Tottenham 0-1 Newcastle: Outstanding display earns Bruce crucial win

What a performance! What a win!

An improved display felt absolutely essential after last week’s collapse at Carrow Road and it well and truly arrived here.

Not only did we work tirelessly, defend outstandingly and show real discipline and desire, the players that needed to step up really did, with Joelinton silencing the critics with a well taken goal and impressive all round display.

It was a stunning return to how to defend, with us hunting in groups and looking supremely organised in every department, limiting a talented Spurs side to few chances and starving Harry Kane of service. A defensive display Rafa Benitez would’ve been proud of and a result he would’ve been praised for had he pulled it off. Credit to Bruce where it’s due – that was superb and MUCH more like it.

The return to 3-4-3 worked a treat as it did last season. The three centre-backs didn’t put a foot wrong, Ritchie and Krafth put in huge shifts and remained disciplined all day at full-back. Longstaff and Hayden were superb in midfield, Joelinton and Almiron much improved in attack and Christian Atsu also put in a huge shift, creating the goals and doing a great job defensively.

The way we pressed was a far cry from the debacle at Carrow Road and I’m man enough to admit, if I hammer Bruce for losing at Norwich then I have to praise him for winning at Spurs.

A monumental win and the perfect pick up ahead of our midweek Carabao cup clash with Leicester and next weekend’s crucial game against Watford at St James’ Park.

Howay the lads!

(Fancy writing for us? Get in touch at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

145 thoughts on “Tottenham 0-1 Newcastle: Outstanding display earns Bruce crucial win

  1. You would think that having two of our most popular signings , one being a newbie too that with them having so many I’s and A’s in their names you would stock up ?
    Got to agree, it’s poor planning.

    Then again why buy a shirt and fund SD, it’s not like the club see much of the shirt profits, not if Rangers are anything to go by.

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  2. KIMTOON:
    You would think that having two of our most popular signings , one being a newbie too that with them having so many I’s and A’s in their names you would stock up ?
    Got to agree, it’s poor planning.

    Then again why buy a shirt and fund SD, it’s not like the club see much of the shirt profits, not if Rangers are anything to go by.

    was quoted in court Rangers get about three pence per shirt,jabba is a bloody crook

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  3. They are running short of C’s too

    Maybe…. I’ll let you full in the blanks

    M*** A***** I* A C***

    ???

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  4. I have talked about Shelvey about 5 times on here trying to figure out how to use him. I think I said a few words on this thread. The problem is his mobility and the high press that every team plays. He has the speed of thought and skill to beat it most of the time. But if he fails 2 out of 10 times then we are in trouble. And if we lose to our relegation rivals it will be by the odd goal. And make no mistake we are in a relegation battle.

    As everybpdy agrees we cannot play a 3 in centre midfield unless Bruce suddenly becomes Pep and finds a way. I wouldn’t mind seeing Shelvey as part of a 2, especially coming off the bench if we have a lead (will that ever happen 🙂 ). He has to cut out so many Hollywood balls and play the medium length passes. He is very intuitive and accurate but there is no room in modern football for a slow quarterback.

    We have the players to help him. We have whippets in Almiron, St Max, Joelinton and Gayle. Even Muto can run the channels.

    He should be getting more assists but doesn’t because his outlet balls are usually out wide and another player has to play it in. Then there are the goals. I really don’t understand why someone who has such a fantastic range of passing and is so accurate does not get more.

    And free kicks, why do they end up in the stands when we know his accuracy on passes?

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  5. The thing about Shelvey is that it is not the errant pass that will hurt you when he is playing quarterback. Those will likely be far upfield and although they will allow the opposition to come straight back at you that is not a massive problem most of the time. No, where Jonjo can hurt you is with the high press in a tight game with a missed tackle or being caught on the ball. It doesn’t happen often, but it happens often enough that you cannot build the team around him. We have seen him be unplayable and destroy teams as well so there must be some way we can use him.

    He is a contradiction and a conundrum. Hopefully Bruce can figure him out. He was great against Fulham, even though Rafa seemed to have given up on him earlier.

