Newcastle 3-2 Southampton: Heroic NUFC hold on despite three injuries, red card & nine men!

Wow, what have we just witnessed?!

That was one of the most gutsy Newcastle performances we have seen in the Mike Ashley era. A game that had everything and showcased what this squad is capable of at both ends of the pitch! Take a bow, lads!

NINE man Newcastle dug in to defy the odds and hold off Southampton to fire us 11 points clear of safety (before Fulham’s 5.30pm clash with West Ham) and hand our whole fanbase a MASSIVE sigh of relief.

Debutant Joe Willock opened the scoring on 15 minutes before a Jan Bednarek own goal doubled our lead. Southampton’s own new boy Minamino pulled one back for the Saint’s before Almiron restored our two-goal cushion before the break.

Saints’ skipper James Ward-Prowse clawed one back for the visitors before a braindead moment from Jeff Hendrick reduced ourselves to 10-men.

Fabian Schar was stretchered off with 15 minutes to go, leaving us with just EIGHT outfield players, but Steve Bruce’s side showed nerves of steel and the heart of a lion to cling on for the victory.

There was further doom and gloom for Steve Bruce as Javi Manquillo and Callum Wilson were also forced off due to injury in the first half, with the treatment table starting to pile up with each passing week.

The opener arrived early when Schar weighted a beautiful pass over the Saints backline to Saint-Maximin. The winger charged towards the away goal and picked out new-boy Willock, who slotted home with ease from point-blank range.

The first of our injury woes came not long after when Manquillo hobbled off, with like-for-like replacement Emile Krafth coming on.

Karl Darlow was soon called into action twice in a matter of minutes, both times to deny danger man Danny Ings – a sharp reminder of the threat the visitors still posed.

Our nerves were soon eased, albeit momentarily, when a wicked deflection helped put us two-nil up. Once again Schar managed to find Saint-Maximin from deep, with the trickster this time teeing off Almiron. The Paraguayan’s vicious shot took a huge touch off Jan Bednarek to hand us a healthy cushion and very much in control.

It is never straightforward with Newcastle United, as we saw on the half-hour mark when our lead was sliced in half by a bullet from Minamino. Southampton’s new boy, on loan from Liverpool, killed Hayden and Krafth dead with one touch before rifling past Darlow with another.

More misery came when top goalscorer Callum Wilson was forced to limp off for the goal-shy Joelinton. This one certainly did not feel like an equal replacement, as the tone of the game began to change with Newcastle seemingly looking forward to the break.

However, against the run of play, we managed to restore our two-goal advantage. Southampton goalkeeper Alex McCarthy’s wayward pass was intercepted by Almiron, who pounced on the mistake and tucked home to relieve the pressure on us at half-time.

It was a disastrous start to the second half as, within five minutes, we found our lead sliced in two yet again and a man sent off!

Saints’ skipper James Ward-Prowse found the top corner from a 30-yard pearler to kickstart a catalogue of chaos from our point of view. Seconds later, Hendrick stupidly pulled back Minamino’s shirt to give Craig Pawson no choice but to send him down the tunnel.

Hendrick badly let our side down here, with his idiotic decision making reminiscent of Ryan Fraser against Sheffield United last month.

Southampton swiftly took control of the game and begun an immediate onslaught on Darlow’s goal. Ings rattled the post and Che Adam’s thought he had equalised until the linesman’s flag went up.

Our challenge became even mightier whenFabian Schar was stretchered off following a thunderous collision with the Southampton wall after his free-kick was blocked. For the remaining 15 minutes, we had to endure a never-ending assault with just NINE men on the field.

Torrential rain made the St James’ Park pitch the worst it has been for decades, and if we were going to get a result some unlikely players would need to step up with some huge performances.

Every player remaining dug in deep, and a special mention must go to Joelinton, who had to fill in at right-wing back and worked his socks off to help see out the victory.

Willock promised in his first interview that he would score goals and fight for the NUFC cause, and he did exactly that in his debut when our club needed it most. For being just 21-years old, the youngster put in a display way beyond his years and a few more like that will certainly endear him to the Toon Army faithful.

Bodies, blocks, blood, sweat and tears from every surviving Newcastle player went into keeping the Saints at bay. Dummett, Hayden and Almiron ran their lungs into the ground to ensure a colossal home win, our first since December 12 against West Brom.

THAT is what a NUFC performance is all about. Fight, determination, teamwork and pride. Putting your body on the line for the cause and playing for the name on the front of the shirt – not the back.

This massive win takes us 11 points clear from the bottom three and although we all might be a nervous mess after that 90 minutes, once the emotions subside, we can all breathe a lot easier when looking at the Premier League table.

Let’s hope Fulham lose in the 5.30pm kick off and injuries to Wilson, Schar and Manquillo aren’t as serious as they look.

Howay the lads!

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122 thoughts on “Newcastle 3-2 Southampton: Heroic NUFC hold on despite three injuries, red card & nine men!

  1. Miggy was epic.

    The games have finally been fun since Jones arrived. Today was madness, but fun. I thought we could have easily beat Palace as well.

    What every NUFC fan says is just give us commitment and drive and we will be happy no matter what the score.

    I dont even mind Bruce staying as long as we stay up. A crazy rollercoaster and just something fun. Yes, I said it again – FUN. It has been like some alien concept with NUFC for most of Pards, almost all of Ugly John and Schteve and 80 per cent of Rafa. We have had 3 fun games.

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  2. My player ratings:

    Darlow – 10, some brilliant stops

    Miggy – 10, utterly amazing.

    St Max – 9, scared the life out of them

    Dummett – 10, our best defender.

    Lewis – 8, welcome back Jamal.

    Joelinton – no comment

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  3. I was going to give Bruce a 6 and a half because he made a good sub to save St Max’s legs but he also brought on Joe. I am in my mid 70s, 19 stone, have asthma and diabetes and could play better than him.

    (I lied about my age and health, but not the fact I could play better than Joelinton).

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  4. Miggy has been outstanding these last few games. A different player. Just need the boys from wet spam to do one over Fulham now…

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  5. Miggy was brilliant today & deserves the headlines. I thought Willock brought exactly what we’ve been lacking from our midfield – I’d love to see him & Hayden alongside each other but with our CB situation, I don’t see that any time soon.

    ASM was brilliant today. His set up for Willock & Miggy is the difference. It’s great to watch a player run with the ball the way he does, but if there is no end product, what’s the point. With ASM there is an end product.

    To have players like ASM & Miggy in the team – that’s what gets young geordies wanting to follow their team.

    On the flip side. I raised the question about Joelinton – I reckon I got my answer today. For such a big powerful lad he’s lazy & looks disinterested. He came off the bench today & I know he had to drop back in when Hendrick got sent off – but he slowed everything down when he came on. There’s no running in him & he just stands there. He’s so disappointing & I honest would love to see the scouting reports on the lad – what was the thing they saw in him to want to buy him, let alone pay as much for him.

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  6. T-Rex Mackem is still out with a pretend injury. I have said he was **** from way before the match at SJP and said he would cost England at some point if Stupid Gareth still picked him.

    He is not injured.

    He is just shyte!

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  7. And Jack did some great Grealishes today. What a fantastic player but he has mastered the dark arts Lord Vader.

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  8. Just in case anybody doesn’t understand what I am talking about, I looked it up in the dictionary:

    A Grealish. To do a Grealish – run into somebody’s leg on purpose to fool the Ref and buy a foul. Formerly known as a Jack Wilshere but he is a bit shyte now and has been banished to Bournemouth.

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  9. 2nd goal was a Joe Hart. Diving a quarter second too late and pretending you might have stopped it. Sort of a fake dive, to pretend you went for it when you knew all along you couldnt get there.

    And Jon Moss needs a wardrobe consultant. You are too fat, fat boy to wear those tight shirts. He is also too fat to keep up with play.

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  10. I dont believe this goalkeeping in the Man U/Everton game!!!

    Everton have found somebody to imitate a falling tree FFS. As bad as the T-Rex?

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  11. We needed the two wins because I can’t see us getting much in the next 2/3 games. Although you never know but the injuries are mounting…

    But I think it’s not particularly surprising to see our attacking players looking much better when you ask them to attack and not defend. Who knew?!

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  12. Stuart79:
    We needed the two wins because I can’t see us getting much in the next 2/3 games. Although you never know but the injuries are mounting…

    But I think it’s not particularly surprising to see our attacking players looking much better when you ask them to attack and not defend. Who knew?!

    spot on Stu

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  13. Looks like from what Bruce said that Manquillo and Schar will be out for the season. Ligaments normally mean 4 to 6 months. I am not that worried as we have cover. We can put together a back 4 from a combination of Krafth, Lascelles, Clark, Fernandez, Lewis and Dummett. All should be fit for Chelsea in 8 days.

    I am still not convinced by Krafth. His positioning seems off.

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  14. Midfield?

    Hayden for Hendrick is a net gain and we know Bruce will stick with Shelvey. Just take Jonjo off free kicks FFS. Willock looked OK. So I am not worried about that and it is addition by subtraction with Hendrick. Matty can cover as backup because a plank of wood would probably serve us better than Hendrick.

    Spurs 2-0 up. Dont think Big Fat Sam will survive this time but he can get a loan of Alan Pardew’s Giant Book of Excuses from Bruce as I think we will be OK.

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  15. Speaking of planks of wood – I totally disagree that Joelinton had a decent game yesterday. Are we judging him now on the Joselu scale, where if he totally doesnt fck up every 1st touch then he played OK? Seems that way from Olly’s (and also Ryder’s) ratings. That the ball doesnt bounce off him 2 yards at every touch is not a cause for celebration. It still bounces off him 1 yard and he loses the ball more than he keeps it.

    But in the absence of Wilson, you just know Bruce will play him even though Gayle is much more like for like. So that’s him, Miggy and St Max.

    Not a terrible forward line apart from you-know-who.

    But… where to play Fraser. For 20 mins? And will Dwight be happy for long being behind the Brazilian Donkey?

    Malcolm McDonald has said many times that “Joelinton is not a footballer”. He didnt say not a premier league footballer he said “not a footballer”.

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  16. I would really like to see Joelinton’s pass completion rate if it includes mis-controls and falling over. I think when they do the stats they look at attempted passes when with him you have to include how he loses the ball which is often a mis-control and/or falling over. He should watch videos of Grealish to see how it’s done. The falling over to buy a foul, I mean.

    I sort of feel dirty mentioning Grealish and Donkey-Joe in the same sentence.

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  17. Just to finish my thoughts on injuries, we could still put out a decent team against Chelsea if Bruce would just forget about the donkey. I know we are stuck with Shelvey no matter what but he can be OK some games.

    Darlow

    Krafth Fernandez Clark Lewis (or Dummett)

    Hayden Willock Shelvey

    Miggy Gayle St Max

    Bruce will bemoan injuries but Ugly John would have killed to have that team.

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  18. I am not trying to be a Kellend to you Olly, but the chances of Watts being recalled are about the same as Joelinton getting a hattrick at Chelsea.

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  19. Eric Sykes:
    I am not trying to be a Kellend to you Olly, but the chances of Watts being recalled are about the same as Joelinton getting a hattrick at Chelsea.

    What’s your obsession with the constant digs at Joelinton?

    He did his job yesterday but still gets criticised. It’s odd.

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  20. Olly Hawkins: What’s your obsession with the constant digs at Joelinton?

    He did his job yesterday but still gets criticised. It’s odd.

    If you think letting the ball bonce off him and falling over is his job, then he did great. I would actually say it was one of HIS better performances but only because HIS standards are so low.

    If you cannot see how bad he is then that you need glasses. I have never been a serial moaner about our players with a couple of exceptions. Amdy Faye and Joelinton. I have even given Hendrick the benefit of the doubt most days.

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  21. You going to pick this argument Olly? Are you going to go to bat for Donkey-Linton? I promise you that you will lose it. And I wont even have to say anything. The donkey will prove me correct as he scuffs his next shot and falls over next time a fly lands on his shoulder.

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  22. There’s a donkey sanctuary near where my mother lives, north of Newcastle. She said one came in a couple of weeks ago and nobody knew its name so they called it Joelinton. True Story!

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  23. Eric Sykes:
    You going to pick this argument Olly? Are you going to go to bat for Donkey-Linton? I promise you that you will lose it. And I wont even have to say anything. The donkey will prove me correct as he scuffs his next shot and falls over next time a fly lands on his shoulder.

    You’re missing the point, sadly.

    He’s not very good and is a £40m flop, but he did do a decent job for the team on Saturday.

    He helped out Krafth, won a few free kicks to take pressure off us and helped create that chance for Shelvey (which could’ve made it 4-1).

    Wasn’t brilliant but did pretty well to help our 9 men hold on.

    I’m not asking you to say he’s great – he’s not – but get off his back and enjoy the win.

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  24. Olly Hawkins: You’re missing the point, sadly.

    He’s not very good and is a £40m flop, but he did do a decent job for the team on Saturday.

    He helped out Krafth, won a few free kicks to take pressure off us and helped create that chance for Shelvey (which could’ve made it 4-1).

    Wasn’t brilliant but did pretty well to help our 9 men hold on.

    I’m not asking you to say he’s great – he’s not – but get off his back and enjoy the win.

    Oh. I enjoyed the win. All you have to do is go to the top of this thread to see MY ratings and explanations of the players.

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  25. On a scale of 1 to 10 here are Olly’s criteria for Donkey-Joe’s marks.

    * can tie his own shoe laces, plus 1

    * doesnt put his shirt on back to front, plus 1

    * only allows the ball to bounce off him 2 feet 90 % of the time, plus 1

    * falls over without injuring himself, plus 1

    * doesnt run into Wilson and put him out for the season, plus 1

    So, that is a 5 so far. Lets see if I can get to a 7? EVER, in any game?

    No, I can’t.

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  26. Eric Sykes:
    On a scale of 1 to 10 here are Olly’s criteria for Donkey-Joe’s marks.

    * can tie his own shoe laces, plus 1

    * doesnt put his shirt on back to front, plus 1

    * only allows the ball to bounce off him 2 feet 90 % of the time, plus 1

    * falls over without injuring himself, plus 1

    * doesnt run into Wilson and put him out for the season, plus 1

    So, that is a 5 so far. Lets see if I can get to a 7? EVER, in any game?

    No, I can’t.

    Very childish, but always the sign of a poor argument when you resort to petty comments like this.

    If you want to talk actual stats, he made more blocks (6) and won more headers (7) than any other NUFC player. But you won’t believe that of course as it doesn’t suit the anti-Joelinton agenda.

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  27. And very churlish of you Olly. If you want to pick a fight, you might want to have someone better than Donkey-Linton to be yer man. Stats can mask a lot of things that you see with your own eyes – that he is a useless donkey. I could go back and tell you the number of goals per minute or errant passes in his NUFC career but I cant be bothered – because we can all see it without the stats.

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  28. OK. I looked it up. Joelinton:

    PL games 55

    PL goals 3

    How’s that for a stat?

    And he wears the number 9 of Shearer and Milburn.

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  29. Eric Sykes:
    And very churlish of you Olly. If you want to pick a fight, you might want to have someone better than Donkey-Linton to be yer man. Stats can mask a lot of things that you see with your own eyes – that he is a useless donkey. I could go back and tell you thenumber of goals per minute or errant passes in his NUFC career but I cant be bothered – because we can all see it without the stats.

    Eric, you have completely lost sight of my original point. I have said Joelinton is a flop and someone who has generally played MILES below his £40m price tag, but I am simply saying he is not someone who deserves all this criticism from his part in Saturday’s 3-2 win.

    He was by no means our best player, but why you feel the need to keep calling him a donkey when he put in a shift to help protect our slender lead with 9 men is beyond me.

    He’s been **** – we all know that – but this obsession with slating him when he’s not done anything wrong (on this occasion) is just odd and sad.

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  30. Just FFS here a comparison:

    Ciaran Clark, Position – Centre Half.

    Games played for NUFC – 89

    Goals – 11

    Goals per game – 0.12

    Joelinton, Position – Centre Forward, same as Shearer and Milburn. Number 9. Iconic, as some would call it/like to call it.

    Games played for NUFC – 55

    Goals -3

    Goals per game – 0.05

    So Clark has more than double the goals ratio of your centre forward. And you want to talk stats Olly!!!!

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  31. Eric Sykes:
    Just FFS here a comparison:

    Ciaran Clark, Position – Centre Half.

    Games played for NUFC – 89

    Goals – 11

    Goals per game – 0.12

    Joelinton, Position – Centre Forward, same as Shearer and Milburn. Number 9. Iconic, as some would call it/like to call it.

    Games played for NUFC – 55

    Goals -3

    Goals per game – 0.05

    So Clark has more than double the goals ratio of your centre forward. And you want to talk stats Olly!!!!

    Eric, please try listening to my original point before you create a completely separate debate that has zero relevance.

    I am not on about his previous stats – we know they are rubbish and I’m not defending them here – I’m on about the job he did on Saturday in helping defend down that right-hand side. He did a job for the team yet you paint him out to be the villain.

