Game On! Newcastle v Southampton

Game On at St James' Park
Game On at St James’ Park
A good day to you all, and welcome to this ‘Game On’ feature which will build up to and take us through the match with Southampton this afternoon.

Last weekend was momentous for us. We managed to beat Manchester United on their own patch for the first time in 41 years which should assure a decent welcome home for the lads today.

However whilst we were upsetting the red half of Manchester, Southampton set about frustrating the blue half by holding City to a draw at St Mary’s – ending a run of three straight defeats in the process. That sounds as though Southampton haven’t been performing this season – they have, and under Mauricio Pochettino the hard-working Saints will provide a tough test for Alan Pardew against his former employers this afternoon.

My good friend Marktoon has carefully crafted a match preview for you all to have a flick through if you’ve not done so already. You can view it here and it features news of injuries and suspension for both clubs, a look at previous meetings between the two sides along with some stats and facts thrown in for good measure.

The match itself will not be broadcast live here in the UK although it is due to be shown on some overseas channels so keep your eyes out for any decent streams as those who aren’t lucky enough to be going to the match are going to want to watch. If you do find a good stream then please share it with your fellow NUFC fans and leave a link to it in the ‘comments’ section below.

Team news will be added in below on full as soon as I can possibly get to it. However if you’re to eager and can’t wait it usually appears in the comments below courtesy of some of our hawk-eyed regulars who are on it like Sonic! Either way it should be out just after 2pm.

That is just about it. This is an interesting game involving two sides who are probably overachieving at the minute if you take into account pre-season expectations so I guess we’ll all have to watch and find out which way it goes.

Howay the lads!

Newcastle: Tim Krul; Mathieu Debuchy, Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson, Davide Santon; Moussa Sissoko, Vurnon Anita, Cheik Tiote, Yoan Gouffran; Shola Ameobi, Loic Remy

Subs: Rob Elliot, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Massadio Haidara, Gabriel Obertan, Sammy Ameobi, Hatem Ben Arfa, Papiss Cisse

Southampton: Paulo Gazzaniga, Calum Chambers, Dejan Lovren, Jos Hooiveld, Luke Shaw, Jack Cork, Steven Davis, James Ward-Prowse, Jay Rodriguez, Rickie Lambert, Dani Osvaldo.

Subs: Cody Cropper, Maya Yoshida, Morgan Schneiderlin, Jose Fonte, Gaston Ramírez, Adam Lallana, Sam Gallagher

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.

558 thoughts on “Game On! Newcastle v Southampton

  1. Bris-that’s brilliant, always nice to have something to put Newcastle in perspective 😆

    Aussie- now you see where you’re lot are descended from, most Brits that care about cricket are clearly gobshites, but there aren’t many of us in general. The Australian population on the other hand… 🙄 😉

    If you want a stable club you should follow Munich’s route and just go and support Bayern, he’s never been so happy with their recent results!

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  2. AMF sorry but you guys are the worst fans of any sport,i know i lived there,used to turn the tv to the wall when getting beat calling everybody cheating Bas—–
    yous never hold big boxing matchs over there,when some top boxers were asked why big fights never happen in aussie there answer was:: if your fighting a aussie guy you have to knock him out to get a draw,its true

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  3. Well it must be true then Ice… have you taken a moment to read some uk based well balanced comments on sites like this and the like.. ahh the great English sports fan, they are beyond reproach.

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  4. I’ve read the balanced and insightful comments on this blog on matchdays. So what’s your point?

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  5. AMF just to make another point my brother has lives in aussie and was until last yr a full time coach now retired he was a internationl rugby player in his time,he said aussies were the worse sports he played with or coached,from the horses mouth so to speak 😉

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  6. Not at all Vegas, I am actually smiling away here. I made one ashes comment and all of a sudden all the “good sports” on here start banging on about how bad the aussies are with sportsmanship . I love the hypocrisy

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  7. Five years ago hed have been a dream signing, Love watching him when he plays well but he just doesnt fit in with part of our transfer policy.

    Its like when we were linked with Raul and Etoo a couple of years back absolute fecking garbage.

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  8. Aussie-actually there was virtually nobody picking up on that comment at first, most were still talking football. People are only winding you up because you bit at Bris. Anyway who cares.

