For the first time since Steven Taylor went off injured late in the game against Chelsea on December 3rd, Newcastle were able to play two regular center backs.
A very happy Alan Pardew at the final whistle this afternoon
And manager Alan Pardew pointed out how important that was today at Bolton, as Newcastle went to the Reebok Stadium and got all 3 points with a 2-0 win.
The two classy goals came from Ben Arfa and Demba Ba mid way through the second half, and that was also Newcastle’s second clean sheet in the last three games, and their 6th clean sheet of the season.
The more clean sheets Newcastle can get this season the better off we will be, and it was pleasing today that the defense was steady, and it was more like the Newcastle who went 11 games undefeated at the start of the season.
And our captain, Fabricio Coloccini, gave a commanding display at the back, alongside Mike Williamson this afternoon, and Mike did very very well in his first game back since last August.
Williamson deserves great credit for his steady display today, and after the game he told nufcTV that it was just great to be back helping the side again, after a four month lay-off with his ankle injury.
Alan Pardew was simply delighted with his team today, and the lads showed the team spirit has not been diminished one iota, even after a six game run without a win.
But they put an end to that streak today, and manager Pardew talked after the game to nufcTV:
“We put ourselves under pressure with the West Brom result so it was important that we gave a more disciplined performance and I think we did that,”
“We felt from the last two games that four points would have been really pleasing. We didn’t manage to get anything against West Brom but we got three very valuable ones against Bolton.”
“In the Premier League you don’t want to create pressure for yourselves by having a winless run like we were on. We felt certain things didn’t really go for us in that period but we had round pegs in round holes.”
“Williamson made a big difference to us because he’s a natural centre-half. As much as Bolton threw at us, him and Fabricio Coloccini had the answers.”
In the late game tonight, Aston Villa held Stoke City to a 0-0 draw at the Britannia Stadium so Newcastle now lie in 7th place in the league, one point behind Liverpool and 5 points ahead of Stoke City who are in 8th position.
Newcastle visit Anfield on Friday evening and that should be a competitive game, with Newcastle having every chance of taking something out of that game, now that we have a decent back four again – and round pegs in round holes.
Howay The Lads!!
41 comments so far
alip123
Dec 26, 2011 at 10:29 PM
Comment #1Alan Pardew’s Black and White Army 😀
Dannyo
Dec 26, 2011 at 10:29 PM
Comment #2Ye, Willo was a rock, good for him and for us. Ngog didn’t want to take Collo on, loved how the commentator said he was “scared” of Collo.
We have every right to belive we can get something at Lpool, and God Almighty how i would love to get one over on them!
Marty-Toon
Dec 26, 2011 at 10:35 PM
Comment #3Good team display today,disciplined but we were late getting going.need to get out of the blocks earlier at scrapheap on Friday
BigKirky
Dec 26, 2011 at 10:36 PM
Comment #4Cabaye covered the most distance in this game btw.
Marty-Toon
Dec 26, 2011 at 10:37 PM
Comment #5Dannyo,
That was fun to hear yeah.
They mentioned that he cost a lot but they also mentioned how composed a player he looks now compared to the first season 🙂 Collo is quality but shows he needs an accomplished defender beside him and that the LB is doing his job
Marty-Toon
Dec 26, 2011 at 10:39 PM
Comment #6Yeah he did,8km approx.
He’s a great steal
Marty-Toon
Dec 26, 2011 at 10:48 PM
Comment #7Tiote and Cabaye have a great partnership and work rate.will be sad if Tiote goes but he like all can be replaced.
Last week he was poor.
kingkev9
Dec 26, 2011 at 11:21 PM
Comment #8Cabeye and Williamson made the difference, yes Vuckic had a few good shots V West Brom but the game passed him by.
