The unfortunate thing for us is that the word struggling could also be used to describe our form, and with both us and Villa struggling at the foot of the table dare I say this is yet another one of those “six-pointer” games we hear about?
However despite the home loss to Reading in our last outing things have perked up for United. Whilst Villa have exited two cup competitions to lower league opposition since the last round of Premier League games, United have signed four players who have real ability to shake things up in the remaining 15 games of the season which has boosted fan morale and will no doubt put a spring back in the step of some of our players.
Aston Villa:
Richard Dunne, Fabien Delph, Chris Herd, Marc Albrighton, Gary Gardner and Stilyan Petrov all remain unavailable through various injuries. Nathan Baker is fit again but is unlikely to be risked. Christian Benteke and Gabriel Agbonlahor are likely to be recalled after sitting out Villa’s FA Cup exit to Millwall on Friday evening.
Newcastle:
As you were really in terms of injuries for United. Hatem Ben Arfa is still sidelined, as are Ryan Taylor, Haris Vuckic and Danny Simpson. Dan Gosling is back in training but is still quite a way away from being anywhere near match fit.
Yohan Cabaye is fit after asking to come off against Reading and Steven Taylor has another week of fitness under his belt after picking up a hamstring injury in November while Fabricio Coloccini should start having committed to the club at least on a temporary basis.
In terms of debutants, it’s unlikely but we could see as many as four new faces make their United bow tomorrow evening. Of the quartet I would think Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Moussa Sissoko are the two most likely candidates to start, with Yoan Gouffran and Massadio Haiadra having to make do with strengthening the bench for now at least. Still it gives us depth and options which what we’ve been lacking all season.
Previously…
Earlier on in the season Villa held United to a 1-1 draw at St James’ Park. It was the same score when we last visited Villa Park after Leon Best gave United the lead and I remember Yohan Cabaye having a cracker in that game. Hopefully he can do the same tomorrow!
At Villa Park there have been 76 games played between the two sides. Villa have won 40 times, United on 18 occasions with the other 18 matches ending in a draw.
Overall 154 matches have been played between the two sides over the years. Newcastle have come out on top 66 times, Villa 55 times with 33 draws making up the numbers.
Stats and facts:
Newcastle have beat Aston Villa 18 times in the Premier League era. That’s more than we have beaten any other team.
United could set a new league record for French players used in a season. At the moment five French players have been used by Alan Pardew and the league record is seven.
Villa are the joint lowest home goalscorers in the league having scored just eight goals at Villa Park. They are joint lowest with QPR.
Newcastle have yet to win away this season in any competition.
Final thought…
I’m wondering if too much is expected of our recent signings, and whether they’ll be rubbished should we lose at Villa Park? Understandably fans want to see our new faces and the argument for a change in our starting XI is kind of overwhelming given how we’ve played this season. However, is it too risky to put them in from the start in such an important game? Would we perhaps be better with players who know the league,like Steven Taylor, coming in for this one?
We need to win this one. It’s achievable but we’ll need to be at our best. Villa will be smarting after last weeks cup exploits and will want to answer some critics, but the fact is that they can be got at easily and if we strike first and hold our heads we can turn the crowd and hopefully use that in our favour.
Howay the lads!
Date: Tuesday, 29th January, 2013
Time: 7:45pm
Venue: Villa Park
btw I reserve the right to ammend that clean sheet if willo starts 👿
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Big Dave – 2-0 😯
who is gonna score 2 goals like ❓
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
DAVE that will do for me mate,you shouldnt call stardust mate lol
icedog(Quote)
Dave ,I’m with you and BB on Colo’s letter .It isn’t right imo and ****** lost in translation ,end of the day he’s thanking a club who pubicly turned us into a laughing stock ( give us your player for nowt 🙄 😳 ) .Not a word to his Toon fans who despite knowing he wants out have shown incredible restraint and afforded him respect due to his loyalty( up to now ) .If he’d only come out and say ,As you know I need to leave for personal reasons but I have opted to stay and help us fight to stay in the PL as I feel as captain it’s my duty. That’s all he need say and that he hasn’t is a fecking disgrace imo .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Woo Hoo Kim, you sound as radged as me.
Howay Lass giz your score prediction for the ‘morra neet.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
140-1 for Cabaye to score first with a 3-1 win.. Worth a quid surely?
Rinton man(Quote)
@Dave
The thing is He doesn’t need to speak. All he needs to send a love letter to the toon fans!
Unless he’s saving it for Valentines Day!! 😯
It’s a ******* disgrace!!!! 😈
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Kim I knew there was no way that Colo hadn’t wrote or agreed to that letter being wrote. The guy has no respect for us the fans at all, I can understand if he had none for the Regime but the fans have took to him and supported him even this season while he has been very average the fans were still behind him 😈
Ice as for Stardy it wouldn’t matter how loud I called him he still wouldn’t hear me as his head is so far up Jabba for 90% of the time the other 10% he’s stuck up Colo’s 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
Troy 😯 swearing 🙄 jez you have took it bad 😀 I would understand if he did get a bad reception and I think he has caused most of it himself by showing his fans so little respect ? actually no respect, but I hope the fans don’t lower themselves by booing or owt thaey should just blank him and be deadly silent when he is announced coming out 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
LOL
icedog(Quote)
Previewing this game, Pardew reached into his boy’s book of football clichés and said:
“We have got 15 games left and every one of them is a cup final. We have got to win half those games. And we haven’t achieved anything like that rate so far. Can we win half? I think we can. We are going to have to try.”
Hmmm!
he forgot to be ‘honest’ 😯 so I’m not sure.
Master of stating the bleeding obvious is Pardew
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
It seems Colo has lost his plums. The letter just makes him sound pathetic. Stand up and be a man Colo. If you did wrong by your wife own up to it and get on with making your huge wage. Try showing appreciation to the supporters who have treated you so well over the last 4 plus years. A sad way to leave the club after some good service but he certainly was well paid for his trouble and time.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
@Bootsy
The thing is, its a pity Pardew didn’t put out his strongest sides to try and reach a cup final ! 🙁
Looking forward to the match tomorrow now and seeing what the new players are like.
If anyone fancies a pint in The Shark Bar then I shall buy you a pint. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Ah you old perv Troy. 😆
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
BB & Dave ,Yeah I am really cross about it .Just been seeing to lewis and calmed down a bit now. Going to go with a 0.2 win to us tommorow ,have renewed faith but they must keep Benteke and Gabby quiet which in theory shouldn’t be too hard unless Wilo plays and Colo has a stinker. 🙄
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim I went for the same but if Willo and Stroller are playing then that wouldn’t be my prediction 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave , He has no reason to play them now imo and if he does he’s clearly got his favs and is somewhat deluded as well.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim yeah I agree I meant to add Jonas to that list
Big Dave(Quote)
aye Benteke is going to be a problem for us, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a return of Bent up front aswell.
If anyone had a point to prove it’s him.
Our defense will need to be resolute and strong.
I hope MYM starts alongside Colo. We need to see what he is made of before the chelsea match.
Santon needs to concentrate more on his defending and let Marv get down the wing if possible.
Feeling nervous already …if I’m honest. 😛
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
How the heck can Pardew make a pompous statement like something was lost in translation. Can he speak Spanish like ? It’s as plain as the nose on your face that Collo the slime bag was sidling up to San Lorenzo.
The bloke is a dead man walking now as far as I’m concerned. I can understand Pardew wanting to protect him, but that’s only cos the toon are deep in the brown stuff.
Not sure what Jonas and Collo have been on this season, but they have both been well below par this year.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Dont know if anyone has picked up on it earlier but Danny Graham has requested a transfer for personal reasons ,the lad is taking a leaf out of Colo’s book i think . He wants to join is hometown club 😆
Axel(Quote)
There was something a while back about a row between Colo and some of the French speaking players if I remember rightly, no idea what it was about though . I reckon there been a few spats in that dressing room this year what with one thing and another. It certainly hasn’t been the happy ship of the previous seasons. 🙁
KIMTOON(Quote)
Actually Debuchy only has one game under his belt, and Cabaye is fresh back from a long term injury. Couple that with putting too many new faces in the team and it may all be a bit risky, even though the old faces have been gash anyway. I have a nasty feeling Willo may start, with a place for Jonas in midfield too 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
****. I’ve just checked the fixtures for tomorrow and Wed night and its one of those weeks.
We play Villa, QPR v Man City, Wigan v Stoke, Reading v Chelsea, Saints v Man U.
I hate weeks like this, you’d expect us to pick up 3 points and those around us to get beat (maybe not Wigan) – bet it does work out out that way tho 🙁
Sharpy17(Quote)
@Axel
Gateshead? 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Axel ,Yeah saw it ,do think he could do a job for us too.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Troy, I’ve started reading your posts again since Toonsy press-ganged you into dropping your health warning 🙂
Liked the Lidl chips line mate 🙂
Munich Mag(Quote)
Dave – Check your email 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Hopefully with all the uncertainty over Colo and this letter, we’ll play Shola and have him captain. We need a born leader on the pitch and if Colo’s mind is elsewhere…who better than the club’s second leading scorer of all time in Europe, second only behind Shearer, to give us that steel and grit we need?
Moreno(Quote)
Moreno, I agree. Shola will be in there tomorrow, up front in the middle, and will terrorise the bairns in the Villa defence with his massive body strength.
0-2 toon.
Munich Mag(Quote)
@MM
Eh? You ignored my posts cos of that? Why?
It seriously stopped all those who used to try and be clever by having a go at the reality train crew but couldn’t take the banter back.
I haven’t had to have a go back at the hissy fitters for ages. Only B&B brings a cold draught to the blog now for me. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
ha ha 😛
Behave Lads. 😆
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Anyway…line up for tomorrow…I’m gonna go for..
Krul
France
Moreno(Quote)
Yeah , Shola a definite starter and should be captain.
The rest of the team will see where he is standing if they need to go and have a word with him.
sidekick(Quote)
TROY Gatesheed has to be better than Wales m8 at least its close to the promised land 😀
Axel(Quote)
Toonsy
Did you get my edited version of the article?
Reckon Graham is trying to engineer a move to us.
Andymag(Quote)
Toonsy did you check yours ❓ 😉
MM > Couple that with putting too many new faces in the team and it may all be a bit risky
Yeah your spot on do that and we could get beat.
Play the usual suspects and we’ll probably get beat 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
The only question across the back line has to be Saylor or New Kid. Is Saylor fit? Should he start either way? I dunno, New Kid has been playing week in and week out, so he should be ready to rock and roll, right? Willo, I’ve defended time and again, but New Kid’s gotta start ahead of him for me.
Sissoko’s starting, evidently, but is he best as a holding player or further up the field? And isn’t that what we’ve been saying about Cabaye?
Is Anita really a holding mid? Seems more capable in the attack too. Don’t know about the balance now that I think of it…
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Yeah Shola for captain he is a real leader of men and he leads by example 😉
Andymag @ 111 I was messing about earlier and deleted it by mistake 😐 you do have a copy don’t you ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Troy, your health warning and handbags at 20 paces with B&B had me knocking the zed’s out 🙂
But now you are back with your witty comments, that’s more like it 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
Moreno says:
January 28, 2013 at 21:06
Anyway…line up for tomorrow…I’m gonna go for..
Krul
France
——————-
😆
what are the odd that if we lose tomorrow every paper in england goes with the headline “Les Miserables”?
