Tough, but could be worseNewcastle United manager Alan Pardew sees our fourth round Carling Cup draw as ‘tough’.
Alan Pardew sees the next rounds’ Carling Cup draw as ‘tough’ but is thankful we weren’t drawn away against one of the ‘top’ clubs. Pardew said:
“It’s a shame [that it’s an away draw], but we want games because these players want to play.
“It’s a tough game, but we could have been drawn against one of the top clubs, who are all still in it, away from home, so it’s not the worst draw we could have had, but it’s still a tough draw.
“Blackburn will be hurting from today [Saturday’s game against them] and that’s going to make it even more difficult.” (more…)
It was fantastic, says DembaDemba Ba talks about his hat-trick for Newcastle United and how a happy squad is one of the keys to good performances on the pitch.
Shortly after yesterday’s 3-1 win over Blackburn the BBC interviewed Demba Ba and this is what he had to say:
Interviewer: Demba, your first goals for Newcastle and your first Premier League hat-trick – how does that feel?
Demba: It was fantastic, scoring a hat-trick here in these conditions and on this stage. It was fantastic.
Interviewer: Your team mates all signed the ball for you as well.
Demba: Yes, I’m very happy for that. The ball’s going to be home and the whole family is going to look at it and they’re going to be happy because they all came down from Paris to watch the game today, so I think they’ll be happy tonight.
Interviewer: It seem a happy team at Newcastle and all the players seem to get on. How important has that been with the good start that Newcastle have made this season? (more…)
A Demba Ba hat-trick sees Newcastle United cruise to a 3-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers and maintain their 4th place in the Premier League.
On paper we should be the better team this season, but Blackburn have a record at St James’ Park second only to Manchester United in the Premier League, so the superstitious amongst us might have had cause for concern.
A disclaimer before I start: I watched the match on a very shaky internet feed and missed bits of it here and there, so if my match report contains glaring holes, you know why.
The Toon analysts in the dressing room had clearly been doing their homework as they appeared to have identified Givet as the weakest link at left-back in Blackburn’s defence and almost from the off we started attacking down the right, which was to become a familiar pattern for a lot of the game with Obertan making a lot of the running.
We dominated well for 25 minutes before the first goal, with Ba, Best and Gutierrez having chances on goal only to put them over the bar. Blackburn’s David Hoilett was the only player to give us any real signs of trouble when he dribbled easily past Gutierrez into the box and it took a great piece of defending by Coloccini to counter the danger. (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…)
The goblin is worriedNewcastle United have had what can only be described as a strong start to the season but where will the real tests come and how will we respond to them?
The one good thing about having no expectations is that you can’t be disappointed. But notice I wrote ‘no’ expectations instead of ‘low’ expectations, so that also means you can’t be elated either.
But no expectations is just what I had at the start of the season. I suppose I must concede that even amongst a general lack of expectations I’m pleasantly surprised at our 4th place, but it’s early yet and in terms of a finishing position, anything from 8th to 18th wouldn’t surprise me. 6th or 7th – and likewise 19th or 20th – probably would surprise me a little, but I can’t say I’d be stunned, shocked, awed, gobsmacked or any other converted past participle adjective of a similar nature.
So what do we make of things so far?
Well, personally, I’ll take 4th at any time in the season. I’d prefer it next May but I’ll take it now. I’ll also take the fact that we look like a gritty, determined, hard to beat team, which is handy because it compensates for our lack of polish and poor passing. (more…)
