Response to defeat required at Stamford BridgeNewcastle United suffered at the hands of a top-quality Wigan on Saturday and it will be a big test of their character to see if they can bounce back from that in Wednesday’s match against Chelsea.
The weekend’s defeat by a resurgent Wigan brought us down to Earth with a thump after a 6-game unbeaten run. It got worse too because Spurs beat Blackburn 2-0 to leap over us into 4th on goal difference and Chelsea hammered QPR 6-1 to pressure us up the rear, just one point adrift in 6th place.
We didn’t play particularly well on Saturday but Wigan were outstanding and they played as well as any team we’ve faced this season. You have to wonder why it took them so long to find their form. Things didn’t go our way in the short spells when we did get the upper hand but, then again, some weeks we’ve had things go precisely our way when perhaps we’ve been lagging behind the opposition on pure footballing merit. We were beaten by the better side on the day – it’s as simple as that.
We’re going to Europe come what may now and that’s a great achievement after so many years without European football. Credit goes to the players, Alan Pardew and the club’s upper echelons for orchestrating that – it’s more than most people expected of us. (more…)
Ranger to supply the danger this Sunday?Andy Carroll looks likely to miss the game against Wigan on Sunday, and he could also miss the home game next week against West Ham after picking up a thigh injury.
Undoubtedly it is a huge blow to Newcastle as they face a very important week in the quest for Premier League survival as they come face to face with two teams that are battling it out at the bottom of the league currently, but being realistic there was always a risk that Carroll would pick up an injury at some point.
So now we must prepare to do battle against two teams that we are competing with without our star man. Kevin Nolan will return to the side to at least add some goal-scoring capability, but the main point of all this must be the fact that Nile Ranger will surely get a run out in the first-team in the absence of Carroll.
Many people have clamoured for Ranger to get some decent game time, and with Shola Ameobi still recovering from a hamstring strain, and now with Andy Carroll on the treatment table the time has surely come for our highly-rated youngster to attempt to make his impact on the first team. (more…)
