The Newcastle manager Alan Pardew was very rightly proud of his players after the game tonight – after his Newcastle United side put in a courageous and gutsy performance, and we got very close to winning it 2-0. Newcastle were 1-0 ahead after 71 minutes and had the chances to go 2-0 up – but we just couldn’t get that second all important goal.
Alan Pardew – being interviewed after the game
But two minutes into stoppage time Benfica broke away and scored – and 1-1 didn’t tell the story of this game – and you can hardly blame Newcastle for surging forward in stoppage time, because if we didn’t score a second goal, we were out in any case.
A very proud Alan Pardew had this to say after the game tonight to Ned Boulting of ITV:
“They are a good side – you can’t let them get a lead against you.” “In the first half we kept it tight and looked to nick a goal – and almost did that before half-time.”
“We had two or three big chances at 1-0, but you can’t ask for anything more from the crowd, the players.” “You’ve got to respect the opposition – technically they are a superb side.”
“I am so proud of the performance – we couldn’t have done any more.” “We’ve got some very good players – when we get them all back we’ve got a very good side.”
Alan is right that we have some great players, and we only need two or three top players in the summer, and keep our players fitter next season, but that should be easier with the few games we’ll play, and we can be pushing for another top six position in the Premier League, and hopefully back into Europe the season after next.
That has to be the goal for next season.
And next time in Europe we will have hopefully learned that you cannot have a small squad when you have European games – and we had 14 of them this season.
And considering the injuries Newcastle have had this season – the lads did fantastically well in Europe.
Now to hammer Sunderland on Sunday.
Comments welcome.
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168 comments so far
MACKEM WARRIOR
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:48 PM
Comment #81who wouldn’t get defensive if subject was slowly shifting from football to family
NUFCarter
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:49 PM
Comment #82Alex 84
Agree. I just cant be assed to get involved.
manxpie
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:50 PM
Comment #83cheers yo-yo i’m glad that actually 1 nufc fan is still on this blog after a bad loss 🙂
ijack butler tell me how blanc is any better than pardew?
i’d love to hear your answer and don’t jus say he speaks french??
catchy in norway
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:50 PM
Comment #84alex84
back to your playstation,, theres a good lad,,
does your mamy know your on the pc this late
WWYCD
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:51 PM
Comment #85catchy
Only on after we lose even on aggregate least ur consistent I suppose
Ruddy Marveaux-lous
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:51 PM
Comment #86Catchy
You’ve just glanced over the fact that I agreed with you on the issue of pushing teams more, but the players Benfica had on were of sufficient technical quality to pick us off if we went gung ho.
The plan was the right one to employ, has certain things went our way we’d have won.
manxpie
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:51 PM
Comment #87fridge so do you not take into account playing shit with massive injuries then!!??
catchy in norway
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:52 PM
Comment #88manxpie
you dig bigger holes lol
how is blank better
hmmm
NUFCarter
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:52 PM
Comment #89Maybe mackem warrior you should get off the NUFC blog and return to the safc blog or have you all fallen out and stop looking for sympathy! No ones talking about your family.
catchy in norway
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:53 PM
Comment #90WWYCD
sure i was on this morning
alex84
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:53 PM
Comment #91HAHA awww that’s cute Catchy, I remember my 1st beer, Its funny that you choose to ignore everyone when they ask why you don’t come on here and express your happiness when we win, why is that?
daztoon
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:55 PM
Comment #92@ruddy
Thought Marv looked the best of our subs pity he’s all left foot.
irishtoon999
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:55 PM
Comment #93alex 84, most of what u say is true but ur been very generous to the lads saying they were “very unlucky” in the 1st leg!! We were architects of our own downfall (as usual) school boy errors cost us big time, not bad luck…
kevymartins
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:55 PM
Comment #94@nufccarter I sure was
What did he expect? To come on here and start writing hahahahahaha you losed to benfia bla bla and every1 bow to him
not that that bothered me but it gives me a very good excuse to pick on someone 😀
N.ireland toon
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:56 PM
Comment #95Thought we done really well against a top European team tonight, pitty hba struck his shot over the bar wen 1.0.. Aw well It was proper entertainment! Proud to b a Newcastle fan, well done lads
WWYCD
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:56 PM
Comment #96catchy
Full of optimism? Nar thought not. Spouting tired “I don’t like this, I don’t like that, moan moan complain complain” yeah sounds more likely
catchy in norway
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:56 PM
Comment #97Ruddy Marveaux-lous
i didnt glance over it,,
i think tonight he was wrong, he plays the same way all the time
we have good technicle players,, esp when they play for there national teams,,
take williamsson and simpson out of that team, it was a good team,,
even jonas is a good technical player, just hell bent on only defending now
Ruddy Marveaux-lous
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:56 PM
Comment #98Daztoon
Marv has been mighty impressive in recent weeks, hope he keeps his fitness levels up because he has so much potential, it just seems our flair players are the most susceptible to injuries unfortunately.
