Toon pile on the Blues! Newcastle 2-1 Birmingham.

Shola opens the scoring.
Newcastle finally guaranteed their spot in the Premier League for next season after a scrappy and hard-fought 2-1 victory over Birmingham City.

It was a match that I wasn’t expecting much excitement from if I’m being honest. Both teams struggle to score goals and both can be defensively sound on their day so you could say that the omens were there for a dull, dour game with few chances for either team.

Steven Taylor was recalled for the injured Mike Williamson while Birmingham made two changes as Keith Fahey and Jean Beausejour replaced the suspended Craig Gardner and a dropped Kevin Phillips respectively. With the away side lined up in a 4-5-1 formation it gave more credence to the assumption of many who predicted that the game would not be a goalfest.

It started out in that vein as neither team threatened either goal until the 17 minute mark when Joey Barton tested Ben Foster who tipped his 35-yard shot round the post. I’ll say it now, but Barton had another good game today. His energy and drive was on show for all to see as he repeatedly caused problems for Birmingham.

The home side were just about on top and Tim Krul had become a virtual spectator in the match as the bulk of the action took place in front of Gallowgate. That pressure finally told on 36 minutes when Newcastle were afforded the opportunity to take the lead from the penalty spot.

Jonas Gutierrez won a corner, much to the annoyance of Scott Dann who felt that the Argentinian had fouled him. Joey Barton fired the corner into the danger area which caused confusion and sparked a goalmouth scramble with chances for for Fabricio Coloccini and Kevin Nolan before referee Chris Foy blew the whistle and awarded Newcastle a penalty kick and sent Blues defender Liam Ridgewell off for a deliberate handball.

It wasn’t obvious to me at first glance, but the Newcastle players seemed pretty convinced and protested fiercely for the award. TV replays showed that the players were right to protest and Chris Foy was bang on the money by awarding the penalty and sending Ridgewell off. Shola Ameobi, so reliable from the penalty spot but **** at everything else, put the ball into the bottom corner of Ben Foster’s net to give the home side the advantage.

It could have been more but for Ben Foster denying Peter Lovenkrands, who was sent clear thanks to clever play from Nolan who himself was denied a few minutes later after he managed to control Cheik Tiote’s wayward shot and unleash it at the Birmingham goal with much more gusto than the shot originally had. That man Foster diverted the shot over the bar to safety and while Birmingham were creaking they still had one foot in the game.

But not for long. Joey Barton sent in the resulting corner which was met by Steven Taylor who powered his header goalwards. Even Seb Harrison Larsson on the line was unable to prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net as the hosts took control of the game with only two minutes to go until half-time.

However, ten man Birmingham found a way back into the game thanks to Fabricio Coloccini who allowed a long Ben Foster punt up field to bounce and give Cameron Jerome the opportunity to take possession. Jerome couldn’t get his shot in at goal so played the ball back to Lee Bowyer who stroked home via a Coloccini deflection to give the away side some impetus on the stroke of half-time.

The second half was a tale of territorial advantage for Newcastle as they poked and prodded for a third and decisive goal. Nile Ranger went close, as did Kevin Nolan while Shola Amoebi had an effort cleared off the line. In truth it was a comfortable half for the home side as Birmingham rarely threatened with the only blot being Cheik Tiote picking up his fifth booking in five games – his 14th of the season.

It wasn’t pretty and at times it our lack of a real striker was plain for all to see, but it didn’t matter in the end as the three pints that guaranteed us safety ended up in the bag. The lads played much better than they did last week at Anfield, so it’s a case of improvement all round.

Howay the lads!

Newcastle: Tim Krul, Danny Simspon, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan, Cheik Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez, Peter Lovenkrands, Shola Ameobi.

Subs: Steve Harper, James Tavernier, Shane Ferguson, Ryan Taylor, Ryan Donaldson, Nile Ranger, Shefki Kuqi.

Birmingham: Ben Foster, Stephen Carr, Roger Johnson, Martin Jiranek, Liam Ridgewell, Sebastian Larsson, Lee Bowyer, Barry Ferguson, Jean Beausejour, Keith Fahey, Cameron Jerome.

Subs: Colin Doyle, Stuart Parnaby, Curtis Davies, David Bentley, Alexander Hleb, Matt Derbyshire, Kevin Phillips.

Attendance: 47,409.

Referee: Chris Foy.

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

64 thoughts on “Toon pile on the Blues! Newcastle 2-1 Birmingham.

  1. Spot on really. Like I said in the last article Foster had a great game for them, Barton was our best player for us today his passing was top draw. Dissapointed Nolan didn’t get himself a goal though, wasted a few chances. Lovenkrands might as well not even played but what else do we expect, Shola was decent and his pen was very, very good. Gets them right in the corner every time.

    Looking forward to seeing MOTD for their goal because Krul, Colo and Taylor were all at fault from what I seen of it.

      (Quote)

  2. Andrew – It was more Colo to be fair. He ballsed it to start with but then when he tried to block the Bowyer shot he deflected over Taylor and Krul. Either of those two would have had it I reckon.

      (Quote)

  3. Pardew said in his interview

    “Obviously we are going to bring in one or two players and I think we can get stronger from this point.”

    I hope we sign more than one or two…

      (Quote)

  4. Goal was nothing to do with Taylor IMO.
    Some critism of lovo was harsh today as he put in a shift and he moved the defence around and had a few efforts, he makes a lot of space for Nolan to run into

      (Quote)

  5. I see how we’ve gone from major strengthening, to signing 5 or 6 players, to signing 3 or 4 players to now 1 or 2 players.

    Watch we get told in July the usual script about how player demands are over the top and we won’t be held to ransom. I don’t expect this transfer window to differ to any other Ashley window, which usually results in a profit and a drop in quality.

    My best hope is that Ashley finally spends more than he makes, but history really isn’t on the side of that.

      (Quote)

  6. FJ- positivity at best, im sure he will have just said it of the top of his head. hes not gunna say ” we need 8 new players, my current team are shyte, im planning a complete overhaul”

      (Quote)

  7. Stephen Taylor, deputizing for Mike Williamson then did something that Mike has never done, and Stephen scored for Newcastle after 43 minutes with a powerful header and it was Newcastle 2-0 up just before half time.

    That was Steven’s 11th goal in Newcastle colors

    That’s from Ed’s, different spelling of steven in 2 paragraphs 😕 😕

      (Quote)

  8. Jobey07,

    I am not a positive person. You can only judge on his past record and I think every window outside the one we got Nacho Gonzalez and Xisco in, we have made a profit and the ability of the team has dropped off a cliff.

    Gosling is a sick note, Ben Arfa may never be the same and Tiote is looking more like a slightly less psychotic version of De Jong as the games go by. At least we’re being linked to Carlton Cole.

    I have no faith we’ll sign anyone remotely decent anymore.

      (Quote)

  9. American spelling really winds me up at times 👿

    Isn’t Ed English anyway?

    FJ – He said in another interview today that we need four player who can get people off their seats with excitement. I wouldn’t read too much into it, and if it’s overly disappointing you could always follow one of your other teams for a bit 😛

      (Quote)

  10. Yeah, the St Pauli who are getting relegated from Bundesliga, the Celtic who are botching the league by choice or the Villarreal who play in the same division as Barcelona or Real Madrid.

    I make excellent choices about teams.

      (Quote)

  11. ridgwell, stephen, boyer and forster were the errors i spotted. it’s good of us to lend him our keeper.

    Oh yeah, you can deffo moan about the signing of tiote for 3.5 million. a lot of big clubs want him and he’s a consistently brilliant player, his yellow cards aren’t real filthy fouls they’re normally either slightly late or block offs. A minor inconvenience IMO, get a decent back-up and leave him playing how he is

      (Quote)

  12. Off topuc slightly but as well as Danny Rose…I’d have that young Canadian kid at Blackburn, Hoilet I think he’s called… ?

      (Quote)

  13. 4 teams? bit weird. which ones your fave? st pauli seem good though, they get d*cked 8-1 today?

      (Quote)

  14. St Pauli are nutcases man. Fair play to their fans :mrgreen:

    However, if I was to follow a German team it would be Schalke because of the links between them and Newcastle.

      (Quote)

  15. My football interest is more an appreciation of sport than outright passion. I watch all the football I can, over various divisions, so I have to have a team to follow to care. St Pauli are punks who usually end up in brawls with neo-nazis, they are quality but quite a poo team really, lol. I have no real favourites.

    Tottenham just gave away 2 penalties in 90 seconds, lol.

      (Quote)

  16. We have links to Schalke? I used to follow Hoffenheim but just because I loved Carlos Eduardo.

      (Quote)

  17. Lace – Aye, Newcastle and Gelsenkirchen are twinned, they both have industrial heritage, both teams have bottled it at some point in their recent history…..

      (Quote)

  18. Newcastle and Gelsenkirchen (home town of Schalke) are twin cities apparently. Not sure what the twin cities thing means but they are cousins, so to speak.

    Maybe it can mean a player swap and Schalke can take Ranger for a seaon and we can have Raul :mrgreen:

      (Quote)

  19. Andrew @ 6 I think he means one or two flair players because in his bbc interview he mentions the flair players then says;

    ‘if we can bring one or two of those type of players in’.

      (Quote)

  20. Aye Dan, didn’t mention that in the Sky interview, I now know what he was on about.

      (Quote)

  21. Yeah. Have to say feel sorry for Blackpool like, still a good point up to now…

      (Quote)

  22. Come on guys, a few have had recent pops at Worky and now it appears to be Ed’s turn? Be fair – I don’t recollect him resorting to sniping so maybe it’s worth a little reflection? People who live in glass houses etc!

