Newcastle v Stoke – Match preview.

Posted on September 25th, 2010 | 228 Comments |

Newcastle welcome Stoke City.
Newcastle welcome Stoke City.
Newcastle face tough opposition tomorrow when Stoke City roll in to town.

Tony Pulis has moulded his side into a solid Premier League team these days and most people know full well that to get points off of them then you have to be up for the fight and be prepared to give no less than 100%.

Luckily for Newcastle we have a team who will do that nowadays. The last time we played Stoke I never felt confident about our own ability to get results against the more physical teams in the league. A draw both at home and away in our relegation season kind of confirmed that.

This time round is different though, and Newcastle now have the ability to mix it up with the best of them after our ‘character building’ season in The Championship last year.

Chris Hughton is expected to make wholesale changes to the team that beat Chelsea in midweek and tomorrows team will more than likely look very similar to the one that started the match at Everton last weekend.

Danny Simpson and Danny Guthrie are both back in training but are still short of match fitness whilst Steven Taylor will return to training in around two weeks time. Steve Harper and Dan Gosling are now our only long term injury absentees. James Perch is also available for selection after serving his one match suspension during the midweek game. I would expect the Newcastle team to look something like this;

Newcastle – Tim Krul, James Perch, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Wayne Routledge, Cheick Tiote, Joey Barton, Hatem Ben Arfa, Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll.

Stoke City have been struggling of late with their away form, although our recent away results at grounds where we usually struggle should serve as a warning that the situation Stoke are going through at the moment can quickly be turned around.

Jermaine Pennant should be fit after suffering from a slight hamstring strain whilst Thomas Sorenson, Abdoulaye Faye and Jonathan Walters are expected to reclaim their place in the Stoke starting XI. Mamady Sidebe remains sidelined through injury.

Stoke’s last league game was a 1-1 draw at home against West Ham. This is how their team lined up for that one;

Stoke – Thomas Sorensen, Robert Huth, Danny Collins, Ryan Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Jermaine Pennant, Dean Whitehead, Rory Delap, Matt Etherington, Kenwyne Jones, Jonathan Walters.

As I have said, quite a few times actually, it won’t an easy game tomorrow and the Blackpool game should serve as a reminder to us all to keep our feet on the ground. If we can do that and go about our own game as we have been then I would say we could well get a narrow win.

My prediction: Newcastle 2-1 Stoke

Howay the lads!

Date – Sunday, 26th September, 2010.

Kick-off – 4:10 pm.

Venue – St James’ Park, God’s country (Newcastle).

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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228 Responses

  2. toonsy u should predict a lost for us…. ;)

    Anyway,when we face Arsenal youngster+some first-teamer,i am sure Sol got some knowledge about them. :lol:

    I am fairly confident to beat them….

  4. Anything can happen in PRM. WBA won against Arsenal @ Emirates but they lead 3-0 ! Can you believe that (although end 3-2).

    Tomorrow game will be unpredictable but I confident 1 thing. Our team will put their heart and passion more than 100% for 3 points !

  7. Toonsy is right to be sensibly confident. The eejit brigade that thought we would hammer Blackpool 4, 5 or 6 nil had their rude awakening. This will be another very hard game, but if we score early and keep it on the deck as we did in the last two games there should be enough talent in our team to put 2 or 3 past them. We’ll probably ship one as well (as the defence needs to settle with Krul) but that’s OK if we’re two or three up.

    I’ll go 3-1, but it won’t be easy.

    The myth of the top 4 or even top 6 is disintegrating this season, and we must treat every game as winnable (while realising it in eminently loseable as well)!

  8. said all along we could beat any off the top teams if we have enough of the ball..to supply andy..at corners and set pieces we will score for fun..lets hope it is a good home win against stoke and stay focused and bring on man city..panic i see next week at city..they will not no what hit them..

  11. We’re doomed,doomed I tell ya…….unless Toonsy changes his prediction ;-)

    Asim….I think skysports is just free tomorrow.

  12. i live in manchester and just been with city fans who now think they are best in the world..said to them we will score 4-5 against them they went mad..they then said to me u wont even score a goal..lol i said we are going for the league when we beat use..this league is a joke with sides like city..i had 2 meny pills..but lets go for the league..if we dont get that then top 4 is not unreal..ben arfa get your magic out and take us thier..we need a hero and u are the one..

