Newcastle Home pre match thread

[HighPeakFox]

Scratching my head at some of the stuff being written here. We created goodness knows how many chances at Southampton - some of you will go to your graves saying 'yeah but we only won games cos we got lucky'.

[OLD norfox]

8 hours ago, Blue Fox 72 said:

Ken Leek

Keith Robson

Paul Kitson

 

Keith Gillespie ?

 

[Sol thewall Bamba]

Just desperate not to get put through the ringer again. It's bad when you're at the games but 100x worse when you're not. 

 

An early goal for us is all I ask for.

[TrentFox]

3 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

Scratching my head at some of the stuff being written here. We created goodness knows how many chances at Southampton - some of you will go to your graves saying 'yeah but we only won games cos we got lucky'.

Not sure that’s it. We really didn’t fashion many good chances at all. Most alarming was that it was against ten men and we lacked the innovation / direction to find a way past when the stakes were so raised. Comparing our performance to WHU last night is like day and night. They showed passion, energy and determination. Looking at our last few games, we seem to be struggling in each of those aspects. Our schedule has been different to theirs, but right now they look stronger. Time might just save us though, as it’s running out fast for chasing pack. Guess we are all just a bit nervy as we saw this squad unravel last season and nobody wants to see that again. We simply HAVE to beat the Geordie Racers. 

[Unabomber]

Just now, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Just desperate not to get put through the ringer again. It's bad when you're at the games but 100x worse when you're not. 

 

An early goal for us is all I ask for.

Yeah I agree and if we don’t get the early goal the minutes just seem to fly by. I do think that because we monumentally collapsed last season I can now deal with anything. I just want us to do what we can on Friday and not create a higher pressured situation than necessary.

[Rusko187]

I really hope we get the win, it feels like every time we have an opportunity to cement the league position we end up choking the match. Southampton was a poor performance, but going for Newcastle I'm thinking drop Maddison and bring in Perez.

[UniFox21]

A weeks rest will no doubt do us good. Hopefully we turn up ready to pull up some trees 

[HighPeakFox]

9 minutes ago, TrentFox said:

Not sure that’s it. We really didn’t fashion many good chances at all. Most alarming was that it was against ten men and we lacked the innovation / direction to find a way past when the stakes were so raised. Comparing our performance to WHU last night is like day and night. They showed passion, energy and determination. Looking at our last few games, we seem to be struggling in each of those aspects. Our schedule has been different to theirs, but right now they look stronger. Time might just save us though, as it’s running out fast for chasing pack. Guess we are all just a bit nervy as we saw this squad unravel last season and nobody wants to see that again. We simply HAVE to beat the Geordie Racers. 

I see all of that, but people have such short memories - WHU lost their previous 2 matches after all.

[TrentFox]

Just now, HighPeakFox said:

I see all of that, but people have such short memories - WHU lost their previous 2 matches after all.

As did we, prior to this short, unbeaten spell  😂

Edited 4 May 2021 by TrentFox

[HighPeakFox]

4 minutes ago, TrentFox said:

As did we, prior to this short, unbeaten spell  😂

This 4 match unbeaten spell?

[AKCJ]

Massive game.

 

Win and the pressure goes off with Chelsea to play at the Eithad. Lose and we go into our last 3 games shitting ourselves.

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, Col city fan said:

West Ham winning last night has really put us under the cosh.

I have a sneaky feeling for Chelsea to get third in the table, so I reckon it’s between us and West Ham for fourth 

We must beat Newcastle. 

Why have they? Burnley away isn't their most difficult game left, they still have Everton and Brighton who can cause them plenty of problems. We have to accept that teams in 5th - 8th will have the audacity to win a fair few games. Our fans are a nightmare for losing their shit when anyone within 10 points of us dares do anything but bend over for the opposition.

 

I've fallen foul of yearning and demanding that it all be wrapped up before we face those final 3 league games, but that was quite unrealistic and possibly unfair on the team to expect that. 2 wins from 4 is needed and if we still don't get 4th from that then I'd be astonished and wouldn't actually be that annoyed as we wouldn't have bottled it. If we get anywhere near 70 points of a season we have done very very well.

 

This season isn't anything like last season, there's a fair few teams that can and might get more points than the 3rd and 4th teams got last season when we capitulated. 

 

We are still in the driving seat. I may well completely change my tune if we don't do the business on Friday though. I can forgive last Friday but following it up with anything but a win will be sickening.

[Ric Flair]

42 minutes ago, TrentFox said:

Not sure that’s it. We really didn’t fashion many good chances at all. Most alarming was that it was against ten men and we lacked the innovation / direction to find a way past when the stakes were so raised. Comparing our performance to WHU last night is like day and night. They showed passion, energy and determination. Looking at our last few games, we seem to be struggling in each of those aspects. Our schedule has been different to theirs, but right now they look stronger. Time might just save us though, as it’s running out fast for chasing pack. Guess we are all just a bit nervy as we saw this squad unravel last season and nobody wants to see that again. We simply HAVE to beat the Geordie Racers. 