MDS(Quote)
Dave
Should have a draft. Will send it again.
Andymag(Quote)
Big D @112 😆 😆 you got me there mate … I’m having trouble out-guessing Pardew here to be honest.
What is your team for tomorrow ? Go on, come down off the fence 🙂
I hope it doesn’t all end in tears tomorrow because of some monumental fook up by Pardew.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Troy – so B&B hasn’t taken up your offer of a pint in Sharkeys then? 😆 😆
Axel – I noticed that mate, I think he could do a canny job for us – certainly more likely to score than Shola, Xisco and Ranger, but I’ve never really seen us linked with him. I think if he leaves Swansea then he’s going to Mackem land.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I hope Pards has set out his recipe properly and has all the chefs cutting the chips to the right size. It wouldn’t be a very good meal if some of them are cutting fat chips and some are doing French fries.
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
brisvegas(Quote)
Don’t know why Graham would leave Swansea being second choice to Michu to join Sunderland and be second choice to Fletcher. If he joins us he’d be second choice to Cissé but he’d be playing for the club he supported.
Andymag(Quote)
I sent it off by the way Dave.
Andymag(Quote)
Pards will end up bringing off Cisse who he is playing on the wing for Steve Harper if the last game is owt to go by. Harps would probably do a better job though saying that… 😆
Moreno(Quote)
Andy 😆 😆 only pulling your leg 😉
MM
Krul
Deb, Mbiwa, Saylor, Santon
Sis, Anita, Cab
?? Marv
Cisse
Big Dave(Quote)
I think Graham will be of to Norwich unless we go in for him. He isn’t the striker i would want but he is decent enough i guess.
Still don’t see what the big deal is over the coo letter. Big deal he didn’t tell us anything. Do you tell the missus, if you fancy another lass? 😀
Im going for a 6-0 win tomorrow btw 😀 easy easy easy!!!
Santii(Quote)
Andy well atleast there is a back up incase one did get deleted now
Big Dave(Quote)
Santii > Still don’t see what the big deal is over the coo letter. 😯
seriously ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave
Now I look like a bellend sending it twice 😡
Andymag(Quote)
Andymag says:
January 28, 2013 at 21:36
Dave
Now I look like a bellend sending it twice
Thats not why you look like a bellend! 😆
Johno Toon(Quote)
Well I’m looking forward to the game tomorrow and I have a lot of optimism again. I think we will go with; 4-3-3
Krul
Debuchy M’Biwa Collo Santon
Anita
Cabaye Sissoko
Marveaux Obertan
Cisse
Subs:
Elliott
Saylor
Perch
Jonas
Sameobi
Gouffran
Shola
Oblong(Quote)
Probably drop Anita to the bench once Tiote is back and replace Obertan With Ben Arfa and that’s our best team IMO.
Still think we short on striking back up. Would love to see a loan to buy move for Guildetti from Man City……not gonna happen though 🙁
Oblong(Quote)
Santii, I’d sgree with you about collo’s letter if it was just a thnak you to his home club, But when he uses words like “sad” and “disappointment” that’s just too far and is disresectful. I don’t speak Spanish so maybe a bit does get lost in translation so who knows.
MDS(Quote)
We should just use Tiote to take out players who are unplayable. He’ll get sent off anyway so may as well take Van Persie with him
Moreno(Quote)
Moreno @ 133 yeah he might aswell make it worth his while 😆
Andy chillax lad 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
@Dave
I have no problem with the letter at all. I couldn’t care less that he did not address us Newcastle fans. He has always givin us his all. So its not like he owes us anything.
In saying that i don’t think he should be captain anymore
Santii(Quote)
Santii,
At the end of the day we are the ones to blame. You can’t offer a bloke your wife to shag every week for years then moan when he goes and does it. You reap what you sow
Moreno(Quote)
@Sharpy
B&B doesn’t laugh at anything. He takes life too seriously. 😉
@ Begas
Pardieu will be chopping the frogs legs off now! Preparing his meal to be served for the sitting at 7.45pm tomorrow. The restaurant is fully booked!