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  6. Eric – the problem with Shelvey is he is a one trick pony. As good as he can be at passing, is as bad as he can be in all other aspects of the game.
    The lad has a talent, there is no doubting that, but how hard does he work on the rest of his game?!.
    It’s all well and good practicing the things you’re good at, but you don’t get better until for improve the things you arent so good at

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  7. I saw Olly’s team for tonight and will be shocked if Almiron and Dummett start. The problem is the injuries and Bruce saying he will not start players without a squad number.

    That means Matty Longstaff, Ki and Shelvey are certain to start. Then you have to fit the system to the personnel which means a 4-3-3. Clark and Fernandez as centre backs and no Dummett.

    Push Ritchie forward and then the only issue is who replaces Almiron. Frankly, I have no idea, but he still shouldn’t play as he has ran himself into the ground for us and Panama and we can’t risk burning the lad out.

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  8. I’ve just been watching a piece on Bury and Bolton – it’s terrible what has happened to those poor clubs, I feel so sorry for their fans.

    It was on about the current owner of Bolton, who bought the club with a short term plan to get them to the Championship then sell them on. It sounded like buy cheap a turn a quick profit, but I might be being harsh there. Anyway, a new buyer came along and the deal seemed to fall down when it went to the EFL for review – the deal subsequently fell through and the owner didn’t have the money to keep Bolton going – a new buyer came in in the 11th hour but that seems to have collapsed now too.

    Sad and scary stuff really.

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  9. Sharpy: the Mackems were going the same way before this new money. It’s Michael Dell’s personal hedge fund so I doubt they are interested in the football. My guess is they will be trying to get SAFC back to the PL to turn a quick profit. If they can do that in 3 years they will probably triple their investment, including any new players they buy.

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  10. How the hell did Bolton get in such a state? They have a fairly new stadium and a loyal fan base.

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  11. I think you can play Shelvey in a midfield 3, but not if it means 5-3-2. He would work in a 4-3-3 but only in games against weaker opposition where we can dominate possession and need him to break down a packed defence.
    I think that his role is as a finisher, off the bench when we need a goal. Off the bench Carroll with someone who can feed him, like shelvey, and someone to run at tired defenders like Atsu.

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  12. Not sure if I can be bothered to read any Bolton obituaries but I still wonder how they got to this point. Can anybody give a quick summary? Their set-up seemed at least upper-Championship so how can they be going bust?

    That doomsday clock on Sky yesterday that Kimtoon linked to was/is a disgrace. Jim White and the producers should be taken outside and shot, or taken to a Bolton Pub to broadcast the next game live.

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  13. So now Rafa is saying Dummett is one of the most underappreciated players he has worked with. I have been banging that drum for at least 4 years now and could never understand the slagging he got on Eds, The Mag and The Chronic.

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  14. If they are handing out new contracts the list should be:

    Equal number 1: Sean Longstaff, Hayden, Dummett, Dubravka. Schar.

    2: Ritchie, Matty Longstaff

    3. Lejeune after he proves his fitness.

    The rest such as Almiron, St Max and Joelinton should already be on decent money, along with Gayle and Shelvey.

    That’s enough to build a safe 1st 11 around, to avoid relegation anyway.

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  15. Do you think Rafa is a bit bored with the Chinese Super League? He keeps talking about NUFC and Liverpool now. Well, according to press quotes anyway.

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  16. Eric Sykes:
    Sharpy: the Mackems were going the same way before this new money. It’s Michael Dell’s personal hedge fund so I doubt they are interested in the football. My guess is they will be trying to get SAFC back to the PL to turn a quick profit. If they can do that in 3 years they will probably triple their investment, including any new players they buy.

    Eric – what worried me was the amount of money you have to prove you have to take over a club. The takeover of Bolton didn’t happen because the interested party could prove funds to sustain the club for a number of years.
    The buyer had to prove that they had the money to survive relegation, not just a plan of staying in the league or better.

