Nothing much to Braga about

It may have been billed as a day of celebration, but there was little for Toon fans to cheer on Saturday as our pre-season fixture programme came to an end with a dull 1-1 draw at home to Braga.

The visitors had taken the lead (in contentious circumstances) from the spot through captain Alan shortly before the break, but his opposite number Sideshow Bob equalised with - steady yourselves - a goal from a corner (yes, really) in the second half.

Our skipper was extremely fortunate not to earn himself a second red card of the summer soon afterwards, and while Goofy had a goal disallowed for offside, a winner would have been undeserved. The only other real point of note was an injury to the anonymous Spidermag.

Afterwards the Silver Fox complained: "It wasn't really the pace I would have wanted with a week to go before the season, but that's the pace Portuguese teams play at." But then I suppose you have no choice but to make do with the opposition that are put in front of you. Eh? Oh.

Thistle do not so nicely

Credit to Rangers for taking time out of their busy schedule of self-implosion to play us in our third Scottish pre-season friendly on Tuesday night - the first we've failed to win.

The fixture doesn't present anything like the test it might have done in years gone by, with the side described by Charles Green as the worst in the club's history (much to manager Ally McCoist's anger) languishing in the third tier of Scottish football and fresh from a humiliating first-round League Cup exit at the hands of Forfar. So it was somewhat embarrassing that we turned in a poor display and only managed to salvage a draw thanks to a last-minute strike from substitute Big Lad - even more so when you consider that we began the game with arguably our first-choice XI.

While Paul Dummett appears to find himself in the first-team picture, replacing Davide Santon shortly after the hour mark at Ibrox, fellow former St Mirren loanee Conor Newton doesn't - and indeed, as I'd anticipated, has just headed back to the Buddies on loan until the new year. There's been reports of them temporarily recruiting striker Adam Campbell too - which, again, would be a good deal for all concerned - and Newton has been talking them up in the hope that he'll end up playing alongside another club colleague north of the border.

Back to business

Newcastle fans who made the trip up to St Mirren on Tuesday evening were rewarded with something that some of us suspected and feared we may not see again: Papiss Cisse wearing a Newcastle shirt - this one emblazoned with the Wonga logo. Despite the weeks of wrangling, brinkmanship and exile from the first-team squad, Cisse looked remarkably fresh and was immediately in the thick of the action, scoring our opening goal. It wasn't quite business as usual, mind - as .com pointedly noted, he wasn't caught offside once...

Big Lad hadn't recovered from Sunday's knock sufficiently to take part and continue his goalscoring streak, and the only other goal of the night against our fellow black and whites was a first in Toon colours for Mathieu Debuchy.

Other notable names on the teamsheet included HBA and Dan Gosling. The latter was heavily involved for the 65 minutes he played, but in his post-match interview the Silver Fox expressed disappointment that a deal with Crystal Palace had fallen through and gave the ex-Evertonian little hope that good pre-season performances could salvage his Toon career.

Meanwhile, Paul Dummett (who started) and Conor Newton (who came on as a sub) were afforded a warm reception by the home crowd in appreciation of their efforts on loan at St Mirren Park last season. There's every chance the pair will be allowed to leave temporarily again, and I'm sure the Paisley side would gladly welcome them both back.

Big Lad, hot streak

Well, someone certainly seems to have had his pre-season Weetabix. Sunday's so-called "Wonga Derby" at Blackpool was won by a single goal from Big Lad, his third in successive friendlies. He seems to have hit a timely run of form in front of goal, given Papiss Cisse's absence, but did also pick up a knock that saw him withdrawn for the second half at Bloomfield Road. Thankfully Cisse will be back to face St Mirren tonight.

As for the match, it was a relatively uneventful affair which we generally dominated and could have won by more, though Rob Elliot did have to tip a Craig Cathcart header onto the bar and in-demand manager's son Tom Ince was a continual threat. Agent Chopra, now a Tangerine following his departure from Ipswich, offered little.

