Argy and BargyWithout a win away from home in almost three months, Newcastle beat Watford 2-1 to take the first three points on the road, since the start of December when we beat Coventry City. Prominent in victory were our Argentine centre-half, Fabriccio “Not so clownish now” Coloccini and Andy “Crown Court” Carroll.
Despite evidently not playing the exotic football that the purists amongst us crave, judging by the crack on Radio Newcastle, the lads seemed to once again acquit themselves well, despite missing some big players and while playing on a farmer’s field. And although there was a scare at the end when we appeared to invite trouble onto ourselves and nearly paid the price, the conclusion seemed to be that this was another reasonably comfortable victory for The Mags.
Another good start saw Coloccini grab his second goal of the campaign after Nolan had flicked on a Guthrie corner, Andy Carroll steered the flick-on to the Argentine, who headed in to make it 1-0 after only four minutes. And the provider became finisher just after the break, when Carroll used his strength for the right reasons on the pitch this time, out-muscling Watford challengers to meet Guthrie’s corner and tower in a header for 2-0. (more…)
Sting in the tail from the 'Orns?Newcastle travel to Watford, looking to build on two good victories at home against Coventry and Preston respectively. We’ve struggled from travel sickness on the road in the Championship, but Toon fans are hoping for a change in fortunes.
Yours truly misses this one and will be watching keenly for ways and means to listen to or watch this afternoon’s game. No national TV coverage but reports coming through that it can be caught on some online channels, so if anyone can find tv/radio links etc to the game for people who don’t have it, I’m sure that would be appreciated.
As ever, this can be the place to come together during the match and p*ss and moan, as we usually do. (more…)
'Big' miss?If reports in the The Dail Mail are accurate then top goalscorer, Kevin Nolan has joined Newcastle’s list of crocks and misses out on the trip to Watford. With Wayne Routledge a disappointing absence from the first team squad against Preston after a good start to his Toon career, Danny Guthrie almost inevitably moved across to the right. Smith took over his role and Newcastle fans were left frustrated by a narrowing of the play, after we’d played with such freedom on the wings in previous home games.
Tightening things up and narrowing the play away from home is something that Hughton has done throughout the season mostly to effective, if ultimately a little uninspiring, ends. Certainly after the Derby hammering, you imagine he will be more cautious than ever, as proved at Swansea where we played a 4-4-2 but mostly tucked in as a 4-4-1-1. (more…)
Taken over the mantle?Whatever lies ahead, Steve Harper seems to be in good spirits at Newcastle and just trying to enjoy the current situation for what it is now. The Premiership is obviously the ultimate goal for everyone involved in the club but having waited painstakingly for an opportunity to make the No.1 shirt his own, as he heads to Watford, Harper insists he looks forward to the somewhat less prestigious trips to the likes of Vicarage Road, because his role is now undisputed.
Having had to watch from the bench as arguably one of the greatest goalkeepers in the world, saved Newcastle’s bacon week in week out, Harper could have been forgiven for feeling a little sorry for himself. But his love for the club (and probably the decent wages he was on), meant he stuck around anyway and, in fact, he still managed to play in some pretty high profile occasions, including a Cup Final appearance and Champions League football. And he’s been speaking to The Journal about those days:
“I am sure we can reach those dizzy heights again but realistically that is a long way off,”.
“The stadium is there, the fanbase is there so that has to be the ultimate aim but our first aim is to get out of the Championship, stay in the Premier League and then build year on year.(more…)
Up for the cup?It’s 25 years since Paul Gascoigne led the Newcastle United youth side to cup success over Watford, running out 4-1 winners on the day. The side included the likes of Ian Bogie, Gary Kelly, Brian Tinnion, Kevin Scott, Jeff Wrightson, Paul Stephenson, and Joe Allon, all of whom went on to play for the first team. That success followed almost 25 years on from the only other previous FA Youth Cup win 1962, when we beat Wolves 2-1.
And the current ‘kids of the future’, are on course to carry on the pattern after defeating Crystal Palace 4-1 at St James’ last night. With home advantage for the first time on the competition, the youngsters proved to be the better side on the night and the crucial goals came from Conor Newton, Samuel Adjei, Phil Airey and Sammy Ameobi. At the other end, Jak Alnwick kept his side on course for a two-legged Semi- Final against either Fulham or Aston Villa, with a crucial penalty save.
Newcastle took the lead after 24 minutes and an otherwise even affair, Conor Newton getting the faintest of touches from Samuel Adjei’s free-kick, and only belatedly being accredited with the goal. It was the provider who turned finisher, when Adjei made it 2-0 only three minutes later, picking up a loose ball and lifting a lovely lob over the stranded keeper. (more…)
