It’s an early start so well done for getting out of your pit, but there is good reason to be doing so as fans of NUFC get the chance to pay their respect to a modern great of Newcastle United, Gary Speed, who tragically passed away last weekend.
As you will all be aware of, a day of tribute was planned by the club including the singing of the famous Welsh hymn ‘Bread of Heaven’ and the holding up of cards in the East Stand that will depict the number 11 followed by a minute of applause in recognition of a player who represented the Black and White cause a total of 284 times. The full tribute will now not go ahead at the request of Speed’s wife as she would like to be in attendance although the minute of applause will still be observed.
Moving back onto the game, it won’t be easy, but it’s a game that we could win, if that makes sense? Basically I’ve read the views of some who seem to think that three points against Chelsea is a given. I don’t happen to follow that train of thought and think some are vastly underrating Chelsea on the basis of, by their standards, a poor run of form.
I don’t expect a win, but I do think we are capable of pulling off a victory. However I’m also mindful that Chelsea have quality that can hurt us all over the pitch and that it’s only a matter of time before they click and get a result. We must guard against any complacency and ensure that it doesn’t happen against us today!
In terms of match previews, once again Shamrock has provided another excellent, detailed preview which you can read by clicking here and whilst your at it why not take a gander at Ben’s take on the match by clicking here.
With the match being on Sky there are sure to be plenty of internet streams although I always urge caution when predicting the availability of them, even when technically there should be plenty knocking about. Luckily I’m at the match today along with Marktoon and Jay Jay so I don’t need one, but the rest of you guys do so if anyone happens to stumble across a decent one then why not hoy a link to it in the ‘comments’ section below and share it with your fellow NUFC fans?
That just about sums this particular article up now and it’s over to you guys to get the banter flowing. Keep your eyes peeled for my match report which I’ll get on as soon as I get back as it’ll be written from being at the game first hand, again. Hopefully I can write about us getting three points in the bag, again.
Howay the lads!
Newcastle: Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini (c), Ryan Taylor; Gabriel Obertan, Yohan Cabaye, Danny Guthrie, Peter Lovenkrands; Hatem Ben Arfa; Demba Ba
Subs: Steve Harper, Davide Santon, James Perch, Dan Gosling, Sammy Ameobi, Leon Best, Shola Ameobi
Chelsea: Petr Cech; Branislav Ivanovic, David Luiz, John Terry (c), Ashley Cole; Ramires, Oriol Romeu, Frank Lampard; Daniel Sturridge, Didier Drogba, Juan Mata
Subs: Ross Turnbull, Jose Bosingwa, Ryan Bertrand, Raul Meireles, Florent Malouda, Salomon Kalou, Fernando Torres
collo and tals out. hope its not a long injury we got santon and hopefully call young tavernier back. willos not far away kadar could fill in.
john(Quote)
Disappointing result today, and 0-3 was a travesty. I’m a big fan of Pardew’s but for the life of me I couldn’t understand how Löven got a start ahead of Gosling.
It also looks as if we will be seeing Santon playing CB with Perch in the near future, cos there is no way that Pardew will drop Raylor imo.
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM @ 302 I used to think of things like that but I really can’t see why Pards would start Lovens if he hasn’t been as good in training all week as Gosling, its the same with Santon he is able to cover all along the back and is or was a future star but still Perch got picked instead 😕
I personally would have preferred Santon over Lovens but I can only think that Pards has a reason why 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
without doubt the scoreline flattered them
Big Dave(Quote)
Hi guys,
the main problems of Newcastle come from their leftback and rightback, really simpson and Rtaylor are very poor defensively and offensively to. I dont understand why Santon doesnt start? because it is the third game in the row that Rtaylor plays really bad. And Simpson all the time he try to help offensively he looses the ball.
And secondly Obertan was the guy who doesn’t know what to do with the ball. Today he touched 20 balls and he has only Ashley cole as opponent but wasn’t able to eliminate and center but it wasn’t able to do it even one time. So this guy must be sent off at half time and putting Ben arfa as a right winger and bringin on Shola. Because Chelsea never attack in the the right so you don’t need to make defensive effort wich was perfect for Ben arfa.
