Newcastle United

Fulham vs Newcastle, the second half as it happened

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:05:52 +0000

One change for Fulham at the half. Ruiz, who looked like a fish out of water in the centre of midfield, is replaced by Baird who will also be playing out of position but is much more defensively minded. I fully expect Fulham to show a lot more in the second half. 51 - Goal Fulham. 1 - 1. Yet again a Premier League referee and his assistant display total ineptitude. A foul on petulant Damien outside of the box is given as a penalty and Murphy scores it. Bloody terrible and these things happen EVERY SINGLE WEEK. Sian Massey made the call, but I'd better not say too much about her abilities or I may be deemed a sexist...... Why do they pay referee's? What a waste of money. You could pick any one of this 20,000 crowd out and they couldn't make decisions that were worse than that one. Fulham now on the front foot. 56 - their first corner of the match, Krul saves well from Zamora and a second shot goes wide for a corner off Colo. From the second corner Zamora takes a ridiculous dive in the area. He might as well with these people in charge. 58 - Goal Fulham. 2 - 1. Dempsey scores - Johnson slips in Zamora, Zamora takes the defence out, Dempsey bundles it in. You couldn't get a better example of how an incorrect referee decision can completely turn the tide of a football game. Not good enough. As you can probably tell, I am seething. Poor decisions aside, this also highlights the need to convert you're chances whilst you are hot. 60% possession is all well and good, but if you only score one then you are always in danger, 64 - Goal Fulham. 3 v 1 Dempsey again. Good goal. We have collapsed like a house of cards. Very, very worrying and pretty pathetic. 66 - Penalty Fulham. Williamson tried his best to wipe Johnson out, Krul succeeded in doing so. Clear penalty. Krul booked. Zamora scores it and it is 4 v 1. I thought this Newcastle side was a team built on heart and spirit? This is an embarrassment. Four goals in 16 minutes. Fulham in the first 45 were one of the poorest sides I have seen in years. In this half our players have let the first penalty decision get to them so much that we are now making them look like Real Madrid. This is not good enough. 72 - Ameobi goal quite rightly ruled out for off-side. We are also making Andy Johnson look like Diego freakin Maradona. ANDY JOHNSON. 75 - Guthrie off Perch on. The comeback is imminent. Strange sub that - Perch is an out-and-out defensive minded player so unless there is another change to follow soon, looks like we are going to play to keep it at 1 v 4? We have been a revelation this season and we have definitely over achieved, but there are some supporters out there who are absolutely convinced that we will finish above Arsenal and Liverpool whilst challenging Chelsea for a top 4 slot. The fact that we have shipped 8 goals away to Fulham and Norwich should put a swift end to that chat. 7th will be an achievement. It has proven to be very difficult for me to write this without multiple swear words. 83 - Cabaye off, Gosling on. At least the lads can save themselves for their nice break to the Canary Islands. 84 - GOAL, Ben Arfa, excellent consolation goal. 4 v 2. 84 - Best off, Ryan Taylor on. Didn't see a great deal from Leon today. Dempsey hat-trick, 5 v 2. WOEFUL defending. No point in finger pointing, but we definitely need someone to come in and challenge Williamson at CB. When the going has gotten tough today, far too many players have gone missing. FULL TIME: 5 v 2 Krul 5 A little harsh as he had little help, but his penalty concession was rash Simpson 5 Standard Simmo Santon 4 Excellent up until the point that he hauled Johnson back at the end of the first half Colo 4 All over in the second half. Missed a great chance in the first half too Williamson 4 Very poor Guthrie 6 Great goal, went missing when it mattered Cabaye 5 Less influential than normal Jonas 5 Excellent in the forst half, especially through th middle. Also disappeared Ben Arfa 6 Great goal and dangerous at times. Best 4 If he is not scoring from close range, he doesn't offer anything. Ameobi 5 Won a few flick ons. In summary: Very, very weird. We were outstanding in the first half - one of the best away 45's that I've seen from us, however as I noted in the 1st half summary, 60% possession is all well and good, but if you only score the one, you are never safe. If we had taken a two goal lead in to the break a poor Fulham team would never have recovered. Anyone who knows football knows that one incident can change the entire pattern and momentum of a match. Sadly that was the case today with Sian Massey awarding a penalty for a foul that was outside of the area. After that our collapse was absolutely pathetic. Yes, the decision instigated it, but a team with true ability and heart (and a Tiote) would not have succumbed so easily to such a poor side. Disappointing. And just when I thought I couldn't dislike Duff anymore than I already did. The true test of character will come next time out....... Follow @MarcSDuffy

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Fulham vs Newcastle - The first half as it happened

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:56:36 +0000

A difficult game today - we have a very poor recent record down at the Cottage. A definite boost to our chances with Cabaye being declared fit shortly before kick off. Fulham have won three of their last four at home too, so I would be happy to take a point. Teams: FFC: Stockdale, Riise, Hangeland, Senderos, Kelly, Dempsey, Sidwell, Murphy, Petulant Damien, Zamora, Ruiz NUFC: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Colo (C), Santon, Ben Arfa, Jonas, Cabaye, Guthrie, Shola Ameobi, Best 1 - Cabaye shoots from 25 yards, easily gathered by Stockdale, but a positive opening. 2 - Stockdale hoofed the ball down field and the wind carried it so far that it pretty much looked like a long range shot! Krul then kicks into the wind and it holds up, so we need to keep the ball on the floor today. 8 - Very quiet, not a great atmosphere and not a lot happening on the field of play! Apparently Capello is in the ground today to watch Stockdale and Zamora. And people think England stand a fighting chance in the Euro's?! 11 - A long ball forward glanced on by Shola. For a moment Senderos seemed uncertain which penalty area he was in and knocked it wide for a corner. The corner ends up with a shot from Shola again straight at Stockdale. 16 - This is a dog of a game so far. Not much to report. You would have expected Fulham to have more pressure than they have in front of their own fans early on, but we are containing them well. 17 - Jonas with a good break forward, beats two, lays off to Hatem who skins Senderos and shoots - Stockdale saves well. Good football. Senderos is terrible. He is pretty much a spare man because of our shape but on the odd ocassion that he brings the ball out, he seems to look to pass to row 2 of the stands. 20 - Jonas whips in a good cross, Shola heads over. Decent chance. We look the more likely at the moment. Zamora can only get better! So far if he hasn't been off-side he has displayed a touch Titus Bramble would be proud of. I haven't seen much of Fulham this season - do they always play this massive hoof to Zamora and hope for the best, or are they just trying to use the wind to their advantage? 24 - Fulham shoot, easily saved by Krul. Met by ironic cheers from the home fans! 26 - Demonstrating his absolutely basic natural ability, Sidwell flies in on Santon on the touchline. The ref has a word but no card is shown. 27 - Senderos again. Comedy. Is he going to head it? No? Yes - he does totally confusing his own keeper. Corner. Ends with a mis-struck shot from Ben Arfa. 29 - Another Cabaye shot. We are totally dominating now in terms or possession - it would be nice to capitalise on this. 34 - More pressure piling on and the best chance of the game falls to Colo who headers straight at Stockdale. That should have been the lead. We MUST make the most of this because there is no way Fulham at home will be this bad for 90 minutes. 37 - FULHAM SUB: Sidwell injured earlier by bumping into Shola the Beast. Andy Johnson comes on - he has done pretty well v us in the past. We are totally dominating through the midfield, and that area has been weakened for Fulham with them having to drop Ruiz back in there. I do worry about our lack of forward quality though. 41 - Good strike from Shola and another decent save by Stockdale. Ben Arfa to take the corner which I can only hope is better than his regular efforts. It isn't. GGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! 42 - Ruiz tries to run the ball out of midfield, he is robbed and Guthrie absolutely lashes one home. Guthrie likes a shot but thats his first league goal in ten months. Great strike. 45 - Johnson breaks, Santon fouls him on the half way line stopping him from breaking clear. Could have been a red, but the fact he still had 50 yards to travel obviously plays a part as Santon only sees yellow! HALF TIME and BBBOOOOOOs ring out at the cottage. 1 v 0 to NUFC! Follow @MarcSDuffy

The Gaffa © Getty Images

Close that window!

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:50:46 +0000

I hate the January transfer window. Ridiculous rumours, mental transfers, Redknapp describing other teams players as 'triffic, massively inflated fees and clubs like QPR madly scrambling for any over-rated player who might fancy a move down to London for a final healthy pay day. Not to mention the fact that new arrivals can disrupt - not because of personality but just because their new team mates have gone a whole pre-season and 22 games or so without having played alongside them! The January transfer window in its present format was first introduced in January 2003 - we have been involved in some pretty amazing transfer dealings since then, not least last year when Andy Carroll left us to become the most expensive British footballer in history..... We have endured a few up's and a lot of downs over the past nine January windows with surprisingly few players coming in and out - I expect this year to be much the same despite the ludicrous number of players we have been linked with. I would be happy of we brought one or two in. I would be even happier if we let no one go. Let's take a look back at the January's in question (excluding players on loan who made their deals permanent, in or out):