But we again played with 10 men for 60 mins with Leon Best contributing nothing, Obertan very poor again but had his first shot of the season! Lost the ball so many times but at least he works hard unlike Best
Brutooon
Dec 26, 2011 at 11:57 PM
Comment #9DUH!!! Williamson is a REAL CENTRE DEFENDER
This past 5-6 games we play a skinny player (not even a defender)
that show the difference today
jayphoto
Dec 27, 2011 at 12:08 AM
Comment #10Brutoon man what’s your obsession with perch being skinny?? It don’t make any difference, he’s fitness is good! Perch hasn’t been our worst player any time he’s played! I wouldn’t have him near our first team myself but give it a rest, he gives 100% and he’s a toon player! I’ve seen a lot worse play for us in the past!
london_mag
Dec 27, 2011 at 12:21 AM
Comment #11BRILLIANT. Williamson great and Ben Arfa great.
Proved we MUST MAKE MORE USE OF BEN ARFA, its a crime he was fully left out of two games.
Look at where we are- excellent position, lets CATCH THE SCOUSERS WITH THEIR TROUSERS DOWN AND OVERTAKE THEM!!!
JBax97
Dec 27, 2011 at 12:31 AM
Comment #12We NEED Ben Arfa against Liverpool. He can provide that moment of magic that we need to beat a top side which don’t forget we haven’t done this season. Best has been poor, Ben Arfa scored, it makes sense to put him in. My only worry is that Alan will hold him back still so he comes back at his full best and put Shola in but he needs match practice as he’s the one we’re relying on to score the goals for a month. Who else is? Best? Shola?
BigKirky
Dec 27, 2011 at 12:32 AM
Comment #13Obertan hasn’t been great, but I’m not so against him, because he has got talent. He just has to ‘get the knack’ so to speak.
I think he’s got decent touches, traps, flicks, control and of course pace. He just has to use it better and more often. Be direct, inside or outside and be determined to hurt the opposition. He’s still young and relatively fresh as a regular in the league, as was Jose and Nani at Man Utd and both of them looked uncomfortable at first.
I hope Obertan can build up his confidence and find an attacking prowess that really counts and produces great end results. In the meantime, he does provide an outlet to move the team up field, which as simple as it seems, is harder to do if u don’t have players with pace.
Booing the lad will do nothing at all to help him. People can show their opinion, but do it in a way which isn’t going to demoralize him as an individual. He does do decent defensive tracking back at times, he just needs to have a bit more killer instinct inside him going forward.
I was shaking my head at the jeering when he was substituted at st James’ against West Brom. It’s not needed. Give the lad a chance and try and help his confidence by cheering the good he does, not abusing him for the not so good. He’s young and still learning.
ross armstrong
Dec 27, 2011 at 12:34 AM
Comment #14we had 30 pts last season by 22nd of jan so we are a month better this season 🙂 then we only picked up 6 points in 2months and had 36 points by 19th march so we are defo going in the right direction!!!
dmac
Dec 27, 2011 at 1:07 AM
Comment #15With you Kirky, i rate Obertan quite highly with regards to his potential. He has never been given a long run in games in the prem and i think he is showing glimpses of what he is capable of.
I would never ever boo anyone in the black and white shirt. I remember being at St James when the fans booed Hugo Viana and feeling so ashamed. You are not helping the players by doing this and you sit there calling yourself a fan shocking.
swoopingmagpie
Dec 27, 2011 at 1:41 AM
Comment #16Big smile from Pardew again, thats got Mike off his back for a few days at least!!1
Ponderous Pardew
Dec 27, 2011 at 1:57 AM
Comment #17Giroud & Onohua early in January and we’re set for at least 7th. Really want to twat the Scousers on Friday, like really really badly…..
