It’s set up to be quite an intriguing game in truth. Newcastle have the ultimate motivation of knowing that a win could see us jump as high as fifth in the table should other results go our way.
For that to happen we’ll need Arsenal to lose at Swansea and for us to beat QPR (obviously) along with a four goal swing in our favour, so if Arsenal lose by two goals we need to win by two clear goals. Easy. More realistic though is the opportunity to jump into sixth place in the table ahead, of the ultra ambitious Liverpool and their expensively assembled squad.
However QPR aren’t the prospect they were just a week ago. They are still without a lot of first team players, but they do have a new manager in the shape of Mark Hughes who will want to avoid defeat in his first game in charge. Add to that a group of players who are all pretty much trying to justify their future at Loftus Road and you can see why they too have motivation for the game today – and that is not even considering the fact that they slipped into the bottom three yesterday!
I honestly hate these type of games. You would have to think we are favourites for the match. Home advantage and finding some form once more, fresh from a last minute win against Blackburn in the FA Cup last weekend and resounding 3-0 victory against Manchester United prior to that it would suggest that we are the favourites. It’s a dangerous place to be and some fans will be expecting a relatively easy game. I personally don’t think it will be as straight forward that but we’ll see…
For more background on the match, some tactical thoughts, analysis and stats why not check out Shamrock’s most excellent match preview article by clicking here, or if you want to crunch some numbers and look at a boatload of stats why not take a peek at NUFC_Stats’ preview by clicking here.
The match is on Sky this afternoon so those who can’t get to the game can be fairly safe in the knowledge that there is a fairly good possibility of picking up an internet stream. Once again, if you come across one on your travels please feel free to leave a link to it in the comments section below.
Right now though it’s time for the lads in black and white to do the talking and try and claim that sixth place in the table. Surely not? Sixth in the table with 21 games gone? We’ll find out later on this afternoon!
Howay the lads!
Newcastle: Tim Krul, Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Davide Santon, Ryan Taylor, Danny Guthrie, Yohan Cabaye, Jonas Gutierrez, Leon Best, Shola Ameobi
Subs: Rob Elliot, Shane Ferguson, James Perch, Dan Gosling, Mehdi Abeid, Gabriel Obertan, Hatem Ben Arfa
QPR: Paddy Kenny; Luke Young, Danny Gabbidon, Anton Ferdinand, Clint Hill; Shaun Wright-Phillips, Shaun Derry, Akos Buzsaky, Jamie Mackie; Heidar Helguson, Jay Bothroyd
Subs: Radek Cerny, Bradley Orr, Fitz Hall, Hogan Ephraim, Tommy Smith, DJ Campbell, Federico Macheda
Get the cheque book oot ashley , lets hav erding in for fulham away
Army69(Quote)
@JackWilshere Jack Wilshere
What is Ray Wilkins talking about!? If he is hurt he is hurt! How can he get up and carry on with the game? He is clearly not able too!
ron(Quote)
Ugly win, we are getting into the bad habit of giving the ball away cheaply, Jonas and Ameobi the main culprits but a win is a win and it was poetic justice watching Hughes whinging on about time wasting after the Blackburn sides he has brought here.
Robert(Quote)
Howay bambi wasn;t that bad, played with his back to goal and distributed well enough. So maybe he didn’t get the screamer I said he would 😀 ….still got the three points, and Bestie again proved many of his doubters wrong.
Not a vintage display but not all bad for what is a very different side from what we started the season with.
Newkie(Quote)
mam of the match for me colo or santon
ice pup(Quote)
**** i mean man
ice pup(Quote)
@Army69
lol just said the same thing regarding Wilkins, he’s useless. & he still rates SRPhillips highly, & he still rates SRPhillips highly, & he still rates SRPhillips highly 😆
not the best game but 1-0 is a great result
mark(Quote)
wheres michael12 with his pearls of wisdom.
