Newcastle United midfielder Nicky Butt picked up his 10th booking of the season last night at Stoke and will now be banned for two games.
Nicky Butt – will miss Stoke replay and Bolton home game with suspension
However, because Newcastle’s next game is at Manchester United is just 6 days after his booking, Nicky will be available for that game and will most probably miss the two games after that. The rule says a player can play a game up to 7 days after the booking that causes him to be suspended.
Those will likely be the 3rd round replay against Stoke on Wednesday, January 16th and the home game at Bolton the following Saturday.
Sam Allardyce admitted last night that this is a “massive blow” to the club. Sam told Newcastle World TV this morning:
“We’ve got a couple of injuries at the moment and we’ve got the four lads going away to the African Cup of Nations, so to lose Nicky for two games is a massive blow.”
“I thought the tackle he was booked for was rather harsh but we have to get on with it.” “Nicky has been tremendous this season and he’ll be a miss but we’ll have to cope as best we can.”
We’re not sure it’s the massive blow Sam says it is and we have players who can play defensive midfield in Nicky’s absence. Although Geremi and Faye will not be available because of their participation in the African Cup of Nations. We think Alan Smith will probably deputize for Nicky.
Comments very welcome.
33 comments so far
indian toon
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:17 AM
Comment #1hooray!!!!1 this calls for party. ho hohohohooho . yipee!!!! great news………!! rotfl
Magjp
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Comment #2Hey indian toon,
after those celebration are over, who do you think should play the defensive midfield role against Mnure?
Hammy
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Comment #3Errr…Faye, no he’s not here, Parker…er..sold him…..err…ummmmm…..
ToonKing
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Comment #4Faye. the only choice, opps he’s gone…., we only have Smithy, sadly…
Given
Beye Taylor Cacapa Zog
Milner Smity Emre Duff
—–Owen—-Viduka—-
toon sooth
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Comment #5I am amazed that so few people have picked up on the two pedestrian strikers on show for us against stoke. I thought that viduka looked slow and found myself shouting at the totally immobile owen who was the slowest man on the pitch. Hope he gets his act together and starts realizing that he is paid to be a footballer and not race horse owner!
Sorry just had to get it off me chest.
Does anyone out there agree?
indian toon
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:37 AM
Comment #6ofcourse sam is gonna play smith as a defensive midfielder , with emre / barton? , if we paly defensively against manure then we are gonna get torn apart. playin like we did last season at home to them will surely get us a point to the maximum. i fear with sam’s tactics we aint gonna get a point .
Pete
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Comment #7I’d guess Nicky Butt will play there Magjp since his ban won’t start until the day after the match
Pete
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Comment #8And.. obviously we’re going to get ripped apart by Manu no matter who we play
Hammy
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:41 AM
Comment #9Barton won’t be playing anytime soon…..
imagine him playing against Manure……Barton after being wound up by the fans jumps into the crowd Cantona style and does an impression of the Tazmanian devil……..doesn’t sound like a great idea does it.
Graeme
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Comment #10Viduka IS slow and has been all season. We need a midfield and a CF as soon as possible. Smith in MF is a joke, Zog, Milner ok, so we have room for 2 good players; what about Baptista (Ex gooners).
I think Crouch would be a good buy and it will enable Oba and Owens to play off a target man.
Hammy
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Comment #11Hope Beye is going to be fit….
Ronaldo v Roz = UH-OH
toon sooth
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Comment #12I agree that Crouch would be a good buy and so would Dean Ashton, we also defo need a good creative CM player. weather we get any of these may only be pipe dreams, but I for one will live in hope
Hammy
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Comment #13Get the guy from the articles’ picture out of a red and white shirt into a black and white shirt.
mark
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Comment #14Indian Toon, wtf you going on about cheering that Butt is out, he is a class act, your clearly an idiot. Your welcome to your opinion but at least have some grounds for it.
nightfall
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Comment #15it’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!!!)
Tom_Toon
Jan 7, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Comment #16Butt is great defensive midfield but i wish he would try and pass it, we need someone creative there who can spread the play without giving the ball away that butt can play a short pass to.
thelongshanks
Jan 7, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Comment #17Utd r gonna cream us,im seruiously worried about getting relegated.
Kash2
Jan 7, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Comment #18@Tom_Toon – Totally agree, Butt has been a revelation, but we need someone to do the creating after he’s won the ball. Emre hasn’t controlled a game since he signed for us. I think he’s just too lightweight for the Prem. We’re being linked to Nolan, but I don’t know if he has the cutting edge we need. Still need good wingers with class distribution though. Milner isn’t good enough and we need someone with a wicked cross and plenty of flair for the right!
