There were many positives that Alan Pardew will be taking out of Newcastle’s great display against Bordeaux last night, and we shouldn’t forget that Bordeaux had their best team out against Newcastle last night, and they had gone 17 games unbeaten since last April – it was an excellent result and the performance last night matched the result.
Cheick Tiote – in action last night against Bordeaux
Here’s just eight of the good points Alan Pardew will be taking out of the game, in no particular order:
- Shane Ferguson looked the player we saw over eighteen months ago at left back, and maybe it’s the injuries that have kept this lad back, but he looked very good again last night, and this lad can certainly cross a ball. And for the third time running in games, he’s set up a goal from a left wing cross. But this lad will now challenge Davide Santon for that left back spot in the side, and Shane is currently second in our Man of the Match poll with 25% of the vote.
- Shola Ameobi is an unsung hero at Newcastle, and he got a good goal last night – his first of the season, and looked a good player and certainly his manager thinks he’s a big big player for Newcastle. In the dressing room he’s just superb, according to manager Alan Pardew. He’s a good striker to have although we still need one more brought through the door in January – but the bottom line is that Shola’s looked good this season.
- Rob Elliot again looked solid in goal in the first half, but he picked up an injury and now will miss the game against Manchester United on Sunday, and with Tim Krul still out young Jak Alnwick will be on the bench on Sunday. Steve Harper played the second half and the veteran goalkeeper looks in form and has done nothing wrong between the sticks for Newcastle this season. Tim Krul will now know he has a couple of goalkeepers challenging for that number one position at the club.
- Yohan Cabaye looked somewhere near the player he was for us last season, and had a good game and got some warm applause when he was replaced after 60 minutes last night, and Cheick Tiote is also getting back to form too, and Newcastle looked so much better last night with these two players playing so well again.
- Gael Bigirimana came on for Cheick Tiote in the second half and Alan Pardew after the game said he looked just like Cheick, and Newcastle didn’t miss a beat. We continue to be surprised at just how good this youngster is, and he seems to take part in almost every game this season at the moment. He’s already made 8 appearances for Newcastle – and this lad should get an England U21 cap fairly soon if he keeps up this level of play
- James Perch was probably at fault for the two goals on Sunday at Reading after he switched to central defense to replace the injured Steven Taylor – but he showed again last night that he can play solidly for Newcastle at center-back and Mike Williamson and James played well at the back for Newcastle. Mike Williamson is an unsung hero, and has played almost every game the last few weeks.
- It was a good return for Danny Simpson last night, and he set up Newcastle’s second goal with a good right wing cross – and this lad is probably under-rated at the club. A solid display from Danny and we expect him to keep his place against the Red Devils on Sunday – and of course we need to get him signed up on a new deal – soon.
- Last but not least, former Bordeaux player Gabby Obertan had a very good game, and brilliantly set up the first goal for Shola Ameobi and was continually a thorn in the side for his former club. He’s got his critics on Tyneside but when you look at how the Frenchman played last night you get some idea of the great potential he has – and he’s loaded with skill. Gabby gave an excellent performance of attacking wing play last night – one of his best performances in a Newcastle shirt – and he’s leading our Man of the Match poll with 38% of the vote.
Which other points could I have made?
Comments welcome.
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20 comments so far
Conaldo (The Wizard)
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:23 AM
Comment #1Now imagine the exact team that just routed one of France’s best, then add the likes of ba, Ben arfa, Jonas, (colo/Saylor).
The manure game is going to be a fun one 🙂
magpie6699
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:27 AM
Comment #2I agree with all those positives, Ed. I was pleased for Obertan who gets so much stick on here, not all of it justified. Not only did he make the goal and, with Fergy, provide a pacy threat down the left all night, he also put in a hell of a shift – running, covering and tackling back for the whole 90 minutes. And Shola was magic!
magpie6699
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:28 AM
Comment #3But Manure will be a different prospect!
ppb
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:29 AM
Comment #4@conaldo the last man u game at sjp was fantastic. i expect no less this time. win lose or draw it should be fun
davybtoon
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:32 AM
Comment #5Brilliant last night it was so easy, obertan was superb fans need to lay off this kid mom, n ferguson also class
toon1707
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:32 AM
Comment #6I have to say obertan played fantastic last night I never rated him thought he had the pace but that was all but last night he showed he does have the ability just needs to keep it up what no-one has mentioned is the way he controlled the ball out of the air from cabaye took it in his stride before setting up shola.
mickguk
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:33 AM
Comment #7I agree with most however didnt ferguson set up newcastles second goal at reading???
sirtoongospel
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:33 AM
Comment #8A 3 nil win without HBA or Demba, and both 1st choice centre backs missing plus 1st choice keeper. Oh, and jonas! So 6 who would start the game when fit. An we out our best show if the season on. Says a few things. We attacked down both sides last night, where as ( as much as we all love him ) Jonas is too defensive and everything is on HBA’s shoulders. Obertan and ferguson were great last night, and we look better when someone can put a ball in with their left foot. Our strikers are awesome in the air and all 3 would score with better deliveries than Jonas provides. But I still expect to see him play Sunday as he runs his nuts off.
LGFUAD21
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:34 AM
Comment #9It seems I upset some people with my comments last night.
People that know me on here will know I’m not a negger at all. I just felt that while it was a comfortable win the team still looked lacking.
That said I agree with all of the above points made by Ed.
