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Newcastle United Thread (pg. 46)
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| evil_bastard |
I went to the game today and it was a shambles. The Reebok Stadium is in the middle of bloody nowhere, it's surrounded by farms and stuff. You get the train miles and miles out of Bolton to some random fields. It's an incredibly cheesy ground as well, there was a pathetic fireworks display and there were cheerleaders who looked about ten years old, a big TV screen in the corner of the ground, and when they scored they played TV music from Phoenix Nights and had two nobheads running the length of the pitch with flags as if they were carrying the olympic torch, as well as that prick with a drum banging away like a demented hillbilly. It's like some stupid family funday. After they charged the Newcastle fans £35 into the ground they then had the cheek to tell us to sit down because "persistent standing" isn't allowed - they even kicked some of our fans out of the ground for standing up too long. These are people who have travelled 150 miles and paid £35 to see the game and they are ejected from the stadium, it's a disgrace that the FA haven't done anything about the treatment of supporters. Who the do these jokers think they are?
The football on display was crap from both sides but Bolton did edge it in terms of both chances and possession. It still felt like Newcastle gifted them the points though as Given made rare errors for both goals. With the exception of a big let-off when Pedersen scuffed a 1-on-1, Bolton weren't very threatening and most of their chances came from our mistakes, either miscontrolled passes or just stupid defending. They just pumped endless balls into the air and we were coping quite well, and with some common sense defending and goalkeeping we shouldn't have been troubled. But once again common-sense defending seems to be too much for our defenders. Bolton were today but somehow Newcastle managed to be even ter and conceded two very soft goals.
Somehow Diouf was awarded man of the match, I presume for conning the referee into so many free-kicks because he spent half the game on his arse. Puff.
Bolton edged it but at 1-1 it could have gone either way as we were lifted by the rapid equaliser. Another silly error and we're 2-1 down.
Souness got his tactics wrong from the start today. Playing a RB at LB (Hughes), a LB at CB (Elliott), a RM at LM (Ambrose) and a ST at RM (Bellamy) was asking for problems and we always looked unbalanced. It just never clicked, they were mis-reading each others passes, not seeing each others runs, it was disorganised. We played very little football along the ground and Bolton are pretty good in the air which is where the game was won.
Despite his excellent goal I thought Ambrose generally struggled on the left and Robert should have played there from the start. I know Robert doesn't track back and can be a liability away from home but Ambrose kept mis-controlling balls coming his way and trying to cut inside on his right foot. Robert is also just a better player than Ambrose and on his day he is unstoppable. Jenas wasn't included because of a late injury apparently, but we could have done with him today keeping the ball on the ground and passing it about neatly, make Bolton's older side run around a lot and keep things calmer.
I thought Butt had a very good game but Bowyer had another up and down performance. Butt and Jenas could be worth a try in the middle as they are both on decent form, with Bowyer rested. I want to see Milner given a run on the right as he is a class act. |
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| Ian^ |
| quote: | Originally posted by evil_bastard
I went to the game today and it was a shambles. The Reebok Stadium is in the middle of bloody nowhere, it's surrounded by farms and stuff. You get the train miles and miles out of Bolton to some random fields. It's an incredibly cheesy ground as well, there was a pathetic fireworks display and there were cheerleaders who looked about ten years old, a big TV screen in the corner of the ground, and when they scored they played TV music from Phoenix Nights and had two nobheads running the length of the pitch with flags as if they were carrying the olympic torch, as well as that prick with a drum banging away like a demented hillbilly. It's like some stupid family funday. After they charged the Newcastle fans £35 into the ground they then had the cheek to tell us to sit down because "persistent standing" isn't allowed - they even kicked some of our fans out of the ground for standing up too long. These are people who have travelled 150 miles and paid £35 to see the game and they are ejected from the stadium, it's a disgrace that the FA haven't done anything about the treatment of supporters. Who the do these jokers think they are?
