Game On! Newcastle v Norwich

Game On at St James’
Newcastle host Norwich City this afternoon as the domestic season resumes once more after a brief journey into Europe and back.

The home side have drawn the last three on the spin in all competitions and will be looking to get back to winning ways knowing that three points against former manager Chris Hughton’s Canary outfit will catapult the misfiring Magpies back into the top half of the table.

I expect no tired excuses aside perhaps from our defence as this will be the third ninety minutes that some of them will have played within the space of six days. Add to that the travelling to and from Madeira and you can perhaps see why some of our defence may just be a little bit jaded, the poor souls…

Hopefully it doesn’t boil down to our defence and perhaps we can instead focus on some attacking threat? None of our big hitting attacking players made the trip to Madeira in midweek so I expect no excuses of tiredness from any of them, or anybody in our midfield for that matter.

If you choose to, you can read Shamrock’s most excellent match preview by clicking here. It’s full of fun facts and fascinating titbits regarding the history of both clubs, both in general and from when they have faced off against each other, with some sound and solid thoughts ahead of the game today.

Unfortunately this is a kick-off that has been moved due to our Europa League commitments which means that the game is not being broadcast live here in the UK. Instead Sky are fizzing themselves silly over another “Super Sunday” which has seen the “random” fixture computer schedule clashes between the bigger sides all on the same day. Funny that… Consequently if you can locate a stream and wish to share it with fellow NUFC fans then you can do so by posting the link in the ‘comments’ section below.

Which just about wraps this up. Team news, as ever, will be posted below as and when it becomes available.

Will it be happy returns for Hughton? Or will Pardew p*ss on his parade?

Howay the lads!

Newcastle: Harper; Perch, Williamson, S.Taylor, Santon; Ben Arfa, Anita, Cabaye, Gutierrez (c); Cisse, Ba

Subs: Elliot, Tavernier, Bigirimana, Tiote, Sammy Ameobi, Obertan, Shola Ameobi.

Norwwich: Ruddy; Martin (c), Bassong, Barnett, Garrido; Robert Snodgrass, Johnson, Howson, Surman, Hoolahan; Morison

Subs: Turner, Bennett, Tettey, Pilkington, Holt, Jackson.

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.

319 thoughts on “Game On! Newcastle v Norwich

  1. Dave, he should have been sent off. I reckon Pards told him to shake them up and he took it a bit too literally 😯

    As for him costing us games, overall he has been a massive positive for us since he signed and saved us loads of points. He’s a big player for us and if anybody takes issue with that then i’m not having a discussion with them about it because they are wrong. Yes he’s mental, yes he’ll get sent off from time to time and yes he will get bans – but he stops opposition playing and gives us a chance to get a grip on games. Every team needs a Tiote in it.

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  2. Happy with the points but we are very very poor at present .We need Cisse to find form quickly and a bit more cohesion to our play as we look like headless chickens at times. Harps played well today I thought ,was also impressed with Santon too. Obatan is out of chances now his final ball/ pass is ***** , he tries for glory when he should be passing . 👿 . We won’t fair this well against the big boys unless we step up that’s for sure. Tiote was right on one too ,Shamrock I hope you are right about orders as if it wasn’t then that was alarming .

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  3. that was a must win game. Cabaye is not surprising me. I always said he was useless. Ben Arfa is our man. Anything to do with going forward has been all him since he became a regular starter. Without him we would have no invention going forward.

    Cisse unless he scores goals we carry him in a game effectively playing with 10 men. His play outside of the box is no where. Pardew needs to have the **** balls to play him in Europa and Shola in the premier league until he finds his feet. I can understand why they let Cisse take the penalty but Cisse should not have been on the pitch to begin with due to his lack of form.

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  4. Pens should be HBA , Cabaye(took them for Lille) or Shola in that order.Just cause your a forward don’t make you a great pen taker as it takes a certain resolve and nerve. Both Ba and Cisse are ***** at pens imo.

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  5. Toonsy-Aye. And people forget how “poorly” or dull we played then as well 😉 We’ve acually played “big teams” too! 😆

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  6. Toonsy , really 😯 , it seems worse and we wern’t out the top 5 all last season.Just shows how lots of teams have stepped up this season ,Baggies ,Toffees, Fulham even West ham going o.k.

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  7. Kim
    If Shola’s on the pitch he should be our primary penalty taker, if he’s still on the bench I agree with HBA, Cabaye. Reckon in training Pardew should set Ba and Cissé penalty practice, put Krul in goal and make sure they can take them better than they have been.

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  8. Kim
    If Shola’s on the pitch he should be our primary penalty taker, if he’s still on the bench I agree with HBA, Cabaye. Reckon in training Pardew should set Ba and Cissé penalty practice, put Krul in goal and make sure they can take them better than they have been.

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  9. Andy – Like Kim pointed out, penaltiea are all about overcoming nerves whilst waiting to take that kick in front of 30k plus people. Training is not gona help that. I agree Shols should be 1st choice on pens though. He soakes it up.

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  10. Woops sent it twice 😳
    Shamrock
    Make it a public training session then 😉 , Tynemouth beach penalties will add an extra level of difficulty to it :mrgreen: , was what my brother and I used to do with my dad when we visited relatives down south in the NE.

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  11. For all he was good last season. I have witnessed the worst display from a centre forward in many a year

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  12. A well earned 3 points today I think. Norwich gave us a game to be fair. Pleased Ba scored and took it well, but I’m annoyed that Cisse was allowed to take the penalty to be honest. I understand they were probably trying to get him off the mark, but a 2 goal lead was more important at that stage of the game. The miss seemed to give Norwich a lift and seemed to have an adverse effect on Cisse.
    I know this sounds stupid as well, but I don’t like Jonas hair!!
    I was pleased with Harper today, but still think Colo is a big miss at the back and not sure what was going on with Tiote when he came on like?!

    A pleasing 3 points but still some concerns for me like, including a fairly ineffective subs bench.

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  13. We got 3 points today and that is the main thing. Cisse is starting to worry me a little but think a goal will change his fortunes. I know we won’t get much time on motd but looking forward to see how we done.

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  14. Well that was uncomfortable. We still aren’t firing on all cylinders.
    Cisse- I predicted he would be given the penalty but I never felt comfortable with him taking it. He has already missed a one for us and this one was miles over the bar, not inches. I can understand that the want him off the mark but still, it was the wrong decision IMO. Fair enough at 2-0 or 3-0; but at 1-0 the game is still in the balance. If we had not won I think Pardew would be fair game for the critics. Cisse seems to me like he scores the ‘hard’ ones and chances in the run of play, but if he has time to think about it he is knackered, and he looks an awful penalty taker. Hopefully this is lessons learned, but I think they knew this already tbh.
    Jonas- Put a real shift in and did a lot of the donkey work, well done.
    S.Taylor- I think he had a poor game today
    Harper- Had a good game and should take a lot of the credit for the clean sheet.

    We got the 3 points but we made hard work of it, I still don’t think we are near hitting the form of last season.

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  15. Shamrock
    I thought so too 😉 , apparently Shearer used to do it as well, and when we signed R. Lua lua Bobby Robson took the team to play on the beach. We just bought lua lua for like 8m or something and he decided to backflip from the pier onto the beach(quite a drop), Robson almost had a heart-attack.
    Kim
    When my dad was younger we used to stand on either sides of the beach and pass it in front of each other while we ran from one length to the other.

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  16. Some people are just poor penalty takers, its nothing to be ashamed of (well, it is kinda, but you know what I mean 😉 )

    Some have the confidence to score shots where there’s plenty of time and pressure. Cisse can’t even score normal goals where he has time and pressure so why he was given the nod is beyond me. Ba is a better shout but even his are average. Still, better than Cisse, but Cabs/Benny for me-SHOLA every single time he is on the pitch.

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  17. one thing for sure if benny hadnt been showing a bit of form we would have been donald ducked imo 😡
    cissie needs one to go in off his backside or sumit to get him going

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  18. 2 things from this game Williamson (and i am not his biggest fan by a long shot ) was great today and Anita should start as RB and Perch DM , at least untill Simpson is back . Untill now Anita looks better in the RB position than DM ,remember though he has just joined us and needs time too adapt too the premiership . Perch imo is becoming along with HBA our most valuable player .

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  19. It’s strange as quite a few caught the eye today Harps, Santon ,Perch, HBA ,Ba ,Jonas even Willo ,yet together it’s not quite clicking yet somehow. 😕 Maybe it’s just the balance is off tilt with so many missing and a few off form like. 😕

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  20. I think Perch says to the manager, ‘Boss, I am a defender’. Anita say to the manager, ‘boss, I am a midfielder’. Well, they aren’t, and once the game starts Anita switches to RB and Perch to DM where they are good players. Maybe they need to stop trying to kid themselves and admit where their real position is??

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  21. DJG , Thing is when Anita was in talks about signing he wanted reassurances as to where he would play. Now it may be that he wanted MF not fullback ,if so that may cause resentment long term ,we have to hope Simmo is back soon .

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  22. People now starting to get on Cisse’s back, just as they got on Ba’s back towards the end of last season.

    We really do have some **** fans.

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  23. JJ-And just as you get on Shola’s back every single match he plays no doubt 😉

    They take the plaudits when they’re doing well and they take the flack when they perform poorly. Cisse has been poor, since preseason actually. I don’t see anyone calling him a **** player though?

