Now I know that sounds a little bit deluded, maybe a even quite a bit deluded, but we are only one point off seventh place in the table, and five points off of sixth place in the table, with a game in hand over two of the three teams above us.
It could have been even better had Asamoah Gyan not fluked his equaliser deep into stoppage time yesterday and we could of woke up this morning to find ourselves sitting in seventh place in the table, two points behind sixth place with a game in hand. Ah well, if’s and but’s.
I understand that we should make sure we are safe first before trying to do anything else in the league, but with the way the season is shaping up, and with the way the table is panning out, why not aim a bit higher? If we can get ourselves on a good run of form then we could be in with a shout of finishing surprisingly high up the league.
In my opinion we are at a crossroads in our season. Now is the time to decide in which direction we are heading as, realistically, we could head down aswell as up. We have a home game against Tottenham next, followed by a trip to Fulham, Arsenal at home, Blackburn and Birmingham away and Bolton and Everton at home. If we can get 12 points or so from those games then we could push on as safety would be all but assured. On the other hand, a low haul of three or so points would mean that the rest of the season would be geared towards avoiding relegation, probably.
Alan Pardew has been in charge for six league matches now, and he has won three of those matches and drawn another. That is not a bad start to life, but it has been helped by the fact that the players seem to be willing to work with him, which was my biggest concern after the sacking of Chris Hughton.
I’ve been thinking about it recently, and we aren’t a million miles away from having a very good, young side. The squad may be thin, but the starting XI, and maybe even a couple of players beyond that, are good enough to give anyone a match, as we have proven this season. It makes me wonder how much of a difference Hatem Ben Arfa would have made if we had him available for more games?
That late equaliser yesterday was definitely a kick in the teeth, but on reflection it is the performance we should be looking at. We played well yesterday and stifled Sunderland. I don’t care what Dame Bruce says about them not being a long ball team (although the two meetings against us would suggest otherwise), the fact is that we made them into a long ball team yesterday as we shut out virtually every other avenue of attack they had. Darren who?
If we can keep doing that until the end of the season then who knows? I’d have been delighted with just surviving this season, and I still will be. But with the way things are going, and with the way the league is going, why not look up?
As ever though, it’s safety first!
Aim for the moon and if you miss you’ll hit the stars.
Mega cheesy I know, there is some truth in it though. If we aim for Europe, and why not?, we will stay up. Aim to stay up we’ll probably be in a battle.
‘staying in the league I’d my priority’ is a **** excuse for being knocked out the cup.
Moreno(Quote)
Yep Toonsy last August who would have dared to hope we would be where we are now at this point in the season.
It’s certainly one of those really weird years where form and results have been turned on their head by most teams in the division. If the field is wide open why don’t we have a bit of a go to aim for the highest possible finish rather than just be happy to avoid relegation. I agree with you we have the backbone of an exciting young team which should give us a lot of optimism for the future.(if we can keep them together)
geordie deb(Quote)
Based on what I just said, we should aim to win the league, then we’ll definitely qualify for Europe! What was that bird called who helped Glenn Hoddle? We should get her in
Moreno(Quote)
Moreno – Not given what happened to England when she got involved 😀
toonsy(Quote)
I know I’ll get castergated for this but;
Any club that has as many supporters as us and has crowds the size of us should be aiming as high as we can. We shouldn’t just be happy to avoid relegation.
This is a poor league and if Mr Ashley pulls his finger out we have a real chance of getting back with the big boys.
Stuart79(Quote)
yes we could easely get in europe with another decent striker
batty(Quote)
stu aye theres some poor teams in the leauge ,
batty(Quote)
I think we are 2 players away from a very good starting 11.
a left footed Joey Barton & a Right Footed HBA. Then we could play 4-3-3 with all the flexibilty that gives.
Squad wise we would still be a few short athough probably only till the youngsters come through.
Thoughts on names Ozan Ipek and Youssef El Arabi both fit our criteria.
Premandup(Quote)
oh and its nice too here rednap putting a 30 40 mill price tag on young andy 🙂
batty(Quote)
Agreed that outside of the top 5 we are close to being as good as any of the rest and therefore should be fighting at that end of the table. Still giving away too many points though.
Premandup(Quote)
We have a good team and for the first time in a while we now have a good dilemma when it comes to selection rather than now where we are struggling to find anyone to play in a certain position. But we still need a couple of players to sure up certain positions.