Strangely enough, it's hard to get excited about a 1-0 win over lacklustre Championship opposition when our first Premier League opponents are Man City, deposed champions who've spent the best part of £100m in the close season. What chance us actually spending anything at all before the big kick-off?

Sideshow Bob at full throttle

If the Silver Fox told the team to go for the jugular in last night's pre-season fixture against Pacos de Ferreira, then something appears to have been lost in translation for Sideshow Bob, red-carded in the first half for throttling the home side's Rui Caetano. In what turned out to be a friendly in name only, our skipper's diminutive victim was also sent off following the skirmish, and several others were booked over the course of the match, with the Silver Fox later complaining that the referee "lost control of the game".

Caetano had opened the scoring in the 15th minute, with Big Lad grabbing our equaliser, and that's how it finished, though things could have been different. Haris Vuckic was at the heart of the action, first heading against a post and then clearing a Pacos effort off the line late on. His manager's claim that "we were far better than them" was infused with increasingly characteristic exaggeration, but it was nevertheless a much-improved performance against a side who will be competing in the Champions League this coming season.

Ave oh dear

Our second pre-season friendly ended in disappointment yesterday evening with a very poor 3-1 defeat against Rio Ave. For debutant Jak Alnwick, it was a classic lesson on what life as a Newcastle goalkeeper is like, the youngster having to pick the ball out of the back of the net no fewer than three times in the opening 26 minutes. Dreamboat later smashed the angle with a drive and Big Lad nabbed a second-half consolation before leaving the pitch with an injured wrist, but it could have been worse had Alnwick's replacement Rob Elliot not saved a harshly awarded penalty.

Time to Ciss and make up

OK, so Wongagate is getting serious now, with Papiss Cisse missing from our pre-season tour of Portugal. Whether the decision was his or the club's is unclear (the BBC news story implies the former), but either way relations between the two parties are clearly not in good shape. Just as well that he's not our #9 and main goalscorer, and that we've made a raft of other high-quality additions to the squad to compensate for his loss. Eh? Oh.

The Toon party has flown out for friendlies with Rio Ave (Saturday) and Pacos de Ferreira (Tuesday), off the back of a 4-2 victory at Motherwell in our opening pre-season fixture on Tuesday evening. It may have been a very young and scratch squad that triumphed over the SPL runners-up, but three senior players - Goofy, Moussa Sissoko and Sylvain Marveaux - weighed in with goals while Haris Vuckic, finally back to fitness, opened the scoring.

Red spells danger

A humbling 4-1 defeat to Championship opposition: not the best way to wrap up our pre-season campaign, with the opening league fixture against Spurs just a week away.

Sporting their controversial new red home shirts, Cardiff rocketed into a three-goal half-time lead courtesy of a double from Aron Gunnarsson sandwiching an effort from Joe Ralls. We fought back with a Big Lad penalty awarded for a foul on Spidermag, but it didn't herald a storming comeback, the Bluebirds' new Slovenian striker Etien Velikonja adding a fourth for the home side.

Still, I suppose it could have been worse - the damage could have been done by the No-Necked Text Pest, who's just agreed a return to his hometown club...

'Pool party

At last - a thumping friendly win. Hartlepool were our obliging victims, going down 5-1 on their own patch thanks in large part to a brace from Sylvain Marveaux. His goals, plus one from Big Lad (who later went off nursing an injury), meant we were cruising at 3-0 up with only 12 minutes elapsed. Further strikes followed in the second period from substitutes Haris Vuckic and Obertan Kenobi, with the Monkey Hangers' consolation coming courtesy of Anthony Sweeney.

The game saw first-team debuts for both Curtis Good and young 'keeper Jak Alnwick, while there was also a first run-out of the pre-season for HBA, who had a hand in Vuckic's goal.

So, Cardiff away on Saturday, and then we get down to business for real...

A friendly in name only

A shame that the only thing to report from yesterday's dull 0-0 with Den Haag was the fact that some of our players were reportedly subjected to racial abuse by a minority of home supporters. The club issued a terse statement saying that the matter would be discussed and resolved privately with our hosts. It must have left a sour taste in the mouth of Tim Krul in particular, who had been vocal in his delight at going back to play at his first club in the run-up to the game.

A tale of two Taylors

Friday's friendly against Olympiakos in Portugal brought a first: a penalty shoot-out in which neither side triumphed. Saylor had given us the lead with a deflected shot in the first half, only for Kostas Mitroglu to equalise ten minutes from the end of normal time. The only other points of note were an injury for Dan Gosling, a pair of yellow cards for the Greek side's Francois Modesto and Papiss Cisse hitting the post.

Our Senegalese marksman then ballooned the first spot-kick over the bar, but thankfully Haris Vuckic, Romain Amalfitano and Perchinho all held their nerve, and when Tim Krul saved Olympiakos' fifth effort, Mehdi Abeid squared it up at 4-4 and the referee - bizarrely - called a halt to proceedings.

A day later against Sporting Braga and it was Raylor who got on the scoresheet with a fine free-kick which whipped inside Beto's post and which proved to be the winner. Demba Ba scored first, following up a saved penalty after a pacy, tricky run from Sylvain Marveaux had been illegally curtailed in the box. A flowing move ended with Ruben Amorim drawing the Portuguese side level via a deflection off Sideshow Bob. Braga ended the game with ten men, while the match was also notable for a first pre-season appearance for Dreamboat, who came close to scoring when his volley into the ground was turned over the bar by Beto.

That result meant we triumphed in the three-team tournament and will bring home some silverware. The Trofeu Internacional de Futebol do Guadiana may not have been at the top of our wishlist, but everyone's got to start somewhere.

Teutonic travels

So, three games into our pre-season schedule, after a relatively low-key series of friendlies in Germany and Austria, and we've collected a win, a draw and a defeat.

First up were German minnows Chemnitz FC, who - it being Friday 13th - inevitably beat a youthful side with an early goal. Debutant Romain Amalfitano was lively on the left-hand side of midfield, while Gael Bigirimana also made his Magpies bow, appearing from the bench with 25 minutes to go. The closest we came to equalising was through a Little Big Lad finish, though he was ruled offside. Possibly for the best, given what happened last time he scored in an opening pre-season fixture...

Three days later we took on AS Monaco at TSV Landsberg's ground, running out 1-0 winners. Amalfitano and Bigirimana both featured again, but generally it was an older side that took on the French outfit, not least because Steve Harper was between the sticks - his shirt number indicating that Tim Krul is now literally our number 1. The goal came from Demba Ba's bonce just after the half-hour mark, while strike partner Big Lad came close to opening the scoring in the first minute, his backheel rebounding off the post. Had it been the Mackems, it would of course have gone in... Afterwards, Monaco manager Claudio Ranieri was effusive in his praise for our playing style and achievements last season, and wished us well for the forthcoming campaign.

The trio of friendlies was completed with our most challenging fixture to date, against Turkish side Fenerbahce in Ritzing, Austria. Dirk Kuyt was among those lining up for a relatively strong opposition XI, but we took the lead through substitute Mehdi Abeid. Big Lad, Little Big Lad and Papiss Cisse were all unfortunate not to double our advantage and we were punished at the death by a Cristian Baroni equaliser, a disgruntled Silver Fox muttering about us having fatally switched off and it potentially being "a valuable lesson".

Next up is a game against Olympiakos on Friday. Will we have any new faces to parade then?

Quote of the day

"It seems that the three 'soccer' teams big enough to get window space in the Orlando Mall sports shop are Barcelona, AC Milan, and some what bizarrely Newcastle!"

The Facebook status of my friend Rich, currently over in the US for work. Clearly our pre-season tour had a positive impact, even if we hardly suggested we were worth supporting by losing 1-0 to local non-MLS side Orlando City. Another Stateside jaunt this summer, perhaps, to help boost our revenue? Maybe - we wouldn't have to worry about ASBO's criminal past, though the Lone Ranger certainly wouldn't be welcome...

