Alan Pardew has won the prestigious League Managers Association (LMA) Manager of the Year award. The Toon gaffer beat off stiff competition from Sir Alex Ferguson, Paul Lambert, Roberto Mancini and Brendan Rodgers to be voted the best manager by his fellow peers. Pardew guided Newcastle to a 5th placed Europa League finish in the league, above both Chelsea and Liverpool. The magpies also finished 20 points above rivals Sunderland. The award is his second end of season accolade after he was named Barclays Premier League Manager of the Season last week. In his victory speech, Pardew said Newcastle had enjoyed a “special year” and thanked Chris Hughton for leaving him a “winning spirit” in the squad. Afterwards, he told NUFC’s official website: “It is an incredible honour to be named Manager of The Year by the League Managers Association. “Coming from my fellow managers, this really is as good as it gets and has to be the highlight of my managerial career so far. “This award is not just for me though. Everything we have achieved at Newcastle United this season has been achieved as a result of an incredible team effort. The board, my coaching staff, backroom team, players and our magnificent supporters – they all play a crucial role and I thank every one of them.” LMA Chairman, Howard Wilkinson, said: “Alan Pardew’s achievements at Newcastle this season are there for all to see and it is just reward that he should be named as LMA Manager of the Year. “I’m often asked, where are all the English coaches? My answer is ‘We have plenty of them, they just need an opportunity.’ I am delighted for Alan that he has taken his opportunity.” Richard Bevan, Chief Executive of the LMA, added: “Alan is fully deserving of this recognition and what he has achieved in such a short space of time with Newcastle is very impressive.” Tonight’s award means Pardew is the first English manager to win both manager of the season awards in the same season. NUFCfans.co.uk would like to congratulate AP on his LMA award and a terrific season.

Alan Pardew has spoken of his pride at guiding Newcastle United to a top five finish, and a return to European football. The gaffer saw his side lose 3-1 at Goodison Park on the final day of the season but was keen to look forward after an impressive campaign. He told NUFCTV: “It has been an unbelievable season. “What a season we’ve had, the fans were brilliant. It’s just a shame we couldn’t run it a little closer with a win here [at Everton]. “I’m proud to be manager of this football club. It’s a previlege and we’re looking to take that into next year.” Goals from Steven Pienaar, Nikica Jelavić and John Heitinga gave a dominant Everton side the three points in a tough contest for the magpies. Looking back at the game, Pardew said: “Today was a tough game. We found it difficult but in the second half we gave it a go and it was a shame we couldn’t get a goal at 2-0 because I thought we deserved as goal. “At the back we need to strengthem next year, we’ve let in too many goals so that’s something I will ponder over the summer.” Ahead of the summer break, Pardew says it is important for players to stay fresh for the European campaign. He’s also looking forward to see the Toon Army travel abroad. He continued: “I think it’s important that we don’t rest on our laurels. That we understand that we’ve taken the club with a huge leap forward, to finish above all those teams, it’s a huge effort. Just looking to improve on that.” “I’m looking forward to taking our fans somewhere nice and hot, because Newcastle fans are a credit to the country. Never any trouble.” NUFCfans.co.uk would like to congratulate everyone involved at NUFC for the brilliant season. Hats off!

