The Newcastle squad is finally get back to full strength for the weekend visit to Aston Villa on Saturday, and that’s good because we just have to start picking up some points in the league.
Kevin Keegan – almost a full squad to choose from
Since he returned to manage Newcastle United 3 weeks or so ago Kevin has not had many players to choose from because, he had Emre suspended, Barton unavailable because of his travails with the English Justice system, and four of our players, Faye, Beye, Martins and Geremi away on African Cup of Nations duty.
Now all of those missing players have returned expect for Geremi, although Martins looks doubtful because of an ankle injury he picked up. Also Enrique looks fit after he and Charles N’Zogbia both played 90 minutes in last night’s U-21 game when Spain beat France 2-0 in Benidorm.
Keegan told the Official Newcastle United site today:
“It will be nice to be honest to have a few more players to pick from.â€
“This is a small squad at the moment and that shows by the fact we’ve had to use a lot of our younger players from the bench in recent games.â€
“But now we’ve got a few back, certainly Habib and Abdoulaye will be available, and I’ve got a couple of decisions to make.â€
“That’s always a good thing and it’s what every club aims to have.”
One thing that is a little worrying is that last weekend 3 teams beneath us in the league – Wigan, Fulham and Bolton all won and picked up 2 points on us.
We just have to start picking up league points, so at least we are safe this season, which has been little short of disastrous for Newcastle.
In our last 8 league games we have only 3 draws with 5 defeats, and that’s just a terrible record that we need to improve on – quickly. The last time we won in the league was at Craven Cottage when we won 1-0 against Fulham on 15th December last year, and that took a penalty in the 92nd minute from Joey Barton. 🙁
Comments very welcome.
49 comments so far
obafemimartins
Feb 6, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Comment #1we have still got the mackems and fulham @ home and i am counting 6 points off those games.
i cant see fulham getting anything away from home so they should still struggle. birmingham away is a likely win and we should stay up. reading home is a another win. reading sunderland fulham home is 9 points in the bag and that will take us up to 39.
James
Feb 6, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Comment #2Too many of our players are first division standard, thats why we struggle against the premiership.
First Division/Championship Wasters :
Butt
Cacapa
Smith
Shola
Carr
Viduka
Howie
Feb 6, 2008 at 11:53 AM
Comment #3if someone offered you 40 points after 38 games would you take it
Rich
Feb 6, 2008 at 11:55 AM
Comment #4I think honestly this year 35 points will see us safe, 2 wins and a draw, the points total is going to be much lower this year to be relegated! I just would love us to beat Villa give us a boost for the Man Utd game in 2 wks time!
James
Feb 6, 2008 at 11:55 AM
Comment #5Howie – if someone offered me 40 points from 38 games I would think I was a Derby/Sunderland supporter. It just proves how many crap players we have thanks to Fat Sam, Souness, and Roeder
Rich
Feb 6, 2008 at 11:55 AM
Comment #6Howie – id take it right now yeah, i just want this season over with and be safe!
Dragoner
Feb 6, 2008 at 11:56 AM
Comment #7James you aint got a clue mate, Cacapa is NOT championship standard, he is our second best defender. Steven ‘mr mistake’ Taylor is currently our worst centre back yet many people dont want to believe it because they have some deluded and idiotic belief that he is geordie! HE IS NOT! HE IS FROM SOUTH LONDON, GREENWICH LOL!
Obafan
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Comment #8Dragoner – I completely agree with you about Cacapa. He always is the one who gets blamed for everything. Taylor, don’t care if he is a geordie or a souther 😉 , can make as many mistakes as he wants, people don’t want to see them. Our central starting duo should ALWAYS be Faye and Cacapa.
Let’s hope we will pick up our points quite soon, cause I don’t want us to be in a relegation battle, but I’m afraid that we might if we lose our next 3 games.