View from the Home End

Now that Ben has assessed our competition (here and here), it's my turn to cast an eye over our own club as the season draws ever close.

Firstly, let's assess the squad. At the end of last season, our Premier League future secure, we rather flopped over the finish line thanks to our home draw with the Baggies. From the squad that took us to mid-table, we've shipped out the talismanic Kevin Nolan and waved goodbye to Jose Enrique. Given the recent Twitter saga, we might also be bidding farewell to ASBO, although rumours would suggest that he's not that keen on a move to Stoke (even if they can offer European football). We've also flogged to Wayne Routledge to Swansea and Kazenga LuaLua has gone on loan to Brighton for a third (and probably final) time. Spanish waster Xisco has also finally gone, albeit I'd long since written him off as a bad lot.

In their stead, for once we moved early in the transfer window and secured the services of Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Mehdi Abeid and Demba Ba, all of whom have shown promising flashes in pre-season. We've now added Gabriel Obertan into the mix.

What we have singularly failed to do is replace Rocky, who departed in January, or bring in a replacement for Enrique - both of which really need to happen before the transfer window closes at the end of the month. We could also do to find some cover at left-back.

If we can't add a further striker, we'll be left with Ba, Big Lad, Lovenkrands, Best and the seemingly unwanted Ranger, which doesn't seem the most inspiring bunch, truth be told. Similarly, we now need to move quickly if we're not to be left struggling along without a recognised left-back until January.

What we do now have is an abundance of midfield quality, with Cabaye and Mr T the likely fulcrum around which our team will turn next season, with cover in the form of ASBO (if he stays), Gosling, Smith (assuming we can't get rid of him) and Guthrie. Out wide we can call upon Spidermag, Marveaux, Obertan and Ferguson (when he recovers from his injury), plus ASBO and Hatem Ben Arfa.

From what Pardew has been saying, it looks like we might be leaning towards playing Ben Arfa in a classic number 10 role, behind a lone striker (most likely Ba or Big Lad), with the possibility of Haris Vuckic, Obertan or even Little Big Lad deputising in his stead.

At the back, Steven Taylor and Sideshow Bob look a solid central pairing, with Danny Simpson and a new left-back (hopefully) out wide we look a decent side. The difficulty comes when you scratch the surface, with the injured Ferguson, James Perch or Ryan Taylor the only senior cover down the flanks, and Mike Williamson available in the centre. While Williamson had a decent first season, he struggled at times and he'll need to show more this time out if he isn't to slowly drift down the pecking order.

On the youth front, James Tavernier came back from his loan spell at Gateshead with his reputation improved, but has now gone out on loan again, but Tamas Kadar looks to be falling out of favour, and may well be looking for a loan move to get some pitch time.

Between the posts, Pardew still needs to pick between Steve Harper, Fraser Forster and Tim Krul, with one of them likely to be disappointed. Whether either of the two youngsters will be satisfied acting as understudy for the other (or for Harper once he overcomes the niggling injuries which have beset his preseason) remains to be seen.

What that all means is that, on paper, we look a stronger side than the one we assessed 12 months ago, albeit shorn of Rocky's goal threat. Of greater significance, though, is the impact which our pretty terrible pre-season (visa issues, injuries, Twitter, the monsoon, player sales) have had on our morale. If the team spirit has gone, then this could be a long hard slog of a season. Games at home to Arsenal and away to 5under1and hardly represent an ideal means of easing ourselves into our league campaign, and if we're still on zero points after those two, there could well be some discontent in the stands.

However, what I love about the start of the season is the fact that everyone starts even and no matter what has gone on over the summer, kick-off represents the start of a potentially great season (they're all potentially great until the grim reality kicks in). So let's focus on the positives. Pardew looks a decent man-manager, and if he can add a striker and a left-back before the end of the month, it could be a very good year. With a whole host of mediocre teams making up the bulk of the Premier League, there a plenty of winnable games out there.

Ha'way the lads!

