New look midfield: Cheik Tiote and Yohan Cabaye in actionAfter the comings and goings of the ‘off season’, some of them obvious,, predictable, profitable and manufactured, it’s safe to say we now have a far more fluid midfield.
On top of the fluidity, we have also aquired a hell of a lot more pace. We seem very midfield focused at the moment, what with the possibilty of Yohan Cabaye being missing for the upcoming Spurs game. We also will lose the services of one Cheik Tiote when the African Cup of Nations swings around in January. No doubt losing his services a week or so before, as he meets up with his Cote d’Ivore team mates.
Both players will definitely be missed whenever they don’t play, whether by injury or suspension, but can we fill the sizeable gaps left? We have midfielders like Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Marveaux, Dan Gosling, Haris Vučkić, Danny Guthrie to come in, not bad stand-ins, if you ask me. We also have versatile players like Ryan Taylor, James Perch and Shane Ferguson to come and ‘do a job’ if we get Davide Santon, Mike Williamson back into the defensive fold. So, as I was saying: We have a much more fluid arrangement from midfield to defence. (more…)
Crocked?Newcastle United midfielder Yohan Cabaye fears he may have ligament damage to his ankle.
Yohan Cabaye is worried that he picked up a bad ankle injury whilst on international duty for France on Friday. France were playing Albania and by all accounts Cabaye had put in a tidy first half performance but he was substituted just 3 minutes into the second half.
Cabaye’s initial assessment was fairly grim and he told France’s L’Equipe magazine:
“I preferred to be substituted and not take any risk.
“It was a big pain, and I fear ligaments could have been damaged.”
However, shortly afterwards he was quoted as having a slightly more optimistic outlook by the French Football Federation’s web site:
“I hope I will be fit for Tuesday and that this game does not pass me by.(more…)
Tim Krul: A fine exampleI think it’s safe to say that recently Tim Krul has been on fire, I believe that he has been instrumental to the best defence in the Premiership so far.
Danny Simpson doesn’t turn into a fantastic left back overnight, it’s Timmy who won the 3 points for us at Wolves with a couple of ridiculously good double saves, some of which a certain Mr S.Given would be proud of.
I remember that away game against Palermo when he made his debut so many years ago, whilst looking jittery (to be fair it was a hell of a game to be thrown into) he made some cracking saves, and if memory serves me right, a certain Albert Luque scored to bring home an away win.
With Tim having “matured” so to speak, we must look again to our youngsters to see who else we can promote through the ranks. I think it’s fair to say that the Toon will drop down the league as time goes on, so why not try and integrate a few younguns into the team if and when it can be permitted. (more…)
Instead of Tiote?Is there a case for giving Dan Gosling a run in the Newcastle United midfield instead of Cheick Tiote who, this writer argues, isn’t having the best run of form?
In a recent interview, Cheick Toite has been saying he’s been enjoying his new partnership with Yohan Cabaye in the centre of midfield. Tiote said:
“Last week I think we played very well together. It is good and it is working well.
“Last season was different with Kevin Nolan, it was a different style of play. Kevin went forward more and scored goals.
“Yohan is a more technical player and uses a different style. They are both good players.
“But Yohan likes to play with the ball more – he brings the best out of me. If you are a winning team the most important area is the midfield.”
Now I will admit that I didn’t see the Villa game last weekend as I was otherwise engaged, but I have seen every other match this season and I thought that the Tiote-Cabaye partnership was something that needed work. (more…)
Camden Council: Scuppers No.9 hunt, for now.Right, so now as the dust settles on another tansfer window, where we made some great early progress with players such as Cabaye, Marveaux, Obertan, Abeid and Ba, and a couple of late window acquisitions in the shape of Elliot and Santon, we’re all set for the next big game in the stop/start beginning to this Premier League campaign.
The squads have been handed in to the FA and ‘set in stone’ until the January window creaks open for another round of harem scarem frittering of perfectly good cash on journeymen three-time losers and other teams ‘deadwood’. Can’t wait! (well, maybe I can as I can’t stand the way we have to do business these days).
Anyhoo, Yes, we could’ve done with a new striker to amply fill the legendary No.9 jersey here at Toon towers. But, it is what it is, so we have to just pick ourselves (jaws included) up off the floor, dust ourselves down and go with what we have now.
It’s a real pity actually, ‘cos i’d ’employed’ Mrs. FLiCK to ‘find’ us a new NO.9. A job she totally came up trumps with.
Alas, we couldn’t quite make the deadline in the registration of the ‘Great Black ‘n’ White hope’ in time for the squad lists. I put this down to the inefficiency of Camden Council and their collective inability to speed up the registry service down here in London Town. We were told that we had to form an orderly queue outside the Camden Town Hall and it could take as long as 6 weeks. I said:
