It seems that Gabby Obertan has made a remarkable recovery from his torn thigh muscle he suffered against Liverpool on November 1st, and John Carver at his press conference today has said Gabby will be involved at Hull City on Saturday, and that’s good news.
Gabby Obertan in action earlier in the season
And as we had expected Mehdi Abeid is fit again and Mehdi and Gabby showed that in the behind-closed-doors friendly against Carlisle United on Tuesday afternoon in the 3-1 win.
Siem de Jong is not quite ready for the Hull game, but he should be ready within a week or two.
This is some of what John Carver said today during his press conference:
“Siem is looking even stronger but this game may come too soon. He’s given the group a massive boost because of his presence.” “Gabriel Obertan will be involved this weekend, as will Mehdi Abeid and Davide Santon.”
Managing Director Lee Charnley and the board saw enough on the pitch of how we are trying to play, for them to be encouraged.” “We’ve got 16 games left. Why can’t we go on a run? I’ve seen enough to suggest we can.
“We’ve had a lot more team meetings and video every training session now. I have one or two different ideas, like anyone would.” “Last season at Hull was one of our best performances. A similar performance and result will see a smile back on my face.”
That Hull City game is the one we won 3-1 with two goals from Yohan Cabaye, in what turned out to be his last game for Newcastle and he was subsequently sold to PSG for £20M, and that win put us on 36 points from 22 games.
But we added only 13 points in the remaining 16 league games last season and today we have 27 points from 22 games.
And that’s an odd comment from John about Lee Charnley and the Board being encouraged by what they have seen on the pitch – they may have been encouraged by some of the form, but hey, we’ve lost the last three games.
And as we know football is really all (only) about results – a manager or coach is in the results business, and there’s no getting away from that.
But it will be very good to get Obertan and Mehdi back into the side, since before they were injured both of them were playing very well in the first team and showing some of the best football they have played for Newcastle.
They both joined the club in the summer of 2011 – and we cannot wait to have Siem starting some games for Newcastle.
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110 comments so far
spitfire_
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:29 PM
Comment #1“Encouraged” by a draw and three losses from 4 games. That put the mental deficiency on another level.
JAMSHA(CARVER SLAYER)
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:33 PM
Comment #2No players In
AncientC
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:34 PM
Comment #3Carver is not responsible for the loss against Southampton. I am partly blaming Colo and the Ref for that one.
As for Chelsea, yeah well, it was Chelsea… we ran riot on them for parts of the game too, we were set up better, they had more quality, which comes from buying top players.
croftus5678
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:35 PM
Comment #4glad to see them both back tbh !
abied makes a huge difference to our midfield when compared to tiote or anita and obertan (tied with rolando) making something happen every 1 in 3 games is probably our best performing midfield players so far.
hibbit
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:35 PM
Comment #5did you expect any
firebug666
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:35 PM
Comment #6JAMSHA
There will be none coming in mate. Charnley only made enquiries, for the sole purpose of selling or renewing ST’s.
Shaker Shakrah
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:38 PM
Comment #7” That Hull City game is the one we won 3-1 with two goals from Yohan Cabaye, in what turned out to be his last game for Newcastle and was sold to PSG for 20M, ”
It was West ham game not Hull City
We won at Hull last season 4-1 without Cabaye !!!!!!!!!
hibbit
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:39 PM
Comment #8i dont think we have made any enquiries i think its bishop and his pr team playing games
Our Toon
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:39 PM
Comment #9Ancient
Your partly blaming Colo and the ref? What about Krul who should have saved the shot or dummett who was ball watching?
Better still the person that scored is supposed to be there LW and is apparently being marked by Janmaat. Ball watching, Colo is at fault for not winning the headers but not many do beat Pelle in the air it more important how you compete in the 2nd phase.
John Terry and Kompany lost more headers against Pelle than any other player this season!! However there defence mopped up the 2nd ball on most occasions!!
geordie157
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:41 PM
Comment #10I’m actually glad to see Obertan back, can’t believe i’m saying that. Just hope he can now push on again and stay clear of injury.
Team vs Hull
Krul
Janmaat, Wilo, Colo, Haidara
Sissoko, Abeid, Colback
Cabella, Perez, Gouffran
Subs
Woodman, Good, Santon, Anita,Obertan, Riviere, Cisse.
Ideally Good starts alongside Colo.
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:42 PM
Comment #11It one took a node from the great Jock Stein’s autobiography “The Clown Prince of Soccer”, there is a chapter entitled ‘The Average Director’s Knowledge of Football.’
…It consists of a single blank page.
This part was from an article I read not long ago:
“When appointed Celtic manager in 1965, he was asked to speak to his board about what the team should be for the following Saturday, which so happened to be his first game in charge.
Stein explained this was a difficult one to answer because a certain player was doubtful, another had a cold, there was one more who might be okay but he needed another 24 hours.
“What you are telling us,” said his chairman Sir Robert Kelly, “is to mind our own business.”