Not singing in the rain

Our turbulent pre-season concluded on Saturday with the poorly-attended fixture against Fiorentina - our only home friendly - being abandoned due to the incessant downpour. Referee Mark Halsey took the decision after 64 minutes, with the score still at 0-0 but the conditions increasingly farcical.

Chances were squandered by Leon Best, Spidermag and Demba Ba, while at the other end Tim Krul, between the sticks for the first half before being replaced by Fraser Forster, made some important interventions. Will Steve Harper still be the man in possession of the gloves come the start of the season?

The defence (Danny Simpson, Jose Enrique, Steven Taylor and Sideshow Bob, with Mike Williamson on the bench) is likely to be the one which lines up against Arsenal - assuming, that is, that the Spaniard isn't sold before then. However, of the midfield and attack which began against the Italians, only Spidermag and Yohan Cabaye are pretty much guaranteed a starting role on Saturday, though Dan Gosling, I suppose, might be in with a shout in the absence of ASBO and Hatem Ben Arfa.

Leeds grateful for Fraser's failings

More than 20,000 supporters watched us slip to a 3-2 friendly defeat against Championship outfit Dirty Leeds at Elland Road yesterday. Chiefly to blame for the result was Fraser Forster, who dropped one costly clanger five minutes in and another five minutes from the end. No doubt Tim Krul was watching on from the bench with interest and wondering if he'll again be retained at St James' Park as Steve Harper's understudy while his rival is packed off on loan.

It was a lacklustre display and we fell behind three times, but there were however a few positives to be taken from the game. Firstly, Steven Taylor reprised his end-of-season goalscoring form and substitute Haris Vuckic nabbed his second in successive games - an indication, perhaps, that he might be nearly ready to step up to the first team squad? Secondly, ASBO, Yohan Cabaye and Mike Williamson were reintegrated into the side after their spell with the youngsters in the Netherlands. Cabaye - mystifyingly referred to as "Yonas" in the starting line-up given on .cock - recorded an assist, as it was his corner Taylor converted, though Williamson was culpable for Leeds' second goal. And thirdly, there were no new injuries.

Alleged Toon target Max Gradel wasn't among the opposition players on the scoresheet, though it wasn't for want of trying, the diminutive winger having a first-half header disallowed for offside.

So, our mixed bag of a pre-season continues, with just Saturday's home fixture with Fiorentina to come before we kick off against the Gunners.

Transatlantic tales

And now, a first for Black & White & Read All Over: a guest match report from another continent. What follows is regular reader Bob Mueser's eyewitness account of Tuesday's friendly against Columbus Crew.

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In the comments of the "Toothache" post I had passed along a link explaining why the US had denied the visas for ASBO, the Lone Ranger and Yohan Cabaye and that I had just recieved my tickets for the Newcastle v Crew match. Ben asked me if I would be willing to write up something about the match... I really enjoy this blog so I am happy to help out. Be warned, though: I'm not a life-long Newcastle supporter like I'm sure most of you are, but after the trip to the Toon in August 2008 and a visit to SJP to see a 1-0 victory over Bolton I proudly enlisted in the Black and White Army. This isn't going to be the most technical review, but hopefully it will at least be entertaining...

A couple months ago when I first learned of the US tour and the Columbus date I was rather excited until I learned it was on a Tuesday night. I don't know much about Columbus other than it's the capital of Ohio, home of Ohio State University, the Blue Jackets and the Crew and it's 200 miles (three and a half hours) away from where I live (Pittsburgh, PA). We took the afternoon off from work and packed up the boys (two-year-old Ryan and 11-month-old Logan) and made the surprisingly pleasant drive (the boys slept most the way) to Crew Stadium. After pulling into the parking lot, I immediately saw a patch of black and white and we were greeted by a number of cheers when we got out wearing our strips. I thought the grounds were very nice, very clean and simple to navigate. We checked out the Budweiser Clydesdale horses and the playground and grabbed some dinner before making our way to our seats in the south end.

