Game On! Newcastle v FC Anzhi Makhachkala

Another European night at St James' Park
Another European night at St James’ Park
A place in the last eight of the Europa League is on offer this evening as Newcastle United take on Anzhi Makhachkala of Russia in this second leg Round of 16 tie.

With the tie balanced at 0-0 following the stalemate in Moscow it’s all still to play for and neither team is out of the running.

The presence of away goals is dangerous one and no doubt Amzhi will be looking to exploit that so we have to keep things tight at the back. Having said that, we still need to score if we are to make sure that it’s us who progresses to the next round so we can’t “park the bus” and will need to push forward ourselves which could leave holes for a rather threatening Anzhi attack to exploit.

Another interesting balancing act is the need to progress tonight whilst keeping one eye on our fixture against Wigan on Sunday. Granted we don’t have a 4,000 mile round trip to consider this time, but we still need to keep a degree of freshness in our side ready for a trip to an in-form Wigan side. Some rotation may occur, but I still expect to see a strong side picked.

For a more detailed look at the fixture, including injury news for both sides, some facts and stats and some random thoughts about the match itself, why not take a look at my match preview, which is online here, if you haven’t already had a peek at it.

The game will be live in the UK on ESPN so if you can’t make it to the ground then don’t worry. If you haven’t got ESPN then a whole host of overseas broadcasters are showing the match so picking up a stream shouldn’t be a problem. Once again guys, if you do find a good stream then by all means feel free to share it by posting a link to it in the ‘comments’ section below.

I should have been home tonight but I’ve been exiled in Europe for an extra 24 hours due to the snow and travel conditions which means I’m not around to add the team news in. However, Big Dave is and will add it in at the bottom of this article as soon as he can.

I think that’s just about all of it covered and we can leave the rest of the story which will unfold this evening up to the players and manager at St James’ Park. Hopefully we’ll be talking about the match for the right reasons at full-time and can look forward to who we might be facing in the Quarter Finals of the Europa League.

Howay the lads!

Newcastle: Elliot; Santon, S.Taylor, Yanga-Mbiwa, Haidara; Anita, Tiote, Cabaye (c); Marveaux, Cisse, Sissoko.

Subs: Harper, Perch, Bigirimana, Obertan, Gutierrez, Campbell, Shola Ameobi.

FC Anzhi Makhachkala: Gabulov; Eschenko, Ewerton, Joao Carlos, Zhirkov; Jucilei, Ahmedov, Diarra; Boussoufa, Eto’o, Carcela-Gonzalez.

Subs: Pomazan, Agalarov, Tagirbekov, Shatov, Logashov, Traore, Smolov.

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.

480 thoughts on “Game On! Newcastle v FC Anzhi Makhachkala

  1. Georgio@374 ,Agree re Cabs ,he was below par from the get go this season and should of been fixed early doors .Very bad news on Benny ,gutted for him and us.

    On the Europa draw ,I’m quite happy with Benfica tbh ,at this stage all the teams are tough and at least we don’t have to go to Russia like 😉 Glad we don’t have to face the Bale show anyway.

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  2. Benny also had an ankle injury on pre season in USA and missed start of that season.
    Played in about 50 games over the 3 seasons we have had him. If he is out for the rest of the season , and taking cup games into consideration, he will have played about 1 game in 3 in his time with us. Which means he will have been unavailable for close on 100 games.
    I’d call that injury prone , but you could argue that he has been unlucky.

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  3. Benny’s leg break was horrendous and it’s a wonder he still has a career at all after that tackle.

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  4. Watched the game on ESPN last night. Was surprised just how superior to us their passing and movement was. They created space and their build up play was much better than ours. We were much the more physical team. Thought Anita was very lucky not to be sent off.

    Will be interesting to see how we do against Benfica. Hopefully we can win that.

    Spurs without Bale looked worse than us. Chelsea have the mother if all fixture congestion to deal with. Maybe, just maybe.

