The home side will be fresh from their League Cup triumph last weekend whilst United head into the game in good form after a productive January transfer window.
Indeed there is the carrot of a top ten place on offer for Newcastle this afternoon. If results at Sunderland, Stoke and Manchester United go our way and we manage to beat Swansea we could see ourselves sat in the top half of the table overnight. The down side is that such a scenario would require the Mackems to win a game and that is something I never really want, unless it really saves us from something like relegation or other such instances.
The match itself will not be broadcast live here in the UK but it is scheduled for overseas broadcast meaning there should, hopefully anyway, be a stream of the game available somewhere on the internet. As always, if you know of a good stream then please share it with your fellow NUFC fans who are trying to do much the same as you are and watch the game. You can share it be posting the link in the ‘comments’ section below.
The match preview has been up since yesterday and can be viewed by clicking here if you haven’t already had a look or just fancy having a another little run through of stuff you need to know ahead of the match. It features injury news, facts, stats and some random thoughts ahead of the game.
Team news as ever will be added in at the bottom of this article as and when it becomes available. I’ll be updating it today which is good for Big Dave but probably bad for everyone else as it means I’ll be watching the game and we never win when I watch a game. I swear I’m partly responsible for our poor form earlier on in the season!
Howay the lads!
Swansea: Michael Vorm; Angel Rangel, Garry Monk, Ashley Williams, Ben Davies; Leon Britton, Jonathan De Guzman; Nathan Dyer, Wayne Routledge, Pablo Hernandez; Michu
Subs: Gerhard Tremmel, Dwight Tiendalli, Kyle Bartley, Ki Sung-Yueng, Roland Lamah, Itay Shechter, Luke Moore
Newcastle: Rob Elliot; Mathieu Debuchy, Steven Taylor, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Davide Santon; Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye; Jonas Gutierrez, Moussa Sissoko, Yoan Gouffran; Papiss Cisse
Subs: Jak Alnwick, Massadio Haidara, James Perch, Vurnon Anita, Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan, Shola Ameobi
^^by other teams^^
Pootle(Quote)
Pootle-Right off the boil-like beating manchester united 3-0 at the end of december, the month before cisse joined? Hell, weeks before he joined! And those losses had nothing to do with fielding to right backs in central defence and our injury woes, purely formation was it?
Newkie(Quote)
@Newkie: 521. Very interesting indeed.
Once the mob are on your back they fabricate facts in their frenzy targeting an ‘escape goat’ scapegoat.
Peddling arguments like I don’t have to produce evidence just what we see and Ba is selfish, takes pot shots from the halfway line. the reason they run from the stats is because the stats prove them wrong and they will never acknowledge they got it wrong just like Pardew.
If Ba goes Cisse will bang them in are the bold declarations made by people. It has not happened and now it is Pardew’s fault. When is it going to Be Cisse’s fault?
I am being critical simple as. He is a grown man and can take responsibility for his own performances.
michael12(Quote)
“Stats transcend opinion and favorites.”
Because stats are never manipulated. They are never used to draw inappropriate conclusions about things they don’t actually convey by people using them to prove a point.
Because stats can tell you absolutely everything- you don’t need to apply them to a holistic view of the subject they are drawn from.
Really? I mean, seriously?
Pootle(Quote)
I guess you don’t actually watch the matches. The Man U game aside our play had become dreadful over many matches. There were lot of reasons.
Pootle(Quote)
Read the Article kimtoon.
Pardew said: “Demba wants to play in a central role.
“He wants to get himself chances to score goals.
“And I think that in 90% of the games next year that’s where he will play.”
This is the closest statement that Ba Demanded to play in the middle and it is nowhere near the sensational claims people have been making.
michael12(Quote)
Ba is happy to sit on the subs bench at Chelsea yet wasn’t happy to do it for us. Why ,because he wanted the big money move which meant playing up front getting the goals and attention .He played for himself not the team ,that much is obvious to even the most deluded Ba fan . If he really cared for us he would of stayed until summer and helped us avoid relegation ,that he didn’t says it all .Like most players he is only interested in self preservation . Along the way our no.9 has been well and truely pushed aside to the detriment of his previous outstanding form .That is my take on it and Iam steadfast on that .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Micheal that was part quotes from a full interview on radio in which Pards said Demba had been in to see him .