The Newcastle supporters were given the south stands for the main group, but looking around the half-filled stadium you could find a number of black and white kits in the sea of gold. Quick renditions of 'God Save The Queen' and 'The Star Spangled Banner' ensued, Mark Allison of Run Geordie Run did the coin toss and we were underway. I can't say enough about the supporters and the lengths that some people traveled for the match. I talked to people from all over Ohio, ran into other Pittsburghers, someone from Wisconsin (500 miles and 9+ hours away) and even overheard some displaced Geordies talking in the refreshments line.

I also can't explain how good it was to sing, stomp and clap for my team again in person. Despite having to deal with tired and squirmy little guys, I'm very glad that we took our little ones with us. On a side note, you might be able to finance a trip Stateside next year by selling kids kits and "My First Toon Kit" onesies in the parking lot, judging by the volume of questions we got...

As for the match, I thought that the lads looked very good. I was very pleased with Tavernier. I thought he defended well (on the few occasions he had to) and I liked how he distributed the ball upfield. Marveaux seems like he's going to be a good addition to the squad as well. Spidermag had an iffy first half with just about as many errant passes as good plays, prompting the supporter behind to advise him to "loosen up that pony tail". He must have done something in the locker room as he looked much better in the second half. Big Lad also looked good scoring the opener around the ten-minute mark. I was getting Ryan situated with his water when I looked up and saw Shola behind the defense and slotting the ball home.

The talking point of the match came in first minute of first-half stoppage time when Ba was sprung loose and Andy Gruenebaum came out and made the stop with his hand. Unfortunately, he was about five yards out of the box. As soon as the play happened, the first thing out of my mouth was "Let's see some color, ref!" and the man in the middle didn't disappoint. As someone who officiated for 15+ years, this was the correct decision for this level no doubt. Argue all you want about "it's only a friendly / exhibition game", but the purpose of the match is for everyone to get better, to make the right decisions, and this goes for the officials as well.

The second half was all Newcastle with the man advantage. Ba had a good chance early on, but it was Sideshow Bob with the goal. From the corner, the ball bounced right to his feet, and he turned and picked his spot; the keeper had no chance. This of course led to many verses of the Coloccini song for the rest of the evening. That's when Pardew started subbing the main players out and by the 85th minute I swear he was sending in fans from the stands... Sadly, I missed what was apparently a beautiful goal by Vuckic at the end of the match - that's the price you pay for keeping a two-year-old up past his bedtime.

It was good decisive victory for our side, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. The Crew rested a number of their players, their back field played very sloppy and the 'keeper who played the second half wasn't part of the squad a week ago.

The one thing that surprised me was that only Steven Taylor came over to the south end to thank the fans for their support. I assumed more players would do the same, so I wanted to thank Steven for that, as I'm sure he reads this site as well!

Finally, I wanted to echo some points from another Bob from his I Wish I Was A Geordie blog: "It was clear from the faces of the players that they didn’t expect to see scenes like the one pictured above in the middle of Ohio. A lot of folks in those stripes aren't English. Earth to Newcastle: soccer people in America are getting a little weary of Manchester United and Arsenal and their boring synthetic look-we-won-again US followers."

I can't agree with this more. Last season, only two Newcastle matches were broadcast live on ESPN - not surprisingly, it was both times they played Man Utd. Every other match that I watched was downloaded after the fact via BitTorrent.

Back to Bob: "...that’s why Newcastle United has joined the small list of Premier League clubs with national fan organizations in America; and that’s why this tour was a better idea than United seemed to know. It’s a goldmine sitting here. The club should keep mining it. Newcastle United needs to come back to the USA soon. And do it right. With more advance preparation and a decent immigration lawyer, the club can bring a full roster, play in temperatures under 90, and win on the field as well as off it. We’re not going anywhere, NUFC. If you think this trip was a party - just wait."

I don't see any reason why Newcastle and any other mid-table club couldn't fill a football stadium to at least 75% capacity if:

1. the game's marketed correctly, namely to youth soccer clubs
2. it has the backing of the city and host team (ie meet players, local news interviews, etc)
3. it's played on a weekend night.