Next season get rid of:
Butt
Carr
Smith
Ameobi
Viduka (is more injured than fit)
Ramage
Barton
and replace them with good players!!! Who I can’t give names at the moment, cause it will be very difficult to attract players after this disastrous season.
obafemimartins
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Comment #9i think cacapa will stay because he is good enough as he has shown in the last few games. under allardyce he was constantly defending and you will make mistakes when under pressure. every player has a clean slate to start afresh and prove that they deserve to wear a toon shirt and wear it with pride
Me
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:08 PM
Comment #10I’ve been thinkin about buggery can u help i want u to demostrate. i will do it to u Mwhahahahahahaha
Dragoner
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Comment #11For example, last game against boro, a long ball came over and all steven taylor had to do was head or kick it clear, instead he hesitated, let it bounce and it went over his head and aliadiere was there waitin, cacapa then did a last ditch clearance to rid the danger. Now i guarantee that if cacapa had not been able to clear the ball successfully and aliadiere had scored, everyone would be saying “cacapa is shit cacapa is crap blah blah blah”. People need to look where the defensive error STARTED
Obafan
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Comment #12Dragoner – once again very good comment. People don’t want to see Taylor ‘s mistakes (and there are quite a lot of them in every game)!!
UTD111
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Comment #13Totally agree with Dragoner about Cacapa. On form this season the No1 Centre Back is Faye – and he seems to play best with Cacapa alongside – might have a lot to do with experience?
I was reading somewhere that Sir Kevin has an excellent managerial record at Villa Park having lost there only once as manager of United, Man City & Fulham. Lets hope it continues :o)
Cheers
Bosck
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Comment #14one thing i’d have to pint out tho dragoner. i think steven taylor lived in greenwich for only 6 days of his life and has lived in newcastle ever since so i think that is a bit harsh to define him not as a geordie.
would agree taylor makes mistakes and cacapa better than most give him credit for, but taylor still has a very bright future in my opinion. should be faye plaus cacapa/taylor at cb if we are gonna play 2 attacking cm. if we are gonna play a dm then that should be faye, with taylor and cacapa cb’s.
Dragoner
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Comment #15Bosck, Steven Taylor is one of the players i also do not want to go, i like him, he is a good young defender, he makes a lot of mistakes but they will become less frequent as he gets older, but i just don’t understand why many on here believe him to be our current best cb, it really annoys me lol
Dragoner
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Comment #16It is expecially annoying when i here things like “taylor is 10 times better than cacapa” or “give taylor what ever wages he wants, he is the next john terry” i find those statements idiotic
Kash2
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:36 PM
Comment #17Actually Dragoner, he was born in Greenwich but grew up in Newcastle. Shola was also born elsewhere but grew up in Newcastle. My mum was born in Kenya, but grew up in Newcastle. All of whom, in my opinion as a born and raised geordie, are GEORDIES!
JMC
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Comment #18My team against Villa…
Given
Beye / Taylor / Cacapa or Faye /Enrique
Milner / Barton or Duff / Emre / N’Zogbia
Owen / Viduka
We need to beat them Midlands boys, Agbonlahor is a doubt, BONUS!
paul p
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Comment #19got to say i agree with some of the comments about stevie. yes i think he gives his all, but he does make mistakes and they are costly, just like our friend titus. The good thing is, taylor is young and the mistakes he is making will go. I would leave him out. It may be the wake up call that taylor needs. It will make him realise that his game is not up to scratch and he needs to improve. yes the squad needs an overhaul defo, new players in, but what with what we have got, I would have to go with the following for the rest of the season (if all available)
given
beye, faye, cacapa, enrique
milner, emre, barton, duff
owen, viduka
subs martins, nzogbia, taylor, butt, harper
James
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:56 PM
Comment #20We could argue about Cacapa all day long but the truth is like or not Keegan will get rid of him in the summer. Hence why he tried to sign Woodgate because he can see Cacapa is not good enough or fast enough to deal with the Premiership.