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  24. JJ- Some (opposition) are calling Cisse a one season wonder! I wouldn’t say that, I would say he has started poorly this season though. Shola and Ba are honestly a better partnership atm if we are going to go 4-4-2 IMO.

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  25. I would be pretty certain that in training Cisse and Ba would both put 8-9 out of 10 pens away, as someone said it’s the nerves of taking one when everyone is quiet and the eyes are all on him. Even as it stands Cisse has still got a good goal to game ratio and i’m pretty confident that once he slots one away he’ll be back on form.

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  26. Personally (as Shola wasn’t on) I would have instructed that Benny take any penalties. As he took a nice calm one against Spurs. No time for messing about IMO, penalties are a serious business that can win you the game and if someone can take them then they get another one. Hopefully the management learn from this mistake, and it was a mistake.

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  27. JJ, Cisse is not **** just seriously out of form at the mo and the pen was awful in all honesty. As someone said he just needs one to go in off his **** and he’ll be off again .Someone as prolific as he was last season won’t stay out of the goals for too long ,even BigAl had a dry spell for a while if you remember.

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  28. Giving the penalty to Cisse. Even last time they wanted Ba to take it (and he is not great) but Benny had to physically grab the ball and not let go and put it on the spot. 🙂 Good lad Benny. How many will Ba and Cisse miss before they realise I wonder. So for it is 2 and counting. Thats about all Shearer missed in his whole career 😉

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  29. He scored that amazing header at ACON, so he’s showing signs of life, I suppose. I’m very confident he’ll get back in soon. His lifelong goal ratio is great and even last season he went a few games without scoring and then had a few two goal games, even though that run of, what, 13 in 14 games sounds great, don’t forget there were little droughts too.

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  30. Think I heard yesterday that Lambert had scored 26/26 pens for Shampton. Not bad for a league one player 😉

    Equally Messi has missed loads. It’s not about the skill of the player, it’s mentality.

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  31. DJG I just don’t know why the management have to learn because Strolla is the clubs pen taker, and if he’s not on its down to Ba and Benny, it was the players that let Cisse take the pen nowt to do with the management 😉

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  32. Bollox. Penalties are crucial and if a manager does not tell his team who will be taking them then something is wrong. Unless the manager is cluelss of course – and lets the players manage the team Dave ❓

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  33. Yes I’ve just read that as well Big Dave. It should be down to the management surely who is corner kick, free kick, penalty taker surely other wise what the hell is going on, is clueless Chris back in charge for the day or what. Will I go to work tomorrow and decide what I am going to do, not my manager? 😕

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  34. DJG-That’s interesting. In a way that makes me feel a lot better. I would have been worried if Pards did want Cisse to take it, as he shouldn’t have. Good on that account. Similarly it show’s good ethic that the team wanted him to take the penalty-even if it was the wrong choice, made for the right reason I guess 😉

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  35. By the sounds of it, Pardew gave clear instructions as to who should be taking penalties, but the players threw Cisse a bone. If that’s the case, I hope Pards gave the players a proper dressing down because that could have cost us. Cannot be allowed to happen again..

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  36. Sham + DJG the manager is up the stairs but the players already know who are the managers choice for pen takers, but they decide on the spur of the moment to let their team mate take it to try and help him get on the sheet 😕 I really can’t see the problem 😯

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  37. Dont know about anyone else but i am loving the fact that the bin dippers (whose fans reckons they are the greatest team on the planet) are in a relegation place after spending a couple of hundred millon over the last 3 seasons or so . 😆

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  38. Sham @ 270 see thats why you should check things out or be sure of what your saying because it can make you look a bit foolish 😉 if you’ve got it wrong 😀
    My Dad always told me to make sure your brains in gear before opening your mouth 😆

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  39. Problem is they get given orders and they should follow them Dave. The man missed and we took a slender 1-0 victory. If we had been winning comfortably then it would not have mattered, but we were not. No difference there than Chris Hughton being undermined by Nolan…. or not These are pro’s being paid thosands of pounds a week to ultimately score goals. It’s no joke. That could cost us come the end of the season. 😉

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  40. Not sure what you mean Dave? Pards said he did not want Cisse to take the penalty, but the players chose otherwise. Clueless Chris strikes again in another form it would seem. Get Pards out, he cant control his players. You understand that right?

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  41. Well Big Dave my dad told me to get the engine running and put the clutch in before you put it in gear, have you tried that? 😛

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  42. the players should get a kick up the **** if Pards told them one thing and theyve decided to change it.

    It wouldnt happen under Sir Fergies rule so it shouldnt happen here.

    a much needed win tho.

