A game away at title-chasing Manchester City is perhaps not the best way to start the season, although on the other side of the coin it does at least get it out of the way early doors.
As you might be able to tell from that last bit I’m not exactly hopeful of picking up a result in Manchester but that doesn’t mean I’d be happy to see us go through the motions like we always seem to do against City. This group of players, lack of investment aside, were not great last season and now they have to set about showing that they justify the hype surrounding them.
From players to manager to those above, questions need answering. Are the players we have good enough? Is the manager good enough? Was 5th place the fluke or was 16th due to exceptional circumstances? Will we ever sign anyone ever again on a permanent basis? So many questions, but at least now they can start to be answered.
Manchester City:
Matija Nastasic will miss the game after picking up an ankle injury during pre-season whilst Carlos Tevez and Kolo Toure have now departed the Etihad and (obviously!) won’t face us. However City have spent in the region of £90 million this close season on bringing in Alvaro Negredo, Stevan Jovetic, Jesus Navas and Fernandinho so they aren’t shy of a few replacements.
Newcastle:
Loan signing Loic Remy is absent with a calf injury while Davide Santon also misses out. Jonas Gutierrez is doubtful with hamstring strain. Mehdi Abeid, Shane Ferguson, Adam Campbell and James Tavernier have all been loaned out so aren’t available for consideration.
Previously…
City done the double over us last season winning 3-1 at St James’ Park and 4-0 at the Etihad which isn’t exactly anything to get excited about.
When we’re away from home against City we historically tend to suffer. There have been 78 games played at Manchester City’s various homes over the years with the Citizens coming out on top on 41 occasions compared to just 21 victories for United.
Overall though we do still hold an advantage when you consider games played home and away. Newcastle have notched up 66 victories compared to 56 for City with 36 draws making up the numbers. Remarkably goals scored between the two sides is almost identical with United finding the back of the net 233 times compared to City’s 223 goals scored against us.
Match stats and facts:
United last beat City almost eight years ago in September 2005 with Michael Owen scoring the goal on that occasion. We’ve faced each other 13 times since.
City have recorded seven straight victories against us. The last time we managed to avoid defeat against City was when Joe Kinnear was in charge of football managing matters.
United’s first away Premier League fixture of the season has resulted in nine defeats, five draws and five victories from 19 games.
Final thought…
After the way last season went, and seeing how the summer has gone, my final thought is how high can I count such is my lack of optimism regarding this game. I expect us to get nothing so if we get something it will be a bonus for me. That doesn’t mean that a lack of effort is allowed. If we lose to the better team on the day then that’s fine so long as I cans see we’ve given it a go and haven’t turned up thinking we’re going to lose before a ball is kicked. As a fan I might think that, but I’m also not paid tens of thousands of pounds a week to give 100% and be professional.
Still, I might be pleasantly surprised.
Howay the lads!
Date: Monday, 19th August, 2013
Time: 8:00pm
Venue: The Etihad Stadium
3-1 defeat if we stick 2gether. if not 4-1, 5-1 😥
Padew is all talk again after he went quiet after Joes appointment, can’t compete, he’s happy with squad, mike wants a striker, its a tough transfer window.. blah blah blah.
hopefully all this talk of fitness, good shape, new attacking ethos etc will come to fruition because Pardews still wiping the egg of his face from last season..
i predict 3 points from the first 3 games. 4, if we get lucky.
mark(Quote)
oh dear.. bottom of the prediction league 😛
32 (New) richietoon -5 -5 0
33 (New) Carlos11 -10 -10 0
33 (New) rocketman -10 -10 0
33 (New) stu1892 -10 -10 0
36 (New) _C_C_ -20 -20 0
37 (New) briggsy1975 -25 -25 0
38 (New) Brisvegas -30 -30 0
39 (New) malsie -40 -40 0
40 (New) peternakan -60 -60 0
40 (New) slavvers
mark(Quote)
Bloody hell man, I was just starting to get into the last thread 😉
As long as the efforts there on Monday then I’ll be happy-ish, but if we are to have a good season we should be looking to get 6 points from the 2 home games 4 minimum, yep I know it’s early doors but after last season I suspect a bad start and confidence “may” start to disappear fairly rapidly.
I have predicted 2-2 in the predictor league for Monday but as I’m almost bottom of the league I created don’t read too much into my predictions 😆
richietoon(Quote)
I would like to be more optimistic but to be honest when “The last time we managed to avoid defeat against City was when Joe Kinnear was in charge of football managing matters.” is the reason for optimism Joes’ back 😆 😆 😆 👿 I’ve got to be a bit nervous
Premandup(Quote)
Thanks Toonsy.
