Newcastle 1-2 Stoke – Not good enough!
Posted on September 27th, 2010 | 122 Comments |
After sleeping on it I have to say that my disappointment has stayed with me. I’m not disappointed that we lost, I never am providing that the team have given it their all in trying to win the game. They didn’t do that yesterday though in my opinion, which is why I am still feeling angry about it.
Stoke came with a gameplan, stuck to it, and took the three points back home with them. For all the ball that Newcastle had, the fact is they did very little with it. It was the wrong formation from Hughton in my opinion, and too many players had an off day. If Newcastle want to survive in the Premier League then both of those issues will need addressing if we are to keep our destiny in our own hands.
That may sound dramatic, but the fact is that we have had the chance to win 6 points at home against teams that will be around the bottom of the league with us yet we have walked away with none. Not good enough!
Newcastle started with the same side that won at Everton last week, and to be fair they had most of the ball in the first-half but they were unable to break down a Stoke team that looked to be playing for the draw.
Despite all the endeavour from the home side it took a mistake from former Middlesbrough defender Robert Huth for Newcastle to get the chance to make the breakthrough after he needlessly brought down Andy Carroll in the box. Kevin Nolan stroked the penalty home confidently to give the home side a deserved yet fortunate half-time lead.
Stoke were much improved in the second-half although it was arguably a player that didn’t really use his feet that changed the game. Roray Delap came off the subs bench and immediately seemed to have the home defence worried with his long throws.
It was another substitute in the shape of Ricardo Fuller who had a hand in the Stoke equaliser on 67 minutes. A battle between Fuller and Jose Enrique resulted in Stoke being awarded a free-kick on he edge of the box. Etherington whipped the ball across goal for Robert Huth who headed the ball back across for Kenwyne Jones to apply the finish. 1-1.
Andy Carroll forced a save from Thomas Sorenson in the Stoke goal on 70 minutes. Sorenson had to make sure his handling was spot on to prevent the onrushing Kevin Nolan getting onto any rebound. Unfortunately for Newcastle, it was.
Stoke got the winner on 85 minutes when James Perch headed the ball into his own net. It was unfortuante on the lad who had a decent game to be fair to him. Perch had to try and get something on the header as Robert Huth was arriving just behind him and probably would have put the ball in the net anyway. Anyone paying attention will have seen Perch was left visibly distraught by the own goal and had his hands on his head for some time afterwards.
On balance of play Newcastle probably deserved something out of the game, but they also can’t have any complaints about losing the game. It is clear that something has to change at home as we need to start picking up points at St James’ Park. Andy Carroll is getting isolated up front on his own far too often so perhaps now is the time to switch to two strikers up front at home?
Next up is Manchester City away, and I personally don’t hold out much hope if us getting anything out of that game. That will mean that the pressure will be buidling in our next home with Wigan. That will be another 6-pointer game, and one we can ill afford to lose.
Howay the lads!
Newcastle – Tim Krul, James Perch, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Wayne Routledge, Cheick Tiote, Joey Barton, Hatem Ben Arfa, Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll.
Subs – Ole Soderberg, Ryan Taylor, Alan Smith, Jonas Gutierrez, Peter Lovenkrands, Shola Ameobi, Nile Ranger.
Stoke – Thomas Sorenson, Danny Collins, Robert Huth, Ryan Shawcross, Andy Wilkinson, Glen Whelan, Salif Diao, Dean Whitehead, Matt Etherington, Jonathan Walters, Kenwyne Jones.
Subs – Asmir Begovic, Danny Higginbotham, Abdoulaye Faye, Marc Wilson, Rory Delap, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Ricardo Fuller.
Attendance – 41,915.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
funny how we want this and that to be changed fact is that let chris hughton do his job the fact that he is the one picking the team and letting the 11 play out there to do the job for us i have no doubt he will pick the team up from this
also very disappointing in the crowd booing haven’t they learnt anything!