Generally speaking we give it good go against top teams at St James’ Park although we don’t always get the results in our favour. However Manchester City are one of those sides we just never seem to give a good account of ourselves against.
Perhaps it’s just me that thinks that but our results against them have been poor, especially since they became a real force in the Premier League. As documented in the match preview, our last win against the boys from the blue half of Manchester came over eight years ago and the way they are playing at the moment unfortunately means that I can’t see that statistic changing come full-time today.
The key for me is giving it a real good go. Alan Pardew has a tendency to sit back against the stronger sides and see how things go, but against City at the moment I don’t think we’ll get time to do that so we need to be at them from the word go. Give it our all for 90 minutes and you just never know…
You can see a full preview ahead of the match by reading the previously linked preview. It features a history of the fixture, some stats and facts along with early injury news for both sides. For actual team news you’ll need to look at the bottom of this article about an hour before kick-off and you’ll see it in full.
The game is being shown here in the UK and is also being broadcast by a plethora of overseas channels so hopefully there won’t be a lack of streams like last weekend. If you do find a decent stream then please share it by leaving a link in the ‘comments’ section below.
That’s my rambling over with and now it’s up to those at St James’ Park to do the talking. The big question is will those in black and white be leaving us purring with positives or will we be pondering another poor performance?
Howay the lads!
Newcastle:Krul; Santon, S.Taylor, Williamson, Yanga-Mbiwa; Anita, Tiote (c), Cabaye; Sissoko, Remy, Gouffran
Subs: Elliot, Haidara, Gosling, Marveaux, Sammy Ameobi, Ben Arfa, Cisse
Manchester City:Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany (C), Demichelis, Kolarov, Nasri, Fernandinho, Yaya Toure, Silva, Negredo, Dzeko
Subs:Pantilimon, Richards, Lescott, Clichy, Garcia, Milner, Navas
Ben Arfa really disrupts the game for the opposition.
Somebody else said:
‘One of the biggest problems is how the other players games change when he is on the pitch.
Collectively, the desire to move into space seems to almost vanish, as they go into some sort of trance, just watching him do what he does, without seeming to grasp the notion that he might want someone to move, and to have options to pass to.
The second half of the season we finished 5th and there was plenty of useful movement from Cissé, Ba and Cabaye, and Ben Arfa flourished.
Ben Arfa on the bench is more about Pardew’s inability to get the best out him. He has no idea how to manage teams that attack with pace and flair.
KK(Quote)
We’re a decent team who if we had a good manager would be top 6. We also have a team of players who are 90% top class. That extra 10% costs a fortune.
Totally sick though of blasted long shots over the bar. If I was Pardew I’d fine any player shooting over the bar £10k a time. If you can’t find the target and god knows it’s big enough – don’t do it!
georgio(Quote)
KK@301 – absolutely spot on mate!
georgio(Quote)
Dave , I said last night I didn’t like it but I still think De Jongs had more malice in it, but yeah both are idiots for doing what they did.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Georgio which of the top 6 teams are we better than. Certainly our first team is not as good as City. Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool & Spurs, Utd and Everton certainly have much better squads. So even with a better manager I reckon we are still top 10. Hopefully top 8.
However I totally agree that the extra 10% costs a fortune, a better manager would help, but neither seem likely. What we really need is a better bench.
Rumours are that Cisse & Jonas are off so can I have Lucas Piazon (Chelsea on loan to Arnham) and Luuk de Jong pls.
Premandup(Quote)
Norwich signing Jonas for 3 million has to be a good thing ? We could find a better replacement for Shola without Ashley having to spend a penny. Please let these Cisse rumours about joining a club be true.
Terry(Quote)
ssn, FA remind alan Pardew of his responsibilities after touchline altercation with the old **** 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
Prem ,You can ask, but you won’t get.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Prem@305 – alright. Top 8. Pity we can’t make the loans everton have. It’s possible we could push ahead of ManU 🙂
georgio(Quote)
Top 8 is not that bad really. Demba Ba would be a good loan signing and we might be able to catch united in time. Unless the club has a better option ? We have been unlucky lately with results but a win would be good and build from that.
Terry(Quote)
OK Kim. I know but I’d take Nerijus Valskis & Diafra Sakho. Total spend under a million.
