Rafa Benitez opted to shift to a very defensive 5-4-1 but it wasn’t enough to keep Chelsea at bay, as they left St.James’ with a 2-1 win thanks to some good fortune.
A dubious penalty and a late own goal from Deandre Yedlin meant Joeslu’s fine header in between was in vein as Benitez ‘parked the bus’; NUFC only had 18% possession in the entire match. It is another defeat though and with more tough games coming up, it isn’t a great start for the season for Newcastle.
Pre-match discussion centred on the surprise exclusion of key players Jamaal Lascelles and star midfielder Jonjo Shelvey were left out of the opening line-up, both due to injury according to the club. Rumours continue to circulate that captain Lascelles and Benitez fell out over tactics through the week which saw the former Forest man banished form the squad. True or not, it’s another off the field distraction we don’t need. Shelvey will be absent for a few more weeks with an ankle injury accordingly to Benitez post match.
The reshuffle did mean starts for four summer signings – Schar, Ki, Rondon and Fernandez. Schar was unfortunate to give the penalty away after winning the ball and Ki was quiet in a game where we didn’t have enough of the ball to judge him fairly. Rondon led the line well with next to no service but Fernandez had a promising game following his summer switch from Swansea and looks an able deputy to the injured Lejeune.
David Luiz is a major concern yesterday, if Barkley is been dropped for Kovacic, I strongly believe same should be for Luiz for Christensen. The way he stood watching the ball before Joselu headed home the equaliser was embarrassing.. He should have reacted quickly. pic.twitter.com/YJJisn4ZmL
— MSCFC? (@SarrifutbolCFC) August 27, 2018
Murphy didn’t offer much in the place of the ineligible Kenedy but again, Newcastle were so defensive (Like Man city at home last season) it really was an impossible task at times for our forward players. Newcastle were a shadow of the confident aide who thrased Chelsea 3-0 at SJP on the final day last year and opting to be so defensive is frustatign when it doesnt come off. The gamble didn’t work for Benitez but we were 3 minutes away from a credible draw before Alonso forced Yedlin into a poor own goal.
It does though give external ‘pundits’ to criticise Newcastle – Jamie Redknapp being the latest to call our approach ’embarrassing’. It is worth countering that it is poor to watch and frustrating but we have the smallest budget in the league; due to Ashley anyway. It is our large crowds that mean pundits judge us differently.
We need to stay United as we have City and Arsenal next, where we could easily be in the bottom three if we allow negativity to grow. Arsenal are vulnerable defensively so let’s hope to see a more open come when they visit after the international break but for this game, Newcastle’s defensive didn’t quite pay off.
For those who didn’t enjoy the game – I didn’t either but I’d rather watch that than 46 games in the championship.
Good to see you back Simon! Few typos though 😐
georgio(Quote)
I have seen quite a few times that Rondon is not match fit. How come? He didn’t play at the WC and he returned to training earlier than NUFC because the Championship starts earlier. I think he played in preseason games as the tansfer saga rumbled on. So, how come he is behind his NUFC Colleagues? It could be that he doesn’t know Rafa’s system but that is different to match fitness which pundits and fans alike have said.
Just a minor point because I want to see him play against City. We have to play Perez or Muto though because we need a support striker even if they spend a lot of time chasing like Perez has in the past. I think Murphy was that yesterday as he drifted in off the wing but he ended up being neither one thing or the other.
Can I agree with both Sharpy and Stuart because I hated that gameplan but know why we did it with so many of our better players missing. Even against City I don’t think we should play 9 at the back because you end up being camped in your own half further back than you had planned. And City will have a more expansive plan than give it to Hazard and let him try to dribble past the whole team.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sunderland are 2nd in the 3rd Division so it will be time for some crowing from the Mackems with no self awareness that they are in the 3rd division. Even Schteve let me down with QPR winning. Hoping Mourinho comes up trumps. I can’t say I dislike Jose but I do find it funny when Man U are in relative trouble (they finished 2nd and got to the FA Cup final FFS) and he gets a strop on.
Since yesterday was so boring and disappointing I am reduced to schadenfreude and even that is not working for me.
