A third league win in succession on this ground lifted us out of the relegation zone to 15th place and ahead of Chelsea subject to the result of their match with Leicester City this evening.
The win you could argue was deserved just about. Don’t get me wrong, Tottenham could have been a couple of goals up at the interval but instead had to settle for a slender 1-0 advantage courtesy of Eric Dier’s header from a corner routine. This is however when we notably tend to collapse as alluded to by Thiery Henry in the Sky Studio.
But to their credit United didn’t crumble and got themselves back into the game in the second period, whether that be through an upturn in our performance or through the tiring of Tottenham who were engaged in Europe League activity in midweek is a point of discussion.
Suddenly United, so content to contain in the first period, started to cause their own problems and pose a threat going forward but it wasn’t until the introduction of Ayoze Perez and Aleksandar Mitrovic came off the bench that the threat was truly realised.
Indeed just two minutes after replacing Papiss Cisse it was Mitrovic who took advantage of some poor defending by Tottenham to prod home from less than a yard out after Chancel Mbemba’s stooping header towards goal failed to be cleared. 1-1.
Spaces then started to open up as Tottenham tried to regain the lead which actually played into our hands as we have the pace and power to be able to counter that. This time it was the pace and power of Moussa Sissoko bursting down the right that created the chance for Mitrovic to put the away side ahead but he miscalculated his move towards goal and just missed connecting.
The Serbian did however have a hand in the dramatic late winner as he nodded on the ball for Ayoze Perez who chested the ball forward before firing underneath Hugo Lloris to send the away fans into raptures. Long journeys and dry trains handsomely rewarded with our second away win of the season.
Are things improving? Wins against an in-form Liverpool and a Tottenham side unbeaten in 14 Premier League matches would suggest so but it’s still early days. A win against Aston Villa, a team who are in and around the same area as us, may start to change my opinion however.
Howay the lads!
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
Attendance: 35,768
Howay the lads indeed. Excellent result. Great team spirit. Could have been better in the first half, but it was all about containment – which is what they did. Well played.
Brisvegas(Quote)
As always, credit where its due. The lads are showing commitment and heart and they are getting their reward. Great to see. Now we expect to see that same commitment on a consistent basis. The Villa game is huge for both teams.
Shamrock(Quote)
http://mobile.newsnow.co.uk/A/2/807034223?-11058:809
lad has been superb since he’s been brought in. Apparently he was very vocal at half time yesterday.
If Krul was fit and ready to come back in, would he get the gloves back?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I thought Cisse was good against Liverpool and wasteful yesterday. I really think Mitrovic should start against Villa along with Perez. Part of me wants to see what de Jong can do if Mitrovic can give him a bit more space. Cisse just wasn’t bringing others into play yesterday and I think de Jong needs a bit of space to use his skills because he doesn’t seem to have much pace.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
De Jong has no pace, Eric, but what was obvious watching him yesterday was that he was always looking around and thinking the game. I think he can offer the midfeld to striker link we’ve missed. Villa is an interesting game for him as well – can he be the player to help us unlock banked defences when we pay at home? At the minute I stil think Perez is (rightly) getting the benefit of coming on against more tired defences. Agree that Cisse just doesn’t have the all round game to contribute consistently. Maybe Mitro, but I’m still hoping for a January striker.
GTE(Quote)
The problem with De Jong is that he needs movement ahead of him which he seriously lacks IMO. Would like to see him with Perez in front of him. Yesterday he was always looking but had nobody to pass to and then he just lost the ball. Must be hard for him at times.
Stuart79(Quote)
There’s been a lot of top PL players not blessed with pace. Equally there have been many a ***** player with bags of pace.
What De Jong does well is he knows where his team mates are before he even gets the ball. He’s finding pockets of space and looking round before getting the ball so he is able to make that quick pass.
I actually think that Perez would benefit from playing while De Jong is on the pitch rather than keep replacing him.
I think Perez has the intelligence to make the runs where someone like De Jong would find him.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I think that’s right, Stu, but wee finally have an ‘inside forward’ who is always looking for the pass or the through ball, so rather than writing him off for lack of pace or physicality, I’d love to see us try to get that movement around him.
