Game On! Newcastle v West Ham

Newcastle v West Ham at St James’ Park

Newcastle play host to West Ham United this afternoon in another Sunday afternoon kick-off – a by-product of our involvement in Europe.

I’m no fan of Sunday kick-offs and feel that the atmosphere inside St James’ Park sometimes suffers as a result. We’ll need the atmosphere today if we are to grab three points against a West Ham side with many different points to prove.

As mentioned in my match preview, a whole host of former faces familiar with the St James’ Park crowd will be coming back to try and haunt us. Andy Carroll will be keen to put the horror show he had on his return with Liverpool last season well and truly behind him while Kevin Nolan will be itching to prove that the club were wrong not to offer him a longer contract extension, or more money, whichever you believe.

In the dugout there will be Sam Allardyce who is clearly still smarting from his dismissal as United boss back in 2008. He must be as he keeps on going on about it! Also likely to be in the dugout is former Toon target Modibo Maiga (cheers Rinton Toon!) who will no doubt be itching to get on the pitch and show that there isn’t actually anything physically wrong with him and that his medical, which collapsed suspiciously just before signing Papiss Cisse, shouldn’t have been failed.

An interesting game in prospect against a team who, so far, look perfectly equipped to survive in the Premier League following their promotion from the Championship last season. there are worse teams in this league than what has been on show from West Ham so we will need to be on it if we are to take the three points on offer.

My match preview, linked earlier on in the article, is there for you to peruse. It features news of injury and suspension for both sides, some facts and stats, a brief history of meeting between the two sides and some random thoughts regarding team selection taking into account the aforementioned injury and suspension news.

Team news should be printed below as and when it becomes available. I say ‘should’ because I ballsed up my planning and will actually be on the way to Paris when the teams are announced. I’ve called in reinforcements so hopefully it will be covered, but if it isn’t I’m certain the team news will appear near the top of the ‘comments’ section below.

Being a rearranged game die to Europe, that unfortunately means that the game isn’t live here in the UK. the good news though is that the game will be broadcast on a whole host of overseas channels so picking up a stream will hopefully be easy enough. Once again, if anyone happens to stumble across a good, reliable stream then by all means leave a link to it below.

Which just about wraps it up really. Fingers crossed Newcastle could be in 6th place come the end of the game although for that to happen we need to win our game today by several goals with Tottenham losing at Manchester City by several goals. Failing that 7th will do, but first things first we need to get the three points.

Howay the lads!

Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Saylor, Williamson, Santon, Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Gutierrez (c), Ferguson, Cisse, Ba

Subs: Elliot, Anita, Bigirimana, Amalfitano, Marveux, Obertan, Shola

West Ham: Jaaskelainen, O’Brien, Reid, Tomkins, McCartney, Noble, Diame, Nolan, Jarvis, Banayoun, Carroll

Subs: Speigel, Cole, Maiga, Collins, Demel, O’Neil, Hall

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.

400 thoughts on “Game On! Newcastle v West Ham

  1. GROUCHO ” However in my opinion we were better today than we were against West Brom a game we won but didn’t deserve to.”
    so do you think we deserved something outta the game today ❓ cause I think we did, a right good hammering if the hammers had of been playing well they should have give us a hammering but thankfully yet again the opposition has failed to take real advantage of us, but we keep playing the way we are we’ll get a real thumping and that im sure off 👿

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  2. Troy I feel as if the players know they’ll get away with performances like that because there is no one there at their ankles waiting for a chance. we are **** and I have maintained that the whole season, and we don’t look like we are going to get any better anytime soon, as Kim said when the players start to drop their heads and the feel good factor goes I think we’ll struggle

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  3. Dave ,That’s the lamest excuse yet . What we lacked was bodies in the box putting pressure on and that is down to pards imo. I said yestersday it would be a midfield battle and we had to cut the supply to AC by cuffing Nolan who was their main threat ,it really isn’t rocket science, he seem to have free reign today and it was bloody painfull to watch us yet again. I ain’t overeacting cause I have not really seen any spirit from us outside the Scum game and a wee bit V the Dippers. Something is missing from our set up ,Pards is gonna have to start earning his crust now for sure.