    God knows how you’d have reacted if it was him that got sent off, not Hendrick…

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  32. It is OK Olly. I enjoy just about everything you write. I can be a bit of a wind up merchant when I want to be 🙂

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  33. Eric Sykes:
    It is OK Olly. I enjoy just about everything you write. I can be a bit of a wind up merchant when I want to be ?

    I appreciate that mate, I’m just not in a good place at present and felt like you were purposefully goading me.

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  34. Just to finish, and say stats are easy to manipulate but evidence of your own eyes tell more of the story:

    Some quotes:

    Malcolm McDonald – “JoeLonton is not a footballer”.

    Mick Lowes (25 years at Radio Newcastle) – “Joelinton is the worst player pound for pound (sterling) in the history of football.”

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  35. Olly Hawkins: I appreciate that mate, I’m just not in a good place at present and felt like you were purposefully goading me.

    No problem mate. I will leave it there.

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  36. Here Olly, just so you I dont think I am being a mean little b!tch:

    I like your previews and predicted teams.

    I like your interviews with opposition fans.

    I like that you dont just parrot the Chronicle, unlike another site.

    I think you have a lot of interesting things to say about NUFC and our players.

    I think your player assessments are usually spot on. You give Darlow the odd 7 when he deserves an 8 but that is spitting hairs.

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  37. Eric Sykes:
    Here Olly, just so you I dont think I am being a mean little b!tch:

    I like your previews and predicted teams.

    I like your interviews with opposition fans.

    I like that you dont just parrot the Chronicle, unlike another site.

    I think you have a lot of interesting things to say about NUFC and our players.

    I think your player assessments are usually spot on. You give Darlow the odd 7 when he deserves an 8 but that is spitting hairs.

    Thanks mate, that is really nice to hear and much appreciated. I try my best!

    I’m having to take a bit of a break this week as I need to sort myself out, but should be bits and pieces published from our other writers.

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  38. Total donkey Olly although he does try hard. Have a break man.

    Thrilling game on Sat albeit at a great cost. Let’s just hope Wilson is the least serious. Hendrick isn’t much better than Joe but he is an idiot.

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  39. georgio:
    Total donkey Olly although he does try hard. Have a break man.

    Thrilling game on Sat albeit at a great cost. Let’s just hope Wilson is the least serious. Hendrick isn’t much better than Joe but he is an idiot.

    Again, please read what I actually said 😆 🙄 I’m literally saying this is the one weekend people should probably lay off him as his efforts when we had 9 men helped us get over the line…nothing more!

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  40. Olly Hawkins: I appreciate that mate, I’m just not in a good place at present and felt like you were purposefully goading me.

    Olly, just so you know mate, your articles and write ups are always informative and well written. You keep us all in touch with the team, our city and each other in a time when even stepping outside is a challenge. Hold you head up high mate. I for one (and I’m sure many others that have followed this site through its many ownerships and evolutions) really enjoy having a place to come where we can chat and interact on NUFC etc. Keep going mate and stay strong! We will all get through this and come out stronger.

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  41. Gilly Toon: Olly, just so you know mate, your articles and write ups are always informative and well written. You keep us all in touch with the team, our city and each other in a time when even stepping outside is a challenge. Hold you head up high mate. I for one (and I’m sure many others that have followed this site through its many ownerships and evolutions) really enjoy having a place to come where we can chat and interact on NUFC etc. Keep going mate and stay strong! We will all get through this and come out stronger.

    Thanks , that really does mean a lot as it’s easy to plough on with all the articles week after week, month after month, but rarely do I stop to see or hear compliments like this – so thank you for that!

    I’m glad you enjoy it and hope yourself and all the other regulars on here are coping ok in these tough times. As you say, life will feel so much better when we finally get out of this.

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  42. What a weird weekend for ‘keepers. Allison was hailed by the Red Bindippers as the best in the world and had a nightmare. Same with De Gea who the Red Mancs said was the best in the world a couple of years ago. “England’s number 1” dropped and replaced by someone who looked like he plays in Scotland.

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  43. As for the team, they all showed spirit and fight on saturday in awful weather conditions and with no help from a biased ref either.

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  44. So Manquillo and Schar both out for yonks and Wilson has a hamstring strain 👿 costly win.

    Read somewhere today that apparently they watered the pitch before the game, that has to be a joke right ?

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  45. Everything is looking great for England in the summer.

    Foden, Grealish, Henderson all good. Too many full backs to choose from. An attacking 2 of Kane and Stirling. Even Stones and Slabheed look solid.

    Goalie – DOH.

    Darlow for England!!!!

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  46. And if Southgate doesnt put Grealish in as first pick along with Kane then he is an idiot. Best runner at people English born since Gazza. I have accused him of being a cheat because he is!!!

    But, if he is YOUR cheat he might win you the Euros. I would pick Ward-Prowse for England specifically coz Grealish and Stirling will win you free kicks by cheating. That’s not to say I dont think they are fantastic players.

    But masters of the dark arts.

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  47. Can somebody answer me a question;

    Why do the likes of France and Spain have a lesser death rate for Covid than us and they haven’t had a lock down like we have since last March?

    Is it because their citizens stick to the rules more than we do in the UK?

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  48. Stuart79:
    Can somebody answer me a question;

    Why do the likes of France and Spain have a lesser death rate for Covid than us and they haven’t had a lock down like we have since last March?

    Is it because their citizens stick to the rules more than we do in the UK?

    Could be a combination of reasons Stu, how good are their test and trace systems? How well do their citizens obey rules? How easy is it to get a test, you need a certain set of symptoms here before you get one, our GP’s are actively telling patients to lie about symptoms if they think they may have it but don’t have all the symptoms listed to get a test.
    How good are their border controls compared to ours ?
    There are still thousands coming into the UK every day and only 1 in 3 being followed up to see if they are self isolating .

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  49. The comparison with Japan is interesting, twice the population, higher population density, 100k less deaths than us. Might be that they have leadership and we have an idiot

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  50. kimtoon:
    So Manquillo and Scharboth out for yonks and Wilson has a hamstring strain costlywin.

    Read somewhere today that apparently they watered the pitch before the game, that has to be a joke right ?

    Is it STRAIN and not TEAR? That is good news.

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  51. kimtoon: Could be a combination of reasons Stu, how good are their test and trace systems? How well do their citizens obey rules? How easy is it to get a test, you need a certain set of symptoms here before you get one, our GP’s are actively telling patients to lie about symptoms if they think they may have it but don’t have all the symptoms listed to get a test.
    How good are their border controls compared to ours ?
    There are still thousands coming into the UK every day and only 1 in 3 being followed up to see if they are self isolating .

    From what I hear Kim the French track and trace is shambolic and their testing regime is less than half capacity of ours. I have a friend who lives in the South of France and he says they had the police and the armed forces roaming the streets and still do to police the curfew. That might focus minds I suppose. They still allow people in the country too. With certain conditions – although funnily enough not quite as strict as ours.

    Someone gave me a answer yesterday that it is this new Kent strain. I’d it hadn’t have been for that we’d be in a similar position. I suppose that’s fair as before it took off some parts of the country weren’t locked down.

    I also wonder if other countries media are as mealy mouthed and if they scare monger quite like ours. They do have a roll to play.

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  52. I also see the hotels the government would like to use aren’t happy to sign up for the quarantine programme. Why would a hotel group want to play hard ball with a government at a time like this?

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  53. PremAndUp:
    The comparison with Japan is interesting, twice the population, higher population density, 100k less deaths than us. Might be that they have leadership and we have an idiot

    Not much of a real lockdown either. Although Japanese are famous for abiding by rules. That probably helps.

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  54. Stu, the hotel thing baffles me somewhat, with people saying the hospitality sector is dying , you would think they would be falling over themselves to pick up a tasty government contract really.

    Maybe the terms are not favorable, are they expected to pick up the tab for the deep clean of rooms and added security ? Until we know what remuneration they are getting it’s all speculation really.

    France, Armed cops policing curfew will certainly focus minds, that’s for sure.
    Japan, a more compliant peoples and definitely better organised than us too.

    There was a women on GMB today talking about how she came into london from S.Africa with no real testing and checking. She said everyone gets checked entering S. Africa, comes to something when we cannot get the basics right.
    The Vaccine roll out is amazing, they got that right ,but even then it’s the NHS, St John’s, G.P’S the Army and a huge group of volunteers who are doing the donkey work.
    I know you won’t agree Stu, but I find this Government wanting , they come across as lazy in many respects, relying on others rather than common sense a lot of the time . individual ministers not carrying out simple research on statistics before going on national tv to answer questions and ending up looking shambolic in their approach. The sheer inability to give an honest , clear and concise answer when asked is exhausting to watch, though that’s a typical politician to be fair.