2011 - A Full Review

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 13:32:56 +0000

2011 was a decent year for Newcastle United, especially when you consider the ups and downs of the previous few years. Below I take a look back at the results and some of the off-field happenings from the whole year. I would love it if you added your favourite moments and any memorable incidents that I have missed in the comments box! January As far as league results went, January was not a bad month at all. Unfortunately we suffered one of our all time poorest performances causing us to exit the FA Cup at the very first hurdle. There was more off field turmoil too as, despite several assurances from the manager and board, Andy Carroll was flogged! 2nd: Wigan (A) 1 - 0 W (Shola) A comfortable victory with a nice goal from Shola claiming the points. 5th: West Ham (H) 5 - 0 W (Best 3, Nolan, Lovenkrands) I remember walking up to the ground for this one and hearing that Best and Lovenkrands would be leading the line with Carroll ruled out injured. Despite West Ham playing poorly in the league I just couldn't see how we would score. I was very, very wrong - Best was phenomenal, especially in his positioning and he netted a treble. Shane Ferguson also made a memorable appearance regularly skinning Tal Ben Haim much to the delight of the Gallowgate. Haim tried bully-boy tactics to stop it - and failed! 8th: Stevenage (A) (FACR3) 1 - 3 L (Barton) One of the worst performances and results in the history of the football club. To make matters worse, Pardew bizarrely introduced Tiote when we were chasing the game. Mr T had his mad up and got himself sent off meaning that he would miss the following game - the derby on Wearside. 16th: sunderland (A) 1 - 1 (Nolan) We were excellent in this one and but for a late, late Gyan equaliser we would have claimed a derby double. Special Agent Bruce made big noises before the game about how he could not wait to win to play a song over the tannoy that he had chosen especially for the occasion - he never got to play his song, but he did celebrate their equaliser like he had won an all-you-can-eat meal at KFC. 22nd: Tottenham (H) 1 - 1 (Colo) Sadly the late goal conceded six days earlier did not teach us a lesson. We played very well and should have claimed a win but for another late equaliser. 31st: Andy Carroll sold to Liverpool (£35,000,000) There was outrage on Tyneside as Carroll was sold so late into the transfer window that we were unable to bring in a replacement. Despite all of the promises to the contrary, our talisman was sold. Most of us were outraged and a lot of supporters were very, very upset. 12 months later I look back on this as the most mental transfer fee in the history of football. Pardew swore blind that we would see every penny of the fee. I am still waiting..... We also agreed a deal to bring in Ireland on loan from Villa - what an absolute waste of space he was. Though some of Newcastle's bar owners wouldn't agree. Hatem Ben Arfa was signed permanently despite still being a long way from full fitness. A huge risk, but hopefully a risk that will pay off in the long run. P5 W2 D2 L1 F9 A5

Alan Pardew 38 league games in

Sun, 18 Dec 2011 14:46:09 +0000

Saturday's game at home to Swansea was Alan Pardews 38th league game as manager of Newcastle United - the equivalent of a full Premier League season. Here are a few brief stats reviewing the progress we are making:

Progress

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:12:09 +0000

Despite our absolutely amazing start to the season I was not sure we would pick up anything from our last three fixtures - as it turns out we could have picked up four points! There is no doubt that we rode our luck at times at Old Trafford, but Chelsea on Saturday could have been very different. Mike Dean's failure to send Luiz off in the very early stages of the game was a disgrace - I am almost certain we would have won playing against 10 men for almost all of the game. Vs 11 men we struck the woodwork three times and had a shot cleared from the line, so imagine the chances we would have forged with a man extra? AVB might well have taken off Sturridge to strengthen the backline had Luiz been red carded, but Sturridge ended up being their best player on the day. Anyway, 14 games into the season we find ourselves up in 6th place two points off a Champions League spot and three above massive spenders Liverpool. Even more encouragingly we are eight points clear of the 8th placed Stoke. This is obvious progress. How has it been achieved?

Our fans over the sea

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 20:22:23 +0000

More and more we are hearing about overseas fans of the Premier League and La Liga. Numbers are growing in football's 'emerging markets' throughout the world with unprecedented interest from the USA, Malaysia, China and more. Liverpool chairman Ian Ayre recently commented that his club would like an end to the collective funding agreement in which all Premier League clubs benefit from an 'equal share of the pot' - he would like Liverpool (and all other clubs) to go their separate ways in terms of individually negotiating TV deals in foreign markets. Thankfully this was met with outrage from senior officials in the English game and it is believed that the other Premier League power-houses have distanced themselves from Ayre's comments. This comes not too long after the Premier League bandied about the idea of 'the 39th game' - a possible additional game for each Premier League club in the domestic season to be played overseas - a larger scale version of what the NFL have been doing in London this past four or five years or the Italian's in the Beijing Super Cup.

