The match yesterday between Arsenal and Newcastle was a great game to watch – as long as you were not a Newcastle fan – and once again those last 20 minutes were hard to watch as Arsenal scored four goals.
Gabby Obertan – playing well for Newcastle
Newcastle now have an important game on Wednesday night against Everton at St. James’ Park, and no doubt the lads will be going all out for the win, and since we now seem to be able to create some good chances and put the ball in the back of the net – there’s some likelihood we could even win that game with a good performance, and hopefully we’ll have both Mike Williamson and Vurnon Anita back in the side.
It’s really hard as a fan to take the last two months, with just 7 points from the last 33 points we’ve played for – but there is hope around the corner – the cavalry is coming – as Yohan Cabaye and Steven Taylor are due to return in just over two weeks time – and that should help us big time.
And yes, there’s no doubt that Newcastle must start winning games, to taking us up that league table, and to be quite honest we couldn’t care less about the Europa League and the FA Cup – they are simply distractions as long as we in some danger of – dare we mention it – relegation.
The game against Everton is really vital and 3 points will lift the doom and gloom gathering over Tyneside, but after that we should have Cabaye and Steven Taylor back – and who knows we even get some new players through the door next month.
But it’s defenders we want to see, and the other parts of the side look OK – with players like Vurnon Anita, Sylvain Marveaux, Gabby Obertan and Gael Bigirimana taking their chances, and starting to perform well in the first team.
Maybe it’s just a few more games until we can see Newcastle play like we did for most of last season.
Let’s try to keep the faith and support the lads, the manager and the coaches, through these tough times – and who knows better things may lie ahead before the end of the season in May.
That’s what we are hoping at the moment.
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12 comments so far
Spuggy
Dec 30, 2012 at 10:12 AM
Comment #1Just in case anyone forgot. We are currently missing:
Cabaye
Jonas
Anita
HBA
Saylor
Raylor
Gosling
Vuckic
Arguably six starters.
toonarmydownsouth
Dec 30, 2012 at 10:14 AM
Comment #2Spuggy
Spot on mate
Cabaye
Jonas
Anita
HBA
Saylor
Raylor
All played huge huge roles last season
Spuggy
Dec 30, 2012 at 10:16 AM
Comment #3Apart from Anita I agree completely ;). But seriously we are missing half the team for most of this season when you add the suspensions and previous injuries.
Spotlight Kid
Dec 30, 2012 at 10:16 AM
Comment #4It’s crazy that from a stats point of view, things don’t quote correlate. We had less possession, our pass completion rate was lower than Newcastle’s and we only managed ten shots on target… a 70% conversion rate!
From ‘Le Grove’ (an Arsenal blog) – the writer clearly cannot quite understand how easy it all was for his team in the end.
Jail for Ashley
Dec 30, 2012 at 10:17 AM
Comment #5Beefman,
Just read a post of yours saying you’ve been screaming for us to strengthen ,if that’s the case why did you argue your point so strongly back in August that the squad we had would be ok,was it possibly because I was implying that i think Mashley should spend some money and you once again felt the need to defend his stupidity.
yorkymag
Dec 30, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Comment #6I don’t get it yes we took a couple beatings over the last few days but we were better and some great performances from Anita ,marveux and biggy that will reap rewards as the season unfolds
Defence was poor and confirmed the real issues .Tiotie made it clear he wants away ,he is focused on the African nations ,what he is not seeing is that when he comes back ,if he comes back ,he won’t get in the team.
And maybe then he will realise he needs to change his attitude.
We never expected any points from these two games so the performance was a bonus ,I am looking forward to Everton and will be trying to play my part in the gallowgate.
Whilst I don’t like cashley and his pet dog ,they made a mistake so I give them a chance to put it right in the window,I am maybe wrong but am prepared to give them a chance .There are lots of worse owners in the premier league
onwards and upwards
Come on
davybtoon
Dec 30, 2012 at 10:22 AM
Comment #7I think most sensible toon fans can see we’re 3/4 signings from sorting this mess out, a full back a cb a dm n a striker
This mirin story is gathering pace
Marty-Toon
Dec 30, 2012 at 10:43 AM
Comment #8Some say we need a midfielder or 2 ??
We have Cabaye,Jonas,Anita,HBA,Raylor,Gosling,Vuckic,Tiote,Bigi,Marveaux,Obertan and Perch
Some defenders is a must but we’ve known that for 2 years,it’s really unbelievable that we haven’t bought any.
There is several Championship defenders that are quality and used to the English game,yet wouldn’t cost that much either.
We got Perch from the Championship,Niall Quinn(I know most nufc fans don’t respect him but he’s got a point) was commentator on Espn yesterday and talked bout players needing 24 games before adjusting to the PL from a foreign league.
That’s what we had with Santon,Enrique,Colo etc
We can’t just expect Debuchy to fit right in or any other defender,they’re are no quick fix.
We’ve got quality in our midfield yet they’ve up til the last few games not played at heir peak and apart from Jonas give the back line little help.
The problem with Jonas is he then gives us little going forward like Obertan or Marveaux
croftus5678
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:00 AM
Comment #9the game was great i had no problem with any midfield or forwards as i thought they were all great maybe tiote wasnt at his best though.
but our back 4 including santon and collo were poor and got worse as the game went on in fact i would say we were even worse when simpson came off.
ober was great again marv the same ba awsome as ever and cisse is showing he can play with ba.
pls pls pls sign a cb or 2 and a rb as santon doesnt look as good there
Ian Toon
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:06 AM
Comment #10JFA – Hiya. It must have been like this during war time Britain! Adversity brings people together. Hope you had a great Christmas as I did. Happy New Year and keep on keeping on. I like the mood on here this morning. If you can’t be positive at this time of the year when can you. It’s a bit like just before a ball is kicked at the start of the season. I was thrilled at the skill and movement of Marveaux yesterday. I am just drooling at the prospect of HBA, Cabaye and Marveaux. My best player yesterday was Ba who was for me our best player. Certainly hope he stays on the same terms as Coloccini.
He was immense really determined and anyone suggesting he’s not giving 100% is way out of order.
ash1001
Dec 30, 2012 at 2:33 PM
Comment #11Demba off to Chelsea,
AmericanGeordie
Dec 30, 2012 at 10:59 PM
Comment #12I am also heartened by the offensive threat Obertan and Marveaux have added, and I’m unhappy with the play of our back four, particularly Simpson and whomever lines up next to Colo.
But defending is a team effort involving more than 4 players. Maybe, just maybe, Gabby & Sylvain are not giving enough in our own end? Remember, it took a lot of cajoling from Pardew to get the required level of effort on defense from our other technically gifted Frenchman, Ben Arfa. I also realize that Jonas is a bit frustrating in the attacking third, but he defends like a lion and runs and runs and runs in the midfield.
Our back four clearly has to be better, but maybe our problem lies in the midfield? The absence of Jonas, Cabaye & HBA, and the absolute piss poor play of Tiote in the midfield could be the root of our defensive woes.