Premandup(Quote)
Just been conversing with some City fans ,apparently there was nowt wrong with De Jongs tackle on Benny, he hustled and did a tough but fair tackle where as Mbiwas was a deliberate intention to hurt job 🙄 It seems De Jong who’s foot was on the ground only clattered Benny because of his momentum and actually it was a fantastic challenge, so there you have it.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Prem ,Nope still won’t happen, when will you learn 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
SSN saying Jonas has joined Norwich on loan until end of season
3hourswasted(Quote)
@georgio – 303
Thanks buddy! It was somebody else’s opinion 😆 but i also agree with it.
@Premandup
There are significant bits of the Man Utd, Spurs & Everton squad that are weaker than our squad.
I would say we are at Everton’s level. Our Central Midfield is much better than anything Man Utd have at the moment.
Are our forwards better than Spurs? It’s a tough one but i want to say yes!
‘However I totally agree that the extra 10% costs a fortune, a better manager would help, but neither seem likely. What we really need is a better bench.’ – Not enough fans pay attention to this!! Fantastic point from you & Georgio!
We don’t need to buy a £30m player anytime soon. We need 2 or 3 £10m or £15m players as we’re not competing at the very top where there are very fine margins.
KK(Quote)
REFEREE Mike Jones has been dropped from next weekend’s Premier League fixtures after his controversial decision to rule out Cheik Tiote’s goal for Newcastle United yesterday,
Tiote’s wonder-strike looked to have brought the Magpies level against Manchester City, only for Jones and his assistant Stephen Child to belatedly give an offside decision.
City went on to win 2-0, with the major talking point of the game being Jones’s decision to chalk off Tiote’s goal, after he ruled Yoan Gouffran was interfering with play despite not being in Joe Hart’s line of sight.
The Premier League today announced the referees taking charge of next weekend’s games, and Jones’s name was conspicuous by its absence.
From Shields Gazetter
3hourswasted(Quote)
I hope Mike Jones still gets paid.
He made a mistake so hopefully it doesn’t hurt him too much.
KK(Quote)
More criticism for a player that hardly got a touch because Pardew screwed up and went from a five man to four man midfield.
We lost control of the game and we created nothing for Cisse.
When he has played in the last couple games he’s scored the only chances he’s got.
More than I can say for Remy.
At Newcastle you’re either a God or a useless cu@#.
Some of our fans are absolute tossers.
JJ(Quote)
JJ Name Names. It might be simpler to list those who are not. In your opinion.
Premandup(Quote)
Prem 😆 😉
Just so fed up with the part fans play in destroying players confidence at this club.
That is a massive factor in the lack of success. Some really talented players just never get given a chance.
Willo was a waste now its IRON MIKE.
Tiote was a one hit wonder. Now he’s a BEAST.
Colo was **** his first year. Our genius fans would have sold him for nowt.
I could go on for ever…
One would swear they think we have a divine right to 11 Messi’s.
They need to wake up…
JJ(Quote)
JJ do you feel better now you got that off your chest 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
I have and always will defend players that go through a sticky patch. Especially when you have a manager as limited as Pardew dictating things.
His tactics are usually defensively inclined. We don’t have many players committing into the final third. So the pressure on our strikers to score is immense.
Once they go goalless for a couple months the crowd gets on their bac making it ten times harder.
They are very seldom going to get more than a goal in a game because once we score we usually defend that lead.
We have two great goal scorers in Remy and Cisse. Both are taking unfair criticism.
JJ(Quote)
Dave,
You have no idea how much I contain myself 😛
JJ(Quote)
JJ@323, In the words of Cat Stevens ‘ oh I can’t keep it in ,can’t keep it in, I gotta let it out ‘ 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
So I see Jonas has completed his loan move, good luck to him I am sure he will do a lot more for them
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave ,Agree re Jonas, I liked him personally, yes he’s lost some pace but you can never accuse him of not giving 100% that’s for sure.
KIMTOON(Quote)
JJ-I’ve made a habbit of defending our unfashionable or championship players but if you feel so strongly I imagine people will tell you if you want to shout in support then you should go and do so in the stadium and that if fans are paying their hard earned cash to watch a match they are entitled to act as they wish.
I’ve said I think we have a history, i.e last 20 years of being spoilt for strikers which places unrealistic pressure on anyone who plays up front for us. As for the rest of the squad, much of it is harsh but I’m not sure how different we are from other supporters who seem t odo the same week in week out.
