Toon injury worries ahead of trip to Eastlands

Posted on November 16th, 2011 | 41 Comments |

Newcastle United's Tiote has had a medial ligament injury.
50-50?
Newcastle United have injury worries ahead of their visit to Eastlands on the weekend, so who will be fit enough to play on Saturday?

There are a couple of ways to look at our next three games against City, United and Chelsea: either we’re in with a chance of some points if we have a fully fit squad or we have no chance and it’s therefore a ‘good’ time to suffer injuries, given that we have to suffer them at all. Either way, we do have injuries and I thought I’d round up the latest news I can find on them.

Cheick Tiote had a medial ligament injury which has caused him to miss the last two games. Apparently he’s been working with medical staff all week to try and get fit for Saturday’s game and as far as I can tell it’s about 50-50 as to whether he’ll be fit in time. It’s (usually) caused by a high-impact landing on a slightly bent knee and the fact that Tiote has any chance of being fit for the game at all probably means it’s the lowest grade of medial ligament injury, which can apparently take anything from 2-10 weeks to heal.

Presumably Guthrie will continue to be the man to step in for Tiote if the Ivorian remains injured.

Sylvian Marveaux, Yohan Cabaye and Leon Best all have (or had) the dreaded ‘Gilmore’s Groin’, which is more a description of the symptoms than the actual injury. The actual lesion can be in a number of different places and the recovery time depends on where it is and how bad it is.

Apparently in Marveaux’s case it’s pretty bad and he’s unlikely to be available for a few weeks. Yohan Cabaye played for France yesterday so he should be fit for Saturday’s game and there’s a reasonable chance that Leon Best could be fit too. He had a toe injury alongside his Gilmore’s Groin (by which I mean he had the injury at the same time, not that his toe is in his groin, which would be most unusual) and missed international duty for Ireland because of it but on Monday John Carver indicated that Best was likely to be fit enough to play on Saturday.

Gabriel Obertan has been out for a few weeks now with a toe injury and after scouring the press reports I can’t get much of a handle on whether or not he’ll be available. Some reports suggest he’s ‘in contention’ whilst others suggest he will be out for a number of weeks yet.

Shola Ameobi is on the long-term injury list at the moment with a hamstring problem and, I suspect, is unlikely to be back in consideration for at least 3 or 4 weeks.

Of course, even when players are declared ‘fit’ they often don’t make the starting XI as a manager will usually try to ease them back into things.

My personal opinion is that the only ones of the above listed injured players who might start against Manchester City are Leon Best and Yohan Cabaye. I think we’re likely to see Guthrie in place of Tiote and – at a guess – maybe Lovenkrands or Ben Arfa in the midfield in place of Obertan/Marveaux. I doubt Tiote will be risked unless he’s 100% fit but he might make the bench.

Hopefully we’ll find out a bit more about who’s in contention as the week progresses.

*Updated re the Cabaye situation.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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Posted on by Hugh de Payen in category: Cheick Tiote and Dan Gosling and Danny Guthrie and Gabriel Obertan and Hatem Ben Arfa and Hugh de Payen and Injuries and fitness and Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands and Shola Ameobi and Sylvain Marveaux and Yohan Cabaye , with tags: , , ,
Comment on this post

41 Responses

  1. That’s a pretty negative assessment of the sutuation. I thought Cabeye played for France and is fit? Marveux was quoted as being out for 4-6wks, so not available. Tiote has trained and was quoted as wanting to play and hoping he’ll get in ahead of Guthrie.

  3. Cabaye is fit. He played 90 minutes for France yesterday. Where the heck are you getting your information? Marveaux is reported to be out for “several weeks”. Tiote is fit and raring to go, according to various reports and quotes.

    Please do not post just because you have the ability to. We expect more from you people.

  5. basically no one else is injured that we didnt know about 2 weeks ago :P however cont to the article, shola has a chance, cabayes fine, tiotes fine, marveaux is crocked(ish), obi still has a bad toe.. cant wait for the weekend. i might just sleep till saturday, oh wait… bloody kids :( QQ

  8. Pardew has stuck with a 4-4-2 formation this season and the team has performed better than probably everyone ever expected. However, there has always been a recognised winger on the right but now that Obertan and Marveaux are both injured will he alter his formation or stick with his tried and tested 4-4-2 but including a player who wouldn’t normally play as a right winger?

    On the assumption that Tiote is not fit enough and is replaced by Guthrie who partners Cabaye, the obvious senior players who he could choose from are probably Gosling, Ben Arfa and Santon. I don’t think that Sammy, Ferguson, Vuckic and Abeid are ready enough to start a game especially against the likes of ManC and ManU. OK as subs though.

    Santon would be in very unfamiliar territory but he possibly could do a man marking job as it’s a role frequently used in Italian football.