We created 3 glorious chances and a bit of a half chance for Iheanacho in the last 10 minutes alone.

 

It was a frustrating game which given the circumstances of the sending off after 9 mins, we ought to have had no real issues at getting the 3 points. The fact we were really workmanlike and they took the lead after an hour and we managed to get back level and then try and force a win shouldn't be ignored just because we didn't get a routine win.

 

On reflection we still showed that mental improvement we've seen this season of not giving up when things don't go our way. We need that by the bucket load in these next 3 weeks. I back them to show it as well.

[Dahnsouff]

At the Saints game, the red card was a problem for both teams (It has been under discussion on The Athletic) as it was precisely what we did not want to happen. Down to 10 seems great, but in reality it causes teams to shut up shop. I realise it never happened last year when Saints when down to 10, but at that point they were already a goal down, whereas this year, they were not behind, so shutting down was a valid way to claim a beneficial point for Saints  

[Ricey]

We have to start well. If after 20 minutes it's 0-0, or worse, and we've been flat and slow again then I will fear the worst.

 

Having said that we've dealt pretty well all season with disappointment in the league and pretty much always bounced back strongly.

 

Win it and everything will feel rosy again.

[Col city fan]

20 minutes ago, Ric Flair said:

Why have they? Burnley away isn't their most difficult game left, they still have Everton and Brighton who can cause them plenty of problems. We have to accept that teams in 5th - 8th will have the audacity to win a fair few games. Our fans are a nightmare for losing their shit when anyone within 10 points of us dares do anything but bend over for the opposition.

 

I've fallen foul of yearning and demanding that it all be wrapped up before we face those final 3 league games, but that was quite unrealistic and possibly unfair on the team to expect that. 2 wins from 4 is needed and if we still don't get 4th from that then I'd be astonished and wouldn't actually be that annoyed as we wouldn't have bottled it. If we get anywhere near 70 points of a season we have done very very well.

 

This season isn't anything like last season, there's a fair few teams that can and might get more points than the 3rd and 4th teams got last season when we capitulated. 

 

We are still in the driving seat. I may well completely change my tune if we don't do the business on Friday though. I can forgive last Friday but following it up with anything but a win will be sickening.

I wrote on here about a fortnight ago, it’s usually about momentum 

Chelsea have it at the moment. They look to be playing with belief and they look like they are well organised.

I’m not sure how we look. With the early sending off against the Saints, to not then go and win the game was a poor result. Make no bones about it. We couldn’t score more than one goal against a side bang out of form.

Similarly, Newcastle are a poor side but we go into that game with none of us (I suspect) being particularly confident re how we’ll set up and play. 
We are in the driving seat though and I imagine we’ll just end up fourth. But I think it’ll be close. We know with a Brendan Rodgers side we can either be sublime, or awful.

[Dahnsouff]

7 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

I wrote on here about a fortnight ago, it’s usually about momentum 

Chelsea have it at the moment. They look to be playing with belief and they look like they are well organised.

I’m not sure how we look. With the early sending off against the Saints, to not then go and win the game was a poor result. Make no bones about it. We couldn’t score more than one goal against a side bang out of form.

Similarly, Newcastle are a poor side but we go into that game with none of us (I suspect) being particularly confident re how we’ll set up and play. 
We are in the driving seat though and I imagine we’ll just end up fourth. But I think it’ll be close. We know with a Brendan Rodgers side we can either be sublime, or awful.

Did we go into this game expecting Saints to sit deep, and play for a draw? Given their mildly precarious position in the league? Of course not, we expected Saints to come at us, which they did initially.

 

The sending off was a benefit to no-one, playing against 10 men, when the team with 10 are fine for a point is difficult, not just for us, but for anyone. It is not comparable to the 0-9 as when that sending off occurred, they were already a goal down so could not shut up shop.

 

We were ok, no better, no worse and Saints defended well and deserved their point. You could argue this result was on Brendan more than most games as he had a chance to change it after the sending off, but he waited 35 minutes at half time to do so, as it was clearly a benefit to bring a player capable of operating in tight spaces onto the pitch, and yes I mean Ayoze!

[An Sionnach]

If they set out to press hard on Youri and give him no space , we may have to resort to the old hoofball. Whatever it takes to get the job done.

[SouthStandUpperTier]

3 minutes ago, An Sionnach said:

If they set out to press hard on Youri and give him no space , we may have to resort to the old hoofball. Whatever it takes to get the job done.

Not gonna happen. BR has never resorted to hoofball, and will never resort to hoofball.

[messerschmitt]

8 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Did we go into this game expecting Saints to sit deep, and play for a draw? Given their mildly precarious position in the league? Of course not, we expected Saints to come at us, which they did initially.