Also are we actually going to sign anyone else?!?!?!
pearceet(Quote)
First post on here, cracking blog!!! Hell of a lot more user friendly than others and looks great.
Anywho enough *** kissing, think yesterday proved to me were way above the relegation lot-coming back from humiliation to yet again negate everything a team did without a couple of our best players-however we lack a killer instinct were going to need to get higher than mid table.
It is purely our striking options that catch us out.
Apart from Nolan the midfield cannot score, which really puts on our strikers to perform.
Lovenkrands has the speed to cause problems but his striking ain’t the best. Same with Ranger really but he is far too young in my eyes to be a regular-send him out on loan!
Strolla causes problems but again cannot hit a barn door!! If he had converted half the “holy sheet how did he not score that” we’d be easily 2/3 more wins on the board which pushes us up atleast 3 places.
Best is still young and can learn. He can obviously strike a ball well but he doesnt have the confidence yet. Showed some nice touches and runs over his two proper games.
So our striking yet again falls on a very young Carroll which isn’t the best.
We need a fast killer striker that can score 15-20 goals a season and if that doesn’t happen itll be mid table only. If MA splashes the cash on a cracking striker we can realistically push for 6/7th.
A striker and a pacey winger and were cooking on gas. With Gosling and Benny to properly come back as well the squad is looking far better.
Mikey1412(Quote)
Harper
Simpsom Williamson Coloccini Enrique
Barton Nolan Tiote Ben Arfa
Ameobi Carroll
Subs; Krul, S.Taylor, Kadar, Gosling, Jonas, Ranger, Best.
All we need is a good young fast striker to go with Carroll otherwise a player would find it very hard getting into our first XI.
dan4toon(Quote)
Welcome along Mikey 1412 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
I still say that playing Jonas on the right when Benny is fit is worth a shot. Putting him on a side that favours his stronger foot would benefit him in my opinion, and it would help Simpson out and give hime some back up and make that right side stronger, much like we have with our left side at the minute.
toonsy(Quote)
I would still rather we get to 40 points and then start talking about pushing on.
Our first 11 is IMO the best outside of the top 5 but we will always fall short with the lack of depth in the squad, We can get away with calling on the Williamsons, Goslings and Guthries of this world but Best, Perch and Smith not a prayer…
CC(Quote)
Harper
Simpson Williamson Coloccini Enrique
Barton Tiote Ipek
Arabi Carroll HBA
Ok thats got two new players but with
Barton Tiote Jonas
Nolan Carroll HBA
thats still OK for now
if you must play 4-4-2, Why? Crosses from Barton & Enrique
then we need a a new number 10 agree with Mickey1412 and a new winger both as rare as rocking horse sh** and expensive to boot.
Premandup(Quote)
Hate to be the boring voice of reason, but hey: it’s Monday morning…
There is a good, if dull, reason for building slowly. You do have to alter everything about your approach if you’re aiming for a (say) top 6 spot, and to do it, like it or not, you have to compromise on what you can do to protect against a bad run and a relegation battle.
I think the club have had it right for a while now: build very, very slowly. Keep your eye on the long term strategy and build towards it year by year (I think they said 5 years) while tactically focusing on that year’s targets.
So you set up your youth system to deliver 1st-teamers in five years, while using cheap or loan deals to make sure you have the squad to hit the short-term target.
If, as we did last year, you exceed the target, great. We beat last year’s target by 23 points. That difference in the prem last year was the difference between 20th and 9th. 😯
Whumpie(Quote)
I don’t know, the league is so close that a couple of wins, you’re looking up, a couple of defeats, you’re looking down.
I’ve said it before, I think we’re two good signings away from a Europen place and I think it’s where we should be looking to finish, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, our fixtures after March aren’t exactly friendly.
I Love Mike(Quote)
Right now the derby is out the way. Theres 15 days left of the window left, any new rumours of perspective arrivals. I see that the del boy of footie ‘Arry still will not take a ‘not for sale’ answer regarding Carroll, I think that reporter summend him up perfectly with your just a wheel a dealer comment.
halftimebovril(Quote)
Toonsy i would be reluctant to move Barton back into the middle because why try and fix something that isn’t broken, i know it’s only guess work but i would still think Barton would get more assists than Jonas would on the right
dan4toon(Quote)
I think Best gets too much of a slating without really doing much. He has played less than a handful of games for us, not many players are part of the hattrick club in the Premier league so he obviously has something about him. I think he looks very under-confident. He tries hard, makes some clever runs and has some very nice touches he just flaps a bit and doesnt bully defenders enough. But with experience he could pick it up, I’d give him at least until next season to prove himself. if not then its no major loss as he cost us next to nothing and plenty of teams will take him!
