No I’m not pressing any panic buttons just yet and I actually saw some positives at the Etihad Stadium yesterday, just like I’ve seen positives in some of our other games this season, mainly those against the bigger teams if I’m being honest.
Now admittedly there have also been some gaping negatives which have come against sides we should have been looking to get more out of, but our start has been difficult. I the opening eight league games we’ve faced both Manchester sides away from home with Chelsea and Arsenal at St James’ Park. Swansea aren’t too shabby either and neither are Southampton while West Ham can and have taken some notable scalps so far this term. The other game was Watford where we did fall woefully short.
And it is that part that worries me.
Yes we’ve had some tough games thus far but it’s not those games in which we’ve struggled to put a shift in. Against City we should have been two or three goals up and paid for it in the second half by allowing a world-class striker the time to shot at goal. The result was five goals for Sergio Aguero and a 6-1 defeat but for 45 minutes we caused problems. Real problems.
With ten men against Arsenal for the bulk of the game we held our own and against Manchester United our draw was deserved, as was the same with Chelsea. In fact against Chelsea you could argue that we should have got more than we did.
But we now have in international break to stew on all of this and when we come back there is literally no room for error. If we play like we’ve done against the big boys, all of the time, then we will pick up points and with games against Norwich, Sunderland (who will have another new manager in time for the Tyne-Wear derby!), Stoke, Bournemouth, Leicester and Crystal Palace taking us through until the end of November there are opportunities to collect points.
I’ve heard people talking about relegation already and with the sacking season already seemingly in full swing there is always the option to make a rather large change. But we should know by now that changing a manager is extremely unlikely in our current setup. Both of those are out of the question currently.
However the longer things go on like they have and the longer we go without picking up wins then it’s only natural that nerves will jangle but we’ll learn a lot more about this lot in the next few games than we have in the first few of the season and we can then see if they have the bottle for it.
What are your thoughts?
Eric Sykes, since JC got bladdered you’ve got no one to pick on…though “Timmy the Hoof” has been in your sights for quite a while now 😆 😆 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
Newcastle’s Chancel Mbemba has made the second-most interceptions in the division this season.
kimtoon(Quote)
MM@375,nail on the head mate,aye Krul is about our standard it still no excuse as a player you work on your “own” game to be as good as you can which imo Krul is just going with the flow,oh for a keeper like that big blonde sod that won the title on his own it seemed for M/U season after season now that was a keeper,pity his son isn’t as good
icedog(Quote)
The two shoulder injuries that kept Krul out for a long time have really affected his confidence. They both happened when he came for crosses. Guess what – he doesn’t come for crosses anymore. He wasn’t much good at it anyway but at least it distracted the forwards.
Think I would play Woodman ahead of Elliott.
georgio(Quote)
MM: was i wrong to call JC ****? Does Timmy hoof it 🙂 🙂 🙂 If I am picking on them they deserve it. I actually think I have been easy on JC considering the ***** he spouted and I have been easy on Timmy given his recent form.
I agree with what you say @375 except: distribution is such a big part of a ‘keeper’s game now that Tim being **** at it makes him a liability sometimes. That you are talking about Neuer who many people think is almost redefining the role of a ‘keeper – a sweeper ‘keeper – shows up the limitations of Timmy-the-hoof. We either get bigger centre mids or get rid of Timmy. As you said, he has been ***** at distribution for years and it is beyond fixing.
Also, our opponents are not more savvy, they just know what to expect which, as you say, is “invariably” a hoof.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Also MM: I am sure you have watched our games recently. Under Pardew and Carver the default play for Timmy was to hoof it long. With McClaren he wants to pass it short but it inevitably comes back to hTimmy because other teams play the high press – as you say they have sussed us/Timmy out. Timmy-the-hoof invariably hoofs it when under pressure. It might work now more though as we have Mitrovic. It never worked with Shola 🙂
Lastly, I have been calling Krul Timmy the Hoof for ages so it is not like I just started picking on him 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
My problem with Timmy is that he panics, in an almost Williamson-esque way when he is put under any pressure. He goes from being an average shot stopper to a liability. Georgio has it right as well that he doesn’t come for the ball any more.
There was a lot of talk about Man U looking to buy him about a year ago. That has all died down though because he has been playing ***** and they see that, I see that and a blind monkey with a mole as its guide mole could see it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Krul is a good keeper and like most keepers at most clubs, face the brunt of fans who can’t identify a good keeper. They need a good slap with some goalie gloves across the chops. 🙄
Troy Stavers(Quote)
YKWYA 🙄
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Even The Chronic are noticing we have a few injuries now. Next they will be saying that Carver is an idiot, that Williamson is shyte and that Timmy hoofs it. I do like that they made up an “ALL INJURED” team. That is quite funny for them:
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-uniteds-injured-xi-tim-10237825?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
If it’s not Given, it’s Harper or Krul. 🙄
There are far more important positions to worry about than our keeper, Shirley.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troysta: does Krul defend the 6 yard box on corners and free kicks? Did Krul let in 2 goals directly from free kicks recently? Does Krul hoof it as a matter of course? Has Krul looked very shaky for at least the last 6 months? Has Krul failed to stop half hit shots in the last 6 months and watched as he deflects them into the net?
If that is average then I wouldn’t want below average. I can identify a good ‘keeper and Krul is not one. On his day he is a good shot stopper, unfortunately it has not been his day since Spurs away.
YCMIU.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I meant Krul let in free kicks that were cross/shots. And just because there are other positions to address doesn’t make Timmy-the-hoof less of a liability.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I am not having a moan at Timmy for the sake of having a moan. His game has gone off the boil recently. It happens. It could be age like with Coloccini or getting lazy like Rooney. But some players lose it and pointing that out should not be derided.
We are bottom of league FFS, so something must be wrong. As MM says, I haven’t got Pards or Carvs to pick on now 🙂 Seriously, there are a few of our players who are not performing for whatever reason.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Well, if we are looking for scape goats for the ***** we’re in, then look no further than the owners door imo.
kimtoon(Quote)
Troysta: I never get your logic. Just because you have a boil on your **** doesn’t mean the zit on your nose is not a problem.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon: I am not looking for a scapegoat. I am pointing out that Krul has played pretty **** for at least 6 months and puts us in a bad situation with his kicking. I can think of about 10 times he has let the ball sail past him or deflected it into the net. Sure he has also made some great saves but that is what is expected of a premier league ‘keeper. The best ones make few errors and I am sorry but Timmy makes quite a few errors now – Willians cross/shot 2 weeks ago being Exhibit A m’lud.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Timmy’s a good keeper, has a couple of flaws but we couldn’t get a better replacement..
Gashley(Quote)
Krul to be out for the season with cruciate ligament damage!
Can it get any worse?
Stuart79(Quote)
ERIC we see the good and bad in footy that’s what its all about is it not its the name of the game,let’s all have the same opinion and we have nothing to talk about,imo you haven’t picked on anybody that does not deserve it,Krul is a hoofer,JC is a ugly git who mouth runs away with him,Pardew is a big headed blame anyone gob ***** how his mouth is not brown with what he used to come out with at toon beats me,I don’t want to pick on anybody so I’ll blame the press for our poor showing,Pardew used to and get away with it,oops Ime blaming someone
icedog(Quote)
Eric, I thought Timmy was unsighted for that free kick, now maybe he could of positioned himself better, that’s up for debate. He’s not the best keeper in the PL but he’s not that bad either. I think he hoofs it because of the ***** in front of him the last couple of seasons .
kimtoon(Quote)
Stu, Knee ligaments 👿 , shudders at thought. I have had two torn bits of cartilage repaired in one knee recently and it still hurts on and off.
kimtoon(Quote)
Well, look on the bright side we have plenty of excuses should we lose to the Scum now 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
So, will they loan a quality keeper in jan to cover Krul I wonder.
kimtoon(Quote)
I wonder if Man Utd would loan us Victor Valdes
Sharpy17(Quote)
Reaping what you sow it’s called…
Stuart79(Quote)
KIM get those heat pads made mate the winter is coming,oh **** its hurts
sorry
icedog(Quote)
Ice, tell me about it mate, Arthritis doesn’t help matters either. 🙁
kimtoon(Quote)
Gutted about krul
Hope he makes a speedy recovery. Shame for us and krul.
Hes one of our better players that could have bailed on us yrs ago
Gashley(Quote)
Lucky we didn’t sell Elliot after giving him the cold shoulder. Decent keep but I reckon we’ve dropped a few points with krul being injured
Gashley(Quote)
That’s a disaster, Krul being out for the season. We’ll sharp be reminded who good he actually is when his replacement steps in.
Eric, I can’t help laugh at your lazy rooney comment.
You couldn’t be further from the truth. Rooney always gives his all.