Well I’m dreading it tbh ,no excitement here ,wait yonks for a new season to start then you have City and you got to wait all the way until Monday night just to get thrashed. 🙁 😳
I just feel flat really.I can even sense a tad of apathy setting in ,such as been our inactivity this window. Maybe a late signing or two will lift my mood or a nice draw ,a surprise win even 😉 ,who am I kidding .
KIMTOON(Quote)
Seriously a total wipeout would make two home wins following that much harder. A decent performance and a confidence builder is what is needed.
Premandup(Quote)
tbh. I’m not looking forward at all to the new season. I’m looking at our two home games as relegation games that we need to win.
We can’t bank on new signings being made so I’m putting all my hopes on Remy. Once hes up and running I think we’ll have better balance, until then its same old from relegation candidates of lst yr..
mark(Quote)
Cheers for the new thread Toonsy as I tried to get on a few times yesterday but my phone wouldnt let me 👿
I would except a 2-1 defeat aslong as we show a bit of heart and desire. As IMO now is the time to get City before they get gelling and in their stride
But I fear a bit of a hammering and our heads dropping
Big Dave(Quote)
We struggled fitness wise against the mighty Rangers, and a couple of average Portugese outfits. There again, these games are just about gaining fitness 😉
Man City away will be a doddle 😉
1 point after the first 3 league games will have Pardew blubbering to the press, and Kinnear giving it the big silent treatment 👿
Munich Mag(Quote)
kna first season i have felt down about,same old **** coming from pardews gob,but a clever back healing by him saying its up to joe to get them players in,but i did enjoy the scum kicking off on there forum about how **** they were and want the manager oot ect ect 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
Ice I can never remember feeling so low about the Toon.
I normally look forward to the new season and our chances of doing well, but not this time around but the it will replace the boredom of the transfer window
Big Dave(Quote)
I know the players are all professional and earning gazillions of pounds per week, but at the end of the day they are only human too.
I cannot believe that the shock of the near relegation last season and the lack of investment in the close season will go untouched. The morale within the team must be weakened somewhat. Anyone who has played the game will recognise that too, once the belief in the managers methods begin to be questioned, and the general morale affected then you are in big trouble. I think the danger of this worsening is accentuated by the number of non-english speaking personnel in the group.
I’m sure we’ll put in the effort, but our lack of tactical nous from Pardew will really be a governing factor.
It would be really refreshing to see a toon team playing with wind in their sails as opposed to a backs to the wall defensively minded by-chance tactics employed by Pardew.
Make no doubt about it, this hallmark and style or lack of style to our play belongs solely to Pardew, this is his team at the end of the day.
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM I agree with you mate 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
Big D, I really fear us getting off to a bad start. I fear that Cabaye holds the key to our season, if he doesn’t get it right then we are in for another tough season.
The morale in the team must be brittle as it is, a fücing blind man can see we have no goals in the side.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Cheer up Big Dave, you still have your mate Aussie to hang out with on here
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Funny thing is what I here coming from the players is “we finished 5th, were stronger, we can do better this year” wonder if their right and we are all wrong.
Premandup(Quote)
Some teams looked pretty decent yesterday. But then again, they’ve strengthened their squad – we haven’t!
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart, some teams looked ****…. and… they strengthened their team…
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
MM yeah I agree with you on Cabaye also for me Benny could be a key holder if we can keep him fit.
Aussie atleast you lighten the mood and give us a laugh 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
We can still win against the easier teams hopefully.
stem(Quote)
As I said yesterday I’m not letting Ashley, JfK or any other fecker stop me looking forward to the new season with my usual, blind faith, optimism, dreams, hopes etc etc. Newcastle United is my club not theirs( though I may struggle to prove it in a court of law) **** them and the horse they rode into toon on, it’s going to be our year this year, Champions league qualification and win a cup, yep I feel it in my bones…and I shall keep this “fuzzy wuzzy” feeling until at least 2045 on Monday, Howay the Lads
richietoon(Quote)
Richie, you’ve insipided me with that speech/post.. 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
reasons to be cheerful ???