The Boss © Getty Images

©Photo

This coming Sunday Real Madrid face Osasuna in a match that kicks off at 12.00 noon - something that Madrid are keen on pushing, including for el Clasico's, in order to benefit from the Asian TV market. Football is changing - is it for the better or worse? Will this hinder the development of the domestic game within the emerging markets? How will China ever grow their own league and national team if the people are only interested in watching what Europe has to offer? Or will it raise the game to an all time high in terms of profile and attract more young people to play the game, therefore having a positive impact? The MLS seems to be going from strength to strength and I often communicate with a number of Stateside NUFC fans on here and through Twitter. Those chats plus all of the above left me wondering what it must be like to support and love a football club from afar. I was born in Newcastle and live four or five miles from St James's Park - it dawned on me that I take that fact for granted. What would it be like if I couldn't go? This week I caught up with Robert Schwoch and Tom Ziemer from www.newcastleunited.us (you may know them as @NUFC_US on Twitter) to find out exactly what it is like. Great guys. Enjoy:

Stoke vs Newcastle - as it happened, 2nd half

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:05:25 +0000

Well, it is not over yet. I can't imagine that Stoke will be as poor in this half. 46 - Best catches Upson with his left arm and free kick Stoke. I only add that in in the interests of equality! 52 - Mix up between Cabaye and Krul leads to a Stoke corner. Huth heads over - one of their better chances but again, the lads did well to put Huth under a lot of pressure. 54 - Steve Taylor gives away a free kick. Kick swung in, Taylor heads behind for a Stoke corner that comes to nothing. There is very little mobility in this Stoke side, the wide men apart. Lots of power, but little pace and agility. Even then the wide men are massively restricted by the ridiculously small pitch. 58 - Stoke come the closest to scoring that they have all night from (yawn) a Delap throw. Stoke have been much more dangerous so far in the second half, which is natural. We look prepared to sit back and soak up the pressure which is a gamble. If they nick one the crowd will wake up and it's game on. Trapattoni said that he doesn't pick Leon Best because he's lazy. Utter nonsense. Quite the opposite. 61 - Stoke corner, Simpson nips in ahead of Crouch to head behind for another corner. This one is aimed at Upson but he headers wide under pressure from Ba. 63 - Ryan Taylor floored again whilst bravely winning a header. This one thanks to Huth's elbow - he made no effort to play the ball at all. 64 - Walters tries to find Pennant out right, but again Jonas is in covering and clears. Outstanding. Jonas is single handedly inventing a new position on the football pitch - left back + 1 yard. 68 - Etherington off, Jones on for Stoke. Could be difficult for us. I have no idea why Pulis didn't start him given how he tore us apart at our place last season. We are making great us of the Stoke City pitch side towels in this second half! It looks like James Perch is coming on. Good luck to the lad, but this worries me. 73 - Colo headers off the line. Crouch dives in the aftermath after the slightest bit of contact from Ba. Penalty. Disgraceful call, he went down in instalments. Walters scores the penalty, 1 v 2 with 16 left. 77 - Cabaye off, James Perch on?!?!?!?! Strange one that. Perch is booked within a couple of seconds. I'm guessing Pardew really doesn't rate Gosling. The Stoke fans are getting pretty wound up when we dry the ball with the towel and Pulis is having a word with the 4th official. Are they for real? 79 - Playing them at their own game, Raylor throws a long one in and Best is pushed at the back post. Unlike Crouch, he keeps his feet but it's still a pen...... 81 - HATTRICKDEMBABA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3 v 1 82 - Ba finds Obertan out wide - he shoots just wide of the keepers right hand post. Unlucky but he should have taken it earlier. 83 - "There's only one Alan Pardew" rings out from the away end. 86 - Leon Best off, Sam Ameobi on. Well played Leon, up there to lend Demba a hand all night long. 87 - Good burst from Walters, ball out to Jones and an excellent sliding tackle from Perch. 87 - It kicks off and Huth is in the middle of it - he took Krul out after the whistle. What a surprise. 89 - Ball played out to Pennant and he is brilliantly tracked by Coloccini. Another outstanding performance from a top class Captain. 91 - Guthrie off, Gosling on. Well played Danny lad - superb graft. Terrible barnet mind. 92 - Crouch slices one up in the air. He is absolutely terrible that bloke. The modern day Kevin Francis. 95 - Now it is Danny Simpson injured in his own penalty area by a hefty challenger from Walters. Full time - Stoke City 1 v Demba Ba 3 Summary Absolutely top class performance. If someone had told me that tonight would end 3 v 1, I'd have assumed we would be on the wrong end of it. Our work rate was exceptional - we out-Stoked Stoke and added some attacking flair into the mix. Coloccini, Jonas, Ryan Taylor, Demba Ba - they were superb and there were no weak links. That result takes us up to 3rd after 10 games - and thoroughly deserved. Pundits - have we played anyone yet?......... You can follow me on Twitter @MarcSDuffy