😆 😆
hitman(Quote)
shola has the movement of a paraplegic in a strait jacket 😆
we missed Cabaye when he went off.
mark(Quote)
Newkie- I agree on Shola. I thought he held the ball up and distributed well. It’s just that he and Best don’t seem to compliment each other well
MDS(Quote)
Benny looks lively but its either lack of options or he’s just a greedy f**k. needs to release the ball a lot quicker. nice feet tho
mark(Quote)
wey ayeeeee 3 points – on our way to hit 50 pts this season!! when was the last time we went over 50 pts??
Army69(Quote)
imo next 2 games are very hard – fulham is always a hard game away and blackburn are fighting for there lifes and have defo improoved lately!!
will be very happy if we have 40pts and a new striker by the next time we play at home 😀 😀 😀
Army69(Quote)
would love to see this next game
…………….krul………………
simpson colo wilo santon
benny cabaye guth gutierez
…….best ….. new striker……..
Army69(Quote)
The game definitely changed when Benny came on. Pardew tactics were spot on ever since. Credits to Pardew but I’m still fuming how Benny did not warrant a start in the first place. 👿
Toon@Jer(Quote)
Shola was mint man.
Held the ball up, comfortable in possession knocking it into space and giving himself time. Created the goal with his strength and awareness. Another top performance from the King
Moreno(Quote)
I think we will do Fulham over. They are on the slide. Blackburn will be tough, although they will be without Yakubu. Villa always have potential to upset us.
Anyhow, have you seen Arsenal’s injury/unavailable list? 13 players missing for today! Shame Van the Man is not one of them…
Shamrock(Quote)
It was an ugly win ..BUT..the issue is, this Newcastle side has never really been able to play out an ugly win but Pardew seems to be able to get the players to mix and match for different games.
He knew Q.P.R were coming to spoil the party and give Hughes a first game smile so he basically shut up shop at home and we kept the ball well in our half, frustrating Q.P.R so they couldn’t mount a rescue charge.
Deffo an ugly win but I’ll take that all day lone when you consider that we lost 3 of our most influential players in Tiote/Ba and Cabaye going off.
I thought Guthrie done well today but my man of the match was Santon.
All in all it’s a massive 3 points and one less game towards Tiote and Ba’s return. 😀 HAPPY DAYS. 😀
wolfie(Quote)
Ashley seemed to be enjoying himself. nice to see.
I reckon in the next two weeks we’ll have the players to challenge Pool for 6th
mark(Quote)
was he at the game like.
the fat fk has been MIA for the past few..
hitman(Quote)
MDS-Exactly
Moreno-couldn’t have put it better meself 😎
Newkie(Quote)
see we didnt have one player booked to qpr 4
knew this was going to be a hard one,how that bloody shola gets a game defeats me,hes played 250 games and scored 50 wtf 🙁
icedog(Quote)
The switch to 4-3-3 actually worked quite well today, and is probably the best formation to accomodate BenArfa (with him playing as a wide forward). Cant see him starting next week tho, he’s still too much of a liability in his decision making
M(Quote)
Just got home lads any news on Cabaye’s knock ❓
ArchieMag(Quote)
Archie…..Aye, ray Wilkin’s says he should get up and get on with it 👿 …minor ligament damage apparently 🙁
richietoon(Quote)
Any titbits on the transfer front anyone?
kimtoon(Quote)
Cabayes nock is his ankle, not too serious but needs scans
mark(Quote)
shola was sucking air with 15 to go,waste of space imo 👿
icedog(Quote)
Ray Wilkins is pony, totally talks out of his hoop, constantly repeating the same lines.
These new boring commentators like Lee Dixon, Wilkins need replacing..