Newkie(Quote)
Another out! Wonder if he’ll be replaced…
Stuart79(Quote)
Yeah good luck to Jonas, he always played with a smile on his face and he seemed like a good character. I think it’s the right move for both parties though, he’s no longer a winger and we have too many options in the centre for him to play. Release a big chunk of wages and get in a real attacking midfielder, winger or striker!
Newkie(Quote)
Is our squad that strong that we can afford to loan Jonas to Norwich while they sell Pilkington and make a profit?!.
That’s a fucking stupid move IMO and does not enable us to move forward or strengthen our squad in any way shape or form!.
Selling him for a couple of mill would at least clear his wages!.
The further into this window we go the more faith I’m loosing in us getting it right. I was ready to give JFK the benefit of time to prove his worth but this is a stupid move I think.
Sharpy17(Quote)
@Sharpy17
It might be good business from the club (Joe Kinnear?).
Apparently Jonas wasn’t allowed to play because something in his contract meant he would get a pay increase.
If he can’t play then we need to get him off the books.
If no one is going to buy a player that has barely played this season, a loan would be a good move.
It means we don’t have to pay wages but obviously the club would have preferred a permanent transfer.
KK(Quote)
I heard Jones the ref in Sundays game has been suspended by the f.a.for his handling of the game,or am I dreaming it,been some talking about it on other sites maybe its their wishful thinking??
icedog(Quote)
I’ve just been looking at some stats & it’s true, Cisse has not been great.
Below is a list of players & how long it took for them on average to get a goal or provide an assist in the league last season:
Remy – 191 mins (1 in 2 games).
Cisse – 300 mins (1 in 3 games).
Ameobi – 337 mins (1 in 4 games).
Gouffran – 353 mins (1 in 4 games).
However, I think KIMTOON has mentioned that Cisse had 7 goals wrongly ruled offside. I don’t think they were all in the league but if we assume they were then:
Cisse – 177 mins (1 in 2 games).
That means he had a better season than Remy last year.
KK(Quote)
KK@331 don’t know about a pay rise but he got another two yrs on his contract after a certain number of games played
icedog(Quote)
KK – I understand that mate, but that will still be the case when he returns won’t it – I’d have thought so anyway.
Loaning him out isnt getting round that clause in his contract, it’s just prolonging it!.
It’s only the 13th of Jan so how do we know a club wouldn’t have came in to buy him?
Why not leave it til the end of the month, if there were no takers I’d rather give him a free transfer or something like that – get the wages off if he’s not gonna play again.
To loan him out benefits Norwich and Jonas – but I fail to see how it benefits us?!
Sharpy17(Quote)
Goals & Assists this season:
Remy – 153.3 mins (1 in 2 games)
Ben Arfa – 176.4 mins (1 in 2 games)
Gouffran – 176.5 mins (1 in 2 games)
Cabaye – 177.13 mins (1 in 2 games)
Cissé – 231 mins (1 in 3 games)
Sissoko – 358 mins (1 in 4 games)
Anita – 1006 mins (1 in 11 games)
So if we were to play 4231 with only 4 forward places available, apparently our best attack would be Remy, Gouffran, Cabaye & Ben Arfa.
KK(Quote)
@ICEDOG
Ah, it was probably an extension then & maybe not a pay rise.
@Sharpy17
I think the assumption is that he’ll go permanent at the end of the season if he performs well with a transfer fee being paid then (or maybe a loan fee being paid now?)
I don’t think we need to worry too much about bad financial management at the club!
KK(Quote)
now I know why the ref chalked off that goal he was getting his own back for sissoko giving him a bloody nose last time he was hear 😆
icedog(Quote)
Jonas will only sign for Norwich in summer if they stay up,if they go down its back to toon I guess 😕
icedog(Quote)
Ice@338,aye it did cross my mind at the time 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
KIM aye they say girls miss nowt 😉
icedog(Quote)
Going forward this season, Gouffran has been just as effective as Ben Arfa.
To those that think Ben Arfa is greedy, he isn’t.
Ben Arfa has scored less but provided more assists than Gouffran.
I’d assume he isn’t getting in the team because Gouffran is better defensively but i’d also assume that Ben Arfa would have better attacking stats if he had started more games.