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  5. I brought the “injury-proneness” of Benny into the equation. If you look at Sidekicks estimation of playing in 1 of 3 games, then he most certainly has an issue with his availability as such.

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  6. I can see HBA doing a “Van Persie” on us, intermittently class over a number of seasons, but beset with injuries. Then one consistent, awesome season, followed by being snapped up by one of the elite clubs.

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  7. I can’t see how you can call him injury prone, the lad had his leg broken by a fucking hatchet man, in what was his third match for us! The following season he recieved another injury from another tackle that put him out for 12 weeks or whatever-after that he was fit but we chose not to play him on several occasions…Now this season, he felt a slightly hammy twinge (what footballer hasn’t?) which became a massive problem after we chose to field him when he wasn’t ready. I’m not a medical expert but I can’t see how this injury is unrelated to the one earlier this season-if that’s what Pards was saying.

    Several mistakes have been made down the line with this injury, and whether its at a medical or coaching level, it needs to be sorted out. We’re notorious for a ***** injury list and it has cost us in times past…

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  8. Haven’t read a lot of the posts but have to say I was very disappointed in our attack during the match. Do we actually have an attacking plan? And a long stretch against 10 men didn’t seem to change anything. Anzhi are a well organized excellent passing team. You can see strong evidence of a good manager at work even when they lose. It was thrilling to win it at the end but surely we need a better organized attack going forward?

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  9. As for Benny I don’t think he’s injury prone but his injuries haven’t been handled well by the club. Bringing him back too soon before Christmas was a huge mistake, especially after hearing Pardew say “injured or not he’s coming back into the side”. A ridiculous comment and a ridiculous way to treat an important player for us. Our medical staff sound extremely suspect after a number of injuries over this and previous seasons.Surely it’s time to take a close look at them Ashley?

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  10. @Geordie
    Think we’re taking it back to basics. Our success last season was built on defensive displays. Once we attain that again then we can focus on the attack (I know, they should probably be worked on simultaneously), we’ve got better tools to work with then last season as well.

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  11. I would say 7 out of last 8 games have seen, on the whole, very good defensive displays (daft errors vs Stoke/Swansea, world class from Bale)

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  12. A fortunate win, for the most part, have to say again Hiddink out managed Pardew.
    A well marshalled Anzhi defense for the most part, handled everything we tried and were quick to turn it into a fast break, once they gained possession.
    Had they scored on the free kick, instead of hitting the crossbar, it would have been curtains.
    Unfortunately Cisse was isolated up front with little service for most of the game.
    It’s obvious Hiddink had learned from the first tie, with Sissoko well covered and for the most part, hardly got into the game.
    Again our set pieces were atrocious and never threatened, do we not learn anything when observing the obvious ?
    What the game boiled down to was Anzhi, soaking up our attacking attempts and hitting us on the break, whereas we tried various combinations, which went nowhere.
    Without the Gouffran, Sissoko combination, our fast break is non existent and was rarely attempted, resulting in Anzhi always back defending in time.
    We play Benifica next, no easy tie, but as we progress we come up against better sides obviously and no easy games.
    Nice to see Spurs and Chelsea advance, plus not be drawn against either, who knows could be an all EPL club final.
    I think we are in with an outside shot, to go all the way, but certainly would.nt bet on it.
    Then again, a lot of silverware comes when most unexpected, just too bad we will miss Gouffran and Debuchy.

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  13. Without Steve Taylor at the back they probably would have beaten us in the first half not even counting the free kick off the bar in the second half ST @387. I loved the Taylor for England chants. I see what you’re getting at though. The combination of Pardew and Carver do seem to have worked hard on the defense (don’t they spend 4 of every 5 practice days on defending or something like that?). But we’ll have to score to keep advancing and we won’t have Gouffran so we have to come up with something else. Agree with Chuck @389 about our set pieces as well. We never seem to learn anything. We may as well hand the ball to the goalie instead of taking corners. An absolute mess that hasn’t been sorted since Pardew arrived. Would love to have Hiddink as our manager. If we had him I think we’d win something within a couple of years.

