Game On! Manchester City v Newcastle United

Big Dave

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United travel to champions Manchester City in the Barclays Premier League on Saturday (5.30pm kick-off).
The Magpies go into the fixture on the back of a three-game unbeaten run which has seen a victory at Hull followed by two draws against Stoke and Crystal Palace.
The sides have already met twice this season. On the opening day, Manchester City ran out 2-0 winners.
However, United gained revenge a couple of months later when they beat the holders of the Capital One Cup 2-0, with Rolando Aarons and Moussa Sissoko on target.
Newcastle will be without Paul Dummett after he injured his knee cap in the 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace last time out and will likely be out for the rest of the season.
That means head coach John Carver heads to Manchester with captain Fabricio Coloccini, Mike Williamson, Daryl Janmaat and Massadio Haidara as his only fit senior defenders, while Remy Cabella (knee) is a doubt.
Nevertheless, Carver remains in confident mood and told his club’s official website: “We are going there knowing that we are playing against a good side, but we are not going to be fearful because we’ve proved that we can go there and get a result.”

Wilfried Bony will be available to make his long-awaited Manchester City debut. The Ivory Coast international striker Bony moved from Swansea City to the Etihad Stadium in January on the eve of embarking on a successful Africa Cup of Nations campaign with his country. Toure is also back and is expected to slot straight back into the starting line-up against Newcastle, while Bony will compete with Edin Dzeko and Stevan Jovetic for a place alongside top scorer Sergio Aguero as City boss Pellegrini has the pleasure of selecting from his full complement of attacking options.

Man City Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany (C), Mangala, Kolarov, Nasri, Fernandinho, Toure, Silva, Dzeko, Aguero

Subs Caballero, Demichelis, Clichy, Lampard, Fernando, Navas, Bony

Newcastle Utd Krul; Janmaat, Coloccini (c), Williamson, Haïdara; Sissoko, Anita, Colback; Pérez, Cissé, Gouffran.

Subs Woodman, R.Taylor, Abeid, Obertan, Ameobi, Armstrong, Rivière.

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493 thoughts on “Game On! Manchester City v Newcastle United”

  5. Kimtoon: we have Villa, Leicester, West Brom and QPR and if we can’t get 4 or 5 points from that then we deserve the drop. That’s assuming we get nothing at all from every other game that include Swansea and the Mackems.

    The teams in the bottom four have 22 points at less than a point per game with 12 left. That pretty much means the barrier for the drop will be about 36 or 37. We have to have an epic fail to end up with less than that.

    Of course we could go to the 2-6-2 system that some 10 year old was suggesting to Carver earlier in the week that Carver was making a joke about. That joke could come back to haunt him.

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  7. Stu – it’s not a bad idea to be fair – I’m told that screams can’t be heard under water 👿 😡

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  12. If Janmaat is out that means we have 2 fit defenders (Williamson doesn’t count) so that 2-6-2 system may be needed.

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  13. Wow! That has to be the worst, most lacklustre performance I’ve seen for years. Shirley 🙄

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  14. 😆 😆 in your face Bony!! – I knew you wouldn’t get passed our defence 😛 and it took a peno for Aguero to penetrate our defence 😳

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  16. So, we have 2 fit defenders – Coloccini and Haidara. Backups are Ryan Taylor (made of crystal balanced on a rocking chair) and Anita (substituted in almost every game he plays).

    Williamson doesn’t count because a plank, a lamppost and a road cone can do a better job than him. And again, that is being unkind to planks, lampposts and road cones.

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  17. Troysta: this has very little to do with Pards and everything to do with relying on Williamson and Steven (made of glass) Taylor. That is an upper management failure. Even MBiwa, Santon and ****** it Remy Streete might help us at this point. I am not saying they are the best players in the world but they are better than nowt.

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  18. Psychs

    You are using the same arguments that I defended Pards with and you dismissed.

    Cabaye, Remy, Ba, Debuchy all sold under Pards nose.

    Yes you have a point but the issue remains. It matters not who managers or coaches this club under Ashley, they will never match the fans expectations.

    That my friend has been my point from day one. You’ll catch on one day, but watching you weigh Gordon up, still a long way off. 😉

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  19. Troysta: I still think Gordon was you in disguise.

    On the players – Ba had a stupid clause in his contract put in by upper management that allowed him to be sold, Remy was a loan, Cabaye went on strike and Debuchy always looked at us as short term.

    These dealings probably undermined Pardew but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a ***** manager. He will prove it again at Palace. A manager who doesn’t play Tevez and Mascerano doesn’t deserve to be our manager.

    I will admit there are more problems at NUFC than just Pards and Carver. That doesn’t mean they aren’t ***** though.

    We are now having a perfect storm of **** transfer and loan dealings and a useless and ugly head coach. Pardew was just as useless but not quite as ugly. That is the only difference.

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  20. Psychs

    I warned you what would happen if Pards left. All too predictable but you couldn’t see it.

    The fact that you STILL think I’m Gordon says it all. 😉

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  21. I have to say that Dummett is my first choice LB as he can actually play defence, and Sammy is a first choice player too, Abeid too, and Raylor too. Now its time to make some changes if we want wins.

