Donaldson Set To Join Cumbrians But Ranger Stays

01 October 2010 11:21
Defender Ben Tozer joined Northampton last week and he may be followed by young Ryan Donaldson, who is being eyed by Carlisle United. NEWCASTLE UTD MAD CONTACT US (Kev):   Kevnumad@fsmail.net The Cumbrians also want Nile Ranger, but he is unlikely to be loaned out until United’s Carling Cup interest is over. Chris Hughton: “Whether or not we send anyone out is really dictated by clubs making the enquiries. “We’ve not had anything yet but we’re quite early after the window so I wouldn’t necessarily expect anything. “If someone came in and offered an opportunity for someone to go out short-term to get some games then we would listen to them. “To be honest though, at the moment I’m not particularly keen for anyone to go out on loan at the moment.” MANCHESTER CITY CURRENT FORM ....  Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0SEPTEMBER 25: Barclays Premier League at Eastlands.   West Brom 2 Manchester City 1SEPTEMBER 22: Carling Cup third round at The Hawthorns.    Wigan 0 Manchester City 2SEPTEMBER 19: Barclays Premier League at the DW Stadium.   Red Bull Salzburg 0 Manchester City 2SEPTEMBER 16: Europa League Group A at the Stadion Salzburg.    Manchester City 1 Blackburn 1SEPTEMBER 11: Barclays Premier League at Eastlands.    Sunderland 1 Manchester City 0AUGUST 29: Barclays Premier League at the Stadium of Shite.   MAN CITY'S LAST GAME .... MAN CITY 1 CHELSEA 0 Hart, Boyata (Boateng 88), Toure, Kompany, Zabaleta, Silva (Adam Johnson 77), De Jong, Toure Yaya, Barry, Milner, Tevez (Adebayor 86). Subs Not Used: Given, Lescott, Vieira, Jo. After handing Chelsea the title the day before, Roberto Mancini watched his Manchester City side promptly snatch it away again as Carlos Tevez's second-half strike ended the champions' 100% record. In a tactical battle with defences largely on top throughout, Tevez's moment of inspiration just before the hour proved to be decisive. Chelsea were unable to halt the South American's burst from halfway and he found the perfect finish too, through Ashley Cole's legs and in off the post. Carlo Ancelotti's men battled hard to force an equaliser, but, just as they had done for most of the contest, they failed to open up a disciplined City defence and came no nearer than the header Branislav Ivanovic struck the bar with before half-time. It rather showed up the opinion Mancini offered that Chelsea would win the title easily, and signalled City can join Manchester United and Arsenal in harbouring genuine hopes of glory next May as well. It was slightly strange that the build up to a game between the Premier League's biggest spenders should be centred around respective injury problems. Yet that is exactly how it turned out, Ancelotti claiming he had just 12 fit players, which was one more than Mancini. Defensively, City are struggling with neither Joleon Lescott nor Jerome Boateng - who did make his debut as a late substitute - considered fit enough to start. And once Wayne Bridge had failed a pre-match fitness test on a thigh injury it was anticipated would keep him out for another fortnight anyway, Mancini went for 19-year-old Belgian Dedryck Boyata, normally a centre-half, to make only his fourth league appearance. Boyata rewarded his manager with a solid contribution to an obdurate defensive performance from City. Only once were the Blues opened up properly, and that had nothing to do with the teenager. In fact it was Tevez who drifted away from Florent Malouda as he anticipated a return pass to Didier Drogba, who had just taken a corner on the Chelsea left. Tevez's movement gave Malouda the space to curl a deep cross to the far post, where Alex nodded it back to Ivanovic. The Serbian had two goes at putting Chelsea in front. The first came bouncing back off the bar, giving him a second header to go for, this time Joe Hart making a comfortable save. Apart from that, both goalmouths were largely underused. Knowing this was their biggest test of the season so far and without Frank Lampard to drive them forward from midfield, Chelsea were content to play within themselves, keep a fairly rigid shape and let City expend their energy trying to break them down. For their part, the home side failed to get sufficient support to Tevez, who worked incredibly hard up front on his own but was limited to speculative long-range efforts. Under such circumstances, it was hardly