So far it’s been a perfect November which has rained nothing but wins for Alan Pardew who must take some of the credit for this recent run given that he is quick to have the flak aimed in his direction when things go wrong.
A fourth league win on the spin would be our best sequence of results since that late season charge in March/April 2012 which saw us qualify for Europe at the end of that campaign. Coincidentally three points against Steve Clarke’s Baggies would likely see us climb the table and occupy a European space come the end of the evening depending on results elsewhere of course.
Newcastle:
Mathieu Debuchy is available once more after missing the victory against Norwich weekend due to suspension. Moussa Sissoko and Yohan Cabaye are just one yellow card each away from joining Debuchy on the naughty step for one game as a result of the five yellow card “totting up” process.
Mike Williamson will continue in defence but the question mark will be over who partners him. For me Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa has done nothing wrong and should retain his place but his shift out to the right of defence to deputise for Debuchy last weekend makes it likely that Captain Colo will resume his role in the centre of defence.
Jonas Gutierrez is back in training and Paul Dummett should be contention for a place on the bench whilst Haris Vuckic and James Tavernier have both once again headed out on loan with both players making the switch to League One outfit Rotherham United.
West Brom:
Steve Clarke has been very ague in the build up to the match and has admitted that he has lots of niggling injury problems but remained coy on which players were affected and whether they are affected badly enough to miss the trip to Tyneside.
What we do know however is that Scott Sinclair, Billy Jones and Liam Ridgewell have been sidelined in recent weeks. All of them are nearing comebacks for Albion but none are expected to be fit enough to start tomorrow.
Previously…
Previously there have been lots of goals between the two sides! Seriously…
There is a perception that West Brom have been a bogey side for us in recent years but previous encounters don’t back that notion up. Last season we drew 1-1 at The Hawthorns after beating the 2-1 at St James’ Park. The season before that they beat us 3-2 at St James’ Park before we took all three points in a 3-1 victory in the Black Country.
At St James’ Park there have been 59 matches played with United winning 29 times compared to 17 victories for West Brom with 13 draws played out between the two sides.
Overall West Brom just shade the head-to-head having won 43 of the previous encounters compared to United’s 42 wins. Add another 32 draws between the two clubs into the equation and that should total 117 matches in all competitions between the two sides.
Match stats and facts…
The Baggies have won just one of seven Premier League games away to Newcastle.
Lyon are the only side from the top five European leagues to have scored more goals courtesy of French players.
Victor Anichebe has scored more Premier League goals against Newcastle United than against any other team.
Albion have drawn four of their last six league games but only lost once in the last nine games.
Final thought…
Well I’m still waiting for us to crash and burn if I’m honest with you. That’s not to say that I want us to lose, far from it in fact and I’d be delighted if this run continues. However it’s going to end sometime and with things going so well wouldn’t it just be very Newcastle for something to go drastically wrong in this one?
Having said that we do look pretty neat. We’ve been fairly solid in defence, have played some decent stuff and right now I always fancy us to score a goal or two with players like Loic Remy, Yoan Gouffran and even Shola Ameobi in good form. Let’s hope that continues against West Brom.
Howay the lads!
Date: Saturday, 30th November, 2013
Time: 5:30pm
Venue: St James’ Park
Fancy a flutter? Looking for the best odds for the match? Or indeed any match? Then why not take a look at the top UK bookmakers and have a flutter. There are bonuses for new sign ups!
Thanks Toonsy , you have saved us from the collective Shola love in that was going on, on the last thread 😉 . Seriously though Shola did good last week let’s hope it continues tomorrow if he starts. Will this be the week Cisse finds his form, I do hope so.
KIMTOON(Quote)
HOWAY LES LADS
Newkie(Quote)
A win today/tomorrow morning would be a wonderful thing. It’d put us even further up there with the big boys of the PL and should officially mean that we are having a great season (if they can say that about Southampton …).
I’m a bit pissed off that the kick off is at 3.30 in the morning. Stupid time to play a game. Somebody should say something to those that matter. I’d much prefer something like 10pm. Yeah, that’d be good. And I’m sure nobody in England would mind going to a game at 8 in the morning – a few breakfast ales and a whole day in front of you to digest the game.