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  4. Kim I have said it all season, I don’t know what it is but something just doesn’t seem right, our players are capable of a lot more and we just haven’t seen it we can’t seem to pass more than 3 times, and we play like a team full of strangers that have never played together 😕

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  5. GROUCHO
    What I found frustrating was that we only had a shot on target (Im guessing but I think the stats will back me up) once we went 1-0 down. Likewise we only pressed, sent players up, showed attacking aggression, once we were losing. Then we kind of all say, ‘oh well, we will attack the gallowgate in the second half’. Not good enough, we need to start games a lot better and not be feeding of scraps. Long ball against Big Sam is like fighting fire with fire when we had an extinguisher in Ben Arfa, Cabaye, Ba and Cisse. Yet we play to our weaknesses not our strengths.

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  6. Big Dave But West Ham weren’t on their game and I thought they were there for the taking if we had been more willing to get forward in numbers.
    Early in the season I moaned on here about our failure to move forward in numbers something poorer teams seemed to be able to do against us. I thought we were perhaps not fit because certain players lacked sharpness. Now I think it may go deeper than that and that our tactics are wrong and we are not being ruthless enough with some players. Most of us knew that Shola would come on as a sub today but why? Why not be brave (some may say stupid) and try Campbell. He couldn’t do worse. I am not an expert on football but if it isn’t working then surely you need to make changes.

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  7. Evening Lads n lasses.
    Total and utter gash performance from a totally clueless team.
    Except HBA who ran his socks off and yet again is the only player trying to create anything.
    Best quote of all the comments above imo is @292.
    a peach of a quote from Pardew ” if we had scored the goals today, we would have won. But we didn’t score the goals”
    The bloke gets more and more clueless every game.
    Pardew needs to stop gobbing off about other teams players and come up with a plan for the ones he has got.
    Our midfield and forwards haven’t got a fecking clue what to do.
    I dont even know where to start with Cisse, but koko the clown could do better with his size 24 silly boots than him.
    Embarrassing is too good for him right now. I have seen enough of his ineptitude to see, he aint no prem lge striker. imo we need to get rid asap.
    so disappointed with what I witnessed today. Hoof ball is king long live the king. 👿 😈

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  8. Thing is Fat Sam has the players to make the longball game work ,we on the other hand do not. We have alot of creative technically astute players but we arn’t playing to their strengths which is criminal.

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  9. KIMTOON
    Unfortunately unless you are Man City or Chelsea etc. and you just outplay and totally batter the opposition, you cannot just ‘stop’ Nolan I’m afraid. We watched him every game and called him ‘tugboat’ and saw his weaknesses, which you do with your own players, but my god does he have abilities that transcend that. To call him Shearer like is not an overstatement IMO. He is so smart and efficient the way he goes about his craft. Just look at the hat-trick against the mackems, they were all opportunist goals. He might not be the youngest, quickest, most glamorous etc. but he knows what positions to take up and where the net is. We are really lacking that at the minute.

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  10. Groucho – the trouble is, our midfield arent attacking the ball in the box, or even getting in the box. All they are doing is waiting for a spark of magic from HBA, or Ba. Litterally, as soon as Benny gets the ball, they stop and watch him. Beggars belief really.
    I really feel sorry for HBA. In a decent team he would be fantastic.
    He wont be here much longer. 👿

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  11. What I dont understand tho is this. We are absolutely shyte with the aerial ball. We rarely win the first header etc, yet krul kicks it long over and over and over again. One bounce and to their keeper, or straight to one of their players.
    We constantly give over posession, with the ridiculous ammount of long balls out of defence. Not just krul, but willo, and taylor too.
    Hopeless tactics, but do they never learn? Nope, just keep on hoofing it up the park and hope for the best.
    Garbage

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  12. BB Couldn’t agree more with your comments on HBA. In the first half especially he was terrific I thought. He does get criticism for not releasing the ball and losing it but where are the players moving with him?

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  13. BB@311 ,Ifear you are right on that score and really who would blame him if he left,it must be incredibly frustrating for him at times.

    DJG@310 ,Point taken and your right technically he reads the game fantasticly but Pards knows all about him and of all managers should of had some sort of plan to at least try and shackel him but I never saw any attempt to track him unless I’m missing something.

