Another good season for Pardew and Newcastle

Newcastle at times were superb last year and surprised many as they finished 5th in the Barclays Premier League. Alan Pardew defied his critics and despite the sales of previous key figures in Jose Enrique, Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton were well worth their high finish. Pardew has added in Ajax's Vurnon Anita and Gael Bigirimana from Coventry.

Papiss Cisse, an arrival from German side Freiburg in January, took the Premier League by storm as he completed an all Senegalese strike force with Demba Ba. Cisse scored an incredible array of goals, many worthy of challenging for the goal of the season crown, with his strike away to Chelsea in a 2-0 victory winning the said trophy. Whether Cisse can continue his form from last season is up in the air; however if his strike rate is half as impressive as his first 14 games, then he'll certainly be challenging for the top goalscorer.

For once Newcastle haven't sold during a Summer transfer window, keeping their midfield duo of Check Tiote and Yohann Cabaye despite rumoured interest from some of Europe's finest clubs. Their midfield ranks with the best in the Premier League; however they don't have as much depth as those who finished above them, meaning any injuries will hit Pardew's side hard.

Club captain Fabricio Coloccini was immense at the heart of Newcastle's defence, earning a place in the PFA Team of the year. The Argentine had many doubters following the clubs relegation in 2009, and despite interest from abroad stayed with the club during their season in the Championship, making him a fans favourite in the progress. With Steven Taylor's return to full fitness, Newcastle again have a solid partnership at the back.

Key player - Hatem Ben Arfa. Ben Arfa towards the back end of the season was one of the Premier League's best players, and with injury cutting short his previous two campaigns, this season is a big one for Ben Arfa. At times his attitude is questionable, having fall outs at both of his former clubs leading to his exit; however if he reaches his undoubted potential then Newcastle will do very well to keep him.

Prediction - 6th. I think Newcastle will just be short in their pursuit of a top four finish; however under Pardew the club have improved immensely and will finish in a Europa League spot. 

View from a fan - Scott Anthony Carr

What would be an ideal season?

A perfect season would be finishing fourth as well as a decent run in the Europa League

What would be a nightmare year?

My nightmare year would be finishing in the bottom half of the league because all of the momentum would be lost.

Do you have the right manager in charge?

I like Pardew, I was skeptical and annoyed when they first put him in charge because I thought Chris Hughton did a good job but he's been doing the business and with the set up of the club we need a manager who is happy not to have all the power such as a Ferguson or Moyes, with transfers etc, which he seems happy to do. 

Which Premier League player would you sign given the chance?

Realistically I'd like us to sign Michael Dawson after his move to QPR has hit the rocks. He's a great centre back and Steven Taylor has his injury problems and is shaky at times.

Can Papiss Cisse really keep up the form he shew in the back end of last season?

I think he'll still be a regular scorer, just not as frequent as last season. I still reckon he'll get 15+ goals for the season.

Is this Ben Arfa's big season?

Ben Arfa showed in the back end of last year what a quality player he is, and I think now he's in the side and the fans and the manager realise how much ability he has he's going to get more freedom and be a great player this season. I'm just worried one of the big club will come in for him!

Vermaelen caps another Arsenal late show

An added time Thomas Vermaelen winner saw Arsenal edge out a strong Newcastle side 2-1 at the Emirates last night.

The late winner meant Arsenal not only extended their lead over Chelsea, but closed the gap on their city rivals Tottenham to one point in the race for third.

Hatem Ben Arfa gave Newcastle an early lead; however Arsenal drew level barely a minute after, in the form of Robin Van Persie. With the game looking set to finish all square Vermaelen popped up to create a Premier League record for Arsenal, who have now come from behind to win their last four games, a feat never before achieved in the English top flight.

Arsenal made one change from their epic encounter with AC Milan, with Mikel Arteta returning to add a bit of flair to the Arsenal midfield, whilst Newcastle made two changes with Pape Cisse and Ryan Taylor replaced with Gabriel Obertain and Ben Arfa.

Newcastle opened the scoring in the thirteenth minute through the returning Ben Arfa. Cheick Tiote won the ball back in Arsenal’s half, after a poor Laurent Koscielny pass, who found Obertan, whose first time pass was clever and Ben Arfa, who cut inside Kieran Gibbs too easily, smashed home inside Wojciech Szczesny’s front post.

Literally seconds latter Arsenal levelled through their likeliest of sources. Walcott did well to engineer a brilliant cross, which Van Persie controlled exquisitely, in doing so taking Mike Williamson out of the game, and the Premier League’s leading scorer comfortably slotted past his Dutch counterpart Tim Krul to equalise.

Walcott, who looked dangerous in the early proceedings, came the closest to a third goal in the first half; however his shot was cleared of the line by Danny Simpson.

Half time came and went and Davide Santon, who was given the run around by the improving Walcott, didn’t come out for the second half, as the former Nottingham Forest man James Perch came on for the Italian.

Arsenal came out in the second half stronger and dominated possession as well as increasing their threat in the Newcastle half, as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin, who wasn’t having the best of evenings, came close twice in quick succession.

Tomas Rosicky, who signed a contract extension with the club earlier in the day, was again fantastic and the Czech captain was behind Arsenal’s best moments in the early stages of the second half.

Gervinho, a second half replacement for Oxlade-Chamberlin, really should’ve given Arsenal the lead, only to screw wide with the goal at his mercy inside the six yard box.

With five minutes extra time announced, it looked like Arsenal were set to drop points, only for the rampaging Vermaelen to win it for the Gunners. With Newcastle in possession deep in the Arsenal half, Alan Pardew’s side should’ve seen the game out; however Arsenal broke in the shape of Alex Song, who found Walcott, and the England internationals cross feel perfectly for Vermaelen who beat Krul to ball and gave Arsenal the all important win.

The goal was harsh on Newcastle, who had defended brilliantly through out the game. Captain Fabricio Coloccini was again superb at the heart of Newcastle’s defence; however for a second successive Premier League game, Arsenal sealed the three points with an added time winner.

Man of the match – Tomas Rosicky.