Newcastle United will be playing in the Europa League next season after any hopes of Champions League football were dashed with a 3-1 defeat at Everton. Goals from Steven Pienaar, Nikica Jelavić and John Heitinga gave a dominant Everton side the three points, to finish above rivals Liverpool. Newcastle suffered after another slow start and got their consolation through a Tony Hibbert own goal in the second half. Tim Cahill was given a red card for an altercation with Yohan Cabaye at full-time. Cabaye was booked for the incident. Newcastle started the day in 5th, hoping to win at Goodison and see Arsenal and/or Tottenham flop for a 3rd/4th placed finish. Alan Pardew named a strong and unchanged side from the 2-0 defeat against Manchester City at the weekend. The intent was there. Newcastle were the better side in the opening exchanges, settling well and passing the ball on the Goodison turf. But the home side were always going to push forward and the first goal came with a slice of luck. Steven Pienaar collected the ball 25 yards out and had a go. His effort took a wicked deflection off Mike Williamson and flew into the top corner of Tim Krul’s goal. The goal resulted in confidence for Everton as the game opened up. Soon after it was two, with just 27 minutes on the clock. Hot in form Nikica Jelavic ran on to a long ball, turning past Fabricio Coloccini. His first effort was terrifically turned away by Krul but the Croatian fired home on the rebound to send the home crowd into raptures. Newcastle looked to get a grip in the match but were beaten to the ball time and time again. Krul denied Marouane Fellaini and Darron Gibson fired wide as Everton tried to kill off the game before half time. They failed as Jonas Gutierrez also shot wide at the other end. Alan Pardew brought on Sylvain Marveaux and Ryan Taylor for Davide Santon and James Perch at the start of the second half, with Newcastle’s performance improving to a degree. Papiss Cisse got into some lovely positions but failed to find the net on this occasion. Ba forced Michael Howard into a fine save but as the magpies pushed forward, Jelavic continued to cause problems at the back. The game was ended when Johnny Heitinga popped up to head home a killer third. Ryan Taylor was beaten in the air and Newcastle had conceded three away from home yet again. There was, a late consolation however when Tony Hibbert headed the ball into his own net under pressure from Ba after a long ball from Taylor. As the full time whistle went, tension rose between Cabaye and Cahill over an incident where Cabaye pushed a ball boy over early in the game. Cahill saw red after confronting Cabaye and the Frenchman was given a yellow card. It is believed that Yohan apologised to the ball boy after the final whistle. At the full time, Newcastle players went over to celebrate with their fans after an incredible season. Fifth and set for Europa League, the team have given them some incredible memories. At the end of the season, Newcastle are above high spending Chelsea and Liverpool, with a 20 point gap over Sunderland and their manager is manager of the season. Despite a disappointing afternoon on Merseyside, it is very difficult to put a downer on a season like this. Attendance – 39, 517

Newcastle United are unchanged for today’s key race for Champions League game at Goodison Park against Everton. It’s a 4-4-2 line-up with James Perch once again at right-back for the third consecutive game. Cheick Tiote and Yohan Cabaye are in centre of midfield with Hatem Ben Arfa and Jonas Gutierrez on the wings. Up-front, the deadly strikeforce Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba is leading the line for another game. Newcastle are sitting in 5th before kick-off but could finish as high as third depending on result elsewhere. The full line-up is as follows: Starting – Krul – Perch, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon – Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Tiote, Gutierrez – Ba, Cisse Bench - Elliot, Ferguson, R.Taylor, Gosling, Marveaux, Obertan, Shola Ameobi. HOWAY THE LADS!!

Newcastle United fans have voted for defender Fabricio Coloccini as their player of the season. The Argentine topped the NUFCfans.co.uk end of season poll with 34% of the vote, beating goalkeeper Tim Krul (26%) to win the award. Yohan Cabaye came 3rd with 11% and both Jonas Gutierrez and Demba Ba were tied on 7%. Last season’s winner Cheick Tiote was in 8th. Coloccini’s success comes just weeks after his sole NUFC representation in the PFA Team of the Year. He was given the captain’s armband by Alan Pardew last summer and won the North East Football Writers’ Player of the Year Award for his impressive performances too. In a campaign where the 30-year old signed a new four year contract, captain Colo has been captain fantastic. His commanding performances from the back led NUFC to a record-equalling 14 PL games unbeaten run at the start of the season. On the ball, he oozed class and was a resolute rock against some of the world’s best strikers. Off it, he was a leader, vocal and passionate about the black and white jersey. In the centre of defence, he was consistent be it alongside Steven Taylor, Mike Williamson or James Perch. Coloccini joined Newcastle from from Deportivo La Coruna in 2008 and despite struggling to adapt in his first season on Tyneside, remained at the club during the tough Championship campaign. Since then, the former Boca Juniors man has become a talismanic figure and one of Newcastle’s star performers. Fabricio Coloccini will be presented with the NUFCfans Player of the Season trophy at a date TBC. The full poll results are as follows. Thank you for voting.

Freddy Shepherd is part of a consortium which has this morning agreed to buy Scottish outfit Glasgow Rangers FC. The former Newcastle Chairman and his son Ken are involved in the group headed by former Sheffield United chief executive Charles Green. The consortium reportedly tabled an £8.5million bid and and agreement to purchase was reached this morning with the administrators. Wayne Rooney’s agent Paul Stretford is also part of the the same group. 70-year old Shepherd is keen to get back in to football since leaving St James’ Park back in 2007. In his 10-years as Chairman at the club, the multi-millionaire businessman appointed six managers including the much loved Sir Bobby Robson. Shepherd is still working in sport and is behind Triple S Sports and Entertainment Group, with both Ken and Stretford. Earlier on Saturday, he saved a Newcastle city-centre building from demolition, planning to use it as a museum for his classic cars.

