Guthrie red-cardedNewcastle were beaten by Peterborough and dumped out of the Carling Cup last night. It’s probably for the best given our small squad and the higher importance of the Championship but, despite such pragmatism, it still stings to lose.
I wasn’t at the game, didn’t see it on TV and didn’t listen to it on the radio – I simply followed it on the BBC web site – so I’m not really in a position to write much of a match report. The Telegraph has a reasonable report and I’ll just make a few comments and leave it at that.
One of the things I did notice while following it on the BBC was a very telling statistic: Peterborough had 28 attempts on goal (21 on target) to our 7 attempts on goal (2 on target).
When I prepared that match preview yesterday I mentioned their potent, 3-pronged strike force and they certainly seem to have taught us a thing or two about attacking the goal. With those stats I’m surprised they only got 2 goals and at least Tim Krul must have had a reasonable game to keep more out. (more…)
It's just Colgate, honestBy all accounts, including our own, the 3-1 win over Plymouth was a bit of a struggle for Newcastle. This is what Hughton had to say after the game:
“There were periods of the game where we made hard work of it.
“For whatever reason, we weren’t able to sustain it and of course the longer the game goes without getting that second one, Plymouth are lifted by the occasion and feel they can get something.”
The substitutions made all the difference though, about which Hughton said:
“I think it’s fair to say Danny and Nile have changed the game.
“When you make changes you hope they make an impact, sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.
“Thankfully, they did make a major impact.
“We needed that Kevin Nolan goal and it encouraged the lads.”(more…)
You'd think 'direct' would be our mottoWell that’s certainly how it felt. I’ll cut to the chase on this one because I’ve got my GNR preparations and an early night ahead of me. And frankly most of today’s game was instantly forgettable. From Enrique’s elaborations, to Joey Barton’s wonky radar and then over to a lop-sided and blunted formation, there was much to brush under the carpet come 4.50pm this afternoon.
However, thanks to a timely substitution, the endeavour of young Ranger and the fact that Plymouth were on the whole pretty horrible, we walked away with three points and a slightly flattering scoreline. And given that results went our way, we’re sitting quite comfortably behind West Brom who hammered the Smogs 5-0 at home.
Hughton promoted Geremi and Lovenkrands into the starting line-up amidst raised eyebrows in the Upper Tier of the Sir John Hall stand. Although there was a general acceptance that Butt should be replaced by Smith in the middle of the park. The new fella started on the bench. And once again we went with an uninspiring 4-5-1 approach to the game. (more…)
Dan the man.Black and white, sitting on top, doing alright! That’s Newcastle United, after another win in front of the watching Sky cameras puts us in the driving seat after five games. Leicester City came to town and although The Foxes showed wily endeavour in the first half, it would be hard to argue that the result was anything but a fair reflection of the game overall.
Having secured some match company for a change, I managed to borrow a season-ticket from an old mate who couldn’t make it. He still sits in the same seat we secured when the Sir John Hall stand first went up and so it was a flashback to my younger years as my temporary match mate managed to buy a ticket for my old seat.
Managing to break the car parking ticket machine at Durham station, we jumped on the 18.35 train, hopeful that we wouldn’t return to a £60 fine. The train got us into town with plenty of time spare and by the time we collected his ticket and made our way to the Sir John Hall stand, we also thankfully missed the downpour that some unlucky punters didn’t!
A couple of beers and a pie later and we took our seats just below the Leicester fans and below and to the left of ‘the noisy section’. The atmosphere cranked up as the players lined up and with both sets of supporters in decent voice, everyone, including the players, seemed keen to defy the elements. (more…)
Nolan strikes again.I didn’t realise that I’ be travelling up from London to SJP to cover this match, so it was all a bit of a rush, and I felt a little disoriented to find myself back inside the mothership at such short notice after some time away. Observations on my return were that the mighty SJP can be a bit of a big, echoey barn when there isn’t a huge crowd in there, though of course, 20,000 plus (a rough guesstimate) is of course more than respectable for a Championship team in a midweek Carling Cup match. Returning old boy and ‘Udders manager, Lee Clark got a friendly reception as expected, and things seemed to be happy enough at this stage.
Nee Stevie Tayla, not even on the bench was the word when the teams trotted out, though the also absent Collocini received less mention, despite a decent performance last time out. The crowd sounded in fairly good voice anyway, despite the stadium being half empty. I was looking forward to having a look at Kadar again, in what was to be his debut start, along with wor Kazenga LuaLua. The much anticiapted young Slovenian destroyer, Haris Vuckic, who was rumoured to be playing a role tonight, was only on the bench though apparently. On a gossipy note, the latest ownership candidates, Barry Moat and latecoming Uncle Fester-a-like, Graham Sheard, didn’t seem to be in attendance this evening. (more…)