Stoke vs Newcastle - as it happened, 1st half

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:24:09 +0000

Happy Halloween and mackem Slaughter Anniversary. A very tough game in store for us tonight has been made even tougher by the pre-match news that Cheick Tiote misses out through injury and will be replaced by Danny Guthrie. In terms of playing styles, this is one of the worst fixtures that it could have happened for. Both of the other injury doubts, Steve Taylor (broken nose) and Leon Best (tonsillitis) are good to go, so we line up: Krul, Simpson, Raylor, Saylor, Colo (C), Guthrie, Cabaye, Jonas, Obertan, Ba, Best Former Mag Jonathan Woodgate starts for Stoke. A win would see us climb up into third, though Stoke are unbeaten at home so it wont be easy. Let's not forget how tough a fixture this was for us last season, but we have bettered most like-for-like fixtures this year so far vs last, so you never know..... 1 - CORNER: Obertan's pass is deflected behind by Pennant. You see them lining up in the 18 yard box and it quickly becomes obvious how big a side Stoke have. Headed out for another corner - Cabaye crosses into the box, cleared out and a decent effort from Ryan Taylor goes wide. The 250th game of his career..... 3 - A Delap long-hoy. It looks like Ba is picking up Shawcross - I don't fancy our odds on that one. 4 - Colo brushes skin-headed Walters head and Walters hits the deck like a small child, looks to the linesman, gets nothing so jumps up and waves a finger at Colo. Roberto Mancini is in the crowd wearing one of the worst scarf's that I have ever seen in my life. I know Obertan has yet to convince many Newcastle fans, me included, but this is the type of game that he could really prove his worth. His pace on the break could help to relieve the pressure 12 - GGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLDemba Ba! Long ball from Krul, headed on by Best, superb ball in from the right delivered by Obertan and headed home by Ba. He cups his ear to the boo boys! 1 v 0. 16 - More boos for Demba. Booing him because the club wouldn't sign him so he went to West Ham instead! He responded in the perfect way a few minutes ago! 17 - A howler from Shawcross as he falls over under no pressure. Ba nicks the ball but Begovic comes out quickly and does well. Shawcross limps off like a 12 year old who has just made a silly error in the playground. 18 - It seems I have been a bit harsh on Shawcross - he's been subbed. Upson on. He has had some shockers vs us in the past so let's hope that continues. Jonas doesn't look too keen to hang on to the ball so far. I wonder if he is worried about getting roughed up?! 22 - Rory Delap's fourth or fifth long throw from the right. I'm not even sure he has touched it with his feet yet..... 24 - Superb ball over the top from Cabaye looking for Ba. Begovic again does brilliantly coming off his line quickly - get those ones wrong and you are in big trouble. 28 - Another Delap throw from the right. Stoke are very effective at what they do, but it can be a tough watch. 29 - A cross from the right that Krul, under no pressure, should take easily but he drops it behind for a corner. If he had been more central it might well have been an OG. We are under quite a bit of pressure. I do like that black strip. Might have to buy one. 33 - Only 2 shots in the entire game so far, both from us. 1 on target. 35 - Another long throw from Delap, cleared, long range shot from Etherington easily saved by Krul. It looks like Wilson might be coming off for Huth. This used to happen to us regularly when we played in Europe every year - the number of sprains and strains that our players picked up was ridiculous. 38 - Cabaye has given away a free kick on the corner of our area. Etherington finds Pennant but he's well covered. Further to my earlier comment on Jonas - he has yet again proved how helpful he is defensively. 39 - GOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOLGOL and it is wor Demba again. Left footed diagonal cross from Captain Colo, Besty brings it down well, miscues his shot but Demba slots home! 41 - Wilson off, Huth on. A second later Stoke swing in a great corner and a scramble ends with the ball in Krul's hands. Nanananananana na na na, Demba Demba Ba, Demba Ba, Demba Demba Ba 44 - Ryan Taylor, who has played very well so far, is left flat out on the floor after a heavy challenge from Walters. It looks quite serious. He finally gets to his feet and will see out the half. 49 - Wilkinson gifts the ball to Best (they've done that a few times tonight), Best shoots wide from distance. Decent effort. HALF TIME: STOKE CITY 0 DEMBA BA 2 You can follow me on Twitter @MarcSDuffy

We're Newcastle and we're gonna win the league!

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:08:19 +0000

What a start to the season. The boys are doing us proud. A lot has been written about our superb start and many media pundits claimed before last weeks 2 v 2 draw with Tottenham that “Newcastle haven’t played anyone yet.” Utter nonsense. We have played 5 out of last seasons top 10 so far. So how do we literally compare vs. Last season on (and off) the pitch? Here are a couple of head-to-head result and attendance statistics comparing this season to last, further highlighting how much improvement looks to have been made on the pitch:

Alan Pardew

Robbie Elliott (the original!) interviewed

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 15:56:25 +0000

For all of Ossie Ardiles’ faults as Newcastle manager, his legacy was the blooding of some excellent, young, local talent in the first team. Steve Watson, Steve Howey, Alan Thompson, Lee Clark and stylish left-back Robbie Elliott all got games when most other managers wouldn’t have taken the chance and all of them went on to pick up England honours at one level or another. It would be easy to argue that these lads represent the best generation of young players we have produced in decades. Encouragingly, the current crop could well surpass those lads but the difference is that, unlike the league of nations players that we enjoy watching today, all of ‘the Class of 91/ 92’ were local. Robbie made his first team debut in 1991 and went on to make 142 appearances scoring 11 goals over two separate spells – not a bad return for a full-back. He also picked up a couple of England U21 Caps. Robbie is probably best remembered for his reaction to scoring his first goal for the club in a 3 v 1 win at Filbert Street on the opening day of the 94/ 95 season – The Funky Chicken was born. (If you can’t remember, think of the three goal celebrations Kevin Nolan demonstrated on October 31st 2010!) These days Robbie is working for Nike and US Soccer. I caught up with him earlier this week…..

Nobby and Robbie

Should we take the League Cup seriously?

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:05:01 +0000

Before our second round tie at Scunthorpe and ahead of Tuesday night's Carling Cup third round tie at the City Ground in Nottingham, I have read a lot of debate on Social Media sites and Newcastle United forums about how seriously we should take the Carling Cup this year. We HAVE to take it seriously. Why? First and foremost, we have not won a domestic trophy in a ridiculous 56 years. 56 YEARS! Who are we to turn our backs on a tournament that offers a trophy at the end? Of course there are no guarantees and to go all of the way we need the luck of the draw and some luck on match days, but when you consider that seven different sides have won this tournament in the past ten years it is not altogether unrealistic. 22 different teams have won the trophy in its 50 year history and sadly we are not one of them. One of the main arguments that I have read against us taking this competition seriously is that we should be focussing on the league and that we have a thin squad. Despite our fantastic start to the season (we sit in fourth place as I type) I think we all know that a top four (or even top six) finish is a pipe dream and will not happen. We have the quality to finish 7th but our lack of bodies means that we could finish anywhere from 6 to 16th! So lets have a crack at this! Forest are in the Championship relegation zone after a difficult start to life under Schteve McClaren – they might be looking to rest players in this one as they look to revive their awful league form. Then again they might also view this as an opportunity to revive their season. Either way we have more than enough to win the game. I was encouraged by Pardew’s strong selection at Scunthorpe and I would go with much the same here – the vast majority of the players who have been stating games this season supplemented by the players who have shown real promise – Marveaux for example. Hatem Ben Arfa may also be in contention, which would be fantastic. A good run could give us a great day out at the new Wembley Stadium. I have attended every game that we’ve played at Wembley in my life time (sadly that is not too many games!) and, despite the fact we haven’t won any of them, I had a fantastic time. And finally, Europe. The Europa League has its knockers but I would love to see us playing European football again. I had some amazing trips abroad during our many European years and would love to travel to watch the Mags again. Come on lads, lets have a go. You can follow me on Twitter @MarcSDuffy Follow ESPNsoccernet's Football Correspondents on Twitter and Facebook

