Routledge could have a chance to shine tomorrow.Defeat to Blackburn on Wednesday night brought us back down to earth with a bump, but another home game pretty much straight away gives us a chance to put things right against Fulham.
It also gives Chris Hughton a chance to give some other players a run-out.
Now I’m not talking wholesale changes, although obviously Joey Barton and Shola Ameobi are going to need replaced because of their respective suspension and injury, but the problem is who to replace those two players with. Much of that depends on whether or not Hughton decides to stick with the 4-4-2 formation that has served us so well in recent weeks. If we do stick with that system then I would personally like to see Nile Ranger and Wayne Routledge brought into the line-up.
Routledge will end up facing his former club, and we all know what happens when one of our former players faces us. Inevitably they usually end up having a stormer, so hopefully we can finally do it to another team and Routledge can show us glimpses of what he was doing last season. (more…)
Three games without Barton.Newcastle midfiedler Joey Barton has accepted his charge of violent conduct, which means that he will now face a three-match suspension as punishment.
Barton will now miss the matches against Fulham, Bolton and Chelsea before returning to action against West Brom at The Hawthorns on the 5th December.
As I said in an earlier article, there really isn’t much Barton could have done other than accept as he has been caught bang to rights. If he decided to argue the charge the chances are that he would have been banned for more games as the FA would have deemed it as a ‘frivolous appeal’ and slapped an extra game or two on top of the regular three-match ban.
Barton has issued a statement apologising for his behaviour last night, and quite rightly so! (more…)
Video highlights of last nights 2-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at St James’ Park, for anyone who wishes to watch them again. A word of warning – It isn’t pretty!
Joey 'one punch' Barton.The breaking news is that Newcastle United midfielder Joey Barton has been charged by the FA for violent conduct.
Barton lashed out and appeared to ‘punch’ his Blackburn counterpart, Morten Gamst Pederson, in the chest in an off-the-ball incident that was missed by the match referee.
It is the fact that the match officials missed the incident which has allowed the FA to use video evidence to take a retrospective look at the incident. Barton now has two choices. He can admit to the charge which will mean he will face a three-match ban starting this Saturday against Fulham. Or he could deny the charges and face a hearing on Monday which could lead to a longer punishment.
An FA statement said:
“Newcastle United FC midfielder Joey Barton has today been charged with violent conduct by the FA following an incident in his side’s fixture with Blackburn Rovers FC on Wednesday, 10 November.”(more…)
Morten Gamst Pederson opens the scoring.In a match with few positives, Newcastle slumped to a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers last night.
To make matters worse, the man in charge of Blackburn is our former manager, Sam Allardyce, and he would have absolutely loved getting one over on us last night.
The game itself wasn’t a classic, and Newcastle, after recieving so much praise for our defence over the last few weeks, were made to pay for two defensive errors.
On the positive side of things, Andy Carroll continued his good form and should have all but guaranteed himself a place in the England squad come Saturday.
Newcastle named an unchanged side for the fourth game running, which was kind of expected really given the fact that the very same team borught us wins against West Ham, Sunderland and Arsenal. Don’t break up a winning team without reason and all that. (more…)
