just Be Sensible?

Sunderland fan pleads guilty over racist tweets | UK news | The Guardian

I'm not quoting anything from this... but this whole trend is just getting out of hand. The internet has empowered people to think that they can say whatever they want with some magical cloud of anonymity and thus they can say ridiculous things. At the end of the day, whether makem or Mag and regardless of heritage, we're all human beings and to abuse each other in the name of sport is just disgusting.

In the immortal words of Bill and Ted: "Be excellent to each other and party on, dudes!"