The biggest one is undoubtedly the day that we were relegated after what can only be described as a shambolic and embarrassing performance in our hour of greatest need.
I’ve still not got my head around why Aston Vila – a team we’ve had no previous with prior to that day – took such delight in our demise. The 1-0 defeat that day was enough to send us spiralling to the Championship and for the Villa fans to get the banners out as they poked and prodded fun at us. Being honest, it hurt, and it still makes me angry now.
We returned to Villa Park last season. I remember it well. We’d dished out a thumping to them at St James’ Park earlier on in the season, which was nice, but there was pretty much zero difference in terms of our performance in the Midlands. The result was another 1-0 defeat, which was rather embarrassing for Joey Barton who captained the side just after yet another outburst to the press. On that occasion he claimed to be the best English midfielder in the Premier League. He didn’t show it that day.
It’s early days so far this season but both teams have made good starts to the Premier League campaign and remain unbeaten from the opening four games of the season. Hopefully we still have our unbeaten record come 4:50pm tomorrow afternoon although personally I’m not too fussed about Villa’s!
The home side will be without Emile Heskey, which is good news for the occupants of Rows X, Y and Z, whilst Jermaine Jenas is riding Sol Campbell (allegedly) out injured.
Last time out Aston Villa earned a rather creditable 2-2 draw with Everton at Goodison Park. In that match they lined up with a team of:
Aston Villa: Shay Given, Alan Hutton, Stephen Warnock, Richard Dunne, James Collins, Charles N’Zogbia, Fabian Delph, Stilyan Petrov, Darren Bent, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Emile Heskey
As far as Newcastle are concerned we’ll be without Davide Santon, Haris Vuckic, Mike Williamson and Hatem Ben Arfa although the latter of the quartet is still pencilled in for an appearance in the Carling Cup tie at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.
Shane Ferguson is fit and flying again after coming through a reserve game in midweek although I dare say that a space on the bench is most likely and that Ryan Taylor will continue in his role as makeshift left-back.
I know the old saying goes along the lines of ‘not changing a winning team’, and whilst we haven’t been winning we are unbeaten still. However I’d like to see at least one change tomorrow in terms of formation, which would in turn mean one change in playing personnel.
I would go with five in the middle, with open of those being slightly more attacking with the job of supporting the striker. For me that team would include:
Newcastle: Tim Krul, Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Ryan Taylor, Gabriel Obertan, Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Jonas Gutierrez, Leon Best.
Something along them lines anyway. I just think it suits us a bit more at the moment. The fact that people could change the players involved and where they play probably demonstrates that.
This fixture is a home fixture. If you’re at home then you generally win seems to be the pattern. Seven of the last eight games between the two teams have ended in victory for the home side. The other one was a draw.
Aston Villa have four former Mags in their ranks: Shay Given, Stephen Ireland, Charles N’Zogbia and Habib Beye, although the sight of Habib in a first team shirt at Villa Park has been described as “rarer than rocking horse shi….” well, you know.
Charles N’Zogbia scored the winner the last time Newcastle won at Villa Park back in 2006. Shay Given also saved a penalty (not pelanty!) that day.
If Newcastle can keep a clean sheet tomorrow they will have equalled a record that has stood for 110 years. Not since 1901 (when Icedog was younger!) have the boys in black and white managed to keep clean sheets in the first three away league games of the season.
All of Newcastle’s league games this season have been level at 0-0 at half-time.
Alex McCleish has never beaten Newcastle in the Premier League.
I personally think that this will be a very tough test for our boys. They will need to retain that defensive solidarity whilst trying to attack the opposition this time around. Villa pose a threat going forward so if we do concede we will need to score to secure any points. Sounds simple, but scoring goals has been far from simple for Newcastle so far this season.
I’m going to keep my run of no predictions going for now in the hope that it keeps our unbeaten run going that little bit longer. I’d settle for a point right now to be honest, and a hassle free day at work which includes finishing on time so I can get home to see the match! You know something will go wrong though…
Howay the lads!