Now Bambi deserves slating because in who knows how many years of playing for Newcastle it is same old Strolla. Just is not and never will be good enough.Yet he gets chance after chance. He is too much like Carroll to form a good partnership with him-how many times have both jumped for same ball or ran into the same space. I’d use him as bait for a better striker and finally get rid!!
Mikey1412(Quote)
We have 8 home fixtures 5 of which we should win, the other three are a bonus.
We have 8 away fixtures, only the last of which is against a top team.
Therefore we could get anothe 20+ points and repectability.
Only happy when we past 40 though
Premandup(Quote)
Mikey: give Strolla a break – he was excellent yesterday!
Whumpie(Quote)
CC
Posted January 17, 2011 at 9:57 AM
“We can get away with calling on the Williamsons”
Get away with it? Did you not see the game yesterday? Apart from three miss kicks (yes I counted) he didn’t put a foot wrong, and in fact, made a couple of outstanding last ditch tackles.
He was fantastic. Steven Taylor has played the last 6 games or so and in one match, Williamson proved how much a better defender he is than him.
I Love Mike(Quote)
I think CC hits the nail on the head. We should focus on building consistency and mitigating the risk of a bad run that could plunge us into a relegation battle.
That, for me, means more strength in depth. Better competition at full-back (both sides), wingers, DM. Those are the areas where there is just too big a drop in quality from our first to second choice players.
As for strikers: yes, I see how we could do with a quick striker to complement Carroll, but you also have to look at our scoring rate (2nd best in the league) to realise that perhaps it’s not scoring that’s our problem. It’s avoiding those days when everything just goes spactard because we depend too much on a few key players.
Whumpie(Quote)
Whumpie-
Yeah he played his heart out and hats off to him for that but he should have scored. Any half decent Premiership striker would have scored with his chances yesterday!
Lets watch the next 10 games and see him put in the same old Bambi performances missing sitters or creating a fantastic chance only to trickle his shot along the floor like he seems to always do!!
Mikey1412(Quote)
Yep agree with many of the above – outside of the top 5 we have the best team (even with that team we can give the top 5 a hell of a game)
We no longer have the “Owens” just picking up wages – we have a team – how long is it since we could say that
As much as I dislike Ashley for what he did to Hughton the short term restructuring and longer term outlook have been great
Stardust(Quote)
Dan – Becuase I would like to see players played in their proper positions. Don’t get me wrong, Barton has been cracking out on the right, but he is a CM. Always has been and always will be. He can still take the set-pieces, which is where a ot of his assists come from.
I just think with Jonas playing on his stronger side we might see more from him, plus he will track back and help Simpson and give us two solid wings rather than one uber-strong one.
toonsy(Quote)
Still not convinced by Jonas as a winger per se. Think tucking in to the side of a three man midfield would suit both him and Joey better. Jonas can tackle when asked to. That way we crowd the midfield and still provide support to the full backs and the attack.
Premandup(Quote)
Toonsy mate I couldn’t agree more, just haven’t really been able to voice my beliefs for fear of being consigned to the ‘deluded magpie’ demographic. The other teams that have been promoted from the championship with over 100 points all had decent top half finishes the next year in the PL, and without wishing to be too conceited; we’re a far bigger team than all of them. I think it was Reading, Fulham one other and the scum…
If we get a decent permenant striker in this window to play with big Andy (unlikely) and a good loan or two, we’ll be in with a real shout. I think Bolton will begin to falter, leaving the scum as our main rivals for 6th/7th. The only other worry is a return to form for Everton, who I actually believe have easily the best squad outside the ‘top 6’. If only we’d had HBA, who knows how many matches we would’ve taken more points from due to his creative, unpredictable and explosive input! Next season should be very interesting, providing we consolodate and push on in the summer window.
DevonMag(Quote)
Bit different however wonder how a 3-5-2 would work for us?!
…………….Harps……………
….Stayls..Collo…Willo…..
Jonas……………………Bull
…Barton..Tiote..Nolan…
………Benny……………..
……………….Carroll……
Use Bull and Jonas as wing backs-both can run like Forrest Gump on Red Bull-use Tiote to break the play up and that leaves Barton and Nolan to help the strikers. Bit different but dont think Ive ever seen a Premiership team play like this but it works in other leagues quite well.
