No-thaw-draw in Moscow! Anzhi 0-0 Newcastle

Hatem returns to action for Mags
Hatem returns to action for Mags
Newcastle United left Moscow with a positive result in the bag against FC Anzhi Makhachkala last night, but it’s a dangerous scoreline and the tie is still delicately poised.

In an ideal world we’d have bagged an away goal to take back to St James’ Park but a 0-0 draw against a team that have won every Europa League game at home is still a notable achievement.

United will have to be wary of complacency next Thursday and need look no further than what we managed to do against Metalist Kharkiv in the previous round. An away goal for the Russian side at SJP and United will need to score two to progress to the Quarter Finals of the Europa League. On the other hand at least we aren’t chasing a defeat from the first leg which is something I personally feared we might end up having to do.

A game of few real chances means that this match report will be short. I can’t make up any goalmouth action as there wasn’t a great deal on offer, but United’s makeshift defence held firm and rarely looked in any real danger, with Rob Elliot ensuring the final line of defence remained intact and was on hand to mop up anything loose in the box.

A cagey first-half was broken up by lots of fouls as both sides seemed unable to build up a head of steam. Anzhi were restricted to nothing but half-chances whilst United, without a recognised striker on the pitch, struggled to impose themselves in an attacking sense. The net result being that the one effort on target in the entire first-half was dealt with by Elliot who tipped a long-range Samuel Eto’o shot over the bar.

The second period wasn’t much better although the “home” side did manage to exert a bit more pressure on United. Again though this was to prove fruitless an only long-range efforts from Eto’o and Shatov posed any real threat to the Newcastle goal.

However as the home side pushed on United looked to make use of the space this afforded them. Yohan Cabaye played in Hatem Ben Arfa but the French wizard, making his comeback from three months out, found the Anzhi ‘keeper equal to his delicate effort at goal.

Shola Ameobi replaced Ben Arfa shorty afterwards and perhaps should have done better as he tried to cut inside the penalty area when a shot from his current position may have caused more threat while Vurnon Anota tried his luck from 25 yards out to no avail which just about wrapped up any attacking threat from either side on the night.

See, I said it would be short…

It’s all to play for in the second leg and this result will make us favourites to go through, but we’re not there yet by any stretch of the imagination and we’ve felt the pain of an “away goals” defeat before at St James’ Park. Anyone remember Partizan Belgrade?

Howay the lads!

Anzhi Makhachkala: Vladimir Gabulov, Andrey Yeschenko, Joao Carlos, Oleg Shatov, Yuri Zhirkov, Ewerton, Jucilei, Odil Ahmedov, Lassana Diarra, Willian, Samuel Eto’o

Subs: Yevgeny Pomazan, Rasim Tagirbekov, Arseniy Logashov, Ali Gadzhibekov, Mehdi Carcela-Gonzalez, Lacina Traore, Fyodor Smolov

Newcastle: Rob Elliot; Danny Simpson, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, James Perch, Massadio Haidara; Vurnon Anita, Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Moussa Sissoko, Gabriel Obertan; Hatem Ben Arfa

Subs: Jak Alnwick, Davide Santon, Steven Taylor, Gael Bigirimana, Cheik Tiote, Shola Ameobi, Adam Campbell

Attendance: TBC

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.

116 thoughts on “No-thaw-draw in Moscow! Anzhi 0-0 Newcastle

  1. Only managed to catch bits here and there yesterday as I was at work. Seems we gave a decent account, defensively anyway. From the sounds of things Anzhi have been ridiculously good at home this year, so a great result really.
    Haven’t read many of the post match comments yesterday. Can imagine a possible conspiracy theory being touted…:
    Jonas/Ober right wing, Gouffran/Marv/Sammy left wing – with HBA now playing up front, no need for a new back up striker ❗ 😯

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  2. Repost from previous thread

    Good tactics from Pards ( I know amazing eh!) and decent defensive display to set us up nicely for next week – obviously the idea was to sneak a goal and if HBA had been fitter he may well have scored.
    Still a decent result against a team who have won all home Europa games and only conceded one goal

    I’m amazed at Rob Elliot to be honest, he’s shown himself to be a decent keeper and is more than an able stand in for Krul, looks like we’ve picked up yet another bargain

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  3. Having watched the game I think overall, it was a good performance (we were definately the better side) however I don’t think it was a good result.

    It means we NEED a win, while they only need a score draw. I’d say its slightly in their favour.