FTSOTB
YCMIU 🙄
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Anyway, get well soon Tim, we need you.
kimtoon(Quote)
Actually I always thought Elliot was a decent shot stopper and a better distributor of the ball than Krul. Krul has size and reach to his advantage though and we will miss him. Not a problem we needed with Darlow also injured I believe?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
We haven’t exactly given Elliot a lot of playing time to prepare for this have we? Has he played at all this season in a real match? Possibly a cup game or pre-season?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Relegation will finally settle this I think. Ashley will flee once the TV money is gone. The club will be put up for sale but there is no way for him to get all his money back once we go down. What a shame if Ashley loses 100M or so! I will be so disappointed for him. Not….
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Regardless of Kruls’ form over this season and last… I think at least this time we have Elliot ready to cover and hopefully Darlow is not too far away. This could be a chance for him and he seems quite highly rated. Alnwick was a disaster.
DJG(Quote)
I don’t think Elliot is a bad goalkeeper to be honest. I’ve seen a lot worse second choice butter fingers type ‘keepers than him. We are lucky to have him if he is effectively 3rd choice now.
DJG(Quote)
Krul doesn’t command his box well at set pieces and his distribution is shocking. But he has had a dog **** defence offering him very little protection. It doesn’t matter who we have in goal – if we continue with the same defence, we will continue to leak goals IMO.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Troy: have you watched any Man U games this year? Rooney has often been the worst player on the pitch. Even the Man U fans are on his back now. He has lost some pace which makes him appear slow and the ball bounces off him most of the time in a Cisse-esque manner.
I think I bloody well jinxed Krul. I agree he was not helped by our defense but I also think the opposition managers have sussed that Tim will panic if they press him and God knows why he kicks it to Sissoko on the touch line.
Anyway, he is out now and hopefully Elliot or Darlow will step up.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Troysta: will we ever agree on anything 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
If it turns out that Darlow and/or Elliot play badly that does not say anything about Krul and his ability. I know a certain person who would use flawed logic to use the abilities/inabilities of these two as a reason to defend Krul. If they play badly that reflects on our transfer policy and has nothing to do with Krul.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I got laughed for saying that Sammy should play in this team and that Dummett if hes not a great LB is far better than Haidara. Sammy instead of Sissoko, Dummett LB, and are one Cb and a DM away of having a decent team: We need to bring Michael Keane and Fiorentina’s Milan Badelj at least on loan.
Cholo A. Sall(Quote)
That team would of been good with Michael Keane, Milan Badelj, and with Sammy Ameobi and Mehdi Abeid.
Cholo A. Sall(Quote)
We need 5 new players this winter: Milan Badelj, Michael Keane, Sam Byram and recall Ameobi and Vuckic.
Get rid of Gouffran, Haidara, Sissoko, Riviere, Cissé, Obertan.
Cholo A. Sall(Quote)
For the manager thing, we need a humble and honest coach who can set up an organised, discipline and motivated team. Id take Sean Dyche from Burnley or Pearson, but the club defo missed a thing with Ranieri.
Cholo A. Sall(Quote)
Eric
The fact Rooney may be off form, playing poorly or whatever doesn’t mean he’s being lazy. He’s captain of club and country and if there’s one thing he’s not its lazy. He covers more ground than any other player.
Yes we will disagree if you talk tripe. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
WDYGIF
(Where Do You Get it From) :-/
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Rooney, lazy 😯 😆 😳
Gashley(Quote)
I see Steven Fletcher bagged a hat trick for the Scots then. Getting himself in the mood to face us 🙄 I know it was only Gibraltar but it’s all confidence boosting form.
kimtoon(Quote)
Genuinely see a serious relegation battle this season. Everything is against us and to be honest there’s a feeling off getting what we deserve.
The silver lining… We might win the Championship and then does that constitute winning something then Ashley fucking off?
Stuart79(Quote)
I think the Jan window is going to be really key as a potential to turn our season round. We need to shift the **** even if it comes at a cost, to make way for the players we desperately need.
In my opinion, we desperately need a CB to replace Colo, a left back, a right sided forward and another forward to take some of the weight off Mitrovic – personally, I’d love a midfield general as well.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, if we look like we are going down in January I don’t think they will sign anyone tbh. I think they will start preparing for the championship instead. Don’t think he’ll spend to try and save us as he won’t attract anyone decent enough by that point.
kimtoon(Quote)
Maybe lazy is the wrong word for Rooney. More like disinterested. He has lost that hustle and bustle from his game that he had and was so essential to his game. I sometimes read the match report and supporter comments in The Manchester Guardian and there are many lamenting that he is undroppable saying his major contribution now is to spray a pass sideways 40 yards. They didn’t sign up for a 300k a week Ray Wilkins clone. It is a bit like our leader Coloccini in that in losing a step he has gone backwards a lot. Sorry to bring up on-the-Wane, but it is the international break after all.