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  14. Really find that I have to agree with Troys comment @ 300.
    We cleared out a large chunk of our team and replaced them with kids.
    way to go. NOT

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  15. GROUCHO yeah they were there for the taking but the problem is we aren’t capable of taking them, we’ve played others this season that were there for the taking aswell with the same result,

    BB your right we ( our players ) seem as if they ar willing to so Benny score but they don’t seem to be willing to help him do it. The Lad will get fuked off because you can already see that late on in the game he tries too much, but I put that down to him not having any faith in his team mates, as most of the time he is on a different level and wavelength

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  16. Hoof ball must be down to Pardew’s tactics. If not, he certainly has the power to stop it. What I liked about Krul in his earlier appearances he used to throw the ball out a lot. Now he rarely does and possession more often than not is given straight to the opposition. If we can see it why can’t Pardew.

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  17. I will be seriously pissed off if Jabba doesn’t release some funds for Pards to strengthen and get some new faces in ,in january.

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  18. Cheers guys. I must also reiterate, that HBA is wasted out on the right.
    I would love to see him in the centre, receiving the ball, NOT trying to deliver it all the time. I want to see him in the box ffs. Thats where he can deliver the goods from.
    My last thought, is about Ba and Cisse. This is a partnership made in hell. It will never work. They get in each others way, they both go for the same ball, there is NO understanding of working TOGETHER. And replacing either one with Shola, makes jack **** of difference.
    Its just beyond words how poor all 3 are.
    Pardew needs to get a grip, or get out. I have never seen him look as clueless as he did today.

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  19. Krul is being ordered to kick long every single time, make no mistake about it. They must have no confidence in his short passing, is it really that bad 😕 . It’s not great as a tactic, like people have mentioned, as we are the sort of team that should kick it short and play out rather than long to Ba or Cisse (has he headed the ball yet).

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  20. Kim @ 318.
    You really need to take time out. lol
    Seriously dont go holding your breath on that one.
    We have all fell for that one, over and over again.
    Believe it when you see it, but I wouldn’t bank on it

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  21. The Kid ,that’s a well written article and soooo true .Loads of us have said time and time again that sometimes you just have to pay the market price to improve the team ,you can’t always get the cheap deals .The lack of strengthening by the owner is negligent imo and up to a point I feel for Pards as he has been hamstrung by Jabbas reluctance to reinvest in the summer. Infact it’s looking like a really dumb move with every passing game.

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  22. DJG – its a good tactic, if you have a suarez type player who knows what to do with it.
    Its also a good tictac to put in the mix with a more passing game.
    But to use it all the time defies all logic.

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  23. DJG

    I don’t think it’s Krul’s short passing that’s the problem, but instead the passing ability of the back four.

    Beardsley

    I said early into Papiss’ NUFC career that he and Ba will not work. It was clear as day. I’m not too sure why it took some others so long to see it. Neither have pace, neither are good in the air and neither are particularly great technically. It’s a recipe for disaster.

    I have said it time and time again, but we need to get rid of Ba in Jan. He is the reason we persist with this wretched 442 as he is unwilling to put a shift in on the left and he is currently the one scoring.

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  24. The worst thing is, I actually think Pardew could be a good manager at a club where he gets the best out of good players and does well to man manage etc. But as a manager who has to try and get the best tactically out of limited resources; like a Moyes or a Martinez. I don’t think so.

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  25. Well Kim, Im going to go a bit further than blaming Jabba.
    I reckon the funds were there if we needed them. (well a certain ammount anyway). The blame for me lies squarely with that ***** Llamsarse. He knows jack **** about running a football club, and is trying to be too clever.
    well its come back to bite him on the **** now. But will he have the courage to fall on his sword. No chance.
    He’s a sly devious coward. He will most likely blame pardew. 😯

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  26. The Kid @ 319 there is a few on here that have been saying that all along, and been getting a fair amount of stick for our stance, telling us that we’re just neggers that are never happy, and that we should be gratful for what we’ve got 😯 but i’m sure you will still get the ones that think we’ll be alright and that it gives others a chance, and that we need to lower our expectations 😳

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  27. The Kid – Technical ability. Now there’s a thing.
    Does the first touch of a donkey count, because we have got plenty of that from our strikers.
    Ball control is soooo over rated. 😳