And third, i think it was a big mistake to send off ben arfa in at half time because the second half was better for him when Newcastle can keep a little more the ball. Because the first half was really strange with the Lovenkrands and rtaylor doing his anything and tactically being zero with huge space for Sturridge. I cant understand that Pardew doesnt correct that.
HBA39(Quote)
what are u on about people? I agree that it seemed like a questionable choice….. but Pardew was proven correct – Lovenkrands played well today (before tiring in the 2nd half)
M(Quote)
I thought Loverman was good in the attack but he did leave Raylor more exposed than Jonas.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Arsenal have knocked us out of the top 5 now. No surprises really.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Apparently Taylors ruptured his Achilles & is out for the season…unconfirmed
witters(Quote)
FootballRamble The Football Ramble
Apparently Steven Taylor has ruptures his achilles and is out for the season. Awful for him, if true.
21 minutes ago
3hourswasted(Quote)
Chronicle saying he has ruptured his achilles as well http://tinyurl.com/bs5kahl
3hourswasted(Quote)
Taylor out for a long time is an absolutely monumental blow
Moreno(Quote)
Very difficult game. Not so much worried about the loss but the injuries are devastating. The loss of both centre backs is a huge setback obviously. As several of us have been saying on here over and over again going into a season with so little defensive depth was a huge mistake. I can only lay the blame on Llambias and the owner trying to play it cheap. We are horribly exposed now. Raylor was terrible again defensively especially in the first half when Sturridge could have had a hat trick on his chances. Krul was left completely exposed on the left side over and over again. Santon has had no playing time whatsoever to bed him in and now we will pay for it. Ben Arfa had little or no impact unfortunately. Pardew will be pulling his hair out that we didn’t bring in a centre back in the summer.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
just got back from the match !! obertan you abosolute waste of space!! he had no heart in the game today and never tried!! we desp need a defender in january now!! lovenkrands did not once help raylor out and thought he was playing upfront!! he was terrible!! time for santon to play next game like!!
Army69(Quote)
Got to agree with those saying it was a huge mistake and costly gamble not to get cover in this summer in the centre half department…
Shamrock(Quote)
team v norwich
krul
simpson collo perch santon
obertan tiote cabaye gutierez
shola ba
thats if collos injury isnt too bad and tiotes back
Army69(Quote)
ben arfa today didnt do enough in 2nd half , he just jogged around and never seemed to get in the game!! shola was defo an improvement!!!
Army69(Quote)
in 1st half sorry!!
Army69(Quote)
man of the match again for us was taylor and krul
Army69(Quote)
desperatly need a center half and striker in jan!!!!
Army69(Quote)
It’s already been reported that Tiote is only 50/50 to play against Norwich and to me Colo looked like he was really struggling before he went off. So now we are in real trouble for the next few games. Pardew has no faith in Kadar at all. So Perch and who else against Norwich at centre back? This is the result of incompetence in the summer by Llambias. A brilliant start to the season is now in danger of falling apart. Very frustrated at this point with the owner and his flunky.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
every1 is flapping over collo and taylor being out , our next four games are very winnable then a week later its january to buy and defender so lets hope we doooooo buy and buy good!!
Army69(Quote)
Crucial to get Tiote back now to cover whatever centre back pairing we can actually field. The next few games will be a struggle. Santon must surely get some playing time now whether he is completely ready or not. Krul is world class but it was a shooting gallery today. Raylor has to come out if we are to stiffen up the defense and help out the centre backs whoever they will be. I would bring in Santon right away.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I’d like to see Pieters and a central defender bought in January. Pieters can play centre back as well as left back. If Taylor is out for months then I’m sure we will get some in.