  13. Batty do you have close ties with Stoke ? family or Friends.
    Spotlight Kid I think scoring early will be the key if we do I think we will go on to beat them by a couple of goals, but if stoke get one 1st I think there might be a draw on the cards :(

  15. forget it lads..unless ben arfa gets injuried early..nobody on earth can stop him..people will see tomaz if they havnt ever seen him and say we have the best player in the league..soon to be the best in the world in a black and white shirt..am i being deluded maybe the secound part..theirs only1 1 ben arfa.

  16. Not looking like a great crowd,about the same as the Villa game maybe less…………depends how many turn up and pay on the day like.

  17. Asim i’ll have a pint of what yer on mate ;) but I do think that Benny can become a real cult hero for us and I do think he will have lots of fun while he is with us and will love the Fans.

  18. asim says:
    September 25, 2010 at 6:48 pm

    “lol i said we are going for the league when we beat use..this league is a joke with sides like city..i had 2 meny pills..but lets go for the league..”

    LOL, love it, Asim. That’s the right attitude!

  20. big dave! when was the last time..we talked about a player we havnt even bought..1 point 2 u had u ever seen him play..2nd point this is only the secound time in ten years i will be off my seat when he is on the ball since tino..

  21. for the arsenal game i think he might play Guthrie ahead of Vuckic! For tomorrow if we stop Jones we should win. 3-1 i say, big AC getting a brace :D

  22. Well looks like the first ten posts already beat me too it with regards to Toonsy’s prediction ;)
    Really hoping for a win and I’d be really proud of the lads, but with this tipsy league I’m not going to go all out and say anything less is unthinkable..a point is still a point, but a loss would be disappointing.

  23. Cheeky kunts.

    Although on the flipside, as Spotlight Kid says, being cautious has it advantages…..

    I mean I wasn’t one of the knee-jerkers after Old Trafford or Blackpool sooooooooo…….. ;)

  25. Asim I think he is capable of being even better than Tino and I think he can be just as exciting as old rubber legs, Funny just as Tino was unknown I think with most fans Benny was unknown only difference for us the Fans is that we can now use the internet, and youtube can be handy for us the Fans aswell, and not just Managers for scouting :lol:

  26. I can’t see us keeping a clean sheet against the aerial bombardment, long throws and monsters like Amabully Faye, Huggingbottom and Robert Scwheinhund.
    However, I do think we will create more chances so I think this game can go either way.

  28. big dave when we bought tino he was top 3 player in the world..are u on pills as well luv u for ever..

  30. Asim im talking more about the the players character not just what he can do with a ball. But I do think he will settle better and be easier to work with than Tino, in someways I think Benny needs to be loved ;)

  32. i’ve heard it’s going to be a poor attendance tomorrow, al be taking up my usual seat uppier tier sir john hall just hope others join me :-)

  33. only change i’d like to see tomoz, is jonas for rout if he’s got the legs for it after that chelski match. Think we could use his efforts in locking up etherington. I’m a bit worried about tomoz cause stoke are really good from set peices and thats krul’s weakest part of his game. We’ll need big andy in the box in a big way. Think scoring first is probably a must. We should be able to dominate the ball, and hopefully run them ragged.
    Been reading .org for a couple of month’s now and you really do good work toonsy. Always liked your input on .com. Ed’s blog has gotten all posh spice on me lately, doin me heed in…

  36. I predict 4-1 to Newcastle…And 5th Position for Us…..

    the same scoreline when KK was back for 2nd time…HAHAHA.

  39. Posh spice? I think that needs elaborating on as I haven’t got a scooby what it means :lol:

    Cheers for the compliment anyway mate, although it is more than just me that doesn bits for here :)

    Mark – Not yet.

  42. TOONSY i have faith in you m8,you keep throwing curve balls,keeps them on there toes theres a ploy in there somewhere

  43. @Big Dave: Let’s Just hope there will be no red card in tmr match. ;)

    In the FA CUP replay match,

    Newcastle United 4 – 1 Stoke City

    Scoring Summary
    Newcastle United Stoke City
    Michael Owen (8) Liam Lawrence (89)
    Claudio Cacapa (31)
    James Milner (68)
    Damien Duff (76)

    And Delap was already in the match too…So i can’t see why we can’t win though for tmr.