    It got me thinking about our takeover attempts and just what kind of money an interested party would have to prove they have to not just part with £350m – which Ashley makes harder for them by wanting up front – but just how much more they would need on top of that to not just keep us going, but get us up with the top 6.

    Maybe there are billionaires or consortiums out there interested, but I suspect the £350m up front is a big stumbling block.

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  17. PremAndUp:
    I think you can play Shelvey in a midfield 3, but not if it means 5-3-2. He would work in a 4-3-3 but only in games against weaker opposition where we can dominate possession and need him to break down a packed defence.
    I think that his role is as a finisher, off the bench when we need a goal. Off the bench Carroll with someone who can feed him, like shelvey, and someone to run at tired defenders like Atsu.

    Prem – I think you are probably right that a 4-3-3 would suit Shelvey better, but I still think he is very limited in what he can actually contribute. I think of the 4-3-3 Pardew played (arguably some of the best football we’ve seen at NUFC for a long time) with Tiote, Cabaye and Jonas and Shelvey would probably be the Cabaye of those 3. I would still say that Cabaye offered a lot more than Shelvey does.

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  18. Eric Sykes:
    So now Rafa is saying Dummett is one of the most underappreciated players he has worked with. I have been banging that drum for at least 4 years now and could never understand the slagging he got on Eds, The Mag and The Chronic.

    Eric – I’ve sung Dummetts praises for a long time mate (Sham will vouch for me on that one). But he got caught out with the diagonal ball over his head at LB – he was good but not great at LB.
    However as this left CB of the 3, I think he’s found his position. He doesn’t have to worry about getting up and down the pitch as a LB and can concentrate on playing the width of the pitch instead.
    I think the lad is brilliant, and just gets on with his game like a top pro.

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  19. I thought Hayden and Schar would be on the bench. I also tought 4-3-3.

    Let’s see what happens.

    Why pay Hayden in the League Cup when we need 3 points on Saturday?

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  20. Sharpy, I honestly don’t think it’s the £350m up front mate because they know that when they start DD. More likely it’s what they find in DD or goal post being moved.
    If they are all discovering that he/SD gets more for merch sales than the club do and that it’s an ongoing contract then that will significantly affect what the club has going forward to spend on players wages and what have you.
    We can all make an educated guess as to how much the club gets in shirt sales, you only need to look at what he’s done at Rangers in that regard.

    The whole boycott thing is ill thought out, it’s not the games fans need to boycott but the shirts and all related merchandise, drinks, food etc. Also don’t use your cards at the ground since i believe he has interest in the company operating the card payment system.
    Starve him of that type of income and he’ll soon get bored.
    It’s hard to not attend SJP for most fans but surely easier to not buy merchandise, after all most have old shirts they can wear or get a retro one, much nicer .

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  21. I have to scroll through about 3 million ads to get to the comments…. what’s happening Olly?

    I see Matty gets a start tonight! Hope he does well. Leicester are putting out a strong team.

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  22. Sounds canny so far… wish it was televised… watching the Everton match and listening to the Toon. Lincoln 1-0 after just a minute… ??

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  23. When I was thinking about how bad the teams are for the Caraboa Cup with even Norwich making 11 changes it got me thinking about our changes. But then I thought of Sunderland. I looked up their team for tonight and had only vaguely heard of one of them:

    Burge
    McLaughlin
    Flanagan
    Baldwin
    Hume
    Dobson
    McGeogh
    ONeil
    Embleton
    Gooch
    Grigg

    We might be bad, but we are not THAT bad.

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  24. Leicester lead… wow what a surprise…. I guess that’s us done for the cup then… mackems score against Burnley ?

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  25. I am shocked Leicester are paying Vardy, Maddison and Perez. Seems like they might even be taking it seriously.

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  26. Eric Sykes:
    DT: we have 9 out injured. Any team would struggle with that many out.

