Seeing as Wednesday’s win marked our 10th game in what will hopefully be our second and last stint in the Championship, today, I thought it would be good to make a comparison to the last time we plyed our trade in the second tier back in 2010.
Of course, the Magpies bounced straight back after being relegated to the Football League in 2009 under Chris Hughton, and with an arguably stronger squad and manager this time round, signs would point to us doing much the same.
But just how are we faring compared to last time out?
League Position
The data after 10 games as to where we were placed in the Championship back in 2009 is patchy, but my deductions are, that we were in 1st position and 4 points clear of nearest rivals West Brom. Just a single defeat to Blackpool marred what was otherwise a solid start to the season.
Now, we’re third and have already suffered three defeats. Cause for concern? Or is the only stat worth discussing, the one that we see after 46 games?
2009/2010
Played: 10
Won: 8
Drawn: 1
Lost: 1
2016/2017
Played: 10
Won: 6
Drawn: 1
Lost: 3
Goalscorers
Signed from Palace for what many believe to be an over the odds price, Dwight Gayle has become our main source of goals so far this season. His hat trick against Norwich this week was hopefully the first of many, but the pedants amongst us will still argue that he needs to be less wasteful in front of goal. With 7 goals so far, should the Eagles man continue scoring at the same rate, he’d hit over 30 goals by the end of the season.
Back in 2009, Andy Carroll came to the fore for Newcastle, scoring 17 goals in his first full season for the club. Being much more youthful and inexperienced than what Gayle is now, it is perhaps not fair to compare him directly. An apt comparison, if he hadn’t have gone on loan to Barnsley, would have been to put Adam Armstrong and Carroll side by side.
Geordie Two raised concerns about our front line in his post the other day (as did others in the comments) but when you consider the fact (at the time of writing) that are we now the division’s top scorers with 21, to an outsider looking in, our concerns seem unfounded under the circumstances.
The Opposition
Both 2009/2010 & 2016/2017 campaigns will turn out to be difficult for very different reasons. In the former season, a strong West Brom side who were still in the process of shaking off that ‘yo-yo club’ tag, kept pace with us until the last few games. A nervy 1-1 draw on the opening game of the season (which I watched from the comfort of an expat bar in Majorca) against them was the perfect barometer to assess how strong our ‘strongest’ opposition would be. Further defeats to Nottingham Forest and Blackpool, two sides who both made the play-offs (the latter of which won the play-offs) would be small blots on what was otherwise a stellar season for the club.
This time around, defeats to the likes of Huddersfield, who have been a real surprise package under David Wagner this year, have more than kept our expectations in check. The plight of Aston Villa has certainly helped, as they, along with Norwich were fully expected to challenge for the automatic promotion spots this year. But seeing as Roberto Di Matteo’s men are now some way off the pace, it would appear our nearest rivals for the course of the season will in fact be Norwich.
Huddersfield, as good as they’ve been, shouldn’t be expected to maintain the sort of form they’ve had for the course of the season and as a result, can be tentatively discounted.
Conclusion
We’ve lost games but we’ve almost never failed to create chances. The stats don’t lie – we’re faring worse this time around but with a lot of personnel changes this summer, the bedding-in time for the squad is always going to be longer.
On paper, I believe this year’s Newcastle side (on-song) would win-out against the class of 2009. For some reason, things just clicked quicker than they did under Hughton, but that’s no slight on the good job Rafa has done so far. As I said, the disruption caused this summer can certainly be attributed to our ‘stuttering start’.
With the amount of money in football growing year-on-year exponentially, it wouldn’t be out the realms of possibility to consider that second flight teams of this season are inherently a lot stronger than those of 2009/2010 as well. Bulging parachute payments and increasing foreign ownership has only lended itself to a higher standard of football in the English Championship as the years have wore on.
All that said, this season’s squad, under the stewardship of Rafa should still have no problem. I believe we will go up, but the jury really is out as to whether we can do it in the same comfort we did back in 2009.
