Brugge will be the fifth Belgian opposition we’ve come up against in our history, having previously tussled with Anderlecht, Zulte Waregem, Royal Antwerp and Lokeren.
They aren’t doing too badly this season either. It’s early days on the Belgian league but given the fact that I spend so much time here in Belgium I nearly always end up watching their version of Match of the Day and have seen them a number of times this season. They have one of two players who have jumped out at me as being handy. One plays for Anderlecht and goes by the name of Dieumerci Mbokani. The other we should see tomorrow and goes by the name of Carlos Bacca.
Club Brugge currently occupy first place in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League but only on goals scored ahead of Anderlecht. Offensively they can cause problems but defensively they can be got at as their goals against tally, and a thumping from Bordeaux, will testify to.
Newcastle:
Newcastle have a clean bill of health aside from the longer term injuries to Haris Vuckic, Dan Gosling and Ryan Taylor. Fabricio Coloccini is alright after coming off against Sunderland on Sunday but he may be rested for the Premier League game against West Brom this weekend. The same could be said for a number of purple players.
However we could see Spanish flop Xisco come out from the cold for this one and the former Deportivo man may be rewarded for his three goals in the U21s in midweek with a spot on the bench. And why not? Isn’t that why players play in them, to be in with a shout of playing for the first team? Sylvain Marveaux also played well in that midweek game and could come back into the side for this one.
Previously…
Obviously as there has been no meetings between the two sides previously I can’t really cover any previous games between us, so instead what I’ll do is cover a few bits of European history for each respective side.
Although they’ve never won a European trophy, Club Brugge have come close twice. They were beaten by Liverpool over two legs in the 1976 UEFA Cup final, losing 4-3 on aggregate, before again falling at the hand of Liverpool in 1978, losing 1-0 in the final of what we all now know as the Champions League. They are the only Belgian club that has made the final of the old European Cup.
They’ve played in European competition in 39 years of the 45 since they made their debut in the Fairs Cup back in the 1967-1968 season racking up 231 games in all European competition. The UEFA Cup/Europa League is the competition where they have spent most of their time though having played 126 of their 231 continental ties in this competition.
For Newcastle, this will be our 125th European tie. We’ve won 71 games, drawn 24 and lost 29. Our last European defeat on home soil came back in 2005-2006 when Deportivo La Coruna came away from St James’ Park with a 2-1 victory ending our participation in the Intertoto Cup and ensuring we missed out on qualifying for the UEFA Cup proper that season.
Final thought…
Put simply, if we win our two remaining home games then we are likely to have done enough to progress to the knockout stages, however I think our away results will have a bearing over whether we go through as group winners or runners up. There fore it is important that we name a string side and see off the challenge the Belgians may present.
But once again we return to the balancing act between domestic and European commitments. We need to keep some players fresh for the weekend visit of West Brom so I expect to see a mixture of fringe players getting a chance along with some more established names making an appearance.
We do have enough to see off the Club Brugge. They are a decent side in the Belgian league, but it isn’t the best standard so it is a game we should be looking to win. Still, the job needs doing and regardless of how unfashionable the Belgian league is, we still have to make sure we turn up geared for a win.
Howay the lads!
Date: Thursday, 25th October, 2012
Time: 8:05pm
Venue: St James’ Park
Have posted a comment on the last article I would like to see us go with the following:
————— Elliott ————
Simmo – Saylor – Colo – Tav
– Oba — Bigi — Toite — Fergie
———- Shola — Cisse ——-
I think Saylor and Colo need game time after their injuries and Willo needs a rest. Tiote needs to redeem himself and Fergie on the left can feed the forwards.
I’d like to see Campbell or Xisco replace Shola when he tires, and it would be good if Abied featured at some stage as well.
I don’t know much about Brugge but I believe the LB is decent – Buysse I think he’s called. Also the lad up front – Tchite or something like that, and there’s the kid Everton tried to sign in the summer – but I would even attempt that one 😳
I agree with the article, and said after our draw in the first game. If we win our home games and pick up a win or couples of draws away, that should be enough to get through.
3-1 the toon I reckon – HWTL
Sharpy17(Quote)
Good read Toonsy, i’m really looking forward to this game, I just hope its a strong side with maybe a couple of the bench players get a go. I think Abeid might get a go as he played well in the younguns game, as did Xisco but im not sure if he’ll get a chance even if he deserves it.
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave – I read that Xiscos attitude this season has been excellent – whether that’s coz he knows the big bucks stop at the end of this season and actually, he may struggle to find a new club based off the last 4 yrs – it would probably be a valid argument.
That’s said, we are light up front and I’d sooner see Xisco given another chance over Ranger. If Xisco gets his head down, stays fit and works hard – why not?!