Sgt. Heagerty
Dec 27, 2011 at 1:57 AM
Comment #18Bigkirky,
Spot on mate, we are the toon army we are better the that. We don’t boo are own, we uplift our players that’s what makes the toon army so special. We can make average players great with the support of 50,000 geordies at St James park or with 5,000 on the road. Overran is really young and it shows but the lad has talent by the bucket loads. He will put it together as long as we stick with him. Thereason he failed at man ure is cuz of their shite supporters always on his back. He is doing a job for us now as bigkirky said just by being an outlet and getting is outta our own half and shows signs of brilliance I believe he got one of the assists today. And everybody needs to get off Besty too, he was give. More shite then anybody the last two years and he carried us for stretched last year, he is just pressing too much to try and keep pace with ba which isn’t possible because that kid is playing outta his mind, I actually think Besty will come alive when ba leaves for Africa. We are 7th I’n the league with our eyes set on 6th. We are I’n a Europe spot halfway through the season, I think At the beginning of the season if you offered any of us that we would have bit your hand off to take it…. Just my 2 cents….. Hwtl
MNTOONARMY9
Dec 27, 2011 at 3:15 AM
Comment #19Full disclosure: in the US, of the last four saw Norwich, WBA and the last 10 of Bolton.
What do you do with Leon Best?
Not an answer that has eluded the finest minds or Sir Alex Furgeson, but one which demands thought. Best hasn’t done a lot with the ball in the last 4-6 games, but it seems despite being one of two strikers, most of the flow seems to find Ba. Of course that makes sense with Ba’s clear skill and track record, but Best seems the sort that could use more “feeding” of the ball to be effective, and that isn’t happening with any regularity. Best seems a bit unable to finish when he does have it, but that could change with more touches.
Best may not be the best, or even a good, strike partner. He needs to be fed and cannot “create has own shot” with regular success. Now, who IS that strike partner on the roster? Shola is, I think, too much like Best. Lovenkrands, despite my odd soft spot for him, has the right mentality has slowing skills.
No, the only realistic options (assuming no other favorable match-ups) is HBA. True, maybe Ba draws more coverage without Best standng there, but HBA won’t just stand there…and to me that’s the difference.
We need a pacey striker (See the WBA strike pair), but until then, let’s give HBA a run playing off Demba “you cannot stop me, you can only hope to contain me” Ba.
Then again, Pardew has forgotten more about football than I know, so…uh…LET’S ALL LAUGH AT SUNDERLAND!
Happy Holidays, all.
shielsy_83
Dec 27, 2011 at 3:40 AM
Comment #20see pards finally listend to the fans willo for perch and to be honest ad av kadar for perch coz to me perch is a full back at 5ft 11″ he defo no center half and kadar is 6ft 2″ for f sake
taker83
Dec 27, 2011 at 4:15 AM
Comment #21Liverpool wud luv to have Demba Ba now.Maybe double the caroll money for 70 million.
Indian Magpie
Dec 27, 2011 at 4:22 AM
Comment #22if I were Pardew i would have brought on a youngster than that waste of space LOL-A Ameobi
redondo77
Dec 27, 2011 at 5:53 AM
Comment #23Hi all
I believe we will get 2 more players in this January and we won’t lose Tiote (not this season, maybe next season for crazy money from Real or Barca or Inter).
Btw I still don’t like Perch, rather play Streete in CB.
I don’t think we need new CB, Santon can play CB, still have Tav and Fergie as wing back.
Where is Marveaux?
redondo77
Dec 27, 2011 at 6:03 AM
Comment #24one more thing that really annoying when Perch and Santon played. Every corner kicks, why is Perch in penalty box and Santon at the back? I’m pretty sured that Santon is bigger and taller than Perch, unless Perch can jump 2 metres high.
bob52
Dec 27, 2011 at 6:44 AM
Comment #25Great result badly needed, however it was a poor game for most until we scored through HBA and nailed it with a great strikers goal from Ba.
But for much of the game we had no wing service at all, plenty of running at defenders without going past or end product, can gutierrez or Obertan be considered a threat in the premiership anymore? no in my opinion even though our second goal came from Obertan’s only cross of the game. Good display from Williamson and nice to see Taylor’s solid performance and assist.
p
Dec 27, 2011 at 6:53 AM
Comment #26Hmmm I thought we were prettymshite today. Lots of long ball shite where we just gave the ball away. The difference today was Bolton were a bad team and we had a decent pair of center backs. So same 2 goals as the last game – via genuine quality – but better equipped to deal with the reduced threat.