KK(Quote)
Villa down two nowt already,would love to see them go down
icedog(Quote)
shirt quite suits him actually 😉
Norwich City FC @NorwichCityFC 4h
Argentinian international midfielder Jonas Gutierrez joins City on loan from Newcastle until June 30 pic.twitter.com/leKSHJTd3L
Retweeted by Lee Ryder
KIMTOON(Quote)
I’m going to compare Pardew to Mourinho 😯 ….& Mata to Marveaux 😯 😯
Both Pardew & Mourinho are intrinsically defensive managers that favour cautious organisation & discipline over flair & free attacking football.
Mata was fantastic last season under Benitez & probably the best Chelsea player in terms of performance. Nobody thought he would struggle to break into the team this season.
He was the best assist maker in the league!
Marveaux is not as good as Mata but he has almost the same impact.
He was the fifth best assist maker in the league last season which is better than Walcott, Rooney & Silva!!
In terms of chances created & assists (just what we need), Marveaux is way ahead of everyone else at the club. He creates alot more chances than Cabaye, Sissoko, Ben Arfa, everybody!!
KK(Quote)
Mins per Goal or Assist (last season):
Mata: 93 mins
Marveaux: 199 mins
Cabaye: 266mins
Mins per Chance Created (last season):
Mata: 29 mins
Marveaux: 30 mins
Cabaye: 40 mins
Marveaux is our best creative player. The one thing he lacks is scoring goals but but he creates more goalscoring chances than Cabaye.
Seriously, i knew Marveaux did well last season but i didn’t realise how well he did. Without him, we really would have been relegated. He was such a crucial creative player last season in the games he played.
He’s been even better this season when he’s played too. This season he has created 1 chance every 15mins despite playing only 157mins of football.
The next closest player to Marveaux this season is Sissoko who has created 1 chance every 46mins.
I need to see Marveaux starting ❗
KK(Quote)
Some of our players have really stupid clauses in their contract 😯 .
But as I said good luck to him, I would love to see him played as a winger with no real defensive duties, I know ho looked a bit sluggish and heavy but then none of our players were fit last season
Big Dave(Quote)
http://www.transferleague.co.uk/league-tables/transfer-league-table-last-five-seasons.html come on ffs this is a joke of a owner
batty(Quote)
I see a report that Narsi asked the ref to book toon players after every tackle he got,serves the git right he got stuffed I don’t like to see players get injured but toon players must have thought enough is enough give him summit to twist about,IMO when players do that to get other players booked its a form of cheating 👿
icedog(Quote)
BATTY think most of us know he’s a greedy fat tw”t,and cares nowt about the toon only milking the club for all he can get,I hate the git 👿 👿
icedog(Quote)
@BATTY
I know we’re bottom of the transfer spending table & that Stoke have spent more than us but we have also spent more money than 10 other teams.
The surprising thing is how much money Aston Villa & Sunderland have spent!
Spurs, Arsenal & Everton have also hardly spent & they’re not doing too bad.
spending table but
KK(Quote)
I can’t complain about any of the transfers in or out of the club. They’ve all been pretty good business. Perhaps the best in the league?
KK(Quote)
Aye Sundays ref has been suspended from PL games after his handling ofgame,some of these ref are bent imo
icedog(Quote)
Icedog
Jones is the 4th Official of a premier league game this weekend, which is normal practice to change between match referee and 4th official. He’s not been suspended. I also don’t think Yanga-Mbiwa would deliberately go out to hurt Nasri, it was more a moment of frustration. Yanga-Mbiwa and Nasri will both be hoping to go to the world cup with France.
DJG(Quote)
Manchester City robbed might have robbed us of a valuable point if it was allowed. Manchester City also got away with murder against Liverpool on boxing day so refs must be taking back handers. Saurez goal was never off side and I felt they should have had a penalty. These refs our very corrupt today and team’s should win fairly, no excuses and taking bribes left right. If they cant do there job fair and square then do one. As for Nasri, I wish the injury was more serious! Not only have billionaires destroyed football, now bent refs.
Terry(Quote)
DJG well FA have said he is suspended yes he is 4th off but was due to ref
a game on sat but been made 4th off for sat
icedog(Quote)
TERRY bit of truth in what you say
icedog(Quote)
What if that point kept a team in the league but because of a stupid fucking ref and stupid lines men can’t do there job properly. Time for hawk eye like tennis because these refs our getting worse!!