  44. @toonsy: I thought i rmb clearly he managed us twice only???

    Unless u include Him playing for us…ya 3times.

  46. AOM well i really think there will be a red on sunday m8.

    jersey welcome m8,big dave will keep you right,but watch out for that toonsy like :)

  48. @icedog: are you addressing to me???

    Well,let’s hope the red card doesn’t fall on Perch…Since lots of u here have confidence in Him. :lol: ;)

  51. I think Bigger lad , Williamson and Collo will handle anything they throw at us from set peices , i would like to see Ben arfa playing in the hole with Andy up top and Jonas and Routlidge down the flanks . The pace and skill that we then have will scare them . Barton and Tiote can boss the midfield both breaking up their attacks and supporting our attackers . With a subs bench including the likes of Nolan , Campbell , Shola , Ranger and RTaylor , i could see us playing good football and winning 2 or 3 nil .

  52. @toonsy
    kind of like what a toon blog would sound like if its owner and users were based in london, or worse america :)
    never really agreed much with ed’s opinnions but always liked the banter. Now seems like .org is more like what .com used to be. Mostly fair weather supporters over there now and not knowledgeable. Still a few over there that i respect but can’t be bothered to sift thru the sh***…

  55. Ice……eh, what have I done :-)
    although I’ve just had a Persian takeaway so may well spend all night on the bog ;-)

  56. Jersey – oooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Now I’ve got it lol

    As I say mate, welcome along to the nuthouse :)

  57. krul comes for everthing! so i think untill they get used 2 him coming for the ball then..we will see some slip ups from him and the defence like he did against chelsea i blame the defender for not letting him punch the ball away..he has got to make up..when to come or not too..for me comes for everything..

  58. It’ll be a tough game but think we’ll win it,yes they’re a big physical team but so were Wolves and Everton.We’re not too small ourselves and can give it and take it.
    I’ll go for my usual 3-1(it has to be right sometime)

  62. ime going to turn into a “chuck”to richie and dave,picking on me and poor mild mannered batty my m8 batty said yous were ganging up on him

  63. lads stoke are not as physical as of recent seasons..they are trying to play football..what i have watched of them..we should have nothing to worry about..apart from rub of the green and when will the ref be on are side..can see us getting a lot of pens with ben arfa at home..that tackle mid week by the stoke player..my see us getting a stoke player sent off..they always even it out next game..

  67. after watching jonas’ corner for the winner on wed, i thought maybe the reason for his poor crossing is the fact that he’s playing on the left and is right footed. I know he plays there because he likes to cut in and have a go but in 3 years he hasn’t been too successful with that tactic. I know him and jose have a great connection on the left but maybe he is better suited for the right side were he can put better service into the box.

  68. Cheers Dave…I think…..we’ll be right tomorrow Daan :-)

    Ice……..I’ve never ganged up on wor batty………just said on that vid Roy C put up that he was a lot better looking than I’d imagined :lol:

    Dave….next to Saint Theresa I’d still be the lesser of 2 evils ;-)

  69. Ice > mild mannered Batty ???? I have heard him being called lots of thinks but mild mannered :lol: :lol: :lol: .
    As for a chuck I dont think you have it in ye to be a chuck mate, yer too nice :)

  71. @dave
    meant this blog is the lesser of 2 evils for knowledge. I know of richie from the other side.

  72. see Jersey is knowledgeable I’ve said that about Jonas the other week when he was getting slagged for his final ball…………he’s a right footer playin on the left
    :-)

  76. Toonsy me a meanie never mate :)

    Jersey there is alot of us on here that were regulars on Ed’s when it was a Blog, but imo when he came back online its turned into a version of newsnow with no conversation craic or banter. unlike on here you can always get a good bit of info with lots of banter and craic

  79. Jersey…..I don’t go on Ed’s mate,just a very few times and nowt for weeks under the same username as now :-)

  81. Ice…….Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy ;-)

  84. @richie
    sorry about that, wrong richie…
    @dave
    some of the names do look familiar and i agree, it came back weakened. I had a spat with moondust in the summer over the blogs and i have to admit i seemingly had a moment of ignorance.