Hopefully Colo will not be out too long and Williamson is only a couple of weeks from returning. Colo and Wilko did OK for us for a lot of last season so all is not lost
3hourswasted(Quote)
The pattern with Obertan is certainly disturbing. He can easily beat most left backs but then his crosses are usually very poor and he rarely gets a shot on net. Have to agree with others that Ben Arfa was very ineffective. He was trapped and surrounded every time he got the ball. He very rarely received it while running. He counted on his dribbling skills too much. Pardew needs to continue to work on tactics to employ Hatem’s skills better. Chelsea continue to look shaky on defense but we couldn’t penetrate with our attacks.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Army @ 322 all games are winnable but there is no guarantee’s. I think Colo and Taylor will be a massive loss to the team.
And I wouldn’t rely on Jabba spending proper money on replacement’s
Big Dave(Quote)
we may see this defence in jan
simpson collo pieters santon
Army69(Quote)
Army the problem I see is what do we do untill then ? and where will we be by then ? what makes you think Santon will be there in Jan if he can’t get in the team now ❓ and why do you have Simpson on the left 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
A real shame for Saylor and the team if he’s out for the season. He’s the heartbeat of our team with Colo but don’t forget the job Wilko did for us.
In a way it might show Ashley that numbers are not enough, its quality in numbers that matter, hopefully now we’ll buy decent back-up players in defence as the likes of Perch simply arent good enough at this level.
We’ve been saying for a while if we lost either Colo or Saylor we’d be fu88ed, now we’ve lost them both 😯
hopefully Obertan just had an off day but he really needs to shape up!!
mark(Quote)
dave simpson is on the right son 😉 and i doubt santon will leave in jan hes sure to get a game sooner or later now
Army69(Quote)
why would Santon leave in Jan?? he’s just signed. more likely Colo will leave in Jan
mark(Quote)
Sources close to Taylor are suggesting the player will be out for at least six weeks, but the injury was being assessed and could be an even longer period on the sidelines
from the Chron.. hopefully 6 weeks 🙁
mark(Quote)
Anybody advocating that wiliiamson plays next week or any week for that matter switch off your laptop make a cup of coffee and calm down.
Better options are Kadar and either or both Santon and Tavernier at full back with Simpson playing in the middle. AP has said take it as given Perch will be one of the centre backs. Is it too early for one of the kids like Henderson?
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Well what we all feared has happened , both our CB’S out injured . Perch to be honest has not looked too bad when he has come on and we do have a run of games against teams below us . Somehow we are going to have to cope until January . How bad is Colo’s injury any news on that one ?
Axel(Quote)
TLR
Simpson playing in the middle?? was your coffee nice 😉
mark(Quote)
@AXEL
Fabricio Coloccini has a thigh injury, doubt it for next week. probs likely for Swansea.
mark(Quote)
Luckily I’m flying home for Xmas and as I finished my playing days at CB I’ll be able to fill in for a couple of weeks…..are 2 footed chest height tackles from behind still allowed? 😛
richietoon(Quote)
Mark
Only one bite. Disappointed.
Seriously a hundered people have probably said it but it is the one area of the field we couldn’t afford one injury and we have suffered two. Let’s hope the medical team can do miracles
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
today reminded me how important Jonas is the the team.. especially helping out in defence on the wing…
lee(Quote)
Our twelfth man was missing today. The K.O. was too early. It certainly caught me out. Got to the toon for 12.30 and strolled around with the bairn thinking I had two and a half hours to spare. Even when I heard roars from SJP (SDA), the penny didn’t drop straightaway! Got there ten minutes late. It felt as if everyone in the Milburn stand knew and was pointing at the d***heed.
Luck was all out today. If we had got a draw, Chelsea couldn’t complain.
I read something pejorative about their supporters from an earlier post. I have to say I find Londoners to be the salt of the earth. I wish them all the best against the north west.
I thought Perch did very well. Krul was absolutely outstanding. Shola made such a difference. Benny has a puzzle to fathom. Ba was so unlucky. The shape of the team was all wrong with Loverboy in. Raylor began to scare me again, expecially in the first 30.
