Secondly I’d like to apologise for the site going down yesterday. The worst thing is that I knew it would happen but couldn’t gain access to sort it out on my phone as I was indeed at Elland Road watching the match and forgot to e-mail myself the address to get things sorted when it eventually went tits up. I’m hoping to get it sorted within a few weeks, but I also have a life, a wife, a family and a full time job to fit in aswell so can’t always be on top of everything all the time. I’m sure you understand. Sorry for taking a day off.
Anyway, back to the football… The headline says that it was a defeat, but despite that there was some positives to come from the match aswell as some negatives. Contrary to popular belief, yesterday was not all doom and gloom!
The match didn’t start off brilliantly for Newcastle who found themselves behind in the opening five minutes thanks to a clanger from Fraser Forster who somehow managed to drop a ball that should have been a textbook catch. especially when you consider the fact that he was actually unchallenged! The ball fell for Patrick Kisnorbo to prod home and give the home side the lead leaving Forster red faced, and rightly so.
Demba Ba had a chance to restore parity but he was thwarted by last ditch tackles from Andy O’Brien and Patrick Kisnorbo before things nearly got worse for the away side after Max Gradel headed the ball home although the one-time Toon target was flagged offside and the goal was chalked off. It was close call, but it was the right one.
A slow start for Newcastle then although Yohan Cabaye did at least provide some positives in the absence of any of his team-mates really trying. Cabaye was everywhere, tracking back, picking passes, pulling the strings and I was certainly very impressed with him.
In fact it was Cabaye who grabbed an assist as Newcastle got back on level terms. The Frenchman fired a corner into the box that was inch perfect for Steven Taylor to smash home at the far post. 1-1 much to the delight of Taylor and the 4,000 strong Toon Army.
Just for reference, Cabaye’s set-pieces are far superior to Barton’s. The Frenchman picked out a Newcastle player every time (usually Steven Taylor to be fair) which was another thing that impressed me.
1-1 was probably a fair result at half-time in truth. Both sides had chances although Leeds perhaps had the best of them but Newcastle finished the half on top.
The second half began at a much slower pace as substitutions started to disrupt the flow of the game and with chances at a premium the match became stagnated in the middle of the park. That was until 66 minutes when another defensive/goalkeeper blunder combined to allow the home side to take the lead once again.
Mike Williamson had what should have been the easy job of ushering the ball out of play by the byline, but much like what happened at Anfield he got outmuscled which allowed Lloyd Sam to nick the ball and beat Fraser Forster on his near post with a low shot that went through his legs. Williamson was to blame, but Forster could have done much better in my opinion.
Newcastle brought on Ryan Taylor, Leon Best, Sammy Ameobi and Haris Vuckic in an attempt to shake things up, and it was the latter two of those four who had the biggest impact. Sammy’s direct running and pace caused problems for Leeds, as did his willingness to actually have a shot. He was unlucky on a few occasions as his attempts flew just wide and his crossing needs to improve, but there is definitely something there with the younger Ameobi.
Haris Vuckic was the star sub though. Composed on the ball with vision and pace the young Slovenian put in yet another good performance as he stakes a claim for a more important role with the team. I though we’d equalised from a Vuckic cross but a combination of Joey Barton and Demba Ba were denied by a fantastic save from Andy Lonergan in the Leeds goal.
Vuckic’s moment did come with 13 minutes left after good work from Demba Ba who cut the ball back to Haris who took a touch and smashed the ball past Lonergan. You can tell from Haris’ celebration that he was buzzing with the crowd. He just stood there wide-eyed in amazement in front of the South Stand and milked the accolades. I think he enjoyed it.
It all ended on a sour note however as Leeds once again took the lead with only five minutes remaining. Substitute Alex Mendy stood the ball up leaving Fraser Forster and chasing shadows as Billy Paynter rose highest at the back post to nod the ball in.
Full-time: Leeds 3-2 Newcastle.
As I said earlier, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. The match will be remembered as a defeat and will be clouded by Joey Barton’s Twitter outburst after the game – you know the one where he didn’t want to cause trouble but it’s done exactly that and has set fans arguing against each other…
Anyway, Yohan Cabaye was excellent throughout. Brilliant in fact. If he can take this performance into the Premier League we’ll have some player on our hands. He reads the game so well and is always there with a tackle or helping out or keeping things ticking along nicely. Very impressed.
Dan Gosling was another. He played well and was on the end of a few rough tackles, but he came through every one of them unscathed. He is full of energy and drive and could give Alan Pardew a selection headache as the new season approaches. Haris Vukcic was impressive again, as was Sammy Ameobi as they both continued their recent run of good performances.
Overall I’d rate the players as follows:
Fraser Forster – 4 – Disappointing really. Never felt confident with him in goal all afternoon. Made one good save from Gradel but his kicking is woeful and he looks slow and slovenly. Hate to say it as he is a fellow Hexham lad, but he won’t have done his case in the Goalie race any help at all with this.
Danny Simpson – 5 – Didn’t do a lot right or wrong. Up against Gradel who ripped him for pace before being withdrawn due to injury.
Mike Williamson – 4 – Reads the game so well at times but gets caught out far too easily and gets out-muscled when he shouldn’t be. It will, or at least it should be anyway, be Taylor and Coloccini at the back for us at the start of the season.
Steven Taylor – 6 – Gets a boost for his goal but he was prone to the odd **** up aswell, like when he tried to dummy a ball over the top when he was the last man. He needs to cut that out and keep it simple when it can be just that.
James Tavernier – 5 –A game of two halves for the youngster. Impressive in the first half, not so much in the second. Gave the ball away in dangerous positions a number of times but will learn. There is something there.
Jonas Gutierrez – 5 – Typical Jonas really. Good things matched by frustrating things.
Dan Gosling – 6 – Full of energy and composed on the ball. Potentially our most impressive player of pre-season.
Yohan Cabaye – 7 – Brilliant I thought. Did everthing a centre midfielder should do. Didn’t stop running or working for the team. Him and Tiote will be great in midfield.
Joey Barton – 5 – A few good runs but not much else. Wasn’t impressed with his performance at all to be honest.
Demba Ba – 5 – Looked rusty but also like he could be dangerous. Knows what to do and when to do it but didn’t get much of a sniff in front of goal. On the end of some hard tackles and came through all of them.
Shola Amoebi – 5 – Great on the halfway line…
Ryan Taylor – 5 – Can’t remember anything he done really.
Sammy Ameobi – 7 – Will run at players all day long and has the pace to beat them. Needs to work on his composure and crossing.
Haris Vuckic – 7 – A good range of passing, vision, and can finish. Another good display from the highly-rated youngster. Could this be his season?
Leon Best – 6 – It’s his touch an control that worry me, but it was much improved against Leeds. Glad we’re keeping him to be honest.
Paul Dummett – 6 – Made one good tackle but didn’t have much else to do to be fair.
Much will be made of this defeat and people will point towards any number of scenarios that could happen. At the end of the day we have Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Cheik Tiote, Sylvain Marveaux and Hatem Ben Arfa to come back into this side so it’s not all bad news.
For reasons of perspective, it’s a pre-season game. Other, more “ambitious” sides than us have been woeful thus far, like Arsenal and Liverpool for example, which has been lost on some I think. Yes a win would have been great but it wasn’t to be and all that matters is that we are ready for Arsenal and the start of the Premier League campaign.
Howay the lads!
Leeds: Andy Lonergan; Paul Connolly, Patrick Kisnorbo (Boldizsar Bodor 59), Andy O’Brien (Leigh Bromby 46), Ben Parker (Tom Lees 59); Max Gradel (Alex Mendy 65), Jonny Howson (c), Michael Brown, Adam Clayton (Billy Paynter 65), Robert Snodgrass (Lloyd Sam 59); Ross McCormack (Ramon Nunez 65).