It will be strange to see Cabaye and the other frenchies with no legs. Won’t affect their football skills I suppose. 😯
Only jesting! I predict a cordon bleu style meal and another Michelin star awarded cometh the final whistle! 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
santi i disagree colo owes us for the way we have supported him ,pluss he was absolutley ***** the season we went down as were the others but most have jumped ship ,colo the **** from now on
batty(Quote)
The letter was wrong for me but at this point in the season we need our best players on the pitch and there is no doubt about his ability. Still think he will be away in the summer though.
Oblong(Quote)
Good to see some realists on here.
Anyone who thinks gouffran will start must consider that jonas is undroppable in pards eyes!
However I think it may be a time we see jonas perform again: he has to fight for his place now. I remember ages ago we played man city lost 3-1 but he was sensational because he had been out the team and had the hunger fight and desire to get back his place.
Complacency cannot be afforded now which has been our major problem this year
Liam southern toon(Quote)
@Batty
He was **** the first season but he stayed with us. One of our best players the year in the championship and again last season he was even better making it into the PFA team of the year. This year he has been poor again (not as bad as his first season). I dont know what has happened in his life to make him want to go home but he does and i find nothing wrong with that at all.
@Moreno
Lmao 😀
Santii(Quote)
Amilfatanos brother apparently has handed a transfer request in. I hear he is lw and a good player. Might be worth a punt to reunite them? We love a Frenchmen after all
Liam southern toon(Quote)
Santii so you think there is nowt wrong for the captain of our club to confess his undying love for San lorenzo and all the fans, the ***** has never said fuk all to the thousands of fans that have shown him undying loyalty, support and paid his wages 😯 .
Big Dave(Quote)
@Dave
Not at all it is his hometown club and his family are there.
Not recently but last season I can remember reading a few articles with quotes from him saying he loves Newcastle and the fans songs. His daughter even speaks with a geordie accent.
Santii(Quote)
@Dave
The worst part of it is, he must know that our fans are not happy. He will have been told by his entourage or read it himself.
Pardew is clearly aware so the fact he still hasn’t addressed the issue makes it all the more insulting and galling.
I’m surprised he hasn’t been advised by the club to release a statement, even if he doesn’t mean it. 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Dave ,I don’t know why Pards had to defend that letters meaning ,it’s for Colo to set the record straight really , and I can’t understand why a captain doesn’t speak to the fans .None of the fans have turned on him at matches so it’s not like he has reason to blank the fans. He’s not a fool ,he must know that letter would cause a stink with some of us. 😕 It’s our understanding he should be thankfull for not bloody San fucking Lorenzo .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Santii maybe I just expect a wee bit more respect from our players let alone our club Captain. as for his quotes on the toon fans ? maybe I missed them 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Anyone had experience buying match tickets off viagogo and if so when it says you need to collect, do you normally pick up from seller at the ground? cheers
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Troy I have lost all respect for him as I said I hope he gets blanked when his name is called out, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he got boo’ed and tbh I wouldn’t blame the fans if they did, because he is a disgrace to the club.
Kim I would guess Pards just tried to make a stupid excuse for him when he was asked, but I have no doubt Pards and the players have lost a lot of respect for him.
We are deep in the **** and should all be pulling together to get out of the **** and rather than the captain issuing a rally cry to the club he is issuing a love letter to another club 😈
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave
i was trying to find them i can’t find the interviews but a can find an article referring to them.
http://fourfourtwo.com/blogs/fanseyeview/archive/2011/10/21/curly-captain-coloccini-leading-newcastle-to-success.aspx
Im not bothered about it either way. I just hoe this doesn’t lead to the fans booing him,which is the last thing we need after the amazing week we have had.
Santii(Quote)