The one highlight last night was the return to the first team of the great Hatem Ben Arfa, who had been out of the last few games with a hamstring injury, but he scored a great goals and is our Man of the Match with 41% of the vote, with Vurnon Anita is second place on 27%.
Ben Arfa – after scoring terrific goal last night
And Alan Pardew withdrew the possible match-winner early last night, because of the Frenchman’s lack of match fitness, and he was replaced by Shola Ameobi, who is hardly the threat of a Hatem Ben Arfa.
Ben Arfa had already hit a superb goal after 54 minutes, when he literally scored a goal out of nothing.
This is what the Newcastle manager told the local press today:
“He was short of match fitness, and I thought he struggled in the early part of the game to pick up the pace.” “However, he had some great moments.” “He was tiring and I had to remove him.” “It was a terrific goal and that is what he can create.”
He may not have been match fit but Ben Arfa was the best player on the Newcastle side last night – and to try to cheer up our readers this morning, take a look at his magnificent goal last night – maybe a few times. 😀
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z60sOa0kGVQ
And if you haven’t already voted for your Man of the Match – here’s your chance.
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You can also reach Ed at admin@nufcblog.com
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489 comments so far
toonarmydownsouth
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:35 AM
Comment #41Croftus
Agree with that all the younguns need loan spells bigi looks the only one atm to step into the squad
hotdog
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:36 AM
Comment #42I know Ed is banging out articles at a fair rate this morning, so you may have overlooked my post, or you lot have sent me to coventry (Again) but, seriously. Does anybody else think Colo should go to right back?
toonarmydownsouth
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:37 AM
Comment #43Hotdog
In a word atm no who would we play at cb?
Indian Magpie
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:37 AM
Comment #44Let’s Hope
PARDEW SEES WHAT SOME FANS ARE SEEING AND IMPLEMENTS CORRECTIVE MEASURES
toonarmydownsouth
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:38 AM
Comment #45JFA
Have you noticed ALL the speculation about tiote had stopped dead this season!
Transfer Sage
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:38 AM
Comment #46hotdog
nope….not enough pace for a full back and he is our only good Cb…rather sign a good fullback and centre back to play alongside colo.
hotdog
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:40 AM
Comment #47TADS – Not now but if we buy two centre backs in Jan?
I think he has all the attributes you look for in a full back.
beefman13
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:41 AM
Comment #48home and howay, like has been said i like that team also and we cant do much about williamson and simpson maybe perch aaarrrdggg playing out of position centre half and young tav right back.
Not going to happen with AP he will have frigan gutteierez in and willy and simpson in every eleven, the fella is making a rod for his own back is AP.
We have been found out and certain players are offering little to our cause, marveaux surely deserves a decent run in the team and fergie was made a scapegoat by AP in my opinion, plenty of others were not performing but still get played week in week out.
If we took benny out of that game last night that team that played and formation would have us in a relegation battle, we need two quality players in january.
I still like our whole squad but it still needs strengthening and should have been added to in the summer players from last season are bnot doing it and for me play marv play bigi instead of jonas and i would still play fergie in the team but get him more service in better areas instead of on the half way line with two defenders up his backside, and yeas davide santon pass the ball to the lad if he plays in front of you.
obatoyou
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:42 AM
Comment #49Prefer to lose tbh so we strengthen in January at the very least
Indian Magpie
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:42 AM
Comment #50Hot dog,
Dont know about all but certainly can cross
hotdog
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:42 AM
Comment #51TS – I would rather get done for pace on the wing than in the centre of the pitch and id hazard a guess he’d whip Simpson’s butt in a sprint !!