Pete
Jan 7, 2008 at 12:07 PM
Comment #19The only reason Smith is even playing is pretty obvious. Commitment, 110% in every game. Sam is still under the impression that is enough for a footballer these days, unfortunatly it will only take you so far. And it’s not good enough.
Anyways, don’t harbour any hope we’ll see Smith on the bench anytime soon. As captain he’ll be on the pitch every single game until Geremi returns, and that might be even worse
Kash2
Jan 7, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Comment #20We could do with some quality midfielders, I think that is a given!
steve
Jan 7, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Comment #21yeah – we’re pretty much stuffed if we have to rely on Smith – Butt should just lay the ball off to someone who can pass, he’s been ok in some games but awful in others I would hardly call him a revelation.
our central midfield really needs some quality in there which is sorely lacking at the moment
MattyDread
Jan 7, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Comment #22Nicky Butt is a good player who had an awful game yesterday.
He is a defensive midfielder not an attacking one and yet there was never a link between him and the forwards. In the match yesterday there was never anything happening in front of him and so he kept trying to play the long ball. Unfortunately that just isn’t working for him, although in fairness he had nothing to aim at.
What he needs is a midfield partner that plays in front of him, not beside or behind him, who is capable of creating chances and having a dig from distance. If we can get hold of a player who can do that we’ll see Nicky Butt return to form.
Gordon
Jan 7, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Comment #23Woooo hoooooo – agree with indian toon, thrilled he is out.
What confuses me though is why Butt polarises opinion so much. He seems to be a love him or hate him player.
Take Alan Hansen yesterday, he said Butt was our MOTM. I thought he was one of the worst players on the pitch…
To my mind he can’t pass, can’t shoot, is late in the tackle, can’t head and is slow!
I’m not looking for a fight just wondering if anyone has any ideas why he divides opinion so much?
James
Jan 7, 2008 at 1:13 PM
Comment #24Gordon – he divides opinion because he chases around the pitch trying to do the right thing. But because of his lack of pace he is late in the tackle and gives away free kicks all the time. And because he has no creativity he gives the ball back to the opposition constantly. However he runs around trying to do something. Whereas other players hardly move (Viduka, Geremi, Smith). That’s why he divides opinion. Some experts believe it is enough to run around. They fail to notice that he screws up when he actually gets to the place he was running to.
joe
Jan 7, 2008 at 1:14 PM
Comment #25@gordon, its actually because since our midfield play is non existant, some people expect him to be an all around midfielder who creates play and by doing so they expect him to have better passing/shooting abilities. Which he is crap at. While others plainly see him as a defensive mid which he excells in. Take your pick.
Bill f
Jan 7, 2008 at 2:05 PM
Comment #26Trouble is is that Butt is damned if he tries a shot and damned if he doesn’t. If any of the efforts had gone in he would now be a hero. For all of the Emre advocates he only seems to get the odd shot on target from many efforts.
I’m not saying Butt is a great MF, he isn’t problem is he is as good as we have at the moment. Sad but true. 🙁
Bob
Jan 7, 2008 at 2:23 PM
Comment #27Some people like Butt because he always tries to do the right thing and never hides.
Some people hate him because he tends to screw things up on a regular basis (so many mistimed tackles, poor passes, yellow cards etc).
I like the guy but I’m not a fan of his playing style.
Andy C
Jan 7, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Comment #28Emre and Barton play like defensive midfielders anyway so by my reckoning we have an almost endless supply of defensive midfielders and no attacking centre midfielders. Defensive midfield is not the position we need to worry about! Its the attacking side of things that let us down. Now that Duff is fit id like to see Zog tried in the middle in some of our home games.
Obafan
Jan 7, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Comment #29Perhaps his suspension is the beginning of the improvement which we desperatly want to see at NUFC.
Graeme
Jan 7, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Comment #30We have NO creativity, full stop. Its only when Zog gets a rare start in his natural position, does anything happen.
Butt is a defensive player, a spoiler and is very good at it. He needs someone alongside him to take the pass and use the ball, like Beckham did for manure. It gave Butt an escape route.
We deperately need some creative midfielders, no doubt about it. Its no good blaming Butt though – thats not what he’s there for!!!
Obafan
Jan 7, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Comment #31Graeme – I can follow your thoughts. But he can perform a lot better than recently. That’s why I’m a bit disappointed in him; okay the most of the other players also are disappointing, but with his experience he should be able to step up and that is something which he doesn’t do at all.
Leo
Jan 7, 2008 at 5:08 PM
Comment #32good good
then by then hopefully emre will be fit then field this
given
rozzy taylor cacapa enrique
duff smith emre nzogbia
owen viduka
scott9
Jan 7, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Comment #33someone in dmf thats creative tiago or maniche perfect