As much as I disliked the signing at the time, Faye has been our best CB by miles. He has been outstanding for us and a real surprise package.
Tom_Toon
Feb 6, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Comment #21James – Why the hell do you always say ‘I guarantee’, ‘truth is’ following that you say that KK will do this, do that. How the fook do you know?!?
The signs are he will keep Cacapa as he has praised him recently.
Maybe he tried to sign Woodgate to play with Cacapa, you do not know these things for fact!
Punk Skunk
Feb 6, 2008 at 1:06 PM
Comment #22……………..Harper………………..
Beye-Faye-Cacapa-Enrique
Milner-Barton/Zog-Emre-Duff
Owen-Viduka
Subs: Given-Taylor-Zog/Barton-Martins-Carroll
…Poss play Zog CML beside Duff!..
Rich
Feb 6, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Comment #23I think for Villa we should go with this team based on Martins not being fit and Zog suspended!:
Given
Beye Taylor Cacapa Enrique
Milner Emre Faye Duff
Owen Viduka
Subs: Harper, Edgar, Butt, Barton, Smith
UTD111
Feb 6, 2008 at 1:26 PM
Comment #24My Team for Villa would be:
Given
Beye Faye Cacapa Enrique
Milner Smith Emre NZogbia
Viduka Owen
Subs: Harper, Duff, Barton, Taylor, Carroll
John
Feb 6, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Comment #25I think it should be
Given
Beye Taylor Cacapa Enrique
Milner Barton Faye Duff
Viduka Owen
In the summer, buy a new defence bar Beye ….
We ‘ve conceded 42 goals in 25 games .not far from being the worst defence in the premiership along side Derby and the scum
Johann
Feb 6, 2008 at 1:37 PM
Comment #26Damn! What´s wrong with you people.
If you´d know anything about football you´d realize Steven Taylor must be our first choice.
Each og the top4 would jump at the chance of taking Taylor.
Dragoner and Obafan, you say we judge him differently because he is a geordie. Ehh so DO YOU. You feel like he has to do more because he is a geordie.
Just see games objectively and you´ll see our best defenders are Faye and Taylor. But our best combination remains to be seen. Cacapa and Taylor aint really doing it for me. Taylor must trust his central defense partner. Just look at the trust between him and Weather. They work very well together in the u20
Jesus of Nazareth
Feb 6, 2008 at 1:39 PM
Comment #27Why do people think Cacapa is slow. Shay recently put him as one of the fastest at the club in the Soccer AM club quiz thing.
John
Feb 6, 2008 at 1:43 PM
Comment #28@ Johann ..I think our best defender by far is Beye ..
we have to be realistic..The rest are’nt good enough..we have conceded 42 goals ..I dont care who is in the defence but that is a rediculous amount of goals conceded at this stage…
ToonPipes
Feb 6, 2008 at 1:58 PM
Comment #29Bey is our best defender.
Faye is our best central-defender BY A MILE.
Cacapa is next best – he just been settling in.
Taylor is good and can be GREAT – just not yet. I blv all the hype heaped upon him is NEGATIVE. Let him sweat and keep pressing and pushing to improve BEFORE the adulation.
Leo*
Feb 6, 2008 at 2:13 PM
Comment #30teams like sunderland and fulham will be very hard, because they will be fighting for survival
Punk Skunk
Feb 6, 2008 at 2:17 PM
Comment #31iF Zog is suspened: i’d stick Lua Lua on the bench!..rather than Butt!..
Michael
Feb 6, 2008 at 2:20 PM
Comment #32We need a full refurbishment even up to the manager. You talk abput quality, then let us not do favorites. Keegan included. Keegan is not quality. How do I asses this. He has only done well at one club in a career which includes failure at England level and Manchester city level. Being good at Newcastle once is outweighed by those failures.