Im really happy to have Simmo back, Pardew is right we do miss him when he isnt here. I really think we should try to sign him up. We could still bring in another FB and he would still get games.
GeordieDan
Oct 5, 2012 at 8:47 AM
Comment #10I was at the game last night. Really enjoyed it and the team played great.
Literally the ONLY negative I saw was Anita. He was awful in a team that was flying and full of confidence.
Hopefully its still just his settling in period because he’s not the player we bought him for right now. I wouldn’t be starting him against Manure.
Other than that we played great stuff. Obertan was well up for this game. Even when he wasn’t on the ball he was making good runs and always looking to get involved.
Really great to see the lads back to our best. Maybe Pardew’s bollocking worked the other day? We’ll see for sure on Sunday.
Raktim Sharma
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:03 AM
Comment #11All agreed, but Willo is an unsung hero? For a club who wants to win a title or two and book CL berth regularly, i think NUFC should have a 3rd CB who is more solid than Willo and scores a few goals too. Willo is giving his best everyday but some of his moments really scare me.
I would rate our top 4 CBs in this order, 1. Colo, 2. Saylor, 3. The CB we didn’t buy this summer, 4. Willo.
NestaMag
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:06 AM
Comment #12Ferguson did come on for Taylor at Reading Ed.. Pards obviously cant tell the difference between Cheik and Bigi cos Bigi came on for Cabaye not Tiote and they were on the pitch together for 10 minutes – no wonder he thought Tiote was still on the pitch when Bigi went on then..cos he was! Perch solid again, bit harsh to blame him for Readings goals – always difficult moving to CB from FB more than halfway through a game. Obertan must prefer pace of Europe, played well, still not sure about Prem. Shola had a great game again – apart from that open goal he nearly missed..
beefman13
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:13 AM
Comment #13Ed, some decent points and will be agreed by most imo,
One thing for me is santon is getting betta all the time, why not play fergie in front of him on the left?
I said last night in a post that AP would bring jonas back in, probably meaning a reshuffle in the team with benny back and demba and maybe colo as well as santon.
Im fine with all that except jonas, but AP loves him and he will no doubt be in for his workrate.
Probably oba and fergie and shola drop to the bench, shame about fergie i would play him all day over jonas asfergie is getting betta all the time the more he plays and is making goals for fun.
wynsleap
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:42 AM
Comment #14Have to agree with the comments about Anita.
He does not seem to be fitting into, or playing exceptionally well, in any particular position at the moment.
When you consider we had Simpson, Tavernier, Perch, Santon, Ferguson and Ryan Taylor for full back and plenty of midfield strength he seems to have been a strange, unecessary purchase in the close season.
Would much rather the money we spent on him had gone on another central defender like Douglas.
9
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:48 AM
Comment #15to wyn: I’m pretty sure Anita (about whom I agree all comments, not yet what we were led to believe – early days) was bought in case Tiote was sold.
I agree Ed’s comments and Beefman’s, and what it boils down to is our second-rank players are really hitting their straps and there is now REAL competition for places – even our great friend Jonas may not be automatically pencilled in much longer. All successful teams have this competition, it’s great we’re getting there.
ToonToon09
Oct 5, 2012 at 9:58 AM
Comment #16Was great to see Obertan having a half decent game with an inch perfect cross ( for once) for Shola to slot it home.
But let’s not get carried away folks, the jury is still very much out on Obertan and Gosling.
Anita was very disappointing but I still have every faith that the kid will come good.
Cannot for the life of me understand the grief that Jonas gets ?!
He works like a Trojan, he epitomises what team play is all about, he bombs forward, constantly puts in tackles, defends when necessary ( all day long) is a nightmare to play against ( gets us set piece free kicks constantly) and generally plays for the shirt week in week out.
There are probably 14 other teams in the league who would happily have him in their team.
One of the first on the team sheet for me, along with………..Ba, Cisse, Cabaye, Benni, Tiote, Colo, Saylor, Krul and you can quickly add Davide to that list.
HTL on Sunday !!!!!
Raktim Sharma
Oct 5, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Comment #17couldnt agree more beefman13. fergie should be given a go in front of santon on the wings. santon has been enjoying forward runs now and then, and the lad fergie wanna fly at the moment, pards should let him fly. and see what happens…
oldbobaycliffe
Oct 5, 2012 at 10:59 AM
Comment #18one negative was the crowd 10,000 less than liverpools perhaps this is due to pardews talk down of the match treating it as a liability not as a way of getting glory.neither liverpools or spurs managers seem to talk about it in the same way.perhaps pardew should talk to us older supporters who can remember european glory and the crowds it brought.also we are already out of one cup lets stay in this one as long as possible
Brutooon
Oct 5, 2012 at 3:01 PM
Comment #19Just to counter the positive points
1) Even if Ferguson make 30 assist out of 30 substitution, AP still put Jonas ahead. Jonas is a “Hardworking” player but no End Product – his last end product was 2 years ago
2)Improve player but he is not 31 years old. wish he was like 5-7 younger
3) Rob Elliot is injured
4) Cabaye won’t last one full season, and no 1 backup suppose to be gosling – who still havent prove himself
AmericanGeordie
Oct 5, 2012 at 4:52 PM
Comment #20Change of subject, but…..
What a pleasure to see Cesspool go down last night at Anfield. The arrogance of their shite manager is repulsive.
BBC reports that ther Reds had 71% of the ball, though. Too bad they don’t hand out trophies for time-of-possession. (a fact, which will give the club and its support yet another thing to whine about.)