a surprise it began to get a bit tetchy and Pablo Zabaleta's booking for a reckless sliding tackle on Ivanovic gave way to a period of play scarred by physical confrontation. The first two minutes of the second period produced as much intense action as there had been in the whole of the first. After Hart had pushed a curling Nicolas Anelka shot away from danger, Michael Essien should have done far better with the near-post corner than send his header sailing over the bar after being picked out completely unmarked. City responded with their first meaningful assault on the Chelsea goal, which forced Cech to make a decent low save to deny Silva. It proved to be the prelude to the deadlock being broken. Yaya Toure and the nippy Silva deserve mentions for their short pass and running off the ball respectively after Ramires had conceded possession just inside the City half. The rest of it was all the South American's own work as he ran ferociously at the visitors' defence, jinked to his right, then blasted a shot through Cole's legs and into the net off the inside of Cech's right-hand post. Twice Essien tried to level from long-range. Twice his radar was way off and the ball sailed over. Alex glanced a header wide after Boyata had marred his effective performance by getting booked for chopping down YuZhirkov,ry Zhrikov, but with Cole also belting a shot into the side-netting, Chelsea ran out of ideas. After beating the Chelsea twice last season as well, City are rather getting to like this. NEWCASTLE UTD MAD CONTACT US:   Kevnumad@fsmail.net City of Manchester Stadium Directions & Car Parking The stadium is located in the North East of Manchester. From the South M6:Leave the M6 at Junction 19 and follow the A556 towards Stockport and then join the M56 going towards Stockport. Continue onto the M60 passing Stockport and heading on towards Ashton Under Lyne. Leave the M60 at Junction 23 and take the A635 towards Manchester. Branch off onto the A662 (Ashton New Road) towards Droylsden/Manchester. Stay on the A662 for around three miles and you will reach the Stadium on your right. From The M62:Leave the M62 at Junction 18 and then join the M60 Ashton Under Lyne.  Leave the M60 at Junction 23 and take the A635 towards Manchester. Branch off onto the A662 (Ashton New Road) towards Droylsden/Manchester. Stay on the A662 for around three miles and you will reach the Stadium on your right. Whilst Iain Macintosh informs me; 'I find this an easier route to the ground; Leave the M60 at Junction 24 and take the A57 (Hyde Road) towards Manchester. Turn right onto the A6010 (Pottery Lane). There are quite a number of unofficial car parks on both sides of Pottery Lane, costing around �5 per car. Pottery Lane becomes the Alan Turing Way and goes right past the stadium on your left'. Car Parking: There is some parking available at the stadium itself which costs �5 per car. The East Car Park is nearest to the away entrance. Please be aware that there is a residents only parking scheme in place in the streets near to the ground, which extends about a mile out from the stadium. So if you want to street park, it means parking further away and then walking to the stadium. Some unofficial car parks have sprung up mostly charging around £5 per car. Terry Ireland a visiting Chelsea fan adds; 'Plenty of car parking spaces were available when we arrived at the stadium around two hours before kick off. However, getting out after the game was a joke.  It's a little like a free for all and took us nearly an hour to exit the car park and be on our way. Meanwhile the unofficial car parks, all but 400 yards away, had cleared, been locked-up and were long gone by the time we passed them on our way home. And they cost the same to park!' Peter Llewellyn informs me; 'The road links are busy even on non-match days so make sure you allow plenty of time. The stadium is part of Sportcity so car users should follow the brown Sportcity signs until near the stadium'. By Train The closest train station is Ashburys which is a short five minute train ride away from Manchester Piccadilly Station. The stadium is about a 15 minute walk away from Ashburys station. As you come out of the station turn left and after proceeding up the road you will come to the stadium on your left. Otherwise if you have time on your hands then you can embark on the 20/25 minute walk from Piccadilly Station to the stadium. At the bottom of the main station approach turn right into Ducie Street. At the end of the road turn right onto Great Ancoats Street. Cross over the road, then the canal and turn left into Pollard Street - this is well marked as a walking route to "Sportcity". Continue straight along Pollard Street which leads onto the A662 Ashton New Road and you will come to the stadium on your left. A shorter route from the station is to use the new exit to Fairfield Street (the taxi rank). As you come off the platforms, it’s in the left hand corner of the main concourse. Lifts or escalators down. (There’s also an exit from the little concourse off the bridge near platforms 13/14.) At the street exit head toward the railway over bridge, under that, then left again under the railway (Travis Street continuing into Adair Street), left at the end and right into Pollard Street (then as above). Alternatively you can get a taxi from Piccadilly Station (around £4.50) or a bus from Piccadilly Gardens -  Go down the main approach from the station, then along London Road to Piccadilly Gardens; normal service and special matchday buses leave from the right hand side of the square (between Lever Street and Oldham Street) - £1 each way. 216 and 217 the main service buses, but 185, 186, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, X36 and X37 also go from the city centre to the stadium (and 53 and 54 from the city's ring road). On the return, the special buses leave from Ashton New Road just across from the away end. Away Fans Away fans are located in one side of the South Stand at one end of the ground, in both the upper and lower tiers, where up to 3,000 fans can be accommodated (4,500 for cup games). The view of the action is pretty impressive although the leg room is a little tight. The facilities are also pretty good with spacious concourses, large plasma flat television screens showing the game and a good selection of food on offer. Atmosphere within the stadium is a bit 'hit and miss' at times. I did hear though on my last visit one very good rendition of the Man City fans anthem 'Blue Moon'. My only real complaint was the lack of distance between the home and away supporters. Only a few seats and a row of stewards stood in-between the two sets of fans, which led to a lot of unpleasant baiting between the two. And of course it was always the away fans who were adjudged to be causing the problems by the stewards (although I'm sure that if I visited on another occasion I probably would have seen the same Man City fans baiting in the same manner) and this led a number of away fans on my visit being escorted out of the stadium. After the game has finished fans are kept apart immediately outside via a large fence which is erected by the Police, which seems to lead to a lot of exchanges of unpleasant abuse. Some away fans have suggested that it may be best to keep colours covered on making your way back to your transport. It is also worth noting that entrance to the stadium is gained by placing your ticket into an electronic reader, which normally causes confusion to some fans. Please note that you are likely to be searched by stewards at the turnstile entrance. Where To Drink There are not a great deal of pubs around the stadium, and the few available are predominantly for home support. However, 'The Stanley' (aka Sports Bar) pub does let in away fans in small numbers. It is about a ten minute walk away from the stadium, just set back from the main A6010 (Pottery Lane) , going towards Ashburys train station. The easiest way to find it is to locate the large Asda store behind one side of the stadium (there is also a McDonalds outlet next door to the store, plus there is a cafe located inside it) and on facing the superstore turn right and proceed down the main road, you will come to the pub on the left. It does cost £1 for adults to enter the pub, (they even stamp your hand as if you were entering a night club) but children are at least admitted free. Inside there is a large screen showing SKY Sports, good service and a good mix of home and away support. Alan Finneran informs me; 'I would recommend the Townley on Albert Street, which is only a five minute walk away from the stadium. The pub has a good atmopshere and as long as away fans arrive early and are discrete (i.e. no colours) then they should be okay. Also the Manchester City Supporters Club have their own City Social bar opposite the North