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  23. I didn’t like what I saw against Palace and I hated what I saw today.

    Anita is not good enough and Gouffran has been hopeless all season, so to see them in the team shocks and disappoints me. I’m not saying the loss today was down to those 2 players, but if they are in the starting 11 then IMO we aren’t starting weakened before kicking a ball.

    I was ready to give JC a chance, but after the last 2 performances, there is no way the bloke should get this job – nowt personal, he’s just simply not good enough.

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  25. Troysta: what did you warn about mate? Meet the new boss, same as the old boss. That doesn’t mean Pardew wasn’t *****. He may not have had the players to make us a great team but he certainly did his best to **** off a few who could be helpful now.

    @170: I thought it was you because he was on a wind up. Strange that, thinking Troysta might have been on another wind up. I will believe it was not you if you say so.

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  27. Well I won’t be watching MOTD that’s for sure. I predicted 4.0 and an injury to a defender so almost spot on .

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  28. Just lifted this from the BBC sport app:

    Manager reaction

    Manchester City 5-0 Newcastle
    Posted at 20:01
    A bit more from Newcastle boss John Carver:
    Do you have a message to the supporters? “An apology first of all. We all know we have a fantastic following. They were behind the team and they stayed behind us. They kept singing.
    “I think our fans are quite knowledgable and I think they know the difference between the two clubs. I don’t think our players gave up on the situation. They gave what they had but sometimes it is not good enough.
    “I think the fans knew that. Sometimes you have to say you have been beaten by the better side with world class players and I think they understand that.”

    **** off JC you patronising ****!!. The players had a week off thanks to our cup exits. Teams lower in the league have gone to City this season and performed way better than that ***** we were put through today. It’s one thing wanting to keep the players on side, but his bullshit is on par with Pardews there like!.

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  29. I don’t understand this management (head coach) lark like. You are 5-0 down with 20 minutes to go and don’t give someone like Armstrong a bit of experience? What do we have to lose?

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  30. Troy – I wouldn’t want either to be honest, but of the 2, it would be Pardew. He has the experience that JC lacks – however that said, I would say that Pards would be struggling with the players available at the moment as well. We’ve lost the organ grinder and been left with the monkey haven’t we 🙄

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  32. @troy@174

    Thats like asking would you rather have chlamydia or a genital wart.. the obvious answer would be neither

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  34. Sharpy17- I know Dummett is out, but from what Ive seen, he should be a starter at LB if not CB when back next season, Haidara seems more skilfull but he lost when Sammy doesnt protect the wing, which also proves how important Sammy is defensively, even if his work is blinded by stats that proves nothing.

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  35. Brett Strength feels the need to change his name back to Mark. Woo hoo hoo hoo 😆

    What’s that all about. ? The worst name on the blog. Well, there’s a Terry. Terry is really called Trentham Collossals. 😯

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  36. And Troy Stavers is criticising names 🙂 You would have thought one of those all-in-wrestlers on ITV’s World of Sport might have named him in the hope he would follow in his footsteps.

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  37. For those who reply that they wouldn’t want either. I wouldn’t want either in an ideal world but we are dealing with reality and NUFC.

    Pards is a steady hand in a leaky ship. I warned you what the alternatives were but you wouldn’t listen. Pards just had to go no matter what.

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  38. Hello, this is Dickie Davies and here is Troy Stavers doing a pantomime act like they all do in Professional Wrestling. Over to you Kent Walton, and don’t be betting on any of the bouts, it is not real you know.

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  39. Cholo – Dummett is my little cult hero. I really rate him coz its the position I played in my playing days mate. He’s a defender who is defensive rather than offensive. I think that makes him better at LB against certain teams – such as City & Chelsea for example – I thought he was excellent against Chelsea earlier this season. But I think he’s a very good CB as well.

    I personally would love to see us go sign someone like Micah Richards and play him CB. Big strong lad with loads of pace. I think fee wise he’d fit the bill but his wages would likely rule him out – that and the lack of ambition that is.

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  42. Carvers interview after was a **** disgrace! How dare he just say “Sometimes you just have to accept it and move on”? 2,500 people paid £45 for a ticket to watch that *****! Utter fucking disgrace!

    He said there’s three divisions in the PL and we know where we are! Just pathetic! Time for the peasants revolt!

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  43. I know that Troysta @190. My younger brother loved him and wouldn’t miss the broadcast just in case Les was on. He had to suffer through Shirly Crabtree, handball and field hockey for that privilege.

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  44. Sharpy17- I like your point about Dummett, he is nothing but exemplary, he plays with will and a bit of intelligence and as Janmaat is rightly establish and unconsted as Rb we should judge our left backs in defensive end, and Dummett not only defends well, but gets even better when he links with Sammy so, this is an obvious partnership we should build on

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  45. Troysta: I actually thought your Grandda was really clever at what he did. I have always liked physical comedy and that was what he was doing.

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  46. Stuart

    You’re right. That was one of the worst displays in recent memory. An apology would have been more fitting.