    Toon Toon

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  43. DJG it was you that was going on about the management needing to learn from their mistakes for letting Cisse take the pen when it wasn’t even the managements choice 😆

    Sham I know what your saying and im sure from what Pards has said that the players will be in no doubt about who takes the pens from now on, but I can completely understand why the players did it, and yeah it could have cost us the game, but it didn’t and in a way i’m glad that they did it because it just shows how tight the team is that they were willing to try to help a team mate out.
    I really can’t see your comparison’s between Pards and Hooters, but I guess your trying to point score because of my opinions on Clueless Chris, so knock yersel out lad

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  44. Dave, To be honest I agree with your summary of the penalty situation and hopefully Pards wont allow the players to make that mistake again. I like the point about team spirit – it’s a good sign 😀 Oh, and i’ll take the point – but draw a line here and now 😉

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  45. Sham @ 284 you never won the point 😀 but it does say alot about the spirit that both Ba and Benny stepped aside to try to help him and I wouldn’t have really thought that Benny would have, I can understand Ba because he is a friend etc but not Benny so as I said i’m proud of them but I wouldn’t want them to repeat it. Who else was it with the 3 of them at the pen spot ? was it Cabaye

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  46. DJG @ 287 I said it earlier before the game was over 😀 😉 because I said when everyone else was complaining that it would have been a different story if he had of scored it, then it would have been a masterstroke and great for team morale

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  47. Psscht, that was a good point won fair and square 🙂 😎

    Anyhoo, I’m half way through re-flooring my kitchen and have work to do – so signing off for now. Night all 😀

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  48. Dave I spent all yesterday taking up tiles cemented to ceoncrete and then had to lift the boxes of shattered tiles out of the house. Thought my back was actually going to spasm! Bloody hard work. Just filling in the holes in the concrete now to level it off a bit then got some nice oak flooring to lay down. Done the kitchen bit already, just the dining area to do now. Right project this house!

    Be lucky mate 😀

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  49. Sham I know how you feel I done ours a few months back 😡 but it was worth it in the end, and I would prefer to do that than painting the fukin whole house I hate painting 👿

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  50. So, so glad we got the three points. Another win against Reading and the confidence should start to flow.

    Santon’s been a star so far this season. Always been handy going forward, but is defending very well nowadays too. However, I do wish he would stop overrunning the ball around the opposition penalty area. It leaves us so open to the counter as he loses the ball 75% of the time.

    Williamson had a good game and well, Steven Taylor’s shakey form continues. Again, he made some shocking decisions today when deciding to attack the ball in the air. Colo can’t come back soon enough.

    Pardew keeps playing Anita as a holding midfielder, but he is more a Joe Allen type player. A player who should play alongside a holding player and keep things ticking. A midfield of Anita, Tiote and Cabaye would be very strong and the sooner that comes the better. Although the Dutchman does look good at full back.

    Hatem Ben Arfa needs to have his contract extended at some point this year as his performances are currently up there with Hazard, Cazorla etc. He is the difference between us having 8 points and 3 or 4 points. We can’t afford to lose this guy.

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  51. The Kid-Agree with all of that really. Santon needs to figure out that last bit of his run, if a pass isn’t open he gets to the outside of the box, feints to shoot about three times and then loses it. I’m not sure if he’s got the power to score from there to be honest, particularly as he’s almost always stationary when he attempts a shot.

    Staylor has been poor, mentioned it a few games ago, some people weren’t happy with that but I think people are taking note now, particularly as willow has actually outperformed him a few times now imo..

    Agree on Benny, but I’m not sure if it’ll happen. He has real talent and ambition to match it, he could play for anyone in the league, and almost anyone in any league… 😕

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  52. Cant see HBA wanting to sign a new contract, if we dont see some massive improvements in our football.
    ffs we were absolutely bollix again today. If cisse doesn’t get dropped now and stuffed in the ressies to get match fit then something is seriously wrong.
    HBA is our only form of attack and inspiration. Cabaye sucks dogs bollix too. wtf is wrong with him ❓
    Dont know if you picked it up off the telly, but the atmosphere was flat.
    Did we even win one effing header in our own box ffs. Saylor cant jump anymore and has lost his timing completely.
    Perch was very good again and Ba did canny too. Oh and high praise for Harper. He had a belter.
    I thought Tiote was gonna see red too, crazy fool.
    Dont want to criticise too much, but we were awful.
    2-0 at HT and we would have been cruising. Madness prevailed tho.
    Ah well, thank god or whoever, at least we hung on for the 3 points.
    At the end of the day thats all that matters. A wins a win.

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  53. on a positive note, cesspool played manure off the park by all accounts, and still lost. LMFAO :mrgreen: 😆
    we’re 4 points clear of the scum too. Normal service has resumed. 😛

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