But if he is playing for a new contract, I’d expect it to be quarter of his current contract. Though I think he’d have to go on one hell of a run for that to be considered I’d have thought like.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Pards said Xisco wont be involved tomorrow , but said he was delighted about his hatrick and his showing signs of life according to Pardew. Maybe we will see him involved at some point this season!
Johno Toon(Quote)
Sharpy I feel for Xisco as i’ve said all along he never really got a chance and was made to feel that the whole KK fiasco was all down to him,
Big Dave(Quote)
Good preview toonsy. Let’s hope Tiote starts to get the message. He must develop composure or he’ll not be useful to us. Don’t think we’ll see Colo in this one. The West Brom game is too important. I don’t think we should start getting excited about Xisco after 1 decent game at a lower level. He’s had 4 years after all and never looked decent on loan either. This definitely smells of playing for a new contract to me. He just hasn’t earned anything so far, I would rather give playing time to Adam Campbell. Fergie on left wing as he has truly earned it. Great lad, always trying. Where is Sammy in his recovery I wonder? We will probably see Obertan so I hope he shows us something.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Johno I said lastnight that I couldn’t see Xisco getting a chance but maybe if he starts playing well he can get a club to take him of our hands early but I think he’ll be here till his contract ends
Big Dave(Quote)
GEORDIETWO I think Xisco is well aware that he isn’t wanted here mate
Big Dave(Quote)
I’d personally be delighted if Xisco started playing for a new contract! (probably not with us though unless it’s about 50 times lower)
Obviously it shouldn’t be like that, but it can only help our season if he finds any form.
Would like to see a strong team this game, another win and we’re in a very good position.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
GEORDIETWO Sammy must be playing tomorrow night
http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20121024/sammy-my-big-chance_2281670_2958740?
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave – do you reckon Xisco has any chance of salvaging a career at SJP or do you think that there’s nowt he can do to prove himself to us now and he’s simply playing to get another club to notice him now?
(when I say stay with us, I obviously don’t mean £60k a week)
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy I think he has no chance and has maybe been told he’ll need to start to play just to get a team to take him after he leaves 😉
Reet back to do a bit 👿
Big Dave(Quote)
I always thought the main thing with Xisco was that after playing a certain amount of games we’d have to pay more for him. If that’s the case, I don’t really expect to see him again, unless its after 50 games played or something like that, but the way in which he’s been used sparingly doesn’t suggest that. If we went over whatever that number was now, I’d be pretty appalled at the clubs general stance as there were plenty of other times when we were struggling where we may as well have played him.
I always thought he should have been given a chance, but seeing as now it will be the the benefit of other clubs rather than ourselves, I don’t really see the point in playing him… 😕
Newkie(Quote)
Dave/Newkie – I suppose I’m one who always tries to change a negative to a positive (not suggesting yous aren’t at all) but I think yous are probably right, his toon days are numbered.
I can’t say that he or Ranger would be a miss like, but having lost Lovern and Best last season, I think both will need replacing IMO.
What is slightly worrying is Bas future is still in doubt. That would leave both our defence and forwards needing strengthening desperately – and I don’t know if the board is going to invest that much, and the Wonga money will only go so far.
Sharpy17(Quote)
And for tomorrow I’d like to see
—————Elliot——
Simo-Staylor-Wilo-Jonas
Marv-Tiote-Bigi-Fergie
——Cisse-Shola/Sammeobi
Newkie(Quote)
Sharpy-You’ve even told me that my outlook is too positive to get your head around 😛
I don’t have a problem with Xisco and I thought he could have done a job for us, but its too late now 😕 Much prefer him to ranger though, and I think he’s good mates with Colo isn’t he? Think of him like Alan Smith, a 50k pw cheerleader 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Xisco is **** and injury prone, you may get the odd good game out of him but I don’t even think he’ll end up at a La Liga club when his contract runs out unless it’s one of the smaller yo-yo clubs, he just isn’t very good…..he may prove me wrong, but I doubt it 😉
richietoon(Quote)
Richie-Aye, I know you bang on about how poor he looks and to be fair you’ve probably seen him more than anyone else given you live in Spain. I don’t think he’d ever have played at his best whilst out on loan, given theres no real motivation to but yeah, he’s clearly not as good as all those youtube videos suggested 😆
Newkie(Quote)
RICHIE is never wrong well so his first wife said 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
Totally agree with Richie, that xisco is ****. Find it strange when people say he has never been given a chance. We have had quite afew managers, since hes been here. two of them Keegan and Shearer who no a thing or two about being a striker and not one manager has rated him. Pardew said he was pleased about his hattrick and that was the first sign of life he had seen in him. Also like Richie says his loan times in Spain have been pretty abysmal. With no team wanting him when the loan has run out. Would much rather see the likes of Ferguson and Cambell getting more playing time.