The football on display was crap from both sides but Bolton did edge it in terms of both chances and possession. It still felt like Newcastle gifted them the points though as Given made rare errors for both goals. With the exception of a big let-off when Pedersen scuffed a 1-on-1, Bolton weren't very threatening and most of their chances came from our mistakes, either miscontrolled passes or just stupid defending. They just pumped endless balls into the air and we were coping quite well, and with some common sense defending and goalkeeping we shouldn't have been troubled. But once again common-sense defending seems to be too much for our defenders. Bolton were today but somehow Newcastle managed to be even ter and conceded two very soft goals.
Somehow Diouf was awarded man of the match, I presume for conning the referee into so many free-kicks because he spent half the game on his arse. Puff.
Bolton edged it but at 1-1 it could have gone either way as we were lifted by the rapid equaliser. Another silly error and we're 2-1 down.
Souness got his tactics wrong from the start today. Playing a RB at LB (Hughes), a LB at CB (Elliott), a RM at LM (Ambrose) and a ST at RM (Bellamy) was asking for problems and we always looked unbalanced. It just never clicked, they were mis-reading each others passes, not seeing each others runs, it was disorganised. We played very little football along the ground and Bolton are pretty good in the air which is where the game was won.
Despite his excellent goal I thought Ambrose generally struggled on the left and Robert should have played there from the start. I know Robert doesn't track back and can be a liability away from home but Ambrose kept mis-controlling balls coming his way and trying to cut inside on his right foot. Robert is also just a better player than Ambrose and on his day he is unstoppable. Jenas wasn't included because of a late injury apparently, but we could have done with him today keeping the ball on the ground and passing it about neatly, make Bolton's older side run around a lot and keep things calmer.
I thought Butt had a very good game but Bowyer had another up and down performance. Butt and Jenas could be worth a try in the middle as they are both on decent form, with Bowyer rested. I want to see Milner given a run on the right as he is a class act. |
The stadium isn't too far out of the main town, and was built there as it is easily accessed from both the motorways and railway. I have to get there on train and the station is about 200m from the ground, which is not a bad thing. Try getting to Pride park at derby, the nearest station is 3 miles away, the walk is along a main road and very unsafe.
As for the things you felt were silly, you should see what they give you at grounds like Wolves where the fans are treated appallingly, the food is dreadful and there is a general 'well you're an away fan so you deserve to be spat at' feeling.
Our tactics were slightly different yesterday as we lacked Campo in midfield who is a great passer of the ball. Jay Jay is still the most gifted player on the park though, and even if he had a bit of an off game, we still edged you out. The frequent throws were because of balls that your side had put out and we can't help that, that's down to your tactics, Souness made the mistake of trying to cancel us out rather than playing his normal tactics and it showed, you were very poor.
While the way we play football might not be the totally 'beautiful' way, it's still effective and you can't blame us for doing it, would you rather be a neat side like norwich and bottom of the league or top 4 by going direct at times? We do play a lot of longish balls because of the way our wingers play, they play deep in the other half as we try to get in behind the full backs, and there are many national teams who play the same and do so effectively, cameroon being one.
As for the fans being ejected, I can't comment on it as I didn't see it via the tv, but the rules are there and people have to follow them, it's the same for home or away fans as it's down to safety, plus i've been at grounds where you barely see a thing cos some twat infront of you thinks its good to stand up all game, so I'd have to stick by the stadium policy on that.
Diouf ran his ass off on the day, and even if he goes down a fair bit, there were at least two maybe four times when it was a foul so it worked against him. He scored his first goal for us by getting stuck in and working hard and you cannot fault that, I'm sure you'd rather have had some of your players trying like kluivert & shearer who did virtually nothing on the day. Shearer was also a twat when poll wanted to call him over, he deliberately didn't goto him straight away, something about his 'I'm Alan Shearer so i'm not accountable for anything' attitude that I fear is going to cost you things, the way he's never subbed even when Bellamy is playing better will only harm the team. If he really loves the team he should at least know when he's not having a good one and it's time to let someone else have a go in his place.