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  14. Another observation of the game. When we had to bring in Jonas for Cabaye he slowed the game right down in the middle. Several times we had chances for fast breaks and he held the ball so long that Anzhi were able to get all their men back. Very frustrating to watch. He needs too much time on the ball and he insists on trying to beat 1 or more men before passing. With Cabaye the game was stretched much more by his long passes and Cisse looked much more likely to get something done. Jonas is a defensive sub only now for me. We needed Ben Arfa desperately in that game but have screwed up his recovery and fitness again this season.

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  15. Eh? Our set pieces were definitely an improvement. It was a last minute tackle/poor finish from Tayls that stopped him smashing it into the back of the net after a set piece fell to him. I can’t remember the last time we threatened so much, Marvs delivery is definitely superior, lower and faster balls…

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  16. True we did get a chance to Taylor Newkie. I forgot about that. That was 1 of our 4 shots on goal. The only 1 that was a real shot was Cisse’s goal. And I checked and we only had 2 corners so can’t judge too much on that. I that Marveaux played a decent game as well. Overall our corners have been horrendous this season though. Having only 1 plan with Saylor as the target man (we actually were stupid enough to use Willo over and over again when Taylor was injured) for set pieces is ridiculous don’t you think Newkie? We’ve all been harping on about this for a couple of years now.

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  17. Still can’t believe we had so much time against 10 men and couldn’t mount much of an attack. We had so few men forward that they were able to outnumber anyone who went forward and take the ball away time and time again. Benfica will be even more difficult. They are undefeated in the league this season I think and have a plus 40 goal difference or so. An excellent manager in Jesus. Interesting to see how we match up.

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  18. Shocked to see how poor Spurs looked without Bale. They were asking for trouble all night inviting Inter to come at them in waves. Would love to face Spurs in the final but we’d better not count our chickens. Benfica will push us to the limit. How bad is the Cabaye injury (I hate to ask)?

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  19. Just checked Physio Room for Cabaye. It says March 17 late fitness test so hopefully not too bad.

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  20. I’m having a good time debating myself but where is everyone (I know it’s dinner time on Friday but still). 😆

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  21. That’s 6 in a row for me. I’ve decided to go for the record. What is it by the way? 😆

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  22. Who would rather have Benteke as our main striker rather than Cisse? Have watched him quite a bit this season and I think he’s quite brilliant. And several years younger than Cisse. Could we get him in the summer? It seems PEA is being sought after by some of the big clubs now.

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  23. G2-No I agree mate, I’ve been harping on about set pieces for yonks as well, trust me 😆 I think its fair to say Marv should be taking them-we didn’t make much true, but then I don’t remember any of them simply falling into the hands of the keeper, which must happen about 70% of the time with Cabs behind the ball… It’s crazy how he can be so gifted at shooting from them, and at passing in general, but he can’t put the two together and deliver a decent corner or drifted free kick?

    We’ve not got that many aerial power houses either, despite Sissoko’s size he doesn’t look like he wants to attack balls in the air.

    Also you shouldn’t be shocked by bale. 1 Man team! Love how all the spurs fans are slagging off both defoe and adebayor nowadays 😉

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  24. I wouldn’t replace Cisse with Benteke but I think they could be a handful together. Benteke can be hit and miss in matches, but he does look an awesome prospect…definitely putting some money on Belgium for the next world cup like 😛

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  25. The pairing would be interesting to say the least Newkie I agree mate. How about we give them 10M pounds and Shola for Benteke? It would be back to arguing formation and tactics if we tried to play Benteke and Cisse up front together I would think. Would love to have that problem though.