    Ben Arfa is more than likely to roam and is unlikely to track back and defend. But will he be roaming in Ba’s space?

    Gosling is also more likely to roam but is likely to track back and defend.

    I think Pardew will play Ba and Best as it worked well at Stoke but it will be interesting to see. I think Pardew will line them up as but not necessarily play 4-4-2. We shall see

    Krul,
    Simpson, Saylor, Colo, Raylor
    ANO, Guthrie, Cabaye, Jonas
    Ba, Best

  9. It strikes me that “Cheick Tiote had a medial ligament injury which has caused him to miss the last two games. Apparently he’s been working with medical staff all week to try and get fit for Saturday’s game and as far as I can tell it’s about 50-50 as to whether he’ll be fit in time. ” is the least of his problems.

    He appears in that image to have a person of small stature trying to climb out of his head.

    Working with medical staff may help.

    Which is what matters.

  10. 4-4-2 away to mancity? then we’ve lost before we kick off! City play to dominate midfield, with nearly allways 4-5-1 away and alternate formations at home – they will love to see a 4-4-2, they will swallow it whole & spit out the bones! With our changed team I fear a big score humiliation is on the cards!

  11. KDS says “He appears in that image to have a person of small stature trying to climb out of his head” ??? are you on the same blog ?

  12. Supermac says: “KDS says “He appears in that image to have a person of small stature trying to climb out of his head” ??? are you on the same blog ?”

    Probably not.

    Although I still maintain that he has a dwarf climbing out of his right ear.

    Which is what matters.

  13. Kilgore, I think that’s why the caption says 50/50? You may be right on the dwarf thing.

  15. Paul in Hollywood says:

    November 16, 2011 at 3:20 pm

    “Kilgore, I think that’s why the caption says 50/50? You may be right on the dwarf thing.”

    He was due for his medication Paul. The hallucinations should have passed by now. ;-)

  17. KAMAR
    Why is it that you say HBA does’nt track back, is it some image you have of an attacking player who only plays in that role (Robert ?)
    And by the way HBA is versatile enough to play across the midfield as well as behind the striker.
    And a tried and tested 4-4-2, hell why not a 2-3-5 ?
    As for Santon playing as a striker on the right, you serious ?
    As for roaming ( is’nt that what phone companies charge you for) in the gloaming, wish all six forwards would do more of it, the way Barca. do.
    I remember the combination of Duff and N’Zogbia, teamed with Enrique, causing havoc with defenses, by interchanging roles, ahead of their time in this league.
    Ah well, what the f**k do i know ?

  20. Chuck,

    If it is as you please, I don’t read re-hashed news items and discuss them ad nauseum.

    However, you do as you please.

    Which is what matters.

  23. I have to say, in all fairness, that that last piece Kilgore wrote on the previous blog was a masterful piece of writing, and so I am giving a great deal of credit where credit is due, which may be… what matters.

  24. Paul in Hollywood says:

    November 16, 2011 at 5:33 pm

    “I have to say, in all fairness, that that last piece Kilgore wrote on the previous blog was a masterful piece of writing, and so I am giving a great deal of credit where credit is due, which may be… what matters.”

    I telt ye Paul, he’s alright once the medication kicks in. ;-)

  27. or perhaps a pint or two less medication would be better?

    Has anyone seen Barca’s revampt proposal for the Champions League – reducing the PL to 16 clubs to free weekends for CL matches to be played on a saturday !
    ie the big rich clubs get bigger & richer and the rest (playing fewer games) get smaller & poorer.
    I suppose it depends which group we will be part of.

  28. Supermac says:

    November 16, 2011 at 6:08 pm

    “I suppose it depends which group we will be part of.”

    Which group do you think it’ll be Supermac?

  29. Anyway, got to brave an orrible wet day (typical English grey day)dunno what the poor anti Wall Streeters are gonna do now that our billionaire mayor has sent in the storm troopers.
    F***ing guy has banned smoking in Central Park, can you believe it, sez it’s for our own good, yes Nanny !
    Gotta be afraid of those who propose stuff with the kicker, “It’s for your own good” !
    Well gotta give me South Shields oilskin a workout, later

  30. Fugedaboud it !
    There’s only one direction football is heading in.
    A european Superleague, consisting of the cream of the various leagues.
    Probably breaking with EUAFA, leaving whats left to reorganize and consolidate, with perhaps a secondary European league evolving, consisting of those who did’nt make the cut.
    It’s surprise ! about money, yeah !
    Larger catchment areas, more tv revenue.
    It’s goodbye to the Gatesheads and lower leagues, do we really need over a hundred proffessional football clubs
    anyway ?
    Bigger and better is the cry and of course more money, hey sounds familiar, reflects what the anti Wall Streeters are saying, in it ?
    A reflection of society, money only going in one direction.
    Oh by the way , thats your money, cause who do you thinks gonna foot the bill ?

