Sam was interviewed after the game today and admits that the Newcastle performance wasn’t a good one. In fact he admits the team has played so much better than this, and lost.
Sam Allardyce – we didn’t play well today and didn’t deserve the win
Sam said after the game:
“It was a penalty, yes. The challenge was made, he completely missed the ball and took the man over.”
“The referee was there on the spot right in front of it and gave the right decision.â€
It looked definitely like a penalty and Newcastle should have had another one in the first half when Beye had his shirt pulled by a Fulham defender following a corner. Barton’s penalty enabled Newcastle to celebrate a victory away from St James’ Park for the first time since the very first day of the season, when Newcastle beat Sam’s old side Bolton Wanderers.
And this was the first time on over a year that Newcastle have kept a clean sheet away from home and the first time since September 1st against Wigan at home, when Newcastle have registered a clean sheet.
No doubt Sam Allardyce will be pleased with the clean sheet and especially the stout defending of Brazilian Claudio Cacapa, who came in at the last moment because of an injury to Steven Taylor.
Allardyce continued:
“Points are all-important in the Premier League. We dealt with what Fulham had to offer and waited for our opportunity. We got one at the very end and got three very valuable points.â€
“We have played much, much better than this and lost, particularly in our last away game when we played Blackburn off the park. Today we probably didn’t deserve to win but they certainly didn’t deserve to, that’s for sure.â€
Well, at least Sam is honest. We didn’t play well and we didn’t deserve all 3 points and yes, we’ve played a lot better than this – and lost. Like at Blackburn Rovers a couple of weeks ago, as Sam mentioned, when we gave a heart warming performance in the second half, but still went down 3-1, after taking the lead through Martins, just after half time.
Funny game football, isn’t it?
Comments always very welcome.
8 comments so far
UTD111
Dec 15, 2007 at 9:17 PM
Comment #1Personally I dont care how we got this win – it was just what we needed! The penalty came courtesy of Captain Smith’s perseverance and “never say die” attitude. Great games by Jimmy Milner and Habib Beye too – and good to see Capaca get a solid comeback game under his belt. Bring on Derby!!
adam
Dec 15, 2007 at 9:18 PM
Comment #2its probably true that we’ve played better then this and lost.
winning breeds confidence and i hope we can go on.
anyone else notice how big sam doesnt show up to after match comments when we’ve lost a game and only does it when we won.
lezb
Dec 15, 2007 at 9:24 PM
Comment #3To play any worse I dont think would be possible the only saving grace is the 3 points it was not anything like football as I remember it
t-g-w
Dec 15, 2007 at 9:49 PM
Comment #4Before this game we hadn’t won away from home since the first game of the season. We also got a clean sheet away from home in for the first time in aaaages! No matter how badly we played, it was essential that we broke both of those statistics and we can now move on from this game with great confidence. Well done Sam and the lads!
Nicci
Dec 15, 2007 at 10:01 PM
Comment #5Well i thought we played crap ans were very lucky to get the win. Play like that against derby and they may end up getting the double on us………………….yes Derby for goodness sake. I don’t like Sams style of football. We have some excelent players in this club, but they’re not being allowed to play to their full potential as they are playig out of position and waiting for the long ball to come along. Playing the way we are, i believe we will finish in the bottom half of the table by the end of the season.
i don’t think Sam should be given any more funds in January either. He has already bought some good players and i think he should get the best out of them first rather than leave them on the bench or play them out of position. Our football this season so far is worse than last season.
ToonKing
Dec 15, 2007 at 10:45 PM
Comment #6Nicci i’m getting tired of guys like you.
Do you people ever lighten up??
Dragoner
Dec 16, 2007 at 12:35 AM
Comment #7Stop complaining, some times teams win ugly, we got the points and now the statistic have been broken the players may relax a bit when we play away next time. Let’s look at the positive after a win shall we…or F**K off and become a (i only sing when were winning…sometimes) GOONER
Ausgeordie
Dec 16, 2007 at 1:05 AM
Comment #8Its a great result. Nothing wrong with a rep for scoring late in the games. Keeps the other teams on their toes and shows we can be dangerous at any time. I dont like all the long balls I think we need more height if we are going to go that tactic. We look better from set plays than we have for ages which is all Sam but positioning still troubles me.