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  26. I should say this now just to bring us some look as with Anzhi. Can’t see us getting past Benfica. They look a tremendous team. Have only watched them a couple of times in the last couple of seasons but they really move the ball well. Remember how some of used to pine for Aimar wishing he would come to us? They have Cardozo and Luisao and Moreno and on and on.

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  27. 10 mil + Shola or just 8mil on its own?! I am still of the opinion we should tie down Shola to a 2 match a season contract and play him against the mackems into his 40s. I’m sure Moreno will agree with me on this as well! ( I wish my smilies weren’t playing up here)

    Yeah, I agree it would be a good problem. I just think Benteke has the ability to bring others into play a bit more than Cisse, I do like how we’re playing lately but we seem quite reliant on Sissoko as an outlet. If we pushed Sissoko back to playing alongside Cabaye and used him as a true box to box midfielder we’d have space again for two strikers but for the other positions? Too much to think about..

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  28. Newkie @ 405 😆 A 2 match per season contract for Shola would be perfect. Yes Hiddink really tied up Sissoko in the second game with his tactics. Very clever. With Cabaye Sissoko and Tiote in the midfield we will give any team trouble but I’m still concerned about Tiote’s giveaways. He seems to be thinking about his game though and fouling less. With Ben Arfa and Gouffran as wingers I would love to have Benteke to put in between them when Cisse is having problems. We dare to dream! 😀

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  29. G 2 your not alone mate i enjoy reading your posts mate keep em coming,re;benfica there a top team and who i thought right from the off would go close to winning it,its a very tough draw imo but heres hoping mate 😉

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  30. Thanks icedog mate. I enjoy reading yours as well. Tell Big Dave to get back on here more often to liven things up as well. 😆 If we get past Benfica I think we have a real chance to win it. Momentum is building up, I can feel it. At the end of the last match I was jumping around the room. Couldn’t believe my eyes.

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  31. Well Lads we have Benfica next that will be a good scalp to have on the way to the final,
    A bit pissed that Benny won’t be playing any further part as he will be a miss, but we’ve got this far without him so

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  32. About time Big Dave where have you been mate? 😆 Aye a total shame about Benny. Now he needs an operation on his hamstring apparently as the tear didn’t heal well enough. Very frustrating for him.

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  33. G2 been flat out today mate, yeah mate I just hope they dont send him back to france this time and look after him here, as that for me is a bit of a problem too, he is part of our team so even when out injuried should still be part of the team, it’s ok maybe giving him a week or so to go back home but he should be here the rest of the time.

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  34. I don’t think we’ll be hearing any more whinging about Steve Taylor for a while now. Thought he was outstanding. Dominant in defense for us. He has been steadily improving since getting fit Big Dave.

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  35. G2 I love the lad and what he represents etc, yeah I know he can be a bit daft at times etc but without doubt he loves the club and it is in his heart, and I have seen him many times putting his body on the line to save us I even seen him lastnight risking taking a boot in the face to clear a ball,when he headed it about 6ins of the ground when one of their players was ready to boot it, thats the type of guy I admire. I will say onething lastnight when Mbiwa passed the ball straight to their player, if that had of been Saylor he would have got dogs abuse

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  36. Alright lads, Benfica will be a good match, will test our new look team against a European pedigree opposition. Shame about Benny, that Anzhi match could potentially have been his last game for us. 🙁

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  37. Spot on Big Dave @415. He took a real chance trying to head that ball. We’ll need more of that spirit against Benfica. Andymag @416 I was thinking about Benny possibly leaving in the summer as well. He has to stay fit next season and play a lot of games. Will it be with us though? I certainly hope so. Love to watch him play. I think he’ll stay. He seems to have real affection for the club. I know that only goes so far but they could also re-negotiate his contract with some performance clauses that might help as well.

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  38. GT
    My heart says that he wants to stay and be a part of our resurrection but my mind says that big club will be interested and he’ll put in a transfer request.