KIMTOON(Quote)
That’s the sort of evidence I have to debate against. Where are they?
michael12(Quote)
He is saying Ba wants back in the middle ,what more evidence do you want Micheal ?. The fact he got his wish up to leaving us and the one time he was benched threw a hissy tells you all you need to know. 🙄
KIMTOON(Quote)
Pootle-Actually I do mate, I was just proving your general/sweeping assertion was plain bollocks. Our play had become worse, key performers had been injured and we were tiring-we did switch to 4-3-3 however is it a coincidence we started playing our best when Benny had recovered and truly hit form?
The only point I try to make is that 4-3-3 isn’t some wonder tonic some people seem to think it is, all hail football/fifa manager 😉
Newkie(Quote)
In November and December 2011 we recorded 2 wins 2 draws and 5 losses.
But, as is often the cases with statstics, that doesn’t paint the whole picture. It was the quality of the actual performaces that was the worst aspect.
Pootle(Quote)
Ha ha ha. My point was that the statistic that we got more points before Cisse arrived than after is meaningless. There were several variables affecting the way we were playing at that time. It was the change in formation plus Ben Arfa coming back and then Cisse added into the mix that caused the improvement in our play and saw us finish as high as we did. If we had kept on the way we were before Christmas, even with Ba up front, we were clearly going to struggle.
Pootle(Quote)
Is it acceptable for a players brother to call his manager a crazy idiot for dropping him in a game on twitter or for said player in post match interview to say “I’m unhappy with some of the things that have been going on” 😕 All it did/does is rock the boat and feed the ever hungry press machine that loves to hate us .Further more it was one big come and get me shout imo.
KIMTOON(Quote)
@539 was addressed to Micheal regarding the saintly Ba. 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
I never said 433 was a wonder formation.
Its just it was plainly obvious that 4-4-2 is rubbish if your left and right sided midfielders are incapable of providing decent service to the strikers.
Pootle(Quote)
Few points for the debate.
1 Ba has joined Chelsea. Get over it.
2 Like it or Not Cisse is our No 9 for the rest of the season.
3. He’s not playing at his best, but given appropriate support from the fans and good man management IMO he is more likely to regain the form he has been in consistently throughout his career than do a Torres.
4. Given the squad we now have and the performances we have seen recently we will not be relegated.
5 We are not going to qualify for Europe through the league this year.
6. By choosing the appropriate parameters in the collection of your statistics and only those stats which support your argument you can prove anything you want, or at least demonstrate what an idiot you are. eg in the 70’s our statistitions at Uni demonstrated the direct correlation between the stork population in the Benelux countries and the Birth rate in East Anglia.
7. Pardew has proved himself at several clubs to be a Decent Bloke and a good Manager. If he remains at NUFC for the long term it will because he maintains our status consistently as the 7th biggest club in the EPL.
premandup(Quote)
Pootle-I see, so what guarantee was there that we would carry on as we did in nov/dec for the rest of the season? Form is very variable. And for norwich we weren’t that bad-I remember cabs playing a peach of a ball to Ba and we had some decent attackig play, but because we had perch and simmo against Holt and Morrison we never stood a chance. The lack of a captain, and after having our butchered defense demoralised obviously spread through the team.
It’s like saying if we started the season as we finished it (losses to everton, wigan, city, etc etc (all in 4-3-3 if i’m not wrong?) We would have been relegated. We weren’t too bad vs city but Wigan/Everton were horrific. Hypothetical.
Newkie(Quote)
This split in the fans re who is better Demba or Cisse is due to Pardew’s mismanagement of those players. Whether Demba had more influence than he should to play in his favourite spot, it was down to Pardew to make sure that he was using those players strengths to the benefit of the team. He didn’t do that. He used the proverbial square pegs in round holes to try to keep everyone happy and ended up pissing one of either Demba or Cisse off. If he had the bottle he would have kept one on the bench as it was clear they just couldn’t work effectively together.
