Just three days after our disappointing 2-0 defeat to Wolves, we face Walter Zenga’s side yet again in this EFL trophy third round clash.
In what was a subdued performance by Rafa’s men, tonight represents the perfect opportunity to take stock of what went wrong and take the necessary steps to correct it.
Team News
With squad rotation a must at this level, signs point to Benitez handing new striker Daryl Murphy a start in tonight’s match at SJP as well as defender Grant Hanley. How he intends to shoehorn the former into the starting line-up remains to be seen; fellow striker Dwight Gayle’s record in this competition (below) certainly isn’t to be grumbled at with the former Palace man netting 8 goals in 6 appearances during his career.
#Newcastle‘s Dwight Gayle’s #EFLCup career record:
Apps: 6
Goals: 8#NUFC #Wolves #wwfc— Goodbrand Stats (@StatsChristian) 20 September 2016
As is now common knowledge, full back Vurnon Anita will not appear in tonight’s game or indeed the trip to Villa or game against Norwich City after getting sent off in Saturday’s defeat.
Prediction
With Zenga’s men not bothering to head home after Saturday’s game with a return fixture just a couple of days later (correct me if I’m wrong), a prolonged stay in the north east capital could indeed unsettle tonight’s opponents.
With the presence of Murphy up top providing a much more direct outlet, and the likes of Hanley using tonight as a means of proving their worth to the gaffer, tonight we’re expecting the Magpies to bounce back from Saturday’s defeat with a comfortable 3-1 win in the return fixture.
Predicted Line-Up (4-4-2)
GK: Darlow
RB: Yedlin
CB: Hanley
CB: Lascelles
LB: Lazaar
RM: Ritchie
CM: Colback
CM: Hayden
LM: Atsu
CF: Murphy
CF: Gayle
Kimtoon agree Mitro and Sels blew it…
Norwich will batter us…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Our whole midfield are just trotting around like they are world beaters. Reminiscent of McTufty’s team tbh…
Munich Mag(Quote)
That sucks The game should have been put away in the first half. Possibly too many options for Rafa. I would have brought Murphy on, not MItro but it’s hindsight now. I did say he should be used in the game though. Mitro isn’t good enough. Darlow should be in against Norwich as well.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Are we so poor on midfielders that we have to play a half fit Tiote ?
Munich Mag(Quote)
Our first draw.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
All in all Mitrovic has been a disaster this season compared to what I thought he would be. I would drop him altogether until he shows something in training or playing with the reserves. We have a real problem there. He hasn’t worked out. Gayle can still get us goals. And Perez may have some role to play athough not a major one.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Still lots of work to be done with this squad. Rafa needs to settle on a proper starting 11 and then have 3 or 4 players he trusts in reserve. We’ll need to improve dramatically against Norwich to stand a chance.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
We have an absolute mismash of misfiring primdonnas..
Munich Mag(Quote)
That second half was really a disgrace. I’m not sure how Rafa will handle it. He may burn some ears after that effort.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I think Sels will be rested. He even admitted in an interview the other day that he was struggling to adapt. He flapped at everything today.
When Darlow played his first game against West Brom he looked awful. However, I must give credit to him because he hardly put a foot wrong after that. On present form he deserves his chance.
It is not all Sels’ fault though as the game should have been put away well before Villa came back into it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I don’t see any improvement in the footballing performances of our lot tbh. Sels should have claimed the ball for there goal too in my opinion…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Can’t afford to drop points like that the way Norwich is playing. The next match is crucial now. If we lose to Norwich we’ll be 7 points back of them.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Well that was coming. We missed so many sitters. Threw it away. So pissed off. I know we didn’t lose but it feels like it. Selz is ****. Needs a rest. A long rest. Gutted. Down to 5th I think now. Just not good enough.
Dubai Toon(Quote)
Didn’t expect to see Tiote, we were unlucky not to score a second but we just seemed happy to try and protect a 1-0 lead which is strange really. We are at risk of falling 8 points behind the leader on Wednesday. Need to beat Norwich at home now.
DJG(Quote)
Sels is struggling to adapt and I wish Darlow would get a chance in the league. He is used to the championship. Sels is used to playing in a **** league I’m Belgium. Weird signing. If we’re going to win this league it will be with Elliott back I’m goal and a settled team IMO. I’m not convinced on Diame but Yedlin could be a good signing. He is like an upgraded version of Simpson.