BTW I feel sad for Krul as I always thought his problems were fixable and really would have liked to have seen whether having a decent target man would help him out.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kim – I’m not sure Ashley would give up on that golden pig so easily. His little speech before the WH game last season suggests that to me, and we were a lot closer to going down then than we will in Jan.
Teams will slip – Bmouth have already lost key players, I think Norwich & Watford will slip. I think WBA, Villa & the Scum will remain down there in the struggle and there’s a couple of other teams who just need injuries to key players & they are knackered too.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – I’m gutted about Krul personally. The lad has faults, but he’s our best keeper for sure, and the lad bleeds black & white – we need those players on the pitch this season.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – I’m sure you realise by now that the Krul injury is your fault! As I said yesterday both the bad injuries he’s had came from falling and he’s done it again on an artificial pitch – maybe it’s my fault. He was only a sub too.
Anyway – goalkeeping is the least of our worries. Is Janmaat fit? Dummett and Haidara can hardly be match fit. Colback? Worrying times as it’s the sort of thing that happens when relegation threatens.
georgio(Quote)
Sharpy – For any January additions to be remotely useful we will need to be at least within touching distance of safety. Is that likely given our pathetically ill equipped squad?
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – we’ll know in the next 8 games I guess.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Well I don’t normally forecast will stick my neck out and say we will beat the scum,just a feeling
icedog(Quote)
Ice – I’m not even looking past this weekend yet mate. Trying to figure out what our defence will look like first and hoping for 3 points against Norwich before even thinking about the Scum.
Sharpy17(Quote)
———————- Elliott ——————–
Mbemba – Lascelles – Colo – Dummett
—— Sissoko —– Gini —– Anita ——-
——————– De Jong ——————-
——– Mitrovic ———— Perez ———
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy , Isn’t Dummett still injured?
kimtoon(Quote)
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2015/10/12/crawley-town-fans-rave-about-woodman-on-twitter-after-newcastle/
kimtoon(Quote)
http://mobile.newsnow.co.uk/A/796844419?-11058:809
Kim – according to Ronny Gill he’s back and ready for selection. I know he won’t be match sharp, but at the minute I don’t think we have any other choice but to throw him straight in.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, Aye just read that mate. Hopefully we aren’t rushing him back.
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy – so you’re counting on both Janmaat and Colback not being fit. They’re both supposed to be ready. Have you heard something? No idea why you’d start De Jong.
georgio(Quote)
Georgio – I hadn’t heard they were fit so assumed the worst to be honest. If both fit then both would obviously start for me. I went with De Jong rather than Goof in DCM to be honest 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
Gouffran or De jong – both ahead of Tiote? Just asking. No Thauvin or Aarons either?
georgio(Quote)
Georgio – Well Mc selected Goof ahead of Tiote against City. If Colback is fit he would be in a 3 man midfield with Sissoko & Gini for me, and yeah I’d probably go with De Jong behind Mit & Perez – just coz I think he could be more creative. Personally I think Tiote offers little defensive cover, and offers nothing offensively. He could go 3 up front with Perez left of Mit & Thauvin right of him, but personally I’d like to see where De Jong is at.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Oh and Aarons is injured isn’t he?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Do we really risk Dummett? Here is his injury history:
http://asdf.transfermarkt.com/paul-dummett/verletzungen/spieler/170321
Says the original hamstring injury was June 6th. I did a bit of digging and he said on August 22 that he was back in full training. Then he had a set back. Then was due back again after the Man U game and had another set back.
So, he has been out for 4 months. I know we are desperate but he has had 2 reoccurences. It is deja vu all over again of the Aarons situation from last year.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I understand where you’re coming from mate, but if not who do you play at LB?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: Colback? Normally I would say risk Dummett as he is not really a guaranteed starter anyway. However with our raft of injuries, and his record of reinjuring his hamstring, we should be very cautious. Normally wouldn’t he be given a runout or two in the reserves – play 45 mins and see if there is a reaction?
Obviously, that is a more low key reintroduction for Dummett after such a long layoff, rather than another must win relegation 6 pointer.
As you say though, we might have to risk him and **** the consequences.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’m with Eric on this one Sharpy, I say it’s a very big risk given his injury record.
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric – it’s a tough one to call isn’t it. It just continues to **** me off that we have Saylor, Dummett and Good as back up that all seem to be made of glass. Mbabu pulled his hamstring against City & Willo is dog **** … and yet we decided further strengthening of our defence in the summer wasn’t needed.
Yeah I suppose Colback at LB with Anita coming into the midfield would seem the most likely if there is any doubt on whether Dummett is ready or not.
Sharpy17(Quote)