I think the result was about fair, maybe a point would have been right but on the day we worked hard and on our limited budget and running costs, that is sometimes all we can do. |
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| Turner |
| quote: | Originally posted by Ian^
The stadium isn't too far out of the main town, and was built there as it is easily accessed from both the motorways and railway. I have to get there on train and the station is about 200m from the ground, which is not a bad thing. Try getting to Pride park at derby, the nearest station is 3 miles away, the walk is along a main road and very unsafe.
As for the things you felt were silly, you should see what they give you at grounds like Wolves where the fans are treated appallingly, the food is dreadful and there is a general 'well you're an away fan so you deserve to be spat at' feeling.
Our tactics were slightly different yesterday as we lacked Campo in midfield who is a great passer of the ball. Jay Jay is still the most gifted player on the park though, and even if he had a bit of an off game, we still edged you out. The frequent throws were because of balls that your side had put out and we can't help that, that's down to your tactics, Souness made the mistake of trying to cancel us out rather than playing his normal tactics and it showed, you were very poor.
While the way we play football might not be the totally 'beautiful' way, it's still effective and you can't blame us for doing it, would you rather be a neat side like norwich and bottom of the league or top 4 by going direct at times? We do play a lot of longish balls because of the way our wingers play, they play deep in the other half as we try to get in behind the full backs, and there are many national teams who play the same and do so effectively, cameroon being one.
As for the fans being ejected, I can't comment on it as I didn't see it via the tv, but the rules are there and people have to follow them, it's the same for home or away fans as it's down to safety, plus i've been at grounds where you barely see a thing cos some twat infront of you thinks its good to stand up all game, so I'd have to stick by the stadium policy on that.
Diouf ran his ass off on the day, and even if he goes down a fair bit, there were at least two maybe four times when it was a foul so it worked against him. He scored his first goal for us by getting stuck in and working hard and you cannot fault that, I'm sure you'd rather have had some of your players trying like kluivert & shearer who did virtually nothing on the day. Shearer was also a twat when poll wanted to call him over, he deliberately didn't goto him straight away, something about his 'I'm Alan Shearer so i'm not accountable for anything' attitude that I fear is going to cost you things, the way he's never subbed even when Bellamy is playing better will only harm the team. If he really loves the team he should at least know when he's not having a good one and it's time to let someone else have a go in his place.
I think the result was about fair, maybe a point would have been right but on the day we worked hard and on our limited budget and running costs, that is sometimes all we can do. |
Ian, just face it, Newcastle are better, we just had a day :p |
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| Ian^ |
| quote: | Originally posted by Turner
Ian, just face it, Newcastle are better, we just had a day :p |
The league table doesn't lie :p |
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| Turner |
| quote: | Originally posted by Ian^
The league table doesn't lie :p |
Whos in Europe :p so ner ner
Newcastle will win at home against Bolton.
Whos still in the cup :p |
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| Ian^ |
| quote: | Originally posted by Turner
Whos in Europe :p so ner ner
Newcastle will win at home against Bolton.
Whos still in the cup :p |
we'll sort that one out after the chelsea game :p |
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| Turner |
| quote: | Originally posted by Ian^
we'll sort that one out after the chelsea game :p |
true but atleast we've had a run out in the cup, actually beat a team. :D |
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| evil_bastard |
I agree with most of what you say Ian, Bolton edged it and if anyone deserved a win it was your lot, but other than the two soft goals we conceded, Given was hardly tested and 0-0 wouldn't have been unfair as both sides played poorly.