GTE(Quote)
Stu – was obviously writing it as you were posting it. But it’s right, Mitrovic plays with his back to goal or gets in the box wanting balls from wide areas. Cisse, I’m not sure if even he knows what he’s going to do.
Perez would run in behind as he did for his goal yesterday, or he will look for balls through the channels between defenders. Dare I say it but Riviere would probably do that too – would Charlie Austin or should we be looking at other forwards?. I think Dwight Gayle at Palace would play that way, but not sure he’d be a popular choice.
Sharpy17(Quote)
GTE: maybe we could send the NUFC coaches a few DVDs of Denis Bergkamp to see what a player with no pace and little physicality can do 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Yes, I would very much like to see De Jong given a chance in a team and with players who are forward thinking. I think we will see a different player then.
Stuart79(Quote)
Sharpy: Gayle doesn’t score enough. He looks decent, but you want your forwards to score.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We might as well sign Usain Bolt if we want Gayle because he’s fast.
Stuart79(Quote)
Not suggestion that Gayle would get up 20-30 goals a season, but he’s a forward who looks to run in behind and is a counter attacking forward. If we are looking to become a more direct team I think he’d be a decent option. I agree though, he probably needs 4 or 5 chances per goal which isn’t ideal. He reminds me a bit of a Craig Bellamy with his style of play.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Gayle played in the lower leagues and has since scored a goal every 5 games for Palace since 2013. At 25, that is probably what you are going to get. At least with Mitro and Perez there is an upside. De Jong scored 14 I think as an attacking midfileder for Ajax. So, I think I would take a pass on Gayle.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I’m on about replacing Cisse with Gayle, not any of those 3. I think he’d be a great threat and would fit into our system better than Cisse. I did say it would be unpopular 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
I on about what job he can do for the team not just his goals returns. If you are breaking it down to just that then you might find Perez is about a 1 in 5 player as well mind.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Perez is 22 in his 2nd season. He has more upside.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy: I would give Austin a go before Gayle as he has shown he can score at every level he plays. Running fast and the odd flick means nothing without the end product, unless you are providing space for someone like Shearer who had the knee ops and needed a runner.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Plus, Bellamy was 10 times the player Gayle is.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – don’t be daft, I’m not slagging Perez off or anything. I’m just saying if a players stats is all that is taken into consideration it doesn’t give the full picture. Gayle might not have a boat load of goals to his name, but every time I’ve seen him play he certainly offers a threat. Maybe Armstrong could be that player for us and we don’t need Gayle. But I think a Bellamy type forward would work well with a De Jong there to play them in.
Sharpy17(Quote)
And… Pardew would probably put broken glass in Gayle’s porridge the day before we signed him.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I am not slagging YOU off Sharpy. Some pace would be good and Armstrong is a good shout as long as we don’t sell Perez. The more options we have, the better, in my opinion.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’m not sold on Gayle being the rignt one, but I’ll defend Sharpy’s ‘its the team not the player’ approach. If there are two changes to transfer policy, rather than necessarily lifting the age range, I really hope they are going after one or two players with experience of the League and looking at playersto fit a team style of play, rather than just at Moneyball data. Perez’ winner reminded me of Bellamy Feyenoord 2002. If we could unearth the next Bellamy, we’d all be happy.
GTE(Quote)
Armstrong would do just as good a job as Gayle I imagine.
Stuart79(Quote)
Eric – I would never suggest you were mate, we’re just chewing the fat 😉
To be honest I had overlooked Armstrong before suggesting Gayle, but now he’s in mind, I’d far sooner go with him – not yet though, leave him at Coventry this season. But some of the goals he’s scored there – I reckon he’d be a dream for De Jong finding those runs – and that kid can finish.
I was thinking of options to Austin and who may be available in Jan. It would probs mean having to loose Cisse though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Talking of good players being signed from the lower leagues…. It seems our own Rob Elliott fits that description. Not many here would have said that this summer when his contract was extended!
I bet Darlow is seriously wandering where Elliott’s form leaves him now. Can’t see Krul being sold so Darlow is not likely to get a look in unless of course we sell Elliott in the summer whilst his stock is high…
Shamrock(Quote)
I don’t think we need strikers so much. We need a winger to provide descent service for them. We also need a future replacement for Colo and thats a key area that needs strengthening. Aaron’s and Thauvin just aren’t good enough. Colo, Willo and Taylor can do a job once in a while but are mostly terrible or just injured. We need a central defender of class. There much cheaper than strikers so why not get one over the line ?
Stem(Quote)
I still think Colo is a terrible defender. He made mistakes yesterday and wasn’t punished. He should be more at his level against Villa. Just hope the player’s dont get complacent.
Stem(Quote)
Do Leicester have better individual players than us?
Stuart79(Quote)
Apart from Mahrez that is!!!
Stuart79(Quote)
At the minute Leicester are doing to Chelsea what they did to us – all is forgiven Schteve 🙂 🙂 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
What ever is going on with Chelsea
kimtoon(Quote)
KIM to many of the players just don’t want to play for Jose by the look of it imo
icedog(Quote)
Ice, it’s mad mate, I’d have him at Toon any day. Honestly the league this year is mental, bloody Leicester top and playing a blinder and yet relegation fodder for such a long time last season .
kimtoon(Quote)
Outrageous. We have had a stinker of a season so far and yet we are outright ahead of last year’s league champions almost half way through the season.
Shamrock(Quote)
Fantastic result for Leicester, but their fans ringing up saying they will win the league? Can they take the deluded tag off us now like 😆
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie: I fkin hate Leicester. I went to University there for 1 year. I think I said this before but I had a few beers in the Kings’s Head with some NUFC fans which was down the street from Filbert Street.
On the way to the ground, some **** LC fans started throwing 1-2 inch nuts and bolts at us. There were like 30 of them so we ran. W@nkers. I hate Leicester.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy in response to the last thread
Yeah Tiote is not got enough to him to work in that system.
I was thinking about this yesterday, Colocinni has a very good footballing brain and is very skillful. If we could get another CB in would he work as a CDM? I think so, what do you all think?
Andymag(Quote)
Andy – I remember under KK we did a similar thing with Barry Venison, who played RB, CB and DCM for us coz he was good on the ball and had that ability to play a midfield role as well.
I don’t see why we couldn’t at least try Colo there. I think he’d be able to perform that role and would be less dangerous there than CB. Ideally I’d want to spend money on bringing in a real top DCM though because I think it’s a crucial role with how poor our defence can be.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Andy@39 A few have suggested that, AOD has been saying it for a while now. Personally I’m not so sure he’d want to do it, it would be admitting he’s no good at CB anymore which I doubt he would be happy with.
kimtoon(Quote)
I do.t get why we would put Colo in at DM. No pace and questionable heart. Meanwhile, we have Tiote, Col ack and Anita on the books in that position. What kind of message does it send to them? It tells Colo he’s not wanted at CB and tells those 3 they are not wanted at DM. Not great for morale.
I’d suggest if we want a specialist DM, we sell first then buy in.
Shamrock(Quote)
Colo has played defensive midfielder before in his career, although not for us. Maybe it ill work. He’s comfortable on the ball and maybe he doesn’t have to be the quickest in that position with people around him and not being last line of defence.
Stuart79(Quote)
Gotta fuk Colback off to the bench… too slow, gets caught in possession too often.. passes sideways near on every time… offers nothing imo.. Anita is working way harder than him… time to bench him…. people crack on about Collo when Colback is twice as bad…
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Can’t put Colo as DM unless Taylor is fit. Can’t bench Colback unless Tiote is fit or Gini/Sissoko can play central mid and Thauvin is good enough to start on the wing.
We need at least 1 centre half that has experience of the PL and that’s Colo or Taylor for me right now. Willo if we’re desperate…can’t see us being able to sign anyone better with that experience in January…can you?
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
Yeah…and if you think we’re having a bad season based on what we could reasonably expect, imagine how Chelsea and Villa fans feel right now…
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
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