    CC-I agree. I love people who run their heart out but Berbatov is one of those people that make football beautiful. Have you seen this touch?

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXdZUH2A5GM

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  9. 33 year old Berbatov? There’s no chance of that at all. Great player in his prime though. Of all the names being bandied about as a new striker there’s no stand outs. That Greek guy maybe? Doubt if we’ll buy anyone really. Ashley won’t spend to fix something not broken.

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  10. Whoever takes over at tottenham after Tim Sherwood will be the 25th person including Caretakers to manage spurs since David Pleat was sacked for taking the scenic route through soho red light district just over 25 years ago.

    A managerial change a year, Even worse than us ffs

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  11. Anyone notice that Barca have got £15m from Intel to sponsor the inside of their shirts! At first I thought what a waste of money and then remembered their slogan – “It’s Intel inside.” Very very clever.

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  12. Cheeses! 😯

    I don’t know about the English getting a hammering but everyone has Aussie on the ropes. 😛

    He’s coming back with nothing worthwhile either. 😆

    The refs gonna have to step in shortly! 😀

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  13. AVB gone, no real shock there. If they have someone better lined up then it would have been a good decision.

    If the sacked him because of the liverpool loss – the result looks bad because it ended 11 vs 10. Too many new players & not enough time to settle.

    AVB = average imo. I would say capello is slightly better but not by much. Laudrup is worse. Whats this nonsense about hoddle?

    The hoddle rumours are a joke. He’s probably worse than pardew.

    I hope pardew gets the job. Then we can go out & get terim.

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  14. We’re not signing anyone until we sell some players.

    I think that’s a fair decision by mike. No point having someone in the reserves if they’re never going to get a game.

    Obertan, taylor, marveaux, dummett, etc should be at other clubs on loan or permanent. I don’t agree with marveaux leaving but pardew clearly doesn’t like what he uas to offer.

    We need a more prolific shola player. If ben arfa can’t do marveaux’s job then we need another marveaux type player.

    We need a winger as newkie has said because obertan is unlikely to get his cinfidence here.

    I’d prefer changes behind the scenes rather than player transfers.

    There is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get better coaches & better youth teams at the club.

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  15. Congrats Icepup and Icedog

    Ref the cricket I don’t know what you’re arguing about, it’s not even a real sport ffs 🙄 😉

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  16. Jay Jay
    Scum into the semis after beating Chelsea and Aussie gloating about some cricket game. Can’t decide which is worse, too close to call.
    Ice – congrats on the new arrival.

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  17. KK says.. We need a more prolific shola player. If ben arfa can’t do marveaux’s job then we need another marveaux type player.

    Well why do we use Marveaux as our Marveaux type player 😆

    Also my apologies for all the ashes talk yesterday, I hadn’t realised how raw some english wounds were 😆 😆

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  18. Congrats on the little one Ice and Jnr ❗

    Don’t worry lads, I go on leave today so the articles will be coming thick and fast from my side. 😉

    Aussie could maybe pull his finger out too, we all know those Aussies don’t do much work anyway.

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  19. What we need is a quality playmaker type creative no.10 forward (which we don’t have).

    Sorry, I don’t see Ben Arfa as a creative player because these players have exception skill and know when to release a pass or play simple ball. Eg: Silva, Hazard, Suarez, Lallana, Coutinho, Modric.

    That type of player would take us to the next level.

    Ben Arfa can match all of these players in terms of skill, however he doesn’t have the brain or vision or team mentality to do what they do. I don’t think he ever will. So if a decent offer came in for him, I’d sell. Otherwise I’d hang on to him and use him when needed. Certainly isn’t an automatic first choice.

    For me, he isn’t even near Lallana is terms of being a complete player in his position. Let alone the others I mentioned.

    As for Shola. He’s done well, but he isn’t ever going to be a goal threat. He never has. If we want to move to the next level, we do need to look at a decent target man who is more mobile and more of a goal threat.

    Apart from that. I’m happy with the squad.

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  20. JJ, nice one.. I will be on leave as of next Monday, got a bit to do around the yard so I have to suck it and see with writing articles.. January will be upon us soon and everyone will just be whinging about transfers anyway.