Cheers Andy, We had Nolan, Barton and Carroll all dragging us kicking and screaming out of the league last time. Not sure we have quite the same strength of character players but they are certainly more than capable of getting us back up. Rafa knows what he’s doing and most games he will switch tactics and play to good effect if we look weak. Can’t expect to win them all and although we only lost I think it was 4 last time around I do think that was just one of them amazing seasons.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Andy the Magpie
Very good contemplative article. I allude to what Steve Harper said on the radio on Wednesday night, (in 2009 of course he was still a toon player). The team then had some tough players like Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan, Alan Smith, Danny Guthrie, even Carroll, Guttierez and Coloccini. They knew how to win ugly and we won a lot of games 1-0. Mick Lower then said that some of the other teams were scared of those players and from just standing in the tunnel the game was almost psychologically half won. The current team, in my opinion are just as capable and I think we have some fantastically talented players at the club. I do feel though that some of them don’t have the ‘star’ status that the likes of even Barton and Nolan had. They have shown that they can keep going and not let the heads drop but they also need to be intelligent with the ball when we are winning. The 09/10 team would have held on for a win at Villa and not crumbled IMO, that’s the difference at the moment.
DJG(Quote)
Excellent article Andy. All I know is we’re sitting 3rd but we were a whisker away from ninth with that last minute win. That’s what concerns me mate. We don’t have the seasoned vets we had in 2009. With the length of the season that could be a real problem. Some very decent recruiting in January may be needed Rafa. Roll up your sleeves mate….
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Did you know…
There is not one player from the 09/10 squad that is currently in the 16/17 championship squad. Only Tim Krul (Ajax) and Haris Vuckic (Bradford City) remain from that season. Interesting given the length of time spent at the club previously by the likes of Harper, Taylor and Ameobi. As people have said, this is a different season, different players and different opposition, comparisons will obviously be made with 09/10 as that seems to be our reference point and where a lot of us have fond memories of those championship games. They are now just memories though, this season could be a long slog or in the next five games we might ‘click’ and never look back. Who would be a toon fan eh? 🙂
DJG(Quote)
JFW! Remember life under that toady c*nt Pardew – and remember that we’ve finally got what we asked for in Rafa.
Rafa gets to pick the team. He’s much better at it than any of us (or Pardew. Or that ***** McClaren)
DarthBroon(Quote)
Darthbroon
I see you’ve joined the PLEBS (Pardew’s Little Egg Brain Squad) 😆
Pardew didn’t have a say in the squad he had when at the toon but has at Palace.
He’s got full control at Palace and has assembled an exciting team who will be the surprise package this season.
He did a decent job at the toon under the circumstances.
Yes I would rather have Rafa but it’s laughable how so many have been shown up to be PLEBS.
They were queuing up on here to so say, I told you so,.when they were bottom after 2 games. I told them to be patient and I predicted he would drag them back up.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
G2
There’s only 10 games gone. Of course we could have been 9th if we got beat but that would only be 2 points off third.
It’s always going to be bunched at this stage of the season.
The fact is we won. We didn’t win pretty under Hughton on many occasions. In fact we were outplayed by many sides but we had goalscorers who snatched goals against the run of play.
We are getting goals from many players this season and I see us only getting stronger as the season progresses. We have a lot of new players who are still gelling.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
nice to see you back mate,keep it up 😆
icedog(Quote)
We don’t have the kind of players who bullied teams like 9/10. Kim and DJG named most of them. I’d add Enrique who was still playing the El Toro role.
We’ll get there but that was a tough team.
georgio(Quote)
Cheers guys, yeah I think you’re right – we had more ‘nasty’ players back in 09. The likes of Hayden and Shelvey are never going to be as horrible as Nolan and Barton were.
At risk of sounding like a broken record, I’d argue the championship is less physical these days mind.
Andy Magpie(Quote)
The current toon team wouldn’t last 5 minutes in the Premiership, and Palace would batter them… Way too lightweight, too little up front and a static midfield …. Shelvey played 4 or 5 magnificent 40 yard balls against Norwich, but purely because he couldn’t get up and down the field in the second half, having done the job of 2 men carrying Collback and Diame…
Still, first things first, promotion then we’ll see what Rafa does with the squad after that…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Barton and Nolan had found there level, so bossed the Championship last time round, a bit like Shelvey this time round.
Munich Mag(Quote)
We are probably missing that Kevin Nolan from this team to be honest.
Not just his leadership qualities, but that no.10 player. Not an easy player to find.
Sharpy17(Quote)
So we play bottom of the league Rotherham today.
Another big away win would be nice, but I’d be happy with a comprehensive 2-0 performance personally.
