Our next game.

This weekend sees our lads take on Spurs. We were originally supposed to be playing this game on Saturday the 25th but due to Spurs Europa league commitments the game has been pushed back to Sunday.

Spurs v Mags
Spurs v Mags

That’s a bit of a shame really because it would have been nice to catch them tired after a game on Thursday. Mind you I am basing that on how well we played when we backed up after a Europa league fixture, so maybe I might be reading a little more into it than I should be. Saying that though, Spurs have flattered to deceive a little this season, their form in the past six games has seen them take only five point from a possible eighteen compared to our massive haul of six points. So maybe I should be feeling a little more confident about things going into this game. Couple this with the fact that we won the corresponding fixture 0-1 last season and all things suddenly start looking a little brighter. This one is a hard one to call, actually all of our games are hard to call when you take into account our indifferent form. If we turn up and put in a real shift, I think we can trouble Spurs. Their recent run of form is no better than ours so they could be ripe for the picking. From what I can gather at this stage we should have everyone that started the last game fit and ready to play. Spurs will be without Fredrico Fazio due to a red card but I have no real insight to their player injuries to be honest. For me Erikson and Chadli are the players to watch out for. They have both been the stand out players thus far from the games I have seen them play in. The both play with a lot  of energy and we will need to shut them down to limit their influence on the game. For us, I would like to see Sissoko and Gouffran lift their game and have more of an impact on proceedings. To be honest, I would like to see them both benched as a bit of a kick up the backside they both need. It won’t happen so let’s move on…

I am not sure whether I should even bother with formations because we really only play the one and from what I have seen of Spurs, they line up the same way. So expect to see Soldado and Cisse running aimlessly around their forward lines as they try and play in a system that doesn’t suit them.

So to summarize, I really think we can snatch a point or three from this fixture, Spurs are not playing well and they will be tired from a mid week game. All we will need to do is defend well…actually… forget the point or three call… I will be happy with the away point 🙂

How do you think we will go?

334 thoughts on “Our next game.

  1. Troy , Read the post after the win. Pretty much all the Pards out gang are giving him credit for the second half changes. But that’s what gets up your nose isn’t it. You can’t stand the fact that we give him some credit as it doesn’t suit your agenda.

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  2. Maybe I should stay in Malta two wins in a row 😯 but can I handle 28c 😆 first half was ****,looks like pardew is going to have to try and handle flair. players must go against. his grain,tough

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  3. @ice

    got myself a ULTRA M8 MX Box Android TV BOX S802, ordered it this morning, should be here Tuesday.. so if its **** i want £90 off you lol 😛

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  4. MARK, only if you bought it from andriodsticks.co.uk will you be happy,iI’ve have others from.other places,cannot.touch this guy but g-good luck mate they are great

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  5. aye mate. could of got one for £50 but opted for droidsticks (new name) as his aftercare seems good.
    cheers for the info tho, been checking them out since u mentioned them

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  6. @Hitman 😯

    😆 i know mate, saw them for £50 but im a big believer in “pay the price, u don’t buy twice” 😉

    I want aftercare in-case **** goes tits-up..

    shame Ashley doesnt heed my catchphrase

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  7. KiM yes mate really nice,yes pup is a manager now so can get on from work,talk about perks of t,the job lol,how’s you and lewis mate ? good I hope

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  8. MARK spot on mate,pity jabba only thinks about HIS pocket,glad you went
    to that guy hope you told him you are from the blog you get discount

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  9. As one of the FOOLS stauncist critics i will give him credit today for the second half where we proved that we have the capability to hurt the opposition.
    He needs to pick an attack minded side next week and have a bloody good go at Liverpool…..will he though??

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  10. Ice, Me and Lew not too bad, getting over never ending colds at the mo like. Do envy you basking in the sunshine though, you lucky devil. Still great to see us out the bottom 3 for a bit, best medicine by far.

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  11. Great win and great changes at half time by Pardew. He got it right today and it is rare I say this. But all in all credit to him. He wins he gets credit just as when he is rubbish he gets criticism. Can he repeat, I hope so, I really do..

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  12. KIM @316 what pleased me was the use of attack minded players in the second half,nice for a change,but I doubt pardew will carry on that way,flair players don’t seem to be his fortay

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  13. Ice, That’s what worries me mate, he will still start the same way next game. It’s a case of containment with him, just wish he’d give them a licence to attack from the off. I dunno maybe he thinks they aren’t fit enough to go all out for 90 mins, tbh first half most of em looked knackered and uninterested .

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  14. Troy: if you think that display today vindicated Pardew in 2014 you are more out of your mind than I thought. He set us up to defend first half with a debutante as the lone front man supported by Sissoko in a withdrawn number 10 role. We showed no goal threat whatsoever and Pardew was playing for 0-0 at the half.

    He was shocked into the changes at half time. It was so obvious who he should bring on that I even suggested them @188 🙂 I was surprised he took off Obertan though and that just shows how confusing and fickle he is.

    The second half was totally different and it reminded me of other games this season when we have attacked like the last 20 minutes against Hull. It seems Pardew has to be shocked by fear of losing to get anything out of the players.

    Last year we would have lost this game 4-0 as Pardew pushed everybody forward. Today we attacked but kept our shape. Perhaps, he has learned something but probably not.