I was so annoyed that Pards didn’t replace Saylor as soon as he got injured because he had plenty of time and it cost us two goals. I am so pleased I didn’t get out of my seat to shout at Pards, having forgotten that he had used all three subs! Doh! For the second time! I think I must be coming down with something.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
B&B……Did you remember to take the bairn with you or is he wandering around the Toon aimlessly? 😯
richietoon(Quote)
Richie. Good point. I’ll just go and check.
You ever done that though? I’ve come so close a couple of times. Learnt my lesson now – like Shay Given putting the ball down and checking over his shoulder. Not going to let that happen again.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
B&B…..not for a game I was going to live…..not yet anyway 😕
richietoon(Quote)
Richie. Only you and me here now by the looks of it, and i’m off to watch XFactor. Don’t want to miss the start. DOH!
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Just got back. Fuming with Obertan. Useless today 👿
I have no concerns about playing Perch next week. he was excellent today, not for the first time, but it won’t matter as he has the fans on his back now and that’ll never change.
Nice to see Lovenkrands get a pretty vocal boo off his own fans when his name was read out before the match. Best fans in the land 🙄
Thought Cabaye and Guthrie did well today. Those boys don’t stop. I don’t think Cabaye lost a tackle all game again.
Didn’t deserve 3-0, probably deserved a draw, but then Chelsea always looked dangerous and likely to score. Luck wasn’t with us today. Couple of inches the other way and we’ve scored 3 goals. Even Sammy’s of the line bounced against one of their own players and straight back to Cech 😐
It happens. Still for the life of me don’t understand why Luiz wasn’t sent off.
toonsy(Quote)
Booing Lovenkrands 😯
The shame…
Moreno(Quote)
Toonsy: there is a match report for you in drafts 😀
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
Toonsy
Its gonna sound like same old geordies to those who see the result and wasn’t at the game today. But the biggest factor missing from our game today was luck.Without the stonewall red card the ball just didn’t bounce for us today. We need luck we are not brilliant yet
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
TlR – Exactly. I’m certainly pressing no panic buttons after that. Like I said, centimetres another way each time and we’ve scored three goals. Plus Cech saved that attempt from Ba and obviously Sammy off the line.
toonsy(Quote)
Moreno
December 3, 2011 at 20:12
Booing Lovenkrands 😯
The shame…
_____________________________________
Yep. Stems from the pre-conceived ideas people have that they just can’t let go. The sigh when Perch came on was deafening because of that game last season against Stoke, regardless of the fact that he’s actually not out a foot wrong for some time now.
I see Cabaye is getting a bit of stick for giving away the penalty, yet Raylor is getting away scot free. Did the TV not pick up Raylor just loafing about up the pitch whilst Cabaye pegged back 50 yards to at least try a tackle, Michael12?
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy. Fair summing up, although I was too late in to see the Luiz incident and I thought Obertan wasn’t bad. He put in a shift, which is more than can be said for Benny. Since coming back, Guthrie is as good as, if not better than, he has ever been. Was it their throw for their first?
Re-inforcements needed, Mike.
As for them, Sturridge was their best player. Torres has lost it. I’ve seen it before when players start to snort the white stuff. For legal reasons – Not that I’m saying he’s doing that, just that he’s playing like that.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
We will play worse and take three points. Hey we are sixth in the best league in the world when experts were predicting we would be sixteenth
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Unfortunately, Raylor has been **** for three games now and is getting ripped all ways from Sunday. I would say drop him but I don’t think we can now with our injuries. Santon in the middle anyone? He’s done it before…
Either way, Pardew has his work cut out with the defensive coaching this week.
toonsy(Quote)
B&B – I’ve not seen it on TV, but Raylor has admitted that the ball came off his head so in the end it was a good call by the ref.
Ba is a fecking beast
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy….that was my call too, Santon alongside Perch in central defence…
There is no way Pardew will drop Raylor.