Subs not used: Paul Rachubka, Aidan White.
Newcastle: Fraser Forster; Danny Simpson (Paul Dummett 79), Mike Williamson, Steven Taylor, James Tavernier (Ryan Taylor 57); Joey Barton, Yohan Cabaye, Dan Gosling (Haris Vuckic 65), Jonas Gutierrez (Sammy Ameobi 65); Shola Ameobi (c) (Leon Best 65), Demba Ba.
Subs not used: Tim Krul.
Attendance: 20,457.
Only seen the last goal on SSN and Williamson was very weak.
Vuckic to start against Arsenal.
To allow us to bring more into the squad we need to get rid of the deadwood. Lovenkrands, Xisco Smith and Raylor.
Forster probably blown his chances.
But come on lads stop all the negativity the fat man is our owner and unless someone comes along with £250 million he will continue to be our owner. Moaning won’t make a blind bit of difference.
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
I agree toby, even though its the players whinging more than us.
I seriously believe we need to get rid of these now negative characters. get rid of Barton and Enrique, get a striker and a left back and we’ll be jammin’.
http://thetoonarmybarracks.blogspot.com
the toon army barracks(Quote)
Whining about certain players being sh*te isn’t going to make them play any better lads, but it happens. We’re football supporters, it’s what we do.
The one-up-manship on blogs/forums is a bit tedious at times, but there are valid arguments on either side of this divide which has occurred.
However, as much as there is a lot of speculation on the side of those distrusting the regimes motives and plans, i think it’s naive in the extreme to think the ‘revelations’ we hear of, is a big conspiracy to curry favoue with fans, or is a byproduct of sour grapes.
Pre-season results are a poor barometer for the season, so as long as the players are getting fitter and used to being together, that’s the most you can hope for. And I’m sure most fans do.
bowburnmag(Quote)
I think Vuckic will get a chance to play while Ben Arfa is out injured and will cement his place in the team in those two weeks.
hydeous(Quote)
Hydeous
Have a sneaking suspicion HBA will be out longer than 2 weeks. Reckon Vuckic will have around month to prove his worth
~ El Toro ~(Quote)
Its good to hear that the youngsters like Vuckic and Gosling are doing well in pre-season, but i question whether Pardew has the stones to drop some of the bigger names (like Cabaye or Barton) to really accommodate these players when their time truely comes….
The Hig!(Quote)
It still feels like we really need two players a striker and defender and we can then really compete to the best of our ability this year
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Yes the youngsters are looking the business Vuckic and Sammy Amoebi but give them the chance from the start Pardew your management is starting to cause me concerns. The two players in question Barton and Enrique are basically telling us supporters what is going on. I don`t bury my head in the sand and the fat Bast*** has no love for our club and I hope he disappears up his own ****.
Freddie Shepherd(Quote)
Anyone who thinks we have a good squad are living in the clouds.
Defensively we were poor – just goes to show how weak our defensive cover is really.
As for up front – has any of our strikers scored yet?
Stuart79(Quote)
Toonsy – how was the nufcblog.co.uk outing? 😆
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
If our defence is supposed to be quite strong, then they obviously need to come back from thier holidays cos they wer’nt there yesterday.
I do think that we probably have goals from all over the park this season judging by the type of buy’s we have in but it is so obvious that we have a lot of sharpening up to do before we get thrown to the Gonners.
As for Barton, Stupid Git. We all know what a bunch of tw4t5 we have running the club (or not running it if you get my drift) but I’m afraid we’ll just have to rough it out till they’ve gone. It’s not helping anyones cause by washing our 5h!tty knickers in public. The whole of the Football league knows how much of a tw@ ashley is and he will get whats coming eventually. It’s just a shame he will have taken a fair bit of wonga with him when he goes.
Chins up lads. WE ARE NEWCASTLE UNITED AND EVER MORE WILL BE SO. HWTL.
