England’s dismal performances aside, there wasn’t much Toon news to stick our teeth into over the past week. In years gone by, international breaks would offer a form of solace from our patchy Premier League form but now, a league lower but 16 or so places higher, it seems as though international breaks only serve to do one thing, interrupt our flow (and injure our keepers!)
But how did our clutch of Championship players fare when out on international duty this week?
The Young guns were on song
In an exciting-looking England U21 side, Isaac Hayden had a starting berth and fully justified his manager’s faith in him, helping England to a 5-0 win over Bosnia. Freddie Woodman also made his debut in the previous game where the U21’s recorded a narrow win over Kazakhstan.
Speedy fullback DeAndre Yedlin was also in action for his native USA against Cuba and New Zealand respectively. The American, who has been impressive since arriving on Tyneside got taken off in USA’s 2-0 win over Cuba but played a full game against NZ and had a relatively stable performance.
Woe for Hanley & Ritchie
The Toon duo could do nothing to prevent Scotland’s disappointing draw with Lithuania and heavy 3-0 defeat to Slovakia. Hanley, signed from Blackburn this season, was given a torrid time by lively Slovakian attacker Mak yesterday evening whilst his Newcastle team mate Ritchie, proved ineffective and looked devoid of confidence over on the flank for Scotland.
Elsewhere
The ever-consistent Ciaran Clark took his club form over to the international scene after helping Republic of Ireland record two wins in their World Cup 2018 qualifying group. Mitro netted twice on Sunday for his native Serbia and there were wins for Diame and Mbema for Senegal and DR Congo (that’s Democratic Republic, not Doctor Congo) respectively.
Looking forward…
This weekend, normality resumes as the Toon take on Brentford at St James’ Park. In previous months, international breaks have left us ravaged with injuries – it arguably hit us hardest at the back end of last season when Rob Elliot’s season-ending injury for Ireland left us without a first team keeper for our remaining matches.
This time round, in a league where we can boast more ‘strength-in-depth’ over most, if not all teams, Rafa’s men look in good shape but should expect a tough contest against a side who are more than holding their own in this division.
After his performance for Serbia last weekend, I’d like to see Mitrovic get a starting spot this weekend. With Brentford being a physical side (then again, which side isn’t in the Championship), a potentially gritty game such as this one, could play into the Serb’s hand.
Assuming all things remain equal between now and the weekend, I’m plumping for us to keep a clean sheet and record another narrow 1-0 over the Bees.
I watched the USA vs Cuba game and the one thing you can say is that we should be very happy that Yedlin was not injured. I know Cuba have been isolated for a long time but you would still think they would have grass seeds. The pitch was equivalent to a 1970’s lower league team’s with big patches of yellow and a surface resembling a plowed field. I am not sure if the Hurricane had anything to do with it but you really couldn’t get any read on who played well or badly.
As for the other games, I am glad Hayden’s form has been recognized, glad Mitro got a couple of goals as that should boost his confidence, and I am not that bothered if Ritchie didn’t pull up any trees for Scotland as he is in form for us and that is what matters with him.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
ATM: I agree we should give Mitro a try. It is the ideal time to rest Diame as he had a long trip to Africa and has only played OK. So, here’s my team for Saturday (good to get back to NUFC. I said most about England but I was on my high horse about Rooney and thought I would try to keep something going over this boring international break. Terry said he would rather watch Steve “interesting” Davis than England FFS).
Darlow
Anita Lascelles Clark Dummett
Ritchie Shelvey Hayden Gouffy
Mitro Gayle
I actually think this is one of the easier teams to pick as a lot of these players are rested or didn’t have to travel that far. My only question is whether it will be Mitro or Perez up front as I do think Rafa will rest Diame.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
think we must also note different managers use different tactics and not what they are used too on a club basics often it doesnt always show them at their best
icedog(Quote)
Derby are gluttons for punishment aren’t they?
Shamrock(Quote)
Aye Sham they are mate, it would be bloody typical though for Steve to return and get them flying.
kimtoon(Quote)
Cheers for the thread Andy. It’s nice to see all our players are uninjured after the international break and lets hope it hasn’t upset the upturn in our results.
kimtoon(Quote)
Didn’t Derby give Schteve and his staff a payoff when they sacked him? It is just really strange that they would give him another contract. It reminds me of ‘Arry when he was flitting around all the teams on the South coast.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So, the grin reaper gets a second bite at Derby then ?!!!
I wish the ******* had fought harder to keep him in the first bloody place!!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Some quotes from Schteve and Derby. It is like they all have a collective amnesia that he was ever sacked. Maybe his whole time at NUFC was a dream? I know everybody on here wishes it was:
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/steve-mcclaren-returns-derby-ex-12015763?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
nightmare not a dream
kimtoon(Quote)
It’s like Bobby Ewing stepping out the shower, it was all a terrible dream, he never really left them.