Howay the lads.
brisvegas(Quote)
@ Kim
It was all a joke on my behalf. He’s f’ckin useless! 😆
@Begas
You seem distant from me lately. I feel we are drifting apart. 😕
I appreciate your idea about changing the times of the game to suit your time difference but, West Bromwich is 8 hrs behind the Toon so it would mean they would be watching the game at midnight if we played at 8am. 😯
Crazy world. Crazy crazy crazy crazy! 🙄
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@Newkie
Great informative input there fella. 😉
Maybe you could expand your Francais in future posts to Allume Les Garçons.
It might make you seem a little more educated than a squirrel. 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Is that a problem, Troy?
That applies to all aspects of your post, btw.
brisvegas(Quote)
Troy @4, Just as I thought 😀
KIMTOON(Quote)
@Begas
Ouch! 😉 you seem so aggressive and short with me. 😯
I feel we have so much in common but you hold things back which would make me smile. I know you can’t be as miserable as you let on. 😆
I’m looking forward to the match tomoz. We are gonna show those Pardew knockers a thing or two. 4 big wins in a row. Who would have imagined that some on here suggested he should be sacked without giving him a fair crack at the whip. 🙄
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Right. Off to my laundry basket. 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Nous allons les batter.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Slightly off topic… who do you reckon is a better striker Shola or Cisse ? 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Vegas, if you draw up a petition for more earlier premier league kick off’s for Newcastle, I will sign it mate!
Personally I love the lunchtime kick off’s which works out to around 8pm my time..
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Petition:
Change the fucking times of games so that Brisvegas can watch Newcastle play before midnight,
brisvegas(Quote)
That’s a first draft. I might have to fine tune the wording a bit.
brisvegas(Quote)
I think the wording is a little strong but not over the top… leave it as is..
carnn the Glory!
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
TOONARMY 2 WBA 0 😀
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
Off to the match.
Caaaaarn the Roar!
brisvegas(Quote)
Caaaaarrrrnnnn the Glory
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Credit where it’s due. The Throstles are better singers than Magpies. I’m expecting some good tunes from their fans today.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Wow, just read the last threat.
Some people really are sensitive.
Why, just because I showed stats to show that Cisses first touch and passing has actually been better than Sholas this season, do people see it as Shola bashing?
I was simply saying Cisse is judged on a higher level. Whereas with Shola there is zero expectation.
Just don’t want people to lose faith in Cisse. I still believe he’ll come good.
Shola deserves his place ATM, but I won’t be surprised if his Norwich performance was a once off. Hope its not.
Least Big Dave understands.
I guess that’s because he and Ice understand the game like I do. Obviously because they’ve actually played it competitively. Unlike a few others on here. 😉
JJ(Quote)
6-0 today… Four for Shola and one for Cisse!
JJ(Quote)
Hope today marks the return of spidey to the pitch. Will be a better option than the alien or Sammy. Then saying that JJ and Troy would be a better option than the alien
toby le rhone(Quote)
Shola or Cisse. Could the answer be one is going to the world cup and the other isn’t
toby le rhone(Quote)
Toby,
That must be the most ridiculous argument ever.
How many World Cups did Ryan Giggs play in?
I suppose Shola is better than Ibrahimovic too. 😆
JJ(Quote)
3-0 win
Hope Mbiwa starts over Colo. Would be a good show of confidence to him on the back of some great performances.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
This is a game tjat we really should be getting something from it, but so often in the past we didnt give it our all and ended up with nowt.
But I think we seem to be a lot stronger and determined so i’m going for a 3-1 win
Big Dave(Quote)
JJ
Point taken. A silly point to make a case for. How about one is a goal threat and the other isn’t
toby le rhone(Quote)
I have a bad feeling about this game… 😕
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
ST I agree with you but I have a funny feeling that Colo wont be the one on the bench 😕 which wont send a good message to others.
Big Dave(Quote)
Ouch Toby! 😯
I don’t know what I’ve said to upset you 😯
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy
You couldn’t do anything to upset me. It’s match day and I am buzzing. Enjoy your day and for us north of the border happy st andrews day
toby le rhone(Quote)
Christ this is grim reading http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25089406
I guess that’s one big major + for Ashley. Regardless of whether we become mediocre, he’ll leave us in good financial nick.