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23724517
Premandup(Quote)
“you’ve insipided me” …is that a good thing or a bad thing? 😉
richietoon(Quote)
I had a braveheart moment Richie, i was ready to go into battle with you 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Cheers everyone. Was going to hold this back whilst I dig out some more stats but thought I’d get it published anyway 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
stats, don’t talk to me about stats. “I know nothing” Their all too negative at the moment
Premandup(Quote)
Team
Krul
Debuchy; MYM; Colo; Dummett
Sissoko; Tiote; Cabaye
HBA; Cisse; Gouffran
Premandup(Quote)
Aussie…Erm, no thanks, rmind me how did it work out for Braveheart again?…actually that’s quite similar to what I I wrote in the comments book at the William Wallace statue in Scotland 😆
richietoon(Quote)
The only stat that matters this early in the season is that we’re above Sunderland in the table at the moment, we’ve even given the feckers a 2 day head start too
richietoon(Quote)
Prem
Agree with the team except I think Pards will prefer Taylor over MYM.
MM
Don’t need to worry about Morale, they went paintballing
Andymag(Quote)
Richie 😆 i wouldn’t really run into battle with you… i can’t really see you leading the pack as everyone ran forward 😉 😆 i see you at the back of the pack, more from fitness than courage 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Campbell came on for Carlisle ,ranger came off the bench for Swindon and Tavernier has a bad foot injury
stevo(Quote)
hope dummy dosent start not convinced against a big club ,the will target him and make him look daft.the lad needs to be out on loan imo(dummy was poor out on loan)only played well a couple of times for st mirran
stevo(Quote)
love to see young Campbell get a full game for Carlisle im sure he will
stevo(Quote)
No matter how much optimism I try to generate, I can’t see us coming away from this game with anything less than a 3-0 spanking. Hopefully we keep our head as our recent knack of giving away penalties and we could end up with one of our radgies – Debuchy, Cabaye, Tiote, getting sent off 🙄 On the other hand we could be worrying over nothing as Pardew must have a tactical master plan in mind as he is confident we will get a result from our now superfit players playing a positive game now he has found his book of football tactics he lost down the sofa a few years ago..
Just want this one out of the way, pray old Joe can prise some dosh out of the Totteridge recluse, and remain reasonably coherent to get us another striker and a winger ‘over the line’ before the transfer window slams shut. HWTL.
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Aussie 😥 1 hour of exercise daily so I reckon I can still give most on here a run for their money…especially the young un’s who class playing computer games all day as exercise and live of Mc D’s…bloody hell I’m knackered after typing that 😆
richietoon(Quote)
debuchy worries me a lot ,a feeling we will go to ten men if pards keeps playing him,(wich he will)
stevo(Quote)
Anyone else see the Wigan game on the football league show? Mcmannaman got sent off 😈 , dirty ******* lunged studs up and Coyle tried to justify it by saying he got the ball, a pundit agreed it was harsh. Ridiculous.
Andymag(Quote)
Love the optimism on here – it’s on a par with my own.
georgio(Quote)
Stevo thats my worry as well. Him and Cabaye seem like nasty little sods when things aren’t going their way, so it won’t take much if they’re under the cosh
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Premandup@23 reasons to be cheerful ??? Why mate ? From a “stability” perspective, or a “success perspective” ?
The gist from the article is sacking your manager for short term gain doesn’t necessarily pay off in the long run.
Pardew took us to nigh-on relegation last season. Is that a reason to be cheerful ? 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
Personally think starting Dummett against city might be a bad move. I do think Dummett has a lot of talent but Navas is one hell of a player and has pace to burn. A bad night against Navas in a heavy defeat for us could knock his confidence and put his progress back 6 months.
I think Yanga M’Biwa looked good at left back last season and his experience could be helpful against city.
My team would be:
4-3-3:
——————Krul—————-
Debuchy-Saylor-Colo-M’Biwa
——————Tiote————–
———Sissoko—-Cabaye—–
Ben Arfa—–Cisse—-Gouffran
Subs:
Elliott
Dummett
Anita
Gutierrez
Marveaux
Sammy
Shola
Oblong(Quote)
Geordie Deb @41 to be honest I have no problem having players who show a bit of steel in their play. We have that in Tiote, Cabaye and Debuchy. It’s just a question of whether it is enough and/or even wanted in the high octane EPL..
Must say I’m not a big fan of the niggly foot left in type of tackles which Cabaye seems to have about him. However I’ve got no problem with wholeherted robust tackles, which are part and parcel of the game.
The big problem these days is the league has so many athletic players that they can get themselves in and out of trouble in the blink of an eye, so mistimed tackles are bound to come about. Going out to knowingly foul or maim players is just way out of order, Tiote seems to have that side of his game under control..