Good luck with that one Derby
kimtoon(Quote)
Palermo had 9 managers last year with one of them getting the job twice. I think derby are trying to compete with them and NUFC for daftest club.
Derby sacked McClaren when if they had just waited a week or 2 they would have got compensation as Charnley and Carr were set on him. They hire Clement for 8 months then the academy director gets them to the playoff but he goes. Then Nigel for 11 games and back to Schteve. It is as if the Chairman and Directors don’t know what they are doing.
It is almost like hiring Joe Kinnear twice. Or getting keegan and then undermining him by buying a player from Youtube. Or not calling a club legend for the whole summer after you promise him the job. Then have the former head coach take you up first time of asking and then replace him with somebody you had just met at a Casino with the team midtable. And then appoint the club accountant to be Chairman who along with cohort Carr is willing to wait for Schteve, only to find out that he is overmatched in an ever more competitive PL.
And then there’s Leeds….
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Villa have appointed Brucey as well I see.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Glad to see Villa have appointed Brucie. If we wasn’t on the training pitch every day he might get fat or summink. Anyway, do you all know that he writes detective novels in his spare time about a crime solving football manager. Here is a review of his second novella:
http://thesetpieces.com/features/sweeper-steve-bruce-review/
Eric Sykes(Quote)
hi all,
well ive signed off the villa blog,because like when we had mcleish,potato head is our new manager.
well,i didnt count the time mcleish was in charge,and do so the same again.
forget about us,we will never come back again.
the next leeds utd.
gone,forgotten,and missed by nobody.
all the best for your club.
a villa fan.(Quote)
Villa, you might be surprised mate, he could be the right man, you never know.
kimtoon(Quote)
I think Bruce is a good choice. He is proven when it comes to getting sides promoted. Trouble he will have is putting out a strong enough side. Too many shirkers in the squad imo. He needs time to change personnel and get the right characters in there.
Shamrock(Quote)
Villa Fan: I wouldn’t despair, Bruce is not McCleish. His teams play decent football and he will get you promoted next year. I think it might already be too late this year because there are better squads. This Chinese investor did not by the club to be in the Championship so he will throw more money at you but probably not until the summer.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’d be happier with Bruce than Di Matteo personally. The bloke is proven at this level with Hull and also did a great job at Wigan.
Bruce isn’t the problem at Villa – the owners are the problem at Villa. Will they back him or ditch him when things aren’t going perfect.
Sharpy17(Quote)
If the villa fans can get behind him and forget the blue connection he will do well I reckon. As has been said he is proven but it could be too late to do much this season. Then again the playoffs could still be on.
kimtoon(Quote)
Agree with the above, you’re in no position to be fussy with managers anymore. He’s won promotion 4 times from the Championship now is it? You could do a LOT worse.
Andy The Magpie(Quote)
Villa have spent this year’s parachute payment on new players so I think it is highly unlikely this Dr. Xia will be spending in January. There are questions about how much money his businesses are really worth so I think he will hold off until the next parachute payment. That said, all of the relegated teams have a massive advantage in terms of money over the existing teams in the Championship so I think Villa will get promoted. Their problem was starting from a low base in terms of talent but they also had a low payroll for the PL so someone like Bruce can make them contenders very quickly.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I wonder if Lee Clark and Ugly John applied for the Villa job since they are doing so well at their current clubs? Anything is possible though after Schteve got the Derby job.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Still shaking my head at Steve to Derby again, that really is strange .
kimtoon(Quote)
These international breaks really are blog killers. I bitched about Rooney a bit and there have been some posts about new Managerial appointments, but on the whole it is just a total waste of time, especially since nobody is in the least bit interested in watching England play Malta or Slovenia. How they got 80k into Wembley for Malta I will never know – did they give the tickets away? Even Uncle Ed ran out of topics and the bickering amongst themselves on there dried up. They really should have pre-tournaments to weed out some of the smaller teams and this would allow us to cut out at least one of these boring, nonsensical breaks in the middle of the season. It must cause mayhem and fixture congestion for the countries that also have winter breaks.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Actually, if it wasn’t for the Rooney controversy the international break would have been even more boring. At least it gave the media and his mates something to talk about rather than telling us who the Malta left back is, or indeed where the fck Ljubljana is. I can honestly say I had never heard of the place before the game.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Are you allowed to use place names in scrabble? I have to remember Ljubljana next time I have a few Ls and J tiles.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’ll have a consonant please Cathy, L, consonant J, vowel U. Consonant, consonant, vowel, consonant, vowel. So that’s LJUBLJANA and you have 30 seconds to come up with a word.