Not sure if I agree with Coventry fans actions (though I understand), seems a bit like cutting off your nose to spite your face.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
2-0 to the toon!
Cabaye and Remy on the score sheet..
Toon Toon
mark(Quote)
This Cisse vs Shola talk is as inane as Richie’s defence of Troys wrong comments yesterday 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
😆 Just went on Shola’s wikipedia. Someone has slipped in a hilarious little paragraph.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
@Aussie
Richie is still banging his head against Ayres Rock 😛
NITHOB has a little Australian been so wrong 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@Toby
****! I was hoping I had upset you! 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
A good start to the evening after thrashing KloggerKlub of Perth. Looking forward to carrying on the good work at St James’.
brisvegas(Quote)
JJ@20, don’t worry mate that you made a ham fisted effort trying to big up Cisse by having a pop at Geordie Legend Makkem Slayer, new found Super Eagle Shola Ameobi 🙂
……”Just don’t want people to lose faith in Cisse. I still believe he’ll come good.”….. 😉 😉 😉
If we are losing faith in Cisse (which I am not btw), then it is down to lots of things, but not down to Cisse. It is patently for a number of reasons, Pardew playing him out wide, WongaGate, those barn doors being far too small, the dastardly Demba Ba, too much travelling to world cup qualifiers, a dodgy Chicken Madras made by his mate the fast driving Cheik Tiote, the whole of the EPL misunderstanding the offside rules etc 🙂 :-). Once Cisse starts battering in the goals watch the fickle fans turn to support him again 🙂
By the way I’ve played football too, so I understand where you are coming from 🙂 🙂
Munich Mag(Quote)
Morning Chaps Long time no speak!
Just came on to talk about who should play at CB this afternoon?
ST – completely agree mate.
Each time I watch Colo recently he looks like a grumpy little spoilt brat.
I will be fuming if AP plays Colo, Mbiwa is clearly our future and I think Willo is helping him become better. Colo will leave so why not drop him?
Also anyone agree Mbiwa actually suits Williamson more?
Quicker, Stronger and busier than Colo is. Colo has been dodgy since last year man time to move on.
BIGPAPA(Quote)
So hoping Willo and Ameobi play well again. They seem paramount if we are to play 442. And keep clean sheets.
BIGPAPA(Quote)
Collo, Mbwia and Willo can all be “dodgy” if they put there minds to it.
However, at the moment only one of them is a “footballer” and Mbwia will improve..
Munich Mag(Quote)
Been keeping up to date with everything recently and it looks like our ambition could see us lose Remy, Cab and Colo over the summer.
Personally think Cabaye is the best player we’ve had since Shearer.
Remy is fast replacing Ba and the way we play we are looking at losing the best 2 players in our team.
Colo has gone right off the boil and Mbiwa is starting to come good. The goal-line clearance at Spurs is probably the best clearance I have ever seen. If Carlsberg did goal-line clearances….
BIGPAPA(Quote)
If we avoid defeat today I’ll be a happy. A win would be brilliant !
Howay the Lads !!!
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM – up to you who would you play CB?
BIGPAPA(Quote)
It baffles me when seeing the criticism Cabaye gets, this lad is really special IMO. All action and no shortage of takers if he leaves. Top Quality. Ran the France game and have you seen some of their “stars”?
If you look at Man U since Scholes left how big of a hole ha it left?
Seen a stat that we haven’t scored in the games Yohan didn’t play this year…. 😯
BIGPAPA(Quote)
Big P@45… …today I would play Willo and Mbwia….
Welcome back by the way mate 🙂 !
Munich Mag(Quote)
Big P … we’ve been “losing” Cab and Colo for the last 18 months, whereas Remy isn’t our to lose 🙁 The only way Remy will sign for the toon is if one of the “big” clubs don’t want him….(meeting his wage demands being the other issue)… (on Jan 2013 Remy signed a 4,5 year deal at QPR, so in theory he could stay at QPR on big spondoolicks if they get promoted back to the EPL…..)