DJG(Quote)
Shelvey’s reactions are very slow.
Groucho(Quote)
Oh dear … That really wasn’t pretty at all and could quite easily have ended in defeat.
As most (in truth all) of my school reports read – MUST DO BETTER!!!
Sharpy17(Quote)
On a different note – it’s so disappointing that the article we are working on is still the PRE Wolves article.
What the hell is going on?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Really not yet convinced with Diame either. Missing loads of chances.
Dubai Toon(Quote)
DJG: Sels told the Chronicle he was struggling to adapt. He might need a bit of time to get his head straight and we certainly cannot afford to give him the time to adjust when we have a decent ‘keeper in the wings. This is what he said:
“It is definitely more physical,” Sels replied when asked about the differences between English and Belgian football. It is hard because all of the lads you play against are strong.It is important to come for the high balls and everything, but it is good for me to experience that because it helps you improve and get better.
The game is definitely a lot faster here, and you have to be focused right through every game.
The ball is always going up and down the pitch. In Belgium, if you are one of the big teams, you can dominate the whole game for 80 minutes and then in the last five minutes they might play with five strikers to try to finally test you. Here, the game is constantly going backwards and forwards – that is the big difference.
You have to play games to get used to the level.”
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The blog sucks, without the lads and lasses it would be nothing. The owners have absolutely no interest.
Munich Mag(Quote)
DT: Diame pretty much missed a sitter which probably would have killed Villa off. We were well on top at that moment.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric Sykes, most of the toon punters are questioning Sels, but Rafa will stand by him… Strange one really…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Trying to be objective. On another day we would have seen Villa off with the chances we had. A draw away from home is not a bad result. Villa will be up there in the play offs come the end of the season. We are creating chances which is the most important thing.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Agree Troy. And glad your boy put the Mackems away.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
hi all,
well you let us off the hook today.should have been 3 up at half time.
at least you got an away point.
o/k we got a point,but in our position it is not good enough.
it seems you still have a few problems,but nowhere near ours.
as for grealish in which one of you asked me about last night.
im afraid he is another wayward kid,that needs to buck his ideas up.he was fined and dropped today,for smelling those crazy balloons again.
mind you,with our club i might try them as well. 😎 😎
a villa fan.(Quote)
Spot on mate,if they cannot be bothered makes you wonder if I should be bothered,I never made a comment as there was no match thread so stuff em
Icedog(Quote)
I am trying not to scapegoat Sels but I think he looked nervous and that can translate to the rest of the defense. He was also blocked off a couple of times – probably illegally – and that didn’t help.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Icedog, when Shamrock goes missing then the blog goes missing…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Pyschs
Are you and others going to show some humility some day and admit Pardew is not as bad as you insist.
He has one of the most exciting teams to watch and will be a surprise side this season.
His players. Unlike he had at the toon. I saw it. You didn’t.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I thought Mitro was a disgrace when he came on. He had 15 mins to bust a gut and he couldn’t be bothered to close the players down when they had the ball. It gave them the opportunity to gain a moment of space. Gayle bust a gut all game. No wonder he’s been dropped. That was the start of the game slipping.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Humility Troy? I am surprised you can spell that word as you have no personal experience of it, woo hoo! Anyway, I was actually hoping Palace would win today and now they are on an upswing after their monumental death spiral. Same old Pards, who has a good new set of players who will buy in for a while before the cycle begins again.
I don’t know if you have followed this thread at all but I said I thought Pards would get Palace to survive this season and that the Mackems were doomed as they have the worst squad in the PL.
A 93rd minute winner must have been gutting for the Mackems.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Was that the one when he got put off by Gayle getting in his way?
We had zero composure in front of goal today, we were as out of control in the second half as we were in control first half. Strange game but not entirely unexpected, I did predict an optimistic draw.
kimtoon(Quote)
How long before they start to turn on their hero, the busted-flush Moyes? Another couple of weeks I reckon, the boo boys were there today. Back to boom and bust although I hope this time they have a 20 point mountain to climb. 🙂
DJG(Quote)
Psychs
If Pards keeps Palace up this season then he’s achieved his goal. That’s all palace shoupd expect. However he has assembled a very exciting attacking side.