manxpie
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:57 PM
Comment #99transfer are you about i replied man??
and catchy there star players on the bench??
cordoza thats it and where were our star players that very very nearly changed and won the game for us??
you are a c*unt! full stop!!
NUFCarter
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:58 PM
Comment #100Yeh well the blogs not aimed at sunderland fans hence the title.
alex84
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:58 PM
Comment #101irish, yep I agree, Santon and Saylor did cost us two goals, but hitting the post twice…I feel was unlucky, but see your point,
Big Pappa Cissé
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:58 PM
Comment #102On a lighter note anyone else seen this ? . Can’t stand 1 direction but it was quite funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2Hpx0EIxdQ
Ruddy Marveaux-lous
Apr 11, 2013 at 11:59 PM
Comment #103Catchy
You’re just going for the tried and tested cliches of blaming Willo and Simmo, neither of whom did anything wrong tonight.
Jonas is a technical player? No he’s not, he’s a work horse that’s why he’s in the team.
He doesn’t play the same way all the time you just like to believe he does because it suits your same tired argument. Why are you not proud of how we played tonight?
Give me an indication of how other managers would do it differently, just out of interest.
catchy in norway
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:00 AM
Comment #104alex84
i have done that only 3 times when we have won,,
i like football, what we play is not football
if you go back you will also see that when we played man u,3-4 i came on and was full of praise for both pardew and players, i even said after the ars 7-3 game he nearly got it right,, but dropped his ass,
picking players like jonas, perch, williason. obertan ahead of the likes of marv and anita is a total crime
manxpie
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Comment #105go on then catchy tell me how “blank” (hmmm at least know how to spell his name!) hahaha get ya spade man!!?
daztoon
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Comment #106@ruddy
For sure we gotta have marv playing off and around Cisse
irishtoon999
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Comment #107All I can say is, I hope Swansea have been studying the Newcastle saga this season, ie. juggling europa league and PL.. If they are not, then they will be relegated by xmas..
Cisse's Big Toe
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:02 AM
Comment #108we have all been waiting to see marv and hba on the same team and what do you know when we did, we played the best half we have all season
N.ireland toon
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:04 AM
Comment #109Mackem warrior… Fair play to u coming on a Newcastle blog although it doesn’t say much for the scums blogs! Lol.. Mayb u should just admit ur a closet toon fan stuck in Sunderland! Lol
Cisse's Big Toe
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:06 AM
Comment #110comparing citys usual starting XI to ours we arent that far away from a top team, its just depth which is a very large problem as we cant afford, nor would we want to pay hundreds of thousands a week to get willing benchwarmers
krul>hart
debuchy>zabaleta
mbiwa<kompany
taylor=lescott
santon>>barry
sissoko<toure
marveaux<silva
HBA=nasri
jonas=milner
cisse<aguero
Ketsbaia9
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:07 AM
Comment #111Marveaux is a class player. Ahh, it’s so frustrating. We should be in the semi-final. Could be playing Basle or Fenerbache. Had a great chance to win it.
alex84
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:07 AM
Comment #112Well I think you can only really judge Pardew when he has the players at his disposal to play the way you think we should, coz his hands have been tied with all the injuries we have had, Marv didn’t start coz he his needed to start on sunday and with his previous record for injuries I can see why. Thought Anita had a good 1st half, moved the ball well.
