I Wish I Was A Geordie - The Blog of Newcastle United in the US

NEWCASTLE SUPPORTERS SECTION TICKETS FOR JULY 20 MATCH IN KANSAS CITY AVAILABLE NOW - HERE'S THE LINK

Tickets in the Newcastle United supporters section for the Mags' July 20 pre-season friendly at Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer are available now, slightly ahead of tomorrow's 10 a.m. release of general tickets for the match. Tickets are $20 each plus service charge, and are emailed to you immediately - click here to purchase tickets in the Newcastle section, and use TOON as the access code.

Hope to see you there, and keep watching here for more details about VIP upgrades and Newcastle fan events in Kansas City.

KANSAS CITY MATCH TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY

Tickets for Newcastle United's July 20 pre-season friendly against Sporting Kansas City will go on sale to the general public Friday at 1 p.m., the Major League Soccer club announced Wednesday.

To order, call 1-888-4KC-GOAL or visit Ticketmaster.com, with prices starting at $20. We're checking with SKC for information about away supporter ticketing and the VIP package, which included admission to a Newcastle training session as well as an autograph session, that had been previously mentioned.

UPDATE: We've been in contact with Sporting Kansas City this morning. The club will be supplying us with a link to buy tickets in the Newcastle away supporter section so check back here at sale time. VIP packages will be available later as an add-on to your ticket.

LARSSON'S AGENT: NO CONTACT FROM NUFC

Newcastle United has not made contact with Sebastian Larsson's agent over a summer move.

The Swedish midfielder, of course, is available on a free transfer because his contract with Birmingham City will be up. That means Larsson could potentially reach a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside of England before the season ends — or wait until the summer and sign with any of the Premier League teams he's been linked with.

However, Larsson's agent, Anders Carlsson, wrote in an email that "nothing has been decided and no contact has been made from NUFC."

NOT ON THE BALL, BUT THEY GET THE POINT

Sometimes the context makes all the difference. 

Four days after tying soon-to-be Premier League champions Manchester United, Newcastle United emerged with a point after a 1-all draw Saturday at Blackpool. Whereas the scoreless tie with the Glazer Family Debt Machine was all about Newcastle's dogged defending, grit and determination, United was, in all honesty, lucky to get a point against the relegation-battling Tangerines. 

Maybe in a small way that makes up for those last-minute equalizers against Sunderland and Spurs.

United manager Alan Pardew said after the match his team was tired physically and mentally, an assessment that looked dead on. Newcastle sleepwalked its way through the first half — particularly after Peter Lovenkrands' stunning opening goal — before improving somewhat after the break.

All in all, the result — one that further solidifies United's Premier League status for next season — wasn't as disappointing as the performance. Blackpool, a team that's been in a free fall down the league table during the second half of the season, clearly outplayed Newcastle. 

United showed very little composure on the ball and seemed content to pump hopeless balls forward rather than attempt to string a few passes together. That inability to retain possession put extra pressure on a backline that looked shaky throughout the game — left back Jose Enrique was particularly poor — and allowed Blackpool to control the match.

It wasn't the first time that's happened this season, either, which should give Newcastle even more incentive this summer to buy players who will bring improved quality on the ball. It's a credit to United's work earlier this season that Saturday's poor performance won't cost it the chance to make those additions.

NEWCASTLE'S SECRET INGREDIENT: INSPIRABILITY

If you'd opened a reverse time capsule last fall and found the lineup Newcastle United sent out yesterday, you'd have had little hope of a result against a club the likes of Manchester United. Not even a tired Manchester United.

Yesterday's entertaining scoreless tie - yes, America, there is such a thing - was no illusion either. While Manchester United had a slight edge in the official match statistics, the clubs finished even in the unofficial areas that often decide matches, such as missed wide-open nets and sketchy penalty denials. Newcastle had the better of the first 30, Man U the better of the last 30, and neither the better of the middle 30. A fair draw all around.

How did it happen? For that matter, how have all the league's traditional bluebloods - Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Man U - now failed to leave Newcastle this season with better than a draw in league play? Against a team that's been losing key players all year?

It likely has something to do with what ESPN2's superb commentator Ian Darke termed yesterday as the "tingling atmosphere" in St. James' Park, in synergy with players who respond to such an atmosphere. Not all players do, such as one who was received with notable hostility yesterday when he came on for the opponent. I think the presence of inspire-able players up and down the Newcastle roster is a critical and overlooked ingredient in the club having played above its talent and luck level for much of the season.

At the top of the inspirability chart lies one Joseph Barton, whose grit seems to rise with the decibel level, at home or away. I'm glad my job description doesn't include dribbling past him. For better or worse, he's the heart of this club. Which is why I disagree with my co-author of this site, who believes United should "think long and hard" about re-signing him. Barton's volatility makes him a risk, no doubt. But reward doesn't come without risk. Inspirability may be the flip side of volatility, and if that's the risk, I'd take it. Especially as Barton shows ever surer signs of being able to channel his emotion into his play rather than his behavior.