I think people are barking up the wrong tree with hba, he has genuine quality but he can’t win every game single handed.
The more pressing issues for me are cover at the back and another decent striker and most importantly get the ball on the deck, after all in our french players especially (including obertan) we have the players to do it successfully.
redondo77
Dec 27, 2011 at 7:06 AM
Comment #27Only have one critic for AP, he doesn’t gamble.
He will stick at players with experience eventhough if that player is not good enough to be on the team. He should gamble little bit with our reserves and our youngsters, it might paid off and create more competition and it’s free. It’s much better than keep playing player(s) who doesn’t perform or just plain sux.
Should give a try at Abeid, Tav, Fergie, Airey, Nzuzi, Streete, Kadar, etc. How else they gonna get experience if you never gave them chances to get experience? Reserve games is nowhere near the real thing.
Brutooon
Dec 27, 2011 at 8:18 AM
Comment #28jayphoto : i didn’t mention perch in my previous post
Premiership Manager
Dec 27, 2011 at 8:20 AM
Comment #29It’s good to see some positive posts unlike the pre-match preview and running commentary by the key board assasins which is nothing short of disgraceful.
Although Obertan has yet to shine like BigKirky I believe he has it in him and still needs to settle in.
Anybody who has played sport at the highest level will know that confidence and self esteem are essential to perform well. Young players in particular suffer nerves and are very self concious about critisism whether it be from their manager, fans or fellow competitors.
It amazes me how fans knock some players such as Best and Obertan. They did it with Colo and Steven Taylor yet now, when he is on his game Colo is our best player. People forget how young Taylor was whe he was thrust into the first team and although he had talent and potential he was often a victim of his inexperience. Players need time to settle and adapt. Last year people were singing the praise of Best now they want him out of the team. Give him a goal or two and he will be a different player, it will be the same with Obertan.
Liverpool will be a big test and I hope that rather than playing 4-4-2 we go 4-3-3 with Vucic and HTA playing behind Ba just infront of Cabaye, Tiote and Jonas.
Carrol will be a threat but if we can shut down the supply and dominate midfield with Ba’s prowess, HTA’s vision and Vukics long range shots and through balls, with Cabaye, Tiote and Jonas in support and shoring up the defence we have a very good chance of doing well.
I’d play exactly the same against Man Utd because if we play 4-4-2 we will leave to many gaps.
gorgonzola
Dec 27, 2011 at 8:22 AM
Comment #30I wrote on some previous posts…but what is happening with Santon is his knee better? Will this be a re occurring injury?
cyprus
Dec 27, 2011 at 8:47 AM
Comment #31@26, AP not a gambler? Thought that’s how he met Mike 🙂 Anyways, here is a rating of the players, for those who didn’t see the game.
Krul: 7, he wasn’t amazing because he didn’t have to be.
Simpson: 7, unlike some comments above, he commanded his side.
Williamson, Colo: 8, had their attackers fully covered, though, make no mistake, Bolton are genuine relegation candidates.
Raylor: 7. Good game, great assist. He only suffers with superfast wingers (Bellamy-style)
Tiote, Cabaye: 8, because they stifled all they tried.
Obertan: 7. I’m not a fan, but he’s beginning to grow on me! OK, he still hasn’t actually dribbled past a single defender, but he provided a great assist and did ask for the ball.
Jonas: 7. My favourite player, who did breeze by a few opponents just because he can. Still, his mind is on protecting Raylor and that makes impressionable fans criticise him, as you can’t simultaneously defend and attack.
Best: 6, although he did try (untrue those comments disputing this). Having magnificent BA next to you must be intimidating as he can do anything. He has shown that he can do the business.
HBA: 9. This guy can change the nature of a game on his poor day! AP must find a way to give him the star status he deserves or he’ll be tormenting us with another team some day.
Ba: 9. What can I say? Not quite the 10 of previous games, but defenders do not want to deal with this player.
