Stoke City vs Newcastle United extended match highlights and post match interviews

57 Responses

1. Do we have the clichéd “6 pointer” on Monday? This early in the season. Who’d have thunk it.

2. Worky: the game was on a 2 hour tape delay here in the US, so you know who will be on soon? I will have a fun time reading his comments.

   I always want Newcastle to win even if we play shite, so I can’t take any pleasure in our current predicament. I can however laugh at the comments on here and take pleasure in reading them.

3. I’ve just posted my “long ball report” above, but I’ll repeat it here.

   Worky’s long ball report (Passes over 25 yards according to OPTA)

   Stoke City total passes 366, long balls 54, long ball % = 14.8%

   Newcastle United total passes 345, long balls 64, long ball % = 18.6%.

4. I got that feeling…you have to at least get a point from teams bellow you,i think we will come good soon,better concentration from colo,and anyone at cb than williamson(he reminds me of marcelinio),we might have fluked it like the west brom game,but loose to wigan(could happen),and heads will roll.

5. sampdiago says:
   November 29, 2012 at 12:18 am

   “anyone at cb than williamson(he reminds me of marcelinio)”

   sampdiago, one slightly mistimed clearance apart, I don’t think he had a bad game and certainly no worse than the other defenders.

   The weakest players in this match seemed to be Gutierrez and Tiote, though I haven’t had the chance to watch the match in forensic detail yet.

6. Post match interviews with Pardew and Pulis now posted.

7. @Workyticket post 5: People blame Williamson far too often but I think in general this season he has been solid. Every defender is going to make 1 or 2 mistakes in a game and Williamson has done a good shift.

   What I have seen with fanaticals is that they identify someone they do not like and blame him. On the other forums someone said it was Williamson’s fault Cabaye did not have so many assists and that it was Williamson to blame for our inability to attack.

   I’m not a Williamson but I am big enough to acknowledge he has been doing well in general this season. The results are bad but if you assess each player individually he has been up there with best defenders in the league.

   I too have yet to see the game myself so I am not well poised to comment.

8. @michael12

   well said mate. i am so tired of people scapegoating williamson. i’m not saying he’s a great defender but he’s certainly not as bad as people make out.

   he was brought in a cover player in the championship and as such people’s expectations of him are way off the mark.

   pardew identified at the end of last season that we needed a goal-scoring centre half but did nothing about it and now thing’s are going tits-up defensively a lot of people are picking on him again.

   colo was certainly at fault for the 2nd goal but seems immune to similar criticism.

   i realise i’m in a minority but i don’t think taylor is a better defender than willo. my opinion is he gives away far more needless fouls, is persistently out of position but points a lot, gives the impression that he knows what he’s doing and escapes similar criticism presumably because he’s a local lad.

9. Michael12, it can start for the strangest of reasons. Sometimes very vociferous people just don’t like the way a player looks, the way he stands, or they remember a player making one mistake, which as you say all players do. Then thay bang on and on about it until it passes on to others like influenza and gets out of control.

   You get cliches too which often don’t bear any relation to reality, but people think it makes them seem as if they know more about football than they really do. “No end product” is one that particularly gets on my goat. It used to be slung at Milner quite alot when he was at Newcastle and now look at him. That was a favourite for Routledge too, and yet he has as many assists now as practically the whole Newcastle United team!

   I know that Williamson isn’t quite Beckenbauer or Baresi, but one thing most people miss is that he and Coloccini have a very complimentary skill set. If it’s battling for the ball in the air then it’s Williamson, if it’s dribbling the ball along the ground then obviously it’s Coloccini and so on…

   When it was Danny Simpson’s turn to be scapegoat and I defended him, perhaps the most common thing that was thrown at him was that he was a “Man Utd reject,” that was the coup de grace which suppossedly destroyed anyone’s argument in defence of him. Then I would explain that Peter Beardsley was also a Man Utd reject who didn’t even get as far at Old Trafford as Simpson did. So then it was that he backs off players too often, so I would explain that his style of shepherding players out of harms way was actually a very good tactic which allowed the rest of the team to regroup in the box, and was sometimes much better and cannier than leaving a pile of limbs on the turf and giving away dangerous free kicks and so on, but you just can’t win sometimes. :-)

10. stewpot says:
    November 29, 2012 at 1:10 am

    “but points a lot, gives the impression that he knows what he’s doing and escapes similar criticism presumably because he’s a local lad.”