Shearer and Kluivert got very poor service so I don't think it's fair to pin the blame on them, although I think they could have dropped a bit deeper and helped out the midfield. I'd like to see Bellamy back in the middle and I'd also like to see Kluivert drop a little deeper so he can see more of the ball, because he is very dangerous with the ball at his feet and his vision and passing is top class, plus Bellamy will usually get on the end of through balls because few can match him for pace. We are playing Kluivert like a target man, and while he is very good in the air it is a waste of all his ball skills. Throughout the whole side I thought we looked unbalanced because of people out of position. Souness said he played Hughes instead of Bernard at LB because he thought he was defensively safer, but Bernard is not only a better full back but also naturally left footed. Hughes never got forward to help Ambrose and massive gaps started to show on our left side with Hughes playing too deep, and Diouf was happy to run into that space. Carr on the right hand side rarely got forward either, we were just inviting pressure.
The distribution out of our defence left Bowyer and Butt problems as well as they often recieved crap balls and had no time to pick anyone out. I think Bolton's best first half chance came when Given kicked it straight to a Bolton player who missed his 1-on-1, it was the story of our night.
I agree completely about Souness trying to beat Bolton at their own game rather than just concentrate on playing to our own style. It was frustrating because I feel Bernard and Robert on the left could have made a difference for us. Playing two strikers as target men and two combative midfielders meant that our creativity would have to come from the flanks, but the distribution to Bellamy and Ambrose wasn't good enough and I believe it all started from the back. We just never got our passing game going and it was like Souness told them to just battle and scrap for a victory. What was most frustrating was that I felt that Bolton had a poor game and it was a good opportunity for us to get an away win, at half time we were slightly fortunate to be at 0-0 but I felt that if we raised our game a little Bolton were there for the taking. But the second half continued where the first left off and Bolton took their chances from throw-ins.
This was only my third away game in England (the others being Sunderland and Liverpool) so I can't compare it to other stadiums. The issue of fans standing could be solved if the clubs worked with the fans to allocate standing and sitting sections, with those sitting getting the better seats closer to the pitch and those standing behind. I've never seen anyone injured by standing, tragedies such as Hillborough weren't caused by standing but by allowing far too many people into the ground, a problem which was solved many years ago by tickets and turnstiles. 90% of the Newcastle fans that I saw (me included) stood for the whole game, but some in the lower tier sat down. Some of the stewards seem embarrassed to ask fans to sit and give up after a few attempts. |
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| evil_bastard |
If anyone missed it, Hugo Viana on loan with Sporting Lisbon scored one and assisted two as they won the other game in our UEFA group 4-1. Someone on another forum posted Viana's goal:
He also scored two goals in a 4-2 win in the Portuguese League a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully they can get him back to the form that made him Young European Player of the Year. He's on a season long loan but he extended his contract with us until 2008. |
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| Turner |
| quote: |
Nicky Butt is a slight doubt for Sunday's Premiership clash with former club Manchester United after suffering mild concussion in midweek.
Butt was hurt during the first half of Wednesday night's 2-0 Carling Cup defeat by Chelsea, although he is expected to be fit.
Stephen Carr could return after a five-game absence with a knee problem, while midfielder Kieron Dyer, who played for the first time since September 16 as a substitute against Chelsea after recovering from a hamstring tear, will hope for further involvement.
Newcastle (from): Given, Harper, Carr, Hughes, Bernard, Elliott, O'Brien, Bramble, Johnsen, Butt, Bowyer, Jenas, Robert, Dyer, Milner, Ambrose, Shearer, Bellamy, Kluivert, Ameobi.
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Newcastle boss Graeme Souness has called on everyone involved with the club to throw their support behind the team this weekend.
Souness arrived on Tyneside in September knowing that he had taken on a big job and not to universal acclaim, but unaware of the extent of the raging debate about the way forward.
Two months on, his honeymoon period has been brought to an abrupt end by three defeats in the last four games, and he heads into Sunday's Premiership clash with Manchester United with some fans already calling for his head.
"I knew how big this club was before I took the job here, but there are certain things which are different to what I've experienced before," he admitted.
