Some good news today about a player we had almost forgotten about, Mark Viduka, who seems ready to go at his old club Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Mark Viduka – likely to return to bench on Saturday
It seems that Mark has not been affected by his Achilles injury since returning to training and he is ready to play some part when Newcastle travel to The Riverside Stadium on Saturday.
When Mark came back in the team under Kevin Keegan, and Kevin went with the 4-3-3 formation is when Newcastle went on a more than decent run of form, after initially going 10 games without a win.
So it may be a good omen that mark is almost ready to play again for the club.
Joe Kinnear talked about mark today:
“He’s not far off it, I can tell you. Obviously he hasn’t had games but you might find that he’s on the bench on Saturday,”
“What we decided to do with Mark was to ask him to try and come back into training. We didn’t want to hurry him up because we don’t want to risk him breaking down again but if he felt like he could come back into the sessions then we were happy for him to do that.”
“It was a matter of bringing him back gradually and seeing what he could manage but he’s surprised us all. He’s got better and better as the days have gone on and some of the things he’s been doing have been excellent. We’ll see how he goes now but there is a chance of him being involved.”
“He’s a good personality and another one of the leaders that I’ve got in the squad,” “He’s a terrific player to have back in and around the team.”
Mark will be like a new player for Joe, who has had more than bad luck with injuries, but has never complained – he’s just got on with the job, which is one of Joe’s great qualities.
And it appears that Joe will wait before the end of the week before deciding on the fitness of defender Steven Taylor, who has been out for the last 3 games, in which we’ve picked up just 3 points.
If Steven is fit don’t be surprised if Joe uses him at left-back, in place of Enrique, and keeps the central pairing of Bassong and Coloccini together, who played so magnificently at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
That’s the very least they deserve.
Finally, former Liverpool player and pundit Stan Collymore was at the game at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and said it was the best defensive display he’s seen all season.
Stan of course was the player who scored the last minute winner in 1996 that had Liverpool beat Newcastle 4-3 in what is still regarded as the best ever game ever to be played in the Premier league.
Oh, the memories. 😀
Comments welcome.
26 comments so far
bowburnmag
Nov 26, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Comment #1If he stays fit, focused and interested, he’s one of the most technically gifted target men around and can score goals so he’d be an asset in any Premiership side for another season or two. But it’s a hell of a big if?
Matt
Nov 26, 2008 at 11:13 AM
Comment #2Taylor at LB? That just won’t work. He can just about cover RB but his defensive duties go wandering when he does. I’d rather have Zog there than Taylor and I really don’t like Zog there.
I’ll believe it when I see it about Viduka, I seriously hope we don’t extend his contract.
bowburnmag
Nov 26, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Comment #3Taylor at left-back? I missed that part! Said it the other day, Ed has been at the Geordie spirit again. Round pegs, square holes is not needed when there are perectly square pegs available.
Kevin Nichol
Nov 26, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Comment #4He’s a nailed on bet to score agianst boro on saturday if he makes an appearance! In my opinion Viduka was the key catalyst in our changing fortunes last season! His presence created the space for owen and martins to cause havoc and i dont think theres a better player in the premiership for making the ball stick when its thrown up to him! If we can get him fit; keep him fit; get the best out of him he will cause any premiership defence problems and he will score goals.
Great player….(when fit!!!…i am enclined to mention 🙂 )
Tom
Nov 26, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Comment #5Taylor should not be playing full stop. The defensive unit against Chelsea was tremendous, all four of them (not including the rest of the team!) so why break them up! Enrique had a solid game at left back, with Beye, Colo and Bass playing outstandingly, it would be madness to break them up!
Nick 69
Nov 26, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Comment #6well i would actually be very suprised if he played taylor at left back, thers a much higher chance that he’ll either put bassong left back and taylor in centre, or stay with bassong/colo and possibly nzog left back
Nick 69
Nov 26, 2008 at 11:38 AM
Comment #7tom- i agree i wouldnt normally break up a defence that played so well, but, enrique cannot attack for sh*t and against teams like boro we should be goin all out for a win therefore i would prefer someone more attacking i.e nzogbia
lesh
Nov 26, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Comment #8Wonder if Joe had to inroduce him to his team-mates? Guess he’ll need to be shown around SJP as well!
Welcome back Mark and get your shooting boots on!!
Whumpie
Nov 26, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Comment #9Viduka will bring goals when he comes back, and I’m hoping he can pass on some of his nouse to Strolla before he heads back to Aus to see out his career.
As for Taylor at LB, I can see the logic, but I’m not sure it’ll happen unless Enrique does poorly in training. Taylor played extremely well (if I remember rightly) at RB when Beye was out, but has he got a decent left foot?
As someone has already pointed out – Enrique is a bullish defender, but not so good going forward. Taylor, on the other hand, has repeatedly shown an attacking instinct.
Let’s trust JFK to make the right call depending on what he sees on the training ground.
Punk Skunk
Nov 26, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Comment #10Taylor at LB…No way doris day!..No way santa fe…No way, no how!..
…Enrique, every time…He’s a defender!..
…Bollox to bein’ good goin’ forward…We need our defenders defendin’, we’ve mid fielders & strikers to attack…We’re in the bottom 3, just defend properly & stop givin’ away sloppy goals 1st!..
Robz
Nov 26, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Comment #11Spot on Punk Skunk! Stop them sloppy goals, and let the attackers attack!
Desmond - DesmondBlog.com
Nov 26, 2008 at 12:46 PM
Comment #12Enrique should be placed as an attacking left back. However, we will need a good DM to cover his place when he attacks.
I think Enrique should stay for at least another half a season. No point losing another LB.
Let’s say we signed Warnock and he got injured the whole season. What’s the point?
VikingToon
Nov 26, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Comment #13Why on earth would Joe change the back 4 after this game ? The Chelski game was our best performance this season, and I hardly think Tayls would make any improvement. Come on Bassong, keep it up! My only concern is Enrique.. not stabil and could be our doom on saturday!
Punk Skunk
Nov 26, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Comment #14Ta Rob,
it ain’t ‘rocket surgery’, is it?..
😀
Peter
Nov 26, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Comment #15Joe is always bloody complaining, …about every bloody thing, all the bloody time – where have you had your head these last few weeks ???
Punk Skunk
Nov 26, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Comment #16Musta missed the bit where JK moans?..
THE BEAT.
Nov 26, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Comment #17VIDUKA IS LOOKING BETTER & BETTER IN TRAINING=FOR THE WORLD PIE EATING CHAMPIONSHIP.
lesh
Nov 26, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Comment #18Re THE BEAT. // Nov 26, 2008 at 13:07
VIDUKA IS LOOKING BETTER & BETTER IN TRAINING=FOR THE WORLD PIE EATING CHAMPIONSHIP……. Ouch!!
Punk Skunk
Nov 26, 2008 at 1:21 PM
Comment #19He’s still a great player tho’!..
THE BEAT.
Nov 26, 2008 at 1:33 PM
Comment #20lesh ,when taglines are put up like that you can,t resist.
Al
Nov 26, 2008 at 1:54 PM
Comment #21Of course Viduka is going to be looking good for training – his contract runs out soon. He will actually try to be fit and good for a while so that he can get another year at the club or go somewhere else and get a sign on fee.
So he might be just what we need for the rest of the season!!!
It Could Be Worse, We Could Be Spurs! (DC)
Nov 26, 2008 at 3:13 PM
Comment #22Viduka is world class when fit. Would be great to see him back scoring goals for us. If we could get him healthy he could be our Dennis Berkamp, similar qualities.
Punk Skunk
Nov 26, 2008 at 4:38 PM
Comment #23itcouldbeworse,
exactly!..
😀
wilko
Nov 26, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Comment #24duke’s feet are magic, remember the goals he’s already scored if he’s fit it will take matches to get back the sharpness, so I would be surprised and overjoyed if he were to come on and score against boro, would be great to see southgate’s hand clapping response (all he ever does )when they are losing to the toon please god let’s have a bit of that
Turkish Magpie
Nov 26, 2008 at 8:25 PM
Comment #25(dc)
you need to change your name because
1.they’re above us
2.they’ve beaten us at home
3.they’ll probably get into Europe
4. they’ve got a world class manager
so i wish we were spurs at the mo
MichaelOWaN
Nov 27, 2008 at 4:38 AM
Comment #26One of my favourite players at the club! Cant wait to see him comeback! Go Vid show them what u can do!