Date – Sunday 13th May 2012 Kick-off – 1500 Venue – Goodison Park TV – Highlights, Match of the Day (BBC1 10.25pm) Newcastle United (Form last 7 PL – WWWWLWL) Newcastle are missing Danny Simpson and Leon Best for this last match of the season. Top scorer Demba Ba will surely want to finish with a flurry, whilst 13 goals in 13 games Cisse will want to maintain his impressive scoring ratio. Line-up (4-2-1-3 or 4-4-2): Krul, Perch, Williamson, Coloccini, Santon, Tioté, Gutiérrez, Cabaye, Ben Arfa, Cissé, Ba. Out: Shola Ameobi, Haris Vuckic (both knee), Lovenkrands (thigh), S Taylor (Achilles), Simpson (ankle). Everton (Form Last 7 PL – WDWDWDD) Striker Victor Anichebe (groin) and midfielder Jack Rodwell (hamstring) look set to miss the match, although Phil Neville, Darren Gibson and Leighton Baines are back in contention. Line-up (Probable 4-2-3-1): Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Heitinga, Distin, Osman, Gibson, Fellaini, Pienaar, Cahill, Jelavic. Out: Anichebe (groin)  Rodwell (hamstring). The Match The Magpies attend Goodison with a sticky toffee to swallow, just 2 points separate them from third placed Arsenal. The silver-haired king of the Barclays Premier League Managers, Alan Pardew, will be seeking a psychological vantage for next season by finishing in the top 4, irrespective of the Chelsea pensioners’ exploits in Germany. With European football secured for the first time since Sir Bobby Robson, Alan Pardew has asserted that qualifying for the Champions League would be “off the scale“. He told the media: “There are some complications about it this year because fourth placed isn’t guaranteed because Chelsea could win the Champions League. Third place puts you straight in the group stage though and that is massive. “We’ve got a European campaign, whatever happens. We’ve got expectation and we might lose a key player so I’m under no illusions that we haven’t cracked it. “It’s almost as great as getting promotion from the Championship to the Premier League, it is that significant.” Everton meanwhile nestle 12 points behind Toon in 7th place, highlighting the gap in class below the European travel club. The Toffees have lost only 2 in their last 17 league games, but have scored only 47 goals in the Premier League this season, a profligacy in front of goals matched by a miserly defence that has the third best defensive record in the division. They may be sparse but we should see goals. Everton’s 0 - 0 at Wolverhampton was their first scoreless game in 70 matches. April saw a shower of goals at home with 4 without reply against Sunderland and Fulham, and the remarkable 4 – 4 draw at Old Trafford. In fact Everton have won their last game of the season in every one of the last 4 campaigns. Toon meanwhile have yet to win a final match in the Premier League away from home. Neighbours Liverpool have endured a mixed season, and remarkably they have exactly the same goal stats as their fierce rivals. The reds travel abroad for a world record ensemble of of partying Elvis’ -  to a jubilant Swansea City.  They will need to prove more than a point if they are going to finish above Everton. Everton defender Phil Jagielka told his club’s official website: “It’s nice to finish at home and it’s nice there’s something on the game. I’m sure the fans will be looking forward to it. “We might still need some sort of result come Sunday and, if that’s the case, I’m sure the fans will get behind us and hopefully we’ll send them home happy.” Referee: Andre Marriner NUFCFans Prediction – Everton 1 – 2 Newcastle United

For the second time this season, West Midlander Andre Marriner officiates at Goodison Park, following the FA Cup game against Sunderland.  Mr Marriner’s record to date is as follows, 27 games, issuing 88 yellow, and 5 red cards. When it comes to NUFC, Marriner has refereed three of our games, resulting in two wins (Everton / Stoke) and a defeat (Spurs). With Everton smashing four goals without reply in each of their last two home games, and 10 in their last three, Toon will need to be on their guard at the back. In our last man in the middle with Marriner steering the goodship Toon, we noted his prowess at awarding late late goals. Yet late goals come at the expense of penalty kicks, with a Scrouge like use of the finger to the spot giving him the lowest average of all the officials on duty this weekend (0.10 per game), even if Newcastle still top the league for penalties conceded (9). In the final game of the season, Marriner will be assisted by Mr S Ledger and Mr A Watts. The fourth official will be Kevin Friend.