I still see you have no humility. I’m waiting for Betsy to admit he was wrong. His great words of not being out of his depth as a premier league manager must be ringing loud and shrill in his lugs.
All of you really. Where’s Stu ? Another one who doesn’t rate him. Wowsa!
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Sorry, Betsys infamous words were, ” He’s out of his depth as a premier league manager”.
That was before he ended up the second longest serving manager in the league once Fergie retired. He voluntarily left us in 8th place and now has assembled an exciting attacking side at Palace. Attacking ? Pardew? Yes. I told you so. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Wait til Remy gets fit.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
MM
Pardew? You’re another. Any comeback. 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Was disappointed with Mitro, I really like his spirit but today his concentration and positioning was terrible. I had thought he’d make a difference when he came on, such a let down.
kimtoon(Quote)
Troy – Remys loan was cancelled due to the injury mate. He’s back at Chelsea now.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Troy, with the players Pards has at his disposal he should be doing well, as you say it’s an exciting attacking side. A relegation fight would be an epic fail, but I don’t see that happening simply because of who he has there.
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy
Shame. He would have been great for Palace.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Let’s be honest every one. If the clueless crew hadn’t campaigned for Pardew Out, we wouldn’t be in the championship.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I can understand the comments about Diame, but I’ve never been convinced he’s a number 10 personally.
I think he’s a good CM maybe ACM, but not a no.10, which would be Perez in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He’s far more clinical than Diame IMO.
I think our best no.10 option is sadly loaned out at the moment in Adam Armstrong.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Kim
He chose those players. He had no say in the toon playes.
That’s the reason he left. His words.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Sharpy
You’re quiet about Pardew.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Aye I think Pards would have felt that one. All his Xmas in one week when he got Benteke & Remy.
Bolasie & Gayle out – Townsend & Benteke in … both upgrades IMO.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Troy – I’ve said in the past Pardews biggest problem with NUFC was he was too consistent in his results. By that I mean we could win 5 games in a row & everyone started to believe we could achieve something good – then the next 5 we would loose.
There wasn’t many draws in his time. I think if he won 2 lost 2 for example, then people would accept him as an average manager.
He was let down badly by the board & Ashley – and it speaks volumes that they have changed their policies. His better players were sold and not replaced & that can’t be overlooked either.
However as a manager/coach he definitely has his flaws – and as a persons, very arrogant & hard to like.
Would he still be there if Palace hadn’t bought him – more than likely.
Would I have got rid of him for McClaren (even without hindsight) not at all.
But am I pleased he left? – yes, because I’m not sure if we would have got to stage where Ashley & the board realised what they were doing was wrong & needed changing.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Troy, but he is signing ex Toon players and he tried to get Colo too last season , I don’t understand it. He’s asked after a few Toon players, he wanted Sissoko too.
kimtoon(Quote)
Troy, what ever his ability as a manager was/is, he is an insufferable ****** and I am not one bit sad he’s gone. In the end we have Rafa, would you rather we still have Pards ?
kimtoon(Quote)
Did Remy go back to Chelsea full time with the loan cancelled or just until he is rehabbed? Let’s see what Arrogant Al does with these better players. Maybe he has learned his lesson from the time he had Tevez and Mascherano. I wonder what happened to those two?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And Pards had 2 wins in 24 until the last month. He was very lucky to survive that death spiral and I have no doubt he will do the same again. He always alienates his players after a while.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Anyway back to NUFC. Mitro came on for the last 15 minutes when we were firmly on the back foot so I don’t see how he can take the brunt of the blame. I only saw the Diame miss once on a crappy feed and it looked like a sitter.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
No humility still. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
And you Kim amd sharpy.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
It’s a good job they stuck with him after the death spiral cos they are now 7th. Do you never learn?
Troy Stavers(Quote)
No humility needed mate. He was/is a bang average manager who done a decent job under the circumstances.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Wow. Is that not what I was saying for years ?
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Yes mate, and I agree with that … I’ve just never felt the need to either ram it down people’s throats or try to change opinion ?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Troy: as usual you are only telling half the story. You said Pardew was an average manager who we would never get better than under Ashley. The arguments against him were that he went on his death spirals and was an arrogant ***** playing awful football. I admit he had one hand tied behind his back with Ashley’s transfer policies but that did not negate his history when he had done exactly the same thing. He has won 3 games and now you are crowing. The cycle will continue though.