    Aye Stewpot, shouting and pointing constantly is always a good one if you’re not one of these fancy continental “flair” players. Even that didn’t work for Alan Smith (a true master of the art) in the end though.

11. @worky

    bramble is a classic case. even mentioning his name makes people shudder but i’m convinced that he made the odd mistake, usually a key mistake, which would be highlighted by hansen on motd ad nauseam and picked up on by the fans and media.

    generally though he was a decent defender, especially when he played with woodgate, but once his number was up there was no way back.

    i think that’s what’s happened with willo. he maybe is the weak link in the defence but when the team was up he was playing well. now they’re under a bit of pressure it all seems channeled towards the lad.

    good point about smudger too.

12. stewpot says:
    November 29, 2012 at 2:26 am

    “@worky

    bramble is a classic case. even mentioning his name makes people shudder but i’m convinced that he made the odd mistake, usually a key mistake, which would be highlighted by hansen on motd ad nauseam and picked up on by the fans and media.”

    Aye, true enough. Titus Bramble really could be an excellent, powerful defender for 92 minutes in 55 seconds of a game. But that’s the thing though, those five seconds really were at a key point and really would contain a catrophic blunder of gargantuan proportions. If he was the pilot of the Titanic, he’d steer it beautifully for a couple of days, then nip out for a quick tab when the iceberg was coming up.

13. @worky

    just once i’d like a manager at our place to put together a proper centre back pairing. always been our achilles heel.

14. Certainly Williamson, Simpson, and even STaylor leave a lot to be desired.

    A good manager wouldn’t expose the weaknesses of his team. This one, as worky has pointed out over and over, continues to play long-ball. The team is giving up possession too cheaply. Cisse/Ba can’t latch onto every long pass. This should be really obvious.

    But that’s Pardew for you.

15. Think you lot must have been watching a different game to Partridge last night

    “It’s hard to look your players in the eye when they’ve delivered the game plan and put in great performance but you still lose. That is hard to take.”

16. Another defeat when we seemed comfortable all the teams around us are starting to pick up points could see us in the bottom four by christmas.Should have bought well in the summer and kicked on but as usual did not be the same in january . The fat controller might as well save his money for the championship next season as thats where we are heading just not good enough and its the same old story with the toon.

17. I think everyone knew that we would struggle after a pathetic transfer window that lacked any ambition from the owner and a puppet manager that said he was happy with the squad.

    I have stated from day 1 Pardew is part of the scam and only appointed because he will tow the line unlike Keegan or Houghton who have some spine and self respect.

    Tying Pardew up to an 8 year deal has to be one of the most laughable decisions that the Board have ever made-no decent manager will come in and work for these idiots they are nothing but scum that despise NUFC.

18. Sandybaz @16: purples mate, rely on the purples. Oh sh*t, a lot of the purples are injured or out of form or position! Hmmm.

    We can always rely on Tavernier who played at where, Gateshead last season? Or Nile “he will never play for me again” Ranger?

19. I picked out magic mike as I have already posted ages gone by that jonas is done(the stats dont lie)he has a poor assist rate,tiote has one foot out the door and does not care any more,he has been told off for being too beastly in the tackle,and him soft is a gap in the middle,i swear bigi would play with more effort,look,i liked chris hughton and never liked parpoo,mikes out of work poker buddy,and he was out of work for two years for a reason,like mike williamson who we got from a relagated team,pompey,and he couldnt even get into the first team.so I know he brings height but in the prem you need more than that,he panics and makes rash decisions,and I am not a just now fan I had to watch dabizas,bramble,marcelinio,and pay dues when they played well but when they were bad….remember we lost taylor last season and the back fout was a shambles,mike is a good replacement,but tell me you would care if he got replaced in jan,i know we have injurys,but we have a rubbish chairman,a manager who cannot inspire a fight back if we go goals down and get us a victory,i dont want to see my team sliding down the table,i love nufc,but sometimes players irk me and I will call them out,if parpoo can,so can the fans.