Did Keys and Gray say anything about underinvestment being a reason for NUFCs tactics or are they just happy to trash Rafa without putting any context on it? I can’t fathom what they get out of defending Ashley. In Keys’ case, because he dislikes Rafa so much, is it the enemy of my enemy is my friend?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
What embarrassing is Ashley’s approach to this club, not Rafa’s. Rafa is just trying to get the club survive.
funrafa(Quote)
Fan Forum Cancelled!
But who would they have talked to anyway? There is only Charnley.
Do we really need to hear from Steve Nixon? He’s a scout.
Barnes and Bishop are invisible except for the odd club statement defending the owners’ conduct.
Beardsley is suspended.
Who else is there? Imagine having like a 2 hour sit down with Charnley. He doesn’t seem like the most interesting guy. It would be like a 2 hour conversation with your dentist, or having an date with Theresa May.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I doubt that it would get that heated though. The people who run blogs and fanzines are usually not the types to throw beer and tip over tables. I just think that at this point NUFC have nothing to say and particularly nobody to say it. They just rely on their cronies and stooges in the media to speak for them.
Bishop is supposed to be a close friend of Ashley. His role is not specified but his hands are all over the PR pieces the club puts out. He is not a Director but sits in the Director’s box next to Charnley. His job is to explain what is going on at NUFC so why not have him at the forum. I am sure he gets paid although he doesn’t seem to have a specific job title.
Bishop’s expertise is in PR, in explaining. Why not explain to the fans what is going on instead of leaving it up to Keys, Gray and Wise?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Fans forum being cancelled doesn’t surprise me. The club don’t really care about answering for their shambolic running of the club.
I remember Greame Souness slaughtering Bournemouth last season for being too open against Liverpool. He said they were naive. It appears Greame has a short memory.
Stuart79(Quote)
It is a bit rich as well Souness saying that the crowd wouldn’t have stood for him not attacking at home against Chelsea. Big upping himself and simultaneously trashing Rafa. I don’t really mind Souness but you can see what he is doing.
When Souness joined NUFC it was off the back of 3 seasons of top five finishes.
Souness had Shearer, Dyer, Bellamy, Bowyer, Laurent Robert, Milner and bought Michael Owen fro Real Madrid. I wonder if any of those players would have got into Rafa’s team yesterday and changed the tactics? All of these pundits seem to forget about their own Management careers. I saw Tony Adams criticizing Emery after 1 game. Tony bloody Adams who I think set a record with Granada for most consecutive losses last year. That wasn’t in the distant past either, it was the last few games of last year and he has the audacity to opine on the skills of a 3 time Eufa Cup manager and League Un winner.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Cancelling the forum doesn’t surprise me either. But it’s exactly those kind of cowardly moves that makes these MP petitions all the more necessary.
I’m sure his little ******** mates on BeIN will say why should he turn up if all we do is slag him off. But if they are so sure his approach is so right, why wouldn’t they come out and explain their position.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric, Souness got to spend about £50m too and that was 13 years ago!
Stuart79(Quote)
Chronic have banned Keys and Gray. I don’t really agree. If you banned every pundit that talked shyte about NUFC you would only be left with Alan Shearer.
It is like Hitler’s Germany where the problems were exacerbated by good people being quiet. In fact, Keys and Gray are worse than Hitler.
Chronic should ban Ashley’s Joseph Goebbels, Keith Bishop.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Hope people know I not serious about comparing Keys and Gray to Hitler. No it is worse than that, I should be comparing them Darth Vader. Oh, Darth Vader is Hitler you say!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
3 games in. It hasn’t been pretty football and we haven’t got the results. But if you look at it without the doomsday glasses on:
1. Could (and probably should) have got a draw with Spurs
2. Could (and probably should) have won the Cardiff game with the penalty
3. Weren’t too far off smuggling a (probably undeserved) point from Chelsea.
So the scoreboard shows us with 1 point, yet a little bit of luck going our way and we could have had 5. Maybe reason to be hopeful?
Brisvegas(Quote)
Spurs have destroyed Man Utd tonight – not sure how much longer Jose will get here.
To be fair it him, his CBs are absolutely garbage.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Man Utd are seriously knackered. They won’t get anywhere with Mourinho but who on earth could they replace him with? All the best managers are in big jobs. It’s great!
Stuart79(Quote)
Zindane has been heavily linked as replacement mate
Sharpy17(Quote)
Harry Redknapp as Caretaker?