You didn’t say much about your England prediction either… Is there any humility there 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Celtic 6, Troy’s choice for McClaren successor (Lee Clark) 1.
Kilmarnock: Played 7, points 6.
There’s nothing like selective memory, eh Troy. Remember that? And your England call?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Back to the match, AGAIN. Most of us would probably have accepted a point away to Villa as a decent result before the game. It was our dominance and missed chances that make it hard to take. They were probably in a false position anyway as they seemed to have no luck and got pegged back late a few times. This is not the end of the world and we have a game in 3 days to make a statement.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Psychs
Ask Kim what I said about my England call.
You have a selective memory.
Regarding Clarky. He saved theM from certain relegation and is doing a great job keeping them off the bottom again.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I see Sels has closed his twitter account because some are giving him stick/abuse. That’s the problem with social media, it is immediate and is prone to overreactions. I reread what I had written on here about Sels to see if I overeacted and I reckon I gave a pretty fair assessment of where he is and even quoted some of what he said which shows he is aware of his current shortcomings.
What I will add is that even though he has flapped and let a few balls bounce off his chest he has usually reclaimed them and probably hasn’t cost us any goals (maybe today?) and our defensive record is still good. On the other hand he does not instill confidence and if it continues it will transfer even more to the players but even worse to the crowd. If the twitter idiots become a vocal minority at games it could shatter his confidence.
He probably needs to be taken out of the firing line and to get some coaching to deal with how the Championship defenders try to shut him off on set pieces. He also need to be more decisive and decide if he is punching or catching – not something in between.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Troy: why don’t you just tell me what you said about your England call? I remember you said we would win it and then backed off and said the final. I am not sure if you backed off even further and said simis after that? You said “mark my words or mock my words”.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Troy: Clark is one point above the relegation playoff spot with 6 points from 7 games. I don’t know the circumstances really but I do know that Managing Kilmarnock should not be a stepping stone to NUFC. I think the population is less than SJP capacity so he will do well to keep them in the SPL. I am not really having a go at Clarky, I am having a go at you saying he was qualified to Manage NUFC.
Stranger things have happened though. Look at Burton, or Swansea or Watford. So put your Baba Ganoush cards on the table and predict where he will finish.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Psychs
I just said I called it wrong. I believed the players could do it but they let me down.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Just looked it up and Kilmarnock population in 2011 was 46,350.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Troy: I think Mr. Roy let you down as much as the players. We certainly didn’t have a worse squad than Iceland.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Clarky is still young enough to get a championship side and who knows from there if he did a good job.
The state the club was in under McLaren was disgraceful and we were heading for relegation. I only suggested Clarky to step in for the last games of the season because nobody else was coming up with any realistic names. Klinsmann etc.
We brought Shearer in with zero experience so Clarky was a reasonable suggestion in my opinion.
Fortunately, Mikey saw the light. A light that hadn’t been shone before and nobody saw it coming.
It’s great having Rafa and not clarky that’s for sure.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
If clarky keeps kilmarnock up again then he deserves credit.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I agree that Clarky will have done a hell of a job if he keeps Kilmarnock up; they are punching above their weight to be in the SPL in the first place, I think. The fact we have Rafa as manager says that Klinsmann wasn’t as crazy a suggestions as you made out.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
BTW: they cut to the end of the Mackem game here after Liverpool and Moyes’s face was a picture when Palace scored – The Picture of Dorian Gray. He already had all those scowl/worry lines and I think the Mackem job might kill him or turn him into one of those old man masks that people sometimes wear at Halloween. Pards didn’t do a fist pump or little disco dance so I was proud of him.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Actually, Pards would have been quite justified in doing a fist pump or disco dance under the circumstances. He might have got lynched on the way to his car by the Mackems… It is weird that if Klopp did the same I would find it endearing but when Pards does it I think it is cringe worthy. I think it is because I do not like Pards on any level. It is the smarmy, arrogant, blame shifting, self congratulating I think. But then most football managers are like that, but Pards just rubs me the wrong way.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So you don’t like Pardew 😯
Now there’s a shock. 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)