Great news today that Newcastle captain Fab Coloccini and top midfielder Cheick Tiote both start for Newcastle this afternoon against Swansea at home.
And the other good news is that David Santon get a start at right back as we had hoped for, following his good performance at Norwich last Week.
As expected James Perch will line up alongside Coloccini but that should be a lot easier this week, with James having an immensely experienced player alongside him.
And another surprise is that Leon Best takes over from Shola Ameobi up front, so Leon must have been looking good in training this week.
Mike Williamson is also on the bench as expected and all being well he could get 15 minutes at the end of the game for James Perch, depending on how the game is going.
There is no Ryan Taylor, so we don’t know why that’s the case – but maybe Alan Pardew is giving the Liverpudlian a rest.
And it’s interesting that both Mehdi Abeid and Haris Vuckic make the bench, and of course the 19 year-olds are two of Newcastle’s top youngsters.
This is an improved defense than last week’s side at Norwich, and we will be looking for Newcastle to get back to their winning ways.
Howay The Lads!!
Newcastle United (4-4-2): Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, James Perch, Fabricio Coloccini (c), Davide Santon; Gabriel Obertan, Yohan Cabaye, Cheick Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez; Leon Best, Demba Ba
Substitutes: Steve Harper, Mike Williamson, Medhi Abeid, Haris Vuckic, Hatem Ben Arfa, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi
Swansea City (4-5-1): Michel Vorm; Ashley Richards, Ashley Williams (c), Steven Caulker, Neil Taylor; Wayne Routledge, Leon Britton, Joe Allen, Mark Gower, Scott Sinclair; Danny Graham
Substitutes: Gerhard Tremmel, Garry Monk, Kemy Agustien, Nathan Dyer, Stephen Dobbie, Luke Moore, Leroy Lita
599 comments so far
sparkes123
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:21 PM
Comment #561AP you’re talking complete rubbish. He sliced cities defence once, and conceded what should of been a corner against united. You forget he doesn’t track back like oba, leaving simpson exposed in a tight contest wouldn’t of been ideal. Just face it, swansea had a game plan that worked today, we dominated but were unlucky. The negativity is unreal. I’m sure your FM skills don’t qualify you to be in a better place to comment on tactics than anyone else in this forum. Gone, the negativity and fickleness in here is unreal. Remember your start of seasons expectations.
JAMSHA
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:21 PM
Comment #562HBA MUST START AGAINST WB.
Rotonda heights
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:22 PM
Comment #563Ruddy
sorry 2 out of 15 and 5 out of 18 sounds so, so much better WTF !!!!!!.
Can’t you for once just admit we were poor, had no plan B, played endless long balls, refused to bring on a flair player / door opener, never looked like scoring 2nd half, made very late and poor subs etc, etc or is pardew ” untouchable” and immune to any criticism whatsoever match after match? Good managers are either pro-active or reactive, pardew is neither and just lets games drift fatally.
warwick
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:22 PM
Comment #564I think nolan would have scored today, that is the nolan from about 2 years ago.
Kris
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:22 PM
Comment #565Hope Cabaye can play the next game and arnt suspended as he might be…We was unlucky today, and should have got the three points. But on the positive side; we played good and was good defencivly.
My player ratings:
Krul 6 – He didnt have a save did he? But he didnt have a shot on him though.
Simpson 7 – Played really well and kept Sinclair quiet all the game.
Perch 8 – Was very good and didnt make ANY mistakes.
Coloccini 8 – Just as always, fantastic!
Santon 8 – Was very good and gives us something more in our attacking-play, he does well in defence as well.
Obertan 7 – Was very active in the first half and did very well. In the second he didnt do much and should been subbed before.
Cabaye 8 – My man of the Match. Good in the passing play and was working very hard.
Tiote 8 – A big boost to have him back and he was at the level we want him.
Gutierrez 7 – Worked really hard and had some good play with Santon on the left. Was one of the players that was better after the break.
Best 7 – Was very good in the first half and linked well up with Ba. Was just quiet after the break and should have been subbed before.
Ba 8 – He was fantastic! He just missed the one goal! Then I would have gived him the 10.
Ruddy Marveaux-lous
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:23 PM
Comment #566I am the epitome of banal? To go with the grain would be banal, lacking in originality. You really need to learn what words mean before you throw them around at people. I do believe everything I say, otherwise I wouldn’t say it, which is why I defend what I say. The popular topics of Perch bashing, Shola bashing and today’s topic of “Pards subs were SH.IT why did he not bring on HBA” aren’t something I agree with so I will actively disagree.
warwick
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:24 PM
Comment #567rotunda heights, i dont really care i think you are a complete negger, you only turn up to post once toon starts losing, you boil my urine. no offence 🙂
Rotonda heights
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:24 PM
Comment #568jonny
maybe abeid could be that man.
JAMSHA
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:25 PM
Comment #569@Ruddy dnt u have any work other than arguing with others?
warwick
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:25 PM
Comment #570I dont think i have ever heard you have a good thing to say about toon the whole many years i have rarely graced this blog,
davis_toons
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:25 PM
Comment #571We are still not convining on our attack
Lacking of a NO.9
Lacking of a Sets of Stronger Wingers
WINGER
Spidy..as usual will defend but lacking in strong attacking flak.
Obtan, sami, ..young still learning his gaame.
Compair to 90’s WINGER you will know the different
David Ginola, KGlespie, Robert, John Barnes, ect…
Got to get HBA and Maux back and see what they can do..
Ruddy Marveaux-lous
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:25 PM
Comment #572Rotonda didn’t say it was much better but if you’re going to say we got a certain amount of points from games then at least make sure what you’re saying is correct. Wouldn’t want this poor gullible folks believing lies 😛
lukes26
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:26 PM
Comment #573Frustrated w/a tie, but, honestly, if that game were played ten times, we probably would have won at least 7.
A bit of over-reliance on the wingers. I think NUFC we be better served with Cabaye playing more offensively and maybe using HBA as a sub instead of Sammy. Our play is entirely too predictable.
Benry
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:26 PM
Comment #574Much of what people concieve as ‘negativity’ though, is simply reasonable questions that you cannot answer. Why is Raylor ahead of Santon, when Santon adds so much more to the team? Why not Change tactics and bring Benny on when route 1 is clearly not working? Why is Strolla a Newcastle player? Why suddenly jump to the defense of Perch when he as a solid i.e 6-7/10 rating game against a bottom half of the table team? This is not negativity, just reasonable questions, as these issues have occured over a fair amount of games.
Ruddy Marveaux-lous
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:28 PM
Comment #575I am disagreeing, who is arguing? HBA must not be working hard enough to start so he isn’t starting. I trust the manager’s call on that one. Defensively we were excellent, never once looked like we were going to be unlocked. The subs could have been brought on after 60mins, that is all I would say the manager did wrong. The long ball tactic was working well with the two aerially strong strikers we had on so I don’t think we should have played another way. Just because I don’t agree with you all doesn’t mean I am arguing, get over yourselves you sensitive children.
niafron
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:28 PM
Comment #576@Ruddy.
Honnestly, stop to speak of that, you don’t have a clue of what you’re speaking of.
You want to speak of this famous strike?
All right. At the beginning of his last summer in Marseille, he did’t decided to leave.
But his coach, Deschamps, decided to kick him out. So he told to all the newspapers Beny came back to training after the break in a terrible physical shape. He told he totaly lacked of professionalism.
At the same time, the physical coach of Marseille made past some test to all the players of the team.
Guess what: HBA was the first at this test! He physical condition was the best amongst all the players of the club.
Beny was simply hostage in the war between Deschamps and Anigo, Marseille’s manager.
Honnestly, he’s not irreproachable. He lacked of professionalism, but it was a long time ago, he really changed in the two past years.
So if you don’t know the full story, don’t speak of it.
Brutooon
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:28 PM
Comment #577Frustrated Draw – should won the match by 4-5 goals
The reason for this draw (which should be a win)
1) James Perch in the pitch – he bring bad luck. We should get rid of him to get rid the bad luck.
2) If James Perch is in the bench, then we would won 5 nil
warwick
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:29 PM
Comment #578weve got the third highest scorer in the prem, is that convincing, we aren’t bloody top 4 yet!
no ones jumping to the defense of perch the guy played good today, a point is a point, i repeat a point is a point, at the end of the season we might count this as a good point
Offkey
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:29 PM
Comment #579Rotonda – pardew is not untouchable but you have no idea why he made those decisions so dont take a position where what you say is gospel. Secondly, If that is your honest assessment of the match you were either watching a different game or had an extremely poor stream…….as we simply were not poor.
AP's Black & White Army
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:29 PM
Comment #580Hahahahah – Ruddy, you need to learn the word ‘context’ and how words form a whole sentence, not just stand alone in their meaning. You are banal, in so much so, that you take the over-familiar, customary stance of devils advocate, you’re almost incapable of agreeing with somebody, you do this all the time, that my friend is BANAL!
Stop trying to be clever, it doesn’t suit you.
toonbrother
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:30 PM
Comment #581Are people actually arguing the fact we looked worse after pardew’s substitutions? I reckon the Tiote’s was enforced and I dont know whats going on with HBA but Shola for Best for example did more harm than good. We completely lost all momentum once his subs came on. Only a blind person could have failed to see that. Personally I was happy with the overall showing today. We completely dominated a very good team. They also held Liverpool to a draw at Anfield
Rotonda heights
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:30 PM
Comment #582warwick
What really boils mine is abusive people with a very low IQ such as yourself just showing your total and complete ignorance yet again. I am a regular poster in good times and bad. I have supported Ashley against all the neggars, but for god’s sake, you’re just so one eyed, everything’s black and white to you, I doubt you’ve had an original thought in your life. Pardew has made mistakes, deal with it and stop being a half wit all your life.
AP's Black & White Army
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:34 PM
Comment #583Sparkes
More than any of our other players did. I recall him being the catalyst of our best move of the season, against Man City, when he linked up with Ba and put Ba 1-vs1, then he waltzed through their defence later. Against Man U, he played that beautiful chip pass for Ba, which got him through 1-vs-1, the won us a penalty.
Again, more than any of our other players could muster, against the 2 best teams in the league.
If he’s a little slack in training, so what, that’s his temperament, as long as he gives his all on the pitch, he’s hardly going out drink-driving and assaulting people, like Ranger.
Ruddy Marveaux-lous
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:34 PM
Comment #584I do not try to be clever, it just comes naturally my friend. Banal context? Well if the context of what I am saying is banal then I think it would be ignored don’t you? I think I can safely say that people form very strong opinions about me, either agreeing completely or disagreeing profusely, I like to think of myself as the epitome of blogger’s Marmite 😉
So that just leaves the “banal” statement, you were caught out as not knowing what the word meant and then decided to re-invent the reason you used it. May have been clever had you been speaking to an idiot. You, however, were not speaking to an idiot, so the whole “banal context” thing doesn’t wash with me.
warwick
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:35 PM
Comment #585Your superioty complex oozes out of every sentence. Frankly you don’t know shit mate, all you bang on about is IQ, Yeh im black and white through and through.
Your a complete negger, I hope I never have the chance to witness your sorry position on an away stand.
Good night 😉 Howays the lads!!!! wednesday is going to be live!
lucasnufc
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:36 PM
Comment #586Seriously though: why is Perch the best player in the world? 😐
seantoon
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:41 PM
Comment #587Brutoon your a pondlife serious
AP's Black & White Army
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:42 PM
Comment #588Ruddy
I think you should read again, buddy. Being correct even when you’re wrong, isn’t an endearing trait. I’m not going to dispute semantics any further.
Have a good one people.
GeordieTwo
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:43 PM
Comment #589Really liked Santon’s work at left back. He overlapped well with Jonas and provided something new in attack. I think he is only going to improve with time. Perch was quite steady with Colo beside him which was a relief after the Norwich game. Thankfully no Smith in midfield. Cabaye tries hard every game but we need something different in terms of set pieces. They really soaked up our attacks well. Surely Ben Arfa should be getting lots of playing time with Ba and Tiote soon to be away at the Cup of Nations. Don’t understand Pardew’s thinking there at all. Either there is an injury or an attitude problem so I’m hoping it is a slight knock. We just aren’t enough of a threat from the wing players. Obertan had one pathetic shot which missed entirely and Jonas had one good chance. Overall Obertan’s performance was much stronger than last week though. What to do with him? Very frustrating time right now. Clearly we need to settle down and play well against West Brom because much tougher challenges lay ahead.
Ruddy Marveaux-lous
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:44 PM
Comment #590Whatever AP, Pardew is beyond reproach…blah blah blah anything more interesting to add?
AP's Black & White Army
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:45 PM
Comment #591If you haven’t noticed, Ruddy, people will argue about stuff that happened years ago on here. Banal is always the underlying theme, that’s why I rarely comment.
Anyway, that’s the end of that.
JAMSHA
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:48 PM
Comment #592@brutoon i agree wit ur points on badluck perch
Ruddy Marveaux-lous
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:51 PM
Comment #593You mean “banality” is always the underlying theme 😛 couldn’t resist. The end of you commenting? wonderful
GeordieTwo
Dec 17, 2011 at 5:52 PM
Comment #594So now Cabaye is out for the next game with 5 yellows. So it will be Tiote and who else. I fear the answer is Smith unless Abeid is put in there. Surely not Vuckic for a whole game? How can we improve the attack without using Ben Arfa. Really worried about him now. Should have been out there today as we badly needed his creativity on the ball. What is going on there with Pardew? We better get some answers soon or more points will slip away.
dimkinss
Dec 17, 2011 at 6:04 PM
Comment #595WE SHOULD GET OUR TEAM TO WATCH ARSENAL GAMES. WE NEED TO LEARN PASSING AND POSITIONING FROM ARSENAL.WE NEED TO WORK ON OUR PASSING AND POSITIONING WHEN GOING FORWARD! I mean, we just play football without any game plan or ideas. We just play……
U don’t go far playing like that! There has to be a game plan.
Rotonda heights
Dec 17, 2011 at 6:06 PM
Comment #596warwick
you sound so hard behind your keyboard.
Rotonda heights
Dec 17, 2011 at 6:09 PM
Comment #597warwick
God you’re so thick. I didn’t mean the colour of the team you s…t for brains, I meant how you view life generally. Not difficult to get a superiority complex with an amoeba like you.
GeordieTwo
Dec 17, 2011 at 6:09 PM
Comment #598Put Ben Arfa in behind Ba instead of Best and use Abeid with Tiote as a pair. I thought the plan was to bring Abeid in before Tiote went to the ACoN? What happened to that plan? Since our wingers play so defensively a lot of the time we need more attack through the centre. I think Cabaye just had an off day today. With Santon in there permanently now the attack from the left should improve without sacrificing on defence.
GeordieTwo
Dec 17, 2011 at 6:19 PM
Comment #599According to Einstein the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the outcome to change. That’s how I feel about the pairing of Ba with Best or even Ba with Ameobi. It works once in a while but not nearly often enough. We have Ben Arfa sitting there and he was clearly brought to the team to be an impact player. It is fairly difficult to be an impact player with zero playing time.