Newcastle winger Hatem Ben Arfa has joined Twitter and launched a new website to communicate with fans. Earlier this week, fans were made aware of the account Benarfaofficial which was linked to the official website of Hatem Ben Arfa. Today, another Toon player Demba Ba has confirmed that Hatem Ben Arfa has indeed joined Twitter after being selected by Laurent Blanc to be part of France’s preliminary Euro 2012 squad. The official website is in French and has articles about the former Marseille Man along with interactive videos. Elsewhere another Frenchman, Yohan Cabaye has also decided to embrace the web with his new official website. Cabaye joined Twitter earlier this season and his new website www.yohan-cabaye.com is a gallery of images showcasing his modelling talents. The website was designed by Cabaye’s good friend Antoine Sibierski. Both Ben Arfa and Cabaye are keen to keeping in touch with fans over the summer, as they head to Euro 2012 with France. Before that, Newcastle fans are set for an exciting season finale at Everton with a chance to finish as high as 3rd and qualify for the UEFA Champions League.

It’s that time of the year again – to vote for your NUFCfans Newcastle United Player of the Season. In an incredible season, NUFC have guaranteed themselves a top 5 finish, ahead of Sunday’s key game against Everton at Goodison Park. The lads can still finish 3rd, 4th or 5th depending on how results pan out elsewhere. No matter what the outcome, no one can deny that this has been a special season on Tyneside and the team has exceeded all expectations. Success this season has been down to a team with several stand out performers. Last season, Cheick Tiote won the inaugural NUFCfans Player of the Season award with over 60% of the vote. This season, it is likely to be a closer race. So who is your Player of the Season? The nominations are as follow: Tim Krul – In his breakthrough season as NUFC goalkeeper, Krul has kept 15 clean sheets to repay the faith  of manager Alan Pardew. The former ADO Den Haag man is now pushing for a place in Holland’s Euro 2012 squad. Danny Simpson – Newcastle’s reliable right-back has missed just two games all season and has made the most goal-line clearances in the Premier League – Seven. It looks like he will miss Sunday’s game at Everton but that should not take the shine off a superb campaign. Fabricio Coloccini – Toon skipper has led by example since being given the armband by Alan Pardew. Coloccini has been part of a formidable partnership with Steven Taylor and Mike Williamson in defence. He was recently named in PFA Team of the Year. Jonas Gutierrez – Spiderman has played on the left-wing, right-wing, left-back and centre of midfield. His willingness and desire make him a fans’ favourite and Jonas always plays with a smile. Yohan Cabaye – A successful first season on Tyneside after he quit Lille last summer. Yohan’s incisive passing and goal threat haven’t gone unnoticed. He recently scored a brace against Stoke to take his tally to five for the season. Cheick Tiote – Last season’s winner has had a quieter season due to injuries and the African Cup of Nations. However, the Ivorian has been part of a strong central midfield partnership with Cabaye which strengthens his case. Hatem Ben Arfa - The French whizzkid has finally arrived and been a revelation this season. Hatem’s pace, skill and dribbling accuracy have been a joy to watch and he has often found the end product too. Last month he scored a wonder solo goal against Bolton in the league – but an arguably better goal in the FA cup against Blackburn is Pardew’s favourite. Papiss Cisse – Since his arrival from SC Freiburg in January, Cisse has taken the Premier League by storm. As the goals dried up for fellow countyman Demba Ba, Cisse couldn’t stop scoring and sits on 13 goals in 12 starts, the same number of goals Wayne Rooney has scored in 2012. Demba Ba –  The Strawberry Syrup warrior has been the ‘signing of the season’ on a free transfer for Newcastle last summer. Having netted 16 times this season, Ba’s early form is one of the main reason’s the magpies find themselves in contention for CL football. The goals have stopped since Cisse got his first against Aston Villa but Toon fans love Demba and can’t wait to see him score again. ***CAST YOUR VOTE – in the right sidebar of this page. The poll is also in the homepage sidebar. You have until midday on Sunday 13th May to vote for your choice. The winner of the award will be announced earlier next week before the player will be presented with the Player of the Season trophy. Let us know who you’ve voted for and why – join the debate by leaving a comment below.