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  28. BB ,course he’ll blame Pards, the bloke is spineless and clueless and wants every player on the cheap ,he’d probably bid £3m for Messi if he was for sale 😆

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  29. Kim I don’t think it would bother him if he wasn’t for sale, as he would know that he can then say well we tried toget a top player in but just couldn’t get the deal over the line, and some fans would buy it

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  30. KimToon

    Follow the lad on Twitter – @Premleagueowl

    He’s a Spurs fan, but makes some very good points and tries to be impartial. Key word being “tries” 😆

    He was one of few bloggers that praised Anita’s performance against the Bin Dippers when everyone else couldn’t stop banging on about Suarez “world class” equaliser.

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  31. Getting really annoyed with pards persisting with 442, he needs to grow some balls and tell Ba to play out wide again, Ba and Cisse as a front 2 simply doesnt work, they cancel each other out!

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  32. Ba has been our best striker by a mile this season…I don’t care. I want him out and the quicker the better. I’m sorry, but when your brother is publicly criticising the manager and you are throwing wobbly’s at being pushed out wide, or being subbed then you have no place at our club. Well, unless you are a rare talent a la Ben Arfa…

    Come to think of it, even Ben Arfa’s attitude has been better than Ba’s. Do you honestly think he likes playing right midfield? I highly doubt it.

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  33. The kid ,Nope I have an old phone from the ark that I text on and use an old PC not a laptop. I’m very old you know 😆

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  34. “…Come to think of it, even Ben Arfa’s attitude has been better than Ba’s. Do you honestly think he likes playing right midfield? I highly doubt it.”
    .
    The Kid, you make a very good point. The lads attitude and work rate has been exemplary this season. I just wish he could score more goals.

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  35. Beardsley

    First touch training seems to be exclusively for Coloccini and Ben Arfa. Seriously, it’s shocking how many of our starting line-up can’t consistently pass or control a ball with any quality.

    I was happy when Jonas was injured today. It sounds terrible, but I was. All he seems to do is give the ball away & draw fouls. Awful player.

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  36. My daughter does it all ,always banging on about what’s trending and what not. It’s not for me ,I just vent my spleen on here or phone in to radio shows. 😉

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  37. We missed the good parts of Tiote today, but not the stupidity.
    He does bring some steel to the midfield, and has a lovely pass on him – sometimes – He just needs to stick his head in the freezer before kickoff and chill out a bit on the park. His recklessness has cost us now.
    32 bookings in 61 games, is far too many.

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  38. The kid ,I will stick with my current set up I think .I have to put my glasses on to read a bloody text message now. It’s so **** getting old my eyesight used to be brilliant. 🙁

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  39. Literally, just sort out our set pieces. They’re a joke. We aren’t that bad a side in terms of height, just let someone other than Cabaye take them. They’re a fucking joke. 11 corners today and nothing. I mean come on….any other team would make a side pay for that many corners, like manure did us…

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  40. I really don’t buy the “competition” aspect either. There is competition up front-Cisse has been our worst player, the whole season, by a mile. Shola is actually deservedly being played ahead of him.

    Our midfield has plenty of competition-particularly Jonas. He’s been *****. Cabaye doesn’t have so much, but still been gash.

    The only place where we don’t have competiton-Left back-is the place where we’ve excelled. Santon has been top notch.

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  41. Agree Newkie, Santon is getting better and better every game.
    He is getting more confidence at going forwards to attack and gets back well in defence.
    Expect stupid money move in the future.
    👿
    I would say he is a better LB than Henry k now, and he is only getting better. Good on the Lad I say.

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  42. BB-Exactly, that’s why it aint competition. It’s just our pros playing like *****, and poor tactics. I’ve stuck up for the formation plenty of times because I have never agreed with the whole “lets drop Ba and play Cisse up front” or play Ba on the left, because Cisse has been so **** this season I don’t think we’d have scored any goals.

    But the long balls, the lack of driving force or penetration and the lack of bodies in the box, it’s pathetic.

    We need someone to link properly with Santon, because he skins two players and runs into three and can never do owt else, if we can get someone in the right place at the right time he could create so many goals. People slag him off, but Nolan’s positioning was top class, and we miss that right now.