Here in Germany there is a tendency to roll around after a tackle waving the imaginery yellow card with one hand whilst holding your injured part with the other hand. Now that is way out of order 👿 👿
Munich Mag(Quote)
Pardew going on about us needing a striker. We have needed a descent striker even since Ba left. He should change the record instead of saying something that isn’t going to happen. P.E.A, Gomis, Bent the list is almost endless and nothing. Pardew will make us look like fools this season. Ashley has no passion for this club and it’s the fans that suffer. Please sale and take Kinnear and Pardew with you. Let them loose on Ranger’s fc ( It’s harsh on Ranger’s fc). Ashley you really our a parasite and I hope you f.o
stem(Quote)
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/alan-pardew-newcastle-united-cant-5747224
well here’s a new one from pardew – not!
i’m getting a bit sick of this bloke constantly telling us we can’t compete – change the record you smarmy cockney conman!!
or better still – keep your gob shut until you get peddled in the autumn.
ashley/jfk/pardew/wonga = no hope.
roy cropper(Quote)
Can’t compete with Man City!!!! We cannot compete with ANY premier league club – FACT!
They all show more ambition than us. Where’s the money from our improved shirt sponsorship or the money from the increased TV deal?
Stuart79(Quote)
Of course we can’t compete with Man City. No-one can, it’s a fact.
This is just Pardew laying the ground work for when this season goes to rat-****. The man is befuddled, and way out of his depth.
A simple question. Do we hear ANY other manager from a small mid-table club talking like this ? Chris Houton, Mark Hughes, Michael Laudrup….in fact ANYONE outside of the top 6 ? Even PURPORTING to be in a position to compete financially, or traditionally, against the top 6 ? Then WHY does our bloke do it. ?
Cos he’s simply a deluded fool trying to detract the attention from HIS team. He’s just covering his ****, always has done, always will do.
Make no doubts about it, this is HIS team. When we fall flat it will be him who bites the bullet. Then the next bloke can move in, we know he’s waiting in the wings. He hasn’t started calling Ancelotti, Morinho, Ferguson etc yet, he’s waiting for the right time 😳
Munich Mag(Quote)
never mind the sponsorhip money or tv money i knew we would see nowt of that,but what about the 20mil he promised he would ploy into the club every year its all bullshit that comes out of this lots gobs 👿 👿
icedog(Quote)
Oblong – re Dummett and getting set back six months if he gets towelled up.. it’s funny, in the AFL here in oz, the opposite applies. In the AFL, if you are good enough it doesn’t matter how old you are as long as you are18 + . Coaches will let young players get well beaten by top players to show them where they need to get to. The young players have to mix it with the big boys, there is very little protecting of players, you go out and play hard. The benefit the AFL has is that no team gets relegated so you can blood young players. But, i think some young football players get a little over protected and should be thrown to the wolves (for want of a better word)
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
@Aussie
I think it depends on the character of the player to how they react to a tough game. Throwing him in could be either the making or breaking of him in my opinion. You are right though. If they are good enough they are old enough…maybe I’m just being over cautious. Look at Ward at Soton 18 and shows little nerves and has the making of a very good player. For the record I think Santon would struggle against Navas as well.
Oblong(Quote)
@ Aussie
On a different note. I have a mate who has moved over to Darwin. He was wondering what the best streaming sights are for PL over there? Any idea’s?
Oblong(Quote)
Oblong – Navas will cause lots of problems for who ever lines up against him.. as far as player reactions go, if i were a manager and a player dropped his bundle after a tough game/opponent, i would seriously doubt whether they would be good enough to make it. If they took it on the chin and worked harder as a result, i would see that as a good trait in a player. Of course we are not taking talent into account here but attitude makes a huge difference..
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
the thing is we can compete – it’s just we have an owner the chose not to.
and for that reason you find yourself as team manager at a club you really shouldn’t be anywhere near – so if i was you i’d change the record & hope that your master doesn’t have a change of heart anytime soon.
time for an ale or few.
roy cropper(Quote)
Foxtel , is the only way as far as tv goes mate.. they show every game live.as far as computer streams go, i have no idea as i have foxtel 😉
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Regarding young Dummett, the main requirement for a full back imo is the ability to defend. Secondly, is the ability of the same player to get forward and offer something attacking wise. However, the defending must come first.
Haven’t seen enough of young Dummet to make a call, but if the lad can defend then it’s a good start. In Pardew we trust, if he’s says he’s ready then he’s ready. Pardew was touted as the next manager of the English national team so he must know what he’s on about.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Oblong, this is a great site mate…
http://www.coolsport.tv/schedule.html
Munich Mag(Quote)
Careful when you click on any of Eminems ‘great’ sites 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
I will tell him to get that and stop being so tight!!
On Dummet…He is going to get his chance this season at somepoint so I suppose we will be able to see how he reacts to the bigger games. If he was to burst onto the scene could we see Santon challenging Debuchy on the right hand side?