Wheres big Ron when u need him 🙄
mark(Quote)
Shola does hold the ball…normally. he did it 3 times this game but as a paid footballer he should be able to hold the ball. The rest of his play, vision, movement, anticipation etc is that of an old man
mark(Quote)
Big Ron is burning an effigy in Bradford as we speak
Moreno(Quote)
@Moreno
lol it would take some burning that big napper and his gold chains 😀
mark(Quote)
Thought Shola did well with his back to goal and controlled the ball well, nice hold up play – trouble is that facing the goal he was ***** today so 50/50 performance for me
HBA gave the ball away to often for me
stevep(Quote)
pardew admits it was a poor game but benny made a diffrence and could now be in the team more,and cabye should be ok 🙄
icedog(Quote)
its time to give pardew the elbow
hitman(Quote)
Shola does well consider the defence just tend to punt balls in his general direction. It’s surprising how many of these inaccurate punts he actually wins.
Moreno(Quote)
@Moreno I assume your looking for a bite!!!
Good ugly win today, Best worked his socks off and can actually play decent footie…took players on and has great footwork! Jonas worked his socks off as usual…and I thought santon looked class! Ameobi on the other hand is a plodding donkey who cannot pass and his anticipation is woeful! Pointless havin him up front with creative players looking for breakthrough passes like cabaye, colo,santon and benny etc
buddy(Quote)
stevep if you look good to the number of pall touch and nice ball he gives, Benny really was one the best player on the pitch. But Now too many guys focus on some balls he lost because of his reputations, Pardew remarks and shitty commentators. Sometimes he eliminates one or 2 opponents but when he wanna give the ball it was only shola ahead of him which was like a post, a mannequin not moving not asking for the ball so he can pass to no one expect giving the ball back but that is not he doesnt like to give the ball back. Just focus in a game, in his close control, ball protection and his deviation with both right or left feet and compare it with other players you will see this guy is 3 or 4 class ahead of others. And furthermore when he receives the ball even when he is under pressure he never threws the ball so try always to use the ball in a clever way and its for that that sometimes he looses the ball, that’s normal but when it concerns Benny some guys now thinks thats not normal, with his performance in the last 3 or 4 games he has played he must stay on the pitch with no discussion.
HBA39(Quote)
MORENO you been up to them fields back home picking them magic mushrooms mate 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
http://yfrog.com/kldfymqj
ba with his bottle of syrup again. 😆 😆
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
Buddy,
On the contrary. I think Shola has been an outstanding employee for the past 16 years. He is always there when you need him and he contributes enough to help us win games.
No one seemed to be complaining when he won the long ball to set up Ba’s first goal against Man utd. Oh wait, yeah they still were….
Moreno(Quote)
First half I thought Shola played well but he’s not a 90 minute player and his best impact is simply a maximum of half a game.
For me, he’s deffo an impact sub and no more than that unless he’s played against the mackems lol
Santon is a class act and better than Enrique in my opinion.
We won the game today because even though it was ugly, we did the bread and butter stuff right.
wolfie(Quote)
MORENO, Shola does contribute and has served us well but the simple fact is, he is not a 90 minute player.
wolfie(Quote)
WOLFIE
January 15, 2012 at 16:55
MORENO, Shola does contribute and has served us well
are you on a **** take lad…
hitman(Quote)
Wolfie,
No argument on that. Seem to remember him grabbing the goal against Spurs from the bench. A bit of magic.
He doesn’t deserve the abuse he gets, he’s the sort who could score a hat-trick against Barca and he’d be classed as lucky because he’s *****
Moreno(Quote)
Okay well of course Shola has been a servant for the best part of 16 years! He is being paid rather handsomely, and is probably a multi-millionaire for scoring under 50 league goals over 16 years. Yes he has his moments of magic, but they are far and few between.
He is incredibly lazy, and always has been! He should take a look at Bests contribution today even though Best often gets that label…he was everywhere! Ameobi stands there like a donkey time and time again when a ball is passed to him. He has some good touches but loses the ball so often and offers very little in general play. Hes a big strong lad with the ability to be a quality player. But he lets himself down time and time again in my opinion
buddy(Quote)
Local player, 16 years at the club and recieves torrents of abuse from his own fans. Bleeds for the club, handles himself in exactly the right way off the field and all he gets is slagged off whilst a player like Barton was idolised having spent time in jail, injured, suspended etc etc etc.