Mikey1412(Quote)
Stardust: stop making sense. You’re weirding me out. 😎
Whumpie(Quote)
Toonsy i agree but my main worry would be how would we fit it in because Nolan clearly plays better in a 4-4-2 coming from deep and with us a team playing better in a 4-4-2, it would be hard to fit everyone in unless you went;
Jonas Barton Tiote Ben Arfa
Nolan
Carroll
which i don’t think works..
dan4toon(Quote)
how did Jonas do as a wing back for Maradona ??
Premandup(Quote)
Whumpie
Posted January 17, 2011 at 10:02 AM
Reason?
Stuart79(Quote)
Mikey1412,
Like the look of that team and system. Have been thinking along those lines myself for a while. However it is a big system change and unlikely to be implemented before next season – if ever
knocky(Quote)
Premandup – ****
toonsy(Quote)
Yea, that’s what I thought too
Premandup(Quote)
off too work
Premandup(Quote)
I love mike
You ask me if i watched the match, What the **** were you watching, Explain what sets him apart, Coloccini covered for him numerous times, He would have been punished against a better side, This perception of Williamson boils my ****, Taylor gets slaughtered for mistakes while Williamson gets the benefit of the doubt.
Williamson is a decent defender, Solid more often than not and certainly good business keeping him long term but i would play Taylor everytime as he is a classier footballer, He can bring the ball out from the back, Passes the ball better and is a genuine threat for set pieces.
CC(Quote)
Whumpie
Posted January 17, 2011 at 10:14 AM
We’re not 2nd highest scorers, I wish people would stop saying we are! There are four other teams who have scored more than us.
Although we’re fifth highest scorers 16 of them have come in three games and I would rather we shared them out, that way we would have been much more consistant this season. Scoring all them goals in three games does distort the reality to a degree.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart – I agree 😯
toonsy(Quote)
Mikey
Personally I wouldn’t have Steven Taylor anywhere near the first team.
A sub only as far as I’m concerned.
Williamson and Collo play as a pair – the way its meant to be. As a CB you need the trust in your fellow CB. Trust to know where he is when you can’t see him, trust he is backing you up, trust he is playing the same line as you.
Steven Taylor plays for himself, out of position, 10 yards (poetic licence) behind everyone else (hiding his lack of pace) in the back line – allowing everyone else to get one two’d – Then Taylor chances a last ditch tackle.
I would sell him now he has signed up. But I can’t see many wanting him – Bramble is a much better player than him but was chased out of town.
Stardust(Quote)
Stardust, Bramble is not a much player than Taylor… get a grip man!
DevonMag(Quote)
glad someone agrees
Tell you what though, Bramble kicked the s*it out of Ameobi all game, fair play to Shloa like, played well I thought
I Love Mike(Quote)
I’m more impressed that Shola bossed him in the air 😯
toonsy(Quote)
Devonmag – Oh Yes He Is – 😆
Stardust(Quote)
Well,we can’t get 59points end of season now,but we can aim to get 57 instead right? 😈 😎
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
Stuart: yep, you are right about that. But I still think those stats make a compelling argument for depth and competition for places, rather than sticking all your eggs in the striker basket.
Whumpie(Quote)
Stardust: thanks for that. Claiming Titus to be far superior to Saylor is vintage Stardust and I’m back to reality. 🙂
I think both Williamson and Saylor get unfairly compared to Collo -someone who cost several times their combined value. Willo and Saylor both make mistakes, and I think Stardust has a point about positioning. But I’m happy to have them both in the squad, competing for the position. Also, Saylor does pretty well at RB when needed, and he’s a great threat at corners.
Whumpie(Quote)
Whumps
In my spare time I like to prod hornets nests lol
Stardust(Quote)
Stu: just checked and you’re right about being 5th top scorers. I’m sure I read reports a week or so back that put us 2nd – odd.
Still, 5th still gives the same message, and having two of the four top scoring players backs it up. Yes, I’d trade two or three of our ‘pretty good’ strikers for one in the Defoe mould, but I’d rather spend the money making sure we can still win when Tiote, or Jose are unavailable.