Villa vs Newcastle - the second half as it happened

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 15:55:00 +0000

One thought as I looked through the options from the bench during the half time break – if Steve Taylor or Colo take a knock we could end up with a back four of Simpson, Perch, R Taylor and Colo/ S Taylor. That is a very worrying prospect. Surely Kadar on the bench would be a safer option? I wouldn’t mind seeing Marveaux get some extended playing time in the final 45. Maybe Sam Ameobi too. 46 – Ball played into Agbonlahor’s feet. He easily brushes Simpson off the ball, swivels and shoots wide. Most of the ground thought it was 2 v 0. 49 – The linesman gives a free kick for an imaginary foul on Bannan. Fortunately Krul takes it easily. 52 – Tiote robbed by Bent 25 yards from goal – he really needs to stop lingering on the ball. Fortunately S Taylor and Colo mop up and clear the danger. 55 – Tiote caught in possession on the half way line – Bent breaks and crosses but Krul again claims easily. 56 – One of these days Cabaye is going to score a world class goal – Obertan plays a sideways pass and his lash is saved by Given. 56 – GGGOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLL Leon Best! Fantastic cross in by Tiote from the left. Besty gets his nut on it, Given saves but Leon knocks in the rebound. 1 v 1 and more than deserved. I might be wrong with this stat, but I am sure that is Bestys 9th goal in 13 league starts. 60 – The heavens have opened and it is pouring down! I wonder if that will have any impact on the game. 62 – Petrov booked for a foul on Best 25 yards from goal. It looks like that one has hurt our goal scorer. RT lines it up and this time it is Ryan Taylor over the wall. Unfortunately its over the cross bar too. 66 – Demba Ba has looked pretty good today. He collects the ball, dummies smartly and strikes a shot that Given saves. 67 – Bannan and Petrov off, Ireland and Albrighton on. The Villa fans aren’t impressed so they aim a few BOOOO’s at the former Birmingham gaffa. A few boo’s from the away end aimed at Ireland too. One of the most pointless signings in Newcastle United history and there have been a few! 68 – Best off, Shola on. Leon clearly didn’t recover from the injury sustained when Petrov was booked. 71 – Steve Taylor miscues and Bent is through. Krul rushes from his line and Bent lobs him but it’s a poor effort that Steve Taylor gets back in to clear. 74 – Flashes of lightening overhead and it looks like a storm is brewing. I assume this is the result of a microclimate caused by having two Ameobi’s so close together. 76 – N’Zogbia skips past a couple of players and whips the ball across the area. Well defended. 78 – Cabaye over runs the ball and loses it. Tiote then cuts out a through ball but plays it straight to Albrighton who shoots wide of Krul’s left hand post. 79 – Ba off, Marveaux on. Ba can be pleased with his efforts today. He is improving and looking a bit more like the player I was expecting. 80 – N’Zogbia plays a short corner to Albrighton who crosses and Krul does well to punch clear under pressure. 82 – A long throw from Ryan Taylor is chested down by Shola and well struck at goal by Cabaye. Given saves, though I don’t think it would have stood as there was a whistle. 85 – Jonas off, Sam Ameobi on. Bent off, Delfonueso on. Bent had two superb chances and blew both of them. That’s why he’s not England class. 85 – Another cracking strike from Cabaye and it ends with something I have seen hundreds of times before – a phenomenal Shay Given save! 86 – Sam Ameobi netted a brilliant goal chipping Given from a very difficult angle way out left. Unfortunately play was stopped for yet another Villa free kick but it looked good all the same! 89 – Obertan absolutely skins Warnock knocking the ball round him one way and chasing after it around the other. It doesn’t come to anything but it was a nice bit of skill. 90 – Marveaux plays the ball to Cabaye who opts to shoot from the angle when there were players lining up for the pass! I will let him off though, he’s been brilliant today. In summary: A very, very encouraging performance. We totally bossed the game and Cabaye was once again outstanding. Admittedly it wasn’t the most exciting game I’ve ever seen, but I wasn’t sure that we would take anything out of this so I am pleased with the point and the performance. The crowd? 34,248 – the biggest crowd of the season at Villa Park(!) and many of them prefer booing to cheering as they demonstrated at full time. Follow me on Twitter @MarcSDuffy Follow ESPNsoccernet's Football Correspondents on Twitter and Facebook

Villa vs Newcastle - the first half as it happened

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 14:51:09 +0000

I enjoyed the ‘as live’ blogging that I did for the QPR game, so today will be much of the same with a half time match report posted and then a full time second half report uploaded when the game is over. Tough game at Villa Park today. I know they are no great shakes, but our recent record down there is poor. They have a lot of pace in attack which is something that we struggled to cope with at Loftus Road on Monday night – lets hope we can keep a clean sheet again today as we did then. Starting lineup: Shola apparently has a slight knock so is downgraded to the bench. Newcastle legend Shay Given keeps goal for the home team. N’Zogbia starts too. Krul, Simpson, R Taylor, Colo ©, S Taylor, Tiote, Cabaye, Jonas, Obertan, Best Ba First observation – empty seats. Very poor fans these. There can’t be more than little over 30,000 in the ground. 5 – Quiet start from both. Newcastle look quite settled and the first chance of the game is a lash from Cabaye that looked like it might sneak in, but it snuck wide of Given’s post. 8 – Best fouled by N’Zogbia. Ryan Taylor has a lash but this time fails to get it over the wall! 13 – GOAL: 1 v 0 to Villa. The ball comes off Colo and falls perfectly for Agbonlahor who finished well. Krul had no chance. Against the run of play. Colo could probably have been tighter to the Villa man and certainly should have been stronger. Agbonlahor’s third of the season. 15 – Bannan takes a lash with his left foot and it is not far away at all. 23 – Through ball to Ba who was flagged off side. He caught Given on the wrist in the incident. Given seems OK, but one to watch. 24 – Newcastle look short on ideas again as Tiote and Simpson repeatedly knock the ball between each other leading to the inevitable hoof. Best mis-controlled, Villa broke and Darren Bent misses an absolutely brilliant chance to make it two. 26 – Corner – Cabaye swings the ball outwards, Taylor does very well to get a shot on target saved by Given. Comes back out to Taylor but there’s little he can do with it. Goal kick. 28 – Cabaye slips a ball through to Leon Best. He’s off side – the first of many I’m sure. 29 – Petrov takes a pot shot from about 35 yards. Not too far away. 30 – Ball into the box from Simpson, flicked on from Best and falls to Jonas who lashes wildly high and wide. So far this is panning out as I fear many games might this season. We have played well, but there is an obvious lack of cutting edge in the final third. 32 – Steve Taylor clears with a header and Obertan breaks. Ball is played into Ba who swivels and shoots. Deflected for a corner. Not a lot achieved from the resulting corner. 33 – Ryan Taylor beats his man and whips it in left footed. Corner off Petrov. Cabaye takes a great corner right across the area but Obertan puts it wide with no conviction at all. Again – no cutting edge. Despite trailing it is the away fans generating all of the noise – as you would expect. They’d have a lot more to sing about if we had a striker. 40 – Fifth corner of the half for us. Cabaye crosses, headed clear. We are dominating possession and a lot of it is in dangerous areas. Villa, true to the McLeish way of football, are relying on long hoofs in the direction of Bent aiming to get in behind. Half time and we trail 1 v 0. We have been by far the better team and as much as I hate to repeat myself, if we had a goal scorer in the team it could be very different. It will be interesting to see how we come out in the second half. It will be difficult for Pardew to keep the lads heads up as it is frustrating enough watching, let alone playing. If we can maintain this performance we should sneak a goal, somehow. Follow me on Twitter @MarcSDuffy Follow ESPNsoccernet's Football Correspondents on Twitter and Facebook

QPR vs Newcastle - the second half as it happened

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:54:23 +0000

Well here we go for round two. I still think we can win it! No half time changes from either side. I know I would have. 45 – It took QPR all of 25 seconds to get their first shot at goal of the half. Easy take for Krul. 46 – Shola pulled back by Ferdinand on the edge of the area after Jonas loops a ball over. The officials missed it and then Paddy Kenny fell over like an idiot. Can we not get Shola to envisage Ferdinand in a mackem shirt? 48 – Cross in from Danny Simpson, Best gets half a head to it and JONAS…. Well you know the rest. It sort of went upwards and slightly backwards. 50 – Traore picks up an injury and is replaced by Connolly – who is ushered onto the field by Keith Curle. Where’s Tino when you need him? Continued pressure from QPR. We are continuing the trend of HOOOOFF. I wonder what was said at half time? Not much apparently. A scrappy period of the game and a couple of stoppages – Jonas receiving some treatment. 61 – Corner swung in from Cabaye – Kenny beats Colo to it and punches clear. 62 – Tiote booked for a foul on Barton who rolled about like those cheaters he so despises. 63 – Shola off, Ba on. Shola can just take off his top and keep it for the weekend. Probably won’t need a wash. 65 – QPR corner finds Shaun Derry. Great chance, awful technique. That’s why he hasn’t scored a goal in five years. Our players seem terrified when the ball is at their feet. Just now (68), Danny Simpson picked up the ball just inside of the QPR half and hoofed it hard and low as far as he could into no mans land. Since Pardew arrived we are regularly poor after long international breaks. 69 – Barton plays in Wright-Phillips (I’m going to copy & paste that name) , he looks for Bothroyd again but thankfully the big fella cant reach it again. And to think that this bloke has played for England. Barton has been much more involved in the second half. Starting to look threatening. 72 – Derry gets his bonse to another corner but Tiote’s coverage prevents him from doing anything. 74 – The ball finds its way to Jonas 19 yards out. Another abysmal swinger from the long haired Argentinian. Look out row Z. 76 – Ball whipped in and Obertan is on the end of it. He shoulders it wide. 77 – Jonas drives on forward into the corner and pulls it back down the line to Ryan Taylor who misses the ball. Its one of those nights for him. I’d still fancy him lashing a free kick in from 25 yards though. 78 – Bothroyd off and Newcastle nemesis DJ Campbell on. Not a good thing. 80 – Ryan Taylor cross, half chance for Obertan but he headers wide. 81 – Best off for Marveaux 82 – Wright-Phillips skips past Tiote with a drop of the shoulder and curls a shot wide of the top corner. 84 – Free kick to us, 23 yards from goal. Could it be? Nope – its Ryan Taylor, into the wall. 86 – A yellow for Steve Taylor as Paddy Kelly, looking in the opposite direction, runs straight into him. 87 – Sam Ameobi on, Obertan off. Puncheon on, MotM Wright-Phillips off 88 – Tidy triangular football between Tiote and Marveaux ends at Ryan Taylor who, under pressure, half slices half clears it. 89 – Barton fouls Sammy in the corner but the officials don’t give it. Barton then gives him a nudge on the floor and does a bit of a square up. Big man. Full time: Queens Park Rangers 0 v Newcastle United 0 Not pretty and very fortunate, but I will take it. This lifts us up to fourth in the table. Sean Wright-Phillips was the best player on the park and I’d struggle to name a standout from our lads. Steven Taylor maybe? Joey Barton? 6/10 and asked to swap tops with Leon Best after hugging most of our players. He got a great ovation from the away end at the end with chants of “There’s only one Joey Barton”. I will never boo him nor will I ever sing his name again. Entertaining first half, pretty poor second half for the neutrals. We need to vastly improve. Follow me on Twitter @MarcSDuffy