Paulmag(Quote)
Ice 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Ice…I think you’ll find that she said was never right 😉
Paul…aye and bare in mind the Spanish 2nd div is on the whole not great quality, I watched a few games last year and reckon its probably lower half teams of the championship type quality apart from the odd player.
richietoon(Quote)
Newkie…ref youtube, very true 😆 …… I’d love nowt more than him to prove me wrong like….but he’s nowhere near as good as Best or Loven in my humble opinion, and plenty fans wanted rid of them.
richietoon(Quote)
RICHIE well at least she wasnt all bad she had some good points 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
Feckin hell man, I’m in Spain and have to watch Dortmund v RM on a crappy stream….in German 👿
richietoon(Quote)
Ice….believe me she had nae good points 😕
richietoon(Quote)
1 nowt Borussia 😐
richietoon(Quote)
1-1
richietoon(Quote)
To be fair I think people wanted rid of Best more than they wanted rid of Xisco when we first got him 😆
He was good though, I liked him, could still have done a job for us like…him + Ba, Bambi and Cisse, top partnerships for sure 😀
Newkie(Quote)
Agree with Newkie Best should of been kept , the lad give his all and was a better player than alot give him credit for . Certainly no Messi or Rooney but the sort of squad player every club needs .
Axel(Quote)
pleased we didnt keep Best hes owt for six months 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
Yep agree with Newkie….must be true that if you post enough comments that you’ll be right eventtually 😉 😆
Axel…you gonna risk Brugge then?
richietoon(Quote)
RICHIE@32 when do you get your turn to be reet ime still waiting
icedog(Quote)
Ice….Monday 😉
richietoon(Quote)
Richie@34, you can’t be right on monday as it’s pick on Richie day according to Aussie. 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
Richie – the way you describe Xisco, he sounds made for our squad 😆 They’re probably drawing up his new contract as we speak!
Newkie – I think the thing with Best was that he was more saleable than Xisco. I’m sure both were up for sale but nee ****** wanted Xisco.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy ,xisco will be off back to Spain to some lower league club most likely.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Richie, cheeky ******* 😀
Newkie(Quote)
Kim…nah, Mondays’ are my day off 😉 😀
Sharpy 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Newkie…see, you were right again@38 😆
richietoon(Quote)
just watched motd 3,picking there fav no 7s,funny wor AL went for KK 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
Sharpy-Aye, and I suppose any money we can get for a striker nowadays is a blessing, with loven on a free and nobody taking xisco or ranger until their contracts are up (unless we cancel Ranger’s) and Ba looking to go so cheaply, and Shola looking to retire here 😆
Just thought he was quite tidy, but I guess if he wanted to play regularly he would have had to go anyway.
Newkie(Quote)
Sharpy…ref Obafemi the other day, they reckon he’s on £10k pw 😯
richietoon(Quote)
Richie- 😉
Newkie(Quote)
RITCHIETOON common sense says dont risk it , Love of the Toon says get yersel ooer their , Deciding factor could be the pistol carrying , pepper spray owning ,truncheon slayer that is me misses 😯 so yeah i will propably go 😀
Axel(Quote)
Axel….Ya never know, you might get a ticket…there was even one or 2 of other toon fans knocking about for the UEFA semi final away at Marseille plus whatever the touts had…if not just get lashed and soak up the atmosphere 😎
richietoon(Quote)
Trouble is RITCHIE we have got a ridiculous low allocation of tickets and apparently the Belgian twats were /are expecting 10 ,000 of us . Going to look on the internet for a ticket though .
Axel(Quote)
Axel-Does she only dress like that in the bedroom or does she do it for footie matches as well like? 😀
Newkie(Quote)
english clubs got stuffed in CL tonight 😐
icedog(Quote)
Axel…If I was you I’d just go in the home end& keep ya heed doon.
I’m still in the bad books over Marseille, wor lass never had a ticket and I wouldn’t pay the tout 5€ over face value on principle cos I hate feckin touts…..and I was pissed, needless to say we both lost out, he didn’t sell his ticket and I still get wrang owa it 😆 ….I did regret not getting her it like when I was in the stadium 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Martins is on 10k? I’d have him here for that 😯
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie….so they reckon and he was on a free, would have offered summat different to what we have.
richietoon(Quote)
Ice-Yeah, Ajax are still a good side, I remember them giving Manure trouble last year, think that was after they were knocked into the EL though.