Indian Magpie
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:44 AM
Comment #52SunSport Now ?@SunSportNow
Gareth Barry charged by the FA with using abusive and/or insulting language towards match official following Manchester derby. #mcfc
Retweeted by The Sun – Football
Expand Reply Retweet Favorite More
sirtoongospel
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:44 AM
Comment #53I think Colo would be a brilliant holding midfielder. He has done it quite a bit in the past for his country. Colo is a really good footballer, and technically sound. Would win aerial balls in midfield which we don’t at present and would start us playing. Just a thought if we bought 2 CB’s. Mind, we prob won’t buy 1 never mind 2!! lol
Jail for Ashley
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Comment #54All the youngster need to go on loan, same as Nile Ranger should have been sent out to a league one team so he could have got used to hitting the net in somebodies first team, but Mashleys refusal to spend any money meant he had to stay here while his confidence drained and the same reason we can’t afford to let the likes of Fergie and Sammy Amiobi out on loan.Anybody who still thinks Mike Ashley is the best owner we’ve ever had needs their heads testing.
catchy in norway
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Comment #55toonarmydownsouth
i never once blamed shola, i dont blame any player on that pitch,,
i dont think there good enough, shola has never been good enough,
take tursday in europe, ranger was our best outfield player, on this site in the poll shola got 8 votes, 3 bottom
players have to justify there place in the team and sqaud, whether there a kid or an adult
not many of them senior players are putting in a shift where was pardew tonight saying thats not good enough, il send them out on loan, ??
no i have said since the day he got here, PARDEW IS THE WRONG MAN FOR THE JOB
to many of you on here are blinded by words that come out of his mouth , rather than see with your own eyes
we could get rid of 11 players, and get the right ones to do what pardew wants,
or get one manager and get one that suits the type of player we have,, we have a very attack minded squad and a defensiv manager, and he signed a lot of them
BA CISSE HBA CABAYE SANTON ANITA all seem to lve to attack
Transfer Sage
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Comment #56hotdog
he may well beat simmo but not many couldn’t. I just think colo is better for us at centre back.
croftus5678
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Comment #57marv/cabaye would be my 2 attacking mf’s in the centre one or the other as marv doesnt seem comfortable on the wing and allways does good in the centre.
and i think arfa is our only decent winger ober is not the best crosser and its not worth mentioning the others tbh too young or just dont have enough quality.
anita for me is a must in cm aswell he links everything together with his energy tackling/passing/creativity i would pick him any day over a tiote.
like it was said before with the team we have at our desposal atm i dont think its a case of we dont need wingers but that we only have 1 player who is actually any good there so whats the point in trying to play wingers.
——–perch/tiote———-
—cabaye/marv—anita—
——–arfa——ba———-
————-cisse————-
and use santon to get forward and prob tav as he’s our other best attacking fb
Big Pappa Cissé
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Comment #58Even without the lack of investment we should be playing a lot better than we are. There are maybe 7 teams that have consistently had better starting 11?s than us in the PL this season so in theory we should be comfortably in the top 10 but find ourselves just above the relegation zone. How people can justify this is beyond me and they need to wake up and smell the coffee IMO. Yes injury’s should have knocked us of track a bit but as for derailing our entire season, only the biggest optimist would believe that
Home n Howay
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:48 AM
Comment #59Rotonda
Thanks. I dont see Pardew dropping Simmo, Willo or even Jonas for Man City. But theres a chance he might drop Cisse & start with Marveaux.
Sir Toon
If you want to build a team around Cisse, you got to play him in the centre. He is a complete waste out wide. As I said he barely gets 5-6 touches entire match.
Croftus
yup would love to see Adam Campbell brought on instead of Shola. Atleast give him a chance to show what he’s made of.
Transfer Sage
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:48 AM
Comment #60Jail (and everyone really)
From what I have heard expect Pardew to get everything he needs in Jan. I’m talking 3 players possibly 4. And not just make up the numbers with kids…genuine players.
El Sleeve
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Comment #61ba has to instruct his agents to do their job, or even sign the contract himself. he has not, i don’t care how much he wants to stay, actions speak louder than words. flog him. bye.
get cisse up front with cabs, benny and mary feeding him. we sill return to form.
sell simmo, get shot and pay the asking price for debuchy. it is imperative we stay up with new money coming in. maybe another CB, maybe douglas, or shako would be great.
krul
debuchy
colo
douglas/sahko
santon
anita
tiote/bigi
benny
cabs
marveaux
cissé
i’ve just one parts job for him. and i’d do it all for free. can’t believe the stuff this muppet is saying!
El Sleeve
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:51 AM
Comment #62who’s ur bets on Transfer?
beefman13
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:51 AM
Comment #63croftus, the youngins are the ones that got us through europe they have performed no worse than the seniors in my opinion, a bad game by most against bordeaux but the youngins got all the blame, i said before bordeaux are no mugs at home in europe and very rarely have they lost, i will say again fergie and bigi and adam campbell are definatly good enough to not have to go out on loan, tav is coming along nicely as well, just needs his positioning sorted, we are so bloody fickle the seniors have been pants for most of the season but now its the youngins who have done really well for me who people are saying should go out on loan.
Easy targets are the younger players when half our senior players offer us nothing.
catchy in norway
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:53 AM
Comment #64Transfer Sage
when it happens mate
remember MA saying he has a marqee player for us,, a world class one
remember in may, pardew and the gang said they had 8 players lined up for every position
remember last dec pardew said defensive cover was a priority, bang we got cisse
yeh mate when it happens
El Sleeve
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:55 AM
Comment #65i’d love it if Debuchy, Sahko, Ince and Douglas turned up
Transfer Sage
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:56 AM
Comment #66ed’s
i posted a list a few days ago of who I heard we were looking at…not made offers but seriously looking into for jan.
debuchy
douglas
sakho
pieters
wanyama
hooper
cissokho
llana
i have a feeling there was another name on that list but i can’t remember now.
it wasn’t a play to sign them all….just that is the options we have began to pursue…negotiations meant to start soon as they want them in early.
El Sleeve
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Comment #67thats an excellent £20m investment in those
catchy in norway
Dec 11, 2012 at 11:58 AM
Comment #68to prove a point here
Elliot (43%, 300 Votes)
Ranger (22%, 153 Votes)
Bigirimana (10%, 67 Votes)
Abeid (7%, 46 Votes)
Tavernier (5%, 36 Votes)
Vurnon Anita (4%, 27 Votes)
Marveuax (3%, 22 Votes)
Cisse (1%, 10 Votes)
Ferguson (1%, 9 Votes)
Williamson (1%, 8 Votes)
Ameobi (Sh) (1%, 8 Votes)
Perch (1%, 5 Votes)
Ameobi(Sa) (1%, 1 Votes)
us the fans on this site, done some votes, and this prove we watch a different game to pardew,, after the game he blamed the kids,, yet on here we see it as the kids trying there best and the senior players letting them down
surly its got to be the senior player showing the kids what to do
how much more everdence do you need that the guy is clueless
Transfer Sage
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:00 PM
Comment #69catchy
by know means guaranteed…. I just think from what I have been hearing it seems more serious this time. Ashley doesn’t want to chance missing out on the prem league money next year.
He is also wary of relegation…he knew he got away with it last time…this time a lot more players would leave…we dont have the core of british players like nolan, smith, barton, carroll, butt who all played a big role in getting us back up.
He knows cabs, ben arfa, cisse, ba, santon, tiote…all will have much better offers than us if we go and we could linger down there a long time and he will never add value to the club that way.
Jail for Ashley
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:00 PM
Comment #70Beefman,
When defending Mike Ashleys tight waddery earlier in the season I remember being flabbergasted at your statement of that we didn’t need to strengthen, now we need a few more players, if your going to get upset at people slagging Mashley at least be consistent when defending his policies.
Jail for Ashley
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:03 PM
Comment #71Transfer,
I hope your right as something is needed to stop the rot and I think we all know a manager with an eight year contract won’t b.s. going anywhere.
croftus5678
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:05 PM
Comment #72@61
nope not blaming the youngsters at all and yep some have been outperforming the 1st team bigi like a say has no need to go out as you can see what playing for coventry has done for the lad and tav i listed as being our best fb other than santon for his attacking ability but i still think he needs another half season of reg fast paced games to toughen him up a little and make his concentration better but with fergie i will have to disagree his crossing is not to be questioned but i think with them bulking him up he has lost a lot of pace and i think 6mth’s in the champs or equivalent to gain him some more pace again and he could be the left winger we have been looking for.
