It’s only one game we know, but it was another embarrassing defeat for Newcastle at the Amex Stadium this afternoon.
Will Buckley after his shot was deflected into goal by Mike Williamson
And for the second game in a row Newcastle let their fans down, with what was at best a tepid performance at the Amex Stadium.
Newcastle went down 1-0 this afternoon in the FA Cup to Championship side Brighton via an own goal from Mike Williamson.
And for the second season running, Newcastle have been embarrassed in the FA Cup, after we were eliminated by then League Two side Stevenage 3-1 last January.
So Alan Pardew may have done well at other clubs in Cup competitions, but so far he hasn’t done well at all on Tyneside.
It was another below par performance from the Newcastle side this afternoon, and the team played very conservatively and had no cutting edge at all up front.
The only way to put things right is to have a blood and thunder display at Blackburn on Wednesday night in the league.
Blackburn are third bottom in the league with 18 points from 22 games, and Newcastle have twice that number of points with 36, and lie in 6th position in the Premier League, and we are still well positioned to do very well in the league.
Newcastle fans can put up with a lot, we have a lot of experience on that front, but not when the side goes down so tamely to a lower league side in a famous FA Cup competition, like they did this afternoon.
Any player who is not willing to run through a brick wall for this club should tell Alan Pardew, and not bother playing in the next game at Blackburn.
It’s only one game today, and it’s not worth over-reacting to it, but this is now two games in a row that the players have not played with the necessary fire in their bellies, to wear the famous Newcastle shirt.
And we don’t really want to hear all the reasons why the lads were mediocre today – from Alan or from any of the players – just turn up on Wednesday night and play out of your skins.
Do it for the Newcastle fans.
198 comments so far
JamesP32
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:48 PM
Comment #161I love Newcastle with a passion but why can’t alan pardew see what were seeing?? I mean putting Strolla on was on of the worse things ive ever seen Pardew done, Im not saying Strolla is the worse player ever but he obviously lacks standards that arn’t even fit for the premier league nor does he for the championship. All I can say is thank God we will have Cisse and Ba back because Strolla and Best Obviously arn’t up for the challenge GET RID!
GeordieToon89
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:48 PM
Comment #162keeganjr – Well haha we no that cant happen now if only the press knew football ha
gonz
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:49 PM
Comment #163We definitely need a RB, CB and another forward player! Cissokho, CB? and Zaha would do me just fine considering we have Marveaux and Taylor to come off that long injury bed. We need to get rid of Best, Smith (fingers crossed that’s today) and Lovenkrands!
West Lancs Geordie
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:49 PM
Comment #164Comments 128 & 132 Excellent. What is the plan for the rest of the window? Masterstroke hopefully with Cisse signing but do we now fall short like last Jan when we failed in striker bid. This time with no quality CB. Ashley will now think nothing to play for this season – out of Cups and safe from relegation so keep his brass under his mattress. Yes same prob up front next year when African Nations come round. We need quality cover for those players.
Can’t beleive voting on best player at Brighton. May as well say who do you think was longest in the shower or who is the best dancer – Pointless
JackButler
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:50 PM
Comment #165GT89 – It seem to me that our midfield has no confidence in Shola and Best when they play together, and putting HBA out right is a waste of his influence,
Munster Mag
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:50 PM
Comment #166Wyn at 101 , you are one of a fairly small percentage on this site who understand a bit about football and have reasonable expectations . Nice one.
geordie157
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:50 PM
Comment #167Sometimes a reality check is needed! the top 5 plus Liverpool all have better squads than us, but we arent a million miles away. Fingers crossed we get at least a CB in before the window shuts, then clear a few out in the summer ie Smith, Lovenkrands, Ranger, Xisco & Kadar. Keep either Best or Shola as a 4th choice striker, same with Perch he can be a useful squad player. Then add another 5 ot 6 players, hopefully 3 or 4 of the Cabaye, Tiote, Ba quality, and a couple of prospects. If things slowly progress, then we should be challenging for europa on a regular basis and maybe 4th place too.