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  43. And for me, Pards has to stop writing about what other clubs did for him, stop talking about top 4 and England and our Ex players and put these players through their paces, ffs.

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  44. I’m pretty peed off, and looking for a big January firesale at SJP. We need some new blood to freshen it up. Between now and then I’d like to see Campbell given a chance because he can’t be any worse than Cissse and Shola.

    Obertan and Shola should have been on last week’s bonfire never mind a January firesale. Cabaye and Cisse were shocking and Anita is still little boy lost.

    Ferguson didn’t do enough, and we missed Sammy.

    When is Pardew going to lay the law down on (1) taking short corners and (2) conceding needless free kicks anywhere on the pitch, but particularly in our own half? Its basic mindless stuff that’s driving me bonkers.

    Pardew needs to show the team videos of how we were feeding Ba and Cisse last season because it looks as if the rest of the team have never seen them play.

    For good measure, the atmosphere was ****!

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  45. Shola can’t even kick a ball properly, right or left foot. His left foot is particularly pathetic. He drags every shot ffs! He is always giving away needless freekicks when the opposition are on the back foot. For a big bloke he’s **** in front of goal with his head. Can somebody tell me what he’s good at, apart from scoring against the Mackems?

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  46. BB-If you thought Shola was bad today, what did you think of Cisse? He was poor for me, but considering it was only usually him or Ba in the box, surrounded by five spammy’s neither of them had much of a chance, particularly with the service on offer.

    I think he’s decent with his head, but he wasted a good chance. Still, he’s the only one in our side who actually attacks the ball in the air, although Ba did have a good chance too.

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  47. 🙄 So much anger 🙄 😆

    Had time to calm down a bit 😕 … Pardz is copping a fair amount of unwarranted stick if you ask me… How is it his fault if the players can’t control the ball or make a pass… It’s his job to get them fired up for the clash but once they cross the line, they have to take resposibilty for their actions or lack of for that matter.
    Saying that we were unlucky not to score an equalizer as we were peppering their goal. 😕
    If anyone has played any competitive football, you will know that a poor oppossition side can drag you down to their level and make a hard game out of a winable one. I wasn’t surprised that it was a scrappy affair to be honest. Both teams were ****, WH got lucky, we didn’t.

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  48. Aussie,
    I seriously can’t believe you don’t see why Pard’s is taking stick.

    We have some fantastic players, nearly all of whom are playing ****. Making poor decisions, have terrible movement, can’t pass, can’t shoot and just don’t seem willing to get into the box to try score even when we are 1-0 down at home in injury time!!!

    They are playing **** but we know they arn’t ****. Whose responsibility is it to get this players to know what their roles are??? Whose responsibility is it to get them playing as a team and not as individuals??? THE MANAGER.

    What exactly is Pardew doing on the training ground? NONE of our players seem to know what their roles are. They are so out of sinc with each other its frightening! 👿

    Who constantly picks a front two of Ba and Cisse??? Despite them having absolutely no chemistry, always getting in each others way and both players being the ‘selfish’ striker type.

    Pardew needs to get it right. The football I watched yesterday disgusted me.
    I can’t believe a Big Sam team played more fluent football than us!

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  49. Unless Santon or Steven Taylor have the ball at the back, we hoof it long to two strikers (Ba and Cisse) or simply don’t have the aibility to hold the ball up. They arn’t back to goal strikers. They want the ball at their feet and they both get into the same positions.

    They also have absolutely no support from the midfield because nobody wants to get forward. Jonas sits deep, Cabaye sits deepish, Tiote sits deep, so the gap between the front two and midfield is enormous, yet Pardew insists on playing that way!

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  50. For those knocking Cabaye. He is a brilliant player. He just isn’t the player many think he is. He is a deep lying defensive playmaker. He IS NOT an attacking midfielder.

    If Pardew insists on playing TWO defensive midfielders then we cannot play two strikers up front. Especially two who are very much the same kind of player and always getting in each others way.

    _________________Tiote____________Cabaye______________________

    Obertan_________________Ben Arfa_______________________Ferguson

    _________________________Ba/Cisse_____________________________

    Even then, Obertan and Ferguson will need to be more willing to come inside and get into the box to offer an option when the ball in on the opposite flank.
    We need players that want to get into the box and score!

