Toon didn't need the Hassell!How very dare they! With their short arms and deep pockets, those tight Yorkshire gets refused to give us three points and Barnsley 2 Newcastle United 2, was probably as fair a result as we deserved in the end. Backed by a minibus short of 7,000 fans, it was set up for and Newcastle were probably expecting, a perfect return. As it happens, apart from a spell in the first half, Barnsley were more than good for their point and battered us for spells. And this time we couldn’t sneak a win, though we came very close and it took a last gasp equaliser to spoil all of the black and white fun.
With roughly 7,000 fans spilling down the A1 and from various parts of the country, there was promise of a special day out and as the masses gathered behind the North Stand (and West Stand) in the bright wintery sunshine, the mood was vibrant. Hughton made several changes to the team that played against Coventry, as Ryan Taylor game in for Danny Simpson, while Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll (a surprise inclusion) replaced Peter Lovenkrands and Shola Amoeobi. The formation began as a 4-5-1 with Nolan playing mostly as a second striker but as the game progressed he dropped deeper. (more…)
Danger, danger...As a portion of the football world still await us tripping up and falling flat on our faces, Newcastle United continue to do what we’ve done best so far this season. A clean sheet and three points in the bag! Tonight’s 2-0 victory over Coventry City, meant it was our fourth clean sheet in a row (twelve in total) and our seventh win on the trot. The last time we did that, King Kev was in charge over 13 years ago. Let’s hope our season doesn’t turn out the way that one did though…
Would you credit it though? We were again outplayed for long periods of the game and yet we did the important thing which was to come away with a win. Despite being outplayed overall, Newcastle started well and with the confidence expected of the league leaders. Hughton also rang the changes from the previous game and with Nicky Butt coming in for Nolan, Pancrate in for Guthrie and Ameobi back from a long lay-off, there were three players buzzing to impress. Andy Carroll didn’t get involved at all.
This was another match for which Radio Newcastle were my eyes on the game, but with our defence looking shaky again to begin with, Jonas Gutiérrez gave us some respite against a Coventry side seeking a first win in ten league games. Fabrice Pancrate appeared to struggle against the pace of their other full back. (more…)
Two goals and two fingers!Seems like everybody was expecting a tight if tidy affair at St James’ today and with two of the meanest defences in the division, a high-soring game wasn’t on the cards. But with barely a third of the game gone, Newcastle were three goals to the good and showboating as some of the travelling contingent headed for early beers.
Expectations were high that Swansea would prove to be a well-organised and competent football team, particularly stingy at the back but a new-look forward line of Peter Lovenkrands and Marlon Harewood put paid to that theory within half an hour of the kick-off, and Swansea looked like just another fairly average Championship side. Eeh that Marlon Harewood, eh? I always knew he just needed time to settle in…
Harewood’s first came from a bouncing ball in the box and with the defence hesitant he headed the ball in the net to make it 1-0. After some good build up play on the left, Gutierrez finally managed to do what we have been crying out for him to do and delivered perfectly with his left, so that Lovenkrands had the simplest of headers to make it 2-0 with 21 minutes gone. And before we’d reached the thirty minute mark, more good work on the left and and an almost identical cross from Lovenkrands and a similar finish from Harewood and the game looked to be beyond the Welsh side at 3-0. (more…)
A visit from Spiderman on Saturday?In news that will surely have the whole of Tyneside quivering in anticipation, Newcastle United’s Argentine wing wizard, Jonas Gutierrez has given his strongest hint yet that he will wear ‘that’ mask next time he scores. According to NUFC Blog’s ‘data room’, this event is projected to occur sometime in the 2011/12 season based on his current record.
Speaking on his last goal, a superb, world class effort against mighty Peterborough, the pony tailed dribble king told the club’s official website:
“That goal took a long time to come but it was special; not only because it was a good goal but because it was at St James’s Park in front of our wor fans like”(more…)
Toon's 'Three Amigos'.Toon midfield dynamo, Danny Guthrie, has been expressing his admiration for Newcastle United’s ‘Three Amigos’, Jose Enrique, Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez. As Newcastle United prepare for a wet Monday evening at Deepdale in Preston, Guthrie mused on how they have defied the stereotypes about fancy foreign players who aren’t up for a good scrap in the English Championship.
On their spirit, and the so-called ‘English mentality’, Guthrie gushed:
“You might talk about the so-called English mentality, about being able to fight when your back is against the wall and showing strength in adversity,”
“But the foreign lads have also shown plenty of spirit and that’s really good to see. You sometimes hear stories about players who don’t really fancy a battle when they come over to play in this country, but Jose, Jonas and Fabricio have really knuckled down. It would have been easy for them to fob it off once we had been relegated, but they have stayed and they have got on with it.
“People have preconceptions about what foreign players are going to be like and whether they have the stomach for it, but they have been brilliant and haven’t been fazed by anything this season.” (more…)