  31. worky – the rest!
    I presume they are looking for 4 from the PL.
    Manu, Manc, Chelski, Liverpool, Arsenal look like candidates based on reputation – & I can’t see them looking at Spurs, Villa or NUFC.

  33. The also rans could be in the secondary league, that is if they (the group of ?) use their nut and want to avoid any competitipn, with perhaps promotion and relegation.
    Then again could be like the American League vs. the National league, both in direct competition, who knows.
    But it will happen , whichever option is chosen.
    No more small stuff, bigger and better, onward and upward, more moneeeeeee ! yeah.

  35. chuck says:
    November 16, 2011 at 6:21 pm

    “F***ing guy has banned smoking in Central Park, can you believe it, sez it’s for our own good, yes Nanny !”

    Chuck, when a Benwell born and bred friend of mine was smirkin’ a tab outside in California once, she was approached by a rather substantially built American lady who said “Excuse me maam, would you mind NOT smoking?”

    My friend turned ’round and said “HOOOOO MAN! WOULD YE MIND GANNIN’ ON A ****IN’ DIET YE ****IN’ *******!!

    You can’t beat the old West End charm school! :lol:

  36. More on the European Super League if you missed it –
    Barcelona president Sandro Rosell insists a breakaway European league will start in 2014 unless UEFA gives in to demands from the major clubs.

    The main aim of Rosell’s revolution is for the likes of the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga to cut the number of teams from 20 to 16 in order to expand the Champions League. This would enable big hitters like Barca to free up weekends for glamour friendlies or Champions League matches which would attract massive worldwide television audiences.

    Rosell is chairman of the European Club Association (ECA) and their deal – a memorandum of understanding – with UEFA expires in 2014. He said at the Aspire 4 Sport conference in Qatar :
    ‘If UEFA and the ECA reach an agreement, we would like to increase the Champions League under the umbrella of UEFA. If not, the ECA is entitled to organise their own champions competition.’

    ‘Reducing the number of teams in the league is something all of them would have to agree to. That includes the Premier League, who would have to reduce from 20 to 16.

    Barcelona’s big names could be playing Champions League matches on weekends ‘We want a bigger Champions League and hope one day we could play perhaps Barcelona versus Manchester United on Saturdays. That’s what we are aiming for but to increase doesn’t necessarily mean to do it with UEFA.’

    I’m not clear if this means 4 top teams leave the PL for the CL – or 4 bottom teams leave, with the top 4 playing in both the PL & CL.

  37. Harping back to an earlier theme…

    Kilgore_D_Sprout says:
    November 16, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    “Working with medical staff may help.”

    To whom, Kilgore, are you referring?

  39. Yeah, one does’nt have to be a Cassandra to project the future of professional football.
    Just follow the money.
    Some of you may recall my rants of a year or more ago on this subject, where i projected the future of the game.
    And there was no particular intuitive awareness involved, simply a further projection of what took place with the former English first division, in it’s greed for more profits.
    Well the EPL has subsequently enriched itself, by grabbing the lions share of tv revenue, but at the same time has ended up in many cases (through profligate spending) in highly leveraged treadmill like situation.
    It’s a reflection of capitalism and the corporate system, expand or die.
    Question is where does it all end ?
    And surprise! surprise! we find the team president on the cutting edge of the “we need more revenue” bunch to be non other than from, the once proud province of Catalonia.
    Yes that same club who in fact refused to wear any adds.
    from private corporations on their shirts and which is owned by the people of Barcelona.
    What does that say ?

  40. chuck says:
    November 17, 2011 at 4:23 pm

    “And surprise! surprise! we find the team president on the cutting edge of the “we need more revenue” bunch to be non other than from, the once proud province of Catalonia.
    Yes that same club who in fact refused to wear any adds.
    from private corporations on their shirts and which is owned by the people of Barcelona.
    What does that say ?”

    Chuck, It says that Barcelona changed pesidents last year, with Sandro Rossel tking over from Joan Laporta. He’s Catalonian but he’s also a twat of the first order too. He the one behind the shirt deal, the superleague blackmail and more. He even committed the ultimate heresy, stripping Cruyff of his honourary lifetime President’s title almost immediately after taking over as President himself. They may as well have elected Llambias as President there!

    This is what the great Laporta and Cruyff have to say about him:

    http://elcentrocampista.com/?p=2727

    http://www.totalbarca.com/2011/interviews/johan-cruyff-i-see-things-in-rosell-that-cause-suspicion-what-kind-of-club-does-he-want/

  41. Should be this.
    Krul
    simpson-s.taylor-colochini-santon
    r.taylor-tiote-cabaye-gutirez
    hatem ben arfa
    ba.
    Result 2-1 toon