It’s also a real pity to see that young Fergie is getting nowhere near the team these days. Had pretty high hopes for the lad, but obviously he’s not good enough to force Raylor out of the LB spot, even though he’s a natural left footer.. 🙄
Munich Mag(Quote)
Toonsy @ 350. Inexcusable that Taylor was AWOL, when Sturridge is such a threat. Pards has done brilliantly, but he should have sorted that out immediately.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
I thought Perch did canny, Guthrie was our best outfield player for me today. Obertan had a bit of a stinker but it happens, his final ball was like B&B’s timekeeping…..well off 😉
richietoon(Quote)
Toonsy: do you know when Santon played in the middle? I’m working on an article on defensive options and wondered if anyone knew
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
Zoe – Pass. I read somewhere that he’d filled in there for Inter but I couldn;t say for definite.
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy: No worries! I’ll see if I can find it out. There is a match report in drafts for you too
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
B&B @ 356 – Exactly. Yet Cabaye is getting grief for busting a gut to cover.
Raylor will need new pants after today. he’ll be bleeding heavily after the intensive 90 minute raping he got. How anyone can even say he was decent is beyond me. I counted ONE successful tackle…..
toonsy(Quote)
Just seen Sammi’s chance on tele. Terry was in the right place but how unlucky
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Aye Richie. Definitely logging off now to watch X FACTOR. Anyway, wor lass is shouting that Little Mix has forgotten the words. That makes me feel a bit better. There’s millions watching them, there was only half the Milburn stand watching me arguing with some geyser who I thought was sitting in the bairn’s new seat. (Right position, just four rows back. Not how I remembered it!”)
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Toonsy its not the 1st time Raylor has been ‘raped’ but I just find it strange that Santon hasn’t got a look in.
Zoe I think it was a couple of yrs ago and I think it was only for a couple of games
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave – I think Raylor has been getting the benefit of the doubt to be honest. I’m sure of there was something wrong we’d have heard by now as Pardew tends to voice poor performance issues in public or at least drop hints.
toonsy(Quote)
B&B… 😆 enjoy
richietoon(Quote)
Cheers Dave. I think now Santon needs to be brought into the side, Raylor has been makeshift at best but the last couple of games he hasn’t performed and Pardew needs to address that
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
Pardew will leave Raylor in the team, cos he will have Jonas back soon to cover for him, so everything will be ok. The tough games are out of the way, so Raylor should be back on his game again.
Still doesn’t detract from the fact that we need a left sided left back 1 – because we do, and 2 – so that Jonas can get on with his own game instead of putting in a double shift to cover for Raylor all the time..
Munich Mag(Quote)
I thought Obertan was poor today and Raylor has proven today he just cant hack it against a pacey opponent .He was chasing shadows every time Sturridge got the ball . All in All though the score line flattered Chelsea and the club should complain about the ref , how on earth he failed to pull out the red card is beyond belief . Still there was a few positives to take out of this game and imo we gave them a good game .
Axel(Quote)
**** me Shola’s twenty yarder looked nailed on for the top corner.
We deserved more
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
MM that is one of the things that really gets me, I am thankfull for Raylor filling in at LB even though its not his position, and with Jonas helping him he does OK but we lose the attacking threat from jonas.
So we are losing both ways with him in the team, I just cant work it out 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
I recorded this game to watch when I got home and fucking Alan Smith has annoyed me the whole 88 minutes up to now
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Match report is now live thanks to Zoe 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Big D….when the euphoria of our great start to the season begins to wane, then the fans will get on Raylor’s back. The sad thing is that until young Fergie steps up then he is unfortunately our best choice of LB at the moment.
The situation with Santone is really quite bizarre. Perhaps he is on a pay as you play deal ?
Munich Mag(Quote)
I think Raylor will play considering our 2 centerhalves are injured. Santon in the middle probably. When’s Williamson back|?as for Fergie?? whats happened there..
Why was Loven booed? I thought he looked lively without actually causing much harm.
I’d defo start with Gosling instead of Obertan v norwich, we need grafters now to protect our fragile defence. Or if Tiote’s back, stick Guthrie on the wing.
mark(Quote)