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  21. Kim how’s Lewis ? hope he’s getting back to normal.
    Aussie it doesnt matter when you get off its your lass is the important one, she is the one that does all the writing 😀

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  22. This is true BD, the missus needs to stand by with an ice cold beer so when im working in the yard she won’t have time for writing! :mrgreen:

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  23. How did the Scum pull that one off then…ah well, took them to extra time. Apparently if they make the f.a cup they will have 12 games in 40 days or something, and we play them at some point. So we should be getting 3 points off them, so should plenty of others, so their relegation should be settled by January at least 😉

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  24. @amf

    I’ve no idea why we don’t use marveaux as a number 10. He was one of our best performers last season along with anita & can pass the ball with perfect weight on it.

    @jj
    I disagree. Ben arfa has all the ball skills to play as a number 10 but because everyone including the fans & pardew want to see ben arfa dribble. If pardew & the coaches ban him from dribbling in training, he will improve as a team player & become a better number 10 than everyone you listed.

    I don’t think it’s a big jump for him to be more of a team player & he needs tondo it if he wants to become worldclass.

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  25. STEM its all paper ****,no way will jabba pay all that cash for a guy of that age mate,its just his agent bumming him up

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  26. They wont win it, Barring surprise results tonight they will likely play one of the manc clubs or spurs, They can nick fluke wins like last night at the sos but over two legs they will be found out.

    Should be interesting as they now play 11 matches in 30 0dd days before coming to our place, Getting to the semi is probably the death knell for them like getting to finals were for brum and wigan in the last few years…

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  27. Dave @496, Sorry mate had to go to my parents. He’s ok but not brilliant, have a sneaky feeling he may be about to come down with my cold but hoping I’m wrong as all his Anti b’s finished so there is no chest cover now. Poor ****** needs to catch a break he’s been ill since December 1st 🙄 🙁 .

    Cannot believe that Scum result like 👿 , and all the Berba rumours are exactly that, there is no way we will buy him he’s too old and demands too much wage plus he’s a lazy ******.

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  28. Southampton executive chairman Nicola Cortese is fiercely ambitious

    Southampton focus on themselves, they play the same way whether they are playing Manchester United away or Hull City at home. They train that way, from the academy through to the first team. Formations are not discussed. Numbers are not used. It is about shape, structure not 4-3-3 or 4-5-1. Under Cortese, this is a slick operation where no detail is overlooked.

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  29. Last April, the players were shown a film called the “Southampton Way”. It charted the development of the team from League One to the Premier League and, at the end, insiders say, asked not if Southampton can win the Premier League, but how.That is the ultimate target for this project and there is a belief throughout the club that it is attainable and realistic, however impossible those outside might deem it. Many of the players have committed themselves to the club because of their chairman.

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  30. KK-What a difference a good chairman or director of football can make eh, what a shame Ashley won’t appoint one 😉

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  31. KK You got Joe Kinnear as director of football and his the best in the business. Or you could call him King Joe ?

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  32. KK

    We have got something like that at academy level, There was some old gadgie on 5live who worked as a soccer skills coach in south america and the far east.

    For this programme he had been around England to see the clubs youth set ups and without a word of a lie said we were one of the best he’d seen. He also praised the way that Beardsley and Stone (When he was with the reserves) coached them and how comfy our young lads looked in possession.

    The only level we dont seem to have a set style of play is the first team, **** knows why not you’d think it was only natural so players can make an easy transition when they step up from u21 level 😕

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  33. @newkie

    For a self made billionaire, how is it that he somehow manages to appoint the wrong peopleve everytime!!!

    @stem
    I don’t worry about joe kinnear doing a bad job. I honestly don’t think he will do anything. I don’t think he knows how. His job is to build a business case of which transfers should happen – surely the job is more suited to an accountant?

    @cc
    It’s an odd point you raise cc. Somewhere something is going wrong or else we should have more players from the academy breaking through. Also why aren’t any of our plaues as good as the spanish or germans. I think england is still in the dark ages in terms of football. Rooney would probably not get a game for the spanish national team.

    Thankfully we have the premier league.

