Captain Colo may be fit for Canaries clash.

Posted on December 8th, 2011 | 23 Comments |

Fabricio Coloccini: Hoping to be fit for Norwich game.
Fabricio Coloccini: Hoping to be fit for Norwich game.
Well, there was some good news (maybe) on the Fabricio Coloccini injury front as Alan Pardew struggles with Newcastle United’s post Chelsea defensive crisis.

Speaking at an awards ceremony in Gateshead, the permed paragon of our central defence revealed that a start in Saturday’s game against Norwich City at Carrow Road may indeed be a possibilty saying:

‘It is tight but I am hoping to play in the next game.’

Steven Taylor will still be out for the season with his Achilles tendon injury which requires surgery, but of course, Coloccini’s swift return without missing a game would be a huge boost for the team if it happens. Whilst Taylor will undoubtedly be a big loss to the side, losing two key defenders at the same time was testing Newcastle United’s lack of strength in depth beyind it’s linits, with Alan Pardew facing the prospect of playing someone out of their usual position, or turning to players on the fringe of the fringe such as Tamás Kádár, the out of favour Hungarian who hasn’t seen any first team action for some time, and was recently relegated to the reserve squad. However, on the other hand it would do no good in the long term if Coloccini is rushed back out of desperation, risking the chance of a more serious injury which will leave him out even longer.

So, fingers crossed that he will back for our next game in a couple of days, but also that he’ll be truly ready and isn’t selected prematurely.

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1095 articles on this blog.

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23 Responses

  1. I wonder if this is true….. For the last 3 games Tiote was supposed to be back!!!! I hope Santon gets his chance at LB

  2. God I hop this is true! Want him back for the next game! I’m from essex n hate horwich so really hope we turn em over!!

  3. Perversely I would like him to miss the Norwich game and have an extra weeks rest and recuperation.

    In the past the club on occasions have brought players back from injury far too quickly only to find that they have exacerbated the injury leading to a longer time in the treatment room.

    But as Pardew does all the coaching of the defence, and a fantastic job he has done too, he will be in the best position to judge whether we can cope without Colo.

  4. Got the train from kings cross to newcastle on Tuesday morning and was sat next to Pardew chatting all the way back (unlucky for him) but asked him about Colo and he said he was hopeful…tried to get some info outta him but he was more interested in the Paul McCartney gig i had been to the night before….nice bloke though

  5. I was wondering on a ‘what if’ basis whether bringing in Pardew instead of Shearer and his mate Iain Dowie would have saved us from relegation.

    I don’t know if it’s my age or just my hearing but everytime I hear Iain Dowie speak I cannot make out clearly what he says. He seems to have developed an ability, putting John Prescott in the shade, to mince his words and terminate a sentence mid way through leaving it hanging in the air and then start off on another rambling sentence immediately. Heaven only knows how all the foreign players coped. It could answer the question of why we lost so many games at the end of the season.

  6. I would prefer us not to rush him back & risk losing him longer term should he over do it… better to face a club like Norwich with a replacement back 4 than to have to face clubs higher up the food chain over a longer period without Colo…

  7. I’d agree I would rather give him more time to heal than bringing him back too early (the classic Toon way) and making things much worse

  8. A sign in SportsDirect window says “Sale – everything must be sold” – anything to worry about?

  9. If Coloccini isn’t fit in time I’d go with:

    Santon—Simpson—Perch—Raylor

    personally I see no point in rushing Coloccini back. Playing when he’s not fully fit is going to risk aggravating his injury and he’s not going to be at his best anyway. he might prove to be a liability if he’s not at the top of his game.

  10. That’s bad news about Guthrie. Don’t think Tiote will be back now before he makes his big money move in January either.

    @6 I would definitely rather have Colo for the big games than for the easier games. He’s been a different class all season.

    Wouldn’t mind seeing young Kadar finally get his chance though, and according to SSN we could be in for a result if he does play …

    ‘Kadar made his debut in the Carling Cup against Huddersfield Town in a 4-3 win back in 2009, yet also holds the distinction of not appearing on the losing side for Newcastle in the league.’

  11. New it was gonna happen, injuries are inevitable, with a particularly large number at this club over recent years.
    Which raises the question, why have we put so much pressure on a certain players, by playing a mostly unchanged side, for the most part of the seasons first half ?
    It’s hard to believe players have not had injuries up untill the present, small knocks etc.
    So now we are up s*it creek without a paddle.
    So much for the brilliance of the footballing geniuses, Ashley and Llambias and their big name manager.
    We now have to field both unready kids plus second tier quality players.
    A couple of weeks ago it was European football, now it’s stop the slide, ah well !

  12. Chuck,

    To answer your questions:

    ‘…why have we put so much pressure on a certain players, by playing a mostly unchanged side…’

    Perhaps because they never got beat? If it ain’t bust…

    ‘….It’s hard to believe players have not had injuries up untill the present…’

    Other than Tiote, Best, Shola and Obertan you mean?

    All teams get injuries. It’s just our hard luck that our two central defenders got injured in the same game at the same time as our first choice replacement Williamson was already out injured.

    ‘….So much for the brilliance of the footballing geniuses, Ashley and Llambias and their big name manager…’

    It wasn’t so long ago that Sir Alex (who is the biggest
    named manager in Britain) lost his two central defenders and had to play Carrick in defence. Within the last few days he has lost Hernandez and Vidic.

  13. Ah. Another player-as-amateur-physician situation. Of course he wants to play and would push himself unduly. I’ll believe it when I see it.

  14. Kamar says:

    “All teams get injuries.”

    Absolutely. Which is why our front office allowing us to start the season with 2 fit first-team CBs was unacceptable-as many of us pointed out at the time.

    Sir Alex lost both his starting center halves and a fullback very early on this season. Because he had brought in Smalling and Jones this wasn’t a problem. Apparently, the powers that be at OT learned something from their previous injury crises.

  15. Supermac says:

    December 8, 2011 at 10:18 am

    “A sign in SportsDirect window says “Sale – everything must be sold” – anything to worry about?”

    He’s always got those signs all over his shite huts Supermac, and we should always be worried about Ashley. ;-)

  16. tunyc says:

    December 8, 2011 at 3:38 pm

    “Ah. Another player-as-amateur-physician situation.”

    tunyc, If Colo had been the recently sadly deceased Brazil legend, Dr.Socrates, it would have been “Ah. Another player-as-professional-physician situation.” :-)

  17. Phisix says:

    December 8, 2011 at 6:27 pm

    “OMG, Guthrie out for 6 weeks!?”

    It’s the fourth groin strain in a very short space of time Phisix. I’d be looking at training methods and tactics. I’d also be interrogating our self confessed Mackem fitness guru! :-)

  18. Kamar
    Yes and have you seen the size of the squads at Man. U, Citeh, Chewsea, etc.
    You miss my point comletely, of course teams have injuries, thats what i said, but most sides dont start the season with three out of four defenders (were not counting Santon, as he does,nt appear to impress Pardew) and a utility LB (Raylor).
    And perhaps you can also inform me how many sides played the same eleven for the most part of the season so far, if thats not inviting injuries, then i dont know what is.
    Try and read what i say !