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  39. Hope you’re wrong Andymag @420. If he stays and we continue to bring in decent players we can win something. In an even bigger team he may end up a squad player like Ba has. Just don’t want to see him play against us. Would have to give him a hand but if he leaves strictly for money I would be very disappointed. Don’t go to sit on the bench somewhere else Benny!

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  40. I hope he stays GT he’s too good to rot on a bench but his ego might think that he would be starting for the Reals and Barca’s of the world.

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  41. Evening lads ,got to agree Saylor was brilliant last night and very brave with the low header . Dave, dead right on the dogs abuse too ,just know it would of happened . Though it’s true he’s daft as a brush no one can dispute his love for the club ,I don’t see him ever playing anywhere else.

    Benfica will be a tough test but if we want to win it we have to face anyone thrown at us and fight to the last minute and never give up ,just like last night.

    Playing Benny on the plastic last week is not looking so clever now especially in them temps 🙄 . Think we are inclined to rush players of importance back too soon ,hope we don’t do it again with Cabaye ,I would rather he missed Wigan and was back for the Citeh game or Fulham tbh.

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  42. Bookies have it 5-1 for an all London final and don’t fancy is getting past Benfica 😡 , they are a tough side but we are an in form (hope we still are in April) PL team that has shown that it is capable of beating the big teams, Anzhi were one of the favourites to win it and they were quite poor.

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  43. Have to go for a while lads and lasses. Enjoyed the banter as always. Keep the faith. We’re in the quarterfinals!

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  44. Andy ,He did say he’d stay if we showed ambition and he’d have to admit our January signings show good intent. If mike brings in another quality player or two it will make it difficult to cite a lack of ambition for leaving us .Moreover if we extend his contract whilst in an injury ravaged season , it will make it even harder for him to ask to leave after we have stood by him after being injured all season pretty much I’d of thought.

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  45. Andy the London hacks **** me right off at times . My dream would be Chelski in the final and smash em and shove it right down the throat of them hacks. :mrgreen: Why shouldn’t we win it ,crikey we’ve waited so long ,our desire for a cup is far stronger than Chelsea or Spuds and if the hacks can’t see that then they are idiots . If we make the final I reckon we’ll win it no matter who we play ,players like Santon ,Cabs ,Colo have all won stuff prior to joining us so won’t be fazed in any way.

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  46. Kim I don’t know if we played him too early as there was lots calling for him a couple of games before that, but I do know that after a longish lay off there is a chance of picking up an injury a lot easier, and I suppose in some cases it won’t show up in training or scans but waits till it’s a proper game before it occurs.

    G2 be good mate 😉

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  47. Dave ,Yeah there is that ,all the training in the world won’t replicate match play ,especially on an artificial pitch in sub zero conditions. He must of seemed fit for 60 min run out ,can’t or don’t wanna believe they took a risk on him like. Ofcourse it’s always possible he was saying he was fine when he knew he wasn’t quite right ,wouldn’t be the first. 🙄

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  48. Kim
    If we get past Benfica I reckon we’ll win it. Get what your saying Cabs doesn’t have a European cup medal does he? If its a league thing then you can add Tiote and Anita to that list, also Mbiwa.

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  49. Groucho if we do I doubt it’s very much, winning the Europa gives you about the same as qualifying for the CL, disgrace really, and they wonder why teams usually don’t take it seriously.

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  50. Kim@427-if only it came down to the desire and the passion of the fans and not the ability of the players/managers, we’d have won countless trophies 😀

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  51. Andy @ 432 I tend to disagree I think there is lots of teams take the EL seriously I just find it’s the likes of Manure etc that are ever presents in the CL that think of it as not important because they know that it will be extra games when they drop down in, and they know they will be back in the CL next yr.

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  52. Newkie
    If it came down to fan loyalty and determination we’d have the trophy room filled with a lot more than just a welcome mat.

