Points equal prizes for now?Newcastle face Coventry City tonight, looking for a much improved performance from the showing at Swansea at the weekend. But as per pre-match comments from Hughton, points will no doubt be the preference over performances even at the sacrifice of entertainment, at least for now.
Yours truly will be in attendance and off shortly to frequent a local establishment in search of sustenance before the match, so if anyone is around and wants to buy the beers, I’m your charity. No TV coverage this evening, so if anyone can find radio links etc to the game for people who don’t have it, I’m sure that would be appreciated. Otherwise, you might have to make do with my cynical and protracted match report, all in good time.
As ever, this can be the place to come together during the match and p*ss and moan, as we usually do. (more…)
Trip down memory lane to better times.After the last two abject displays away to Derby and Swansea, there can be no question that Newcastle need to turn in a convincing performance and take all three points from the game against Coventry City at St James Park tonight.
With West Brom’s draw Tuesday evening taking them back to the top of the table on goal difference, and Forest’s win closing the gap between us and them to 2 points but with our two games in hand, we need to make our next two home games count by taking all six points.
Coventry won’t be a pushover. They’ve moved up to the top half of the table after finding a little run of form. Coventry City midfielder, Gary Deegan, has described the Sky Blue’s Championship match at Newcastle United tonight as a great opportunity. Speaking to the Coventry Telegraph, Deegan who scored the only goal against QPR on Saturday said:
“We have got two wins in the last two so let’s go up there and make it three. Why not?
“I think people will start taking notice of us now that we are showing we are not just a bottom half team.
“We have beaten Forest and QPR so we want to go up to Newcastle and beat them too.”(more…)
Point to prove?Newcastle go looking for their third ‘double’ of the season on Wednesday, to go along with the victories home and away against Crystal Palace and Cardiff, against a Coventry side unbeaten in five games and offering something of a resurgence since we beat them at the Ricoh Arena.
And while our home form looks good, we’ve suffered a few stutters in the last few games, so Chris Hughton will undoubtedly be looking to buck the recent trend and get back to winning ways. In order to do that, we’re going to have to start scoring goals, and preferably not at the death to rescue a point.
Hughton has some difficult decisions to make, with a number of options upfront and the obvious decision to be made whether to go with a 4-4-2 at home. Having come on and created Carroll’s late equaliser, Leon Best has given Hughton food for thought, who said of Best’s performances:
“You always want substitutes to have an impact and Leon has done that”(more…)
Coventry's Mascot: Micky Quinn?Flying high at the top of the table, 10 points clear of a play off place, Newcastle United face Coventry City on Wednesday evening aiming to extend their winning run to 7 games on the trot.
The Sky Blues, currently languishing in 20th position just above the relegation zone, will not be looking forward to facing an in form Newcastle United, especially as City have picked up only 4 points since beating Watford in late September. Matters will hardly have been helped after manager Chris Coleman slammed his side as ‘selfish’ following their defeat at Scunthorpe last weekend. Hoping to see a reaction from the players it may only demoralise them further.
If Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday have positive results this evening, the Sky Blues will have slid into the relegation zone come kick-off time at the Ricoh Arena. So it seems that nearly two years into his time at the club, Coventry are in the same position as when Coleman took over. He claims to have significantly improved the squad but at the moment the results aren’t playing out for them. To their credit, although the fans aren’t happy, they don’t seem to be calling for his head, having had their fill of watching the managerial merry go round over the years.
A big game could be just what is needed to kick-start an upturn in form for the Sky Blues. Alternatively they may continue their poor form then this game should be there for the taking for Newcastle. Westwood and Best have apparently been their best performers this season along with Clingan and Marcus Hall, so they should be the ones to watch at the 32,000 capacity Ricoh arena. (more…)
Coventry: "City of peace and reconciliation"You may have read about an idea I came up with about travelling for our away games, and if you haven’t, well you have now.
I’m hoping to make this a regular feature, detailing various elements of travel for Newcastle United away supporters. To aid with this i shall be calling on my experience of away days, my own personal knowledge and geography as well as some insider tips I have picked up over the years. Its also more for people who will be making their own way to grounds, as I’m assuming most people travelling from Newcastle will be using the coaches… something I never have done (the fear of urinating in one of them tiny bogs cripples me). Its also not meant to be a match preview as i’ll leave that up to the guys that do it so well currently.
This first article is one that’s really easy for me as it features our Wednesday evening trip to Coventry City and its Ricoh Arena… a venue that is 11 miles away from where I currently live. So here goes…(more…)