Date: Saturday, 17th September, 2011
Kick-off: 3:00pm (UK time)
Venue: Villa Park
Zoe you are definitely an optimist. Do you know how often Jonas scores? I’ll give you a hint: it is less often than Shola on average in the Prem and that is a very small number indeed. Still, maybe it’s a chance to see the spiderman mask again!
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Batty- you are a prime example of trust know one, I thought you seemed a genuine trust worthy man, but know, your looked up with Andy Carroll in the dirty judas group.
and dave know need to call me a perv man 🙁
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
I said a goal from Jonas, copy cat 🙁
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
GeordieTwo: haha thanks well let me tell you why I think he will score.
I had scored four years ago in my last game of the season when I played for another team. Over the last seasons I’ve had chances and one was this year in the cup final and it just went over as the wind took it.
Last sunday it was the first game of our ladies league game and you’ll never guess what I managed to pop up and score the first goal in our first league game. I went mental!!! Up until then I had gone 4 years without a goal.
That’s why I think that Jonas will score!
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
MDS i would go with that m8 maybe young fergie at l/b as villa have abit of pace on the wings,pleased you didnt put smith on the bench like
icedog(Quote)
“I’ve had chances and one was this year in the cup final and it just went over as the wind took it.”- Excuses! ;D
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
TGS @ 68 I will be fizzing too
Spence dont start on wor batts or you will be getting ST took of you by the Fatman 🙂
Big Dave(Quote)
Batty young Spence might be able to shift some of that underwear for ye
Big Dave(Quote)
N’zog wall treacle Raylor like a sponge!
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
SPENCE: Read the next bit, I scored at the weekend and up until then I played at LB. On sunday I played left-mid so I got to take my chances. Hopefully I’ll get a few more this year
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
MDS i would go with that m8 maybe young fergie at l/b as villa have abit of pace on the wings,pleased you didnt put smith on the bench like
——————————–
Would much prefer Fergie at LB and I hope to see it, just wanted to pick a team that I thought had a chance of actually happening….
Regarding Smith- I wouldn’t do that to you Ice :))
MDS(Quote)
Its not even funny Dave- ive not even done anything wrong, the absolute tw@ts! the steward looks like a ****** anyway! I asked him to move cause he was stood in front of me and I couldn’t see, he moved for like a second and moved back in front of me.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Zoe- Only playing, ive missed some sitters in my time, I am a cb though 😀
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Well done Zoe! I hope Jonas doesn’t have to spend the entire game in his own half covering for Raylor. I would still like to see a better crosser of the ball out there on LW. Jonas does a great job of holding up the ball and allowing the defense to find its shape after being stretched and by helping the LB out, but going forward is his weakness. I agree with most on here that we need to play 4-5-1. I think we will be beaten if we play 4-4-2 with Shola starting again. He was shocking against QPR. I do believe I heard some of the Toon army boo as he went off.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Anyone going to blackburn?
Moreno(Quote)
No Moreno, got to go to a family reunion 🙁
are you?
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Not as in Blackburn the shitty little town, as in the match at SJP against them
Moreno(Quote)
spence @77 why is that ?
batty(Quote)
yes, I have to go to a family reunion that weekend! hehe
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Dont no batts.
Dave and that keep calling you a turncoat, dont even know why hehe
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Spence: Yeah I have too! Yeah at CB you don’t get much chance. Getting to play at left-mid this year I will get a few more opportunities
Thanks GeordieTwo! Yeah I think we do need someone better to cross but the fact that Raylor is at LB he doesn’t get to attack that much. It’s such a shame that Santon got injured as if he hadn’t we may of had a better balance
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
spence its because i caught dog wearing the strapless toon bras what he should of been selling for me ha
batty(Quote)
90% of my goals come from corners.
im 6.5/6.4 so I get plenty of chance in the air haha 🙂
Batts: ohhh haha
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
BATTY i only had it on to carry my baccy and lighter in,as my pockets have holes in due to me carrying the coppers you pay me with
icedog(Quote)
Haha yep being that tall you’ll get plenty of chance.