You can tick the names off: Barton, Nolan, Tiote, Gutierrez - even players who haven't yet emerged, like Shane Ferguson - the inspirability factor is palpable for Newcastle United. And nowhere in the Premier League is inspiration more readily available than St. James' Park. Add in £35 million or so of new talent and there's no telling where this club might go, from its already surprising and increasingly solid perch in the top half of the best league on the planet.

CREW-NEWCASTLE TICKETS ON SALE WEDNESDAY, NEWCASTLE SUPPORTERS TO OCCUPY SOUTH END - HERE'S HOW TO BE THERE

Tickets for the July 26 game in Columbus between Newcastle United and the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer go on sale at 10 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday, April 20 (tomorrow as we write this). The Crew ticket office informs us that Newcastle supporters will occupy the south end of the stadium. If you'd like tickets for Columbus-NUFC in the Newcastle supporters' section, call Nick White in Columbus Crew group sales at (614) 447-4153, or e-mail him at nwhite@thecrew.com - he'll set you up to be with the Black and White Army at Crew Stadium. If you don't catch Nick on the phone, leave a voice mail and he'll call back in short order.

Howay the Toon and we'll post more summer tour details as they become available.

A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE

Newcastle United fans tend to see their own team's problems more clearly than neutral observers.

So even though the boys in black and white sit 10th in the Premier League table and six points above the bottom three with six games to go — beginning with today's match against Manchester United at St. James' Park — most Toon fans are leery of a late slide that might make the end of the season a bit nervy.

It's important to remember, though, that fans of every team below Newcastle in the table are feeling that same way — or worse. Just take a look at the 10 teams behind United (39 points, +1 goal difference):

West Brom (39, -15) has been in good form since Roy Hodgson took over, but the Baggies play three of their last five matches on the road (at Spurs, Wolves and Newcastle). Plus, the home games are against in-form Everton and Aston Villa, which finally seems to be playing near its talent level.

Fulham (38, +1) has three winnable away games (at Wolves, Sunderland and Birmingham), but the Cottagers have only won once on the road all season. Their home games, meanwhile, are against three top-eight sides: Bolton, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Stoke City (38, -3) has only one league win since Feb. 5: the 4-0 thrashing of Newcastle on March 19. The Potters also have matches remaining against Wolves, Blackpool and Wigan — so if they fare well, it will be at the expense of those teams.

Birmingham (38, -10) has taken seven points from its last three matches, but has four tricky away games remaining: Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and Spurs.

Sunderland (38, -12) has what would appear to be an easy run-in: vs. Wigan, vs. Fulham, at Bolton, vs. Wolves and at West Ham. But can anything be considered easy for a team that has gone nine games without a win? The Black Cats, whose last win came Jan. 22 at Blackpool, have just one point during that stretch and also have severe injury problems in the backline.

Blackburn (35, -14) is only playing a little bit better than Sunderland, with its last win coming Jan. 23 against West Brom and only four points in the nine games since. Rovers' three remaining home games are tough: Manchester City, Bolton and Manchester United.

Wigan (34, -21) has taken seven points from its last four games, but hasn't posted back-to-back league wins all season. The Latics also failed to beat any of their remaining opponents in the reverse fixtures earlier this season.

Blackpool (33, -22) has the worst goal difference in the league and has picked up only five points in its last 13 matches. The Tangerines are looking shakier at the back as the season wears on, too — they've conceded 18 goals in their last six games.

West Ham (32, -19) has lost three straight after a brief upturn in form and has two daunting fixtures up next: at Chelsea and at Manchester City. The Hammers then host Blackburn, travel to Wigan and host Sunderland.

Wolves (32, -20) have a somewhat encouraging-looking run-in: vs. Fulham, at Stoke, at Birmingham, vs. West Brom, at Sunderland and vs. Blackburn. But, like Wigan, they've yet to post back-to-back league wins this season. It's also worth noting they have the worst away points tally in the league (eight).

THE JOEY BARTON DILEMMA

I like Joey Barton.

I like how he plays. I like his personality, in spite of some of the horrible things he's done in his life.

But if I were in charge of Newcastle United, I'd think long and hard before signing Barton to a contract extension.

Barton, who's probably been Newcastle's player of the season, will be a free agent after next season. He was widely expected to sign an extension back in January, but reportedly got cold feet after United sold Andy Carroll. 

There have been so many conflicting reports since then that it's been difficult to handicap the odds of Barton staying at Newcastle past this season. Just like with Jose Enrique, if United can't reach an extension with Barton, surely it will cash in on him this summer to avoid losing him for nothing a year later — not to mention both players' values have never been higher during their time at the club. 