Before Juve got Ronaldo I would have said Allegri.
Ancelotti? He’s at Napoli but Man U are much bigger.
Zidane? Would he take it?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Man U fans are planning a protest against the Glazers and Woodward with a flyby. What will the pundits say about that? They haven’t exactly starved their Managers of money.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Wenger? ??
Sharpy17(Quote)
Dare I say it but our very organised bunch of second raters put up a better fight against Spurs than the multi million pound mess that was Man Utd tonight.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I’m really not too sure about Zidane. Yes he won 3 CL but he had cracking squad and didn’t have a great record when it came to leagues. Also hasn’t he just agreed to be a DoF somewhere?
Stuart79(Quote)
I would also add that Chelsea won four nil at Huddersfield and without Hazard.
Groucho(Quote)
Wish our next game was Man utd and not man city is all I can say.
kimtoon(Quote)
Yeah, we’ve had our usual luck and poor refs so far. It could easily be 5 points not 1 .
Just gotta keep the faith that the tide will turn otherwise jabba will have to put his hand in the clubs pocket come January.
kimtoon(Quote)
https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/newcastle-united-mike-ashley-sports-direct/
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – I get the point he’s trying to make, but I disagree. SD has customers – NUFC have fans and it’s the fans that give any club their identity – not some fat **** of an owner. Ashley may hold the club back, he can never and will never strip it of its identity.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Spot on Sharpy but he can diminish the future of the fanbase with the ever more fickle and spoilt for choice kids of today. Worries me.
georgio(Quote)
Seems to me with every passing season, the name Ashley is what people think of first when asked about Newcastle united or more likely sports direct. The club is losing it’s identity bit by bit under his ownership. I’m sick of seeing his face and name and can only imagine how much publicity he gets for his baby via nufc, be it good or bad publicity it’s all the same to him.
kimtoon(Quote)
100% agree, Kim. To the outside world the identity is changing. We’re seen as a yo-yo club now who are perennial strugglers. The only difference between us and WBA and the like is we have a bigger stadium and more fans.
Stuart79(Quote)
Spurs didn’t play that well and still beat Man U 3 nil.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Does Rafa play a full strength team tomorrow or does he give the likes of Sterry and Longstaff a run out?
Sharpy17(Quote)
https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/newcastle-united-mike-ashley-sports-direct/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
Good read and. dead on
Icedog(Quote)
So it was Richie and club captain that had bust. Up before Chelsea game,team mates had to part them over five man defence,Richie told him to get on with it as that’s what Rafa wants
Icedog(Quote)
interesting Ice, I said on sunday that I saw Ritchie having a full on go at team mates for the third game in a row. He was linked with a move away pre season too wasn’t he. Rafa said that a few players had offers to leave and now had to get their heads down and concentrate on the season ahead. I do feel we have a few off field issues at the moment still unresolved, big test for Rafa’s man management this season as the players know he’s likely off in may and that they will then be stuck with an unambitious rudderless ship.
kimtoon(Quote)
posted that yesterday mate, it’s good that a journo outside the NE gets what’s going on and gets to the heart of the matter.
kimtoon(Quote)
Leeds fans are raving over Bielsa, they love him. Wasn’t it Prem who was always championing the guy as a good potential Toon manager ?
Maybe IF Rafa goes, we could poach him off Leeds.
Nah scrap that , Pardoop is out of work. 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
The ChronicleVerified account @ChronicleNUFC · 16h16 hours ago
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Absolutely brilliant from Rafa responding to @Carra23 point about Arsenal job.
“Missing out on top jobs? I’m in one.”
kimtoon(Quote)
He’s not, Kim. I appreciate the sentiment from him but this job is a bag of ***** with this owner.
Stuart79(Quote)
Kim, It was. He is just about the opposite of Rafa. Like many innovators he has been ignored, and his disciples lauded.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Kim – I read that article and while I share some of the sentiments I thought it was poor. The author writes exactly like a man who’s never been to SJP.
georgio(Quote)
in what way mate, can you put in words where you feel he’s wrong ? Genuine question like.
kimtoon(Quote)
His disciples have been lauded, yes. Pep credits him as a big influence.