    Forgot how classy Nolan is in this department until Sunday when he was by far the best player on the pitch.

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  51. Finally, Ba for me, is a great finisher, great striker WHEN PLAYING ALONE up front, but he is far, far, far, far too selfish and slow in his passing to ever play as part of a front two with a 4-4-2 formation. I actually think he makes other players look like they are playing far worse than they are (especially Cisse) because he just refuses to pass or ignores runs or takes a selfish shot going for glory. Its all about him. When it comes off, fair enough, he scores, when it doesn’t, then the entire team suffers from his selfish play.

    If Ba continues to be this selfish, I think the side would be far better off if he left in January.

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  52. Join us next week for another installment of

    “My god, watching Newcastle play this season is so painful – we are so disjointed I could cry!” 😀

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  53. The Kid

    Completely agree with your sentiments on Ba mate. Never has it been so blatant than Sunday just how bad he is as a team player. Reminds me of Michael Owens attitude, which is why I’m starting to immensly dislike him.

    Only difference was perhaps Owen wasn’t as selfish on the pitch.

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  54. wow JJ – you make many spot on points.
    I thought it was maybe just me being overly critical, but everything you have written re-inforced my own position.
    I’m not an expert on everything football, but also I am not stupid. I know tripe when I see it, and what I am seeing this season is pure tripe.
    I am a season tkt holder and have been for many yrs. I have NEVER been a booer, but I was mighty close yesterday.
    Seems to me Pardew doesn’t have the ability to change the simple things, which even I can see are wrong. I dont have any confidence he can put things right in the future either. He is simply relying on the few players we have with decent tekkers, to get us out the ****. When it isn’t working, there is plan B.
    👿

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  55. thing is with Owen, was if you feed him the ball, he gets lots of goals.
    Not in the air, but at his feet.
    Not rocket science, but playing to his strengths.
    Plus he was always getting into the right positions.
    (pre NUFC anyway 👿 )

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  56. said it all before. no point having talented players in midfield if the ball goes from Krul -> Ba -> opposition all day. I’m sick of watching it. No wonder he wants Carroll back, and he might as well see if he can get Crouch in as well.

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  57. (THIS IS A GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING. THIS POSTER IS LIABLE TO DISAGREE WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW. ONLY ENGAGE IF YOU AREN’T SENSITIVE AND DON’T TAKE HISSY FITS)

    Wow! The blog has some passion back!
    I feel a compulsion to post.

    Totally agree with those who mention the lack of investment in the summer is now catching up.
    Oh that was me. 😯

    Maybe that CB position which has needed strengthening for the past 2 years might finally do so in January. Then again I don’t believe it will. The club clearly believe we have enough cover for that position. How wrong they are IMO.

    I pointed out many moons ago that Cabaye, albeit a tidy little player and passionate does not contribute enough up front. In fact, he was tugboats replacement. I think there’s something to be said for big fat tugboats actually. They can drag ocean liners a 100 times their size, pulling them out of danger.
    I’ve never seen a speedboat do that. 😯

    Mind, on the other hand, I do find some people’s opinions absolutely astounding when they talk of Ba and Cisse.

    We have some suggesting Ba should be sold in January. My Baba Vangas stocking knickers! 🙄 That opinion is bordering on the insane! 🙁

    Could anyone suggesting this please give us a convincing argument why such drastic action should be levelled at such a vital player for us.
    The lad has been absolutely outstanding since he arrived.

    As for Cisse. The lad was the hottest property in the premier league last season. He’s had a very poor start this season but to consider selling him also borders on the insane. IMO.

    The real problem we have, are the many players that fans pin the hopes on as being the future are simply not good enough.

    Sammi has that wonderful Ameobi gift of illusion. It runs in their family. I remember great grandad Ameobi had a sausage dog that he ran at Brough Park alongside the greyhounds and he always just finished a tails length off the leader.
    It was only when the TV action replays were brought in that they discovered the sausage dog simply bit the leaders **** and clung on, the speed of the race looked like the sausage dog was the leaders tail. It would let go just before the photo finish and trot over the line not oot of breath. Quite a remarkable illusion that fooled the fans for years. Sammi is no different to Shola.

    I will show my **** in Fenwicks window if Ferguson ever makes it in the premier league as a regular. His legs are shorter than Ameobis sausage dog and for me, simply hasn’t got it.

    Oba is absolutely useless yet some are fooled by his Euro performances. I find that astonishing really. The standard of teams we have played so far in Europe have been woeful, yet we’ve made very hard work of it. The simple reason is we have played our fringe players. The players we are told by the club are the future. Worrying. 😯

    Anyway, not all is bad. I still believe outside the top 5 there is a huge gulf in quality and we are still capable of being the cherry on top of the turd. 😉

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  58. Troy are you seriously suggesting we should stick with Ba n Cisse upfront together ❓
    Perhaps you should read some of the many comments above, because they make a lot more sense than the guff you’ve written
    .

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  59. Cisse and Ba will score goals if you put the ball on their feet in the box, put it on their heads 35 yards from goal with a 6ft defender up their ar$3 and they look like poor sunday morning cloggers. simple. Played into feet Ba and cisse can both turn, shoot and score

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  60. Troy,

    If i had to choose between Ba and Cisse, it would be Cisse. Despite their current form. I think Cisse is a better prospect long term. Just severely lacking confidence.
    I have no problem with keeping both as long as they don’t play up front in a 4-4-2 formation together.
    If Ba is happy to play on the left, then fine, no problem, but he isn’t. Pards doesn’t have to balls to make him apparently.

    As for your views on Sammi, I completely agree he is a clone of Shola at that age. Simply doesn’t have the ability.
    Fergie I feel won’t be a world beat, but he would be a decent squad player.

    They problem I have is that yes, Obertan and Fergie arn’t the best. But who else do we have to play on the wings? Nobody we have for out wide can cut it anymore…

    We desperately need a centre half, a right back, and some attacking midfielders with creativity and a willingness to get forward and score or create. A team of grafters isn’t going to scare the top four.

    As things stand, top 10 is looking decent this season.

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  61. To make one defense of our wingers.

    Obertan put in some decent crosses yesterday. It doesn’t help him if he only has one player marked by four defenders to aim for in the box because our midfielders arn’t busting their gut to get forward and make themselves available.

    Tim Cahill, Gary Speed, Kevin Nolan, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes. We need someone willing to get on the end of things. Someone making a late run in the box.

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  62. JJ, sorry mate… if the players can’t raise a fecking sweat against West Ham then that is their fault.. Pardew is not telling them to hoof the the bloody thing when they are under pressure.. Once again our precious players are getting off lightly because Pardews tactics are suddenly ****..
    What a joke…
    Every player should look into the mirror and have a good look at themselves (if Troy can actually get out of the way of the thing first) 😆
    The effort isn’t there as far as I am concerned..

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  63. I can understand why Cisse is having a shocker this season too… team talk at the beginning of the season..
    ” right Papis, I know how well last season went and all those goals you scored, but we are going to change it this season, you see your mate Demba’s not really happy out wide, so we are going to play him along side you, then we are going to pump the ball up there and see what happens, so get your jumping boots on and see if you can win a few headers and get Demba in on goal, oh and dont worry if he’s not passing it back to you, thats just his way, have a good’un……..”

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  64. (THIS IS A GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING. THIS POSTER IS LIABLE TO DISAGREE WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW. ONLY ENGAGE IF YOU AREN’T SENSITIVE AND DON’T TAKE HISSY FITS)

    @ Bootsy

    You almost hit the nail on the head when you said
    “I’m not an expert on everything football”.
    Your full stop should have been put there 😉

    Your Cisse quote explains why the full stop should have been placed where I suggest;

    “Embarrassing is too good for him right now. I have seen enough of his ineptitude to see, he aint no prem lge striker. imo we need to get rid asap.
    so disappointed with what I witnessed today. Hoof ball is king long live the king.”

    Did you say I wrote guff? 😛 😛 😛 😛

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  65. (THIS IS A GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING. THIS POSTER IS LIABLE TO DISAGREE WITH YOUR POINT OF VIEW. ONLY ENGAGE IF YOU AREN’T SENSITIVE AND DON’T TAKE HISSY FITS)

    Aussie

    I remind you of my disclaimer. 😉

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