Newcastle v Norwich City: 22nd or 23rd Sept

[PaddockLad 17643]

The performances are in a way a cause for concern, the ones that stick out are the worse ones for me. Bolton at home last season when we looked flat as fuck until Ben Arfa's wonder goal, when we were going for potentially a champions league spot. And the first half at Everton the other night, Pardew was right, thats up there among the worst weve seen since promotion. Thing is, if we score the pen then we may well have got 2 or 3 more today and we'd have been saying that the season starts here etc.Another way of looking at it is Manu have been utilising talent like Ben Arfa to win tight games with one piece of brilliance for 2 decades and Fergie is hailed as a footballing genius. Apparetly they were poor again today, but won by the odd goal in 3. Not a lot changes, we'll see if we can get near to their level of consistancy ourselves later in the season.

[acrossthepond 878]

Did anyone think Cisse was going to score that penalty? Never looked likely or even possible. Jonas was acting captain, he should've sorted that and given the ball to Ba or Ben Arfa.

 

Either way we got the win but continue to lack consistency. We have bright spells that last 5-6 minutes sandwiched between 10-minute spells of utter dross. Injuries, yes, but I think the increased game load is taking its toll as well.

 

On the plus side Harper looked solid and Ba, Ben Arfa, Jonas, Taylor and Williamson all had good games. Anita is a bit dubious at right-back for me. Plays in good balls but offers little in terms of defence.

[NJS 4411]

We were poor against Everton in the first half but overall that now looks like a bloody good result so I'm hoping that and the small number of positive bits today bode well.

[wolfy 12]

Ben Arfa should be our penalty taker in my opinion.

[SCOREBOARD1 0]

I'll take that. Not great but it's 3 points. I fucking hate Sunday games by the way. Why Cisse took the pen? Fuck knows. Can understand when were 5-0 up and wanting to get him a goal but not 1-0. Obertan is the French Wayne Fereday. Utter shite and fucking clueless.

Edited September 23, 2012 by SCOREBOARD1

[David Kelly 1260]

First decent first half performance of the season. Unfortunately the second half didn't match. Not that surprising from the time when Obertan came on like. He is without doubt the most gutless player I've ever seen. He has nothing positive going for him at all as far as I can see and bringing him on for an obviously short on confidence Cisse is sheer lunacy. Pardew made a great decision with Perch and Anita in the first half but the substitution defied belief. Ben Arfa will never be a striker and Squidward will never be a footballer as long as I have a hole in my arse.

The game obviously should have been won by half time (well it was as it happens) and we could have fucked it up by the end but a wins a win and as has already been said, performance wise we were no better this time last season. Hopefully we can crack on the same way!

[David Kelly 1260]

I'll take that. Not great but it's 3 points. I fucking hate Sunday games by the way. Why Cisse took the pen? Fuck knows. Can understand when were 5-0 up and wanting to get him a goal but not 1-0. Obertan is the French Wayne Fereday. Utter shite and fucking clueless.

Harsh on Fereday!

[Gene_Clark 12]

Were you there?

 

If you were you will realise that 50,000 or so Geordies biting nails, groaning and whistling for the final whistle, usually indicates a very uncomfortable end to the game.

 

Guessing you were too busy burning effigies of Maggie.

 

you're guessing wrong; i was in my seat in the Milburn Paddock, Leazes End; perhaps the acoustics are different where you are, but i don't recognise the scenario you claim marked the closing part of the game.

[Gene_Clark 12]

True we could pick up but we are looking very poor throughout the team. Nothing seems to be close to clicking into place at the moment.

 

complete and utter fucking horseshit

[Christmas Tree 4821]

Quite concerned what we focus on in training as we seem to have no coherent game plan at the moment. We're just relying on a moment of inspiration from one of our players.

 

This

[Gene_Clark 12]

This

 

so what training routine have you in mind for Pardew & the coaches then?

 

i'm sure they're agog to hear what tips you have for them; play Santon in the hole, with Elliot in centre mid, Gosling in goal & Ferguson as a lone striker no doubt

[colinh9 0]

You mean this season, right?

 

Yes

[OTF 7485]

My player ratings FWIW

 

Harper - 9 - May key saves when required, and also commanded the box well making the right decisions when one needed to be made. HIs best game for us for some time, could not have done any more apart from pop up with an assist.

Santon - 7 - Was solid and did well to push up the pitch particularly int he fisrt half. Defensively was ok.

Williamson - 7.5 - Worked hard and made some key interceptions/header as well as getting a crucial block just off the line. Our best defender in this match, though still looks very limited with the ball at his feet,

Taylor - 6 - Failed to assert his authority in this match. As the senior of our centre back pairing more is expected of him,

Perch - 6 - As a fullback he was pretty poor, as a closing midfielder a lot better. Pardew was worried about playing Anita in defense because of his height.

Jonas - 7 - Covered plenty of ground, was solid in possession but didn't do a lot in the final third (only Ben Arfa and Ba did).

Cabaye - 5.5 - Wasteful with chances an with the ball in general. Some good tackles/reads but seemed to be trying for the spectaculor far too much. Not a good choice when you're struggling to get the simple things done coherently.

Anita - 6.5 - Looked quite decent in wide options, though doesn't make the greatest options in the atacking third. Was a better option at fullback than Perch.

HBA - 8.5 - Had their beating everytime on the dribble. Worked some excellent passes. Faded in the second, but the whole team did and as a result he didn't see a lot of the ball.

Ba - 7.5 - Good game took his goal very well. Had another decent chance or two but did his job and put the ball in the back of the net.

Cisse - 5 - Looks out of sorts at the moment. Was renowned as a hard worker when he arrived but now doesn't seem to be doing the little things like closing down etc anywhere near as much. As a result he seems off the pace of the game and doesn't get invovled anywhere near enough.

 

Of the subs TIote bears the biggest mentions as he was atrociously bad in terms of his application. Actually looks to be relatively sharp given how long he's been absent but made continual abysmal decisions both in possession and defensively. He's not te kind of player you really want to bring on for a cameo as he'll be wanting to make an immediate impact and will be outside the first few minutes of the match where there seems to be an amnesty on silly challenges.

[StoneColdStephenIreland 74]

Williamson was awesome tbf to him, won pretty much everything and put in alot of blocks. You'd find it pretty hard to find a better player on the pitch than him today

[OTF 7485]

Williamson was awesome tbf to him, won pretty much everything and put in alot of blocks. You'd find it pretty hard to find a better player on the pitch than him today

 

Agree he was excellent. The 7.5 was more top do with the limitation in his ability with the ball, than his performance in defense.

[Happy Face 29]

I didn't mind Guttierez giving the ball to cisse for the pen to try and help him get off the mark. Maybe if he'd tried to head it in he would have come closer to scoring it . It does piss me off that Pardew hasn't picked a penalty taker though. He should have told the team in no uncertain terms who his main man is, then who his second and third choice is. The argument between ben arfa and ba for the spurs pen was unseemly and should have led to the order of seniority being sorted once and for all. To witness 3 of them arguing over it for a second time and the captain having to convince them of what he wants is no good at all.

 

Before the game we saw the line-up on twitter and discussed if perch would be in the middle and Anita rb. Couldnt fathom why they werent set up like that. It didnt last and after hoolahanlalan was gifted a header following a free cross from their left did we change it. Wonder if Pardoo was trying to keep Anita happy that he has him in mind for playing in the middle or if he really thought it might work better. There was a few people mentioned the question on here before kick off, so everyone else can see what's best when those two are starting.

 

Tiotes long pass out to the right looked sublime. Not on MOTD2 though? Up there with ben arfas slide rule for the goal.

[Happy Face 29]

 

Aye, steady as she goes...we've had a lot worse weeks, thats for sure. Point away in the league, euro draw away, and 3 points at home. Liverpool built a...erm..."legend" on weeks like that

 

Man Utd away Wedsnesday...fixture congestion can be a good thing, maybe Tiote will start, give him an hour. He'll be like a chained pitbull on Saturday.