HARDLY IGNORED though 🙂
Managed:
Argentina
Chile
Athletic Bilbao
Marseille
Lazio
Before Leeds. And Leeds are as big of a sleeping giant as us. If he can rouse them they could easily be bigger than Spurs and Chelsea again.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon: I am not going to second guess Giorgio but I read the article and thought it didn’t get into much depth. I agree with the sentiment but a few more examples would have got to the core of what the Fatman is doing to our club.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric True but most fans over here would have said ‘Who?’
PremAndUp(Quote)
Such a sloppy start!!.
Kenedy let that full back ghost past him there.
Hopefully a rocket up the **** early on though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Standard for our cup form under Jabba
Stuart79(Quote)
Yeah, not great and it’s not like we don’t know the threat Murphy carries either.
kimtoon(Quote)
Nice to see Sterry start
kimtoon(Quote)
I didn’t realise sean longstaff was Alan Thompsons nephew
kimtoon(Quote)
Me neither, he looks tidy on the ball – hope he has a good game and stays with the squad rather than go on loan.
As for Sterry – he’s already twice the player Manquillo is – he’s got to stay!!!.
Wanna see more from Atsu and Kenedy though – in a 4-4-2 they should be our main threat but neither have had an impact yet
Sharpy17(Quote)
When I look at our players I just see players who cost very little money and it’s reflected in their performances.
Stuart79(Quote)
Yeah , Atsu has the pace to trouble them but not doing it as yet, likewise Kenedy, all the fancy touches but no end product. We look lack lustre, we look like the championship side at the mo.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kenedy starting where he left off against Cardiff.
Stuart79(Quote)
Kenedy needs to wise up a bit. needs to realise we won’t get the time and space on the ball against this lot.
kimtoon(Quote)
Muto showing the striking instincts of Karl Darlow.
Good to hear a commentator being reasonable about NUFC too. Calling Jabba out!
Stuart79(Quote)
he was better when he was injured ffs
icedog(Quote)
Stu, I don’t know how any reasonable pundit wouldn’t call him out tbh, it’s staggering that any media think he is doing a good job as owner.
kimtoon(Quote)
Aye mate.
kimtoon(Quote)
Well, that was *****
kimtoon(Quote)
Can someone remind me… which is the premiership side? Is it the bnw stripes or the others. . ?
This is shocking, their goalie didn’t have 1 save to make in first half. ☹️☹️☹️☹️?? horrible. We will go out tonight.
Of course it had to be Darryl Murphy scoring…
Dubai Toon(Quote)
We look like a team that’s made 6 outfield changes, changed formation and have players making their debuts.
Clark struggling with positions as a LB, the 2 wide men have been passengers and Muto is making runs nobody expects. Other than a Joselu header, I’m not sure where the goal comes from.
Longstaff looks decent in midfield and I like Sterry.
I do wonder – were we better off with Murphy, Mitro and Gayle as our forwards over Joselu, Muto and Rondon?.
Sharpy17(Quote)
yeah and like I said mate, it’s not as if we don’t know the threat he poses.
kimtoon(Quote)
good pro, murphy sharpy.
kimtoon(Quote)
Not as good as that.
Groucho(Quote)
let off there, fucking shambolic
kimtoon(Quote)
Wonder why we have produced almost zero successful PL footballers from our academy.
Stuart79(Quote)
We look like a team who isn’t any better or worse than last season, Sharpy. Who knew!
Stuart79(Quote)
This is turgid football. *** what have we become…?
Dubai Toon(Quote)
A cheap, tacky and low budget football club.
Stuart79(Quote)
Don’t get it, Muto looked lively – Atsu and Kenedy have done sod all!!!.
And we have a CB taking a free kick ?
Sharpy17(Quote)
“Muto looked lively” He ran about a bit, miscontrolled a few a balls and lost the ball. He’s bang average.
Stuart79(Quote)
I’m losing the will to live watching this desperate *****.. I don’t have enough vocabulary and poor expletives to describe just how bad this pile of pap is. I don’t think the Forrest keeper has made one save. Just let it be over so we can crawl back into our hole.
Dubai Toon(Quote)
I’ve seen gummy bears with more attacking power than our team. ??☹️☹️
Dubai Toon(Quote)
Great finish btw!
Stuart79(Quote)
What can we make of this…?
Stuart79(Quote)