Don’t get it.
Moreno(Quote)
Concerning Shola i think no player is lazy but it seems lazy because he is too massive and for him a run is like 10 run of gutierrez, so he is really too slow and limited in a physical abilities but he is not lazy. But very difficulted for other players to make a combination with him because for him it takes 20 seconds to stop a ball protect him and after make a pass. But he worked good today back to the goal but i think it’s not enough for him to start. But with the post match interview of Pardew i think now Hatem will maybe start next game.
HBA39(Quote)
Not pretty on the eye but three points are what matters.
Thought Pardew got his selection wrong today to be honest. Not sure you can play that midfield with two such static strikers. Different team when HBA came on as he gave their defence torrid time.
A couple of new faces will freshen it up and give everyone at the club a lift.
Stuart79(Quote)
If you are unhappy with Shola’s ability and quality, slag the board off for not having a better striker brought in. Don’t slag him off for always sitting in the shadows and waiting without a moan then contributing as best he can when he is on
Moreno(Quote)
Agreed Moreno
NUFCgt(Quote)
It’s obvious that our best tactic is to have two big guys up front, Ba + 1, be it Best or Shola. Jonas playing inside also gave us all something to think about, with HBA / Obertan nashing up the right wing, that could give us a canny formation tbh….
Munich Mag(Quote)
Ta mate, hope its not too serious, last thing we need with Tiote away is Cabaye on the treatment table. That said I thought Guthrie had a good game today, though it did take him a while to get into it and his touches weren’t always spot on, but give him another run of games and he’ll be fine. What ever happened to his new contract by the way?
Agree with wolfie re Santon – class act and has the potential to be better than Enrique. He’s certainly adapted to the English game faster than Jose did, and once he really builds up his strength and begins to properly understand his team mates, he’ll be one of our best players me thinks.
ArchieMag(Quote)
Thats my problem, I dont agree that he always gives his all. Hence the lazy tag
buddy(Quote)
At least we got the win and the 3 points, but I can toatlly understand why HBA isnt a starter. Yes he did well when he came on and has loads of skill, but he spends too much time on the ball and more often than not gives it away. He should use his skills but also look for the quick simple ball and then get into a better postion. But at the end of the day, we got another 3 points so got to be happy
Simon(Quote)
We’ll still cope without Cabaye. Jonas alongside Guthrie in the middle, with HBA and Obertan outside. Easy innit….
Who said anything about lack of strength in depth ? Thank flock it’s only our midfielders who are getting injured… 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
at the end of the day …staff dont listen to fans on blog sites…….hehe……good blogging all blah blah…..
john(Quote)
Pardew’s re-jigged formation today with Jonas in a midfield 3 is how I play with the Toon on Fifa, and it works a treat on there too 😀
ArchieMag(Quote)
John – True (although I remember Jose Enrique once taking a screenshot of a blog….) but it doesn’t stop people having an opinion on things.
I mean if that;s the case why talk about anything we have no affect on? No Mike Ashley talk. No tactic talk. No talk other than what people are having for dinner or what they’ve done at work today etc etc
toonsy(Quote)
Moreno,
Are you Shola’s agent 😆
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
Havnt watched the game yet. so.cant criticize Shola like I.normally do. But I’ll be sure to give my verdict… IMO, the shittest striker next to Paul Dalglish we’ve ever had… I just don’t know how he is still a premier league player.
JJ(Quote)
Swansea winning 2 – 1 😯
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
sack the fkin lot of them.
make benny the star man make him manager make him owner 😛 😆
hitman(Quote)
poor performance today but we got 3 points ben arfa played well i thought and will only get better, guthrie was wuite good as well always wanted the ball. my word ray wilkins is an utter bellend.