    Yeah, we seem to be back to the days of extreme injury lists…

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  27. Kimtoon: since you are the only lass on here I need some qustions answered.. Dean Saunders was sent to jail today and all I saw was a 50 year old man wearing too tight pants. He looked like Max Wall, if you can remember him. Then I watch some of the other 50 year old football pundits and they all wear jackets that are 2 sizes too small and skinny jeans. What is this about?

    I am not an old man, but I am beyond the age of skinny jeans, I think. They should be too.

    Was downtown Chicago last week and half the women 25-60 are wearing fcking yoga pants around city streets, daytime, into work. I don’t need to see that!

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  28. Eric, don’t ask me mate, i’m a jeans and t.shirt girl, i rarely if ever do dresses. And wouldn’t be seen out in yoga pants !
    As for the guys, skinny jeans seem popular right now, my real pet hate is the big long beard trend, don’t like facial hair and it’s actually really aging on a guy. The whole hipster thing is very weird to me.

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  29. Will we actually have enough fit players for Watford ?

    It’s never right this amount of injuries, most be something wrong with our fitness and conditioning regimes.

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  30. Just a question. Pre Rafa our injury record was atrocious. Since Rafa has left our injury record is atrocious. Is it a coincidence or is it too early to comment?

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  31. I actually don’t care if you/Rio/Dean are in good shape. It is always strange when the Mam and the Dad dress like their kids. In the new fashion. In skinny jeans and skinny pants as it is now. In the Dean Saunders look as he went to prison. The Rio Ferdinand pants. Too old. You don’t need to start wearing blue and brown and working for the clampdown. But we also don’t need the tighty clothes on a 50 year old’s bollocks.

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  32. Stu, it’s one thing that Rafa really improved the injury issue . The players should know what was working to prevent injuries and really ought to be pointing out things that helped to prevent them.

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  33. With so many already injured, should Bruce have used the likes of Aarons and Colback who can’t be used in the PL but can be in non PL games – or would he have been at risk of being accused of not taking the cups seriously?!.

    A fair result tonight whatever the outcome of pens – B’mth have gone to pens with Forest Green, so us going to pens with a full strength Leicester side is no embarrassment

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  34. Imagine if we didn’t have all these injuries (cough) we’d have had a much better chance of winning in normal time.

    Bet almost all of the injured players are back Saturday.

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  35. Yet another **** poor 1st or 2nd round knock out from a cup. Nobody can tell me that we have serious injuries every time we play in a cup game. It’s pathetic. They’ll be back for Saturday.

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  36. And so it goes again… out of the f.ucking cup again at the first round. Sickening ???????????????

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  37. Eric Sykes:
    DT: we have 9 out injured. Any team would struggle with that many out.

    Come on, Eric. Wait u too the team is announced on Saturday before calling them injuries.

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  38. Oh give over you bunch of drama queens ?.
    We took it serious enough – we drew 1-1 with a full strength Leicester side in 90mins and only lost on pens.

    We had injuries going in and picked up more during – that’s my bigger concern.

    Are these muscle injuries – if so, are our players warming up properly?!. Are they doing too much through the week?!.

    I agree with Stu – it’s a worry that wasn’t one under Rafa and his team.

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  39. I am telling you!

    These 50 year old footballers with their bal!-huggings pants is a bit on the “don’t go there side”. Max Wall. Skinny Jeans. Text-your-daughter.

    I really think it is wrong. It doesn’t look good to start with.

    They are all sitting on there on the couch. Glenn Hoddle with his tighty skinny jeans pants. Even 65 year old Souness.

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  40. It seems increasingly common here in England. Old people wearing their grandchildren’s clothes. Especially ladies who dye their silver locks too.

    Looks like Ritchie’s out for a long spell. My guess is he’ll bring Fernandez into the back three and play Dummett as a LWB. It means a strong defence but not so great going forward. Having said that Ritchie’s hardly been tearing up trees either. I hope this is what he’ll do but I have a sneaking suspicion he’ll shoehorn Shelvey back into a middle three. Please don’t Steve. The formation worked a treat at Spurs and while it was primarily defensive there was enough attacking momentum to repeat against a decent Watford team.

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