daztoon
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:51 PM
Comment #168@t00ntime
Not at all Pardew will never be god he aint good enough and never will be.He got lucky early season then got found out.He didn`t get sacked from Div 1 Sothampton for being a god thats for sure
Scottishtoon95
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:51 PM
Comment #169Who reckons perch should start on wednesday instead of Williamson with colo
geordie157
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:53 PM
Comment #170@scottishtoon95
Perch should probably start instead of Simpson after that peformance.
t00ntime
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:53 PM
Comment #171just 2 weeks ago pardew was the best since SBR…
nufc mad man
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:54 PM
Comment #172@munster 153 which team you talk about if it is the 41212 well you don’t know how disorganised our midfield and forwards were today also most our midfield and BA and cisse i bet would prefer more passing the ball forward rather than holding back and hoofing it.
if you talking about the second line up you have not yet learned that pardew seems to be never changing the team after poor results and recently tend to be playing 451 during away games
gonz
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:56 PM
Comment #173That’s exactly the point Jame3p2, shola and best aren’t the main men and it’s silly we now have two Africans, who if they stay in the next 4 years will have played in 3 ACON’s. It isn’t their fault that they are now called upon to be the main men only when your strikers are away on international duty. They are impact type players, the ones who can come on the last 20 mins and make an impact, now they are being thrown in the lions den and becoming the sacrificial lambs by the fans. BEST AND AMEOBI ARE SQUAD PLAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nickfish90
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:59 PM
Comment #174TIN HAT ON
Right guys, I may get slated for this but here it goes. Watching the game from the comfort of my armchair I didn’t think that Pards go the tactics wrong, I thought they were pretty spot on to be honest in the first half – we completely outplayed Brighton, created a few chances and Besty came very close indeed, it was only Shola who wasn’t really pulling his weight.
In the second half we were right to keep things the same, a bit more quality from the players in the final third and we would have scored. The only thing I would have changed would be at 60 mins revert to a 4-4-2 and go for the win, take shola off for ober and push guti left. This would have given benny more space as the defenders would be focusing on obers runs in behind.
Anyway, that didn’t happen but until the freak own goal we looked in no danger of conceding, not one bit, so a replay up at SJP seemed the worst case scenario.
toonarmydownsouth
Jan 28, 2012 at 9:59 PM
Comment #175Alreet lads just got home from the game wat can i say feel abit deflated! Didnt think we deserved to loose that to be fair cabaye n guthrie had a good game as did best n santon however after weeks of sticking up for ameobi i concede he should not be starting for us. Thought gettin the captains armband might spur him on it didnt. Also hba i can see why ur not startin dont track back dont pass wasteful with possesion n just looked unintrrsted in fact its tough to say which of the 2 was worst 2nitr shola n benny hang ur heads lads disgusting effort from the both of ya. Oh n fair play 2 perch 2nite handeled everything that was thrown at him are right hand side looked so weak simmo was left exposed all game
Jail for Ashley
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:00 PM
Comment #176I thought this last game against Fulham,and after watching Best put that header wide,I feel fully vindicated in thinking that if ya two strikers are not doing the business and never look like doing the business,it must have a knock on effect to the rest of the team,Boater if ya on ,surely you must be getting sick of defending Best and Shola that was a performance down to not putting chances away.
RobertNufc25
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:00 PM
Comment #177Pardew got sacked from Southampton because he fell out with the chief executive as far as I know.
Nicola Cortese or whatever he’s called.
West Lancs Geordie
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:02 PM
Comment #178In reply to ScottishToon 95 I’d say Samba in place of Willo if Ashley has any ambition. Better in our team than against us Wednesday. Gonz & NUFC Mad Man talking a lot of sense
hotdog
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:05 PM
Comment #179My view is that AP is at fault for playing Best & Shola up front it does not work. You are better off playing Ben Arfa off a main striker BUT and it’s a big BUT! I looked at the Brighton team and did not recognise one player so, my question would be this. How many of those Newcastle players came off that pitch thinking they had outplayed their opposite number. Possibly one or two players and AP is not at fault for that! Time for a look in the mirror fella’s.
sula
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:06 PM
Comment #180Start with both cisse and ba on wednesday night if they back in time they must start nothing but a win will do now. We must finish in the top 6 for us to attract any quality players.
CB
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:08 PM
Comment #181It has been blatantly obvious since the start of the season (even before) that best and shola are not producing up front. Benny needs quality around him to aim for and Jonas has never been great at end product we can hope for more goals when we have all the boys back. Already enough negativity directed about the rest of squad. It would been nice to go out trying and if were going to fail the to atleast given the Abeid and vuckic a chance
Tsunki
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:10 PM
Comment #182Its just another cup loss, move on, next match please. This should have been a draw but they shut us out and nicked a crappy goal and that’s that for this year. Pardew is lost when he doesn’t have his first choice team. His subs were a signal for us to stretch some second-string legs and warm up the bus. Simpson couldn’t link up, get into good positions or cross. Oh, and he let his defensive buddies cope alone by being way up forward not doing anything good. Bad day for him, and if he insists on going forward in that disastrous manner, Santon should go right, new LB please. Shola and Besty did ok in open play, but positionally rubbish in their area. HBA and Jonas had nowhere to go and nothing to pass to. Cabaye looks like his injury is still hanging on him. Ho Hum, roll on Villa when we are back to a full squad.
Munster Mag
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:21 PM
Comment #183_________guthie___________
____obatan_____cabaye___
_________HBA___________
____ba_______cisse_______
NUFC, you’re talking shit like a lit of people on this site. HBA behind the front two is nice ( assuming he doesnt lose the ball a lot, which is far from definite ) , but Obertan and Cabaye give no width whatsoever. Why not try a 1-3-1-1-3-1 ( with a sweeper ) as you’re at it. Pardew like a traditional conservative shape and its served us well to date. The players lacked creativity and the formation was wrong tonite. Hugely disappointing, but I had predicted 1-0 or 2-1 so no surprise.
sula
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:24 PM
Comment #184Do you really think they can get a result against blackburn playing like this mate you having a laugh. Pardew better address his players this week. A poor run of games are no good as it starts to build negative energy we have good games coming up we can pick up points and continue our push for european football its all there for us to take not once every few weeks it needs to be there every week. Ameobi needs to just sit and warm the bench thats for sure. This game was ours for the taking need to move on now but blackburn is a must win for me or we risk falling right down this table and goodbye europe am i worng?
Munster Mag
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:26 PM
Comment #185Daztoon, you’re another fella who talks rubbish. What manager would be good enough for you. Mark Hughes?, O Neill? Jol ? You’ll criticise them all and never ne happy. {Pardew has done a good job, but has a thin squad . Overall we cant complain, but his set up tonite was daft, and the midfieldders didnt get close enough to the strikers, or create enough. Shola deserves respect in some ways as i have previously outlined, but he has alsways been too static and his perfornamces can dip a lot, despite what so called football experts will say on this site.
True-Geordie123
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:33 PM
Comment #186I’d go with a good old original 4-4-2 when the dembas are back.
Krul
Simmo. Williamson. Coloccini santon
Hba. Cabaye. Guthrie. Gutierrez
Cisse. Ba
And who gives a f**k about the fa cup anyways. Rather concentrate on a high league finish. Although the performance the lads put in today was far from acceptable. Stats prove f**k all aswell
Dennis Twice
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:36 PM
Comment #187i hate result…………………..
sula
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:39 PM
Comment #188Munster mag – why play around with the formations on a night like this mate? he needed a victory tonight. It was a very important game we just had to hold off for 90 mins and we had our replay and our ba and cisse back. It wasnt alot to ask for they just came back from a break. Pardew has done a good job i agree with you but heres another opportunity of silverware gone. Its frustrating to see our team display a performance like the one they did tonight. The played a team strong enough to beat Brighton tonight. You can understand why supporters are frustrated.