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  53. Andy ,Yeah I was on about league winners sorry. I couldn’t bare Chelsea winning it as it irks me that they get a second bite of the cherry so to speak ,it really isn’t right imo.

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  54. When is Ryan Taylor expected back ? that lad will solve our not scoring from Corners problem . I think he will become a very important player for us when he comes back ,i think his play will fit in well with our French contingent and would rather him in the side than Jonas now .

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  55. POOTLE @ 309 You say I even seem to disagree with myself

    “Cisse’s general play was suspect again, not least his first touch”

    “He did bring down a couple of high ones and played a nice back heel. His general play was better, and he got in brilliantly for the goal”

    Well against Stoke, I said his general play was gash. It was suspect again, but it wasn’t gash. So it was better.

    It’s one thing having a favourite player, but I don’t understand why objectivity goes out of the window. He ‘s the type of player, who needs to get goals regularly, because he does very little else. As long as he’s scoring, or we’re winning, people will be happy.

    I just got the impression that Cisse’s goal celebration was a result of moans and groans at his poor general play from various quarters throughout the game, and it was a two fingered salute to his critics. That’s just what it looked like. There are always groans when someone ***** up and Cisse has been well up on the gaffe leader board of late. Incredibly, he is still running offside like a rank amateur, completely oblivious. It’s one thing being in an offside position then checking back, but often he just keeps on running. Unbelievable!

    I agree with Newkie @ 308. He should concentrate on playing high and getting goals. The rest of the team should be looking for balls to set him away not looking for him to hold the ball up to buy them time to join him. The whole team needs to move up as a unit before looking to bring him in. He needs to play central and get in and around the box, the six yard box preferably. I haven’t yet worked out Campbell’s game, but I wonder whether he could be a foil for Cisse like Beardsley for Cole.

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  56. I’ve been majorly critical of our balls into the box, especially from set pieces, but it was a marked improvement last night with Marv taking them.

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  57. Did it highlight that smoke bomb on TV? I can’t believe the stupid divvy who set that off after all the publicity. We’ll end up playing behind closed doors because UEFA, who turn a blind eye to mindless thuggery on the continent, will use the slightest excuse like that to punish us.

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  58. B & B
    ‘We’ll end up playing behind closed doors because UEFA, who turn a blind eye to mindless thuggery on the continent, will use the slightest excuse like that to punish us.’
    Watching Steve McManaman and the UEFA representatives all speaking in English and talking about the final of the CL at ‘Wembley Park’ had the stink of big politics and the EU looking at our thirst for a referendum to me. It was just all a bit fishy that they seemed to be talking nicely about us and highlighting that there was no English team in that stage of the CL for 17 years. Whats that gotta do with anything as far as their concerned?

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  59. See Rio might decline Hodgson’s England call-up, if he does then good on him, formely a great defender but understands the younger fitter players waiting on the wings that deserve to play more. Will be between Shawcross and Taylor I reckon, who would you choose?

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  60. Andy
    I wasn’t very impressed with Shawcross for the Cisse goal, or in the whole match tbh. Just looks like a big plank.

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  61. Andy-if he refuses, it won’t be to acknowledge younger players, it will be to insult Woy, and I suppose you can’t blame him after Woy’s nattering on about the end of his international career…Shouldn’t have been picked anyway, hodgson is a joke.

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  62. The last time I saw it this quiet on here was after Richie tried to crack a joke 🙂 🙂

    I reckon we will get a point from tomorrows game but not three unfortunately..

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  63. Aussie ,Not like you to have such little faith 😉 . Got to agree though , can see a draw but hopeing for a win .

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  64. On the Rio thing , don’t know why Roy is picking him anyway ,it’s time to bring through the next generation imo ,Rio’s a ****** anyhow .

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  65. Kim 🙂 we have rode our luck in the past couple of games, with some late late winners 🙂 but I think we will be in for a tough one against Wigan..
    Sorry cuda, your jokes are occasionally funny 🙂 🙂

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