It's a dog's life at Ewood Park at the moment!Venue: Ewood Park, Blackburn. Date: Weds, October 26th, 2011 Kick-off: 8:00pm Referee: Robert Madley.
This evenong’s game sees Newcastle United facing a struggling Blackburn Rovers side for a place in the last eight of the League Cup.
Alan Pardew has been saying he has no worries of relegation and that he will definitely be going for a win. Meanwhile, embattled Blackburn are currently lying right at the bottom of the Premier League, and survival in the highest division will undoubtedly be their highest priority, especially after what happened to last years winners, relegated Birmingham City. On the other hand, Blackburn will have home advantage at Ewood Park, and as we all know, anyhting can happen in a cup game!
Stats, previous matches etc…
Blackburn have actually gone one better than Newcastle in the League Cup, having won it in 2002 when they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the final. Newcastle’s Previous Best was as losing finalists with the Gordon Lee “Dream Team” in 1976, when we were beaten by the same scoreline, 2-1, by Manchester City. (more…)
Right attitudeNewcastle United Assistant Manager John Carver talks about the squad’s attitude and how it has helped us get off to a good start this season.
Team harmony, attitude and understanding is worth points. I’m not sure how many points it’s worth but sometimes teams that are ‘together’ and have the right attitude can get points against teams that might be ‘better’ on paper.
Attitude was something Chris Hughton was big on when he was Newcastle manager and it seems that Alan Pardew is following suit. Few players have any complaints – or at least none that they voice – and most are enthusiastic about competing for places and have only good things to say about their team-mates and the club in general.
Assistant manager John Carver has been talking about the bonds formed within the squad and says:
“It helps that we’re winning, of course it does. When you lose, that is the first time your team spirit is really tested but there is a good atmosphere in the group.” (more…)
Match highlights from yesterday evening’s nailbiting 3-4 thriller against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup.
Features two goals from Peter Lovenkrands. The first featuring an astounding pass from comeback kid, Hatem Ben Arfa, and a pretty tidy assist from his French compadre Sylvain Marveaux too. The third was an almost certain cross which ended up in the goal from Danny Simpson, and finally, the “Coup de grâce” in the dying seconds of extra time from the head of Captain Coloccini.
Also features the three Nottingham Forest goals from Finley, Derbyshire and Tudgay.
Apologies for the slightly wobbly nature of the videocam highlights. As you probably know, TV coverage of this game was none existent so it’s a case of “any port in a storm” this time. I will keep my eyes peeled, and should anyhting better show up, I will replace it. Thanks by the way to ironically named site user, “Free Scoring Smudge” for pointing this out.
'Trying is the first step towards failure'Seven months after the sale of Andy Carroll, Newcastle United have, to the surprise of no one, failed to sign a suitable replacement to fill the void up front.
A day of deadline drama, in which saw United lodge a “bid” for FC Twente’s Bryan Ruiz, has ended up falling flat on it’s face as Newcastle, for reasons unknown, decided to try and bring in a striker by submitting a bid 4 hours or so before the close of the transfer window.
Mr. Ashley had a helicopter ready to swish our man from the clutches of Martin Jol’s Fulham waiting in the capital, but (shock horror), the inevitable news from David Craig was that “unfortunately” United just couldn’t quite seal the deal for Ruiz, and also defender, Liam Ridgewell.
This ‘bid’ seems slightly reminiscent of last January’s “attempt” of bringing in a player (Charles N’Zogbia) just hours before the window closed. So after fans have endured a summer of rumours or “smokescreens” as I’d prefer to call it, Newcastle have failed in their quest to find a striker.
If Ameobi scores...From the kick off of this League Cup evening game, Scunthorpe came out of the traps giving everything while Newcastle seemed to be treating it as some kind of training game.
Once the dye was cast, the Magpies just couldn’t seem to get back into the first half, except perhaps a little in the last ten minutes. Overall though, it was a dire performance from Newcastle United until the break, and a good one from the ‘Irons’ of Scunthorpe. Uniteds defence was shakier than Shakin’ Stevens at times, and it took less than a quarter of an hour for Scunthorpe’s Dagnall to take advantage. First of all it was a near miss as the ball bounced off Coloccini. The resulting corner saw Dagnall making no mistake the second time though with a fine finish fromm around eight yards to give the home side a 1-0 lead.
Scunthorpe were very effective in stopping Newcastle getting any flowing passing movements together, not that the Premiership side were trying particularly hard to show what should have been a gulf in class. In the rare opportunities Newcastle did have, mostly long ball efforts, Scunthorpe defended well and soon counterattacked to keep the pressure on, closing us down much better than we closed them down. (more…)