    I actually think it is pretty insulting that Troy tries to support his agenda by accusing lifelong Newcastle United fans of wanting us to lose.

    Now, if Pardew can just reign in the smugness this week.

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  15. Still a bit euphoric after the game. Great win. Sissoko was everything we want him to be. Let’s hope he can do it week in week out. Saylor was good too, and Colo. Very pleased with the application of the players. More of that, please.

    And really good to see Pardew pull one out of the bag. Hope he can do that more regularly as well.

    Reading some comments on here and other places you’d think he did it by mistake, though, and in desperation, and grudgingly followed what the armchair managers have been saying for months And I see the opposition-was-rubbish and we-were-lucky mantras have been rolled out. 🙄

    It’s a day to be happy, my friends, to be generous with your praise, not one for fighting a Pardew-is-****-and-always-will-be-and-I-know-better-than-him rearguard.

    Make hay while the sun shines, I say.

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  16. As soon as the final whistle went I could hear this caw, caw, caw from the laundry basket. Remember this is the best squad Pardew has ever had so we should have expected a result, even with the inevitable injuries.

    A decent half of football, and that’s all it was, decent, doesn’t negate the many bad decisions Pardew and the club have made. We obviously could have used the three loanees today. Just look at the lack of experience on the bench.

    There was also the glaring need for an experienced centre forward which every Newcastle fan and their brother had asked for. So, hurting your wrist Troy, by patting Pardew on the back for a somewhat fortuitous win is taking it a bit too far.

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  17. Brisvegas: I am very happy that we won and believe Pardew deserves credit for the changes he made and the fact we kept our shape when trying to win the game. I like the fact we tried to win the game and didn’t just settle for a draw.

    Have to keep Troy in check though, otherwise he will be on about trains and going emoticon wild.

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  18. And just on the wanting us to lose thing …

    Troy is right (I suppose it had to happen once) It has been pretty rife on here. And not only wanting us to lose, but also wanting us to get relegated.

    Shame on all who say such things.

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  19. Brisvegas: I have seen a couple of people say they would accept relegation if it meant getting rid of Ashley, I can’t remember who. I don’t remember anybody saying that about Pardew as most consider him a dead man walking.

    I don’t like Pardew but think he has been shaken out of his smugness a bit by the ferocity of the attacks on him and his tactics. He still starts out the same but has shown some flexibility. Hell, the two subs he used today who scored and created the goals he said were on their last chance (Sammy) and not worth the money (Cabella). Either that is good man management, or desperation as he realised he was out of options because of his and Ashley’s stupid transfers, loans, and non-additions.

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  20. And if Pardew pulls this one out of the hat – not being sacked – it will be the first time. Well, I think it was mutual consent at Southampton.

    A couple of wins raises the mood but facts are facts.

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  21. Eric Sykes @326, “on their last chance, and not worth the money” regarding Sammy and Cabella …. 😆 They are your words mate…..

    Sammy is a frustrating asthmatic 21 year old with twinkle toes and a great finish..we gave Shola 10 years to get it right, we should preservere with sAMMY; HE WILL BE A USEFUL IMPACT SUB:::at least.. Cabella is finding his way in the toiughest league in the world and needs some time. FFS we have given Anita, who couldn’t tie his shoelaces, 2,5 years, we should give Cabella some space too ?

    On the same note I hadn’t realised Cabella was so lightweight. He as thinner arms than young Perez, scary really 😆 😆

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  22. Cabella just needs to stay on his feet and off his feckin ****… simple.. he is not too lightweight, he is simply playing for free kicks at the slightest touch.. there is a big difference.. Once he works out that the refs are giving him nothing he will be more effective for us..

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  23. MM@328: to be clear, I was paraphrasing what Pardew had said about Sammy and Cabella about two weeks ago.

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  24. AMF I agree mate Cab is not lightweight,I have known many so called great lightweight players,IMO you cannot turn a greyhound into bulldog and get the same result,fitness and knowing when to put your foot in to let
    know you are there and as you say get your *** off the deck,in my day of playing iI was nine and half stone wet through speed was my asset,but come corners I gave my full back more knees and elbows to last a lifetime always remember they cannot run half as fast limping 😉

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  25. Ice, I could imagine 😀 When you get to a certain level of football, your centre of gravity is rock solid and is actually pretty hard to knock someone off the ball if they don’t want to go down. That is unless you run in from 5 metres away and drop a shoulder into the middle of their back as they try and control the ball.. “I got the ball ref” generally followed those tackles! 😆 😆

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  26. “remember they cannot run half as fast limping” ….the wise words of Icedog 🙂

    Eric@330, ok mate I’ll let you off 🙂

    I think Cabella, Sammy and Perez are all worth perservering with.
    Sammy and Dummett have shown many times before that they have a good understanding on the left hand side.
    I’m really looking forward to having young Aarons back fit, and Tiote the enforcer in the middle…

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  27. Only saw the second half.

    Brilliant performance. And his time I can give Pardew 100% credit.

    Thought he got everything spot on today.

    He showed positive attacking intent. He played form players regardless of it being a big fixture and those young players were superb.

    Our forwards ha pace and Sissoko and Colback were outstanding in the middle.

    Troy must feel like an idiot after another failed prediction and seeing what the “shot squad” is capable of when the MANAGER gets it right.

    Well done Parses. More of the Sam’s please.

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