20. Anyone who still thinks Williamson is being scapegoated needs to watch the full games, its not a witchunt, he has been a liability in most of our games. To say he has been doing well this season is an insult. It may be in favour to attack pardews tactics but thats a fair target as he seems to be in denial as to his own limitations. Williamson is 6ft 4 and when he jumps he is 6ft 5. He goes up for set plays and never wins the header. He cant pass neatly forward and is one of our main propogaters of the long ball issue. He normally improves when paired with colo but last night they were both at fault for the 2 goals, colo didnt track back for one of the goals but williamson was out of position, didnt pick up his marker and got outjumped by kenwyne jones way too easily. Hes not the only bad player but hes certainly one of the worst.

21. i’m not a williamson fan, but the first goal, williamson had his eye on the stoke attack, to the left of him.
    he then realises no one has picked up walters, ghosting into the box, williamson then tries to turn on his heels, to make a back for walters, but it was too late.

    worky i’m glad your putting the stats up, that prove once and for all, he is “the long ball conman”, stewart robson, said he was.

22. HOOFBALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL !!!

23. Thank you clint magnum.Williamson is not the problem,just one of many,the long time fans stick with the club through thick and thin,daglish and his rubbish striker son,souness,owen giving interviews when he left,saying we were not world class and blaming us for his injurys,dyers injurys,and rudeness to sir bobby,the way we have treated good managers,relagation,hughton,parpoo,eight year contracts,and deadline day comedy,oh and speaches about purple chips.we,the fans pay the wages,and fill the stadium,i have watched every game this season,and the team is shot,but I dont have to like willo.

24. Also,while im ranting,nobody was caring about mike when the transfer windows were open and we let forster go,best,guthrie,because we all thought we were getting douglas and debouchy,but when it didnt happen some fans lapped up every excuse given by lambas and parpoo just. Repeated what they said or he would be gardening right now,perchino is 20 times better than a 6″3 defender who got out jumped by victor moses….

25. Clint Magnum says:
    November 29, 2012 at 10:38 am

    “Williamson is 6ft 4 and when he jumps he is 6ft 5. He goes up for set plays and never wins the header. He cant pass neatly forward and is one of our main propogaters of the long ball issue. ”

    Clint, Mike Williamson has won 62% of his aerial duels this season, Steven Taylor has won 61% and Coloccini has only won 33%.

    Mike Williamson has played 63 long balls this season, but Yohan Cabaye has played 94.

    56% of Williamson’s balls are long balls, but 100% of Marveaux’s balls are long balls, 81% of Perch’s, 80% of Ameobi’s, 76% of Demba Ba’s, 75% of Cisses and Bigirimana’s, 69% of Steven Taylor’s, 70% of Ben Arfa’s, 65% of Coloccini’s and Santon’s, 64% of Cabaye’s, 63% of Anita’s, Simpson’s and Gutierrez’s, 60% of Tiote’s and so on…

26. Worky,you know I respect your oppinion,as you back it with stats,but come on,williamson…?,not just him,colochini has played well below par this season,simpson is distracted..santon gets played all over,you know you will see worse if wigan beat us on monday,

27. Stats are for computers, there are too many variables in footie for me to take them as comprehensive facts, like boxing stats. What i see is what i see, and i see williamson as a decent championship player but he lacks vision, skill and prowess for the premier league. Sampdiago, when you paraphrase our last 15yrs like that it really hits home the amount of detritus Ive put up with since Sir Bobby was shamefully binned. The thousands of pounds of my wages spent and hours of my life used in expectancy and passion and when paraphrased you can see the guff weve suffered. Has any other club offered so much one season then ripled your dreams away the next? It os genuinely like a panto, what is the next nugget of staggering arrogance from Cashley?

28. sampdiago says:
    November 29, 2012 at 2:09 pm

    “Worky,you know I respect your oppinion,as you back it with stats,but come on,williamson…?”

    sampdiago, I just go on my understanding of football and what I see on the pitch rather than their image and what other fans say about them.