  85. I’m OK with Toonsy’s selection if Stoke go 4-4-2 except that Routledge, who still has to impress at this level, should be replaced by Jonas on the right and HBA on the left and Nolan must surely be looking over his shoulder after Gosling gets fit ? Experience is one thing but the ability to move forward quickly is a much greater asset.

    As for Smudger, the days of getting into the first team at the start are clearly over (saw this on Shiteseats which made me larf)

    “Smith – Not impressed. He had a couple of good tackles but a lot of his passes came back stamped “not known at this address”

    Equally I’m pretty sure Nolan will have to accept a “Nicky Butt” role as captain soon as he fits neither the “hole” nor the creative mf role particularly well.

    In an ideal world HBA would make up the attacking central mf spot with two more attacking mf’s and either AC, NT or SA up front.

    However if we signed Erdinç (still relatively cheap for a young goalscoring striker) then CH would have all sorts of options for the rest of the season :)

  95. Ice……always mate

    I’ve never had a spat with anybody,I’m too lovable…..whey maybe a couple,Cuck and wicky spring to mind.

  98. BTW this sort of headline makes me so feckin mad.

    “Andy Carroll was Stoke City transfer target, admits Tony Pulis”

    The suggestion that Pulis – manager of a mediocre, small town club that clearly punches above its weight in the BPL – even had a chance of getting AC is just downright laughable.

    If I was blind, dumb and deaf yet blessed with an ability to play football as AC has, I still would never consider a move to Stoke City.

    Clearly Pulis is a large brick short of a very small load which is presumably why he spent £8.5m on Kenwyne Jones :)

  99. only thing that gets my goat is when guys tell you how to surport the toon you should do this and do that arrrrrrrrrrrrrr,bloody new-comers,been with toon a few years and tell you how to go on,sorry getting angry thinking aboot it

  104. Ice I know what you mean mate one of my pet hates is when Players ask us to get behind the Team ohhhh it boils my piss that they think that we need to be told to get behingd them, That is one of the things I like about CH he is always full of praise when he talks about the Fans ;)
    Richie you wouldn’t happen to be leading the FFL would ye ?

  105. not me Ice……….nae idea who’s leading like…..I’m sitting in 7th hoping me Toon trio turn it on for me tomorrow and move me up a place or 2

  107. Richie can you not see who is leading ? meant to ask did you ever listen to Simply Red they are having thier final farewell concert on ITV but I think it might be regional ;)

  108. richie that great m8,just a nice place ready to pounce,toonsy did say who was top last week but name meant nowt to me like,me and dave kept out of it to give yous all a chance we wouldnt show anybody up.

    dave forcast for sunday?

  109. Aye but I don’t recognise the name.

    I like a couple of the songs Dave but can’t stand him………..wor lass likes them,seen them in Ireland when she lived there for a year.

  110. Ice 2 predictions mate :) 1-1 if they score 1st or 3-1 ye have to hedge yer bets like I would have went for us Hammering them until I seen Toonsy predicton that we would win so that got me a bit scared :lol:

  111. Ice,it’s got his team name and real name but nae user name so could be anybody.
    Hoping Benny,Joey and Andy get some points for me tomorrow.

  112. DAVE i know he has had tons of birds like,sure its not his money like lol,he kills my best songs ;(if you dont know me by now)

  114. RICHIE your on a top bet with benny m8,he will be rareing and teito will look after him,and might just get one himself imo

  116. Ice lol not being funny but I didn’t even think you would have known who he was mate :) . On that I was in a ( mainly protestant) Nightclub one night yrs back and he came in and he was getting dogs abuse from a few fellas and he was that thick that he tried to scare them by saying he was friends of high up members of the ira what a fuking tool :lol: needless to say he got out pretty sharp through the back doors

  122. DAVE would shock you who ive saw live m8,through traveling aboot with the lad.

    cannot beat richie like told me he saw bing crosby live when bing was only 18yr old

  126. Ice cheers for that,heres me was gonna say ya’d struggle at FF cos there’s no Jackie Milburn and Stanley Matthews to choose……..but I didn’t cos I’m too nice ;-) :lol:

  132. Ice I wonder what age Richie was then mate he must be knocking on abit now like :)
    Richie old Moon isn’t all bad mate I have had lots of Banter with him many a night, but I did say to him that he was a bit nasty to wor Batty like

  133. whoop whoop……..I’m up to 2nd in the ff league :-)
    Mind there’ll be a few with Man Ure players in their team.