Porciestreet(Quote)
looks like erdinc is going to stay – BRING BACK KUQI! 😆
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Liam – A good day had by all. Enjoyed it. And I apparently pulled and have excellent dress sense 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Liam Southern Toon says:
August 1, 2011 at 09:28
looks like erdinc is going to stay – BRING BACK KUQI!
Don’t joke!
Stuart79(Quote)
Toonsy aye good lad – bet jobey was jealous 😉
Dont worry about the od server the bloggers made up for it with the huge amount of hits on the last thread!
Stuart – who said i was joking…….?? 😈 😈 😈
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Erdinc is just a smokescreen when interviewed his agent said he had no intention of talking to Newcastle whilst in England this weekend and had not talked to the club about Erdinc. The guy has no interest in joining Newcastle he has said that on numerous occasions. Time is starting to run out and yet all we get from Newcastle is we are still trying to sign Erdinc. We all know and have done since Carroll was sold that we are going to be shortchanged by this regime. I think it`s about time the local newspapers started to make it uncomfortable for the current regine and ask some questions that need answering. Come on Ryder show some balls!
Freddie Shepherd(Quote)
FS – You know aswell as I do that will never happen as The Chron and tge others would just get banned and wouldn’t even get tge scraps they get fed now.
toonsy(Quote)
It’s almost laughable!
This is the same pattern as every other transfer window. Why do people get surprised by this regime?
Don’t be surprised to see Barton, Enrique and Tiote all to be gone by the end of the month.
Stuart79(Quote)
Liam – Jobey’s mum is tasty aswell 😈
toonsy(Quote)
Hugely embarrassing goals for Forster and Williamson. I’ve seen Williamson **** up a few of those sheperding-out-of-touch things. He doesn’t use his body well.
Looking forward to the season starting so I can watch games again. As much as I appreciate the match reports, reading blogs and tweets and watching awful tv on a laptop just doesn’t get my heart racing the way live HDTV does.
Still 9 weeks till the A-league starts again. So starved of in-the-flesh football as well. Bloody longest off season in the history of the game – 6 months! Well, not really, we had an off season that lasted 18 months back in 2004.
Bring on the football. Howay the lads.
BrisVegas(Quote)
Rather have a go than lie down and die! Because the scraps we are fed now are just lies and of no consequence. But that`s the trouble we have nobody who is prepared to pick the gauntlet up and run with it apart from Barton. That is why he is so important to us as supporters because others are too easily silenced.
Freddie Shepherd(Quote)
Agree that the defence leaked far too many goals last season and has not been strengthened yet. Hopefully they will get a bit more cover in front of them this season.
As to strength in depth we have a decent starting 11 and bench. beyond that we have some promising youngsters and what Citeh call fringe players.
However I don’t expect to see any new players in until old ones shipped out.
I do expect that any that leave will be replaced by better players.
Premandup(Quote)
BTW Toonsey, thanks for the best match report read to date.
Premandup(Quote)
FS – But what gas Barton actually categorically said? Nothing. Just cryptic stuff that people expand upon in their own ways. He’s hardly being transparent himself is he?
toonsy(Quote)
Hard to read owt into friendlies after that leyton orient result, We already knew prior to the match we arent anywhere near the same without Tiote, Coloccini and Enrique (him being replaced is vital) Also we werent helped being without Benny, Marveaux, Ferguson to give us some natural left footed balance when Joses not there and the get rid of auld man Harper and give the young uns a chance theorys probably on its ****.
Were short of numbers all across the back four and we lack quality up front so the same as before then…
P.S Has Kadar gone to herenveen ??
CC(Quote)
Toonsy surely you can read between the lines what`s going on down there! Nolan, Enrique, and Routledge have told you the same things. Things cannot continue in a similar vein unless we will face an uphill battle from the start of the season. I think Barton saying he does not want to face a relegation battle this season is quite explicit enough!