 

Not sure why there seems to be such a deflated feeling about the start we've had, dropping 2 points to Villa was disappointing, but otherwise the only other teams to take points off us are top of the league and 3rd.

 

With the injury troubles that are more traditional for Newcastle I think we've coped well enough.

 

Perhaps its just that left wing whiner CT has stuffed sunny disposition CT into a sack which is bringing the mood down.

[PaddockLad 17643]

Not sure why there seems to be such a deflated feeling about the start we've had, dropping 2 points to Villa was disappointing, but otherwise the only other teams to take points off us are top of the league and 3rd.

 

With the injury troubles that are more traditional for Newcastle I think we've coped well enough.

 

Perhaps its just that left wing whiner CT has stuffed sunny disposition CT into a sack which is bringing the mood down.

 

Being weened off the old Prozac by his doctor I've heard...manic depressive in real life apparently....

[OTF 7485]

I can only think with Anita and Perch that Pardew wanted Perch's extra height in defense against a team like Norwich.

 

We have played poorly but results wise we're doing ok. We know we have the talent here so if everything clicks we've positioned ourselves well to achieve our goal for the season - injuries and the thin squad aren't helping. The poor feeling from the transfer window in many ways has come across into the season. If we manage to pull out a good performance and solid win I think we'll be able to put it behind us - until January at least.

[Christmas Tree 4821]

I think Jonnys post sums my feelings up perfectly.

 

There just seems nothing about us at the moment that looks like we are clicking as a team.

 

Great to get 3 points while playing so poorly but Ben Arfa and refereeing howlers papering over the gorges.

[David Kelly 1260]

I can only assume I was at a different game to those who thought Williamson had a good game. In the game I was at he lost just about every header to Morrison, regularly played poor passes, wasted a number of opportunities from set pieces and looked very uncomfortable whenever he was pulled out wide.

[Gene_Clark 12]

I think Jonnys post sums my feelings up perfectly.

 

There just seems nothing about us at the moment that looks like we are clicking as a team.

 

Great to get 3 points while playing so poorly but Ben Arfa and refereeing howlers papering over the gorges.

 

The highlights on MotD2 showed exactly what I maintain; we won the game comfortably

 

3 or 4-1 would have been a more representative scoreline.

 

If Cabaye's free kick against Villa had gone in, we'd be 5th, which is about right

[Happy Face 29]

I can only assume I was at a different game to those who thought Williamson had a good game. In the game I was at he lost just about every header to Morrison, regularly played poor passes, wasted a number of opportunities from set pieces and looked very uncomfortable whenever he was pulled out wide.

 

You're right, he was the 11th most accurate passer on 67%....but he won more aerial duels than anyone else with 11 (second was Taylor on 4) he made more clearances than anyone else with 15 (above Taylor on 9) he blocked more shots than anyone else with 2 and had most tackles of any of our defenders with 2 (taylor made zero).

 

When Perch puts in a shift in the middle of the park everyone sings his praises, when Tiote does it, we expect it. Think it's the same here, from what we expect of the lad, yesterday was 100% improved. After all the talk of our defensive cover not being stong enough, we've kept our first clean sheet in a game when Coloccini and Tiote weren't started. Think it would be harsh to pick on Williamsons failings after he stepped up so well.

[Christmas Tree 4821]

Did anyone see what looked like a nut meg from Ben Arfa in the first half. Only saw it side on. Hope someone is preparing a clip.

[David Kelly 1260]

Actually I don't usually give Williamson much stick. I generally feel he's a limited player who's done a decent job for us all things considered. I think some of the stick he's received in the past has been way over the top. However in recent games he's looked very poor to me (playing alongside Taylor isn't as good for him as playing with Colo) and yesterday I didnt see anything positive. Norwich looked a poor team with very limited attackers yet he still struggled. Not that I thought Taylor was much better like.