Sharpy17(Quote)
If I had to choose between one of those players I’d take Nolan any time, Barton was a badge kissing poser.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Richie is rested,nee sign of Murphy anywhere,antia comes back in
icedog(Quote)
Any chance of links?
Fans Should Own the Club(Quote)
Yedlin injured, dropped or rested?
Fans Should Own the Club(Quote)
dropped mate
icedog(Quote)
Perez not on bench either, now behind Gayle and Mitrovic upfront and Gouffran/Ritchie/Atsu in midfield. Do Barca/Spuds still want him? 😉
DJG(Quote)
nee match thread AGAIN 🙁
icedog(Quote)
http://www.multi-sports.eu/39.html
video!
Fans Should Own the Club(Quote)
***** blog
Munich Mag(Quote)
you beauty!!!! xxx 😆
Gashley(Quote)
Radio
http://mixlr.com/rarestpepe/
Kimtoon(Quote)
the link above works. excellent quality too
Gashley(Quote)
I think I prefer it when there are no TV links, this is absolutely minging.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Diame has touched the ball twice in 20 minutes. Pathetic.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Getting battered so far. 😆 . Darlow confident though, people on twitter questioning Darlow after one game in five months. Shurrupp ya mugs lol.
DJG(Quote)
DJG dead right, battered, but Darlow is doing really well imo…
Munich Mag(Quote)
can’t believe we are making such hard work of Rotherham like 😳
Kimtoon(Quote)
Should never have dropped Darlow, mistake Rafa but we move on…
DJG(Quote)
villa losing to Preston
Kimtoon(Quote)
Strange game this. I think we might have to be patient and wait for them to tire, they look to be playing on adrenaline. Main objective is, don’t concede in first half. Wait for them to make a mistake.
DJG(Quote)
Yet again a laboursome performance. Yes we may yet go on to win, but yet again it’s not enjoyable stuff this like.
Sharpy17(Quote)
GetinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnAtsu assisted by Shelvey
Kimtoon(Quote)
excellent goal!!!
1-0
Gashley(Quote)
😯 Even Colback is playing well, he’s been Rafa’d!!!
DJG(Quote)
scoreline flatters us, though Atsu is the big difference, a class act.
Munich Mag(Quote)
a wins a win..(if we win) teams arent going to roll over for us..
Gashley(Quote)
Huddersfield Drawing 0.0
Barnsley losing 1.0
Brighton winning 1.0
Bristol City losing 1.0
Kimtoon(Quote)
Villa 2 down now
Kimtoon(Quote)
your dead right mate
icedog(Quote)
It’s a pretty tiresome game. No doubt at all that Rotherham had the better of the first 30-odd minutes but they seemed to run out of steam a bit – too much pressing maybe.
Mostly it seems a competition on the Newcastle side of who can boot the ball the farthest.
Good goal, though. Atsu looks a bit ahead of the rest.
Brisvegas(Quote)
Yip. We ain’t won yet but winning away is a bonus typically. Although I would argue, such is the difference in stature between the clubs, maybe we are expected to win today. Atsu pushing for a regular place, I think he looks better on the right, Ritchie must be concerned. 😀 Great competition. He is a Chelsea player after all, so he should have some skill!
DJG(Quote)
So far so good, but surprised that Diame still keeps his place… he’s been **** so far. Its live on Bein sports here so lucky today.
That goal for Atsu was excellent. Hope he gets more games so Chelsea don’t decide to sell him off somewhere. Shelvey doing well and yet another assist I think. Much prefer Darlow in goal too. Seems more assured
Dubai Toon(Quote)
I like Rotherham’s walk out music, ‘She sell sanctuary’. Class tune. 🙂
DJG(Quote)
mackems 0 – Baggies 1 😆
DJG(Quote)
Atsu coming off. He was class today.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Huddersfield winning again. Their manager must be a genius the way he has them playing.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
They ain’t making it easy for us… credit to them–their high press has been hard for us to handle.
Fans Should Own the Club(Quote)
“And one other thing, Mitro, if we win, don’t injure any of our players celebrating.”
“And don’t pick me up again.”
Fans Should Own the Club(Quote)
All the other top 4 teams either winning or yet to play. Wolves – Retarded Canaries 17:30. I don’t care mackems are tearing up their season tickets and throwing them at Davey Moyes. 😆 😆
DJG(Quote)
****, shot meself in the foot again 1-1 now. Ah well, still time for them to lose it still. 🙂
DJG(Quote)
Jaysus, off the post.
