50-50?Newcastle United have injury worries ahead of their visit to Eastlands on the weekend, so who will be fit enough to play on Saturday?
There are a couple of ways to look at our next three games against City, United and Chelsea: either we’re in with a chance of some points if we have a fully fit squad or we have no chance and it’s therefore a ‘good’ time to suffer injuries, given that we have to suffer them at all. Either way, we do have injuries and I thought I’d round up the latest news I can find on them.
Cheick Tiote had a medial ligament injury which has caused him to miss the last two games. Apparently he’s been working with medical staff all week to try and get fit for Saturday’s game and as far as I can tell it’s about 50-50 as to whether he’ll be fit in time. It’s (usually) caused by a high-impact landing on a slightly bent knee and the fact that Tiote has any chance of being fit for the game at all probably means it’s the lowest grade of medial ligament injury, which can apparently take anything from 2-10 weeks to heal.
Presumably Guthrie will continue to be the man to step in for Tiote if the Ivorian remains injured. (more…)
Hurrah for the two Dannys!When Danny Guthrie arrived at Newcastle I instantly thought of the time we signed Robert Lee!
I know, hang on a min how the hell did I come up with that comparison? Also, in the seasons that have followed he has been mostly a bit part player only showing flashes of what he is capable of. But the comparisons were there as it was one of Keegan’s first players to arrive after taking charge for the second time. He wasn’t expensive and has that very hard quality to find in a midfielder, in that he’s a box to box type of player with a broad range of passing, has an eye for goal, who can win the ball and drive the team on like a poor mans Steven Gerrard!
Also with Dan Gosling, when we also managed to sign him on a free with the feeling amongst the fans that finally we are looking at sensible up and coming players and not getting ripped off paying for expensive big names who don’t perform. Having arrived injured we are still waiting to see the best of the former England U21 who had shown so much potential at Everton and warranted the cheeky deal that we managed to get him on. (more…)
Newcastle United's dugout last Saturday.After a gutsy win over Everton this weekend I picked myself up from the floor after a nervous last 20 minutes or so and began to wonder, “Did the performance display Newcastle United’s squad depth and quality, or did it highlight our lack of it?”
Let me explain. Most so called “pundits” have attributed the main factor of our success to the ability to put out the same team each week without injuries, now with Gabriel Obertan, Yohan Cabaye and Sylvain Marveaux picking up little injury niggles as highlighted in a previous blog, I think a few fans are beginning to wonder how this will affect the team in the coming weeks against the big boys of the Premier League.
In the first 35 minutes or so at St James Park we dominated Everton in my opinion. They had a couple of chances with Seamus Coleman and Louis Saha but no real sustained pressure. Then the injuries began to appear. Cheik Tiote, having already been sidelined previously, was then joined by our midfield maestro, Cabaye. For me that turned the game on its head, something that Pardew agreed with. The lads that were brought on to plug the gaps so to speak (Dan Gosling, Hatem Ben Arfa etc) did the job and brought the 3 points home. However I can’t decide if it was a quality defensive display, or just Newcastle struggling with our 2nd string. (more…)
Essential for the next 3 games?The international break has come at an opportune time for Newcastle United as injuries to the squad begin to mount up.
I think we all knew that a potential Achilles Heel for us has been the onset of injuries as the season progresses.
It is of course a problem for any of the teams that can’t afford to buy and maintain a second side that’s made up of the sort of quality teams like Manchester City have, but it’s probably also made more significant for us because we’ve carved out our good start to the season with – more of less – the same 11 players.
Cheick Tiote has a knee injury, Leon Best has a toe and groin injury and Yohan Cabaye – who was substituted fairly early on Saturday – has a groin problem. Apparently none of those three are likely to play for their countries during this international spell, although Best and Cabaye will join their squads to be assessed by the Irish and French locums respectively. Sylvain Marveaux joins the list of wounded too with a groin injury sustained during his sting against Everton. (more…)
Long match highlights of yesterday’s Newcastle United v Everton game. Also includes post match interviews from Alan Pardew, David Moyes, Ryan Taylor and pundits analysis from a certain TV highlights show.
Below – The full post match interviews with Alan Pardew and David Moyes. If you are having problems playing the interview videos below, it may be because you are using Internet Explorer. (more…)