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  48. Troy – Pardews biggest problem is that he was too consistent – if that makes sense.
    He’d go on a run of unbeaten games that would see us climb right up the table, then a run of defeats that would see us drop like a stone – that provoked extreme reactions and views. That and his derby record was his biggest problem IMO. In reality, his league finishes were actually decent enough, and had he been able to spread his results a bit more evenly, then maybe it would have been a different story for him.
    That said, i still think he would have left for Palace. I think Palace or the England job (seriously) were his Eutopia.

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  49. well that was a right crock of *****, plus there was a scummy manc in the pub giving it large.

    playing with anita and gouffron is like having 2 men off, though we got gouffron for 500k and a box of bovril crisps, so can’t expect too much.ajax hornswoggled us for 10mmillion quid and gave us anita and de jong and a box full of fluffy donkey ears in return, now that really was taking the ****….

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  50. I have a cunning plan, we just need to sneak someone into SJP next week and lock Willo and Goof and Neets in the loo before kick off. 😉

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  51. Sharpy: temperature could average 0 degrees and be 100 degrees (Celcius) for one day and minus 100 degrees the next. Either way you would be deed and not thinking about averages. That’s the way I look at Pardew, when he was ***** I wished I was deed and his good runs couldn’t make up for that. Plus, we played pretty ***** football even on his good runs.

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  52. well, our midfiild were chasing shadows all day, and Collo got his kegs pulled down big time today.silvas chip and dzekos chest down and left foot finish was magnificent.
    thank goodness we have perez, sissokko and cisse.janmaat played with pride, but the rest of our team were way out of our depth. we really are one of the worst organised and poorest teams in the league. a rudderless boat. thank goodness we have pardew’s points on board.

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  53. Kimtoon @200: then we wouldn’t have any players left after the administrations previous cunning plans.

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  54. I will do my relegation maths again. QPR are 4th bottom on 22 points from 26 games. That is .85 points per game with 12 games to go. At that rate they would have 32 points after 38 games. We are very unlikely to be relegated even with Parver at the helm and only two fit defenders.

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  55. Satka and others decent reserve or U18 defenders have to be put in sooner than later. Our team gets weak when Anita Gouffran and Willo-Colo partership play at the same time, Raylor has to get back soon.
    Remember 5th season? Our defense was Simpson Taylor/Willo Colo and Raylor/Santon. So Id give a shot to Satka as defensive Rb, Willo Colo in D, and Raylor as left back.

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  56. MM @ 202 I agree with that and would add that i’m sure Janmaat is thinking he has made a big mistake 🙄 we were totally fuking toothless.but wait till De Jung is back he will be like a new signing. ❓ ❓ ❓ probably our only signing

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  58. Cholo – Pardew put Satka at RB a couple of times in pre season and he did ok, but he’s a CB really and that’s where I’d like to see him played.

    MM/Dave – I can understand you doubting De Jong, but I still think he’s gonna come good next season.

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  59. Cholo what makes you think that Satka is going to be better than what we have Janmaat considering he hasn’t even played a 1st team game yet 😯

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  60. Sharpy I am not doubting De Jong I just dont think he is going to make up for the shower of **** we have and I don’t think he is going to be a new signing 😉

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  61. I see Jabba was there today. In all seriousness, what must he be thinking? Surely he knows this isn’t good for the club or his associated companies.

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  64. As others have said we are defo missing dummet. Arguably our best defender this season, along with Jan. He is more defensive, but when he does go forward he’s clever enough to know where and when to go. Haidara and santon have bags of talent, but haven’t adjusted to the English game. Yet. Anyway only positive of today should be the final nail in carvers coffin. He talks the same ***** as pardew, and its worse because he has no excfor misjudging the mood at nufc.

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  65. Went to bed early to get up for the match and somehow forgot to set the alarm properly. So missed it. Must have been a subconscious thought driving my actions. 😉

    I wonder what drives the actions of those who say they don’t care but avidly watch each game.

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  66. Jabba really trying to run the club on bare bones,thing is the bones left are all chipped and worn and witchdoctor Carver has no magic left,if he ever had any that is

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  70. It was good to see Dave Watson on the bench today as well. The work he is doing with our defence was there for all to see today – the 4th & 5th goal in particular – so well organised and tight as a unit.
    Keep up the good work Dave won’t ya 🙄

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  71. bris@215, you would have been better off staying in bed than coming on here and talking bollocks mate 😆

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  75. flipping heck, no interest in any of the cups, no involvement in europe, and here we are with a serious squad of players on the bones of our **** with still a quarter of the season to play. what a shower of *****.

    in years gone by the fans used to sing “we want our money back”…they are all taking the mickey at the toon. how the likes of stuart79 can line ashley’s coffers for the last 7 years is beyond me. a mickey mouse club run by imbiciles…. and lets be honest about it, we have some really **** players turning out too, no matter what we say about our “head coach”. that willamson / anita combination in the first 2 minutes was absolutely minging. what was williamson thinking of playing a ball to anita at the edge of the box ?

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