I’m only 5.3/5.4 so corners aren’t ideal for me but I have plenty of speed ahaha 🙂
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
Well batts from what I heard Spence knocks about with a few cross dressers and trannies so he might shift some for ye, talking about trannies I know someone that is well into them you could try him
Big Dave(Quote)
ZOE always remember its not always about height pet its all about timeing,knew many smaller players who were great in the air ; ) ;
icedog(Quote)
Yeah I will ICE, I timed my run perfectly to get on the end of the cross to score
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
ICE dog, since that was a poor answer as there was know example ill give you once, Tim Cahill 😛 an example of a tall player who is rubbish in the air is Ameobi. Height does help though!
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
haha dave are you scared of saying his name or dus it still repulse you haha
batty(Quote)
STT if you know much about footy you dont have name them imo,think the girl knows plenty herself,its not my way to try and rub peoples nose in it just trying to help the lass,i could name them but would fill the comment box so why bother
icedog(Quote)
howay ice I was only messing with you pal!
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
ICE: No worries, I know what you meant. I knew what you were on about
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
peace homies!! whats the word on the street?
jay jay(Quote)
Lets be realistic. We’re unbeaten so far, although we haven’t played well at all; indeed, we’ve ridden a considerable amount of our luck. Some might say that augurs well. However, going from years and years and years of watching this club, I reckon it means we’re due a run of four games without a win – just to even things up. Now if we had Waddle, Keegan and Beardsley in their prime, of course I would not be saying that. Unfortunately, the men we’re hanging our hats on are Krul, Tiote, Colo and Saylor. They’ve performed brilliantly so far, and I have every confidence they will tomorrow. However, they can’t do it on their own.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
STT nee offence young fellow,just the old school types like me tend to say things diff,if i was upset m8 you would soon know
icedog(Quote)
Batty I dont want to say the c@nts name as it makes me angry just talking about him, but money is money and I think he would have a book full of contacts 🙂 and im sure he could do with a few quid to put towards his leccy bill .
B+B I do think our run will come to an end soon I just hope that they will be able to get over it and go on another lose free run shortly after it
Big Dave(Quote)
Big Dave – The good thing is that we’ve been in contention in all of these games. As long as we don’t lose that, we’re in with a bit of a shout.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
DAVE i think and hope we hold out until we bump the bigger teams as we have a few stinkers comeing up together
icedog(Quote)
The thing I hate about away games is listening to the radio, one nil up or scraping a jammy draw with ten minutes to go, and counting down the seconds; one thousand and one; one thousand and two … Villa presssing down the right, cuts into the box, oh no Ryan Taylor’s got that wrong, but you’ve got to say the lad’s went down too easy, it looks like … the referee’s given it, oh what did you make of that Bob?, well its been coming hasn’t it? he’s a lucky lad because if the linesman hadn’t flagged for offside that would have been penalty … FFS!, one thousand, six hundred and six …
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
It would be nice to keep it going till the middle of Nov when we run into Man shitty, manure then chelski
Big Dave(Quote)
B+B from last year I hate going into the last 10 or so mins as we threw a few points away last season in the last 10
Big Dave(Quote)
DAVE aye will struggle to pick any points from those 9
icedog(Quote)
Well we have our tickets for the Blackburn in our hands. Now just to survive the flight from Sydney, Australia and we’ll be sitting in St James living out the dream with the Newcastle faithful. You can probably tell we’re not on the ‘nufc-is-going-to-hell-boycott-ashley-reality-train’. 😀
Raiksy(Quote)
Raisky, don’t stand up, you’ll get a letter telling you that you are going to get a ban you from the stadium if you do it again..