    As for the players on the night:

    Elliot was superb, Krul may not deserve his place on current performances to be honest.

    People were raving about Mbiwa. I thought he was solid, I thought Perch was outstanding on the night.

    Hadaira was impressive, Simpson played well too.

    Then Anita was busy and tidy. In fact I was disappointed he came off instead of Cabaye because I think although Cabaye is superb he tires at the end of games and Anita has the better engine.

    Marv was ok, and so was Ben Arfa on his return, although he looked a touch overweight. Needs to get fit.

    People slated Obertan and rightly so for his final ball. But I honestly don’t think his all round game was bad. He was our main outlet, and often his final ball was made to look worse by the lack of movement and options up front.

    Sissoko was brilliant again for me, his movement is excellent. He was always to go to man because he makes superb runs and has the strength to hold it up. Never gives up on a ball and has good speed.

    As usual, when Shola came on for the last half hour he was a complete waste of space. He may as well been playing for the opposition because all he is good for is breaking down our own attacks. Giving away freekicks, floating off sides and then strolling around like he’s on a Sunday stroll complaining that when he falls on his **** he doesn’t get a freekick.

    He has the odd cameo but in general he is absolutely hopeless as a footballer. I can’t stand seeing him on the pitch (unless he’s taking a penalty) 😉

    Campbell could not have done worse. We were also playing on the counter at the end so why Pardew put Shola on I have no idea. He moves at snails pace when at top speed.

    Overall as I said. Good performance but the lack of goals makes the second leg very tough.

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  4. Can see it being 0-0 at our place aswell to be honest hopefully William won’t be fit for the return leg.

    Ameobi is one footballer I’ve never understood how he has made it. He would struggle in a Monday night league!

    Pards was right to play for the draw but we never really had enough to break them down

    Going to be a tough second leg.
    Shame spuds beat inter Milan would have been a nice draw that!

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  5. All in all it was a strange performance from us. As Pardew said very technical but it has to be said, totally impotent. That line up could play til xmas and not score.
    Really like the look of young Haidara. He’s already a better full back than Santon. Marv and Oba perpetually disappointing. They just have no heart, desire to make an impact. For me I’d get rid of both.

    Anjie will be much more of a threat on the counter. We’ll have to play very well to get through.

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  6. Georgio
    I think Santon is very good, he can tackle well and great going forward but his positioning isn’t the best at all.
    Which is why I think he’d make an excellent wing.
    He’d get back, but would be superb going forward. To me Santon should play when Jonas does.

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  7. Well I am still well pleased with the result, I think we were strong and coped well and To add to that Benny got a good run out which to me was very important. There was some pretty solid performances, so over all it was positive.

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  8. I think playing Benny up top was a smart move, even if we didn’t make much and the fact benny should have done better, it was a good area for him to warm up to and get match fitness. Playing him out wide would have asked a lot-i.e compete with their wingers, or Eto’o who was surprisingly deep for most of the match-such an ask might have been too much for Benny at this time. Plus, the fact he and Sissoko were our “forwards” but dropped back so deeply definitely helped us secure the draw, although obviously meaning our own attacks were quite rare…

    Anyway a good result, let’s follow it up with a win on sunday 😀

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  9. good news. ..the team is very very strong defensively. 😎 ➡ ❗ ..and if alan keep this way alel ❗ ouya. …mapou is more and more better…perch have good energie. ..cabay sissoko and hatem ( soon ready) can beat any defence. .i think.. 😉 cisse or gouf on front can do better….very good news. ..for me and i watch yesterday…. 😆

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  10. Was at work so i didn’t get to catch the match. Would have been nice to score one by I certainly have taken 0-0. I had a bad feeling that we were set uo for a drubbing.

    Sounds like the defence continues to play well and that we may have another darn good GK on our hands in Eliot

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  11. Games like that will kill football as an entertainment spectacle. My 11 year old fell asleep, and I was bordering on it. 😐

    Newkie – Benny didn’t do too well; the tactic seemed to be to get Benny match fit with the least possible risk, but why didn’t he get a run out at Swansea? Why was he allowed to get so out of condition? It doesn’t add up to me. 😕 Pards came out and said he wasn’t criticising Benny when he remarked on his fitness, as if he felt he had to make that clear.

    I just cannot believe Pards gives Ober a game. He’s shocking; not even championship standard and he is letting the team down. He performs the same almost every time. Jim Beglin was summing him exactly. Even a blind man could see that.

