2-0 will do the job!Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle. Date: Thurs 11th April, 2013. Kick off: 8.05pm. Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia). UK TV: ITV 4.
Hello, good evening and welcome to our “match banter” feature for this evening’s Europa League second leg against Benfica.
As you probably know, the Magpies were soundly beaten 3-1 in the first leg at the Estdio da Luz. However, they did get an away goal so a 2-0 victory tonight will get them through to the next round. Although this might seem like a tall order against a team as strong as Benfica, Alan Pardew helped to put things in perspective by reminding us that all the team have to do is play as well as Barcelona did when they beat them 2-0 in the Champions League earlier in the season. On this the Silver Supremo said:
“There’s only one team which has beaten them by two clear goals, and that’s Barcelona, so that’s the size of the task, so we are under no illusions there. This is a Champions League team, really, and if it weren’t for Celtic’s fantastic performance in the group, they could have been competing in the Champions League. That’s the quality we are up against. I don’t think there are going to be many better sides that have played here than Benfica.” (more…)
A must win game for the Magpies.Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle. Date: Sun 7th April, 2013. Kick off: 3.00pm. Referee: Kevin Friend (Leics). UK TV: None.
Hello, good afternoon and welcome to the NUFC Blog “match banter” feature for this afternoon’s vital home game against the Cottagers of Fulham.
With only seven games of the season to go, Newcastle United are still not out of the relegation quagmire. With a strong, winning performance from Aston Villa yesterday, and Wigan going on their perennial end of season run, the pressure is well and truly on Alan Pardew now.
Pardew’s long balls.
Despite our awful season however, Pardew has stuck to his guns, insisting with the “route one” style which has made him one of the managerial greats. Indeed, as you can see from the table below, we have been the biggest long ball side for the whole of this season, eschewing the more Continental “passing” style embraced by top clubs such as Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and so on. Here’s hoping it can keep us away from another season in the Championship. (more…)