Oblong(Quote)
Cheers Munich.
A full back who can defend?? Not at Newcastle mate 😆
Oblong(Quote)
AussieMag@58 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
Oblong, I don’t think Santone is a right back mate… I’m not sure if he is a left back either to be honest 😆 😆
Man oh man, it promises to be a fantastically exciting EPL this season, several clubs manning up with new players, managerial changes at several of the big clubs, exciting times ahead.
The big difference this season is that the mid-table clubs seem to have added strength in depth, plus brought in new signings which will put NUFC under even more pressure 👿 👿 We need a bit more about us than “having great fans and 50,000 at every home game”…. we need players too 👿 👿
Munich Mag(Quote)
we can’t compete with Championship clubs going off we’ve spent.
MA knows SD couldnt compete without showing ambition and money. Why does he think NUFC can get away without it..
mark(Quote)
new firstrow sports link
http://www.firstrow.org/
mark(Quote)
different types of left back n right backs,defensive minded defenders are what nufc fans love attack minded fullbacks nufc fans also love but don’t like it when they are blasting up the field n get caught short that’s the risk,defensive,simpson,williamson,taylor,perch …….attacking santon,tavernier ,dummet,debuchy……you cant play them all
stevo(Quote)
Well, at last the waiting’s over and the season has almost started.
Early Cisse goal tomorrow before predictable defeat.
georgio(Quote)
Stevo , That’s the problem isn’t it. Yes we love to see fullbacks bombing forward with good end product ,but I’m not seeing much evidence going on last season anyway. If there is little quality end product as in no goals being created /scored then we just as well keep players like Simmo, Raylor ,Perch who at least , by and large defend well ,after all if we aren’t scoring we at least need to not be shipping a load too.
KIMTOON(Quote)
I think the fans know Newcastle can’t compete financially with the top clubs.
If we could, we wouldn’t need to employ someone as **** as Pardew as manager. Or have someone as **** as Shola in the first team squad.
This Paulista looks like a brilliant player. Soldado is another great buy.
If Spurs keep hold of Bale, I’d tip them for top three. Even without Bale they are much better than our squad. MUCH better.
JJ(Quote)
Kimtoon,
I think our some of our fans are more clueless than Pardew.
They are so critical of Santon and Debuchy. Saying they are “out of position” and “can’t defend”.
Firstly this is going to happen with attacking fullbacks from time to time.
Secondly, the reason they are caught out of position so often is because the wingers in front of them are normally too deep or too static, so they aren’t drawing defenders away or creating space or passing opportunities. Our central midfielders are also normally too deep so they have at best one option to aim for in the box (when crossing).
So what happens is they try a miracle pass, or cross which is cut out and then they are left out of position when the opposition counter attack.
The ONE thing I want to see this season is decent movement off the ball from our players. And midfielders looking to get into scoring positions in the box when we have the ball out wide.
JJ(Quote)
If we were supposedly looking at bringing in 2 strikers in Gomis and an “older” striker in Bent why are we not looking at Defoe?? His chances of starting games are going to be limited at Spurs this season and he is still arguably the best finisher in the prem!
Oblong(Quote)
Newcastle (from): Krul, Elliot, Debuchy, S Taylor, Yanga-Mbiwa, Coloccini, Santon, Ben Arfa, Obertan, Tiote, Cabaye, Sissoko, Anita, Gutierrez, Shola Ameobi, Gouffran, Cisse, Marveaux.
is the squad, appaently
Premandup(Quote)
MM reasons to be cheerful. None really just a way of introducing the article. For the Pardew bashers
I thought Saylor, Santon & Jonas were doubtful, but that is a decent 18 for tomorrow.
Premandup(Quote)
Oblong @69 ,I been banging on about Defoe for yonks now . I think he could do a great job for us and if we were considering Bent then surely Defoe is equally as good if not better.
JJ@68 ,I’m really not convinced on Debuchy yet mate ,I see a lot of petulance there too ,hopefully he’ll come good as Enrique did and Colo . As for Santon ,I’m sure he’s more a winger than a FB.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Munich Mag @44, agree with that.
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Got Chelsea at 2-0 on the Predictor League, said Tottenham would win 1-0 so climbing the table. 😉
JJ(Quote)
I can see Pardew playing 4 2 3 1 tomorrow. I just hope they pass the ball around and create chances. If we get hammered and lose to West ham then Pardew needs to go. If Ashley has no ambition then why should the fans be ? Pardew is just to stubborn to walk away and Kinnear is nowhere near as good as he makes out.
stem(Quote)