    At least Shola’s on the bench more often than starting now, which has to be progress, but I you’ve got to question Pards turning to him at any stage. JJ @ 3 sums him up well. A blind man could see that. Pards doesn’t seem to see what a liability both Ober and Shola are.

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  12. I think we have done well to get this far but it will be difficult to get through to the quarter finals, they are a team that wait for the counter attack to then beat you with skillful forwards. All we did was soak them up and never commit enough players forward to allow this and for the first time they didn’t score at home because of this. I think if we had sneaked an away goal we would be favorites but now the advantage is with them, we still have a chance though if we play really well and win 1-0 or 2-1.

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  13. Agreed about Shola why can’t he just **** off hes useless. Campbell is at a stage where he should be getting game time, you never know he could take the world by storm.

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  14. JJ @6 ,Yeah Santon started out as a winger RW actually .

    Stand out player for me last night was Elliot ,boy he was excellent and continues to impress ,Krul has a fight on his hands for that jersey now imo.

    The makeshift defence looked assured but I was pleased to see Willen go off as he was very good and quick and had he stayed on think we may of shipped a goal ,gotta hope he’s out next thursday . So important we don’t let in a goal next week as that will be a hard hurdle to climb as they look quite tight at the back.

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  15. Let’s hope the SJP atmosphere is too much for them ,many players have remarked on the noise level created and how imtimidating it can be , we need to have the fans really crank it up ,also it’s said Russian teams don’t travel too well 😉

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  16. We’ll have to have a scoring presence on the pitch for the home leg. They have Eto’o and he looks dangerous to me. If not for Elliot we would be coming home 1-0 down. Sissoko didn’t look comfortable as an out and out striker whereas Ben Arfa did and had he been fit could have been the difference maker. I agree Obertan’s overall play wasn’t bad but what a waste of pace he is. Some very fine runs but absolutely no final ball and that has been the story since the beginning with us. He just hasn’t got it or we can’t get it out of him as with Wayne Routledge. Next season he’s out of luck with no Europa games and Gouffran a far better player. I would definitely be thinking of trying Santon on left wing with Haidara as the starting left back next season.

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  17. Stoke must be targeted as a must win game by Pardew. We need points and this is definitely one of the strong possibilities. Hopefully Cisse is fit but if not I would love to see Gouffran up front with Ben Arfa in behind or on the right side in a 4-3-3. We could try Marveaux on the other side. Push them hard from the start. No Obertan please, and no Ameobi. We can field a very good side and take these points.

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  18. I don’t remember the details there Batty. Did we miss a pen? Other than that what good is Shola really? He even caused his own handball yesterday. Added nothing to the attack. Very frustrating lad and getting slower by the season. Surely we’re not going to have to watch him again next season? We’ve got to move on from having players like Shola and Obertan if we’re ever going to win anything at all. Make Shola a goodwill ambassador for the club or something but please no more serious playing time.

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  19. I posted last night during the game and on reflection I’m still very pleased with what we did last night. I watched the Spurs game afterwards and there was a huge contrast in terms of attractive attacking football, but that’s a different team and a different tie.
    To be fair to Pardew I think if Jonas and Cisse were available then Obertan and Shola wouldn’t have been played. Pardew actually said that on a radio interview pre match – certainly about Cisse and Shola anyway.
    Obertan and Marv were the only let downs for me last night and its all too often now like. Personally I don’t believe Pardew would play them if there were better options available to him, and as I said last night, I see them both heading for exit door in the summer (hopefully). By the same token though, both are paid to be NUFC players and should be considered for selection the same as every other player.

    I’ve heard afew people say today that its set up a really good game for next Thursday and think they’re right. If you play with the same level of organization throughout the team, we can keep them out and if we can get Benny fitter and Cisse involved then I can see us winning that one.

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  20. Sharpy I would tend to agree with most of that although I didn’t think Marv was that bad, yeah I know he is capable of better, but regarding Oba I just don’t really see the point in him at all

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  21. Dave @27 .I feel the same ,it’s become quite obvious that Sir Alex realised that for all his pace he just has no football brain. His final pass/ shots our pretty woefull .It’s a real shame as he’s so fast he could be amazing if only he could get some composure and finess .He runs like a greyhound does all the hardwork then crumbles in the box or fails to make the killer pass 👿 It’s beyond frustrating and I had hoped that over time he could improve but I’m now thinking Sir Alex saw us coming 🙄 😳 Should of known he’d never let a decent player come our way .For that alone I would make them pay top dollar should they come in for Cabaye.