Some other links from Tuesday:

The Crew's official recap
The Chronicle's recap
Video highlights
My pictures and video

Last but not least thanks to Ben and Paul for this blog. I really enjoy their take on things and I'm glad I was able to contribute.

* * * * *

Well, allow us to return the thanks, Bob - it's our pleasure.

Crew cut down to size

At last, some good news from our US tour: a comfortable victory, in the last of our three fixtures. Columbus Crew were humbled 3-0 in front of their own fans and a considerable contingent of Toon followers thanks to goals from Big Lad, captain Sideshow Bob and substitute Haris Vuckic - though it would have been a more encouraging result had our opponents not had to play half the game with ten men, 'keeper Andy Gruenebaum receiving his marching orders just before the break.

No new injuries to bemoan, though, while Sylvain Marveaux and Demba Ba both started and Mehdi Abeid was granted a five-minute cameo. There was more pitch time for Dan Gosling and James Tavernier, and Paul Dummett made his first-team debut from the bench. Jose Enrique filled the left-back role as usual - but, after Sunday's rant, for how much longer?

The Youngsters, Crims & Rejects' tour of the Netherlands came to a less satisfactory conclusion, with what on paper appears to have been an almost defenderless side going down 3-2 to Almere City. Wayne Routledge and James Perch both played the full 90 minutes, while Xisco lasted over an hour but couldn't make it onto the scoresheet. Our goals instead came from the Lone Ranger and Sammy Ameobi - thankfully this time there was no consequent pitch invasion...

Plastic not fantastic

The second game of our tour of the US ended in a dismal 1-0 defeat to Orlando City notable largely for being played on a plastic pitch and for the inevitable injury, this time to Ryan Taylor. Fraser Forster and James Tavernier played the whole 90 minutes, while Dan Gosling continued his comeback, replaced on 71 minutes by Haris Vuckic, himself back from injury. Demba Ba and Mehdi Abeid both came on as substitutes, but Sylvain Marveaux didn't feature.

Better news from the Netherlands, though, where the Youngsters, Crims & Rejects squad fought back from a two-goal deficit to win against an FC Utrecht XI. ASBO and Ryan Donaldson were once again on the scoresheet, the other goal coming from midfielder Michael Richardson. While Mike Williamson made a surprise appearance (his wife due to give birth imminently), there was no sighting of Yohan Cabaye - hopefully not due to injury...

Kansas City KO

So, two pre-season friendlies and two clean sheets, even though we couldn't actually score in yesterday's dull 0-0 draw with Sporting Kansas City. But once again the headline news is neither the result, nor the performance, nor the debuts for Sylvain Marveaux and Demba Ba - no, it's the injury sustained by Hatem Ben Arfa.

The Frenchman lasted 35 minutes, hitting the post from behind the goal-line at one point, before being stretchered off with an ankle injury that's since been deemed sufficiently severe as to rule him out of the rest of the tour and necessitate a return to Blighty. There's no indication yet as to the likely length of the lay-off, but, knowing our luck as we do, forgive us for fearing the worst.

Dan Gosling, like Ben Arfa pretty much a permacrock last season, also picked up an injury. It was to the face, though, and after extensive treatment early in the game he was able to continue until replaced by Danny Simpson shortly after the hour mark.

Meanwhile, over in the Netherlands the Youngsters, Crims & Rejects squad recorded a 2-2 draw with amateurs HVV Hollandia. ASBO scored early, as he did against Darlington, but went on to miss a penalty as the Dutch outfit came from behind to take the lead. Good of the Mirror's Simon Bird to remind ASBO of his mocking verdict on the USA v Brazil shoot-out in the Womens' World Cup... Thankfully Ryan Donaldson was on hand towards the end to spare our blushes. ASBO's fellow visa rejects Yohan Cabaye and the Lone Ranger both played a part, as did Xisco and Wayne Routledge, the latter probably not a Newcastle player for too much longer.