Tough, but could be worseNewcastle United manager Alan Pardew sees our fourth round Carling Cup draw as ‘tough’.
Alan Pardew sees the next rounds’ Carling Cup draw as ‘tough’ but is thankful we weren’t drawn away against one of the ‘top’ clubs. Pardew said:
“It’s a shame [that it’s an away draw], but we want games because these players want to play.
“It’s a tough game, but we could have been drawn against one of the top clubs, who are all still in it, away from home, so it’s not the worst draw we could have had, but it’s still a tough draw.
“Blackburn will be hurting from today [Saturday’s game against them] and that’s going to make it even more difficult.” (more…)
These embarrassing pictures really need to be updated now.Of course, the League Cup is regarded as the lowest rung of the “major” trophies.
Conventional wisdom in the highest echelon of English football, ie the Premiership clubs and especially the top Premiership clubs, is that it gives them a chance to give their precocious bairns who aren’t quite “ready” yet a chance for some kind of meaningful competition. It is also a chance to dust down old cloggers kept in case of emergency and give them a chance keep their hands, or more correctly perhaps, their feet in, lest they spend so long on the sidelines that they seize up with arthritis, or forget that they were ever footballers on the first place.
There are undoubetedly reasons for this, which is why top managers who have forgotten more about football than I will ever know treat it in exactly this way. It is true for the lower Premiership clubs that survival in the division comes above everything for the financial reasons I’m sure you all know, and the teams at the other end have much bigger fish to fry, ie competing for the greatest prizes of all, the League and the Champion’s League. However, conventional wisdom can sometimes be so prevalent that the most productive thing in the long term can actually be to go against the grain, to break the existing paradigm quite simply because hardly anyone else is doing it. (more…)
Match highlights from yesterday evening’s nailbiting 3-4 thriller against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup.
Features two goals from Peter Lovenkrands. The first featuring an astounding pass from comeback kid, Hatem Ben Arfa, and a pretty tidy assist from his French compadre Sylvain Marveaux too. The third was an almost certain cross which ended up in the goal from Danny Simpson, and finally, the “Coup de grâce” in the dying seconds of extra time from the head of Captain Coloccini.
Also features the three Nottingham Forest goals from Finley, Derbyshire and Tudgay.
Apologies for the slightly wobbly nature of the videocam highlights. As you probably know, TV coverage of this game was none existent so it’s a case of “any port in a storm” this time. I will keep my eyes peeled, and should anyhting better show up, I will replace it. Thanks by the way to ironically named site user, “Free Scoring Smudge” for pointing this out.
Third away trip in a row.Venue: City Ground, Nottingham Date: Tuesday, Sept 20th, 2011 Kick-off: 7:45pm Referee: Lee Mason
Hello, good evening and welcome to NUFC Blog’s match banter feature for this evening’s League Cup encounter with Nottingham Forest at their place.
Forest have been struggling of late under former England manager and Dutch accent specialist, Steve “Wally with the brolly” McClaren, with the former double European cup winners languishing in the bottom three of the Championship table. However, before we get arrogant, it should not be forgotten that League One relegation candidates, Scunthorpe, really gave we Magpies a run for our money in the last round of this competition, with only an extra time goal separating the the sides in what was a very close contest. Don’t forget that for a more in depth look at the upcoming game, you can always check out Jimbob’s excellent match preview.
It's at their place.Venue: City Ground, Nottingham Date: Tuesday, Sept 20th, 2011 Kick-off: 7:45pm Referee: Lee Mason
Newcastle United are in action this Tuesday night, with a visit to see Dutch impressionist, Steve McClaren, and his struggling Nottingham Forest side.
The Magpies defeated a spirited Scunthorpe United team 2-1 in extra-time to earn a visit to the City Ground, while Nottingham Forest dispensed of rivals Notts County on penalties, after a 3-3 draw at home. There is no scheduled live broadcast for the match, so it will be time to scour the wonders of the world wide web once again to find a stream. Pop back here tomorrow for our match banter, and maybe someone may have been kind enough to share a link for you. If you find a decent one yourself, feel free to share your discovery with the rest of us.
Newcastle are coming into this game off the back of an impressive away performance at Villa Park, where in fairness, United deserved more than the point they earned. Nottingham Forest are probably still a little upset about their defeat to rivals Derby County at the weekend, it certainly seemed that way while I was at the Nottingham train station on late Saturday afternoon anyway. Newcastle’s last visit to Nottingham was in October 2009 during our Championship season, where we were defeated 1-0 thanks to a Dexter Blackstock strike.