Stein said yes and that weekend he became one of the few managers in British football at that time to select the team without interference from his board. Two years later he won the European Cup.”
So with Penfold and rest of the board approving our training sessions will they also be approving Carver’s line-up ;)…like it happened at Celtic and most of English football – BACK IN 1965!
giimps
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:43 PM
Comment #12Hull was our best performance last season……its just a pity Fraudew wasnt sacked then for his antics, then Carver or a.n.other could have had us trying something new last season when Cabaye left instead of playing the same way but with different players trying his role .
IMHO we need to get behind anyone who is in charge and hope they try and play the right way as Carvew seems to be doing now.
Front foot football, high pressing line with Abeid Colback and Socks in the middle, Abeid and Colback as holders who can push up and Socks as our driving force.
Gabby, Cabella and Perez as a front 3 ripping mrs doubtfire a new one……I just hope Dummet is fit and we dont have to play Willo.
Fingers x and fook da fat man
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:43 PM
Comment #13*it = if
AncientC
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:45 PM
Comment #14Our Toon – It looked like a weak goal for Krul to let in, but in theory he did the correct thing by spreading his body, he got unlucky.
The defending by others wasn’t great, but the truth is, if Colo didn’t get beaten twice in the air, we may not have lost that game. It was personal errors that lost us that game, not how Carver set the team up, which is the point.
hibbit
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:46 PM
Comment #15its no good blaming 1 in the back 4 there all poor but we know that don’t we
firebug666
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:46 PM
Comment #16jesper
But the charmer Charnley has said they will not interfere with the head coach and his team. They will be left to do their jobs……apparently!
Jeff from Benwell
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:48 PM
Comment #17jesperfuglsang – capt’n awesome of the lemon crew
There is a chapter entitled ‘The Average Director’s Knowledge of Football.’
…It consists of a single blank page.
That was actually Len Shackleton’s autobiography
toon kk
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:49 PM
Comment #18I willing to let Carver have a crack, he can’t do any worse than P45. He can’t be blamed for our defeats, we actually played some better football, we lost down to some individual errors and through a squad with weaknesses, which any manager who came in would inherit.
Blame Mash not Carver.
Jail for Ashley
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:51 PM
Comment #19Firebug,
Except in the case of FA cups
Our Toon
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:52 PM
Comment #20Ancient
Krul should have saved the 1st one it wasn’t unlucky he wasn’t set that’s why he couldn’t get down quick enough. Personally I don’t think he was fully fit.
Players lose headers all over the pitch Especially against Pelle so does that make John Terry and Kompany as poor defenders because they couldn’t compete against Pelle and lost headers to him?
My main issue is that fans are quick to scapegoat the same players over and over again for things which more often than not aren’t there fault. Here’s an example for you if Janmaat tracked the run he would have prevented the shot which would have meant Krul didn’t make an error.
Jamie Carragher is someone who’s played in that position and he blamed Janmaat, Dummett and Krul, he said that colo had to go to try to compete but it’s more important what happens after that because the others should be switched on and they aren’t!!
Our Toon
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:53 PM
Comment #21Hibbit
Spot on mate they are all poor defensively
BeeGuy
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:53 PM
Comment #22The Board is encouraged that they do not have to buy any new players this window.
firebug666
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:54 PM
Comment #23I will give Carve-up a fare chance too. I did say if (actually when) he got appointed we should get behind him and give him a decent chance.
The first 4 games do not bode well, no matter what the excuses, and will be included with the last 16 games for me.
So far then he has lost 3 and drawn 1, lets hope the next one is a win.
I fancy a 0-2 win at Hull
awaydays
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:55 PM
Comment #24I think its funny how both of these lads at this point last season wouldnt have been given a shot and now i rate both very highly and can see talent in both too just goes to show if you want you can get to where you want
AncientC
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:56 PM
Comment #25It was clear as day that Colo was not going to win those headers, he jumped in and committed himself anyway… it was terrible decision making. I am not scapegoating Colo either, you will rarely see me mention him, but against Southampton, he made decision errors.
John Terry would not get caught out of position like that, especially not twice in the same game. If you look at both the headers that Colo misses, he goes in quite tame… not something you see Terry or Kompany do.
lesh
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:56 PM
Comment #26Jesper
The ‘Clown Prince’ wasn’t Jock Stein but Len Shackleton, a footballing wing wizard who played for both Newcastle and Sunderland.
As far as Managing Director Lee Charnley and the board seeing enough on the pitch for them to be encouraged, that suggests that there’ll be no incomers in the positions we need to cover now!
Again, Mike Hitler’s, sorry, Ashley’s got the squad on the bones of its arse, a bare minimum that allows little or no cover for injuries etc.
It’s just a pity the Board wasn’t sufficiently encouraged to get the hell out of Newcastle United.
Our Toon
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:57 PM
Comment #27No better team to play than hull who’s confidence is rock bottom, we should be winning this game in all reality. As for Carver being unlucky I have to disagree, the guy makes some bewildering substitutions, he also needs to get the team to play for 90 mins nit 45 mins
mattyNUFC
Jan 29, 2015 at 2:59 PM
Comment #28Ed
Either you’re incredibly impressionable or you just don’t care about the content of your articles. Or you’re bi-polar and I’m pretty positive you’re not.
You have an incredible vehicle in this blog. One article will be supporting the “business acumen” of lee charnley and the succeeding story will be one about the boards inability to care about their customer base or the football on show
You don’t have to spew vitriol to take a stand. Maybe you just haven’t realized, but you have the power to put pressure on these two cronies. (Maybe I should say three, because it sounds more and more like graham carr is all on board for what’s going on at the club). If you hadn’t realized that, I not only hope you do now, but that you’re able to put this blog to good use. This has to be the most frequented nufc-related site the world-over
hibbit
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:01 PM
Comment #29carver can only play the players we have the problem is we have to many poor players that get over hyped on here we have had a problem at the back that should have been sorted long ago
geordie157
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:01 PM
Comment #30I don’t see much in the Hull squad to hurt us but thats been the problem in a lot of games, our defence tends to gift teams at least a couple of clear cut chances.
Hopefully Carver doesnt rate Wilo and Good starts.
Our Toon
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:03 PM
Comment #31Ancient
He has to go for the ball there is no other option, are you trying to tell me you’d prefer your CB to not attempt to compete for aerial balls? Imagine if he didn’t try to win it there would have been hell on.
Like I say plenty of football to be played from there on in and we didn’t defend the whole situation well….you can’t blame 1 player for there goals, collectively they were all poor. Colo and Haidara were the least guilty parties in them goals. The others should have done the basics right and not ball watched or let the through them!!
When teams played WH or Bolton when fat sham was in charge it was common knowledge that the 2nd ball is the most important phase as more often than not the CB will be beaten in the air but the players around need to be awake and track runs rather than ball watch and leave it to each other!!
AncientC
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:05 PM
Comment #32We had 58% possession against Southampton.
16 efforts on goal to their 5.
Not bad, considering Carver is trying to change a Pardew System that has been crippling the football for years.
AncientC
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:07 PM
Comment #33Our Toon- watch it again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqyE1c9bG3g
He shouldn’t be going for the ball, he has zero chance of getting it… not that he is putting much of a strained effort into winning the ball anyway, you can tell he has already given up on winning the ball before he challenges. (That is for both goals)
croftus5678
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:12 PM
Comment #34@ hibbit
your making a hell of a lot of sense buddy.
normally a defender will become better in the middle part of his career through experience ect imo but we tend to go either side of that in having the (coming to an end of there time) players or the young full of potential but atleast 4 seasons away from being a really good prem defender.
even lescalles if he does fullfill his promise of the early season form he showed would still take 2-3 seasons to become a half decent cb imo.
we need a cb in form and in there prime to cover colo’s mistakes to teach the next gen lescalles/good/dummett.
i think our defence is organised enough apart from the fullbacks covering making a central 3 when the other full back attacks but we dont have the right quality in the centre.
i’d <3 to see colo as a dcm he has the control/passing/vision/reading but not the legs
hibbit
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:13 PM
Comment #35if you are playing the second ball game the other defenders have to be awake when playing against pelle the 2nd ball is even poor important and the back 4 should have been better prepared to deal with him
grem1983
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:14 PM
Comment #36Put on prev thread but no one on there now!
Cabella has played 1091 mins in the EPL, he has created 30 chances (most this season for us), so averages a chance every 37 mins, with 1 assist.
Aarons has played 102 mins in the league, created 0 chances and scored 1 goal.
Obertan has played 302 mins, created 8 chances (1 every 38 mins), scored and assisted 1.
Sammy has played 775 mins, created 11 chances (1 every 71 mins) scored 1 and assisted 2.
Sissoko has played 1779 mins, created 24 chances (1 every 75 mins), scored 2 assisted 1.
Gouffran played 1469 mins creating 13 chances (1 chance every 113 mins), scored 1(well) assisted 1!
So based on these figures Cabella and Obertan are our most creative players
JAMSHA(CARVER SLAYER)
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:15 PM
Comment #37firebug666
yea an that deli kid an other 2 spanish kid wer also jst to please us
Average_Contents
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:16 PM
Comment #38I think colo lost out to Shane long for their second goal which when you think about it is actually worse than losing out to pella lol.
toon kk
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:17 PM
Comment #39You have to take a good look at our so called football club, MA is just a business man who just looks at profits, the board work for Mash so enough said.
Carvers just pleased to have a job.
our squad is limited so can only play to there ability, not forgetting picking up there wages.
But the fans have a choice whether to support the regime financially or not.
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Jan 29, 2015 at 3:17 PM
Comment #40firebug…one never knows with this new regime!
..they could be up to anything in the name of their new found corporate communism ( or to coin 1984 – Oligarchical Collectivism) lol