Could Colo be fit for Carrow Road?

Colo, what's this I keep hearing about wives?
The mood amongst NUFC fans has been largely downbeat this week as we ponder just how we are possibly going to get through one hell of a defensive injury crisis.

With Steven Taylor looking like he may be out for the season, Mike Williamson yet to be anywhere near match fitness after being out since August and Fabricio Coloccini looking set to miss up to a month with a thigh strain it’s fair to say that we’re scraping the bottle of the defensive barrel.

However, whilst the trip to Norwich on Saturday will come too soon for Mike Williamson, one player who hasn’t given up hope of making the team is our curly haired Captian, Coloccini who, when speaking at an awards ceremony in Gateshead last night said: “It is tight but I am hoping to play in the next game.”

If Coloccini is fit for the trip to the land of tractors, carrots, Lotus cars and incest then it will be a massive boost. Having one senior centre-back, arguably our most important centre-back, fit would put us in a much better position to take something from Carrow Road.

However now we face a dilemma. If Colo is deemed fit enough by our medical staff and feels good enough to play then happy days. However if there is any shred of doubt do we risk him? Do we potentially play him in the short term only to sacrifice him in the long term if he isn’t quite 100% fit? Is it worth rushing him back for this game, when perhaps he isn’t quite right, only to risk his injury flaring up and losing him for a greater period of time?

Overall I’ve been impressed with the way Alan Pardew and Newcastle have been handling injuries thus far. If a player need an operation he tends to go for the ‘premium’ option, like Sylvain Marveaux for example. My, admittedly limited, understanding with Marveaux is that they’ve sent him away to try and rectify what is causing him his groin bother in the first place rather than just patching up this latest injury.

It will make Alan Pardew’s pre-match press call interesting. It will be interesting to see just what is said about Colo and indeed another injury absentee from recent weeks, Cheik Tiote. In an ideal world they will both be passed fit, but this isn’t an ideal world unfortunately.

Keep your fingers crossed!

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

32 thoughts on “Could Colo be fit for Carrow Road?

  1. Just read the title – I’d say – I have no idea!!! Sadly i’m not part of NUFC’s physio staff 😆

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  2. Now that i’ve read the article I’ll have to agree with ROSHAN. I just hope he’s fit, also Tiote. As a football supporter it’s not just wanting the team to do well there is also an entertainment factor. These 2 players entertain with brilliant challenges. (most of the time 😉 )

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  3. Really can’t see him being risked against Norwich.

    Even a mild thigh strain needs 2-3 weeks recovery. Aggravating the strain could potentially sideline Colo for 3 months!

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  4. Wouldn’t want him risked if he’s hurting. I guess it wouldn’t be bad to have him ready on the bench.

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  5. This may seem to be a rather odd solution, but what about letting Cabaye drop down to CB? I know this isn’t ideal, but any other scenario wouldn’t be either ..

    He has the capability of playing as a holding midfielder, and though not being too good in the air due to his lack of height, his reading of the game and his obvious footballing qualities, could supplement James Perch quite well. Perch of course would have to be at his best to deal with any arial threats coming from crosses ..

    Tamas Kadar is the obious choice, but maybe “stand-in captain” Cabaye would be a better alternative ..

    Thoughts?

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  6. Nah Funkness – I want to have as little disruption as possible. We have Kadar in the ressies so use him, or I would rather stick Santoon in CB. Not ideal to have Perch and him together but it’s sink or swim anyway, and it is Norwich so we need a bit of power, height and strength to deal with Holt.

    Toonsy – Cheers Ill check now 😉

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  7. You’re probably right, Raffo .. I am just so frustrated about our current injury situation, just as the rest of you. I can’t get my mind around how we best line up. Terrible situation having to worry about a player like Grant Holt ..
    Cheers

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  8. a battler he may be, but Cabaye is too slight to play CB in the Prem. Also, he tackles a bit like Scholes!
    It’s probably gonna be Simpson and Perch at CB, with Santon coming in at RB and Raylor surviving (for now) at LB.