Transfer Sage
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:06 PM
Comment #73jail
I asked about the contract as well but no details were available. We imagined it was incentive based and also has a few get outs for ashley but thats just an educated guess…no facts on that issue.
And I hope it’s right too…they seemed convinced…however I have lost my trust in Ashley so not sure.
spitfire_
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:06 PM
Comment #74At that moment we needed the most of one class CB and one creative central midfielder. But this is what we need no what we will got.
Transfer Sage
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:07 PM
Comment #75also I mentioned a week ago or so we were linked with llorent from bilbao as he is out of contract in the summer.
Strong Rumour he is off to london this jan…chelsea or arsenal
Chelsea need a forward as falcao is off limits….he is replacing ronaldo at madrid in the summer…..watch that space.
Santon03
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:09 PM
Comment #76I can seriously see we will lose all the games we have left before January and some people still forever optimist that AP will fix everything.
Let’s say we over achieved last season, is this the real NUFC? IF this is the real version of what we should be expecting, that’s just sucks.
Ibizatoon - Back by popular demand
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:10 PM
Comment #77Jail….I was a big member of the “It’s more important we kept our team together than adding this summer” brigade and to date have been proved oh so wrong.
However, my reasoning at the time was:
1) I had no idea how poorly most of our players would be this season. It’s been shocking how poor players that we count on have been. Tiote, Cisse, Cabaye, even Krul and Colo. That has had a huge effect on things.
2) Injuries. Teams always get them, that’s for sure, but they have been pretty bad so far and we’ve been caught out good and proper in this dept.
3) Youth. Some have put in some good performances, but generally they haven’t stepped up quite as much as i thought and I imagine the club thought they would. This isn’t a reflection on on the Bordeaux game, that was an unfair game really to expect too much from them, but there was a clear lack of fight, which was disappointing.
beefman13
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:11 PM
Comment #78Jail, i have said all along we needed a quality right back and centre half, in reality we brought in four and sold three, mostly our of contract lads ie loven guthrie not sure about besty, so we did not sell any purples and brought ina dutch international a very promising lad in big and amalfitano with young curtis good.
We did not weaken but we needeed to be even stronger with those extra two and thats were the club has to hold its hands up, we have had injuries most teams do its part and parcel of football, we needed that extra quality back up.
WE have progressed each of the last three seasons when most said we would not, this season we have not at the moment progressed, we have been found out to a degree my problem lies with the managers teams he is playing and the static staid formations, he is not mixing it up enough and is still to defensive minded, i still think we have a decent squad and would not be were we are even with injuries but for mr the manager is being to pig headed and loyal to players who are just not doing it when others givena more decent honest run in the team would, ie marv dropped for one pacer jonas is a step backwards, i like jonas as a man but he offers us nothing apart from graft, not good enough now in the prem.
magpiedan
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:15 PM
Comment #79Hi guys been following the blog for ages but never commented but felt the time was right. Ill be a regular too so interested to hear what everyone else thinks.
First off, had so much (blind) optimism about last night, first goal was luck then benny and his magic turn up (for me the only saving grace as ed’s post suggests) and the second goal. Poor defending as usual. Can’t see an end to this rut were in. AP out? Probably a bit far but Despite an improved performance we lost yet again
Worried a repeat of 09 may be on the cards.
magpiedan
Dec 11, 2012 at 12:16 PM
Comment #80Hi guys been following the blog for ages but never commented but felt the time was right. Ill be a regular too so interested to hear what everyone else thinks.
First off, had so much (blind) optimism about last night, first goal was luck then benny and his magic turn up (for me the only saving grace as ed’s post suggests) and the second goal. Poor defending as usual. Can’t see an end to this rut were in. AP out? Probably a bit far but Despite an improved performance we lost yet again. Worried a repeat of 09 may be on the cards.