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  22. Dave – I’d go with that mate. My problem with Marv is that he done nowt really. Obertan stood out coz he was poor, loosing the ball a lot and zero threat in the final third. But Marv was practically anonymous most of the game, he never came looking for the ball or looked to influence the game in anyway IMO.
    Games like last night, we need players performing at or close to 100% and I don’t feel I’ve seen Marv or Oba give close to 100% yet this season.

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  23. B+B-He wasn’t great by any means, but he’s been out a fair while and to be fair I’ve wanted to see him play there more, in a game where we’re probably playing for the draw anyway I don’t think it did any harm. Only different thing I would have done if I was pards would have been to put Campbell on for the last 25 min, ideally in place of Benny or for Marv/Obertan, but then that’s more because I’m desperate to see him play more rather than thinking he could affect the result.

    As for the pre match talk, I was confused by it as well, but my guess was it was all part of mind games, I mean nobody here saw us starting with Benny up top, pretty sure Anzhi had no clue either. Maybe it forced them to be more cautious? Maybe it didn’t change anything, but we got a good result and that’s all I’m bothered about until Sunday.

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  24. Kim to be honest I think Routledge was just as fast but had more end product, funny my Son inlaw said the samething to me about Oba when we got him, he couldn’t believe that Fergie got someone to pay decent wedge for him

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  25. Dave ,Yeah ,think we got mugged but not as much as we mugged the dippers over Carroll :mrgreen: 😆

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  26. I wonder if we could use Oba as a part exchange towards a player in the championship .Oba plus cash sounds good. 😉

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  27. I still don’t think Oba would be that bad if he simply cut out his stupid attempts at flashy back passes. If he put in a disciplined performance on the wing and only ever ran with the ball and shot/crossed low across the box, I think he could be a useful player. As it is he gets the ball and whenever he passes someone tries to do a tricky pass, and then gets to the box and forgets what to do. 😕

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  28. NEWKIE hes never going to change now mate hes not a kid,think fergie sussed him a long time ago thats why he went

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  29. The other thing I can’t stand in him is that he is gutless and will very rarely tackle I think I can only remember seeing him once go in to a tackle, where as Benny is not a tackler and I have seen him go in many times, same as Marv and Anita all smallish light type players that arn’t really built to tackle but they will.

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  30. “It means we NEED a win, while they only need a score draw. I’d say its slightly in their favour.”

    Bloody hell…..we got a draw away from home against a team who have an excellent record at home and who most said were a step up and we would lose. I thought we would. They have been **** away so I really don’t see how this is in their favour when they are still in pre-season and have to fly miles to St James Park where we have a tremendous record in Europe…it’s in our favour 🙄

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  31. Dave-Yeah, he will work hard in terms of hassling, most of the time, but you wouldn’t put any money on him in a 50/50 😆

    Moreno-I’d agree with that. They were odds on favorites to progress, getting through is a bonus with the season we’re having, as long as we’re committed and play to our best that’s all I’ll ask-its in our hands.

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  32. If we have faith in anything at this club it’s that in Europe at St. James, we are the favourites against anyone (within reason). Those lot are in pre-season and to be honest we will be stronger and fitter with certain players in that game so I think anything less than a win is dissapointing. Hope there is a good turnout to be that 12th man but I reckon one foot in the last 8. Certainly don’t think it’s in their favour. We were the better team in Russia and should be at home.

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  33. Eto’o has just got home anyway. He was stuck in James Perch’s pocket all night 🙄 😆

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  34. Moreno @ 39 I agree with you mate @ 41 the only worry I have is that we mightn’t have a massive turnout, but I still think after lastnight we’re in the driving seat so it’s in our hands

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  35. Moreno-Weren’t you watching the game mate? It was Traore who Perch had shackled 😀

    I still think its fairly even, if they play counter and use Eto’o effectively (don’t think they did on thurs as he was sat in the middle of the park half the time?) we could still be in trouble, but we should still be comfortable. Just wondering what changes we will make…

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  36. Newkie @ 44 I would drop Oba and stick Cisse on, as all the rest gave a decent account of themselves and were pretty solid I just think we need more of a goal threat

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  37. In the cool light of day, I think the return leg will be really difficult, and we will be treat to a fast flowing game of exceptionally high technique from both sides. Anzhi will also be back on grass don’t forget, they look a real technical team, so ball retention will be critical.
    The clue to whether we progress will be whether Willian plays or not, if he doesn’t play we will win, if he does play it’ll be a lot tougher.

