04
ASPRILLA
Happy new season and welcome
to the first edition of #9 the very
first online Newcastle Fanzine. I
am very honoured to be the first
guest editor as we begin another
season in the Premier League.
Last season really was one to forget
for my old club. With the exception
of the Europa League I felt the squad
underperformed in all competitions
and the football on some occasions
was painful to watch. For me the
failure to invest at the start of the
season was the key factor and once
the injuries and suspensions hit
Alan Pardew his team was always
playing catch up. The loss of Demba
Ba was always going to hit the
team hard and failure to sign a
replacement was crazy. It mean that
Cisse who had been outstanding the
previous season was left to plough
a loan furrow up front on his own
on in many games and it made our
style predictable and easy to defend
against. The defeat to Sunderland
was unforgivable and the collapse
against Liverpool embarrassing but
Pardew managed to get his team to
pick up enough points to stay up,
but only just. So have we learned
our lesson? At the time of writing
it seems not. We have sold Percg
and Simpson and released Harper
and brought in Remy on loan. For
me that is a weaker squad. Okay we
don’t have Europe to worry about
this year but if we lose a Cabaye or
a Colo or a Cisse in the first couple
of games to suspension or injury
then where is the ready made
replacement? There isn’t one. Failure
to invest in the squad for a second
consecutive season for a club of
Newcastle United’s size is not good
enough. I guess the owner will say
that they spent money in January
and that those players will now have
had time to bed in and we should
see the best of them now. I hope that
is the case and that this season sees
us battling for points at the right end
of the table.
I will be back at St James Park on
September 11th for Steve Harpers’
charity game to celebrate his 20
years at the club. I will be pulling
on the black and white shirt once
more to play alongside Shearer,
Lee, Beardsley and my best mate in
football Keith Gillespie against an
AC Milan Legends team. It is always
special coming back to Newcastle, I
left a piece of my heart here during
my playing career and to play at
St James Park again will be really
special. Tickets are £10 for adults
and £5 for children and available
from the club website so please
come along and give Steve the send
off he deserves.
Personally I am teaming up with a
football club in Newcastle called
Newcastle East End. I will becoming
an ambassador for them and will
be spending time with the up and
coming footballers each time I visit
the city. My big hope is that we can
discover the next Alan Shearer at
East End and he goes onto play for
his hometown club. Never say never.
Where do I see our season going?
It’s a very hard one to call. The
fixture list has been kind to us and
if we can get off to a good start then
who knows. We need a bit of luck
with injuries and suspensions and
hope that the likes of Sissoko and
Mbiwa and Remy can hit the ground
running. It would be nice to see a
couple of new faces through the
door before the transfer window
shuts to. I just hope that the football
is more entertaining than last season
it is the very least the fans deserve.
Tino Asprilla is available for talk
ins September to October. To Book
call 0191 2299631
WRAITH’S
RANT
Welcome to Issue 1 of the very
first online Newcastle United
Fanzine #9 named after one of
the most famous shirts in the
clubs history worn by the likes of
Shearer, Milburn, Gallacher, and
of course Supermac who we are
delighted to have as one of our )ɕ