Munich Mag(Quote)
is this the game we fall on our **** who knows its the toon owt can happen not going to forcast as it comes back and bites your *** 😀 how can we compare shola to cissie,how long has shola been here 15yrs is it and how many goals has he scored ffs,ok cissie is poor at the moment but he will come good imo bloody sure it wont take 15yrs,funny how shola has played canny after being picked for his country why was he **** most games before that,very fickle fans a couple of canny games and hes a hero,not in my book the guy is never PL class
icedog(Quote)
off subject for mo,w/ham in talks with Gormis about jan move,they still want 7mil for him,noway imo 😯
icedog(Quote)
Cheers MM.. good to be back.
I agree we have been losing them since we did nothing in the summer of finishing 5th. I’d happily let Colo go for free, but only if it means keeping Remy or Cabaye.
Good shout mate, Willo and Mbiwa certainly are the ones who deserve to start. As I said Colo looks like he’s constantly sulking recently.
What do you think of the HBA situation mate?
Looking back 2 years ago and all the hard work we did to finish 5th didn’t really involve him until the latter part of it. Is he too much of a luxury for us? I think we look a bit exposed at times when HBA plays in front of Debuchy.
Love him like, but we can’t get him in at the moment and I would certainly keep the same team from Chelsea and Spurs.
BIGPAPA(Quote)
Looking forward to the game. I’m really hoping we can get 3 points today but I’m still a little nervous. We really need this win today because our next two games our away to Swansea and Manu ( the bogey). 1973 was the last time we won at old trafford and every year I keep saying our lucks got to change sometime.
stem(Quote)
Ice – probably coz they know WH are stupid enough to pay it!. I reckon they’ll ask that at the start of the window but he’ll go for a lot less nearer the end of it.
Speaking of French football, I’m watching Marsielle v Montpellier on BT Sport and its nee surprise that Debuchy and MYM have took so long to settle in. The defenders get SO much time over there, there is no press the ball at all. It’s really boring!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
ICEDOG- good points mate but why has he never played outside the Prem if he isn’t prem standard? Why has he scored in the Nou Camp if he is so poor. Maybe being a constant 4th choice in the last few years never really motivated him, playing for Nigeria certainly seems to have inspired him.
Someone pointed it out at how well he plays with another striker,the other day I was thinking back from the last few years…
I would have to say the best results have mainly come with Ameobi: .
I think you’ll find Ameobi and Remy is the best partnership we currently have.
BIGPAPA(Quote)
Ameobi was the best player on the pitch against Norwich!
Feels very strange typing that, mind
BIGPAPA(Quote)
He’s like Willo in my opinion, boring Englishmen that don’t stand out for pace or skill but know how to do the job. I bet Shearer enjoyed Ameobi’s flick down for his volleyed goal against Everton that was voted as the best Goal in Prem history: and guess what? Big Shola got the assist!!
BIGPAPA(Quote)
Sharpy – I saw that.
What the last few weeks prove is that this team need someone to play off so Gomis should be one of our targets for sure if he is how he is described.
BIGPAPA(Quote)
BIGPAPA there are many players that have scored a odd goal against top teams doesnt say they are “good” players,if you have to be inspired by outside souces you shoundnt be at the toon,shola has been loaned out before
not sure if it was stoke or not and they could have had him for 1mil but didnt want him 😉
icedog(Quote)
I would like Remy to sign a permanent deal for us but if we don’t sign him in january then we won’t get him unfortunately. I still think Cabaye will leave in january but that’s the way the cookie crumble’s. It’s not about him leaving that bothers me so much but Kinnear finding a decent replacement. Time will tale ?
stem(Quote)
Icedog – I agree his goals record isn’t impressive – same as Emile Heskey’s, but Englands best win in the last 30 years had Heskey in against Germany 5-1. And look what he done for Owen and Fowler at Liverpool and England. I’m not saying he’s unreal but he has been key to our change of formation and recent results IMO.
I think the motivation might fade after a while if you are 4th choice for that long.
Let’s just say he’s our Heskey.
BIGPAPA(Quote)
BIGPAPA i think we have to agree to disagree mate on shola,i never judge a player on a few games or even in a season if they come in from outside the PL,but ive seen shola play to many times and i dont rate him one bit ime afraid,but as i said we will just agree to disagree mate
icedog(Quote)
Big P@51
I reckon on his day HBA is brilliant and I’m ecstatic to have him at the toon. Pardew has to find a away to fit him into the toon side, and it stands to reason that the lad will get a blob on if he isn’t playing. The big question is who will get there first, Pardew or Ben Arfa ? In the mean time we have a joker who can come off the bench and change the game for us. If he could last the game whilst maintaining the defensive shape of the team I’m sure Pardew would play him, but Pardew seems to have chosen the collective group ahead of flash in the pan players.