Barton has been one of the key figures in what has been, at least to this point, a successful first season back up in the Premier League. He's tied for fifth on the team in goals with five and is the assists leader with seven, the latter statistic showing just how much Newcastle's play has gone through him this season. He's also credited with being a major influence in United's locker room.

So it would seem Newcastle would be crazy to allow Barton to leave. But that's an overly simplistic view that doesn't take into account his first three seasons with the club, when he battled injuries, off-field problems of the highest order and subpar play. 

An optimist would say Barton has turned the corner both on and off the field since then. A pessimist would point to several incidents this season (his sucker punch on Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen and a questionable interaction with Fernando Torres during United's win over Liverpool) as well as Barton's recent boasting to French football magazine So Foot. 

Barton can say he was misquoted in that much-talked-about interview, but the fact that he was even willing to discuss a topic like his infamous fight with former Manchester City teammate Ousmane Dabo — So Foot quoted Barton as calling Dabo "a little pussy" — shows poor judgment.

And while Barton genuinely seems to have made efforts to improve his conduct, he still looks like a loose cannon at times — last week's defeat at Aston Villa, for example — and can get sucked into trying to critique every refereeing decision when he or the team isn't playing well. Then there's the fact that Barton will be 29 in September.

All of this isn't to say Newcastle shouldn't try to keep Barton, particularly if he's willing to take a significant paycut from his current salary (reportedly £67,000 a week).

But if United's decision-makers come to the conclusion that the risk with Barton is just too great, I won't blame them.

DISAPPOINTINGLY PREDICTABLE

Sometimes a loss just seems inevitable.

I had that feeling as soon as I saw the threadbare lineup Alan Pardew was forced to field for Sunday's game at Villa Park. The optimistic side of me hoped that Newcastle would outwork its relegation-threatened opponents and Aston Villa's home crowd — already fed up with manager Gerard Houllier — would turn on its team.

Deep down, though, I couldn't really see it happening. And, sure enough, United was outplayed in a 1-0 defeat at the site of its relegation-sealing loss two years ago. The result unleashed a wave of negativity from Newcastle fans on Twitter, although I'm not sure what exactly some of them were expecting from a team missing its top two strikers (Shola Ameobi and Leon Best) and two central midfielders (Kevin Nolan and Cheik Tiote).

Pardew pinned much of the blame on those personnel losses, and it's hard to argue with him. You couldn't fault Newcastle's work ethic, but its quality wasn't good enough and there was no cutting edge in attack.

United's hierarchy needs to remember this performance over the summer, because if depth isn't added in the transfer market, relegation will be a threat again next season.

Here are the other takeaways, at least in my estimation, from Sunday's loss:

- Nile Ranger still has a long way to go to establish himself as a bona fide Premier League striker. Ranger has all the physical tools, but his skill, vision and hold-up play aren't yet close to where they need to be. Hehad two opportunities to play in his striker partner, Peter Lovenkrands. Instead, he opted to shoot on both occasions and didn't trouble Brad Friedel. Ranger also got muscled off the ball too easily by Villa's center backs.

- Joey Barton is not going to get many 50-50 calls. Barton and Pardew both complained about the foul that set up Villa's goal, but Barton did appear to make contact with Ashley Young, even if Young was dramatic in his fall. There were a handful of occasions, though, when Barton seemed to get fouled, only for Stuart Attwell to do nothing. That's become a trend this season and you'd have to be naive to not think it has something to do with Barton's past transgressions.

- Jose Enrique looked like he was sleepwalking. He wanted too much time on the ball, tried to dribble through the entire Villa team at times and misplaced more passes than usual. This all comes against the backdrop of a report that former Liverpool captain Phil Thompson told TV2 in Norway that he's heard Enrique-to-Liverpool is already a done deal. Might Enrique have been a tad distracted on Sunday, then?

THEY'RE GOING TO DISNEY WORLD

In American football, you go to Disney World when you win the Super Bowl. In English football, you go to Disney World when nothing else fits the schedule.

Completing three dates for the club's summer 2011 U.S. tour, Newcastle United has announced a Saturday, July 23 match against Orlando City, a United Soccer Leagues Pro team, in Orlando, Fla. USL Pro is the third division of American soccer, and the average weather forecast for late July in Orlando is 92 degrees (33 Celsius) with 85 percent humidity. So, to put it in English terms, Newcastle will be playing Cheltenham in a blast furnace. 

OK, perhaps that's unfair. We're still thrilled Newcastle United is coming to America. We know of one transplanted Geordie in Miami who is probably being peeled off a ceiling somewhere right now. And if you've got kids to bring along, Mickey Mouse is now at your service. But, in soccer terms, this date does pale somewhat next to MLS competition in Kansas City three days earlier and Columbus three days later. To quote my significant other, "Don't even think about it." May require some bargaining.

Anyway, that's the tour, and we'll see you in Kansas.