Highlights of this evening’s game between the Toffees and the Magpies at Goodison Park.
It was something of a “game of two halves” this evening, with Everton completely dominating the first 45 minutes with some excellent attacking football which left the Toon completely in their wake. For all their domination, they went in at the break with only one goal to the scoreboard, a great diagonal effort across Harper by Leighton Baines in the 15th minute. (more…)
Team: F.C. des Girondins de Bordeaux. League: French Ligue 1. Position last season: 5th. Stadium: Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux. Last major trophy: Ligue 1, Coupe de la Ligue, Trophée des champions – 2009. Fixture dates: Thurs, 4th Oct (H), Thurs, 6th Dec (A).
A silver haired Supremo in his early fifties, his team came fifth in the League last season. However, after a major clearout of players from his team and a need for replacements, he found himself ultimately frustrated in the hunt for new players in the last transfer window, with his club at an important stage in it’s development.
Who else could I be referring to other than Francis Gillot, the 52 year old Silver Supremo of our forthcoming Europa League Group Stage opponents, Girondins de Bordeaux? Whilst they may not be quite what they were in their last heyday under Laurent Blanc (2007-10) yet, they should still provide by far the stiffest test in our battle to get through the first Europa League group stage.
A potential Newcastle United 11 without Ba and Cisse.Following the departures of Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands Newcastle United have only three recognised strikers in our 12/13 squad – fact.
A much documented lack of transfer activity has left countless Geordies despondent with the size of our squad entering a hectic season, yearning for the signature of a new striker. The biggest worry is that whilst both Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse are competing in the African Cup of Nations (or potentially injured) we will be left unable to cope without arguably our two most recognised strikers, where a lack of goals could become a defining factor in our Premier League campaign. It’s worth noting that Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse contributed a huge 53% of our goals total in the Premier League last year (29 of 55), highlighting their importance.
So, should we of signed another striker? Not necessarily. Can we cope without Ba and Cisse? I believe so. A conventional 4-4-2 formation is unachievable should only one recognised striker in Shola Ameobi be available, but alternatives can be utilised to apt effect. Of 38 Premier League fixtures last season a 4-4-2 formation was utilised 26 times (68.4%). What about our other fixtures? We were often tagged as operating in a 4-5-1, 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation with 1 conventional striker, 3 advanced mid-fielders and 2 central defensive mid-fielders in behind operating predominately defensively. Why could this not be used in the few games where both Cisse and Ba would not be available? Another alternative would be to play a 4-4-1-1 formation (often favoured by Alan Pardew’s predecessor Chris Hughton) with Ben Arfa operating in what is essentially a free role behind Shola Ameobi. (more…)
Villa sign a younger replacement for Shay Given?Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle. Date: Sunday 2nd September,2012. Kick-Off: 4:00pm. Referee: Lee Probert. UK TV: None.
Sunday brings Premier League football back to St James’ Park as Aston Villa provide the opponents for a 4pm kick-off. There will be no UK TV broadcast of the fixture so it will be time to scour the internet for links if you’re not attending the match.
Newcastle will look to bounce back from last weeks defeat at Chelsea. While Villa have lost both their Premier League fixtures to date, a 0-1 loss to West Ham, and a 3-1 defeat to Everton last week at Villa Park. Historically Villa have struggled at St James Park, with only one win in the last twelve years. So the omens do look good if you believe records mean something.
Newcastle United Vs Aston Villa History
The way in which the Villans goaded the Magpies back in 2009 when Newcastle were relegated still strikes a nerve with many Toon followers. On Newcastle’s return to the Premier League in 2010 / 2011, Villa provided our first opponents at home, so a chance for some kind of retribution presented itself. Joey Barton, a Kevin Nolan double and an Andy Carroll hat trick helped to inflict a 6-0 mauling for the Magpies. Last season, Papiss Cissé introduced himself in style, controlling Jonas‘ left wing cross and lashing a volley past ex-Magpie Shay Given to secure a 2-1 victory. The last time we lost to Villa at St James’ Park was during the 2004 / 2005 season, where we witnessed Lee Bowyer and KieronDyer fall out very publically and get themselves sent off for fighting after Bowyer felt that Dyer was refusing to pass the ball to him in the game. (more…)
Will the Bantam Cocks be like headless chickens this afternoon?Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle. Date: Saturday 18th August 2012 Kick-off: 5.30 pm Referee: Martin Atkinson UK TV: ESPN
Dear reader, hello, good afternoon and welcome to our regular “match banter” feature.
As we we made a bit of a bit of a cock up with the match preview this week, with both “Jimbob” and “AndyMac” doing one, I thought we’d make a bit of a departure from the norm this time. You can see Jimbob’s original match preview here, but for this post, I have also decided to show Andy’s preview in it’s entirety to provide an alternative as it’s also very good, provides even more background for our all important first game of the Premiership, and it can’t do any harm!
I will be doing all the usual bits such as putting the team sheets up when they become available, posting some links for the game and so on. When the game is over, I will also be posting highlights and perhaps a link to the whole game if there’s one around.
So for now, it’s over to AndyMac. – Workyticket.(more…)