Demba’s gone. Cisse has been way off form and continues to be by his standards. Is he going to come good, lets hope so. In the meantime he is costing us points. I would like to see a change and have Gouffran up front, when Ben Arfa’s back and see how that works.
BTW don’t agree with the comments Demba shooting from half way line – behave. Both are greedy and have taken shots for the glory when passing would have probably resulted in a goal.
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Deb ,Agree re Pards man management of the Dembas ,he should of rotated them and had the bottle to insist that’s the way it is.
KIMTOON(Quote)
How’s Lewis doing Kim? Bet you’re sick of the sight of hospitals. Have to drop off for a while – sister arrived for her tea
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Debs-agree with that. That’s why I don’t get the Demba hate so much, Pards should have put his foot down one way or the other and sold him if he wasn’t happy-he knew full well his clause would reopen in Jan and keeping hold of him was a poisoned chalice in those circumstances.
Basically, Pards had several opportunities to play both Dembas up top with Benny behind them, with an advanced cabaye and two holding mids in the shape of (Tiote/Anita-or Jonas, or perch, or even cabaye!) rather than 4-4-2 with ineffective wingers or 4-3-3 with a wasted Cisse/Ba. Still not sure what stopped him, other than conservatism/fear.
Newkie(Quote)
He probably tried it in training and it didn’t work. You never know.
premandup(Quote)
JJ – I thought I was Pards biggest critic, but you leave me standing fella. 😆
This Ba/Cisse argument has now gone way over my head. I can’t remember every twist and turn. We did however finish fifth, which has to be the biggest statistic of all and a major credit on Pards’ otherwise poor c.v.
That said, in my fantasy world of management, a good manager would have got them on the training ground, banged their heads together, and told them exactly how he wanted them to play in order to complement each other’s styles. If one of them wasn’t doing as requested, he should have dropped him. It seems to me that Pards relatively short term fix made the matter worse in the long run by coming up with a system that favoured one over the other. You can’t argue with fifth though, can you?
Prem – “Pardew has proved himself at several clubs to be a Decent Bloke and a good Manager.” Has he? 😯
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Deb, He’s better thanks ,back at hospital this am for a wheelchair review though,can’t escape the places 😆
KIMTOON(Quote)
Good comments GeordieDeb @544. Anyway Ba is gone so we need to get on with it. I would also like to see Gouffran up front with Ben Arfa tucked in behind with a 4-4-1-1 especially for away games. We’re running out of opportunities to shake things up. Cisse just hasn’t been getting it done for me. I don’t mean shun him but if he’s not going well after 60 minutes then a change is in order. You can’t have your main striker calling the shots any more than Pardew should have let Ba do that. Still a lot to sort out even with the new players. I would hate to see us start next season in the same pickle if we don’t get a striker in.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Currently 2nd best English Manager in English Football by current league position and current manager of the year. Hardly **** that in probably the most competitive occupation around.
premandup(Quote)
Well if we’re looking at stats then you have to look overall, not just on form.
Ba scored 0.54 goals per game for Newcastle.
Cisse has scored 0.47 goals per game for Newcastle.
Its virtually neck and neck between them. The difference is Ba is being thought of as brilliant because he is the one currently in form.
If we looked at the same situation a year ago it was completely reversed.
All we are saying is that Cisse is still our best option. So he needs to be supported. Ba is no longer our player. So he can **** off.
JJ(Quote)
@Kimtoom: Ba wants back in hardly is a demand in fact it is just nonsense. You are clutching at straws trying to make the wants into more than it is. Shola wants back in the starting line up.
Marv wants to be in the starting line up so does Amilfitano, Harper, and every footballer not currently in the starting 11 across all clubs and teams. Are they disrupting the dressing room as a result of wanting back in the team?
The word wants and demands are not the same. do you think Ba only wanted back in the middle beginning of the season? That he did not want to be back in the middle end of last?
Get over yourself and just accept you have lost the argument.