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  34. CC@515, If that’s true and everything is cool at youth level then we have to seriously question the senior coaching staff.

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  35. Pardew & adkins did ok at southampton but both got sacked. As long as someone better comes in each time surely we should be doing the same.

    We often talk about player transfers but manager transfers should also happen.

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  36. But Steve Stone is now on our senior coaching staff! 😆

    CC – When was that interview mate? I don’t doubt we have looked good at times. youth teams and their league/cup performances can fluctuate massively and often mean F/all as well… but..there’s no real way we can be compared with the Saints academy. Cortese hasn’t had much to do with that either, it’s been producing top talent long before he got involved.

    I like Southampton and what they’re doing, but this media buzz around them now, I can’t help but feel it”s the same thing we got when we finished 5th, when we had the best scout in Britain/Europe/The World and were finding “unknown” gems for a pittance etc..suddenly they are all surrender monkeys and our owner is clueless when it goes sour. They look a lot more stable than us…but then, they have spent about 70 million in pure outlay in the last two years which makes us look like paupers. Can’t help but think that has something to do with it…

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  37. @newkie

    Something seems to work at southampton’s academy but not ours. Still, southampton is far behind many clubs in spain in terms of academy.

    What i like about southampton is their ambition. It’s unlikely they’ll win the league but it’s a target & they’ll take steps to make it more realistic.

    Surely we should have a top 4 target & take steps to make it. It might e difficult but surely the whole point of football is to compete?

    I still think carr has done a good job but how are we actually supposed to move up to the next level? The answer isn’t just about throwing money around, it’s about the right decisions being made.

    I think the right decision s to remve pardew & the coaches but nobody is going to want to do that with the form we’re in. Therefore somebody needs to educaye pardew & the coaching staff. What do other managers/coaches do & why?

    Training shouldn’t just be for the players. Brenden Rodgers travelled europe trying to pick up training techniques & tactics. I’m sure pardew & co do something similar but nowhere near enough.

    If pardew & co have an 8 year contract i’d expect us to have one of the best backrooms in the league by 2020 because everybody should be smarter. We should be producing fantastic players & challenge for the the title by 2020.

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  38. Newkie

    It was a few years back when Stone was working with Pedro in the reserves. So it must have been when Hughton was boss, Our academy probably didnt look so bad at the time with Carroll and Saylor getting in england squads, Krul and Forster coming through to replace Harper and lads like Fergie and Ranger playing in the first team regularly.

    Since then its tailed off but it cant help them adapt to the first team if they are being asked to play a totally different style and system…

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  39. KK-If you want specific targets and ambition and a plan to match, then it’s the owner or chairman you need to look at, just as you keep referencing Cortese. For lack of a chairman, it’s purely Ashley, because I don’t know what the hell Kinnear does.

    Pardew and the players are doing what has been asked of them-top 10. And what is expected of them, by the vast majority of those with a football brain (imo) If we are to push on we need some money to be spent – like Southampton have done.

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  40. CC-Aye that’s what I mean, a while ago things looked rosy, the fuss made over Vuckic because AC Milan almost liked the look of him, fergie tav and kadar got some cup game time around then as well-more recently we didn’t even get elite academy status (in the initial rounds although I think that has been corrected now?)

    I know what you mean about systems and coaching style, my preference though would just be competetive game time pure and simple. There are so many clubs going broke north of the border and there are plenty of league one sides that could use our help. We need someone to forge a good relationship with another club and see to it that we get 4/5 youngsters out for a whole season. Our approach of giving them the odd cup game is shocking, and our fans are so volatile that any poor showings in the first team in the PL could lead to near-crucifixion.

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  41. It’s interesting that we don’t see too many English managers manage abroad, I reckon it broadens the mind and tactical ability of the ones that do . Look at Sir Bobby, ok I know he was a bit of a one off but he was better for managing abroad and even Steve Maclaren improved by leaving England . English managers tend to have a little Islander mentality where football starts and ends with the Prem . Hodgson is another who left the uk and benefitted from it, Pards would probably improve a great deal from managing abroad, it would force him to play in different ways and take him to the next level imo.

    Here is an interesting piece.

    http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/26/sport/football/football-england-mcclaren-mourinho/

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