Stoke City - Big lads and long balls.Venue: Britannia Stadium, Stoke. Date: 28 November 2012. Kick off: 7:45pm. Referee: Howard Webb. UK TV: None.
This evening’s game will see Newcastle United seek to avoid their fourth defeat in a row against the Premiership’s tallest side, Stoke City, who are unbeaten in their last 13 games at the Britannia Stadium.
None of their recent games could be described as emphatic victories, with their biggest being a 2-0 defeat of Swansea at the end of last month. However, Alan Pardew needs a win more than at any time since he took over as manager in December 2010, and getting one against Stoke in their own back yard could prove to be a difficult propositon. The Magpies current injury situation hardly helps either, with no less than eight players on the treatment table. You can see all the details of the carnage amongst the mangled Magpies on the team news and squad section below.
So, moving on, lets take a more in depth look at recent form, as well as our previous results against the Potters at their home, the Brittania Stadium.
Another St Mary's fist pump for Pardew today?Venue: St Mary’s Stadium, Southampton. Date: Sunday, 25th November. Kick off: 3:00pm Referee: Martin Atkinson. UK TV: None.
This game will see our own Silver Supremo squaring up to his Southampton Silver Supremo successor, Nigel Adkins.
Adkins did what Pardew couldn’t quite manage, get the South coast side promoted from League One and then taking them thorugh to the Premiership the following year. And so we face them this afternoon.
To be fair to Pardew though, he was hobbled by a 10 point deduction through administration, though he did have significant financial backing from new owner, Markus Liebherr, and they didn’t even make the League One playoffs, coming seventh. Pardew did make alot of signings who are still mainstays of the current Southampton Premiership side however, with top goalscorer Rickie Lambert, as well as José Fonte, Adam Lallana and Jason Puncheon all being signed by Pardew before he was fired under mysterious circumstances by Saints Chairman, Nicola Cortese.
Adkins’ usually reticent predecessor had this to say on the imbroglio in a rare interview:(more…)
Our last game at their place.Venue: St James’ Park, Newcastle. Date: Thursday, 22nd November. Kick off: 8:05pm Referee: Danny Makkelie (Holland). UK TV: ESPN.
This will be our penultimate game in Europa League group stage, with Newcastle United facing their second (away) leg against Bordeaux for the final game after this one.
As things stand, the Magpies lead the group with eight points and a win should see us safely through to the next stage. However the Magpies only lead second placed Bordeaux by only one point. Hence the big question should be whether we finish first or second on our group, which will probably have a bearing on the strength of the opposition we would face in the next round. Meanwhile, this evening’s opponent’s chances are now hanging by a thread as they are currently bottom with only two points. This means that so far, things are going as they might have been predicted from the start, with Newcastle United being narrow favourites over Bordeaux, with Brugge being seen as the slightly stronger of the two underdogs. Speaking as a Newcastle United fan, I sincerely hope the Belgians go out after their disgraceful treatment of travelling Toon fans in the second away leg at their place. But I digress… (more…)
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Another disappointing home defeat for the Magpies as they were sunk by two goals, with Swansea’s leading goalscorer Michu getting his seventh of the season in the 58th minute. A disastrous sliced clearence from Tim Krul in the Newcastle goal fell to the Swans’ Spanish international winger Pablo Hernandez, who then proceeded to bang in an excellent cross straight on to the head of his fellow Spaniard, who headed powerfully past the hapless flying Dutchman. (more…)
