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 Thursday
29th December 2005 By Howaythetoon Everyone else seems to be doing their 'the year that was' type awards so like a Cockney Man Utd fan, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and pick through my own personal hits and misses, moans and groans of 2005. And here they are... Best Player There is only one winner and a clear one at that, Mr Shay Given. The Ireland man has been absolutely vital to the cause between those sticks and without his saves, professionalism, dedications and consistency, god knows where we would be. Worst Player Arguably the hardest category to select a winner from, or as in Butt's case a loser, given the number of under performing players and shocking performances by many during 2005. But there can only be one and Butt stands out above all others. Let him never darken our badge again. Best Young Player Peter Ramage. Many of you reading this may well be surprised by my choice given the tremendous performances of Steven Taylor, but I kind of new what he was about even before he made a first-team appearance having watched him a few times for the reserves and England youth sides. He always struck me as being something a bit special and his displays haven't been that surprising. Peter Ramage's have however, he hasn't put so much as a foot wrong and while he's not the most gifted of youngsters, he more than makes up for it with his determination and assured old head on young shoulders type of play. He's been a bonus to Newcastle and long may he continue. Best Signing Scott Parker. Again, not the most obvious choice you may be wondering but for the price we paid, his age and the position he plays, he's been a tremendous buy and his performances since signing have been phenomenal at times. I wasn't too sure about him when he did sign, but now, I'm glad we did because he's priceless, as his absence in the starting 11 illustrates. Great bit of business. Best Team Performance Olympiacos away. While we didn't play scintillating football, I thought we were very impressive tactically, mentally and disciplinary that night. To beat the Greeks so well on their own patch was a joy and made all the more pleasing because it came in Europe. If only we could play like that every game... Worst Team Performance Wigan away in the League Cup. Again this was a hard category to choose a winner from but that defeat in the League Cup, or rather the actual performance, takes some beating. Dear me we were pitiful that night. Not one to dwell on so quickly moving on... Best Individual Performance Alan Shearer Vs Arsenal 10th December. Shearer was immense that night, awesome in fact. Not only did he set up Nobby for the winner, he literally lead the way to victory with a performance full of fight, aggression and power. Despite his age, weary legs and playing in a poor team, his performance just goes to show you what can be achieved with bloody determination. But that's Shearer all over, he become the player he was, and had the career he has based on determination more than anything. If only others showed the same... Worst Individual Performance There have been many performances that rank zero by a few players but given the significance of the match, the team we were playing and his reaction or rather lack of reaction at the final whistle, Nicky Butt's performance at Cardiff took the piss. Biggest Disappointment Every damn moment of it. Yep, that's right. It's been a complete nightmare from start to finish. Good riddance to 2005. Biggest Cheer Michael Owen's signing, what a day in Toon. I can hardly believe it even now. A magical day where club and fans were United and a sign of what can be achieved by this club when we want it... Biggest Moan Excuses. It's been one excuse after the other, no-one has held their hands up once and taken any responsibility for the collective shambles that was 2005. Not the players, not the manager, not the Chairman. Plenty of hot air though... Best Atmosphere Easy that one, Cardiff. 33,000 Geordies cheering on their well beaten team who unlike us lot, failed to turn up. We can be awesome when we want to. If only we were like that for every match... Best Visiting Fans Spurs in the FA Cup Quarter-Final. They came in numbers for a change and gave their team lots of support up there in the gods. Kudos. Worst Visiting Fans I would say the mackems but that would be too easy. I'll go with the Birmingham City fans, twice they turned up in their Burberry clad clothing, annoying accents and piss-poor chants and songs. God they are an unpleasant bunch. Butt and Bruce are at the right club, hopefully they'll remain there for a long time. Biggest Laugh Sunderland's attempts at beating their 19 point season. It's going well for them I must say, they are well on course to beat it. Marvelous stuff. Best Goal N'Zogbia's away to Blackburn, cheeky. Highlight That 8 game winning sequence, for once, despite not playing brilliantly, we looked unbeatable. Low Point Lisbon away and that 4-1 capitulation. If ever there was a chance of picking up silverware, that was it. We coasted the first-half as well and in typical Toon fashion, shot ourselves in the foot with both barrels. The Freddy Shepherd Pleasantly Surprised Moment The return of Wor Nobby. Now that was totally out of the blue and just capped off what was a great day. And that's about it folks. As ever on Newcastle-Online.com we like to give you the opportunity to have your own say so use the below form to send in your own views on 2005 and we'll publish them. © Howaythetoon
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NUFC 2005: Hits & Misses, Moans & Groans