Freddie Shepherd(Quote)
FS – But why should we have to attempt to read between the lines? That was kind of my point in the first place, about Barton being cryptic and leaving a degree of uncertainty whilst hiding behind the “I don’t want to cause trouble” barrier….
toonsy(Quote)
Yer it means he does not want a move to Liverpool
Premandup(Quote)
Sorry but I don`t see any degree of uncertainty about what Barton Enrique, Nolan, Keegan or Shearer has said about the hierarchy. It is as plain as the nose on your face how the hierarchy are treating players and supporters, lies, lies, and more lies! It will be interesting to see how they react to Barton`s comments today!
Freddie Shepherd(Quote)
FS – I agree, but that is looking at it from a simplistic viewpoint. I mean who really knows what started Barton off yesterday? That’s what I mean. There must have been something as he was previously fine. Something changed to make him change, and that is where the doubt is for me.
toonsy(Quote)
I’m starting to worry about the club and some of the noise’s comeing out of it. But on the footie side in preseason I wouldn’t worry to much as imo alls it is for is to get the players to gel and get used to eachother and built up the fitness.
Big Dave(Quote)
Toonsy email 😀
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
I dont know i think barton is sour grapes as he realises that the players bought in (cabaye) are more technical than him and can see the end in sight. Routledge has been told he isnt wanted so he is hardly going to sign the clubs praises and enrique has always wanted to go but doesnt want to look a baddy?
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
It`s quite obvious what started Barton off yesterday the fact that we have not moved on from last season and he thinks the supporters deserve better. We still have the defensive frailties from last season, we are still toothless up front, although on the positive side Cabaye is a player. If I was in Barton`s position I would want to see a stronger quality squad and imo this is just not happening.
Freddie Shepherd(Quote)
Freddie Shepherd
August 1, 2011 at 10:27
“It`s quite obvious what started Barton off yesterday the fact that we have not moved on from last season”
Yet a few days ago he was on about kicking on with our good additions?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2017632/US-run-disrupting-Newcastle-Joey-Bartons-preparation.html
Like I said; what’s changed? Or was he bullshitting whenhe spoke to the press?
toonsy(Quote)
I think we are expecting too much too soon. We have only been back up one season. We will improve steadily but the defence is a real concern.
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
What a lot of people are forgetting is that was Leeds last pre-season game in a run which they are unbeaten and went out with their full strength side and the game plan they will take into the season.
They have a group of players that have played together for 4-5 games on the trot and from what I hear were sharper and more disciplined.
We, un-surprisingly, can boast none of that as some lads were playing together for the first time. A bit worrying that there is only 1 game left though, would love more time for the guys to gel for missing the US tour….by the sounds of it though, Cabaye got on just fine regardless.
Time will tell I suppose.
Moreno(Quote)
Moreno @37 I agree mate, As I said before I think the US tour wasn’t thought through properly, because the main things for pre season is to gel and get the fitness but if all your 1st 11 arnt there well it kind of defeats the purpose.
Big Dave(Quote)
Liam Southern Toon says:
August 1, 2011 at 10:37
I think we are expecting too much too soon. We have only been back up one season. We will improve steadily but the defence is a real concern.
I think people are missing the point, It’s not about a poor friendly performance, it’s about the lack of penetration in the transfer window.
As we stand today I personally think we are worse off now than we were this time last year. We have lost our two top scorers but we do have a load of money in the bank. Seems like a **** idea to sell Carroll now.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart you are right in that we are maybe not improved that much but would nolan start this year? And lets be honest carroll changes the whole style of liverpools player they hoof it up to him and with cabaye, marveux ben arfa tiote our focus will be on the ground.
If we add a fast tricky striker next to ba we could improve on last season. The premier league you need pace and technical ability; there are a lot of slow defenders in the premier league and whilst we wont have the battering ram of carroll and nolan we could get behind them with pace, trickery and genuine ability?
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
LST
you say that there are a lot of slow defenders out there. Why do they play for us. 😉
Premandup(Quote)
So with one out and one in….who we signing today now Routs is going?
Sneijder? 😀
Moreno(Quote)
Prem and up – true williamson looked fairly out of touch yesterday!
