The Silver Supremo and Dreamboat - My men of the match (apart from the Toon Army that is).Firstly, let me just start by saying Newcastle thoroughly deserved their win and it was a win by United more than a loss by Manchester.
They were never allowed to settle on the ball, from the off. Newcastle also took the game to them, showed no fear whatsoever, gave no respect and pressed on with their own game regardless of what Man U brought to the party.
It wasn’t as if they had a depleted team, or even squad. When you looked at the team sheets, you would be forgiven for feeling pretty apprehensive, if not a little queasy. That didn’t seem to bother the Lads one iota though as they showed their intension to play a quick passing game, pushing forward as often as possible. The recent overuse of the long ball game was quelled, but it was used to good effect to catch the visitors on the break. (more…)
Cabaye and Ba get a goal a piece.A goal from Demba Ba, a free kick from Yohan Cabaye and – to add to Man Utd’s misery – an own goal by Phil Jones sees Newcastle United take all three points at St James’ Park.
The match started at a lively pace and it was pretty much box-to-box stuff for the first half.
The first decent chance fell to us on about 4 minutes when Simpson put in an excellent cross along the ground to Demba Ba, who was right in front of goal. Unfortunately it was slightly behind him and he couldn’t gather it for a shot.
Just over a minute later, Cabaye tested Anders Lindegaard after Ba nodded the ball down to him just outside the box. Unfortunately it was straight at the keeper and turned out to be an easy save.
Man Utd came close after 14 minutes though when a Berbatov header took a deflection and bounced off the post.
After 19 minutes an accidental handball by Cabaye led to a Man United free kick in a dangerous area. Fortunately Rooney’s free kick deflected off Tiote for a corner, which itself came to nothing.
Well done Benny!Bolton Wanderers 0 – 2 Newcastle United (Hatem Ben Arfa (69), Demba Ba (71)
Newcastle United were in their all black strip for this game, and enjoyed the backing of 4,000 travelling Geordies who pretty much took over the ground – at least in terms of noise! As a result of the Toon Army being in town, Bolton registered their biggest crowd of the season – 26,080, beating even the crowd for the visit of Man Utd from just down the road.
With games against Liverpool and Man Utd next, Newcastle fans could be forgiven for hoping we would bank 3 points here against the second bottom team. Santon’s knee injury saw the return of Ryan Taylor, and Mike Williamson made a welcome return after long-term injury, back at the expense of Perch and Cabaye, who also returned after his one game suspension.
Bolton looked nervous and edgy as United started the game in familiar fashion – controlling things and pressing the ball early. They continued to dominate as the game progressed, with loud backing from the Toon Army, and almost went ahead in the 16th minute, Ryan Taylor with a free kick over the wall forcing Jaaskelainen to fling himself to his left to palm away. At this stage, Bolton were only making the odd fruitless sortie forward on the break. (more…)
What's the odds of him staying at the Toon?Reflections on Saturday’s game and a look ahead at what might and might not be happening in the January transfer window as far as Newcastle United is concerned.
How did we not win that game on Saturday? Swansea have one of the best defences in the league but luck was certainly on their side too, particularly in the first half where we were totally dominant throughout. I suppose it’s a case of what goes around comes around – I’ll be the first to admit we rode our luck a lot in the first half a dozen games this season.
The return of Colo was welcome and I thought he was fantastic on Saturday. Likewise I was impressed with Santon and Jonas. As to Obertan, Alan Pardew has been springing to his defence after he noticed the crowd getting on his case a bit. Pardew said:
“That’s a bit harsh. Because he is so quick you always want him bursting down the outside. I thought he played well first half. He created three or four situations for us. He is a player who has only played 14 Premier League games, he is learning, his discipline was much better defensively but when you get a 0-0, there can be frustration from the crowd.
“Overall, I though the crowd was very positive and I thank them for that. Yes, we want to win. We want the possibility of the top six. Don’t make me think I am happy with the draw.” (more…)
James Perch and Tamas Kadar: Stepping out from the shadows.As someone once said: “Defence is just another way to attack.“ You can just start to imagine (go on, imagine it) how important our stable defence has been for our attacking play this season.
Take the two central defenders out of the equation and what happens? Well, we may find out next weekend if Coloccini doesn’t make it as he hopes for our next game against Norwich. Alan Pardew and Newcastle United have managed to keep the same defence throughout the season, but could now be forced to make a big change with Steven Taylor out for the season and Coloccini possibly missing with a thigh strain. The aim of this piece is to shed light on the different defensive options for the team, and then argue which would be the strongest.
Natural Defenders Available:
Danny Simpson, Ryan Taylor, James Perch, Tamas Kadar, Shola Ameobi and Davide Santon.
Possible Defenders:
Alan Smith, Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye and Jonas Gutierrez. (more…)
