Newcastle v Sunderland – Derby Day match preview

Magpies v Mackems
Magpies v Mackems
The derby at St James’ Park is the one fixture I always used to make sure I could get to.

No matter what I had planned, whether it be work or anything, I would give it up just to be there to cheer on United.

However in recent years the derby has taken a sinister turn with trouble flaring off the pitch. I’m getting too old for that and can’t be bothered with the hassle (because I can’t just walk away!) so missed out last season and will be again this season. The derby has turned toxic.

However there is a motion with this one to put the passion to the fore whilst leaving the aggro at the door. Both sets of fans have been guilty of it, most notably after the last derby on Tyneside where the result didn’t help but the reactions of a few were completely over the top.

We’ve suffered at the hands of the Mackems in recent times and face the possibility of losing three Tyne-Wear derbies on the spin for the first time since 1923. To stop that happening we need to keep cool heads and play with commitment and take our chances when they come. There may be a gulf in the league standings, but in these games it is who wants it more on the day.

Newcastle:

Loic Remy will miss out through suspension after having his appeal for his red card at Norwich turned down but not extended, which confuses me. Being upheld means that surely it was a frivolous appeal, so why didn’t the FA extend the ban to four games?

Also missing are Yoan Gouffran and Fabricio Coloccini while Ryan Taylor remains our only long-term injury concern. Luuk De Jong looks likely to occupy a space on the bench due to a lack of match fitness. Papiss Cisse should be fine to play after missing out against Norwich.

Sunderland:

Carlos Cuellar and Kieran Westwood will miss the game through injury. Phil Bardsley will be assessed after limping off against Stoke. New signings Ignacio Scocco and Liam Bridcutt are not likely to start the game.

Previously…

This will be the 150th competitive Tyne-Wear derby with results being fairly evenly split over those encounters. United have won 53 times, Sunderland have won 47 times with 49 draws making up the numbers.

At St James’ Park we have been stronger than Sunderland having win 31 of 68 matches played on Tyneside compared to 19 wins for the Mackems. However, more recently, it’s worth noting that we’ve not beaten Sunderland at home since that famous 5-1.

Stats and facts…

A total of five red cards have been shown in the last seven league games between the two sides.

Shola Ameobi has scored seven goals in his last ten Tyne-Wear derbies. Only Jackie Milburn has scored more goals in this fixture.

Topical since Yohan Cabaye has now left, but United won only four of the 20 games Cabaye missed during his time on Tyneside.

Newcastle have failed to score in four of the last five league games and have won one game in the last six outings.

Adam Johnson has scored or assisted each of Sunderland’s last seven Premier League goals.

Sunderland have lost just one of the last eight matches and are unbeaten in their last five away games.

Final thought…

Granted I was all calm and placid at the start but by the time kick-off arrives tomorrow I’ll be just as radgie as ever and will be screaming for us to get into them. At themoment though everything seems low key. Maybe it’s the midweek games? Maybe the closure of the transfer window the day before the match is playing a part? Maybe it’s because Sunderland have an actual cup final to look forward to rather than treating their jolly to SJP as their annual cup final?

After the loss of Cabaye we need a win. I’m still not sure how we didn’t win at Norwich after hitting the woodwork so many times and wasting some guilt-edged chances, but what better way to get things back on track than a win against you’re local rivals? We need it, the players need it, and Alan Pardew needs it.

Howay the lads!

Date: Saturday, 1st February, 2014

Time: 12:45pm

Venue: St James’ Park

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

252 thoughts on “Newcastle v Sunderland – Derby Day match preview

  1. Finished 2 nowt to PSG, Cabs is probably wishing he was back in Toon cos it’ pissing it down in Paris

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  2. Richie keep us updated on how he’s doing 😉

    Kim some have wrote him off and even prefer Strolla to get us the goals 😆 but you can never please everyone, for me he is a good striker that has went through a real bad patch ( like most strikers do ) except most of the other get the chance to find their form again.

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  3. Dave…He only had about 20 minutes, couple of decent tackles, a woeful free kick and a header hitting the post, quite a quiet start but it wasn’t exactly a great game. He was interviewed after and seems to have picked up French canny quickly 😯 😛

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  4. Is it just me or is anyone else quietly confident about tomorrow. Mainly because we are not clear favourites.

    Wonder what the odds are for the game.

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  5. Richie I think he will do real well for them, as for tonight im not surprised he only had a bit part as he needs to get to know his team mates and the lingo

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  6. MDS…Oh aye, I hadn’t thought of that 😉

    Dave…Aye, he’ll have to get used to the shitty weather they have there too :mrgreen:

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  7. Arsenal are obviously desperate for striker cover. They are nuts to not have gotten a decent one in, either now or in the summer. Ozil is a quality player obviously,but had they used that and some more and gotten suarez for 45 mil or whatever, I think they would have won the title. As it is, I still think they’ll get third.

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  8. Surely Cardiff could at least loan him till the end of the season ?
    It does us no good him sitting on the bench.

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  9. SANTII
    😛 Is that what the Olympique Lyonnais Chief told him. 🙂 If someone’s going to New York or Honk Kong, ‘oh they’ll be bored shitless there, compared to Lyon’. :mrgreen:

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  10. Cisse will continue to make appearances for us. If Luuk De Jong hits the ground running then he and Cisse might even get a partnership going, with Remy out and all.