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
RAINSY aye mate its a long flight done it a couple of times myself,hope you enjoy game and its a good result for us all
icedog(Quote)
If we lose against Blackburn I blame Rainsy 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Spencer I dont think that would apply to Raiksy, their just trying to get shot of you because you cause trouble 🙂
Raiksy live the dream mate and I am sure you will see a win
Big Dave(Quote)
I blame MA, for not letting us stand up and make an atmosphere, nothing for the players to thrive on, I wonder if im allowed to clap the players onto the field stood up?
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Spence: You done something wrong at a match or is it fatty just being an idiot?
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
Spence get yerself to the Gateshead match tomorrow and stand and sing till your hearts content 😉
TheDimpleboy(Quote)
Might spend the game standing up and openly preaching how good those sportsdirect signs are and how they add to the atmosphere… Might be the only time that you’ll have Newcastle truly ‘united’ for a cause – that of a public lynching 😉
Raiksy(Quote)
ZOE: Fatty being an idiot! Apparently I predominately stand, for a start, I cant stand for long periods cause my legs go weird, im all right if im moving about, but not just in one place.
Dimple boy, im tempted 😛
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Spence: They are just finding excuses to get rid of you. You obviously not done anything wrong
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
Zoe I think you have been on Spencers twitter and found out he looks a bit like Santon ?? have ye
Dimpleboy his poor wee legs wouldn’t hold him up that long
Big Dave(Quote)
It’s not funny dave haha. summat to do with the joints in my knees, the physiotherapist told me to do these stretches, did I… nooooooooooo!
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Dave: I don’t even know his twitter! So I can’t have, just making conversation
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
it’s going to be tight game, but i like to think where going to be better going forward. i think it’s time to unleash marveaux, and show us why newcastle went for him instead of n’zog. from what i’ve seen of him, he’s got a sweet left foot and knows how to attack.
i’m still worryed about LB position tho, i think i’d put fergie in there cos he’s bound to be better than raylor there.
this would be my team
krul
simo saylor collo fergie
marv tiote cabaye jonas
ba best
MadAboutToon(Quote)
“but i like to think where going to be better going forward” dear dear dear, we gave two strikers that don’t know the meaning of move, we wont be good going forward until we get a fast nippy striker. A winger that can cross, and a winger with pace and skill that doesn’t turn all the time and give it back to Danny Simpson.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Spence change your profile pic on twitter mate to one of Santon intead of the one that makes you look like gollum 🙂
Zoe I will hoy you his twitter in a while if you want 🙂
Big Dave(Quote)
Fu’ck off, if you knew me, you would get the picture, so shut it.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Craig is right Zoe you do encourage a hell of a lot of flirting! 🙂
Btw did I tell you I was half italian?
Liam southern toon(Quote)
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL is all i can say liam!
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
SPENCER, don’t talk to soon, ba showed last season that he was stong, quick and knows where the net is. as for fasr ticky winger, i think marveaux going to be that.
MadAboutToon(Quote)
Don’t worry I’m half Irish too! Howay dave! Carrick me lad!
Liam southern toon(Quote)
Spence you took that bad fella, dont forget to pick all them toys up 🙂 I think I will have to tell Batty that you were picking on me again
Big Dave(Quote)
I think we should play Ba the sooner he gets a goal the better as I think he will improve and we will see the Ba from last year, but he needs to be playing
Big Dave(Quote)
I took it like bread in a toaster!
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Agreed dave that’s why I have a feeling best will be dropped
Liam southern toon(Quote)
Liam: I went to Ireland for my hols this year and I loved it!
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
BEST BEST! YOU WANT TO DROP BEST AND NOT FUCKING SHOLA! HOWAY MAN!
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
DAVE, agree, his fasting is over now so we should start him
MadAboutToon(Quote)
Eden Dzeko was fasting…
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Fuk Spence you are a tall lad, especially when your leaning on a lampost
😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Haven’t we lost in the last 4 visits there against them?
Unless something drastically changes in midfield, I can see us struggling.
Not so much drastically changing personnel, but definitely tactics.
Moreno(Quote)