  134. well j/d time and motd,and got to store that copper batty just dropped off,later lads.

    ps na divnt want your AL JOLSON tapes richie who is he ?

  135. Batty what about Hitman do you ever see him on eds ? I havn’t seen his name in ages, but then I suppose he could have changed his nick. As for 85 I seen the spat they had with each other im near sure you were involved in it too ;)

  138. I think we’ll win 4-1 with Andy, Nolan scoring one each and benny boy scoring 2 goals ;) just hoping toonsy hasn’t jinxed us :D

  141. MOONDUST // Jan 9, 2010 at 2:48 PM

    Well batty i see your still trying to lick stardusts ass you sad sack of shite. Grow a set of balls and stand up for yourself

  142. aye Rich I think he told me that before ;)

    okkurtgarvilt I hope he hasn’t jinxed us too mate.

    Reet Lads I’ll catch you’s tomorrow im away to get something to eat and watch MOTD

  144. MOONDUST // Jan 13, 2010 at 8:56 PM

    batty boy i couldnt do that then it would spoil the fun But I do go on .org regular for a quick laugh at some of the shit that is spouted by yersel and a few others. but i dont post that much now i use to post more just before you started ?

  155. MOONDUST // Jan 14, 2010 at 6:32 PM

    batty boy you are telling porkies again you only started going on to .org about a week before you got Ed to shout down so dont try that shit with me or i will slap you about with a kipper you focking fat head.

  158. Tell you what, Fair play to WBA for getting the win, they take the points but Arsenal’s defending was woeful. Almunia’s attempt at saving the second goal was also terrible. They’ll be neewhere near contention for the league if they play like that regularly.
    The fact Nasri just strolled through their defence to score two goals in 5 mins just makes it even more confusing.

  166. Richie-Aye mate, managed to drag the old man along so it’s MOTD and bed for me so i’m up bright n breezy, lol.

  167. Too much spare time on his hands maybe,I mean he doesnt write many articles a day on .com :-)

    Each to their own I s’pose.

    ya been oot the neet or just festering on the sofa? ;-)

  169. Titus missin a tackle by a mile again for ‘pools 2nd :-)

    Ross enjoy it..table at Chinese booked for 2 then a beer or 3 before the match…happy days.

  172. Richie-Sounds like a perfect Sunday afternoon mate! I’ve been feeling awful all week like, but i’ll be wrapping up and enjoying it regardless of my condition. Reckon we can take it 2-1.

  173. Probably won’t be a popular view but I really think we need to be careful of the way we approach this game. Our defence is particularly good with balls in the air and I feel if we did what we did against Blackpool and play long ball tactics we will be playing into stokes hands. Our best football so far this season has came from keeping the ball on the deck and putting our tackles in higher up the pitch keeping the opposition in their half. I think that stoke may sit back and will be difficult to break down however if we can get the likes of Ben Arfa/ Routledge or Gutierrez against their full backs we will get alot of joy. Just hope we see the Newcastle that played Everton and Aston Villa and not the one that played Blackpool. HWTL!!!!

  174. lualua says:
    September 25, 2010 at 11:46 pm
    Probably won’t be a popular view but I really think we need to be careful of the way we approach this game”

    Totally agree,
    in the past we don’t turn up for games like this. I would hope we do now, and after last season I would say we do! The stats say Blackpool was a blip so hope our good form continues.

    It’s taken 10mins to type this
    i’m really drunk…

  175. lualua-With the admission of Tiote and Benny to our squad, I think the long ball will be a second option these days. I know it sounds canny ridiculous to say our style of football can be changed down to the influence of two players, but if you think back to Everton, Barton was excellent. Why? I reckon it was down to the fact that he had the freedom to get forward and create, given the fact Tiote was behind him putting in the dirty work.
    Secondly, Everton will have shown our lads what Benny can do in a match situation (if they didn’t already know before, i’m sure Carroll came out somewhere and said he was incredible his first week of training)..They’ll want to get him involved. He’ll always look for the ball, will want it to feet and will play it to the feet of Carroll/Nolan. It sounds far fetched but I reckon we have an excellent, technically gifted DM in the shape of Tiote and the creativity we’ve been crying out for in Benny.

