The match had, rather harshly in my opinion, been billed as our first real test of the season and despite the fact that we only managed a draw I think it’s fair to say that we passed it and that there are clear signs of progression at the club.
Alan Pardew named an unchanged side for the fourth game in a row and resisted the urge to call upon Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa or Sylvain Marveaux who had to make do with a spot on the bench despite calls from some quarters to change things around.
This match showed the spirit that the team have currently, and there were signs of our more flamboyant side at times as Newcastle threatened to take all three points towards the end of the game. We pegged Tottenham back twice and in the end could have had three points for our effort but it wasn’t to be and a point a piece, along with top four consolidation, was the overall result of the day.
Most of the first half was played away from each respective goalmouth and both sides rarely threatened or looked capable of breaking the deadlock. Neither side really mustered an attempt on goal although it was the away side who struck the first blow courtesy of a gift from the home side just before half-time.
Yohan Cabaye received the ball facing his own goal but was outmuscled by Jake Livermore. Scott Parker pinged the loose ball through to Emmanuel Adebayor who took a touch away from goal only for Steven Taylor to come marauding in and attempt a tackle with his less favoured left foot. The result was a stonewall penalty to Tottenham which Rafel Van der Vaart duly despatched after sending Tim Krul the wrong way.
Half-time: Newcastle 0-1 Tottenham
Newcastle hit back almost immediately after the restart though after great work by Jonas Gutierrez who took the ball past two Tottenham defenders and stood the ball up for an unmarked Demba Ba in the middle of the penalty area. The Senegal international struck the ball straight at Brad Friedel but the power of it was too much for the American to keep out. 1-1.
From then on you could have expected the home side to push on and take the ascendency, but it was the away side who had the better chances. Adebayor went close before Van der Vaart shot straight at Krul and all this was before Jermaine Defoe, on as a sub for Van der Vaart, managed to turn Ryan Taylor and smash the ball into the bottom corner of Tim Krul’s net.
Once again Newcastle tried to get themselves level which made Tottenham into a real threat on the counter attack although they were guilty of not picking the right final ball to punish an usually open Newcastle United defence.
Off went Demba Ba and an ineffectual Leon Best to be replaced by Shola Ameobi and Hatem Ben Arfa. With Frenchman dubbed as some form of super king of the world from some fans I was expecting great things, like the solving of third world hunger for example. However it was Shola who stole the show.
This was Barcelona defying, Mackem slaying Shola at his devastating best and Tottenham just couldn’t cope with him. I can’t actually recall a time where he lost the ball as he twisted and turned the Spurs defence in and out repeatedly. Than came the pièce de résistance just four minutes from time as Shola smashed a left-footed drive past a despairing Brad Freidel and into the back of the Gallowgate net.
From then on there was only ever to going to be one side who went on to win the match as the home side looked to force home their advantage. It wasn’t to be though despite the fact there were chances for us to wrap things as the match finished up 2-2.
If this was our first real test then I have to say that I’m confident we passed it. Newcastle showed great desire to get the point and come from behind twice against a team that are tipped for the top four.
How far can we go? who knows, but I think we have an outside chance of a top six finish providing things keep ticking along nicely. We’ll see though as there is still along way to go and I’m just enjoying each game as it comes.
Wigan at home next!
Howay the lads!
Newcastle: Tim Krul, Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Ryan Taylor, Jonas Gutierrez, Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Gabriel Obertan, Leon Best, Demba Ba.
Subs: Rob Elliot, Davide Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sylvain Marveaux, Dan Gosling, Peter Lovenkrands, Shola Ameobi.
Tottenham: Brad Friedel, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Ledley King, Younes Kaboul, Kyle Walker, Gareth Bale, Scott Parker, Jake Livermore, Luka Modric, Rafael Van der Vaart, Emmanuel Adebayor.
Subs: Carlo Cudicini, Sebastien Bassong, Danny Rose, Andros Townsend, Giovani Dos Santos, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Jermain Defoe.
Referee: Lee Probert.
Attendance: 46,420.
Brilliant result today. Dead proud of the lads. Felt exhausted just watching Jonas, is there a blade of grass he doesn’t cover ? Thought he had a great game. What about Shola – fab – if he would only play like that every week!
Great to see David Santon make his debut – Simpson should be feeling worried
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Great game today! Pity we didnt knick it at the end… Would like to have seen Marv come on, hope he gets a start next game…. Excellent goal from Shola! Still unbeaten, I’m happy tonight!!!
Kirkyman(Quote)
To make my day complete – the gorgeous Daveeed Ginola in the Sky studio. Thought him and Dwight York were a great double act
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Can I just Say I’ve always known Shola for the quality striker he is. New formation with Ba and Arfa playing off him from now on?
Newkie(Quote)
Deb, I think it’s pretty plain to see now, and I think (hope) Pardew’s noticed too. Shola is a frustrating bar steward. He can quite happily potter about doing a pitch inspection for 80 minutes, sometimes steals a nugget, but he just isn’t a good ‘team player’. Not that he doesn’t want to contribute, I just think he’s too much of an individual.
It’s Shola’s time to cement himself in the super-sub Hall of Fame (with his twin brother Ole).
I like him much more when he scores.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Debs, I thought Dwight Yorke’s shirt/tie combo was fkn abysmal, and David looked like he’d begrudgingly left his L’Oreal contract. **** hair.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Rod agree on all points. Was a bit taken aback at Daveed’s hair colour – defo overdone it with the hair dye, however it still doesn’t detract too much from his overall gorgeousness 😆
Was stunned watching Shola – love Toonsy’s description of ‘the Barcelona defying mackem slayer Shola’ if only he could produce perfomances like that more often than every couple of years….
Anyways happy days
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Arsenal would be fuk’d without RvP. Quite sublime skills today.
How long has Mrs Doubtfire got left?
Surely the clock is ticking. Have to say he is doing a fantastic job there.
tbh I dont hear too many saying Arsenal were LUCKY, to get the win, when they could quite easily have been 1-2 down by half time had twattermole and ginger ****** been more acurate with their finishing.
Good to hear some positive comments for Pardew on MotD2. He really is doing a great job for us.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Deb – I have to say I dont find Davieeed Particularly gorgeous my self. Tho I will conceed that he puts on a canny galic accent for a geordie
😆 
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
I see Dan Wheldon died in a wreck today. Sad.
MDS(Quote)
Really can’t believe Marveux didn’t get a look in today, surely would have been the smarter move than bringing santon on.
Newkie(Quote)
A View from the Leazes end
Great game today,when i got home from the match ,my son in law said obertan looked awesome that is ,the problem with streaming football as opposed to being there he was extremely poor bags of pace ,fancy tricks bot all use,this is not me picking on him i just feel along with those at the match he was a passenger today, to Blackbarton @17 to mark him higher than Cabaye we all are entitled to our opinion but you were not seeing the same players the crowd saw.
.My marks out of ten please feel free to disagree
Krul 6.5 when he learns to kick a ball he will be tremendous
Simpson 6 for him a good game
Staylor 7 steady as always prepared to go in where it hurts
Collo captain courageous 11 best captain since moncur leads by example
not by his antics Nolan take note
Raylor 6 steady as always
Tiote solid as usual 7.5 stretch Armstrong is as flexible as a brick compared to him.
Cabaye 7.5 worked hard all game vision is 2 levels better than 7 of this team,hope we can hold on to him
obertan 2 just for the shirt he was wearing seems frightened tried fancy stuff when simple was the way reluctant to run at people
Jonas 7 like forrest he runs and runs fabulous support for raylor
Ba 7 great goal worked hard.
Best 5.5 good touches was a nuisance but waited for the ball where Ba would harry perhaps he should listen to trapatoni.
Subs
santon looks calm good football brain 6 he reads the game well ,Zoe he looked gorgeous ,but ooh .if i was gay i would still prefer Cabaye ps glad i am straight but i can get in touch with my feminine side
sola 5.5 worked hard another good goal.
Ben Arfa 6 flattered to deceive ,i believe he will be the new jinky Jim you will either love him or hate him.
Alan Pardew 8 i did not want him but credit where credit it is Due we need to start cheering the man.
our singing section 2 fing useless chants Tottenham more inventive
our fans last ten minutes when we got noisy 7000 out of ten this is the noise we need not stand up if we love the toon , note to the singing half wits we love them because we are there.like i said before please feel free to disagree .unless you are one of the un-inventive singers criticize when you can chant creatively
roll on Wigan
Tommy Gibb(Quote)
Dunno if anyone has posted this up to now but it makes for good reading..
http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Mark_Lawrensons_Predictions_2011-12.html
MikeAshleysWallet(Quote)
Nice little synopsis there Gibbster, although I think you’re being a bit tight on Alice the Goon, I’d give him 4.
From a Sky point of view, I did think the SJP faithful were a little quiet. I heard the obligatory “your support is f*ckin ****” in the first half, but the roar seemed less significant than usual. I ain’t been to SJP for years. I guess the anti-standing police and the disbanded singing section may have had an impact (?)
Rodzilla(Quote)
…anyway gotta go, the hamsters aren’t half kicking up a fuss, reet racket ganin on in the dining room. I think they need milking.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Tommy you’d give Benny more than Shola, really? Benny was poor, which is to be relatively expected, but he gave the ball away three or four times and never really pinged in a cross, Shola was a constant danger and scored a bloody awesome goal. Meh.
I’d also say Tiote for MOTM, Colo had a great game but i can’t give him motm because his pass to cabaye from which we lost possession seemed slightly lazy, and obviously he had that miss. He was still epic, but Tiote seemed to be everywhere today and ran the midfield-considering we were against spurs that’s a bloody great achievement.
Newkie(Quote)
I don’t doubt that Obertan has raw ability. However, whenever he got the ball, he did the same exact thing, and ALWAYS went to his right. Their LB never even considered being fooled, and a few times even game him the chance to go inside, but he still went right, ending up doing nothing at all.
I’m sure Marveaux has plenty of raw talent and ability that he wants to show, but he can’t right now just because somebody else happens to be playing in the side that is unbeaten, no thanks to him, might I add. Marv to start against Wigan. Let Obertan prove himself against Blackburn in the cup
AndrewT(Quote)
With Krul, Coloccini, Tiote, Cabaye and Ba you guys have a really strong spine. Though I think you need a forward that can combine with Cabaye better. I know that when Spurs used to start Crouch and Defoe Modric would usually not have a great game.
Harry got the team wrong not having Modric in the middle. Having Sandro unavailable really hurt us.
That being said if Santon comes through and Newcastle could upgrade Best and Obertan your starting XI would be excellent. You have a fast strong team and a few players that can really play. Will you be able to hold onto Krul, Cabaye and Tiote for a few years? Krul might be the best keeper in the premier league.
US Spur(Quote)
I see people saying Pardew should drop Best for Ben Arfa, I don’t think that’s going to happen. Ben Arfa can tactically replace Ba, not Best.But there’s no way that’s happening with Ba on form like this.
I think it’s going to be the same two up front vs Wigan, maybe a half time change to bring Arfa into the game if we’re already winning comfortably.
I do think we’ll see Santon for Simpson, Obertan should and probably will continue on the right. Will be interesting to see if Obertan + Santon clicks. Two speedy players on the right, should give Wigan a bit of a fright.
Very happy with the yesterday’s result. Less than happy with me having to watch streams all the bloody time. Setting up a home by myself takes too much time and money and I don’t want to tempt my free time with a TV because I have so much studying to do. Bah! So annoying!
hydeous(Quote)
Hydeous – go to the pub 😀
I don’t have a TV, so I ‘have to’ have a pub day when we’re on 😀
Great day yesterday. Tiote is a monster! At one point my mate who’s a Spuds fan and I turned to each other at the exact same moment and both said ‘he looks so MEAN!!!’ 😆 😆
I’m confused by all the slating of Obertan, I thought he played pretty well? He seems to confuse people, kept up with Bale, keeps possession, had a go on goal…. still really really really want to see Marveux though, glad we’ve got a cup game coming so we see a bit of squad rotation… and Ben Afra needs more game time so he doesn’t feel like he has to come on and do something spectacular in the space of 20 minutes, hopefully starts against Wigan.
Shola is such an enigma, I was shall we say puzzled when he came on but he makes us eat our words sometimes doesn’t he?? 😯
Great point…. let’s hammer Wigan 😀
Susan(Quote)
Ba could simply play further up the pitch in the ‘Best’ role. Wouldn’t be an ask.
but… I think Pardew will stick with the Ba/Best combo, Benny certainly didnt earn a starting spot with yesterday’s performance. He’ll have to settle for coming off the bench for the time being. Past experience has taught us that Shola won’t play like that again for a while… so maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to start him against Wigan
Santon for Simpson – good chance of this un even though Simpson played ok yesterday. He just gives us nothing going forward/in possession whereas Santon hopefully will… and Raylor was mint yesterday (apart from being the wrong side of Defoe for the goal)
Obertan didnt play great, really struggled with his passing and just didnt look sharp. However, his pace and movement are very important for us tactically – you’ll notice how many times he comes inside and finds space between the opposition defence and midfield to receive passes and link play. Could Marveaux perform the same role? It would be nice to see him given the chance to do so!
M(Quote)
My first impression after the match were that our wingers need to play better and then i thought, what did Bale do? We were by far the better team throughout, Tiote and Cabaye are the best centre midfield pairing we have had for years and i just hope the CL teams dont come in with a mega offer in January.
My biggest fear before the match was Bale running at Simpson, it didnt happen too often, thank the lord, Redknapp had obviously not done his homework, but it does appear that Simpsons days in the first team are numbered, some of his positional play ( or lack of it) was horrendous.
And lastly, what a goal by Shola, im one of his biggest critics but that was an awesome strike.
Robert(Quote)
A cracking 2nd half yesterday. 1st half I thought we just looked like we hadn’t woken up. Perhaps a few of the lads had a couple of pints with their Sunday Lunches, I don’t know, but we always looked on the back foot.
2nd half though, was more like it. A cracking game over all and some *** clenchers at the end for both sides. Krul’s save was immense.
Something for the ladies too with Sky having Daveeed in the studio and Dreamboat on the pitch. 😆
Still unbeaten, still in 4th and still looking good. Happy Days!
Next six games look like they will be a test. Hopefully on this run of form we’ll get at least 18 out of 36. Hopefully wins against Wigan, Everton and Stoke as I fear we will get nowt out of the manchester sides and Chelsea.
Micky Toon(Quote)
Such an entreating second half. Have to admit I was baffled with Ameobi and no Marveaux but hey, happy to admit I was wrong. In Pards we trust!
Brendan(Quote)
I think the reason that Bale didn’t skin Simpson was Obertan. saw him running back with Bale a few times. There was no doubting the talent spurs had on display yesterday, I think we are still someway behind, but we competed and showed that whilst they might be competing for a champions league place we are probably the best of the rest.
Whatever the test was yesterday I think we passed it with flying colours.
Premandup(Quote)
On way home from work. 14 Hour night shift and back in again in 9 hours 🙁
Will sort some highlights when I get in. I dunno about you guys but I want to watch it all again 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Micky Toon – it’s only 3 points for a win fella. 😉
Toon Chicken(Quote)
toonsy yup 😉
batty(Quote)
demba made up loads of ground too score that goal 🙂
batty(Quote)
Batty – I’ll get on it then 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Sholameobi Shola Ameobi
by Sabotagetimes
DID YE SEE IT MAN? A WAS LIKE PYOW! AND FRIEDEL WAS LIKE “WEW YE MAD ****” AND THEN A WAS LIKE WAHEY!
16 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
Haha 😆
Toon Chicken(Quote)
For someone with alleged dodgy kness; Ba doesn’t half do some running !
stevep(Quote)
TC@103. 😳 My maths is a bit shoite there. 😆 Getting carried away with myself a bit. 18 points from the next six games would be mint, baring in mind the opposition.
Micky Toon(Quote)