alex84
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:08 AM
Comment #113Kets, you are right, Marv is pure class and is slowly turning into my fav player, just behind HBA
Cisse's Big Toe
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:09 AM
Comment #114that is not what i wrote, meant to say santon=clichy cabaye>>>barry
catchy in norway
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:10 AM
Comment #115Ruddy Marveaux-lous
no, not blaming them for there very limited ability,,
and yes i do think jonas is technicle,, just shit at crossing, and yes, i agree he is no where near the player he was,
im proud of the teams last 20 mins,, before that it was jsut a team trying not to concede,, thats not what i like,, we needed to win
this is how highly i rate our team right now,,
other than van pers,rodny,carrick, viddic, i think we have a better squad than man u, i think if fergy had our team, he would be flying with it,
i think we lack a good fast forward
i think we could field a great midfield, not far behind man c and chelsea,
i think now we have mbiwa, colo taylor santon debuchy, we have the making of a great defence
just we have a guy, that does not see the potential in what he has
manxpie
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:11 AM
Comment #116i’m gonna repost this because i think it’s an important post (ooh look at me:) )
86manxpie // Apr 11, 2013 at 11:20 PM
and TRANSFER where building a team here and last season with the team we had pardew got us 5th!
thats including ober,simmo n willo we’ve eventually upgraded them (well apart from ober) but arfa if he was fit would have been there anyways we were never set for this seasons set up!
and that lies at the summer window full stop!
we could all see the annoyance from pardew agree transfer??
now pardew has actually got close to the team he wants to build and play, you want him gone when by bad luck n i mean bad luck has ravenged his opportunity to play his best team just ONCE!!!
that to me is not just unfair but madness!!
catchy in norway
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:13 AM
Comment #117alex84
i think you are 100% wrong
you judge them on what they do with what they have,,
not many managers will ever get to field there best teams
El Sleeve
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:14 AM
Comment #118that one direction was hilarious!
toonarmydownsouth
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:14 AM
Comment #119Areet lads how we all doing? Calls for Pardews head started yet? If so those lads can take a running jump off the Tyne bridge!!!
No doubt the likes of catchy and his crew have been on b1tching etc but they just don’t have a clue!
Just got back from the game and have to say am immensely proud of the lads and pardew tonight, and to be a supporter of this club the fans were fantastic even after the benfica goal they were still chanting the lads on, was a fantastic night on Tyneside regardless of the result
Just thought I’d give me thoughts on the match tonight!
Krul
Pulled off some world class saves tonight absolutely top draw, well except for his David James moment in the first half!!!
Simmo
Was absolutely solid tonight, really shocked me played a blinder at the back and linked up well going forward, could he be trying to play for an improved contract on Tyneside?!?!
Willo
The odd hoofball but was like simmo solid at the back cleared every ariel threat broke down play and even played some football on the deck, had a job to do and done it well, great display from the forgotten man!
Yanga
Another great display a few small errors but gave everything this lad is going to be some player for us next season!
Hiadara
Close call for MOTM for me, gave absolutely everything he had, he defended he attacked he was just fantastic didn’t shy away from the occasion, santon has got a job on to keep his LB spot! Blinding performance
Bigi
For me, he was the only disappointment tonight, I think the gravity of the occasion got to him, he was nervous his touches were heavy his passing was off , good little player but tonight just wasn’t for him
Anita
Decent enough played well with the ball on the floor found a few tidy little passes played well
Cabs
Poor cabs looked knackered tonight!!! No questioning his commitment like grafted his nuts off for the full 90 really taken to his new role as leader and gave 110% toon hero already!
Socks
What an engine this lad has, never stopped running! Grafts all game creates some great chances just a very special player thought he brilliant tonight and lead the push at the death do unlucky to get caught out for there goal
Guti
Can’t say enough about him at the moment, he’s had a new lease of life and looks a top player again, brilliant again tonight done everything anyone could of asked of him and more, brilliant tonight
Cisse
Grafted hard again played well linked up well got his goal but seriously needs to learn the offside rule!!!
HBA
Great to see him back, couldn’t miss him though 😉
He got the crowd going, he got the team going and was unlucky with his chance but yeah he looked lively when he came on and defo started to make things happen
Marv
Not sure how fit he was, but guessing that’s why he didn’t start!
Once again fantastic tonight tortured there backline, controlled midfield bought a bit precision to our play, with him and benny in the team the mackems could be in serious trouble!!!
Shola
Has his critics but played a great game tonight, kept the ball alive for cisse’s goal, won nearly all the ariel battles, held the ball up and generally bullied there back line!
Pardew
Got it spot on tonight for me apart from bigi but set the team up right made the right changes and generally had the lads up for it, we’ll done pards!!!
irishtoon999
Apr 12, 2013 at 12:14 AM
Comment #120Hopefully the board will have learnt allot from this season, and they will sanction new signings and ensure to keep what we have, apart from colo who is probably going home..