    Though Williamson is something of an old fashioned defender compared with what people have been taught to expect in this day and age, although he may not be quite as good at dribbling and scoring goals as Lionel Messi, I still think that he’s a decent, hard working no-nonsense defender who’s OK in the air and in the tackle. As I wrote in these pages several times, I always wanted Jan Vertonghen from Ajax since it became clear that he was available, and I would have bid a significant amount over what what Spurs got him for too. However, just because Williamson isn’t like Vertonghen, I don’t think he deserves this absurd campaign of vilification. Ditto with Perch, Simpson, Ameobi and so on…

29. TROJAN RECORDS 73 says:
    November 29, 2012 at 11:04 am

    “worky i’m glad your putting the stats up, that prove once and for all, he is “the long ball conman”, stewart robson, said he was.”

    I always said he was a long ball conman too Trojan, as unlike many fans who convinced themselves that his real name was “Pardiola” (I never believed that some would actually take that seriously when I first used it), I’d seen his previous work.

    ESPN Interviewer: “What does Alan Pardew bring to the table that Chris Hughton didn’t?”

    Stewart Robson: “A massive ego.” :lol:

30. If I were Mike Williamson’s advisor, I would tell him to pretend that he was born in Paris, use the French version of his name, Michel Guillaumefils, and go and see Trinny and Susanna or Gok Wan for a style makeover so he looked a bit more like Davide Santon and Yohan Cabaye.

    If he insisted on remaining English however, I would then advise him to shout and point far more often, possibly adopt a Geordie accent, and keep saying that he “bled black and white” alot like Steven Taylor. :-)

31. agreed worky. I don’t think that williamson and Simpson are the best defenders in the world, but I do think they get alot of stick which is undeserved and are judged by higher standards than Saylor, Coloccini and Santon. Their faces just don’t seem to fit for some of the fans and they will never be happy

32. Worky Says:

    “If I were Mike Williamson’s advisor, I would tell him to pretend that he was born in Paris, ”

    or Marseilles, like Joey Barton. Allez Joey. He said that he wouldn’t be understood if he spoke with a Scouse accent and thought he would be understood if he spoke Scouse with a French intonation? Well done zJoeii, all heez friendz were outside nicking their tyres.

33. Comparing Williamsaon with Titus Bramble ?
    Bramble is twice the player williamson is, better technically, stronger on the ball, seldom goes to ground, has good positional sense and yes his achilles heel is, he sometimes loses concentration.
    For those defending Williamson, the guy has poor positional sense, resulting from him being out of position, though people generally dont blame him because he was nowhere near the play.
    He is not quite as bad as he was going to ground, which indicates you have been beaten and are lunging in desperation.
    He tends to ball watch, instead of watching the opposition, couldn’t jump over a matchstick, has yet to score a goal, when any six foot four player should be a threat in the box, has yet to show any physical action, when a central defender should install fear in the opposition and regardless of the stats posted by Worky, fail to see how anyone can defend him as a PL player.
    Plus his distribution is hoof it up the pitch, just awfull.
    however he may in fact be the nicest guy in the squad, but thats not what he’s judged on.
    fact is , he has more critics than those praising him, which sez it all.

34. TROJAN RECORDS 73 says:
    November 29, 2012 at 11:04 am

    “i’m not a williamson fan, but the first goal, williamson had his eye on the stoke attack, to the left of him.
    he then realises no one has picked up walters, ghosting into the box, williamson then tries to turn on his heels, to make a back for walters, but it was too late.”

    Nicky Butt used to get that alot when he tried to cover for Steven Taylor being out of position. Fans would blame Butt though because he was the one who looked like he had been caught out, and of course he didn’t possess a Geordie accent.

    “Their faces just don’t seem to fit for some of the fans and they will never be happy”

    Thanks Tony but to be fair, many fans used to think that Perch was worse than Hitler, but now they seem to have changed their minds on him. Unfortunately though, it’s usually to move on to other scapegoats to blame for all of Newcastle United’s woes, so perhaps you do have point after all! :-)

35. Chuckles: Williamson should go up for corners as he does have height, although he couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo.

    Coloccini should never go up for corners because he can read the game and defend a counter attack. He is a slow runner, so he is slow in getting back. But he is a fast reader of the game.

    Who cares if Bramble is better or worse than Williamson, we have Williamson so f8ck Bramble.