    Of much more importance is Stoke on Sunday. Fancy 3-1 to the lads.

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  38. MM well i think stoke will be right up for this cissie and goofy will have to be on there toes,very very tight game imo stoke will go for draw

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  39. Ice in a weird way I don’t mind too much if Benny has to sit out sun’s game as I think Stoke are the type of butchered that would try to put him outta the game anyway. So aslong as he is ok and not to bad

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  40. Lads and lasses. I think we have enough to turn Stoke over, even without HBA and coming on the back of a tough trip to Moscow.
    The lads seem to have the wind in their sails, and Cabaye seems to be picking up form. Cisse, Jonas, Goofy and Debuchy coming back in will give us just the boost we need. Stoke are a tough tackling side, but we’ll play rings around them.

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  41. Kim
    Is that a dig at Pard’s beard of wisdom? 😆
    I mind if Benny is out of Sunday’s game, want to see him play whilst I’m there, last game I saw with him in it was Bolton when he scored that super goal. 😎

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  42. MM
    Tiote gives as good as he gets so they’ll be a few broken legs on the Stoke team 😀 😈

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  43. Andymag, Tiote the enforcer will knock a few heads together at the weekend. It’ll be a bit tough on Anita though after a splendid performance during the week.

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  44. What’s Benny’s trouble now ice? Nothing serious I hope? As for the return leg I fancy a slim 1-0 win for us. A quarter final appearance would be more than I expected this season but more power to the lads. 😀

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  45. Thanks for the link ice. A dead leg might not be so bad. We can only wait and see. I think we can handle Stoke without him but would love to have him for Anzhi on Thursday. It was good to see Perch play so well but I wouldn’t push it too hard against Stoke. They are very active in the air especially from set pieces and Perch isn’t tall enough to play CB against them I don’t think. Surely it will be Mbiwa and Taylor? Have a good weekend mate.

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  46. Newkie now I was talking about thurs not Stoke, if I had my choice I would go with the same except for Cisse playing instead of Oba

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  47. Dave-Yeah, tayls defo needed for Stoke, as for Anzhi probably agree, Cisse up top. although seems Benny could be out now? So Sissoko and Marv playing off him? 😕 Hmm, not sure if Pards would leave Jonas out of it…

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  48. What’s the verdict on Haidara? Should he be ahead of Santon? For me Santon adds more to the attack and doesn’t give away silly fouls and bookings.

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  49. Andy-Wouldn’t say “ahead” but I think he earned a shot for the return leg, although if Santon impresses on the weekend he could win it back…he’d have to be good though, Hairdryer had one bit where he got skinned and made the foul, Santon often isn’t in the right position to make a tackle or a foul and the opposition can get at him….

    I feel a bit bad for Santon in a way though, the criticism of him lately has been very strong-perhaps its because Willo/Simmo aren’t playing anymore and there’s no great scapegoat? Particularly Simmo, who I still say is pretty solid defensively. If Santon didn’t stop a cross going in and Simmo lost the resulting header, it was Simpsons fault…Now he’s not playing, it’s Santons 😀

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  50. I have yet to warm to Santon since he arrived. I certainly was saying as much for a while. Don’t mind Simpson actually and wouldn’t like to see him leave. Debuchy and Haidara are my favoured options however.

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  51. If Benny has a dead leg he’ll probs miss the game on Sunday but won’t be out much longer than that. Nowt to worry about 🙂

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  52. Batty-aren’t we less likely to get a pen with huth not playing? He’s a doirty ******* 😆

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  53. On the full backs debate, both Santon and Simpson were not doing their jobs and thats why we bought two replacements and they both look improvements on what we had, Simpson was very limited and ***** going forward whilst Santon is the opposite.
    I cant think of a better transfer window at the club, each and every signing is class.

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  54. The problem with Benny’s leg isn’t Benny’s leg, it’s Pardew’s nose which grows every time he speaks.
    We’ll find out eventually what the crack is with Benny, I realy hope the lads is fit cos we really need him for the relegation battle run in. The Europa League is just the icing on the cake, and we shouldn’t take our eye off the ball which is getting the points in the bag pdq. 3 points against Stoke would give us a great boost in more ways than one, and it should be possible tbh.

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