"I have been here seven or eight weeks so I don't know everything about the place just yet. There are things I'm absolutely delighted about and things I'm not so happy about, but don't ask me to go into that.
"The thing I'd like to touch upon is that we should all be pulling in the same direction - that's everybody in the city - and I find that's not always the case.
"Don't ask me to enlarge on that. At another time I will, but I find that disappointing. Everybody in Newcastle should all be pulling in the same direction. That's not the case, and I've found that out very quickly."
Souness' predecessor Sir Bobby Robson made a similar complaint during the latter days of his reign, although Souness is not about to let it deflect him from the job at hand.
"At any football club, any big football club, a manager comes to work every morning and it's 'What problem will you be confronted with today?'," he said. "It's just that it's at this club more than most.
"But that's the price on the ticket. We'll deal with it, we'll get on with it and we'll concentrate on the most important thing, which is to prepare the players and make sure they are 100% ready for the game on Sunday."
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| Turner |
| quote: |
Toon 'perplexed' by Bernard
Newcastle have insisted that full-back Olivier Bernard is not being kept in the dark by the club over the offer of a new contract.
The 25-year-old Frenchman insisted on Monday that he was yet to receive an offer and seemed resigned to leaving the club in the new year, with his current contract expiring next summer.
However, the Magpies claim Bernard and his representative are fully aware of the deal they have proposed.
The club said in a statement: "Contrary to comments made by Olivier Bernard on several occasions, Newcastle United's representative dealing with the matter has confirmed unequivocally that the player has received and knows about all the club's contract offers.
"The club is therefore perplexed over the player's continued allegations that he has yet to see an offer. The club's policy is naturally not to conduct contract negotiations through the media but on this occasion feels it must publicly reject Bernard's statement."
Bernard, who joined Newcastle from Lyon in 2000, told The Journal: "I'm not really any nearer to securing my future.
"Just show me the contract. For now I don't find it difficult not knowing what the future holds - as long as I'm playing football I'm happy.
"I have said before that if I have to go, then I will. Until then I will continue to do my very best in a black and white shirt."
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| quote: | Originally posted by Turner
Boumsong snubs Magpies
Jean-Alain Boumsong has emphatically ruled out a move to Newcastle by claiming only an offer from Real Madrid would tempt him to leave Rangers.
The French defender joined the Ibrox club on a free transfer from Auxerre in the summer and has already attracted admirers, with Newcastle manager Graeme Souness making no secret of his desire to take Boumsong to St James' Park. But the highly-rated player has ruled out the prospect of a January move south of the border.
He told the Daily Record: "If offers come in over the January window, it would be rude not to study them closely.
"It is, of course, up to the club to place any proposals in front of me but unless there is something really major on the table to force them to change their plans I won't be changing mine.
"I have no great interest in quitting Glasgow at all. I'm very happy at Rangers. I like the physical side of the game in Scotland - it's been good for me already and my attitude is that there remains lots for me to learn here under [manager] Alex McLeish.
"I'm happy to continue my education under him and I enjoy playing in front of our fabulous fans.
"Frankly, unless Real Madrid were to come in for me, I'm really not interested in moving from Rangers at all."
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I also heard that shay Given has stated that he wants to leave Newcastle aswell to further his career or something along those lines, if thats the case, sell him, you don't anyone paying for Newcastle who doesn't want to.
I say Given, Dyer, Robert and Bernard to go in Janauary. :) |
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| Turner |
Gah, 3-1 and how am i not suprised it was Bramble who scored Newcastle's Own Goal. :(
Newcastle are also claiming that Boumsong will come to Newcastle in Janaury.
Newcastle are supposedly after Lyon's leftback Eric Abidal and Marseille's Abdoulaye Meite (Centre Back).
Finally Inter are interested in a Part Exchange with Emre, Van Der Meyde and Kily Gonzales for Dyer. :eek: :eek: :eek:
Obiously Inter haven't watched Dyer recently. :stongue: :stongue: :stongue: |
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