Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce says his Newcastle side deserved at least a draw against a Stoke City side tonight, who were dominant in the second half of their FA Cup clash.
Sam Allardyce – pleased with dogged performance from his team
The first half belonged to Newcastle and they should have been ahead at the break with several chances they should have done better with. The best chance fell to England striker Michael Owen, who should have scored when clean through and only goalkeeper Simonsen to beat.
After the game Allardyce, who appeared tired out at the end of a thrilling game, told Sky Sports:
“I thought we controlled the game, the first half particularly.” “I am a little disappointed over 90 minutes but it’s a very, very good draw.â€
“We will see who we get and hopefully try to finish the job off.”
“Overall, it was a satisfying result and we look forward to the draw.”
And Allardyce had plenty of praise for his defenders, who all played their hearts out – as Sam added:
“They were tremendous. We spoke about the size and strength of the Stoke team, I thought we dealt with it well.â€
“We are short of numbers at the moment with African Nations (Cup) players going away and a few injuries.â€
It was a good game for Sam tonight, even though it wasn’t the win all Newcastle fans had craved. But the performance was a strong one and several new players shone during the game.
We thought Spaniard Jose Enrique looked good and solid, and why he hasn’t played more this season is beyond us. Charles N’Zogbia was again dangerous on the left wing, and we hope Sam keeps playing him there. And 17 year-old Kazenga Lua Lua looked more than useful when he made his very first senior appearance for the club.
Comments very welcome.
94 comments so far
Chris
Jan 7, 2008 at 12:44 AM
Comment #81This was the banana skin that the whole media wanted us to lose and we haven’t. What is odd is that Sam is under the same pressure as Benitez, however Benitez has spent millions this season and has had years to improve as he took over a club who finished 4th compared to Allardyce who has been here for a few month and we’ve been sh*t since Souness.
Jon
Jan 7, 2008 at 12:58 AM
Comment #82ToonKing!! Sams football is ugly. I don’t care about about winning or not winning. I just don’t like his way of playing football! Go home Sam!
Magjp
Jan 7, 2008 at 1:08 AM
Comment #83I agree that Smith is no midfielder. Have been saying that for quite sometime. But seeing that BS-Ala-dice will NEVER drop Smith when he is fit, then we better play him in some sort of attacking role.
In my opinion the very best team we can put forward (when available) is ;
Given
Beye, Taylor,Cacapa,Enrique
Milner, Faye,EMRE,Nzogbia
Martins,Owen/Viduka
For the next few weeks when the African players are away, I had go with the following, depending on the opposition
Given
Taylor,Roz,Cacapa,Enrique
Milner, Butt,Emre, Nzogbia
Smith,Owen
An experimental team, seeing that Nzogbia can run with the ball, I had play him in the middle
Given
Taylor,Roz,Cacapa,Enrique
Milner,Butt,Nzogbia,Duff
Viduka,Owen
As you can see, Smith will be on the bench, or playing as a forward.
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, this is all fantasy football coz BS will never play those line ups…
Lets just hope and pray….
iain
Jan 7, 2008 at 1:31 AM
Comment #84also where was troisi last night ???
he looked good in pre season.
442
given
edgar taylor cacapa/roz enrique
duff butt faye zog
smith/owen/viduka
away from home with no passing cm, a winger on wrong wing seems pointless playing viduka imo, also he wont close down the opo back four like you need away from home. and the lack of crosses will affect his number of headed chances. his link up play is ok but wasted with no cm going beyond him.
or 433
given
edgar taylor cacapa or roz or faye enrique
butt & smith or faye or roz or cacapa/ & zog
smith viduka duff
cacapa/roz cant be any worse than smith in mf imo, at least they have good technique and stay on there feet.
Adam B
Jan 7, 2008 at 2:20 AM
Comment #85pleased for Enrique today.
Aussie geordie
Jan 7, 2008 at 2:44 AM
Comment #86Will someone tell Butt that whislt we appreciate him getting the ball occassionally what he then needs to do is pass it to someone with skills in distribution. They say it’s a sad inditment on the strikers when a midfielder has most shots on goal but thats cause the cockhead kept shooting every chance he got instead of laying it off to a ‘striker’.
Although Smith as a striker c0uld confuse things as he does not seem to have anything to do in the team let alone taking a shot at goal….His team mates dont ever pass the ball to him….. has anyone else noticed??
Tom Cairns
Jan 7, 2008 at 3:00 AM
Comment #87what did people think of zog tonight, i know that both wide men were pretty much double marked everytime they got the ball so it wasnt the best time to judge but to be honest i was a bit dissapointed with him tonight and much more impressed with duff. i havent seen him play for a while though so maybe zog was just having an off day.
Chris F
Jan 7, 2008 at 3:17 AM
Comment #88troisi is in holland having a trial with roda jc ahead of a potential loan move.
Graeme
Jan 7, 2008 at 8:34 AM
Comment #89From lastnights performance several things are obvious. Rozy is NOT a right back, he looked totaly uncomfortable all night. Butt and Smith in midfield is a travesty. Smith is a Striker (so rumour has it!) and if he isnt good enough to play there, get rid.
We desperately need some attacking influence in midfield and should look to buy someone like Areshavin or Baptista. This would give some creative drive in midfield.
We need a better target man than the Duke – he played well for the first hour, by which time he was knackered. If liverpool will part with Crouch, we could do a lot worse bringing him to SJP.
James
Jan 7, 2008 at 8:48 AM
Comment #90They needed to be tremendous because the midfield were shocking and allowed Stoke so much possession and shots on goal. Butt and Smith were hopeless. I bet Sir Alex was laughing his ass off that he sold them to us.
For those above that believe Sam will buy an attacking creative pacy player – forget it. Unless they are touching 30 and have PL experience he is not interested.
What is wrong with Newcastle at the moment is that Sam continues to buy the wrong type of player. So we end up with so many with no legs.
Paying over £6 million for Smith is a waste of time unless he is used as a squad player for upfront.
Hammy
Jan 7, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Comment #91Maybe Mike Ashley has told Sam to play Smith regardless, let’s face it if it was your club you might be tempted to pick the team.
nightfall
Jan 7, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Comment #92it’s sad but sth’s wrong with sam… he’s been testing smith as a midfielder for 7 months now and the only time we played well was when he was not on the pitch or used as a striker… but sam’s keep playing him in midfield… i mean…WTF?! i don’t get it… i’m trying to understand him, but i can’t…i don’t see any logic in that… but if sam wants to play 442 with 2 DMC, our line up should be:
Given
Beye Cacapa Taylor Enrique
Milner Faye N’zogbia Duff
Martins Smith/Viduka/Ashton(if we really are after him)
i think we should sell carr, shola, owen, geremi, smith?,… perhaps a swap: ashton-owen or ashton-smith…
(…that’s if we stick to sam’s plan/style!!!)
Andy C
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Comment #93Ed I love your eternal optimism and ability to see the positives in all things NUFC!
stk
Jan 7, 2008 at 4:09 PM
Comment #94im getting bored now and have lost all enjoyment watching nufc, sad fact.
smith was clueless, why the bloody hell was he playing deeper than butt?!?
i give up. this bafoon we have in charge better sort things out coz we should be anhiliating teams like stoke, not defending then… “oh draw away from home lads, well done”
what a loads of balls!