Birmingham v Newcastle United match banter!
Posted on February 15th, 2011 | 130 Comments |
Despite some valiance and derring do in some of the previous games, and still a fairly respectable mid table position, the Magpies have played six games without winning, and will certainly be looking to change that statistic at St Andrews this evening. However, despite being four places below us in the League, Alex McLeish’s Birmingham City will certainly be no pushovers. After a poor start to the season, they have undergone a recent resurgence, having won four of their last five games with the other one being a draw. They will probably be hard to break down, and possess the kind of aerial threat we used to have with Andy Carroll in the shape of Serbian giant, Nikola Žigić, who has scored in each of Birmingham’s last three games.
Birmingham will also have a brace of Newcastle old boys in their squad with full back and captain, Stephen Carr, midfielder, Lee Bowyer, and now, Nigerian striker, Obafemi Martins joining them on loan from Russian side, Rubin Kazan. Hopefully, none of them will come back to haunt us with a goal tonight!
Speaking on the upcoming game, and the following two against Bolton and Everton at St James’s, manager Alan Pardew told the Shields Gazette:
“The whole month is important – Birmingham leads us into two home games,” Pardew, right.
“In some ways, it’ll determine whether we’re looking up or down, and I hope it’s looking up at the end of the month.
“It’s a tough game when you’re at this level. When you see 6ft 5in players trundling into your box every time there’s a set play, it is difficult.”
When those players is 6′ 8″ and scoring freely at the moment, it could be even worse!
On the pre match team news front, Steven Taylor will remain absent with his hamstring, as will new signing Steven Ireland. Although Dan Gosling and Ryan Taylor are said to be very close to a return from injury, that return will almost certainly not be this evening. The Magpies will also be without without long term casualties Alan Smith and Hatem Ben Arfa as they quest for a fifth away win of the season.
On Birmingham team news, they will be without Dann (hamstring), McFadden (knee) and Valles (foot).
For a more detailed look forward to the game, please check out Hugh De Payen’s excellent match preview. We shall of course endevour to bring you a final team sheet when they become available.
Howay the lads!
Venue: St Andrews Stadium, Birmingham.
Kick Off: 7.45 PM.
Referee: Mark Halsey.
Newcastle United: Steve Harper, Danny Simpson, Sanchez Jose Enrique, Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson, Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan (c), Cheik Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez, Leon Best, Peter Lovenkrands.
Subs: Tim Krul, James Perch, Sol Campbell, Danny Guthrie, Shane Ferguson, Nile Ranger, Sheffki Kuqi.
Birmingham City: Ben Foster, Stephen Carr (c), Roger Johnson, Martin Jiranek, Liam Ridgewell, Sebastian Larsson, Craig Gardner, Barry Ferguson, David Bentley, Obafemi Martins, Nikola Zigic.
Subs: Colin Doyle, David Murphy, Lee Bowyer, Keith Fahey, Jean Beausejour, Kevin Phillips, Cameron Jerome.
I can’t seem to get my optimistic genes working for this one.