36. Mike Williamson’s characteristics according to “whoscored.com” which have been calculated using his OPTA stats.

    Strengths

    Aerial Duels
    Concentration

    Weaknesses

    Passing

    Michael Williamson’s Style of Play

    Likes to play short passes

    http://www.whoscored.com/Players/7778/Show/Michael-Williamson

37. Chuck, couldnt agree more. No one here is scapegoating Williamson, there are plenty ofother first teamers not performing but the difference to me is they are predominantly premiership players who are underperforming. Williamson has too many weaknesses to be anything other than a liability. Those alleged Opta stats dont see what I see sat in the South East corner, passing,ariel duels and concentration are the exact 3 things he lacks!!

38. worky

    where’s that interview with robson on pardew?

39. Here it is Matty. It’s a panel discussion lasting around 25 minutes on several different things though, not just Pardew.

    http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/video_audio/61504.html

40. thanks!

41. And oh! i was wrong he did in fact score, an own goal !

42. Chuck, he hit his own post yesterday. The only ball he played along the ground all day :)

43. Worky: if I don’t laugh at this awful situation I will just get miserable.

44. Worky
    Just watched the video, been agreeing with Robsons and the other’s from day one, they had him nailed from the git go.

45. Don’t think it’s a good reaction to the current situation to get ourselves into a mexican standoff with each other the whatever members of the squad fail to impress us.

    Tactics & lack of motivation absolutely are the problems. Unfortunately, there are only a couple folks who can do anything about them. Just gotta ride it out…

    Oh, I’ve still yet to see Vertonghen not have a great game. *sighs*

46. I am reading a VIZ annual at the moment to convince myself that all Geordies aren’t miserable.

    The letters page is good.

47. I did put up a video of the whole match a short while ago BTW.

    For those Geordies who are feeling starved of good football though, I would recommend the first half of the Swansea – West Brom game. I watched the whole thing and Swansea played some really beautiful football which just ripped West Brom apart, a bit like we did in a first half against them last season.

48. Here’s one for you Worky:

    “No wonder the BBC has been accused of dumbing down when it continues to allow basic grammatical errors. With just two contestants left, hairy faced boiler Anne Robinson should be playing “The Weaker Link”

    VIZ

49. WK, can’t you tell I am starved of good football? I am at the point of yelling “I’m mad as hell and can’t take this anymore”.

50. GS says:
    November 29, 2012 at 7:21 pm

    “I am reading a VIZ annual at the moment to convince myself that all Geordies aren’t miserable.”

    GS, I was born a curmudgeonly old Geordie sod and I’ll die a curmudgeonly old Geordie sod. May I remind you however that the most miserable old sod on here by far is a Yank. I suppose that many New Yorkers have a reputation for being grouchy old bastads too though, which Chuck more than lives up to.

51. Worky: I tried to convince me mam once that there is a Geordie sense of humour and put up VIZ as exhibit A. She told me to haddawayandshite.

52. I have lived in the US for 23 years. I have a few VIZ annuals. Is there a “best of VIZ”? It is Xmas and this would be a present to myself.

    I could look it up on Amazon, but they don’t speak Geordie.

53. We are a proud many,but at least our fans can have a decent debate,respect each others opinions even if we dont agree,without name calling or disrespect,i guess thats why we are the best fans

54. sampdiago says:
    November 29, 2012 at 11:05 pm

    “but at least our fans can have a decent debate,respect each others opinions even if we dont agree,without name calling or disrespect”

    You’ve obviously missed out on the fun in a few Toon blogs sampdiago. On some of ’em they’re scatching each others eyes out! I do think that things have become a bit more divisive since Ashley came along, or more specifically since Llambias and Keegangate and all the stuff that’s happened since.

55. Not on here Worky @54. You and Chuckerihno have many discussions and he only told me to F4CK off once. But F@ck you all, I am taking my toys and going home.

    Pardew

    Pardew

    Pardew

56. I was trying to get drunk and all I managed was a headache. A bit like NUFC – the hangover without the fun.

57. Very true worky,lets save some bashing for lambsnuts and par poo poo on monday night lol,never know the lads may refuse to lay down..