A chance to get back to winning ways?Hello, good afternoon and welcome to today’s match banter thread for the Newcastle United vs Swansea City game.
Maybe this game will provide an opportunity for us to return to our winning ways.
Swansea are currently 11th but have yet to win away from home in the league this season so, on paper at least, this has all the look of a home win.
However, without at least one and possibly both of the centre-backs who have been the bedrock of our great start to the season out, things are a lot less certain. A point most notable by the fact that we’ve conceded 11 goals in the last 4 games when we only conceded 8 times in total in our first 11 games.
At the time of writing there’s no definite news as to whether Colo will play. As for another important Toon player, this is what Pardew had to say about Cheick Tiote a few days ago:
Harewood: Getting stronger all the time.Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton seems to be very pleased with the progress of rusty on loan hitman, Marlon Harewood after his two goals against Swansea City yesterday.
Harewood, who saw virtually no first team action at Villa this season before arriving on loan, and missed most of pre-season through injury, has been marked out as a target by Newcastle United’s contingent of boo boys as he has struggled to regain full match fitness, though his two goals yesterday will probably shut the petulant, imbecillic section of the crowd up for a while.
On Harewood’s struggle, and his performance yesterday, Hughton declared:
“He missed a big chunk of pre-season at Aston Villa through injury, but he’s getting stronger all the time.(more…)
Hughton v Sousa: A defensive chess game at SJP?With 1983 the last time these two teams met in the league, it will be a rare encounter when the Toon and Swansea City meet at St James’s Park. With two naturally defensive minded managers pitting their wits against each other, we can no doubt expect a tight match from the two teams with the best defensive records in the league. In addition neither can be described as prolific in front of goal so little hope of a Keeganesque performance from either side.
The Swans are officially the in form team in the Championship winning 14 from the last 18 points and chasing their fourth successive victory.They’ve also chalked up an unequalled 10 clean sheets this season, half of which have been in goalless draws, so you have been warned. This defensive bias is clearly heavily influenced by Paulo Sousa the ex Portugal defensive midfield legend and good friend of Sir Bobby Robson. Sousa, who played for Sir Bobby at Sporting Lisbon and remained in regular contact with him until Sir Bobby’s death in July, was apppointed manager in the summer following the departure of Robert Martinez. (more…)
Sousa: "he didn't answer my last call".In the run up to Newcastle United’s game with Swansea City at St James’s Park, Swans manager an ex Portugal legend, Paulo Sousa, has paid a tribute to good friend, Sir Bobby Robson in the club’s official website.
Sousa, a defensive midfielder of the highest order and a giant of the Portuguese game, was signed from Benfica by Sir Bobby when he was manager of Sporting Lisbon. Though Paulo moved to Juventus barely a year later, the pair strick up a firm friendship which lasted until Sir Bobby’s death recently.
In tribute to the great man he said:
“I was shocked and deeply saddened by Sir Bobby’s death. He earned the right to be called Sir because of the recognition he had throughout World football from players, supporters, directors, etc.
“My sadness hurt even deeper because I tried to call him the day before he died. I had called him on a weekly basis for the previous 18 months to see how he was and to give him my support in his battle against illness.(more…)
Sho or no-sho on Satda?Newcastle United’s usually mild mannered supremo, Chris Hughton, has come out with some fighting talk in the run up to Toon’s home clash with Swansea City on Saturday. In the interview, he spoke of Swansea’s fine defensive record this season (second only to Hughton’s own), and vowed to go in with all guns blazing in an attempt to break down their defensive fortress. Speaking to the Sand Dancer’s Gazette, he roared:
“Their record speaks for itself, they’re a tough team with a good shape, and they’re difficult to play against.
“We’re the home side, and we’ve got to force the issue. We can’t afford to take them lightly – they are where they are on merit.
“They’ve played some good teams, and come up trumps with some good results. We’ve got to make sure we’re on our game.”
Meanwhile, on the return of Fenham hitman, Shola Ameobi, Hughton told the club’s official website:
“We’ll make our mind up over the next couple of days but we’re fortunate that we’re on a good run at the moment and there’s not that pressure to bring him back.” adding: (more…)