Hopefully we will have a couple of players in by the next game.
Alex(Quote)
TGS,
Nope, just a loyal fan to our local lads flying the flag in the Black n White
Moreno(Quote)
Commentator on the Swansea Arsenal game is hilarious…
“Mertesacker got his diving boots on” after he wrong footage himself and misses from one yard.
“Wenger must get a jacket that fits him”… 😆
JJ(Quote)
My word , the commentators annoy me , the channel i was watching David Pleat was commentating ,that bloke could bore the tits off a turkey . Seriously the bloke should never be allowed to get his hands on a microphone ever again . Still we won but it was a hard slog and i agree with the people on here that slag Ameobi , the lad is useless . for me the man of the match has to be Jonas
Axel(Quote)
After this weekends great results, it means if we got 14 points from our last 17 games we’d probably finish. At least ninth… 😯
So 20 points probably would garauntee top eight.
Means Stoke would need 26 points from there last 17 games.
JJ(Quote)
Ameobi is getting a hard time today. He played his part in a winning team. I agree he is not a 90 minute per game player, but neither is Ben Arfa.
It’ll be slag, slag, slag until he scored the next vital goal for us. Boring.
Shamrock(Quote)
Ppl are says passing their opinion on Shola
if this was Catchphase and Roy walker was commentating “Say what you see!”
we’d say Shola didnt have a good game, not many criticised his 16yrs as a servant or his knockdown for Ba, just his game 2day
mark(Quote)
ppl are just.. 😯 (just woke up) 🙄
mark(Quote)
HITMAN, no I wasn’t taking the **** mate, I stand by what I say.
Shola has and is still a good servant to this club and as loyal as they come.
As I said earlier though, I think he’s a better impact sub and no way does he have 90 minutes of effective football in him.
He played well in the first half today but faded fast after that and the last 10 minutes he faded that badly that he actually looked like he’d seized up.
The same Shola could easily bang in a hat trick in games to come but equally he could also look a total dummy.
The fact is, he’s a player that we don’t quite know what we will get from in certain games and it depends on the service afforded to him but naturally he’s no first choice 90 minute man.
A lot of what he does in some games gets over looked by some fans and they concentrate on his errors and stuff and tend to put on the back burner the rest of his contribution.
The same is always said about Best but he’s proved that he can play football and score goals.
The goal he scored today would be regarded as world class if Van Persie or Henry/Scholes/Rooney and whoever scored it.
It’s easy to be critical but if anyone is going to be critical, they should also give praise as well for the things done right.
Some people thought Ben Arfa played a blinder today and he did play decent enough if you look at his good points and forget about the bad.
See what I’m saying?
Think about it…whoever is pro Ben Arfa, will see only the skill but will fail to mention the fact that he doesn’t release the ball when there is a fantastic option available and also gets caught in possession many times through it but he’s a talent and a match winner but equally he could cost you the match as well.
Shola is that type of player but obviously in a different sense, where he can hold the ball up, get into great positions and also set up a player to score but equally he can look lost, lazy, clumsy and also short of pace and sharp mind to run onto a brilliant through ball.
We can criticize every player in certain games if you concentrate on the bad side but it’s always gonna be that way and if every player played top notch without fault, we would win the league, the cups, the champs league, the hairy knob in the undies challenge cup and not to forget the European slack hanging **** through the thong memorial trophy for the sir alf mcknobshot instamatic camera finals. 😀
wolfie(Quote)
@445 exactly m8, u seem to know your football 🙂
mark(Quote)
@wolfie u copying me again dude 😉
mark(Quote)
MARK, copying you? I’ve got 3 nude frigging posters of you in a revealing bikini, set on a sunny beach with Yachts behind it that I masturbate over ,every night.
I wouldn’t call it copying, I’d call it downright bloody idolising of a tight ample well racked bronzed body ….my **** dream…now what do you have to say to that sweet *******. 😆
wolfie(Quote)