Fans Should Own the Club(Quote)
Huddersfield are seriously getting on my wick now, yet another 1 goal lead 👿
Kimtoon(Quote)
How can anyone question me wanting more than this man?!?!?!!!
Anyone happy to just walk away with a win today I think has been brainwashed into accepting just a win!!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Kim, some of those 1 goal leads will start turning into 1 goal deficits or draws sooner or later. There’s a chance Huddersfield will continue to beat the odds, but those types of wins generally aren’t sustainable. They’ve been in every single game this season, but so have each of their opponents.
Charlie Prince(Quote)
Huddersfield away is going to be a good game. Can we sicken them?? 😛
DJG(Quote)
Another win but my gosh we made hard work of that
Kimtoon(Quote)
Hope so mate
Kimtoon(Quote)
A 1-0 squeaker. Sharpy isn’t happy!
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Tough game, surprisingly. They got their tactics just right and maybe set a blueprint for teams with a bit more quality to beat us.
Fans Should Own the Club(Quote)
I imagine Munich Mag won’t be either. I still don’t understand why Murphy hasn’t been given some match time in case of injuries?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Almost (disclaimer) everyone expects Huddersfield to drop off and do a Derby etc. etc. What if they do a Leicester? 😮 Stranger things have happened! They are still going strong so far. 🙁
DJG(Quote)
I hear you, Sharpy, but they set up to press and frustrate us all day, maybe get a counter or score from an error and we managed to weather it. Winning ugly ain’t much fun to watch, but sometimes it’s necessary. Happily, we’re balancing that out with 0-6 to QPR and 4-3 comeback wins where we coulda/shoulda been up by 3 in the first half. Rollercoaster, this season…
Fans Should Own the Club(Quote)
It’s a strange old season so far with Huddersfield so dominant in points. Once injuries start to crop up though I doubt their squad is as deep as ours. The second half of the season usually tells the tale. I like our chances.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Well that was a bit scrappy in the second half and we should buried them, but I’ll take a 1-0 win away… Huddersfield have definitely been on a 3 shredded wheat diet…
Dubai Toon(Quote)
Well we now are at 2 points per game. (11 games 22 points). Still might not be enough for top 2. I think we will improve and at least keep pace with ‘Udders. Bring it on. We will get uglier as the season goes on!
DJG(Quote)
No, Sharpy, I completely agree that today wasn’t good enough. It’s only one match and I’ll take the 3 points, but a 1-goal win against the bottom dwellers does nothing to inspire any confidence. I’m disappointed to have not come away with something like a comfortable 2-0 win.
Charlie Prince(Quote)
G2, you’re right mate, they battered us and surprisingly we showed massive resilience, hats off to the defence of which I thought Darlow did really well the lad.
Carrying too many midfielders today, Rotherham made us chase the ball all afternoon, and Gayle managed nowt today. He must be really peeved at the **** service the front men get.
Atsu looks good, excellent pace, has probably found his level here, looks good in the Championship can’t hack it in the big league…
Munich Mag(Quote)
Also, something to keep in mind regarding the current table, there will still be 34 games remaining after Norwich and Wolves play today. That’s almost an entire Premier League season. The first 11 games count as much as any other 11, but there’s still a lot of football to be played, with plenty of injuries, suspensions and fatigue to come.
Charlie Prince(Quote)
Sorry, 35 matches remaining. Can’t do math today.
Charlie Prince(Quote)
hi all,
well at least you know how to grind out a result.and are in the mix at the top.and will get promoted.
wheras,we are heading for another relegation fight.
5,000 villa fans went up there today.only to end up chanting,you are getting sacked in the morning to de matteo.he would be gone tonight for me.
a villa fan(Quote)
Hi Villa, you’re becoming a regular on here, and welcome as always mate… have to say it’s not looking good for the Villa at the moment, and missing that late penalty will not help confidence either. Still a long way to go though mate and time for you to get up to the play offs… I have a few mates that are Villa supporters. Hope you make it mate…
On a different note entirely, does anyone else think that Norwich’s away strip looks like a little kids Jim jams… it’s terrible!
Dubai Toon(Quote)