      (Quote)

  23. As for the pops at Worky, fully justified IMO. As you say, people who live in glass houses……

      (Quote)

  24. Time of the month Lesh?

    …you’re a bit sensitive tonight?

    I think the comments regarding Ed’s affection for Larson is juster banter

      (Quote)

  25. Cracking result today! 😀

    Don’t know if it’s been previously mentioned but Ashley is named the second richest man in the north east, behind Stardust who topped the Times poll.

    He’s now worth £100bn, yet Ashley is now worth £1.3 bn. last night following a night on the Toon!
    Quoted, “it was a good night but I’ve checked my pockets and it looks like the barmaid in the powerhouse duped me out of a tenner!”

    Stardust was reported to be furious!
    That’s £500m from 3 yr ago! Not bad.

    Stardust apparently has lost £1.3bn

      (Quote)

  26. Witters at 32 – Absolutely spot on. Perhaps it’s something to do with a running joke about Ed’s daily Larsson articles…..

      (Quote)

  27. Message jumbled above! Is that Toonsy doctoring my posts ?

      (Quote)

  28. TROJAN – Run back and tell him, again 😀

    Tell him that he hasn’t actually been slagged off you hyper-sensitive ***** 🙄

      (Quote)

  29. Nah man. Don’t get would up over little things like that, unless I’ve had a **** day. Today has been good by all accounts 😎

      (Quote)

  30. I was disappointed when Ed closed the site after relegation, opening it again once we looked like being promoted. But the Larsson jokes were merely banter. Anybody can see that. If I had a blog I would mention Bryan Ruiz and Welliton at least once a week. We all have players we want to nosh….

      (Quote)

  31. Toonsy, I’d have expected a little less than ‘Bollocks’ as a response.
    Fair play eh? A little professional courtesy might be appropriate – it may help set the tone.

      (Quote)

  32. Lesh – its an appropriate answer to the question you asked…. Only an idiot can fail to see that it was merely a pisstake of a long standing joke and wasn’t an actual criticism….

      (Quote)

  33. Lesh – you’re overly defensive of Wanky Tissue – you have to remember he gained money by deception from many on here – in addition to his lies and further deceptions about many – myself included – towards the end I even had to email him and inform him of impending legal proceedings if he didn’t buck up. Never noticed that you had problems with your reading and eyesight – well unless you’re tugging yourself blind over Larsson too 😆 😆 😆

    Its only banter towards Ed “Tugger” Harrisson fella – everyone appreciates he is the forefather of NUFC blogging!

      (Quote)

  34. It was Toon Chicken Dave (well it was when I first read it) – its an absolute classic 😆 makes me giggle every time!

      (Quote)

  35. and for me, im sure ed couldn’t give a sh*t what i think about his blogs. he can pick the sh*t out of mine if it makes him feel better 😎

      (Quote)

  36. Was it just me tv or me ears, but did I hear boo boys pike up everytime Tiote touched the ball? Have I missed something.

    In receiving that booking, he did look genuinely really disappointed with himself. He cares for nufc.

      (Quote)

  37. Ryan – I think it’s because everyone shouts “SHHHHOOOOOOT” when Tiote gets the ball anywhere in the attacking half half thanks to that goal against Arsenal 🙂

      (Quote)

  38. I remember Boumsong when he first signed thought the fans were booing him when they shouted Boooooooom-song…….it wasn’t long before they were 😆

      (Quote)

  39. Ahhh clears that up for me. While watching the game I was frantically searching for news he may have agreed a transfer, hence the boos.

    Load off my mind. Will surely be getting that lads name on the back if next seasons strip… and if arfa comes right, him for the away.

      (Quote)

  40. Ryan – Just had this with someone else on another forum. I never bother with player names as it’s no certainty they’ll be around. Get your surname with a favourite number instead 😉

      (Quote)

  41. Toonsy…..that’s why I got Shearer on my last one, legend now and always 😉

      (Quote)

  42. Hi,

    Great result and we def deserved the win; anyone know any websites that have pics from the game?

      (Quote)

  43. Philip…look in the top right hand column under recent articles, there’s video clip on one of the other threads 😉

      (Quote)

  44. Philip – The NUFC website has a few. Failing that just search google images for Newcastle 2-1 Birmingham and it will bring up a few no doubt 🙂

      (Quote)

  45. Hah, cheers for the tip Toonsy! its a big ol’ long hyphenated one, so i just have NUFC 9 or something. hah.

      (Quote)

  46. Ryan – I know I know. I always moan at Marktoon on here who always gets a player name on his shirt for the same reason as I said to you. I think he got a Carroll one and look what happened 😕

      (Quote)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *