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It would be nice if we could take control of our own destiny in this latest fight for survival…not spend our Saturday night hoping Fulham don’t beat Sheffield United (which they did!).
After all, we’ve seen Burnley and Brighton pick up huge wins over Liverpool of late, with West Brom also earning a point against Man Utd last weekend.
A lot is said about Fulham’s recent run of fixtures that’s helped them move to within THREE of ourselves, however this relegation battle is still well and truly in our own hands.
What I am saying is, we need to see a repeat of the confident and convincing performance that saw us beat Everton 2-0 last month – not that passive and defeatist display at Chelsea which stunk of a side who never believed they’d win before a ball was even kicked.
Yes we’ve been dealt a series of cruel injury blows, but there’d been signs of promise before Monday’s shoddy effort at Stamford Bridge. We can’t let that evaporate or hope that there’s simply three teams poorer than us – especially when we play twice before Scott Parker’s men travel to Palace.
It’s a sad existence, but I want to see us stay up convincingly – not be biting my nails every time I watch Fulham between now and May 23rd!
Team news
- Callum Wilson – Out with a hamstring injury.
- Fabian Schar – Out with a serious knee injury, but his operation has gone well.
- Javier Manquillo – Out with an ankle ligament injury, however Bruce says he’s responded well to treatment.
- Jeff Hendrick – Back from a one-game ban.
- Federico Fernandez – Back in training but not ready to return for this one. Should be back in the squad for the Wolves game next weekend.
For the hosts, Cavani and van de Beek look set for late fitness tests, McTominay is a ‘doubt’ and Pogba has been ruled out.
Predicted lineup
(4-3-1-2): Darlow – Krafth, Lascelles, Clark, Lewis – Willock, Hayden, Shelvey – Almiron – Fraser, Saint-Maximin.
Dwight Gayle OUT, Ryan Fraser IN?
I’d like to see two changes and Dubravka replacing Darlow, but Steve Bruce’s latest comments on the goalkeeping situation suggest he still believes the latter ‘deserves’ to keep his place between the sticks.
We could do with a more capable right-back than Krafth – especially when Rashford will be more than likely running at him – but with Yedlin sold and Manquillo injured, the Swede seems likely to continue. Murphy is an option but only tends to play when he’s a wing-back in a five man defence.
Shelvey’s lack of pace, energy or intensity is an ongoing concern, but Hendrick isn’t the answer and Bruce seems unlikely to hand either of the Longstaff brothers a sudden start – even if Matty probably deserves another shot in the side after doing little wrong before he was axed.
In attack, Fraser has to return. He created more chances in 20 minutes than any other Newcastle player did all night at Chelsea and was also a key cog in our 2-0 win at Everton. Saint-Maximin was very poor last time out, but I can see him and Fraser playing in wide forward roles, with Almiron drifting in between a No 10 and false No 9 role – giving us a trio that could hurt Man Utd on the counter.
Match prediction
I think we’ll learn from that passive first half at Stamford Bridge and get at them a bit more from the off, but that will be a risk reward approach.
This Man Utd side aren’t great defensively, however they can rip you apart at the other end if you commit too many bodies forward or leave gaps in behind.
I fancy us to take an early lead but ultimately struggle to cope with their attacking stars, with Krafth vs Rashford a scary prospect and the outstanding Bruno Fernandes also a player who could benefit from any lapses in concentration from the likes of Jonjo Shelvey.
Either way, we need to approach this one like a team who BELIEVE they could come away with a big result – not lie down and accept Man Utd are a “very good side”…something I’m sure Steve Bruce will remind us all when he speaks to BT Sport before the game!
Prediction: Man Utd 3-1 Newcastle
Olly mate, I reckon Bruce will play Carroll at the expense of Fraser. I would like to find a way of getting Fraser on the field but it would most likely be for Shelvey which I doubt Bruce will do. Even if we play Fraser in midfield I dont think we lose much defensively as long as he doesnt have another rush of blood. Shelvey is pretty useless in defense so why not try Fraser in midfield?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Half time. Sheffield look pretty **** but are restricting Fulham to mainly long range efforts. Sheffield are certainly down so we need this to be a draw at worst. As Olly said, it would be much better to think about ourselves than worry about Fulham. However, once we get this Man U game out of the way we can think about getting some points. Have we ever won at Old Trafford? I can remember getting beat there 7-2 way back when and then it was in a song in the Leazes/Gallowgate.
I was a kid and remember it was a Wednesday night and listening to the radio. Steve Coppell and their other winger, Gordon somebody, tortured us that night.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Checked NUFC.com and we have won once at OT in the whole PL era – 2013. That includes when we had good teams under Keegan and Sir Bobby. We are 10/1 for a win tomorrow.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
But you never know…
Blue bindippers won at Anfield for the 1st time since 1999. Supposedly the Mackem T-Rex had a good game. But that’s not the point, all PL keepers are good shot stoppers. It is the mistakes that will cost you at an international tournament when games tend to be pretty tight in the latter stages. That’s what I was concerned about with Darlow but his focus seems much more there now. He doesnt have the brain farts he had previously, although I am still not 100% sure of him. Need more than half a season to be totally convinced!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I dont understand VAR. 89th minute and the Fulham goalie crashes into a Sheffield player. It is a clear penalty and they dont give it because the other player was contesting it and because it is a goalie. It was clumsy and a foul.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I know it may sound negative but I’d drop Shelvey and put Fernandez back in – 3 CBs ??♂️?.
I know that may seem negative but if we aren’t a bit more careful we could really get steamrollered tomorrow & our defence always looks better with Fernandez in it.
Hayden & Willock in midfield with ASM, Almiron & Carroll up top.
Hayden can go between midfield & defence & Willock between midfield & attack.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Only 3 points clear of Fulham now. They have momentum and we, well don’t!
The scary thing is that we were ten points clear and it’s now only three points and that’s coincided with an up turn in form from us!!!!
Stuart79(Quote)
For. FULHAM to come from 10 points behind to 3. is good bet Bruce cannot get 10 points
Icedog(Quote)
And now the gap is 3 points
Squeaky *** time
kimtoon(Quote)
Don’t fancy our chances of survival now, Fulham have won 6 games and drawn 2 and lost none in recent games, that’s not relegation form, ours however…………
kimtoon(Quote)
I know that might sound negative, but it doesn’t have to be.
Firstly I think it’s more sensible than negative. But also I think our forwards can focus more of the attacking side of things if we have a more solid defence.
Man Utd break so quickly on a counter attack & Shelvey isn’t really known for chasing back – so taking him out & putting our best CB in immediately gives us a better chance.
If we keep ASM, Miggy, Carroll & Willock focused on the offensive I think we could still cause them some problems.
I think it’s highly likely we still get beat, but we can’t get smashed.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Bruce out ASAP – MD charmless will push to keep the clown to keep his own job – like every other relegation (!!?)
IF you don’t – Ashley will lose 150 / 200 million on the sale of NUFC
That’s what you get for getting numpty’s for your Managing Director and Manager!!
KK(Quote)
It never had to be like this, all he had to do was back Rafa, buy Rondon and show the club the tiniest bit of respect.
But no, it’s just too much to ask isn’t it.
**** off a world class manager, wreck any sign of unity of club fans and community, bring in a player for£40M that Rafa warned him wasn’t worth it and sit back and watch it go to hell.
No takeover in the offing either, that ship sailed long ago sadly and certainly will never return once relegated.
Sack him tonight, put Jones in charge and offer Rafa what ever he wants.
kimtoon(Quote)
Fulham have 6 loan players
What did we do ? it’s not like there were no warning signs is it.
kimtoon(Quote)
Alphonse Areola (LOAN PSG)
Kenny Tete (Bought £3m Lyon)
Joachim Andersen (LOAN Lyon)
Bobby De Cordova-Reid (Bought £8m Cardiff)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (LOAN Chelsea)
Tosin Adarabioyo (Bought £1.5m Man City)
Mario Lemina (LOAN Southampton)
Ademola Lookman (LOAN Leipzig)
Harrison Reed (Bought £6m Southampton)
Ola Aina (LOAN Torino)
Josh Maja (LOAN Bordeaux)
kimtoon(Quote)
Been commenting on the last thread… oh dear.
3 points. Squeaky *** time indeed. And how did Sheffield United not get a penalty? Isn’t VAR meant to fix **** like that?
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I said the same thing above Gilly. Clear penalty, clumsy but the goalie could have broken the Sheffield player’s leg.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I dont think there is any point to VAR. They get as many decisions wrong as right. The offsides are decided on millimeters or whose armpit was ahead or behind. That was never what offside was about. Correct me if I am wrong bit it was about stopping just putting a forward on top of the goalie for the whole game? When it comes down to such fine margins as millimeters the forward should get the benefit of the doubt, always. Makes the game better.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Read the Bindipper report in The Guardian. There are like 1,800 comments on there, mostly inane and trying to be funny. It just shows that for every John Lennon there that there are 2 or 12 Stan Boardmans and Jimmy Tarbucks.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I know its inevitable but lets not let this weekends fixture send us into meltdown.
Fulham’s next 4 matches are against Spurs, Liverpool, City and Leeds. After Man U tonight we’ve got Wolves, West Brom, Villa and Brighton.
By the beginning of April that 3 points could be a dozen
Fulham played the bottom team and got 3 points. We are playing the second top team and are likely to get a twatting, and if this happens its hardly a surprise so let’s see if we can get through this without going all amateur dramatic and chucking the toys.
The whole point of bringing in Graeme Jones was to add another dimension to our tactics. We were hardly likely to see a huge improvement against a Chelsea team managed by Tuchel, supposedly one of the greatest technical minds in world football. And with Wilson out it would just be plain daft to expect to see a result against Man U. So move past that. Lets look forward to the Wolves match where points are more realistically available.
Helen Clarey(Quote)
Helen, all fair points but where are the goals coming from ? To lose Wilson just when we have a run of possibly winnable games after Manure coming up is a cruel blow and could well be our undoing.
Fulham look full of fight and yes they will likely lose a couple, but what i see with us and this has been for ages now, is that when we concede we fall apart. You just know that we have to get that first goal or it’s game over .
I was never worried under Rafa, it may of been boring at times but boy did he have us organised. We look like a relic from the 90’s a lot of the time and we cannot rely on ASM or Miggy to turn a game on their own.
ASM is constantly crowded out to often rendering him ineffective and we badly miss Wilson, not just for his goals but his assists and hold up play, such a strong and pivotal part of our play now lost.
Can steve find a coherent formation going forward, I don’t think he can tbh. We are back to relying on Bruce luck, but i fear that’s run out for him and us.
kimtoon(Quote)
Yep, clear penalty that, looked at it a couple of times now and cannot believe they didn’t award one. VAR is a joke, it was supposed to give clarity but we still have muppets making decisions .
kimtoon(Quote)
i dont even fancy our chances of beating Wolves to be fair
icedog(Quote)
Why did we not try to loan Rondon ?, he’s with CSKA Moscow on loan now, he’d of jumped at coming back to us and I would be feeling so much more positive now had we gotten him in.
kimtoon(Quote)
We won’t Ice imo, we our utterly toothless up front without Callum, Gayle hasn’t got enough fitness yet, Andy keeps giving FK away with his elbows and that leaves Joe 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
I quite like young Willock but suspect he’s only here for his £20k a week wages. We could have had Lookman, Maitland Niles or Loftus Cheek, all gone to clubs around us. More cheapstake behaviour, so expect more this summer.
georgio(Quote)
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George Caulkin
@GeorgeCaulkin
Newcastle should not be 17th. That’s the big thing. Last season was a mirage in terms of results / performances, we all know that, but they improved in the summer, sold nobody & have still regressed. Last month, they rolled the dice again. They never learn. It’s so dull. #NUFC
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy: looks like we could do with JLingz now 🙂 He was never a bad player but I think Man U were too big for him and he got caught up in the off-field and online nonsense. His own logo and clothing line was/is just ridiculous for a mid-level player.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Villa are pretty **** without Grealish.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – Bowen is a stand out player for WHU as well and he was another I thought we should have got in.
But regards Lingard, that was always my point with him (he was above his level at Man Utd) and there are many examples of plays who move out of a top 4-6 club to the next level down and look a much better player.
I think his social media stuff has come from the fact he never really had much of a playing career at Utd. To be fair to him, how many other plays turn to drink, gambling or other vices. I’m not totally sticking up for him coz I hate social media & certainly don’t follow him or buy his clothes ? – I’m just saying he could be up to a lot worse.
But in terms of a player, it doesn’t surprise me how well he’s started at WHU because he is a very decent player. He wouldn’t make my England squad, but he will do a very good job for WHU and had we loaned him I think he could have played a big part in moving us away from relegation.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I have to be honest, I’m a big fan of Leicester. They are to me what the entertainers were to so many non Newcastle fans.
Everything about that club is what I wish Newcastle were now. Having an owner that does everything right by the club, and a manager that players football the right way.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Completely agree Sharpy
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy: I remember you talking about Bowen but I didnt know who the hell he was because we dont get Championship games in the US.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The Sith (Moyes) has West Ham playing pretty well. It is a massive contrast to when he was at the Mackems where every gesture and expression said they were going down.
Bruce is a bit like that at the moment with us but hopefully Graeme Jones can cheer him and the other Steves up a bit.
Bruce is Pardew part deux. He just spouts so much shyte you dont even want to listen to his press conferences or read anything he says. If we only get beat 2-0 today I am sure he will be DELIGHTED. His favourite word.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I think that might be what is wrong with Bruce – THE PATTER. If we all get bored with it then imagine what the players think. He usually starts out OK at clubs but then he leaves or gets sacked within 2 years. Same as Pards. They just talk rubbish so I think the players eventually catch on.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Spurs lost again… how long do you think it will be before he gets the sack? Spurs started well but are dropping down the league now. I reckon Arteta is on borrowed time too.
Gilly Toon(Quote)
I imagine a 3 or 4 nil smashing this evening. I’ve started drinking early to avoid annoyance.
Will he get the boot if we get hammered? Doubt it
Stuart79(Quote)
Donkey-Joe starts. I thought it would be Carroll but what does this guy (Joe) have to do to be sent back to Brasil?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I am still thinking 2-0 and Brucie saying he was DELIGHTED with Joke-Linton who “put in a good shift”.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
How the hell can Fat-Boy Moss be a Ref? He has the body of a plumber and runs about as fast. Just glad he tucks his shirt in so I dont have to see his **** crack.
But also… that seems like the title is City’s.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The mans an idiot!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I cannot see any other result than a loss today. I feel Murphy has been one of our better players of late, good crosser and attacking spirit but yet again he’s on the bench. No striker starting. Neither Miggy nor Joelinton are strikers…
3-1 to manure I think… ☹️☹️
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Fraser again on the bench too and Shelvey still getting starts. Oh dear
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Steve Bruce is a zombie I’m sure. When asked about Fulham closing the gap his response “It is what it is” get in Steve! Inspired
Stuart79(Quote)
I really hope I am proved wrong but I think we need Fraser for set pieces and Shelvey is too slow to face this Man U side. Plus, OF COURSE, what is the purpose of Donkey-Joe. He is not a winger or a striker. He is not good enough for the PL.
Prove me wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
“6 or 7 clubs looking over their shoulders” Really, Steve?!!!
Stuart79(Quote)
He also mentioned Covid. You know, the same thing that happened to Villa who after not training for two weeks gave us a good dicking!
Stuart79(Quote)
Eric, Bruce has moaned all season that he’s not been able to play Fraser and ASM together. That’s a lie. He always leaves one on the bench and then replaces one for the other.
Stuart79(Quote)
right then lets see what happens
HWTL
kimtoon(Quote)
Good attempt joe
kimtoon(Quote)
Can you believe this is Bruce’s 850th game as a league manager?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I do like the black and white stripes that Man U have put in the stands. Classy touch!
Gilly Toon(Quote)
850 too many
kimtoon(Quote)
not a bad start, if we keep up the work rate we might get something here.
kimtoon(Quote)
Why is none of our bench barking at Joelinton to get into the bloody box man???.
We’ve gone from playing 2 up front with Wilson & Fraser to zero!!.
We aren’t playing badly but we have NOTHING in the final 3rd. ASM is a winger & Joelinton has no desire at all. Almiron is doing some great work but has nothing in front of him
Sharpy17(Quote)
Darlow should have had that and now it could be anything…
Stuart79(Quote)
We deserve to be level.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
De Gea should have got that!!!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Dull but I’ll take it
Stuart79(Quote)
Well a canny first half, although disappointing that Darlow was Beaten that easily. Great goal from Maxi… worrying that we seem to have a magnetic field preventing our players getting into their box…
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Not bad.
I like that we are pressing De Gea a bit. All this playing out from the back has gotten a bit old so the coaches should figure it out. They need to adjust to the “sweeper keeper” and seem to be starting to. Make them nervous!!!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Hit a couple of long distance shots at De Gea. He fumbles quite a few.
I think Shelvey has been terrible. Joe has been Joe.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Happy we got one back but very disappointed with Darlow there.
kimtoon(Quote)
We need Joelinton off and either Carroll or Gayle as a central striker imo. Almiron needs an outlet.
Kraft was poor for their goal & Darlow should have had it – but he knows that. Not gonna hammer him.
What a brilliantly controlled finish from ASM for our goal though!!.
I think we’ve done well to keep Bruno quiet in the first half – have to keep that up in the 2nd and we might come away with something today ??.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Bruce probably wont make any changes though as he is Steve Bruce and is pretty clueless.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Our weak links are obviously the Brasilian Donkey and Shelvey.
Donkey-Joe has had a couple of nice touches but for 40 million…. FFS
Eric Sykes(Quote)
BT Sport have mentioned a few times now that Man Utd have a lad on the bench who was at Wallsend boys.
If we had a better youth set up that should never happen!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Absolutely no one there, so many goals conceded in this way ffs
kimtoon(Quote)
We haven’t lost yet but Man Utd have been dog **** tonight and we haven’t made their keeper work.
Stuart79(Quote)
Man U are really flat and yet we are still losing.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Worry is this performance will keep Bruce in a job.
Stuart79(Quote)
I don’t get bringing Fraser another winger on?!.
We NEED a centre forward on the pitch!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
ffs
kimtoon(Quote)
game over
kimtoon(Quote)
Never a penalty.
Eric Sykes(Quote)