Source: FOOTYMAD
Pre-Season - The Worry And The Hatred!
Newcastle have played one pre-season fixture and already they have two players injured and set to miss the trip to America. It's all about getting players fit for the start of the new season, but it carries some baggage. Alan Pardew had to answer the question yesterday: "Don't you think ten flights in ten days over America is bad preperation for the players before a new season?" The team 'bonding' will have to go ahead without Joey Barton and Nile Ranger because they will not be allowed into America. Then there is the prospect of a shock defeat ... like what happened to Wolves yesterday. Wolves manager Mick McCarthy has spoken of his hatred of pre-season. The Molineux chief watched his side go down 2-1 at Crewe in their opening pre-season contest on Saturday and revealed after the game that he just wants to get started with the real business of competitive football. Wolves start their Premier League season with a trip to Blackburn on August 13 and it can't come soon enough for McCarthy. He said: "I hate pre-season. I hate pre-season games. I hate everything about it and that game has just proved it. "It's just a matter of getting fit for the 13th of August because these results will have no bearing on what goes on this season."