Michael12(Quote)
Prem @ 552 I’m not sure what that first record stands for as wasn’t he the worst manager in all four divisions by league position a few weeks ago? 😆
He got manager of the year on the back of some big money spent, but as I say, it’s on his c.v. and is difficult to argue with. I’ll give it a go though. You could say, because Cisse has had a bad season, he’s a poor player. Or you could say, look at his record throughout as a player and not just one season. So Pardew had one good season. Does that mean he is a good manger? Back to my question to you above: has he proved himself, like you suggest, as a good manager at other clubs and throughout his career, including this season?
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Michael – You make some very good points, but it doesn’t mean Kim has lost the argument, fella.
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Credit where credit is due that’s all. I recognize the commitment and ability needed to be top of your profession. Which he is. Amateurs opinions on his ability is worthless.
premandup(Quote)
Prem @ 557 He’s top of his profession. 😆
“Amateurs opinions on his ability is worthless.” 😆 Shut this worthless blog. 😆 No don’t. It’s comments like that that are the highlights. 😆
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
Time to get the bedsheets out for a couple of commentators here 🙄
I certainly hope some of our comments don’t get anywhere near the players and staff!
griff(Quote)
JJ says:
March 4, 2013 at 17:51
Well if we’re looking at stats then you have to look overall, not just on form.
Ba scored 0.54 goals per game for Newcastle.
Cisse has scored 0.47 goals per game for Newcastle.
Its virtually neck and neck between them. The difference is Ba is being thought of as brilliant because he is the one currently in form.
If we looked at the same situation a year ago it was completely reversed.
All we are saying is that Cisse is still our best option. So he needs to be supported. Ba is no longer our player. So he can **** off.
——————
All of that is well said
MDS(Quote)
So Michael12, out of interest, do you still think Cabaye ****? 😈
griff(Quote)
Should we get Nolan back? 😆
griff(Quote)
B&B are you seriously suggesting that by managing in the EPL he is not at the top of his profession.?
As to the amateurs comment I was referring to the fact that he is respected by both his peers and by the Chairmen who have employed him. Which has to be the biggest statistic of all
Our opinions count for nowt. We know that, we only pay all the wages. Maybe this clarify’s things for you?
premandup(Quote)
Back in an hour or so
premandup(Quote)
Prem – If you mean like Joe Kinnear was at the top of his profession then fair enough. I thought you were meaning more than that. 😆 😀
The Swansea chairman recently said: “There are a lot of managers within the Premier League that talk a load of rubbish about the Europa League at times and it’s sad that a lot of people listen to them.” Who was he talking about? 😳
Previous chairmen who have employed him have sacked him. The Southampton chairman, Nicola Cortese, who had a tense relationship with Pardew, felt that he had been left with no option but to sack him following reports of unrest among staff at the training ground. After their worst run of defeats in over 70 years, West Ham sacked him. Under pressure from the fan unrest at Charlton, he left by mutual consent. So I don’t think our opinions count for nowt. 🙁 😐
Blackley & Brownlie(Quote)
premandup call me for ur seventy five years. ..maybe i have present for u… 😀 😆
djebs9(Quote)
but…ur right. ..i m agree with u….always good read…
djebs9(Quote)
Still a little bit feisty on here 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
DJEBS9
apologies for the comment last thread. You can contribute to my 60th later this month.
premandup(Quote)
Griff @ 561 I was wondering that too 😀
MICHAEL12 @ 554 have all the players that you are talking got what they wanted ?? the sameway Ba got what he wanted ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Wow man what an utterly deflating discussion, not the old Ba v Cisse rubbish rearing it’s head again. I thought that was all put to bed 😕
The last time I looked Pardew was manager at NUFC. He’s more than likely going to be around for at least another season, though I suppose having won manager of the year he has won himself some breathing space.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Bow down to the almighty 1 that is micheal 12 😆
batty(Quote)
Micheal @554 , Clutching at straws eh 😆 ok mate but I thought that was you as you were certain I couldn’t show you the evidence that he wanted back in the middle and got what he wanted. I don’t see many other players gettin they’re own way unless you care to enlighten me. 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
KIM he couldnt light a match 😉
batty(Quote)
@553-I’ve not been saying Ba is the messiah and if you look back recently I’ve probably been one of Cisse biggest defenders in light of all the abuse he has taken, people who have called from him to be dropped need to get real. Pretty much said they were equal, Ba has more to his game but Cisse-on form-the better goalscorer.
