3 Months on... and nothing to say?

More like not enough time to say anything... having moved into our new house at the end of May - we still don't have broadband at home... oops. and am spending a bunch of time doing DIY and similar and so havn't has time to blog at all. Apologies to both my (used to be regular) readers.

Anyway - not really enough time to say much, politics seems to be a bit dull at the moment - summer so Browns not really got his feet under the table properly, Dave's still awaiting the result of his focus groups to tell him what to say, and Ming seems to have gone into hibernation.

Financials - believe I said something in my New Year predications about credit spreads blowing out... sub-prime seems to have been the excuse. Are we though it all - probably not. Is a big issue if you are a long-term equity investor - No. Will volatility continue to be high - probably.

Newcastle Utd - planning to go to the pompey match in November - anyone want to join me?

So much to blog about... so little time...

Local Elections - Libs did badly, in comparison to what was expected. Does this mean a leadership election - I'm not convinced that the party have the stomach for regicide so soon after the last one. One of the things that is interesting to look at, is a comparison of local election results in seats which are currently Lib Dem, versus seats which are always going to be 'safe' Tory. I am awaiting some analysis from Mark Senior on this which should prove interesting in the detail.

Scotland - SNP did well - and deserve to attempt to form a government. It will be interesting to see how well minority government plays out, and how long it lasts for. In particular I wonder how much Labour will support some of the left-wing policies of the SNP, or if they will vote against on principle. Fascinating to see how this works and plays out - and hopefully, if successful, a link to getting PR for Westminster?

French Election - Congratulations to Sarkozy - let's just hope that he can do the things that France really needs, and promotes and encourages Free Markets, rather than the protectionism that has been slowly killing France over the years. How he deals with the issues of multi-culturalism that France also seems to be struggling with will also be the making, or otherwise of him in my opinion.

Newcastle United - End of the Roed - Simply put - Glenn didn't do well enough with the finances and players he was given, and he knows it. Is 'Big Sam' the solution - I really don't think so, but personally I think that the whole club needs overall from Top to Bottom - principally starting with the Chairman.

Geographically Illiterate BBC...

From the BBC Sports Page describing the 5th Round Cup Draw...

"Preston will host neighbours Manchester City,..."

Just how far away can somewhere be whilst still being classed as a neighbour! :roll:

Newcastle 1 - 5 Birmingham City (FA Cup 3rd Round Replay)

That was very painful to write... and as I do so, Newcastle are currently 0-2 down at home to West Ham. So what's going on? Well, we have been doing better than we really should have been in recent weeks, particularly with the 3-2 win over Spurs. The problem at home seems to be that it's really difficult for the crowd to get behind the team, and that transmits itself to the really young players on the pitch who are much more sensitive to such ill-feeling from your own supporters.

Update: We managed to claw back to a 2-2 draw with the most offside goal seen this century... and there was I thinking we'd used up all our luck against Spurs last week ;-)

Sigh... maybe I'll have to make a long pilgrimage up to Toon in a couple of weeks time to try and get a better idea of what's actually going on. Anyone fancy joining me?

New Years Predictions (Sporting)

The Sporting Year ahead... (maybe?)

• Newcastle will get to at least the Semi-final of either the UEFA or FA Cup (Hopefully both)
  
• Chelsea will win the Premiership title on the last day of the season.
  
• Watford, Charlton and Middlesburgh (surprise drop) will get relegated
  
• The England Cricket team will do better, and at least be credible at the world Cup (Not really a prediction, they could hardly get worse...)

Newcastle 3-2 Reading

Newcastle take the lead: 1-0
Reading equalise: 1-1
Babayaro thinks he's a ballerina & fails to clear: 1-2
Martins pretends he's Shearer & puts away a penalty: 2-2
Emre scores a flyer from 25 yards: 3-2

Well... you can't say supporting Newcastle is ever dull...

(Oh, and nufc.com match report is here)

Newcastle 1-0 Portsmouth

:-)

So perhaps the Premiership season starts to look up from here too... Here's hoping anyway. Fundamentally I still think that Newcastle have a generic problem this season of having no prime striker - over the summer we lost both Owen and Shearer and havn't really replaced either. Whilst Obafemi Martins is improving, he seems to be more of a Rooney type player - used to playing behind a main striker rather than being a lone figure. Oh well... Sibierski is proving himself as a the best bargain ever having come on a free transfer, and it's not often that Newcastle can claim a bargain transfer.

Newcastle 2-1 Celta Vigo

Oh Yes... Newcastle manage to win a game at home to top the group and guarantee a place in the next round. Finally... so is this where our season starts again?

Next up - Portsmouth at Home in the Premiership