  176. Ross

    #175

    Couldn’t agree more. Those two players have completely changed how we can now approach games. Barton can be confident of Tiote winning the ball, which means Joey can spend his time looking for space and a potential killer ball. Unlike Jonas, Ben Arfa drifts inwards a lot, which gives us 4 central midfielders at times and allows us to do all of the little 1-2’s and triangles. Both players add a great dimension to our play.

  178. team for stoke:

    ———-Carroll———–
    ———-Ben Arfa———-
    ——Nolan—–Barton——
    Bull——-Tiote——-Jonas
    —-Willo-Campbell–Colo—-
    ———–Krul————-

    team for chelski:

    ———Ameobi———-
    Vuckic————Ranger
    —-Jonas—–Guthrie—
    ———-Smith———-
    Fergie-Camp-Colo—RTayl
    ———–Krul———–

  180. 2-1 to the Toon for today!

    I think we need to contain three players in order to pick up 3 points. The aerial bombardment aside, for me Jones, Etherington and Pennant are the one’s to watch. I have been critical of Perch but he is the best option at RB to handle Etherington, unless he wants to move Colo across and put Campbell in which I doubt.

    We need to mix it up, get the ball wide and lob them in for Tarzan and Nolan, but keep the incisive passing on the deck as that is when HBA and Barton can hurt teams.

    Been up all night so probaly made no sense!

    TOON ARMY!

  181. Lace – Hopefully Delap will trap his fingers in the coach door. We have our own Delap though in the shape of Ryan Taylor.

    If we could use Raylor like one of them goal kicker type people in the NFL then he would be excellent. Just wheel him on for each set piece :lol:

  182. Ross……….aye I was(still am) full of cold at the Everton game.wor lass wasnt happy wi me jumping about and singing for 90 min+ with me bad throat :-)

    Enjoy the match and ya weekend at home.

    Can the toon lads take me top of the ff today? :-)
    prob not cos there’ll be loads wi ManUre players in the team :-(

  183. did anyone see Tony Gayle on Sky the other morning saying Stoke were going win cos Newcastle were going to have the sort of season where they’d have one great result followed by a defeat……………er hello,Everton then Chelski………must be great to predict the future after watching a few games,if indeed he’s even watched a toon match.

  184. I think our troubles will start after Christmas but by then we will have amassed enough points to be okay. I reckon we will finish 12th but time will tell. Today we will win 2-0 a Bigger Lad brace.

  185. Huge game today, not going to predict a score.
    We must win our home games against the mid and lower table teams if we have any chance of finishing above the bottom 3
    Hope blackpool was a one off.
    I think the points for survival this season will be high 38-40pts
    Howay the lads

  186. Tony gayle is an southern shandy drinker.
    never had a good word to say aboot newcastle in his life. so is not going to change now

  188. The team will pick its self. same eleven as everton.
    What will be interesting is the six outfield players on the bench. everyone from wednesday night will see themselves deserving of a place.
    Plus Xisco will be available again. I keep getting a belief he could be something special for us.

  189. waddles above the bottom 3..win today i see us having a great chance of being anywhere between 5th and 10th nothing else will do for me..becasue we will only gett better..baring injuries we are better then liverpool or villa..

  190. We must avoid defeat today, a win would be nice, and should be possible, otherwise the great win at Everton will mean nowt. We must beat the teams who will supposedly be at the wrong end of the table, especially at home.
    I predict the same line up as against Everton, perhaps with Sol Campbell at CH and Collo at right back, a win for the toon 2-1 …and a battering for Stoke from OUR big lads !!! Howay the Lads !!

  191. The best way to stop Delaps throw ins and not giving them opportunities from corners and feekicks is by keeping the ball, Weve done it really well in the last week and those matches were against sides who actually try and play football.

    Against Stoke who will sit off and allow us possesion we must keep them running and not give them the chance to put Krul under much pressure although i think he may be more help against their long balls and set pieces than Harper.