 

The sending off was a benefit to no-one, playing against 10 men, when the team with 10 are fine for a point is difficult, not just for us, but for anyone. It is not comparable to the 0-9 as when that sending off occurred, they were already a goal down so could not shut up shop.

 

We were ok, no better, no worse and Saints defended well and deserved their point. You could argue this result was on Brendan more than most games as he had a chance to change it after the sending off, but he waited 35 minutes at half time to do so, as it was clearly a benefit to bring a player capable of operating in tight spaces onto the pitch, and yes I mean Ayoze!

Yes, pretty spot on, I always think that when a team play like Southampton after the sending off it's going to be tough. You can make it a bit easier by moving the ball out wide making the pitch bigger forcing them to move out of the middle making more space also having someone with skill running at them around the box. I thought Under would have been ideal for that.

The other thing is to try plenty of shots from outside the box hoping you get a defection or something falling for you, which in fairness we did do.

[Col city fan]

16 minutes ago, Dahnsouff said:

Did we go into this game expecting Saints to sit deep, and play for a draw? Given their mildly precarious position in the league? Of course not, we expected Saints to come at us, which they did initially.

 

The sending off was a benefit to no-one, playing against 10 men, when the team with 10 are fine for a point is difficult, not just for us, but for anyone. It is not comparable to the 0-9 as when that sending off occurred, they were already a goal down so could not shut up shop.

 

We were ok, no better, no worse and Saints defended well and deserved their point. You could argue this result was on Brendan more than most games as he had a chance to change it after the sending off, but he waited 35 minutes at half time to do so, as it was clearly a benefit to bring a player capable of operating in tight spaces onto the pitch, and yes I mean Ayoze!

I’ve also written that having to play against 10 didn’t help. Even so, I think you’re making excuses. We should have been able to break them down. 
I so hope that not being able to doesn’t make all the difference come the end

[foxes_rule1978]

2 minutes ago, messerschmitt said:

Yes, pretty spot on, I always think that when a team play like Southampton after the sending off it's going to be tough. You can make it a bit easier by moving the ball out wide making the pitch bigger forcing them to move out of the middle making more space also having someone with skill running at them around the box. I thought Under would have been ideal for that.

The other thing is to try plenty of shots from outside the box hoping you get a defection or something falling for you, which in fairness we did do.

We had enough chances to have won, it just wasn’t happening for us. It happens and we move on, Newcastle is a big game, we need 5 from our last 4 games... so in a sense giving who those last 3 are, it is a ‘must win’ so to speak. 

[messerschmitt]

29 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

I wrote on here about a fortnight ago, it’s usually about momentum 

Chelsea have it at the moment. They look to be playing with belief and they look like they are well organised.

I’m not sure how we look. With the early sending off against the Saints, to not then go and win the game was a poor result. Make no bones about it. We couldn’t score more than one goal against a side bang out of form.

Similarly, Newcastle are a poor side but we go into that game with none of us (I suspect) being particularly confident re how we’ll set up and play. 
We are in the driving seat though and I imagine we’ll just end up fourth. But I think it’ll be close. We know with a Brendan Rodgers side we can either be sublime, or awful.

Well I'm confident.

We'll set up like we have for the last few games and we'll have a lot more energy, aggression and move the ball a lot quicker after a weeks break.

I'd also be surprised if we don't at least get a win and a draw from the last 3 games.

[KrefelderFox666]

4 minutes ago, foxes_rule1978 said:

We had enough chances to have won, it just wasn’t happening for us. It happens and we move on, Newcastle is a big game, we need 5 from our last 4 games... so in a sense giving who those last 3 are, it is a ‘must win’ so to speak. 

If we didn't give that penalty away then Southampton would not have scored a goal. We would have snook one eventually as you say, we had plenty of chances. Even how the game went, we had enough chances to win it as it happened. Ndidi and Vardy should have scored, those were nailed on goalscoring chances. It's a point, we move on. 4 games to pick up as many points as we can. We'll finish where we finish.

[Ricey]

11 minutes ago, An Sionnach said:

If they set out to press hard on Youri and give him no space , we may have to resort to the old hoofball. Whatever it takes to get the job done.

I'm not sure they will, at least not to the extent that Southampton, Palace and Man City did. They have too many players at the top end of the pitch that aren't that great defensively. Saint-Maximin doesn't really press, neither do Wilson or Joelinton. Almiron works hard, but isn't physically strong. Shelvey can be a bit lazy at times. I suspect Newcastle will just sit very deep and narrow and then find Saint-Maximin whenever they can. We need to get our wide-play right, unlike against Southampton, otherwise it could be a real struggle.

 

I'd like to see Ricardo start but I'd also like to see Vardy play a bit wider to help support the left wing back. More movement, more runs, drag them about a bit and I'm sure we'll create some openings.