Stand. I have seen opposition supporters in there now and again, so if you are a member of your own team's supporters club, then your branch secretary may be able to arrange a visit to the Social bar in advance'. Dave Clinton adds; 'If you want a pint beforehand then it is probably best to drink in the city centre. My tip, would be to head to the Printworks in Manchester, near Victoria station. There is a connecting tram service from Piccadilly. There are loads of pubs at the Printworks, with plenty of choice of food. The pubs around Piccadilly itself are not too clever. However Deansgate or around the Town Hall, would be a good place to head for if you are taking in the City centre. This is about a 30 minute walk away from the stadium'. A taxi to the ground would then cost in the region of £7. Chris Fogarty warns; 'away fans should avoid the Queen Victoria pub at the bottom of Grey Mare Lane'. Also Mary D's on Grey Mare Lane is also not recommended for away supporters as well as pubs on Ashton New Road (both these roads are in the area behind the away end of the stadium). Otherwise alcohol is available inside the stadium (Singha £3.50, Fosters £3.20, Strongbow £3.20, John Smiths bitter £3) .   NEWCASTLE UNITED 2010/11 PREMIERSHIP NEWCASTLE 1 STOKE CITY 2 (Nolan pen)Krul, Perch, Coloccini, Williamson, Jose Enrique, Ben Arfa (Gutierrez 62), Barton, Tiote (Ameobi 74), Routledge, Nolan, Carroll. Subs Not Used: Soderberg, Lovenkrands, Ryan Taylor, Smith, Ranger. EVERTON 0 NEWCASTLE 1 (Ben Arfa)Harper (Krul 35), Perch, Coloccini, Williamson,Jose Enrique, Routledge, Tiote, Barton,Ben Arfa (Gutierrez 84), Nolan, Carroll. Subs Not Used: Campbell, Lovenkrands, Ryan Taylor, Smith. NEWCASTLE 0 BLACKPOOL 2Harper, Perch, Coloccini, Williamson, Jose Enrique, Routledge (Ameobi 81), Smith (Lovenkrands 62), Barton, Gutierrez (Ben Arfa 73), Nolan, Carroll.Subs Not Used: Krul, Campbell, Ryan Taylor, Tiote. WOLVES 1 NEWCASTLE 1 (Carroll)Harper, Perch, Williamson, Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Routledge, Smith, Barton, Gutierrez, Nolan, Carroll (Ameobi 81).Subs Not Used: Krul, Lovenkrands, Ryan Taylor, Kadar, Vuckic, Ranger. NEWCASTLE 6 ASTON VILLA 0 (Barton, Nolan 2, Carroll 3)Harper, Perch, Coloccini, Williamson, Jose Enrique, Routledge (Ameobi 76), Smith (Ryan Taylor 76), Barton, Gutierrez (Xisco 80), Nolan, Carroll.Subs Not Used: Krul, Lovenkrands, Vuckic, Tavernier. MAN UTD 3 NEWCASTLE 0Harper, Perch, Coloccini, Williamson, Jose Enrique, Routledge, Smith, Nolan (Ameobi 71), Barton,Gutierrez (Xisco 80), Carroll. Subs Not Used: Krul, Ryan Taylor, Vuckic, Ranger, Tavernier. CARLING CUP CHELSEA 3 NEWCASTLE 4 (Ranger, R Taylor, Ameobi 2)Krul, Ryan Taylor (Tiote 63), Campbell, Coloccini (Williamson 63), Ferguson (Barton 90), Ranger, Gutierrez, Vuckic, Smith, Ameobi, Lovenkrands.Subs Not Used: Soderberg, Nolan, Carroll, Ben Arfa. ACCRINGTON STANLEY 2 NEWCASTLE 3 (Ryan Taylor, Ameobi, Lovenkrands)Krul, Ryan Taylor, Kadar, Tavernier, Ferguson, Ranger, Donaldson, Vuckic (Nolan 90), LuaLua, Ameobi,Lovenkrands.Subs Not Used: Soderberg, Williamson, Barton, Routledge, Perch, Smith. PRE-SEASON CARLISLE 0 NEWCASTLE 3 (Best, Ranger, Vuckic)Harper (Krul 46), Tavernier (R Taylor 46), Coloccini (S Taylor 46) (Henderson 81), Williamson (Perch 46), Enrique (Ferguson 46), Inman (Routledge 46), Smith (Barton 46), Nolan (Guthrie 46), LuaLua (Vuckic 46) , Carroll (Best 46), Lovenkrands (Ranger 46). NORWICH CITY 2 NEWCASTLE 1 (Ameobi)Krul, Taylor (Routledge 45), Tavernier, Coloccini (Williamson 45), Diaz (Ferguson 57); Ranger (Xisco 45), Barton (Smith 45), Nolan (Guthrie 45), Vuckic (Edmundsson 72); Best (Lovenkrands 45), Carroll (Ameobi 45). NEWCASTLE 2 PSV EINDHOVEN 2 (R.Taylor, Best) Harper, Perch, Enrique, Coloccini, Williamson, Guthrie, Nolan, Smith, Ryan Taylor, Lovenkrands, Ameobi. Subs: Carroll, Xisco, Best, LuaLua, Krul, Vuckic, Ranger, Donaldson, Tavernier. DEPORTIVO 0 NEWCASTLE 0 (NUFC win 5-4 on penalties - Lovenkrands, Nolan, Carroll, R Taylor, Barton)Harper (Krul 46); R Taylor, Perch (Tavernier 52), Coloccini, Enrique; Routledge, Barton, Guthrie (Nolan 46), Xisco (Gutierrez 46); Carroll, Best (Lovenkrands 73). Subs (not used): Smith, Ferguson RANGERS 2 NEWCASTLE 1 (Lovenkrands)Harper; Perch (Tavernier 81), Coloccini (Ferguson 81), Williamson, Enrique (R Taylor 56); Routledge (Xisco 83), Barton, Nolan, Guthrie, Gutierrez (Lovenkrands 69); Carroll (Ameobi 46).

Source: FOOTYMAD