Terry(Quote)
Terry why would you want Nasri’s injury more serious 😯 I really cant work that one out
Big Dave(Quote)
It angers me Icedog. I just think the refs our terrible today. I think the game needs more technology like Hawk eye and pausing games like rugby and double checking with a panel. Refs aren’t good enough and it would cut out cheating.
Terry(Quote)
There is nothing to stop a ref getting his best mate to bung a large sum on a certain thing happening in a game ,for instance Toons first goal to be disallowed and splitting the proceeds later.I am honestly starting to think this sort of thing goes on or they take backhanders from rich owners as the alternative is that they are mostly incompetent which is less likely as they can’t all be *****, can they 😕
KIMTOON(Quote)
Big dave he vain’s injury all the time. Trying to get players booked all the time, now he can see what a foul really is. Like Giroud. Saurez has cut it out now and is a better player because of it. There’s no need for it
Terry(Quote)
I was very proud the way we played yesterday. Hope we beat West ham and have a fairer ref. The way football should be.
Terry(Quote)
KK-Pretty sure 4 of Cisse’s offside goals were from Europe not the PL, and didn’t he get a goal that was actually offside vs saints? (Can’t remember fully)
I’ve seen people try to suggest he would have had a stormer of a league season if only the refs had been kinder. That excuse is just too easy for me, he was poor albeit poor alongside the rest of many sulking players who arguably had worse seasons (cabaye?) than what they are capable of.
Newkie(Quote)
Terry I agree there is no need for it, I just would wish harm on him because he cheats , dives as some of our own cheat
Big Dave(Quote)
Big dave I’m wrong for wishing harm on Nasri and apologise for saying that but I don’t think were as bad as most teams.
Terry(Quote)
Maybe I have black and white eyes
Terry(Quote)
This debate will go on every week somewhere in the country until we get video replay. They say it wouldn’t be fair on lower leagues but trying to compare some lower league game to the biggest league in the world is ridiculous. If a club is hard done by 2 or 3 times in a season and the difference is 3-4 points that they should have had, they could be relegated and lose tens of millions of pounds and be set back decades. There is a big difference between that and going up and down within the lower leagues. Each manager could have 3 ‘calls’ in a match and if you use one the 4th Official will watch replays of the incident and make a decision in seconds. So it wouldn’t slow the games down or ruin the game as you would only get a maximum of 6 in a match. Then the goal could be given, or a player is red carded, or a penalty not given for diving etc. and there is no arguing afterwards because the correct decision is made there and then. Players would dive and cheat and make career threatening challenges less often as well because they wouldn’t get away with it.
DJG(Quote)
It’s like not having hawkeye at Wimbledon because I can’t have it down the local leisure centre. 🙄 What are they frightened of I wonder? That referees will be undermined and shown to make frequent wrong decisions? We all know that.
DJG(Quote)
DJG I agree with everything you say. Even if we got a point it wouldn’t put them out of contention for champions league. One day a club will get relegated, under the worst circumstances and lose millions because of a refs mistake. They can’t get away with it for to long there’s to much money at stake.
Terry(Quote)
I don’t except that it ‘balances out over a season’ either. It would mean referees think more about making the correct decision, they would make less biased, easy decisions in favour of the home side or the top of the league side for fear of the replay. If they are regularly wrong or biased, they could be downgraded and someone else promoted. 🙂
DJG(Quote)
KIM@316,I agree,there are players here caught betting on games,refs abroad have been caught taking bribes to throw games,who’s to say the refs here are any diff??as my old dad said where there is money in sport there are cheats,I’ll give you a small ex that happened to me,I used to judge jazz bands one year I was chosen to judge the world championships,before it started a manager came to me and offered me a few gifts a little bit of cash,I told the other judges what had happened oh they said just take it and vote for his band we do,I refused to judge anymore I cannot stand cheats,they are cheating two sets of people the band that won and the band that should have won,sad but true as I know
icedog(Quote)
off to kip,laters
icedog(Quote)
<<<<<<<<<<<<<, thinks its about time we just did away with the offside rule most of ya officals dint understand in the 1st place in my view 😯
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)
even if goofy had stuck it home still should not of been offside cause as soon as the defender has touched it hes just played them all on side in my view 😯
TOONARMYELITE(Quote)