    U may recall that, in a similar defensive crisis, Simpson started at CB ahead of Kadar under Hughton during our season in the Championship – I’m guessing Pardew will follow suit

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  9. Cabaye seems to be too short for a CB. I was thinking about putting Shola as CB. 😆 😆

    Anyone agrees? Shola has the strength to be a decent CB. He can be a “sweeper”.

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  10. I’ve seen a few mention Holt as the one to worry about, but shouldn’t we worry about their starting 11 first?….he’s usually a sub these days…..watch him start now 😕 😆

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  11. I think simmo—-perch—-kadar——raylor would be our best option. as Raffo said, as little disruption to the team as possible so our full backs should stay the same. If we get a bit of luck and tiote can play then hopefully our defense won’t have to do much anyway 😉

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  12. Richie – not worried about him specifically, just his type of player, and I think he may well start if Lambert is wiley and thinks we will have two weaker CB’s.

    If Collo cant play then I want to see Perch and Santoon. If Collo does play then I want to see Santoon at LB and maybe shift Raylor to RW in place of Obertoon. Jonas has to come back in. I would love to have Kadar back in the mix but think its too risky making toooo many changes

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  13. Right, be warned that there will be a load of articles popping up with match stats from previous games on them. Basically we’re updating the site with match stats from previous matches etc etc

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  14. Ahh – I like that picture – it looks like Pards really loves his captain! 😀

    Not sure it’s reciprocated by the look on Colo’s face mind.

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  15. RAFFO

    I’d play Obertan. See how he fairs against the ‘lesser’ teams for a couple of games. If it goes tits up from now till christmas then he needs replacing on the right.

    Maybe we can get Barnetta in to do a better job? I think he’d fit quite well into the squad.

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  16. Raffo…wasn’t aimed at you really, just seen a few mention him over the last few days, agree though that Lambert may start him with our CB problems.
    This would have been a tough game even with Colo and Saylor and I would have been more than happy with a draw if both had been playing.

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  17. Richie – dont worry fella. I think Holt is the type of player to really test Perch and Santoon/Simmo.

    Nobby, was more thinking that Obertoon hasnt really done it last few games and he could do with coming on as an impact sub. I guess alot also depends on whether Tiote is fit or not as to what formation to go with. I may be tempted to try the 4-2-3-1 again.

    ——————-Krul

    Simmo–Perch–Collo/Santoon–Raylor/Santoon

    ————Tiote—–Guthrie

    HBA——Cabaye——Jonas

    —————-Ba

    I think we need to show more attacking flair to get the best out of HBA but also Cabaye. Jonas has the legs and wouldnt need to cover Santoon as much as Raylor, but also Guthrie/Tiote shojuld be covering the LB slot more anyway

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  18. Guthrie out as well? 👿 ❓
    milesstarforth Miles Starforth
    Guthrie & Tiote out of Norwich City game, while Coloccini has an ‘outside chance’ of playing, according to Pardew this morning. #nufc
    17 minutes ago

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  19. LukeEdwardsTele Luke Edwards
    #nufc injury probs getting out of hand. Danny Guthrie out for 4-6 weeks according to @milesstarforth. Worst possible time with xmas fixtures
    35 seconds ago

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  20. lee_ryder Lee Ryder
    #nufc AP on contracts: “Talks have progressed with Colo and Danny Simpson”
    19 minutes ago

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  21. Jesus. Well in that case Gosling comes into the CM role with Cabaye, Obertoon and Jonas the wingers with Ba and HBA up top.

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  22. I just hope that all the good work done at the start of the season is not lost now with the loss of Colo and Saylor. Because lets face it, it has been our defence that has been winning us matches. We have not exactly been scoring for fun, even though we do tend to score in most matches, but it’s normally 1 or 2 goals.

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  23. Apparently Guthire is also out for 4-6 weeks. Had a groin op after the Chelsea match. So no Guthrie or Tiote either for the match v Norwich. Not looking forward to this one!

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