Whumpie(Quote)
when benny is back i wouldnt mind seeing how we fare in a 4-3-3 line up. with nolan, tiote and barton in the middle, and then benny AC and a right winger up top, pressing the opposition defence a bit more. jonas i think will be on his way in the summer and if we get 5-7 mill for him then we can use that to reinvest in a better player baring in mind he cost peanuts.
rambo87(Quote)
Stardust
Posted January 17, 2011 at 10:53 AM
I think your view on Andy Carroll has shown you know very little about judging football players. Taylor is a good devoloping player, who will only get better – bit like Carroll.
Stuart79(Quote)
williamson = lampost looking for a sreet.
taylor = england potential.
stardust = bull’s clemmy.
roy cropper(Quote)
street.
roy cropper(Quote)
Stuart79
Posted January 17, 2011 at 11:23 AM
“Taylor is a good devoloping player, who will only get better”
aye suppose you’re right, he’s only 17 at the end of the day.
Oh hang on…
I Love Mike(Quote)
Hasn’t Taylor been developing for seven or so years now? Yet he still hasn’t really improved from what he was seven years ago?
toonsy(Quote)
STARDUST ime getting worried i agree again with you again re-taylor i dont rate him very highly and for a while now has also been fitness prone it must be hard work for his partner as he is often out of position which makes both of them looking poor imo,but dont rate bramble one bit over 90min
icedog(Quote)
Yep Carroll has surprised over the past year.
BBM held a similar view and we both play to a decent standard, a lot of ex NUFC reserve team players and other club ex pros play with me – they held a similar view at that time , I’m 40, play CB have won the league for the last 3 years conceding less than a goal a game against other similar level players but wha’d I know!
I know you have a copy of Shoot though Stu so you are better qualified to hold your opinion 😆
Stardust(Quote)
😆
roy cropper(Quote)
Stardust
Posted January 17, 2011 at 11:36 AM
“I know you have a copy of Shoot though Stu so you are better qualified to hold your opinion”
😆 😆 😆
toonsy(Quote)
Stardust
Posted January 17, 2011 at 11:36 AM
The proof of the pudding is in the eating and you made yourself look stupid by constantly deriding Carrolls ability.
I also don’t need to hype myself up and tell everyone what standard of football I play or have played to back up my opinion either. Low self esteem?
Oh and you made yourself look even more ridiculous by constantly backing Ashley when he made disastrous decision after disasterous decision. I on the other hand, along with many others could read him after his first three months at the club.
Not only can you not judge a footballer, it appears you cannot judge a person either.
Keep going though, you’ll get something right if you keep trying. Your manager will tell you that in the high standard football league you play in, no doubt.
Stuart79(Quote)
MIKEY1412 i agree like most we need a striker badly,but someone to score 15-20 goals in epl is reaching for the sky imo,think all epl teams want that and some may have 20/30mil to spend in trying,ashley will not,end of i think pal
icedog(Quote)
Stuart79
Posted January 17, 2011 at 11:51 AM
“I also don’t need to hype myself up”
“I on the other hand…could read him after his first three months at the club.”
😆
I Love Mike(Quote)
Stardust what level league do you play in? You sound like the sort of c*nt I was playing every week before I came to uni when I played in the Devon & Exeter division one; a big fecker whose legs have gone that kicks you every time you run past them (which is every time you’re on the ball)
playing regularly and 40 though, can’t complain eh?
DevonMag(Quote)
Stardust what level league do you play in? You sound like the sort of c*nt I was playing every week before I came to uni when I played in the Devon & Exeter division one; a big f*cker whose legs have gone that kicks you every time you run past them (which is every time you’re on the ball)
playing regularly and 40 though, can’t complain eh?
DevonMag(Quote)
I Love Mike
Posted January 17, 2011 at 11:57 AM
What’s your point?
Stuart79(Quote)
haha nice ILM 😆
DevonMag(Quote)
😆
El Toro(Quote)
DevonMag
Posted January 17, 2011 at 12:01 PM
He plays at this level:
http://www.footballforall.org.uk/?t=sections&p=23#139
Stuart79(Quote)
Poor lil – Stupot.
He just needs three more stickers for his Match Attacks album and seems a little frustrated.
I can just see him at his computer desk – pants pulled up to his nipples, thick glasses and a BHS tight fitting brown and beige polo shirt.
Oh yes – and old dinner stains on the front of the shirt too, pee stains on the trousers too. 😆
Stardust(Quote)
Stardust
Posted January 17, 2011 at 12:12 PM
😆
You must have nice clean mirrors in your house!
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu- 😆
DevonMag(Quote)