    2-0 Carroll and Nolan

  194. RICHIETOON what time you off to the game you have a mate to meet,well ime seeing the match out from home,then off to france for a few days,so yous can all stab me in the back for a while :)

  195. Ice..leaving at 1 mate……..ya divnt have to go to France for us to back stab ya tho ;-)
    Ya leavin today? have a good un mate…divnt spend owa much :-)

  197. CC – Aye, a bit later on. Struggling with thoughts for an article/kind of busy at the moment so I am struggling to get a new one out :(

  200. Why not do an article on todays Newcastle stoke match??

    Rich how many players have you got in your team playing today??

  201. RICHIETOON,divnt kna at what time ime ganning,its up to the son as hes at work,see how he feels as hes driving,and ime spending,hes got his eye on a place and we arnt there yet,and its over and above what he wants in malta,can see me scrating in the bins with batty when this is over.

    nee kicking wing mirrors today mind! a big 4-1 the day

  203. Wow. Still drunk from last night’s stag, sitting at a shitty London train station. On the up side I think we have a reasonable chance of rolling Stoke over today. Now – 3-hour train ride home. More booze or serious caffiene?

  204. best behaviour again today for me ice ;-)

    CC…..I’ve got Barton,Benny and Andy C playing today…would be nice if at least 2 of them grab a goal :-)

    jay jay…nae chance of an early finish?

  205. Rich looking at the fantasy table you’ll more than likely be top if we win today then, I were really pleased with me team at the start of the season but im dropping like Titus Brambles kecks when he get into a lasses hotelroom… ;)

  206. CC alreet m8,did you ever have any luck getting footage of the rounds of 69 fairs cup,ive had none but still trying like,will let you know if i do m8

  208. Ice

    Bought the dvds of both legs of the final off a bloke in holland

    never seen any of the other rounds available, Although i know there is footage of the Setubal and Rangers home matches as ive seen the goals

  210. CC aye i got both legs of final but give them to worky,like you i cant seem to get rounds like,i even e-mailed the bbc aboot them but heard nowt back yet

  211. cc got touch with i.t.n. about them,but it was the old tyne/tees t.v.then so think they have gone walk-about

  212. Goals from the previous rounds are featured on that 500 goals dvd they brought out a few years ago, Whoever produced that may still have the footage.

  213. just hope we go about the job from the off today , and smash tony puerile’s brand of non football.

  217. Cheers Toonsy, I had a little glance around for a link just now with little luck, although I weren’t too fussed I’m to hungover to compute much at the mo, so nice one chap

  218. Looking at the results of the past few days, it seems that upsets are in vogue at the mo. To that end I’ve got a horrible feeling that Stoke are gonna do a number on us. Please let me be wrong.

  219. one player who may play a big role today may never even get up off the bench. I’m sure st hoots has had raylor putting long throws into the box in training getting young timmy ready for delap. I have confindence in hoot’s ability to have the lads prepared for any gimmicks. What a revelation, a manager who actually goes over tactics, and studies the opposition. Still worried about today, but if we struggle i doubt it will be because of lack of preparation.

  225. After all that Delap’s on the bench :)

    Sorensen;
    ilkinson, Shawcross (c), Huth, Collins;
    Whitehead, Diao, Whelan, Etherington;
    Walters, Jones.

  227. HT OK we’re 1-0 up but that was probably our first shot on target ? CH has to understand that 4-4-1-1 at home is OK if you’ve got someone with pace lying just behind AC. As it is their back four, who look remarkably out of condition (Huth and Wilkinson in particular), have very little to worry about as we’re far too predictable.

    I’d like to think we can change this around by taking off Routledge, who just isnt a BPL player, and put pressure on the back four by bringing Jonas on and push HBA up to play in a front three. Nolan drops back to add support for Tiote and let Barton roam.

    ( Aint gonna happen:( )

  228. Sorry CH you’re a great man manager and you’ve performed wonders with a team that was going nowhere last season. However you cannot keep playing 4-4-1-1 at home when your second striker is Kevin Nolan.

    If you had a Dennis Bergkamp or a Kaka or anyone with some flair and, more importantly, pace then you’d be able to take some of the pressure off Carroll. As it is Nolan is too pedestrian at this level to offer much in the way of creativity and support for AC.

    So thats two defeats at home to teams we should have beaten easily. 4-4-1-1 may well suit us away from home but if CH doesnt want to see attendances slip below 40K at SJP he must address this negative outlook and team selection before we play Wigan.