rogwalton
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:43 PM
Comment #189I agree with most bad things said about Shola. For the record I though he was no better than average and definitely our worst player against Man U (generally accepted as his best performance in ages). He’s not good enough and doesn’t work hard enough…a bad recipe
West Lancs Geordie
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:43 PM
Comment #190Would it be such a bad thing if we didn’t qualify for Europe? WE just havn’t got the depth of squad to do it. Today shows we must strengthen in most areas & especially not rely totally on the Africans but has Ashley the ambition to put this right. Nobody wanted Pards but he has over achieved thusfar & Ashley has certainly steadied the ship financially. At one stage we were another Leeds Utd waiting to happen. WE must now “invest” in more quality to move to next level
rogwalton
Jan 28, 2012 at 10:57 PM
Comment #191I think we’d benefit from qualifying for Europe, in that it would force Ashley’s hand to spend. Having said that £9m on Cisse is an impressive outlay, so perhaps the tide is turning?!?
Brutooon
Jan 29, 2012 at 12:06 AM
Comment #192We got the worst and shit player and captain – Shola SHIT Ameobi
how can he motivate the other player? he is the most shit himself
WHERE THE HELL are ALL THE AMEOBI FANS?????
Munster Mag
Jan 29, 2012 at 12:13 AM
Comment #193Sula, I agree with you. Look at what I said – his set up was daft . In fairness though, formations are only as good as the players on the pitch and how they perform at any given time. I believe that you can play 4-4-2 , 4-3-3 , 4-1-3-2 etc , but the outcome of any game will be the same. The real differentators are the effort and ability of the players on the pitch, and lots of players lacked the willingness to get up in support of the strikers, and Shola was poor once the ball was on the deck. Going back to tactical formations, the sweeper system is gone years ago, and the defensive “holding” midfielder is a relatively new phenomenan, but good teams come and go, using various formations, but its the players that make the difference. Thus a player like Giles, Bremner, Robson or Keane could have played a holding role, sweeper, central midfielder, or further up the pitch. Our defensive tactics were wrong tonite , Brighton got lucky, but a team like Spurs ( spit) would have beaten them by two clear goals, at a canter.
mra
Jan 29, 2012 at 12:38 AM
Comment #194There is no point debating what formation to play, for all his management strengths AP only know one formation 442. Yes its the players effort that counts, but tactics play a hugh part. It is obvious Simpson requires cover, so you need a hard working winger ahead of him, this isn’t benny (Obertan). And two lumbering forwards (especially SA) doesn’t work, play benny in behind one 4411. SA or best knock the ball down and no one is quick enough to get on it. We played Nolan behind Carroll to great success, why not try it with benny (who is far more gifted), not to mention his favoured position. I will be beyond disappointed in AP if we play a 442 next game.
Sav
Jan 29, 2012 at 1:43 AM
Comment #195No point picking over individuals who were at fault today. Collectively, we were as flat as a witch’s chest and I didn’t think much of the new 3 behind ‘front man’ Shola formation, either. None of the 3 seemed to know his job or be particularly well suited to it.
However, I will say Shane Ferguson looked like a breath of fresh air when he came on and he got a couple of decent balls over in his few minutes. Unfortunately, there seemed to be nobody with the courage to get in the mix to get on the end of one. Bring back Fergie!
Aahan
Jan 29, 2012 at 4:53 AM
Comment #196NUFC MAD MAN I am sorry to say this but u gotta wid ur bullshit. Till a few days back Pardew was good but now when he has to cope wid the mess created by Ashley and that bastard Lambert cos of a shortage of players then he becomes crap? Nufc mad man if Best had taken those 3 chances then I bet U’d ‘av been boisterous so don’t be prejudiced and think where the problem lied before just following the mob opinion and Get thinking abt the team.MUNSTER MAG u got some game sense- good to see that but the 1-3 formation u gave wudnt really work in PL. On another issue- Yes, obviously a CB is inevitable even if it’s a loan.
ginkoh
Jan 29, 2012 at 6:21 AM
Comment #197Every football fans all over the world deserved more than Shola.
Irie-Magpie
Jan 30, 2012 at 12:23 PM
Comment #198Simply put, we were playing for a draw.