One of the big improvements on last season is often teams didn’t fear our front line, because they had little to offer. Now we have Remy, Goofy and Shola keeping the opponents busy, plus our own team can take heart from the fact that we have a bit of fire power up front.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Big Papa, whereas seemingly equally so derided, Heskey was light years ahead of Shola mate… 🙄
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM – there is no doubt that “on his day HBA is brilliant”, but the fact is that those days are too few and far between. If they were then I’d agree that Pardew would have to find a way of getting the team to play around him, but they are not and because of that I think it’s right he’s sat on the bench.
We were relegated with a team full of ‘on their day’ players, and players should not be selected on what they can do but what they are doing. At the moment I don’t see how you can drop Remy, Shola or Gouffran. I also think that Cabaye, Tiote and Sissoko are in form so I don’t see where Benny plays at the moment.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy17, I agree with you mate. If HBA isn’t doing the business then he won’t find his way into the team. In the mean time Pardew is keeping the collective group intact, and the results mean HBA can’t get into the team. A tricky one really…
Munich Mag(Quote)
I’m amazed that this Cisse v Shola debate rumbles on to be honest. The fact is simple, neither are good enough. Neither are going to score us 15-20 goals this season. Shola is doing the basics right at the moment but is he excelling?. What other PL sides would he play regularly in?. He’s doing a good job for us at the moment but he’s also playing for a contract so he’s got every reason to be put that bit extra in.
Cisse is off form at the moment and has been for some time. I don’t think he or Pardew knows the answer. I think even if his goal stood against Norwich it wouldn’t have been the breaker.
I hope he finds his form again, but even if he does, we need better options up front.
If we sign Gomis, Long, Finnbogason, Vossen, Toivonen in Jan, any would get in ahead of Shola or Cisse for me. That’s position that Cisse and Shola play should for me be the main focus of improvement come Jan.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy you really think Sissoko is in form 😯 ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
MM – it will get a whole lot trickier for Pards if he picks Colo over Willo or MYM today IMO.
If I was Benny I’d be knocking on Pards door on Monday and asking how he can drop one of those 2 in form players for Colo – who says he wants to leave. Yet Benny can’t get a game and were supposed to be working on a contract to keep him with us.
There has to be fairness throughout the squad for me and Colo should walk back into the team just coz he’s captain. Not when we’ve been winning games in his absence and Tiote has been a brilliant captain during that time IMO
Sharpy17(Quote)
DAVE it seems to be a problem to pardew this right side,we had Ba there then Cissie and Benny and Oba now Sissoko where is Sissoko best pos?? think we need to look at signing a proper right winger
icedog(Quote)
At the moment Shola is in the team because he is better for the team than Cisse. Cisse would probably outscore Shola by a country mile given equal opportunities but does nothing for the team. Shola with his limited ability and strength is able to bring others into the game.
If we were going to have 65 or 70 per cent posession then Cisse would be the penalty box man you would pick. The reality is we are lucky to get 50 per cent posession in games therefore we need Shola.
Do agree with the comment neither is really the answer and our next signing should be a striker
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Dave – he’s played a lot better in the last 3 games I think mate. He was very good against Chelsea, but I think he’s been given this role from Pards to cover the full back.
I agree with Ice, I’m not sure what his best position is to be honest. But he’s doing a good job for the team at the moment.
Ice – I agree that we need better options on that side. I think a CF is priority, but the right side certainly needs improvement as well.
Sharpy17(Quote)
looks very nice,guess that means no signing in jan jabba has only a shallow pocket 😉
http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20131130/united-announce-new-training-ground-plans_2281670_3555556?
icedog(Quote)
Bout time we brought the training facilities into the 21st century!
Stuart79(Quote)
http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20131130/united-announce-new-training-ground-plans_2281670_3555556?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Like finally… the training ground is upgrading… looks very old imo.
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
Ice – does that ground come with any new coaches? 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)