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  11. I’m already planning the parade route with the Statement of Fiscal Solvency framed and polished. Beautiful.

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  12. Big Dave,

    No, I just thought this is perfect for us to swoop and not sign him but show we tried at least.

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  13. BBC Sport’s David Ornstein
    “Newcastle fans might have been concerned that Papiss Cisse had been linked with a late move to Cardiff, but he’s going nowhere. He’s staying put – they couldn’t have afforded to lose him.”

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  14. Well everything happened today that i thought would happen and that is **** ALL . Just hope the boys are fired up for the game and lets not blame Pards for the inactivity the bloke is stuck between a rock and a hard place .

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  15. Dear Newcastle fan’s

    Me and Mike tried our hardest to sign a replacement for Cabaye. Clubs just wanted to much money and we will not be held to ransom. I have a few busy months ahead of me in my office organising replacement’s in the summer. Graham Carr and myself worked night and it wasn’t for the lack of trying. I know everyone’s happy with De Jong ?

    Joe Kinnear NUFC Director of football

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  16. @santii

    I don’t mind any type of formation but i think we’re at our strongest in the middle hence the reason for 4222

    If on the other hand we had Robert & Solano in the squad, i’d be quite keen to see us play with width but we don’t have any ‘proper’ wingers.

    I don’t think Shola is mobile enough to play on his own. I think he needs someone to pick up any knockdowns he does & as Cisse is available i would have preferred to play both rather than one or the other.

    Good point about Marveaux not being match fit but i don’t think he’s behind Ben Arfa, Sammy or Shola in terms of fitness. He might even be ahead of them as they played during the week.

    My thinking was that he would start as i think he’s the key to getting us doing better with the final ball. I doubt he would last the entire game though.

    I agree, Sissoko has done well on the right wing but i still think we’re limiting him when he plays there. I’d much rather we buy a real winger & play Sissoko in his preferred position.

    He’s too strong to be pushed out & marginalised out on the wing whereas centrally he could really dominate.

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  17. @santii

    Good point about the balanced bench.

    I can’t see the logic of naming 3 fullbacks in a match day squad -it’s guaranteed that at best only 2 of them will play.

    I assume Pardew is just trying to keep Dummett or Hadaira happy but it would be much better if one of them was on loan instead if sitting on the bench.

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  18. I’m looking forward to the game as i always look forward to football….

    On paper we should win. Therefore i expect us to win. If we lose it will be because:
    1) Bad decisions against us.
    2) Incompetent manager & coaches.
    3) The players screw up.

    Hopefully Pardew will make some changes from the team that played midweek as some of them will be tired & therefore not be able to give 100%.

    It’s about time we got the better of Poyet.

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  19. unfortunately KK I think poyet will once again get the better of NUFC 🙁
    I doubt Marv will even get a sniff.
    I also have no faith Pardum will be able to get wor lads ‘up’ for it.
    I see nothing but another humiliation and fan unrest.
    Followed by yet more justification from Pardum.

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  20. …as a loyal Newcastle fan, however, I koooooodny gairva fark.
    …cos hoots mon we’re och the same as each other ootside yer fucking fat bubble anyway.

    P.S.
    Kill Mike Ashley, and dissolve his bread in boiling water one morning, just for a laugh, with Henry Kelly.

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  21. It was a rainy night the night the king went down
    Everybody was crying it seemed like sadness had surrounded the town
    Me I went to the liquor store
    And I bought a bottle of wine and a bottle of gin
    I played his records all night
    Drinking with a close, close friend

    bloody hell 😯
    Mark Knopfler playing guitar on this track.
    all these years I never knew.
    unmistakeable sound tho.

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  22. I feel the time is right to announce myself and Beardsley’s Boots as gay lovers, even though he doesn’t know what the **** an apostrophe is.

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  23. What a load of bollocks! Judge him on his transfers, JK said. I’m judging … he’s worth nowt.

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  24. Lee Cattermole has come down with flu apparently.
    ….and Satan is staying at his to keep an eye out.
    No fucking worries. skin the ******* 😎

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  25. Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen, from the average Geordie.

    Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen, from a conniving ****.

    (one of them is me/one of them is Mike Ashley)

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  26. Kinnear is a *****, end of. Ashley could have done so much good and even repaired relations with the supporters if he had gotten rid of llambias and gotten a decent DoF in. Instead he brings the only man bar Wise who could do a worse job. Utterly utterly mental.

    Oh well, **** the window, I’ll be happy with a demolition of the scum later today!

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  27. I honestly miss Llambiase under the current situation. The least they could do for us is wheel Joe out to yell at Simon Bird once or twice during the window to entertain us a bit

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  28. Director of divert all the fucking **** away from me, fat **** Mike, and while you’re at it, why not sell all our assets and make up bullshit bids for players we’ll never sign.

    We stay in the EPL (English Premier League, that is), fucking RAKE the cash in, spend **** ALL and bank on Geordies being more tolerant than most. 😕

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  29. …hello, yeah, can I have a 12inch deep pan sparrowhawk please, with extra kitten-liver. Hold the mayo.

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  30. …all I need is the left elbow of Gus Poyet and the right ankle of Celestine Babayaro. If…..I …… could……just,………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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  31. very nice window for mikey.

    best player sold for 20 million – practically nowt reinvested.

    not a squeak out of the manager.

    52k rolling up to the – sports direct arena – today.

    i can’t think of another club he would rather own.

    bit of a shame really.

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