Shola: Sorry fans, great goal at Spurs, but it’s coming again… next year!
blissna
Dec 27, 2011 at 8:51 AM
Comment #32Good post at 19. I still feel there’s life in Best. I actually view him as being essential to our future.
gorgonzola
Dec 27, 2011 at 8:53 AM
Comment #33essential is a bit of a strong word….I prefer HBA before essential.
redondo77
Dec 27, 2011 at 8:58 AM
Comment #34@30
Didn’t know that they met at gambling table hehe.
Maybe because I just don’t like Perch very much. If you were AP, would you play Perch or try playing real CB like Streete or Kadar eventhough they are very young and inexperience? Will they do worst than Perch?
As for Best, I think he needs little rest (mentally), playing with Ba all the time is not helping to his mentality. Ba as his partner scores all the time and he is not, it is damaging his confidence and mentality.
catchy in norway
Dec 27, 2011 at 9:00 AM
Comment #35bob52
spot on,
ok a question,
what makes a good manager,
is it a one who sticks with players low on confidence, and by sticking with them , and by doing so change the style of play to cover there weaknesses
or is it a one who picks players to do a job, to win football matches
his no 1 job is to win football matches, not to babysit players who are low on confidence(his words) not good enough in my book,
im asking this as i think after watch that crap yesterday , it seemed that the only tactic was to launch it long, direct to ba, , and in doing so he missed cabaye and all his creativity , we didnt use the wings much, yes we got 2 goals from there, but that happened all in a 2 min spell, then it went to launch it long, if this was his tactic why play with 2 wingers? surely starting with attack minded midfielders that would and could suport ba and best up front a lot more, vuckic is 6ft3, surly his hight would have been more help using this tactic ?
players not good enough to help us stay in the top half of the table
obertan, between lack of confidence and lack of ability he is a so called luxury play we seem to carry most matches,
best, has a hot spell, then goes cold for way to long, never really looks like he can or will score goals
simpson. although he has improved alot this season, his first thought is always just hoof it , i think obertan has to take some of the blame here, he is never there as an option,
jonas, he has lots of energy, and really helps the lb lots, but as far as end product goes, he is simply not doing his job,,
look at bolton yesterday, i think they tried to play football yesterday, petrov really showed jonas how to put balls in the box,
i also think pardew really has to try some of the kids, fergie,vuckic,mehdi, sam ameobi, these may not be the finished article, and very raw talents in some cases, but they will only get better by getting experience,
we need a change
Indian Magpie
Dec 27, 2011 at 9:29 AM
Comment #36I agree with post # 35, yesterday with us 2-0 up pardew should have given some game time to youngsters.
No matter how Well/poorly we play one of our subs is always shola, i cant for my life figure out why?
Marty-Toon
Dec 27, 2011 at 9:33 AM
Comment #37Indian,
He wants to keep some clean sheets as they also build confidence but as you say the young lads don’t get blooded then like they do at manure or arsenal
Indian Magpie
Dec 27, 2011 at 9:40 AM
Comment #38Marty
yes and shola wby giving the ball away was not the solution IMHO
cupiddstunt
Dec 27, 2011 at 1:21 PM
Comment #39shielsy_83 @ # 20
Franco Baresi (AC Milan) 5‘ 9 ½” 1999, Baresi was voted AC Milan Player of the Century
Fabio Cannavaro (Parma) 5‘ 9 ½” who was voted the FIFA Player of the year.
Paul Parker (Fulham ) 5‘ 7” Capped 19 timers for England
Carles Puyol (Barcelona) 5‘ 10”
Iván Córdoba (Inter Milan) 5‘ 8”
All played at central defence for both club and country so what is your antiquated obsession with defenders needing to be tall ????
You’re as bad as brutoon who thinks Perch can’t defend because he is skinny.
You are both like so many on this blog blinded by bias against particular players.
davis_toons
Dec 27, 2011 at 5:20 PM
Comment #40Shola has got to come on…cause Ba is going away soon..for African Cup. Shola shld be the one takeover if im not wrong and everything goes right..