Game On! Tottenham v Newcastle

Game On at the Lane
Game On at the Lane
Good afternoon campers. Are we ready for another emotional journey following our beloved NUFC?

Probably not. The win last week was excellent. Not expected yet hugely welcome we now have to do it all over again this time against an in form Tottenham Hotspur which leaves me with the same feeling I had prior to the match last weekend. Hopefully the outcome is the same but I just can’t see it.

So where do we stand in the table? Well picking up at least a point is essential yet unlikely, especially after Bournemouth picked up three points against Manchester United yesterday, but it won’t be enough to climb out of the bottom three. An unlikely win by the odd goal would see us climb to 15th temporarily while an even more unlikely victory with a four goal margin would see us jump to 14th. Yeah…. I thought that too so I’ll pass the drugs around. All the same you can check what the bookmakers say and enhance your odds using this promotion.

A premature outline of the early team news and injury updates can be found in the match preview which went up last night. It also features a look at the history of the fixture, some stats and facts ahead of the game and some random thoughts from myself dotted throughout.

For actual team news you can consult the bottom of the article. I will try to get it published as soon as it becomes available but I’ve been to work all morning so you may have to bear with while I start cooking the roast and so on. If you really can’t wait have a look in the ‘comments’ section below and I’m sure one of our regulars will have it up in seconds.

Likewise if it is a stream you are looking for you are best served turning towards our regulars who will often post links throughout the comments section which is especially useful for those who aren’t at the game or don’t have Sky Sports or who aren’t in a pub watching the match.

Other than all of that there isn’t really much to add apart from a bit of wishful thinking and blind faith. Well sort of faith anyway. As much faith as you can have in a team that has won like five games in a year.

Howay the lads!

Tottenham: Hugo Lloris (c); Kyle Walker, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose; Tom Carroll, Eric Dier; Erik Lamela, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen; Harry Kane

Subs: Michel Vorm, Ben Davies, Kieran Trippier, Nabil Bentaleb, Nacer Chadli, Josh Onomah, Heung-Min Son

Newcastle: Rob Elliot; Daryl Janmaat, Chancel Mbemba, Fabricio Coloccini (c), Paul Dummett; Moussa Sissoko, Vurnon Anita, Jack Colback, Georginio Wijnaldum; Siem de Jong; Papiss Cisse

Subs: Karl Darlow, Jamie Sterry, Kevin Mbabu, Yoan Gouffran, Florian Thauvin, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ayoze Perez

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.

241 thoughts on “Game On! Tottenham v Newcastle

  1. I mean, we played **** in the first half yesterday and since we won it is being talked about as some sort of tactical masterclass by McClaren. That we somehow thwarted the Spurs high press with the long ball over the top. No we didn’t, we were ****. We only got better when we got away from those tactics and brought on Perez and then Mitro, and when Sissoko realised he was on National TV 🙂

      (Quote)

  2. Eric – some teams change a manager coz the side are producing poor results. The new manager comes in and is able to have immediate positive impact because the infrastructure of the club is good – the new manager of Swansea will likely find that.
    However with us, that wasn’t the case. We weren’t just a good team playing bad, we were/are a club in real mess. I’m not sure any manager would have came in and turned things around completely with just 5 new players.
    To be fair to him, McClaren did say that things would probably get worse before they got better.

    Yes there were big changes needed on the field, but I think if Mc can make the changes in the boardroom, and on transfer policies in the main, then that’s where our long term improvements come from.

      (Quote)

  3. AndyMag: we look so much more dynamic with Perez, I think he should be 1st on the teamsheet. That probably means de Jong to the subs bench as I think Steve needs the crutch of the 2 holding midfielders. Maybe if we get more confidence (and points) he might go with your team/formation.

      (Quote)

  4. Sharpy: I hope so. But Steve will at least have to talk with Charnley about transfers which up until last week he said he hadn’t. I am really happy about the recent turn of events and hope it continues against Villa and Everton. They have said they have a 3 window strategy and I want to see some evidence that this is the case in this second window of the three. A couple of additions should make us comfortable and give Steve the breathing room he wants.

      (Quote)

  5. Oh, and Elliot should only hoof on a backpass. He can actually throw it further than he can kick it and is much more accurate.

      (Quote)

  6. The Villa game is a big one IMO. It would be typical Newcastle to go out and get beat having just put together 2 very good wins against 2 very good teams. In the past we allow complacency to set in – we take our foot off and think we’ve cracked it.
    We can’t let that happen against Villa. Three wins in row would be huge for confidence, and could really start to put a bit of distance between us and the bottom 3.
    I could see a win against Villa and a point from WBA. 10 points in Dec against the teams we were facing, and the form we were in, would be a cracking achievement.

      (Quote)

  7. Sharpy – Don’t hold your breath on any changes to our transfer policies. McClaren’s main job is to improve young players and sell them on at a profit. Still not sure how anybody at the club thinks this will create a successful football club.

      (Quote)

  8. Eric
    Yeah that’s always the problem when playing that sort of formation, too reliant on the back being able to deal with the pressure and the philosophy of best defence is a good offense but I know we might not have the team for that but with the players we have I think it is worth a try as there are not enough chances created.

      (Quote)

  9. Eric – I know Mc has said that they haven’t spoken about transfers, but I think that’s perhaps to avoid having to face those questions from the media. I suppose if you are trying to get a group of players to work together and be united, the last thing you want to do is discuss which ones you’re planning to replace with the media.

    We’ve always been pretty active in the Jan window pre McClaren, so I don’t see that changing – especially when the need to strengthen and improve is as great as it’s even been.

      (Quote)

  10. Dead right Stuart. Another couple of wins and there’ll be no Jan transfers!

    Perez and Mitro or Cisse and De jong? It’s a no brainer. I’ve seen horses with better ball skills than Cisse and De Jong is too slow for the PL.

    Great win though – 16 pts from 16. Not even relegation form!

      (Quote)

  11. Stu – I’m not suggestion there will be a total reverse on our transfer policy, that will never happen. But Mc may be able to convince them at buying afew more English player and the odd player over 26/28 is beneficial for the team. The more successful the team, the better the player you can attract, the better player you attract the greater the sell on fee you can expect.

      (Quote)

  12. Andy – offensively I think that formation is perfect for the players we have. Defensively I don’t think Tiote is good enough and I think Colo would step out into midfield to help him out – which will only weaken our defence further. If we can strengthen at CB and DCM, then it certainly could work. But at the moment I think Tiote would just get totally overran and an already weak defence would be left exposed.

      (Quote)

  13. SHARPY17
    you say Tiote not good enough 😆 kruls no1 , collo in midfield dint make me laugh

      (Quote)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *