Newcastle have a tough game against West Brom at St. James’ Park on Saturday, and a good crowd is again expected and in each of the last four home league games, St. James’ Park has been less than 100 short of a full house.
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa – does he have a role to play on Saturday?
Newcastle have three wins in a row and the only thing that matters now is somehow trying to get a win against a good West Brom side on Saturday, and of course they were the better side in their last away league game at Stamford Bridge, and but for a nonsense penalty decision in added time, would have come away with a 2-1 win – so they are very good on the road.
One question for Newcastle is what the back four will be,m and since Fabricio Coloccini has been exposed by forwards with pace in the past – maybe the more mobile Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa would be a better partner for Williamson at the back – given that Shane Long is in great form?
Let us know how you think the game will go on Saturday.
And let us know what you think the team will be.
Comments welcome.
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174 comments so far
AndyNUFC
Nov 27, 2013 at 2:24 PM
Comment #81I’d like to see Long here – very cheap, experience in top flight, could offer something different if not at the very least will work hard.
Anyway I caught a couple of highlights form the Bundesliga and Pierre Lasogga of Hertha Berlin, currently loaned to Hamburg, has caught my eye. Absolute tank, 21 yrs, contract up end of 2015 season – can anybody give me any further opinion if they’ve seen him? Looks a very good prospect.
Talking of prospects, go to Dundee United after christmas and give them a nice £5M for Ryan Gauld? Get googling / youtubing if you haven’t heard of him yet!
Transfer Sage
Nov 27, 2013 at 2:25 PM
Comment #82our toon
Working hard is something what should be a given but isn’t. Working hard is only one of longs good points where it is jonas’ only good point. So don’t think it makes sense to compare them that way.
Long is way way better than Best, scores more. Again 11 goals last year is good for somebody who we would use as backup/cover or if an extra forward was needed.
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 2:36 PM
Comment #83TS
First time he’s ever reached 11 goals though in season in PL, not sure about championship though!! the lads 26 about gonna turn 27 would rather take a punt on a kid like Guidetti or have Cisse and Shola as back up to Ayew and a beast of a CF. He wouldn’t improve on Best would match him
UpAndHatem
Nov 27, 2013 at 2:44 PM
Comment #84ACADEMY STATUS – OFFICIAL CLUB LINE
Off Topic, I thought I would share the below correspondence, from the club Academy Administrator and club Press Officer, with the blog. The correspondence is in reverse chrono order. For whatever reason, the club has not made any statement and were not prepared to elaborate?!
From: Mark Hannen (Mark.Hannen@nufc.co.uk)
Date: 08/11/2013
To: Xxx Xxx
Cc: Judith Horey
From: Mark Hannen (Mark.Hannen@nufc.co.uk)
Sent: 08 November 2013 15:41:02
To: Xxx Xxx
Cc: Judith Horey (Judith.Horey@nufc.co.uk)
Hi Xxx,
Sorry for the delay on this one.
We haven’t made any comment or released any statement on our Academy status at the present time.
Sorry I can’t give you any more detail at the present time
Regards
Mark Hannen
Press Officer
Newcastle United
——————————————————————————–
From: Xxx Xxx
Sent: 16 October 2013 08:27
To: Judith Horey
Subject: Academy Status
Dear Judith,
Thanks for the reply.
Just to let you know, I am still waiting to hear from the Media Department.
Regards,
Xxx
——————————————————————————–
From: Judith.Horey@nufc.co.uk
To: Xxx Xxx
CC: Mark.Hannen@nufc.co.uk
Subject: RE: Academy Status
Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 08:24:04 +0000
Thank you for your email. I have passed it on our Media Department.
——————————————————————————–
From: Xxx Xxx
Sent: 16 October 2013 08:27
To: Judith Horey
Subject: Academy Status
Dear Judith,
I am a season ticket holder at Newcastle, in fact I have four!
I was discussing with some friends and we wondered if Newcastle United Academy is now Category 1 Status.
I cannot find any statement from the club but I did find a storey from the ‘official barclays premier league site’ that specifies Newcastle Academy as Category 1.
You can find the storey below. I have also attached a pdf copy where Newcastle United Academy is mentioned as Category 1.
Could you please confirm if this is correct? If so, when was it achieved and did the club make a statement?
http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2013-14/jul/barclays-u21-premier-league-fixtures.html
Thanks in advance for your time.
Kind regards,
Xxx Xxx
Transfer Sage
Nov 27, 2013 at 2:47 PM
Comment #85our toon
best hasn’t had a record like longs modest one, he’d even worse.
Yes I’d like better but we don’t buy many players often (apart from last jan) so as a stop gap it’s better than nothing for a couple years. He should be hitting his prime now too so 11 goals would be a welcome addition compared to 0 cisse has this league campaign.
Lilongwe Geordie
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:02 PM
Comment #86Our Toon,
To compare them is laughable? Why same age, both attacking players, both have struggled to hold down a starting place anywhere they have been. The main difference being Long has scored twice as many goals AND created more goals. Plus has a higher work rate…..
Lilongwe Geordie
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:10 PM
Comment #87Our Toon,
I’m not saying Long is anywhere near as talented a footballer, but he is just as if not more effective. Of course we would all love to see Ibrahimovic brought in, or someone of his ilk but people also realise that improvig the squad and our options is equally important. Long does do that.
I’m not even a fan of the kid, but to write him off is doing the lad a huge disservice.
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:24 PM
Comment #88Lilongwe
You are comparing a CF to a creative midfielder Shane Long and HBA are completely different players and I’d rather have HBA over Long any day of the week. So yes I believe your comparison is laughable to say the least!! The main reason HBA hasn’t ever been able to establish a position at previous clubs has nothing to do with his ability or lack of work ethic, it was almost always down to his childish/stroppy mentality, he was arrogant, argumentative and disruptive. However the lad is still talked about as one the best players clairefontaine has ever produced based on ability. He won’t get into the French National team because of what happened at last world cup, and his issues with Deschamps. Our manager is limited when it comes to ability and has experience of not being able to get the best out of gifted technical players.
Shane Long got 8 Premier league goals last season from 34 games, Cisse got 8 goals from 36 games (Cisse played on the wing for a certain amount of time) Long has always been utilised up top, I know I mentioned this yesterday but Long has scored 76 goals in 283 games. Cisse has 119 goals from 288 games.
Long is a backward step which wouldn’t progress us, Shane Long has never been a wide forward/forward he has always been a CF. Does anyone else believe Shane Long is a better player than HBA
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:27 PM
Comment #89Lilongwe
You mention Ibrahimovic, the biggest criticism he has ever had levelled at him is that on his day he can be the best but when he’s off he’s really bad. Strolls around like Berba and doesn’t have a good work ethic. When on fire though the guy is unbelievable. HBA would bring more to the team if he wasn’t restricted, if his/our manager wasn’t so defensive!!
Transfer Sage
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:39 PM
Comment #90ourtoon
not sure myself but i imagine long had many more games on the bench than cisse last year and also his work rate and movement will have created more chances/space than cisse.
Again this is difficult to prove on my part as not really stats for the second part of that comment, just what i have seen.
Ben arfa has under achieved his whole career. For the talent he has he has always been poor. Whether attitute, work rate, application, desire, etc there is always an issue with him. He is no doubt about it the best technical player with the ball at his feet france have produced since zidane (just my opinion, might be a bit bold, but so graceful at passing players with the ball) but he can’t convert that into being useful to the team, too many off days/poor spells during a game. Whether with us or previous sides.
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:46 PM
Comment #91To everyone on this forum please read this article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6096558.stm
Similarities to last season? limitations of manager? playing players out of position? that article will tell you all you need to know about Pards
I will never agree on Long but will defo agree that he brings more than Cisse in work rate but a time has to come when grafters need to be replaced by actual quality
Lilongwe Geordie
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:50 PM
Comment #92Our Toon,
Did I say Long was a better footballer? You saw the bit about Ibrahimovic but then missed the preceding sentence saying that I think Hatem is a more talented footballer…
Hatem is a creative midfielder, yet Long has created more goals….
You bring up last seasons figures, what you fail to mention is Cisse effectively played an extra 10 games if you take in minutes on the pitch into account. Long also assisted more goals than Cisse (or HBA) last season.
But the key thing in whether we should sign Long is he better than what we have been bringing off the bench/can bring off the bench? The answer is surely a yes on that. Therefore he would be a good signing.
Transfer Sage
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:50 PM
Comment #93Our toon
Long had 25 starts, 9 sub
Cisse had 35 starts, 1 as sub.
Long got 4 assists to cisse’s 2.
Long would be a much better option. Cisse has been poor since his first half season, nice lad but really struggled for a long time.
I’m not saying have long as main man, we could do with a good striker who’s strong to replace shola and a more technical guy to replace cisse. Ideally negrado and aguero (that type of pairing). Then have pace of remy and hard work/pace of long too.
Lilongwe Geordie
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:59 PM
Comment #94Our Toon,
The stupid thing here is that I’m not bothered either way whether we go after Long. I talked with others earlier and said that our priority should be a centre forward that can hold up play, but also offers more than Shola, who despite doing well recently is knocking on and can’t be relied on for the remainder of the season.
I just thought your reasoning for not wanting him was flawed! 🙂
Mister Tuff
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:00 PM
Comment #95UpAnd Hatem – ref your Academy post earlier. Very strange that the club cannot answer a simple request from a fan as to the Academy. Seems like it would take 10 seconds to give a reasonable reply to the fan asking for some non controversial information -or apparently non controversial information.
It is with episodes like this that make fans suspicious about what is happening within the corridors of power at SJP. It also throws into doubt the proposed liaison between the club and supporters it reinforces suspicions that the club don’t really want input by fans.
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:13 PM
Comment #96Lilongwe
Haha nice one but lets look at the flaws in the arguments 🙂 the stats look good for HBA considering he only plays for 10/15mins. I never checked on who started more games etc. How many did Cisse play from the right wing area though?
HBA last season 16 starts 3 subs apps in PL total 19 games – 4 goals and 2 assists. Long had 25 starts 9 sub apps and finished 4 goals ahead of HBA and 2 assists ahead yet he started 9 more games had 6 extra subs apps making it a total of 15 extra games for HBA to get 4 goals and assists. That’s from a winger yet Long is a forward, again another reason why I don’t see rational in comparing them but stats prove that HBA is more effective the Long who plays up front
Long this season has started 6 games with 3 sub apps and has 3 goals, HBA has started 8 games 2 off bench and has 2 goals and 2 assists Villa and Sunderland game for assists. Although this is a healthy debate which is good let’s not distort facts,
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:19 PM
Comment #97Lilongwe
I normally agree with a lot of what you say mate but I’d rather not sign a CF than take Shane Long on a 4/5 yr contract, when the owner is as tight as ours we want to ensure we don’t waste money, as its a rare commodity. I would however hang onto any money made available to buy quality over graft and not much end product.
What did you make of that Pards article when he was managing West Ham? Playing Tevez on the LW and preferring Carlton Cole upfront, struggling in the 2nd season and season he managed West Ham in Europe!! A lot of similarities to us last year and a manager well out of his depth with technically class players
Lilongwe Geordie
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:35 PM
Comment #98Our Toon,
The HBA debate wasn’t the flaw in your argument. I really don’t want to get into another debate on the pros and cons of HBA, as I know you like him, I’d sell him at the next available opportunity.
I would be very disappointed if the club signed Long and failed to bring in an adequate hold up play forward to improve on Shola. If we got Long as well then I do think he improves the squad.
We have 3 out and out strikers in Cisse, Remy and Shola. Goofy could do a job there, but that means taking him out of his current role which seems to be suiting him. Shola can only do 60 mins and Cisse can’t buy a goal at the minute. So I’d say 2 strikers would be quite welcome. Long would only ever be back up in my eyes, but more than capable. at that role.
Your point about Campbell is fine, but unless he gets some game time elsewhere this season and shows rapid progression then I doubt he will be ready for the Prem next year. Same could be said for our other 2 England youth international strikers, Armstrong and Gillihead, only maybe another year down the line.
Lilongwe Geordie
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:42 PM
Comment #99Our Toon,
But hanging onto to money isn’t the way it works here so not getting Shane Long to put an extra £2million towards someone else wouldn’t happen. We will spend money if we consider it to be value, and that is how it is under Ashley. If he doesn’t see it as a good deal for him, he won’t spend the money. Sadly every other chairman wants to get as much as they can when selling. The inflexibility of our model is a major issue.
On Pards Tevez and Cole, it really doesn’t tell me anything I don’t already know. Pards is a limited manager that knows how to work in a certain style and with certain players. As we are seeing with Shola up front, it is benefiting us to have that style of player up front with Pardew as manager. I’ve never said anything other than I think he struggles with more technical players and he prefers more workmanlike and defensive units than expansive teams.
I would have happily shown Pardew the door, however he is still here, so we should back him and bring in players he wants/can get the best of, rather than players he can’t. Give him tools he can work with.
If you are likening it to HBA though there is a major flaw in that Tevez is one of the most industrious forwards going.
Rooster
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:42 PM
Comment #100Can we win against WBA, of course we can but it won’t be plain sailing for sure, we are unable to dictate any game for 90 mins, well certainly over the last couple of years, I would definatly expect her spots during the game for sure, but West Brom will show their hand at some stage, especially if we go in front, so get ready for another rollercoaster, and I’m praying for a 4th win in a row like the rest of us.
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:47 PM
Comment #101I understand what you mean by getting a ST in Jan, I want a CF this winter, Long would only be a stopgap for this season but knowing our board he won’t be sold easily as he wont have much value at all. We need a forward but that forward needs to have quality Ayew would be my choice.
Transfer Sage
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:50 PM
Comment #102LILO
With you. Got to either back the manager or players and our owner has decided to back the manager. (In terms of keeping him, not listening to him).
Pardew can’t play a full technical game but he can play a hybrid of technical and classic English style. A half way house between guardiola and pulis (I’d like to think the best of both, but in reality it’s a moderate quality).
He has shown he can get some players with quality like remy, cabaye, Ben arfa (at times) and others (santon, debuchy, mbiwa/colo,) so a decent mix of technical and strength/power.
Therefore I agree the club should support him with a physical and aerially strong forward, good winger and a commanding physical CB. Maybe not the ones he chooses like Carrol and Tompkins but get Carr out looking for that type.
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:50 PM
Comment #103I wasn’t comparing it to the HBA situ but was pointing out that last season wasn’t a one off for Pards, and the fact that Pards cant get the best out of technical players. The best signing we can make in Jan window is a No 2 to replace Carver but a No 2 who is technically astute and can educate Pards because we wont do better than him under this Regime!!
Transfer Sage
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:53 PM
Comment #104Our toon.
I do get your point on long. We have gouff as work horse with some pace. Then we have pace of remy, target of shola and finishing of cisse (all in theory).
So I feel we need a shola upgrade, a remy replacement if he doesn’t sign and then a technical/goalscorer to replace cisse if he can’t refund his form.
So ideally we sign negrado, remy and Suarez (unlikely though haha) but that type of player to give balance.
In reality Llorente is a shout, struggling at juventus and they got him for free so might sell or modest fee.
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:54 PM
Comment #105TS
Thank god you said it mate, and thankfully Ashley has seen it by not giving Pards what he wants but if the manager was back in the transfer window then Tomkins and Bent etc are the players we should expect and they are Naff to say the least but JFK will not be much better in deciding
UpAndHatem
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:54 PM
Comment #106Mr Tuff @ 95
My thoughts exactly!
I actually enquired immediately after blog discussions on the subject around 6 weeks ago. It took the club almost 3 weeks to give me a reply and only after promting.
I was going to post it straight away but sort of lost interest after the reply took so long… maybe what the club were hoping.
I can only surmise the enquiry worked its way through a chain of command to approve a reply. This points at a very controlled media operation in my view.
It still begs the question why could the club not give a definitive answer. One can only assume they do not have Cat 1 status. Perhaps the club were permitted into the Premier league reserves on the proviso they achieve Cat 1 status within a set period of time.
Still, the handling and response from the club is not impressive or fan friendly to say the least. Myself as a long term fan are like many becoming increasingly more disillusioned with the running of the club, in particular the relationship with the fans. Transparency and open communication would go a long to solving a lot of the issues between club management and fans.
Lilongwe Geordie
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:54 PM
Comment #107Our Toon,
You mean Jordan Ayew, the lad with 2 goals and 1 assist in 17 matches this season? 😉
He is young and will develop, but he would take time to settle, and no guarantees he will develop into a goalscorer. You also talked about stopping young kids coming through, spending big (relatively for Ashley) money on a 22 year old would put our kids further out of the picture. Long provides immediate knowledge of the Prem and experience. As a back up, that suits me. Plus, at a low cost due to his contract expiring soon, we can justify leaving him out for a youngster in 2/3 years easier.
UpAndHatem
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:56 PM
Comment #108*would go along long way
Transfer Sage
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:57 PM
Comment #109Our toon
I’ve banged on about a better number 2 for ages, can make a huge difference just giving fresh ideas and coaching methods. Pardew talks a good game so maybe he just struggled to implement it during the game, the assistant may help.
Have you seen mike phelan’s comments? He said he practically coached man utd for last 5 years. Whether true or not shows how important a good number two is.
UpAndHatem
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:58 PM
Comment #110fcuking sausage fingers!!
*would go a long way
and with that, I’m out of here
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:58 PM
Comment #111Llorente was valued at £20m+ though, he has struggled at Juve but a really good forward. Lets get like for like replacements Ayew from Marsaille can play out wide or upfront his brother or Valbuena can replace Cabs, No idea what big forward can replace Shola though (not because he’s irreplaceable) not many around of that ilk.
Lilongwe Geordie
Nov 27, 2013 at 4:59 PM
Comment #112Our Toon,
I have said coaching needs an upgrade since I first came on this blog. But as it looks unlikely for a manager change, or even staff upgrades then all we can hope for is Pardew learns and develops his style. I think he has to an extent, but we still struggle to close out games because of his natural instincts conflicting with his attempts to develop. It will take time, but there are a few green shoots there to cling onto and hope.
kt97toonarmy
Nov 27, 2013 at 5:01 PM
Comment #113Evening lads
Yes i totally agree with the ST argument. We definatly need 1 we r linked with calciedo from a russian team. We will proberbly bring in gomis or tiovenan. 1 of them. Nd hopefully 2 centre backs. Cas colo will b leaving. Nd cabaye i can see joining roma. So a midfielder too
Douglas
Nov 27, 2013 at 5:02 PM
Comment #114Can anyone tell me why it matters which position we end in? 10th or 5th, so what for a club with no ambition.
Transfer Sage
Nov 27, 2013 at 5:02 PM
Comment #115Up and hatem
Very interesting post.
It’s the reason I am annoyed with Ashley. Said many times the transfer policy isn’t perfect but we do slowly improve the squad so not too bad.
It’s the lack of communication and respect to the fans. I don’t want Ashley to come out every week and talk, he doesn’t even need to come out at all. He can release more press statements or have pardew say something on the academy.
It’s just weird they always have to hide things from the fans. They seem to forget football clubs are built on its fan base.
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 5:05 PM
Comment #116TS
a number 2 does so much more than just offer advice, when Poyet was no2 at leeds wise got all the credit, Poyet left and Leeds started to falter. Wilkins and Clarke at Chelsea. No 2’s are really important and I for one cringe when Pards asks Carver for advice
Yes Ayew might not have a good record this season but is 22 plays in side that’s struggling (Gomis scored at weekend lol) fact is he is young and can play out wide or up top. Long can only play centrally but runs the channels well big difference. Long is also 26 going on 27
Yes give kids a chance but Ayew would be a kid if he joined, if Long was that good why are Hull the only team willing to take him Premiership and why are WBA keen to flog him?
Transfer Sage
Nov 27, 2013 at 5:05 PM
Comment #117Our toon
Fair enough, I know he is highly valued but with them getting him for free they might want to get him out the club to replace him so maybe 10mil or so…which the club would see as value, I hope.
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 5:07 PM
Comment #118Douglas finishing 10th or 5th is the difference between Europe or no EL and also the small matter of £10+ million
Ibizatoon
Nov 27, 2013 at 5:07 PM
Comment #119Ashley coming out? Now there’s a thought.
Not sure I’ve timed my entrance to the blog well today…
Our Toon
Nov 27, 2013 at 5:08 PM
Comment #120Only time will tell, think we missed out big time on the Dutch fella who joined Jol as his no 2 this month Rene Multensteen