I looked at Sam when he bought Geremi, Smith, Barton, Selling Dyer in particular was the damaging point as he was a goal getting mid fidfielder and now in this modern age of football such has a midfielder developed, a top team needs a mid that scores into double figures a season. Look at united, Ronaldo, Lampard over the past years, Gerrard, as well, all goal scoring mids. Arsenal have a variety e.g. Fabregas, Flamini, Rosiscky, hleb so for them it is spread you need not depend on one, Everton have Cahill and look how high they are. But my point is goals from midfield is now the model for a team aspiring to be at the top.
Sam bought Geremi, smith, and played butt nzogbia milner or emre who would be lucky to get 5 goals between them a season. If Owen is not scoring we will get no goals and 5 goals between 6 or so mids is not enough. Dyer had his best goal scoring season last season despite being plagued by injury. He was building up perhaps to get into doubles this season, but hey, Newcastle supporters harrased him out of st James park. If we go down, we are to blame, Too many managers Spoil everything.
paul p
Feb 6, 2008 at 2:25 PM
Comment #33Zog is suspended defo for saturday. So midfield will be milner, emre, barton, duff unless any of them pick up injuries. taylor. he just needs a rest at the min. he got back in, played well but there have been a few signs of mistakes, maybe give him a couple of games off, especially against carew caus he won everything against taylor and rozenhal in the home game. i am at villa saturday durham mags on tour again. look out for my flag dh7 mags.
Obafan
Feb 6, 2008 at 2:27 PM
Comment #34Johann – you can’t compare the U20 with the EPL.
Come on man what are you saying, that I judge him because he needs to proove more than the other CD’s. You have got it wrong m8. I just see things as they are and that is how I see them:
1. Cacapa played 2 or 3 awful games. Those games are still in the thoughts of the most and every time we concede a goal; people are looking what Cacapa did and they try very hard to find a mistake from him. sometimes it really is ridiculous to read or hear the comments about him.
If I was Cacapa and I knew that every time we concede a goal my name (Claudio 😉 ) is mentionned then my confidence will be very little.
2. Taylor has got a great future, but needs to learn so much more. He makes lots of mistakes which are most of the time very costly. But what happens, oh look Cacapa was marking wrong, NO FFS TAYLOR HESITATED TOO LONG OR DID NOT CLEAR ENOUGH AND A GOAL WAS CONCEEDED!!! T hen you read here and most of you mention Cacapa as the guilty one.
COME ON 5 YEARS AS CAPTAIN OF LYON; DO YOU REALLY THINK HE IS NOT GOOD. NO, THE PROBLEM FOR HIM IS THAT OUR DEFENCE IS 90 MINUTES UNDER LOTS OF PRESSURE AND THAT IS THE REASON WHY WE CONCEDE THAT MUCH!!!!! This counts for every defender!!!!
Punk Skunk
Feb 6, 2008 at 2:30 PM
Comment #35Right on Obafan!..
the artist formerly known as cooldj
Feb 6, 2008 at 2:48 PM
Comment #36i don’t think we’ll be relegated but something to cheer about some point soon would be nice!!
ToonUSA
Feb 6, 2008 at 2:50 PM
Comment #37well said Obafan
Dragoner
Feb 6, 2008 at 2:59 PM
Comment #38Johann you say steven taylor should be first choice, but you didnt back that statement up with anything.
You took the words straight out of my mouth Obafan
Bill F
Feb 6, 2008 at 3:07 PM
Comment #39I have no problem with people who have been raised in an area saying they are Geordies or whatever. I think being a Geordie is probably more of a state of mind anyway.
What I do find amusing however where (although I don’t this it happens so much now) some of our British teams and The Irish (sorry Sinead) in particular were trawling through birth records to see if there was even a hint of Irishness in their background so they could play for them. I think Vinny Jones was a prime example of this.
John
Feb 6, 2008 at 3:17 PM
Comment #40ya he found out he a had a bit off Irish in him but we still did’nt get a place in the team . He played for Wales remember?
Weres hargreaves from ?