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  55. kimtoon:
    Stu, the hotel thing baffles me somewhat, with people saying the hospitality sector is dying , you would think they would be falling over themselves to pick up a tasty government contract really.

    Maybe the terms are not favorable, are they expected to pick up the tab for the deep clean of rooms and added security ? Until we know what remuneration they are getting it’s all speculation really.

    France, Armed cops policing curfew will certainly focus minds, that’s for sure.
    Japan, a more compliant peoples and definitely better organised than us too.

    There was a women on GMB today talking about how she came into london from S.Africa with no real testing and checking. She said everyone gets checked entering S. Africa, comes to something when we cannot get the basics right.
    The Vaccine roll out is amazing, they got that right ,but even then it’s the NHS, St John’s, G.P’S the Army and a huge group of volunteers who are doingthe donkey work.
    I know you won’t agree Stu, but I find this Government wanting , they come across as lazy in many respects, relying on others rather than common sense a lot of the time . individual ministers not carrying out simple research on statistics before going on national tv to answer questions and ending up looking shambolic in their approach. The sheer inability to give an honest , clear and concise answer when asked is exhausting to watch, though that’s a typical politician to be fair.

    Kim, I saw that interview on GMB. Everyone seemed to forget that she was checked for a negative test before she could check in for her flight to the UK. Wouldn’t it be a bit pointless and late to be checking people on arrival for negative tests? Surely the point is she was checked prior to check in? Even Dr Hillary was p1ssed off with the traveller for even travelling. Also worth pointing out that by law the traveller must now self isolate. Are we absolving everyone of their responsibility to abide by the law these days?

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  56. Stu, her test was 72 hours before she flew in and she was self isolating back here. The point is she hasn’t been followed up on like so many others that have arrived. This just doesn’t happen in places where organisation is better. She came back early to avoid staying in a hotel at great expense I believe.
    Why are we waiting until the 15th to implement these new rules ? Why not do it earlier in december when they knew this SA strain was a problem .
    It’s looking more and more likely that this SA variant will not be effected by our vaccines and that a booster will need to be given once they re jig the current shot to eliminate it’s threat when more than likely another nastier variant will of popped up by then. We need as many people world wide vaccinated as quickly as ourselves or we will constantly be chasing our tails with more and more mutations .

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  57. Do we think the government are going far enough by giving ten year jail sentences to those that try and hide where they’ve come into the country from on their locator?

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  58. Stuart79:
    Do we think the government are going far enough by giving ten year jail sentences to those that try and hide where they’ve come into the country from on their locator?

    When was that announced Stu ?

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  59. Am also losing patience with this whole situation. It seems the more people we vaccinate the more hurdles the scientists are putting in the governments way. Are these scientists going for total eradication? It’s gone from protecting the NHS to seemingly stopping everyone from dying. This is ridiculous.

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  60. We are now warned that travel restrictions may last until the autumn. The PM refuses to deny that lockdown could be extended and meanwhile millions of peoples lives are lying in tatters.

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  61. talk about a punch in the nose,doc!s and nurses now have to pay £500 a yr to park at work,money grabbing pigs

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  62. icedog:
    talk about a punch in the nose,doc!s and nurses now have to pay £500 a yr to park at work,money grabbing pigs

    It’s so wrong Ice .

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  63. icedog:
    talk about a punch in the nose,doc!s and nurses now have to pay £500 a yr to park at work,money grabbing pigs

    It’s one trust, Ice and I will give them the benefit of the doubt and say it’s a clerical error or oversight as the government currently pays every trust in the country extra money so they don’t charge staff for parking.

    However I am a little uncomfortable with the near beatification of NHS staff these days. Yes they do a wonderful job and are currently working harder than normal but where does this end? Free parking, discounts on takeaways and food and even a clap on a Thursday.

    I’ve made the comparison in the past but our armed forces don’t get anywhere near this level of appraisal.

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  64. I think Joelinton should have his free parking taken away at SJP and Benton. Why should he have free parking when NHS staff have to pay? Can he even drive? From what I have seen on the football field he doesn’t have the motor skills to do it.

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  65. Stuart79:
    I thought I’d replied to Eric but my comment doesn’t appear to be on?

    that happens to me Stu,i found if you refresh the page straight after your comment it comes up

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  66. Stuart79:
    Wilson out for 6-8 weeks. ?

    Are we capable of winning enough games without him?

    Schar & Manquillo same timeframe mate ??‍♂️?

    Costly win that one like

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