Munich-as for the topic, well, its better than some of the boring **** that gets thrown about on here where you scroll down and can’t get to the bottom of a bloody comment! At least this is about football as well 😆 Not sure how it got started though…
Newkie(Quote)
Batty @574 😆
KIMTOON(Quote)
Newkie, you’re right mate, it is a football topic, but I just got the feeling I was listening to a stuck record as most of these issues have been talked to death…
Cabaye is overrated
Ba’s dad is bigger than Cisse’s dad
Pardew is ****, Laudrup is god..
I thought we were really unlucky at the weekend, and I’m not quite sure why everything seems to be so negative on here today… 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
munich aye ya spot on theres some **** being written 🙂
batty(Quote)
Munich-If you don’t want to here Pards being labelled **** you may as well get out of here while you can, give up, and start supporting that other team of yours-Bayern Munich right? 😆 😉
Newkie(Quote)
Sad to see Nobby Solano hitting hard times ,can’t the club give him a coaching position ,now there’s a guy could show the first team some skills.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Batts are you trying to say that micheal 12 doesn’t know what he’s talking about. 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
MM@571 Sorry mate got up this morning popped on to read @475 and was miffed as he can’t let it lie and really ought to. 🙄 Anyway I will ignore any further rants from him as he does my head in.
KIMTOON(Quote)
MM @ 577 your right mate we deserved atleast a point and IMO played better than what the super swans and their God like manager did 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
well dave yes and also hes like a stuck record surely he must be sick of his own voice 😉
batty(Quote)
Kim @ 582 just remember it was your birthday and you have to think about your blood pressure now 😀 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
and also i know munich who is a decent lad is not talking to me if only he would apoligise i would forgive him 🙂
batty(Quote)
Newkie, there’s only one team in my life mate, they play in black and white, and they all know how to fight, we’ll support you evermore. (You’re probably too young to remember that song … 😆 😆 😆 ).
FC Bayern make a canny second team, with Dortmund not far behind.
It just cracks me up when blokes start giving it the old “told you so”, quoting Laudrup and Zola as “budding young managers” and wondering why Pardew doesn’t replace Cisse with young Adam Campbell smack in the middle of a relegation battle.
Munich Mag(Quote)
IT also seems micheal 12 likes to try bullie women ,no respect 👿
batty(Quote)
Kimtoon, no way mate, I wasn’t having a pop at you, get stuck in there.
Batty, they’ll come round to our way of thinking soon mate.. divvent worry… 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
@Kim at least he could show someone how to get the ball over the first man and into a dangerous area.
Swansea are a decent side but we bossed parts of the game. We should have scored, we lost. I think this is one of those times that the internet really doesn’t help the group mentality. You have opportunity to over analyse and wallow.
sjp14(Quote)
Big D, if you listen to some blokes on here we were absolutely **** on Saturday. Needless to say I’ve given up reading those comments, just all too bizarre, the blokes in question wouldn’t know the difference between a football and a rugby ball. 😳
Munich Mag(Quote)
Batty@588 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
munich ok i accept your apology 😉 😆
batty(Quote)
micheal12 your not married to a kirsty type of corrie are you 😕
batty(Quote)
MM @ 591 thats the best way mate just scroll on past until you get to mine as you know i’m right Fella 😉
Batts is he not talking to you ?
Big Dave(Quote)
SJP14 @590 ,exactly mate spot on. What a player for us he was.
Dave@585 Dave I think my blood pressure has given up on me with all the stress lately 😆
Batty @588 Water off a ducks back to me ,bigger fish in my life to fry than him.
KIMTOON(Quote)
dave yes munich is speaking to me now ive accepted his apoligey 😆 😉
batty(Quote)
Big D, Ice was missing so Batty started picking on me mate, a few weeks ago 😆 …but everythings cool now…
Munich Mag(Quote)
where has the almighty fountain of knowledge gone 😕
batty(Quote)
Batty, it wasn’t easy but I’ve come round now, some blokes though are beyond help. 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)