OK, so both contestants only came up with the 4 letter word “bull”. What did you come up with Giles? Well, not many people know this but Ljubjana is Slovenian for nappy rash, so Ljubjana and 8 points to me.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
****, I even spelled it wrong and Giles should have got 9 points on countdown.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, the lack of league footie and bloody cold weather just brings us all down I reckon.
kimtoon(Quote)
I had to cancel a 3 hour dental appointment cause of a head cold and cough today which has p****d me off as I had psyched myself up for it.
kimtoon(Quote)
your born with no teeth and a lot of cases you die with no teeth,its the bit in between thats a pain in the *** 😆 😆
icedog(Quote)
Ice, very true mate. I have to have prep work for 5 new crowns and a little gum surgery to level up my gum line. I have spent 9 hours in various chairs with different pros up there so far, 2 root canals a peri therapist session (painfull ) 4 new crowns to the bottom (very nice )and a whole lot of pain still to come mate, not to mention dosh to pay. Last session had 12 injections and was on ibruprofen for over 2 weeks before swelling and pain subsided. I knew there was no way I could hack that wih a cold and cough today, not happening . Why can’t we all be gummy, after all it looks cute enough on babies 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
ibruprofen i would change those painkillers quickley mate they have had a lot of bad press for people over 40 can cause problems with the heart if fact they are trying to stop them being sold over the counter,check them out please mate
icedog(Quote)
Ice, oh **** really!!, trouble is Paracetamol doesn’t work too well and Ibruprofen helps with inflammation too. Stronger painkillers make me sick and a touch zombie-ish 😆 I don’t really take them unless in really bad pain and that’s normally tooth related. Gonna chat to GP about it though, cheers for the warning.
kimtoon(Quote)
So Holloway says we will get beat on Sat 🙄
Icedog(Quote)
well he’s been wrong about us a few times this season so that doesn’t bother me ice.
kimtoon(Quote)
Icedog: Holloway also said that it wasn’t Schteve’s fault we were **** last year and got relegated. He said it was ALL… ALL the players fault. He obviously doesn’t follow NUFC that closely as he would have seen it was a joint effort to get us relegated. Jointly by…
Ashley
Schteve
Schteve’s staff with Blackey fighting with the trainers
Charnley with his power grab and appointing Schteve
Carr and his power grab and suggesting, and holding out for, Schteve
Them appointing a pickled walnut with hair resulting in a disaffected dressing room.
Them sticking too long with Pardew
Them appointing Pardew.
etc. etc.
IT WASN’T JUST THE PLAYERS Ian Holloway. We had a broken club which only now has begun to be fixed by someone that actually knows what they are doing. FFS he is making Charnley look redeemable.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
hi all,
just came on to see your replies to me about bruce.
but loved the post from icedog,about being born with no teeth,and you die with no teeth. 😀 😀
kimtoon mate,
solpadeine plus capsules are agood pain killer.the disolvable dont seem to be as good.
co codamol also dont seem as good.
if you have a good doctor,diplofenic are a great pain killer.
if anybody you know,goes to spain on holliday,you can buy them cheap.
better still,you can always have a few tots of whisky.and for toothache,hold it in your mouth,for a while. 😀
a villa fan(Quote)
p/s,
plus the old fashioned one.
hot salt water.keep it in your mouth for a while,then spit it out. 😉
a villa fan(Quote)
VILLA. To fix tooth pain oil of clove from chemist (cheap) takes the pain away quick,tastes like **** but shifts pain
Icedog(Quote)
I told you all that international week drove people to distraction. Now we have tooth ache remedies 🙂 More interesting than my Rooney rants, I suppose 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon: I am not making light of your teeth problems. I have been in a dentists chair for 2 hours once getting an impacted wisdom tooth extracted so I know your pain. I was just pointing out that toothache has generated more discussion than the international games 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
1-0 tomorrow will do nicely. Hopefully no need for painkillers late in the game!
Georgio(Quote)
Kim sounds like you need a course of antibiotic’s just to clear any inflammation. I definitely sympathize because I had inflammation of a tooth that needed rout canal and needed a 5 day course of antibiotic’s. It took 24 hours before they started to kick in. Looked like I had a black eye. Horrible experience, I definitely get in to see a dentist mate.
Stem(Quote)
NEW THREAD!
https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2016/10/14/newcastle-united-v-brentford-pre-match-ramblings/
Andy The Magpie(Quote)
My tooth was also infected and to make thing’s even worse a cheap nhs denist who doesn’t give the novacane time to kick in. My dentist scares the **** out of me.
Stem(Quote)
😆
Villa, ta for the painkiller tips. 🙂 Fighting a hacking cough and headcold at the mo so the scotch has been in use. 😉
kimtoon(Quote)