Newkie(Quote)
I’m actually excited that Sammy is in line to start tomorrow. Haven’t seen enough of him lately, and based on what I’ve seen, he needs it.
I also think Perch might get slotted at center back tomorrow to give Colo and Williamson a rest. Unless Tav goes in there of course.
Very excited for this game. Shame I’ll be traveling during it. Dang family vacations to show off our baby
AndrewT(Quote)
Richie-Aye, although I suppose he’s lost some of his pace seeing as he’s probably in his late fifties now or something 😈
But yeah, he would have made for some interesting prospective partnerships, even him and Shola weren’t that bad together….
😆
Newkie(Quote)
Maybe I’m a little biased but I never thought centre backs needed much rotation, they never seemed to do any running to me like 😛 I would rest Colo because our season depends on him, but I think staylor and willo could still start together, altho maybe get someone on for Willo at some point.
Newkie(Quote)
Richie – if that’s the craic we have really missed a trick there like!
We wasted time chasing De Jong and Carroll for £10+m to be our 3rd choice CF when we could have had Martins back on a free. Best was probably on more than £10k pw, £3m in for Best and replaced with a free Martins would have been a great bit of business IMO.
Also, from memory, Martins was left footed so could have fit the role Ba seems so reluctant to play….. Aye, that’s seriously annoying that like! 👿
Sharpy17(Quote)
RITCHIETOON respect that you have kept your knackers intact ,if i did that with my wife , i wouldn’t dare sleep at night .
Axel(Quote)
NEWKIE she dresses like that at her work (patrolling the streets ),at footie matches because she is in the riot police as well , and at yem when i have been a bad boy . 😯 thing is i never learn me lesson i’m allways bad 😆
Axel(Quote)
Sharpy-Aye, Martins on the wing in a 4-3-3 would be interesting, he used to be fecking rapid.
Axel 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Axel..I did keep them intact…..just 😯
Sharpy…aye, think he was “officially” left footed, but could crack them with either foot.
richietoon(Quote)
And I’d probably pay him 10k pw just to see those celebrations again, no offense to Ba or Cisse like but it’s a bit samey… 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie ,nothing beats Ketsbia kicking two shades out of the ad hoardings after he scored 😆 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
Newkie – I know, I often think that Suarez gets unfair criticism for diving, but after every goal both Cisse and Ba hit the deck and never a word is said about that on MOTD!!
I do think that there was a couple of free transfers we should have snapped up though. God knows what January will bring though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Kim-Aye, I fecking loved kets, one of my favourite players for us, hardly the prettiest lad but he scored some absolute beauts 😀
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie ,he was a super sub under kenny tho ,he hated not starting, he had real passion and loved the Toon. 😎
KIMTOON(Quote)
Sharpy 😆 That’s quality!
Yeah, do think we made some strange business but all the same…In Ashley we trust?
Hah 🙄
Newkie(Quote)
Kim-Aye, I remember, I remember when he was linked with managing us as well, think it was after Allardyce went? Or KK? Too many to remember to be honest 😆 I did a little piece on him being our future manager like, a year and a half ago or summit. Think he’s stuck in the Georgian national side though, can’t make much of a name for himself there 😕
Newkie(Quote)
Wonder how he’s getting on as a manager ,fancy he’s a wee bit to hotheaded for management tbh, Just imagine if you stepped out of line 😉 😉 you wouldn’t wanna be near any ad boards when he told you off like 😀
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim-He was managing a cypriot team and he’s the first guy to ever get a team from Cyprus into the CL and did very well for them. Then he went to Olympiacos but he replaced a popular manager who apparently played pretty good footie and despite not losing whilst in charge they sacked him after only a couple of months, that was back in 2009 and think he’s been georgia coach ever since. Kind of hard to follow their matches really 😆
Kim-Exactly, you wouldn’t have to worry about him getting the hairdrier out, even though he clearly doesn’t need one himself..
Newkie(Quote)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFncWAmWS7Y
Great video of Kets 😀
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie – fucking hell I don’t remember him scoring that many for the toon like – he was a canny turn!
Tell you what tho, thank **** he couldn’t get that boot off or who knows where he’d have stopped!! 😯
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy-Aye, I remember him a lot because of the season vids and such I had to make do with as a kid in Australia 😆
Probably in dogleash’s face, might have been an improvement!
Newkie(Quote)
fuk was just catching up on news there and was shocked to read that it’s 2 yrs from the last time we won a game after going behind 1st in a game 😯 in 32 Premier League matches Newcastle have gone a goal behind and managed to salvage 9 draws but been defeated 23 times.
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave-Aye pretty insane that 😯 On the other hand, it shows just how much we can hold onto a lead when we’re winning, but yeah..
Newkie(Quote)