Moreno – what about tevez???
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Barnetta for me
Premandup(Quote)
Dave, I have no DM on twitter? 🙄
Premandup-I agree, Barnetta is class.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
MORENO kna mate not good enough will be someone class like john carew on a free 😀 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
Agreed prem and up wish we had him on board then think we have one of the best midfields in the country
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
I thought we already had one of the best midfields in the country? 😕
What about attack and defence?
Moreno(Quote)
STT you moved up here yet mate?
icedog(Quote)
Funny as i actually wrote Barnetta instead of Sneijder but then deleted it just to be a sarcastic ****.
Moreno(Quote)
Moreno – we were referring to rout replacement 😉
For me i would like to see bassong as cover (hes french after all)
striker – who knows sure as hell not beckford!
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Nah Icedog, the wait is killing me.
Was up there last week, came back yesterday, going back up next friday, back for 4/5 days I think. Then up 😆
So basically after this week im up.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Spence im on my phone mate but if you send me a dm I will get it later when im on the pc and reply to ye 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
It wont let me, it says your not following me 😥 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Liam….so was I…..
Funny really as a few weeks back I wouldn’t have been jumping for joy about signing Long but as time draws on….I think I would be over the moon now!
Moreno(Quote)
Quote from July 27 of last year – Bobby Shinton No9
WE ARE GOING TO GET RELEGATED WITH THE SQUAD WE HAVE! HE WON’T SPEND ENOUGH CASH TO SAVE US!! STOP DREAMING ! GET A GRIP AND FACE REALITY.
BrisVegas(Quote)
With the form SWP has shown in pre-season too, someone will get a bargain there IMO
Moreno(Quote)
Bris,
You had to look that far back to find one where he was wrong 😯
Jeez, the guy must be right more often then not 😯
Moreno(Quote)
Not sure about SWP think because he is english 😆 😆
If we did happen to get barnetta and say Defoe even that would be superb – just cant see it…..
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Aint looking great at this stage – this is going to be a long season, looks like Pardew has to generate his own transfer pot by selling players before we buy
kin supporting newcastle is tough especially when the chairmans model is to copy wigan i.e. survive and sell any player worth a couple of bob
4411(Quote)
Defoe has already said he doesn’t want to go to toon, thank fook I say
4411(Quote)
4411- aye, but I wouldnt have it any other way 🙂
and Dave, Im going on on p1ss up tonight, so follow me, dm me and ill send it the morra.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Moreno @ 57
I wasn’t specifically looking for anything he said. I was looking at comments from the pre-season friendlies of last year. Just some private research. I came across BS9 by accident, but thought it interesting enough to repost as he claims never to have been wrong.
It’s always an interesting exercise in reading past comments. Very instructive for a historical perspective.
BrisVegas(Quote)
Bris,
Haha, fair enough mate….I didn’t really think you had trawled back through every comment. That would have been scary!
Moreno(Quote)
I suppose it’s irrelevant what people have said in the past if they are willing to admit they are wrong though….
big IF though…. 😀
Moreno(Quote)
A 56. There must have been a crack in that famous crystal ball he drones on about 😉
MDS(Quote)
Bris makesure you tell Bobby 😆
Spence no probs mate, by the way are you notunder age for getting pissed 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Toonsy 😯 i have the mobile site 😉 yeha
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave – You on your phone? Has anything changed?
toonsy(Quote)
I take that as a yes then 😆
toonsy(Quote)
Nah big dave, was my 18th yesterday 😉 😉 😉 🙄 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Toonsy, I was using the phones one last week and it was fine, I didnt comment much cos I hate typeing on it.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Spencer – It’s different for different phones. Some get the mobile site, but some get the full site like mine.
toonsy(Quote)
Spence happy birthday.
Toonsy did you find out who the browser was or were you just fiddling with your knob again 😆
Well atleast you keep your word 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
oh, it was on a samasung tab and I got the phone one.
I would probably use it more if I didnt mind typing, but I cant stand it 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)