Much of the focus has indeed been on Leicester in the build up to the game, which is the price you pay for being so high in the league I guess, and especially on Jamie Vardy who will be seeking to equal a Premier League record today. You can use this Bet 365 Bonus Code to enhance your odds if you’re backing Vardy to make history today.
For the part of Steve McClaren and United it is entirely up the them to stop Leicester in their tracks. However they will need to be careful should they go into the lead as we’ve seen so many times that this Leicester side just does not give up.
The match preview went live last night and can be viewed here. It features news of injury updates for both sides, a look at the history of the fixture, some on my thoughts and some handy stats and facts to wash it all down with.
In terms of actual team news you can find it at the bottom of this article a little under one hour before kick-off and you’re looking for a stream I’m sure our regulars will post a link or two in the ‘comments’ section below.
Events in Paris will be marked at every Premier League ground today but with the largest French contingent in the Premier League on our books it may perhaps be more raw within St James’ Park than at other grounds.
But as tragic as those events were it is a fact that things move on, and that applies to NUFC too! For we must move on and start putting points on the board.
Howay the lads!
Newcastle: Rob Elliot; Daryl Janmaat, Chancel Mbemba, Fabricio Coloccini (c), Paul Dummett; Moussa Sissoko, Cheick Tiote, Vurnon Anita, Georginio Wijnaldum; Ayoze Perez, Aleksandar Mitrovic
Subs: Freddie Woodman, Jamie Sterry, Jamaal Lascelles, Siem de Jong, Yoan Gouffran, Florian Thauvin, Papiss Cisse
Leicester: Kasper Schmeichel; Danny Simpson, Robert Huth, Wes Morgan, Christian Fuchs; N’Golo Kante, Danny Drinkwater, Marc Albrighton; Riyad Mahrez, Leandro Ulloa, Jamie Vardy
Subs: Mark Scwarzer, Ritchie De Laet, Andy King, Jeffrey Schlupp, Shinji Okazaki, Nathan Dyer, Gokhan Inler
Eric – I’d be tempted by Gini, but at the same time I think he has to play centrally in order to be a starter. We couldn’t have forseen Daryl would have had such a bad start to this season – but even now he’d be a better choice than Colo, IMO. It might make him sort himself out a bit. At the end of the day his main failing is him disappearing, but Simmo was crucified for not going forward when he had low-work rate or slow players ahead of him. He’s not been in the form of last year but equally I don’t think he’s been one of our consistently worst players..
Hard to know about all the goings on with some of our players, but Sissoko is a player who regularly talks about himself in the press, and therefore the one I would totally rule out. I think Tiote should start for us if I’m honest, our defence is ***** and I do think he brings steel to the midfield. He’s also a player who I can remember being captain and it seemingly improving his game, as well as those around him.
Newkie(Quote)
Ice – I do wonder whether there is a fall out amongst the senior players?!. I know the likes of Krul and Colo clashed last season and the likes of Cisse & Tiote could be problematic in the dressing room.
I know coz I witnessed it with my own eyes that Obertan & Sissoko had a bit of a clash at full time at home to Watford.
If Mc has a broken dressing room then that makes his job even more difficult.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Krul would have been my captain this season personally.
Sharpy17(Quote)
There is an imposter playing for PSV called Luuk De Jong. He looks ok, we should buy him…
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart: did you manage to watch the whole Man U match? Van Gaal has them getting results but they are so boring to watch now. Rooney has one decent game for England and now is back to his normal form this season.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The players we are being linked with for Jan: Dost, Austin, Townsend, Shelvey, Matip. 3 of those 5 would probably keep us up regardless of whether Steve stays or goes.
Townsend on loan would be a good call because I would like to see if he has more than the one move where he cuts inside the fullback and shoots. I have only seen him go outside a couple of times but the funny thing is is that he is quite good at it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stu – I mentioned Luuk De Jong earlier – he has 31 goals in 44 games for PSV because they play to his strengths. We just put him up there to feed off the scraps of hoofball.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Alestars continue to set the pace. Who will stop them? There’s only one win separating 2nd to 8th, so you can expect the chasing pack to change positions as the weeks progress.
1 Alestars 31
2 Born Winner FC 27
3 Balotellitubbies 27
4 Newbriscastle Roar 25
5 Puff Puff Pass 24
6 Natalie Sawyer Fan 24
7 Dubai Toon United 24
8 Joshua 24
At the lower end of the table – CCFC won for just the second time. Well done! There’s fight in you yet. Keep it up, lad. hitman’s army continues to slide- what’s that? 9 defeats in a row after topping the table with maximum points after 4 games?
15 Dem warriors 13
16 Inter Yasista 13
17 hitmans army 12
18 Axel’s cloggs 12
19 Aussie Mags 9
20 CC FC 6
Brisvegas(Quote)
Eric – I’d defo take Townsend on loan at least with an option to buy. I think he’d do well with us and he’d have a point to prove. I’d want to see us get Sam Byram in at RB and Matip at CB would be great but I don’t see him leaving Germany myself. I’d love Shelvey but don’t see Swansea letting him go, but I like Tom Carroll from Spuds on a free. Also I think we should look at John Bostock. He’s still only 23 and doing really well out in Belgium. He got a great left peg and is an excellent passer of the ball through central midfield.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy – Krul would be interesting, he does get hissy when his defence let him down at least, but then with those jokers it’s not surprising. He’s a nice guy, not amazing but obviously got class. I just don’t particularly like keepers as captains….that said on recent form I’d probably pick Elliot as captain 😆
Ah Bris, now there’s that buddhist humility finally coming to the fore. No insults for once.
Nobody will stop me.
Newkie(Quote)
Forgot to say, Alestars finally come up against a team in the top half of the league next game (wow, that must be the second time this season). Let’s see how they go against some competition.
Brisvegas(Quote)
**** 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Townsend would be low down in my priority list.
Groucho(Quote)
The Mag is reporting a swap deal with Spurs. Perez for Townsend. No way in my view. There are reasons why Townsend is no longer wanted at Spurs. Seen too many cast-offs end up at Newcastle.
Groucho(Quote)
Groucho – maybe Townsend + £15m. I really don’t want to loose Perez but the way he’s developing and the way we’re going backwards, I don’t see us being able to keep hold of him long term like.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I would not under any circumstances sell Perez. The guy is going to be worth more than £30m in couple of years time. He is just heads and shoulders ahead of any other player we have with his movement and technique.
Pay £10m for Townsend, £8m for Austin, £10m on a centre midfielder and £8m on Matip. That should keep us up.
Stuart79(Quote)
Sharpy – Byram and Shelvey for me would be excellent signings. Townsend I’d take too. He is better than our current options on the wing. I really think we need to make a statement in January by ditching a couple of the senior players. Show the rest if the squad we expect senior players to step up or get out. For me Sissoko and Cisse would be first out the door, alongside Colo. Extending him and retaining him as Captain were two awful decisions. A lot of fringe players need to be removed too. We need a nucleus of 3 or 4 experienced PL players backed up by another 1 or 2 genuine talents from the Championship to be signed in January if we are to stay up. No more taking chances of foreign imports that are not experienced in the English style of footbll.
Shamrock(Quote)
Sham – I reckon Townsend is the most likely we could land and certainly at least a loan in Jan. I think Spurs would let him go and he’d want out in order to get game time – firstly to prove himself to Spurs and secondly in a hope of making the England squad for the Euros.
Byram is another we could get, but we would need to work hard & fast as I reckon a few clubs will be in for him.
Shelvey I don’t see very possible at all to be honest. I don’t see Swansea allowing him to leave and I don’t think he’d want to come. But if there was a chance then we should pay what it takes. I think he’s a top player.
I do think Tom Carroll from Spurs and John Bostock would be decent options as well though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
John Bostock? Tom Carroll? Is that a joke, Sharpy?
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – sorry i should clarify I mean as back up players, replacements for Abied and Kemen if you like. My first teamer would be Shelvey for that central midfield spot.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stu – if we couldn’t get Shelvey then I look at Leroy Fer, or maybe Joe Allen.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Perez is quality, and at 22 showing more determination than the rest of our pros. Simply can’t let him go, and certainly not for an inconsistent, average British player.
Newkie(Quote)
This is what I don’t get. Successful football breeds real interest and therefore real player value. It wouldn’t cost that much more to get a decent coach and have us bouncing around in the top ten, and the value of people like Sissoko and Perez would rocket with the exposure. Then Ashley could sell for big bucks, as he wants. If we sell to continually build I have no issue with that, but we just pocket and hold out until we have to panic buy to stop getting relegated.
Newkie(Quote)
Is Bostock still playing the game?
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – yeah he’s over in Belgium and 23 now. He’s grown into a decent footballer. I reckon he could be a pretty inexpensive risk.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Newkie – I think Spurs are an example of that with Poch. But they already had a decent squad when he went in there and since he’s went in they have given him time & backed him with good player recruitment – particularly in defence. He’s brought young players through, but also got players like Chadli & Lamela playing well too.
Mc has came into a **** poor squad due to **** poor recruitment over the last 5-6 season. I think it would take any coach time and they would certainly want to improve this squad substantially.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy – Yeah, and Saints with Koeman. They came up, spent money, built a squad, were brilliant under poch, lost a load of players (And make a ridiculous amount of money on average players). Start again, they’ve invested in people like Tadic and Wanyama and it has paid dividends.
Not sure I agree we’re a **** poor squad, we’re starting to believe it now because after the last year we’ve become used to abject failure. We still have far better players than teams like Sunderland, Watford, Norwich etc. They’re just not having the best brought out of them. Agree about **** poor recruitment over the past 5 years, Schteve was lucky to be the first manager since Allardyce to be properly backed with funding, but the results have been disappointing, even if we were playing catch up.
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie – I think the difference with Saints is that they have got crazy money for most of the players they have sold, and they have actually listened to Koeman and maintained the quality of their squad whilst still making a tidy profit.
Regarding our squad. I think we have maybe 10-12 very good to good players, but there are as many that are below average to not good enough – and I’d put players like Saylor and those who are constantly injured into that group.
Sharpy17(Quote)
If we are comparing our squad against Scum, Norwich and Watford then to me that’s not good enough as they are bottom 5 clubs. We should be comparing with squads like WHU, Saints or Everton for example – mid table to 6th place sides IMO and against those we would be poor.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Quite a bit of chat about this ‘training ground bust up’, Steve Round was on SSN earlier saying that McClaren has a mean streak and he’s seen him blast players before. I fecking hope he’s right coz something has to happen. As much as the players aren’t showing effort though, I think Mc needs to look at his own faults too, coz those team selections haven’t been great so far either.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: McClaren hasn’t made that many mistakes personnel wise because he hasn’t had that much to work with. The treatment table has been full since he got here and he has had limited options. Not playing Perez, extending Coloccini’s contract and playing Gouffran as DM are the big mistakes.
Tactics, playing style and ambition are different things to team selection and he may have fallen short there. But personnel, for what choices he had, no. Just like I couldn’t really fault Ugly John on who he played, just how he played them and the stupid things he said afterwards.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Imagine McClaren getting mad. If he goes any redder in the face he will burst like an over-ripe tomato.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Imagine McClaren ‘getting his hair off’ in training. There’s not much to get off so it would be very funny.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stories now that McClaren has promised to drop the big names if they continue to keep showing disrespect. It should have been done two games ago.
Stuart79(Quote)
Eric – I’m talking about playing 4-4-2 with Gini & Sissoko as wingers, or playing Goof at DM or playing Colo at all – those mistakes are on Mc and not down to the players themselves. He played the 4-4-2 against Bmouth with Gini & Sissoko out wide and it didn’t work then – fair play he changed things and went 4-5-1, but that only improved us defensively. He then selected the same 11 in the same formation against Leicester, and no surprise it failed miserably.
If he doesn’t have the wide men available for whatever reason, then don’t play a formation that heavily depends on having quality wide men. Gini & Sissoko are quality players, but they aren’t wingers that’s for sure.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stu – that sounds like good news, but it depends what the argument is. Like I say, if it’s Gini saying I’m not a left winger, then it’s a valid argument. But if it’s McClaren saying that the likes of Colo and Janmaat aren’t pulling their weight and are letting the side down, then totally valid point too – get the ******* dropped!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: I am not the best on tactics. I am more for looking at the big picture, but McClaren hasn’t had much to choose from. It doesn’t mean he isn’t ***** though, and the fact Charnley hired him means we should be skeptical.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy – funnily enough though we were comparing our squad with top 8 teams maybe just over a year ago and more. Even funnier, we have a better squad now with several first team players in, but the belief is gone. That’s because we keep losing and expectations drop, just as they were skyhigh and all our players (esp Cisse) were “world beaters” when we finished 5th.
Individual talent wise we should certainly be a match for people like West Ham and Leicester who are far higher than us. I just thought I should give examples of the worst case scenarios i.e Watford and Scum, who both beat us comfortably. That’s why I think it’s the coaching and not the squad. If the players can’t be brought on board then you get rid of them – again, that’s the call of the management.
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie@488, I would agree with that sentiment, only problem is I’m not so sure Steve has much if, any say on who we buy or sell despite the club saying he would.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – I just don’t buy that he has zero influence, or that he wouldn’t be backed by Charnley at least if players weren’t performing. If a player is genuinely causing trouble at the club then we are quick to cut the poison, as we’ve shown with Benny, Barton etc. We’re also pretty good at shifting players and finding buyers for those who have done good squad roles for us, Santon, Simmo, Best etc etc. My thought is that Schteve didn’t know who to get rid of and what to change, which is poor as he’d obviously been thinking about the job since January.
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie, possibly mate, but you hear and read stuff about him wanting Austin and being overruled so god knows how much influence he really has.
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric – looking at the big picture and Gini didn’t once play as a left winger to win Dutch player of the year. If Mc was looking at the big picture then surely he would have seen Colo or Mbemba as a better option at DM over Gouffran – that option would have been seen after moving either Sissoko or Gini into the middle that is. I fully accept that he’s had injuries and suspensions and has rarely been able to field what he might feel is his strongest 11 – but he’s certainly made some questionable calls, when it’s looked like there have been better or more sensible options – IMO anyway 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
Newkie – perhaps mate. I mean if the likes of Obertan or Gouffran had a coach who allowed them to focus on their offensive game rather than having to provide defensive cover, then maybe they would perform better 😆 sorry I couldn’t keep a straight face there, and then there’s Willo who is currently still a member of our squad – Vukic, Sammy, Anita?
Perhaps a better coach could improve the likes of Janmaat, Sissoko and Cisse – they might even be able to improve the fringe players like Haidara and Thauvin. But I think we have afew too many players in this squad that aren’t up to the standard.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Our squad is not comparable to the Top 8 in terms of quality. If it were, we wouldhave beeb higher in the league over the last few years instead of in the bottom 8.
We have a few Top 6 standard players , a few PL standard players, several mercenaries, several persistent sick notes, a few not up to scratch at this level in this Country and an alarming lack of depth in several areas thanks to a painfully unbalanced squad.
Shamrock(Quote)
Newkie – I don’t think this squad is better than our current league position mind mate, but I think it would be around 12-14 rather than top 8.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Newkie – sorry that was a typo, I meant I DO think that our squad is better than our current position 🙄
Sharpy17(Quote)
Spot on Shamrock @494. The state of the squad is a disgrace. No wonder McLaren didn’t want to come at first until Derby fell off a cliff at the end. Ashley is a disgrace. Players like Colo and Dummett need replacing now, not 2 or 3 years from now. For a man who likes to buy MF’s by the bushel we have a woeful midfield as well.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Kim – he defo doesn’t have total control, but he must have some influence .Same as Pardew. Cabaye has said he was a reason he joined us and then Palace and it’s hard to discount it as he’s certainly better than Palace’s usual player..
Sharpy – Yeah, just to clarify I don’t think we are top 8 either, but I distinctly remember people saying we should hav ebeen in the top 8 based on our squad value, or our squad wage bill. In reality they mean **** all, Young players may have a skyhigh value and really not be all that (Carroll) while players sold for 7 mil (Ba) are far better. Similarly wages, Colo on 80k pw does not equate to the quality you would expect, when Mbemba is probably on about half that, if that. We are certainly better than where we are now though.
Newkie(Quote)
When you think about it though, if we get 3 for the first team in January we will have a COMPLETELY different team to last April.
Probably 7 different starters, since Krul is out.
The only leftovers will be Sissoko, Janmaat, Colback and Colo. Maybe Perez? You could argue that Sissoko, Janmaat and Colo have not pulled their weight.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
To be fair, Sharpy the last three managers we’ve had have all faced the same problems and have finished in the bottom 5 or 6 on occasions so that would suggest that our players aren’t better than where we are. We can’t just judge a player on how well he kicks a ball. We need to judge them on character, desire, experience, fitness levels and injury records. Ultimately we are let down on pretty much all of them and combined it makes us pretty **** poor. Hence the lower half finishes and the top ten finishes are very much exception not the rule.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – yeah but in fairness those 3 have been Pardew, Carver and Mc for only 13 games so far. I am one that believes that Pardew had little say in the players he was given – or that were taken away from him either. I am also one that thinks regardless of who is coach, they are hamstrung by this recruitment policy of foreign players under a certain age. Hell even Carver recognises that we need more English/British players on board.
Sharpy17(Quote)
McClaren won’t have any say in who comes in either I imagine. Carver has already stated that Mitrovic, Gini, Thauvin and Mbemba where all targets before McClaren even got the job.
Stuart79(Quote)
But it is the transfer policy that is why we are a lower half PL side. Only recruit inexperience young players and they are inconsistent and have a suss temperament. It all adds up…
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – I think he may have more say than Pardew did, but he certainly won’t have the final say, or even the deciding vote.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Seems to me Carrs word is the deciding factor.
kimtoon(Quote)
On all things football.
Stuart79(Quote)
I am sorry about my Lee Ryder rants but I just don’t get the point of writing about football for 25 years and NEVER coming up with anything interesting or original.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy – @493 not doubting we have poor players, but in my mind none of those you mention should even be starting. We’re in the same position as most teams in the league with regards to our squad. I doubt many of us could even name the go-to squad players of the promoted sides. Obertan’s always been ****, but Goof was a player who everyone thought was very happy with and then got “Pardewed” – personally I expected it given the fee we paid for him.
We’re pretty much only missing Krul from our first 11 through injury, we’ve been fortunate, and even when he was here we weren’t winning. Bearing in mind our issues last year and when our form suffered because we had to drop to playing bloody Jak Alnwik, it makes you think.
Newkie(Quote)
We need to get something tomorrow. If not, the situation’s starting to look desperate considering the next two games. As usual I’m not predicting anything but hope SM’s been watching how the scum played them.
georgio(Quote)
Georgio – agreed. Fortunately they seem to have lost their early momentum so lets hope it’s a Pardew death spiral from now, we’ve not lost to them in 11 games so we need that to continue.
Newkie(Quote)
Eric Lee Ryder copied an article from the mag about Clarence Seedorf having secret talks with Newcastle. At the end of the article he covered his back by saying McClaren will be given more time etc…
Terry(Quote)
Would be nice Newkie. I’m a great believer in the Pardew slump. He’s very good at it.
georgio(Quote)
You have to read something like this to know how real journalists can write:
http://www.football365.com/news/portrait-of-an-icon-sir-bobby-robson
Then there is Barney Ronay in The Gauardian.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Georgio – they’re well documented 😀 . He had a lot of patience from Ash and was usually able to turn it around at some point. I don’t think he’ll get that from Palace to be honest..
Newkie(Quote)
They offered me the office, offered me the shop
They said I’d better take anything they’d got
Do you wanna make tea at the BBC?
Do you wanna be, do you really wanna be a cop?
Career opportunities, the ones that never knock
Every job they offer you is to keep you out the dock
Career opportunities, the ones that never knock
I hate the army and I hate the RAF
I don’t wanna go fighting in the tropical heat
I hate the civil service rules
I won’t open letter bombs for you
Career opportunities, the ones that never knock
Every job they offer you is to keep you out the dock
Career opportunities, the ones that never knock
Oi!
Bus driver
Ambulance man
Ticket inspector, I don’t understand
They’re gonna have to introduce conscription
They’re gonna have to take away my prescription
If they wanna get me making toys
If they wanna get me, well I got no choice
Career opportunities, the ones that never knock
Every job they offer you is to keep you out the dock
Career opportunities, the ones that never knock
Career, career
Career, it ain’t never gonna knock
Eric Sykes(Quote)
That’s a Clash song if you didn’t know it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sell Sissoko, Cisse, Tiote and let Colo and Marvauex leave on frees. Dressing room needs cleared of the diseased players who see NUFC as a stepping stone and the players who no longer care or aren’t good enough.
On Saturday I would play the following team in diamond formation;
Elliott
Janmaat Mbemba. Lascelles Dummett
Anita
Gouffran Thauvin
De Jong
Mitrovic Perez
Stuart79(Quote)
So Hadaira out for four months… Hope Dummett doesn’t get injured or were completely ******!
Stuart79(Quote)
Is there any news on whether Tiote is fit for the game? My team for the weekend would be
———————– Elliott ———————
Janmaat – Mbemba – Lascelles – Dummett
———- Sissoko – Tiote – Gini ————-
—— Gouffran ————— Perez ——-
——————– Mitrovic —————–
If Tiote is injured then I’d go with Colo in that position.
Also if Mitrovic put the same workrate in as he has against Bmounth & Leicester, he’d be getting the hook and I’d put Cisse on.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Colback is back in the squad
Stuart79(Quote)
I just wanted to say that I’m very excited about tomorrow’s match. It’s a clash of the titans. It’s the Sonny Liston v Cassius Clay match of the day. We’ve got two fantastic clubs facing each other at their peak. Oh wait…… I was thinking of Man U v Leicester…. Never mind. Harrumph.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Everyone, quickly form a conga line and chant:
We need Shefki Kuqi!
We need Shefki Kuqi!
😯
GeordieTwo(Quote)
A lot of you have been asking me “G2 why can’t we bring in top, top players like Shefki Kuqi anymore? What has happened to our bargaining power”? Well mates, it’s fairly complicated. We spent a great deal of Mike’s hard earned cash bringing in Phil Gristle, and the Belgian midget strikers. Now you want a top, top player like Shefki Kuqi? I’m speechless….Harrumph!
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Well, if we can’t afford Shefki I suppose we could try for Albert Luque….Surely he’s available.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
And Xisco as well. Beautiful player that Xisco…..What a signing he was…..
GeordieTwo(Quote)