Georginio Wijnaldum is away on International duty with the Dutch squad and the Netherlands have two very important internationals coming up as they find themselves in 4th place in Group A two points behind Turkey.
In the last International break they lost both of their games – to Iceland 1-0 in Amsterdam and 3-0 in Turkey – so they must somehow get to 3rd place in the group to be in the playoffs and then be able to qualify for the finals next summer in France.
Gini Wijnaldum – scoring against Chelsea – yes!!
The two games coming up for the Netherlands are at Kazakhstan on Saturday and then at home to the Czech Republic next Tuesday.
Turkey play at the Czech Republic on Saturday and then at home to Iceland on Tuesday – those are two tough games for Turkey – against the two sides leading the group with both Iceland and the Czech Republic being tied on 19 points from eight games.
Both of those countries have already qualified for the finals.
We hope the Netherlands can get through to the finals for the good of our Dutch players – Gini, Tim Krul, Vurnon Anita, Daryl Janmaat and Siem de Jong.
Here’s what Gini has said today about the status of Newcastle to RTV Rijnmond:
“I think that the games we play have been pretty good, only we do not get the points.” “It is important, because now we are last, which is not so good.”
“Everybody can beat each other in the Premier League. Anything is to be expected in that league, which you see on the results.
“You play against world-class players, but also the lesser teams are good – it is a strong competition.”
That’s a surprising and rather upbeat assessment of the way Newcastle have played.
The problem seems to be that we only turned up for the top clubs so far this season – Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City and we played very well in all those games – well except the second half at City last Saturday.
Two of our three points came from the game at Manchester United and at home to Chelsea.
If we had played as well and turned up in the other games – especially those at West Ham and at home to newly promoted Watford – we would have had more points.
It didn’t help in the games at Swansea and against Arsenal at home that we were down to 10 men before half time.
We need to improve quickly otherwise we are going to get into real trouble where relegation in May could become a real possibility.
That would be a complete disaster.
🙁
Comments welcome.
115 comments so far
John Tudor
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:10 PM
Comment #1and low and behold he returns injured
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:18 PM
Comment #2At the end of last season Ashley told the watching world that he was shocked at where we had ended up, but yet he allowed the same men to remain in charge of how we were/are being run, so what words of wisdom will he have come next May when we could very well already be relegated before the last game?
midweek weekend
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:24 PM
Comment #3@2
He also said he was bolting the horse well we’re bottom of the league Mike.
I think this international break has come at a good time as long as our better players don’t get injured, the Norwich game is simply massive Sunderland will get a new manager for the Derby and I really can’t see us wining that if we don’t beat Norwich imo
bettyswallocks
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:28 PM
Comment #4John Tudor should be appointed leader of the NUFC Euthanasia Society.
firebug666
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:29 PM
Comment #5midweek
I don’t think we could afford the horse mate, it looks like Charnley is pulling the cart by himself…..Always the cheap option.
John Tudor
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:33 PM
Comment #6betty thats a pretty inane comment to make
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:35 PM
Comment #7It’s all lip service from Ashley, he was public enemy number one and had to say what people wanted to hear, if he had meant a word of it Charnely and Carr would have been sacked and replaced by two people who actually knew what the hell they were doing, instead we have a token spend to try and safeguard a bigger payment that comes with survival
John Tudor
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:40 PM
Comment #8how to win friends and influence people
try reading summit like this
bettyswallocks
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:41 PM
Comment #9JohnTudor……. Ok the blog Private Fraser then.
John Tudor
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:43 PM
Comment #10thats more like it pikey
hibbit
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:44 PM
Comment #11jack its now a big IF………..the next 2 game will decide a lot …..will Mc walk… will he be pushed…. or will we just plod on regardless
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:47 PM
Comment #12Hibbit
As always it will come down to money, how much he stand to make opposed to how much he stand to gain.
I think SM is very different to Pardew, as SM will walk if things get too much for him, but I worry who he would be replaced with
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:48 PM
Comment #13Gain – lose
toon kk
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:51 PM
Comment #14TBF Mash is giving many fans what they asked for, what did those banners say?
We don’t want a team that wins (well we’ve got that).
We want a club that tries, (well MA did spend 50mil and appointed a new manager).
Before the season kicked off many were predicting top eight, so many were happy.
What most over looked for whatever reason was most of the players are still playing for us that have been poor for a long time.
Poor players out of there league, simple answer
John Tudor
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:54 PM
Comment #15i predicted 17 – where ever looks like i got that wrong
utter shambles
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:54 PM
Comment #16Toon kk
I had us down for 12th, even that looks mission impossible right now
BandB
Oct 7, 2015 at 3:55 PM
Comment #17Ed
I was amused by Ashley’s “what the hell is going on?” statement on May 24th also.
“Relegation fight….why wasn’t I informed?”
He’d joined “the board” himself just a few months earlier…to take a hands-on approach, he said.
The “board” was four people, and he was one of them.
Fodder for simpletons.
hibbit
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:03 PM
Comment #18jack……another yes man without doubt….its a massive gamble the rewards of staying up are huge going down this season should be unthinkable…… money will have to be spent on the right players to stay up…. i would rather get rid of carr and charnley now and get a david dein type chairman in and let Mc buy the players he wants i see that as our only hope
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:09 PM
Comment #19Hibbit
The system is broken so chances are if SM is sacked the replacement would be another drone willing to subsist to the charms of Carr and Charnley.
NUFC is seen as a dirty word under the leadership of Ashley and that seriously limits the type of managers we can attract, but I have no doubt they will persist with their broken system and approach to running a football club, if only we were a cheap, tatty retail business we may stand a chance
bettyswallocks
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:17 PM
Comment #20John Tudor……… Maybe Steve Black could help you. He seems to be able to instill 45 mins. of positive motivation. Hate to see you suffering so.
toon kk
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:23 PM
Comment #21Its such a shame, the so called board can’t see past the buy to sell regime, there’s nothing wrong with bringing in a percentage of those players in.
But buying 57 varieties from mainly France with the hope of them turning into super stars worth millions is clueless suicide.
GeordieinOhio
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:24 PM
Comment #22Hello Lad’s…its sunny here in Ohio,…….well thats the positive stuff out the way…
Jack, Ashley is treating NUFC as a “tatty retail business”
I mean he is purchasing low quality product and selling it at a massive profit…but your right the system or policies he has in place at the toon are broken and if the business is to thrive they have to change….but I doubt they will.
hibbit
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:25 PM
Comment #23betty ….we all handle pain in different ways you should be a bit more considerate one day it might be you
bettyswallocks
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:27 PM
Comment #24Hibbit…….. My way to handle it is a bit of gentle Micky taking. I think he realises that’s all it is.
Tsunki
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:28 PM
Comment #25I think Dereks old SD mug is still in the tea cupboard, may need a rinse out but it’ll be nice to have someone on the board whose name begins with a big L and a little l again.
Tsunki
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:29 PM
Comment #26I wonder if Colo pronounces his name “Yambias”?
Tsunki
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:32 PM
Comment #27Gini looks like he’s been thrown up in the air by the Sack Pardew Crowd. Mob. Crew. Rabble. Shower. Lot.
GeordieTwo
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:45 PM
Comment #28With the same plan going forward from Ashley what can change? No decent defense. An inexperienced attack. Money wasted on midfielders. Sounds like more of the same to me. Ashley would have to truly hand over control to a decent football man for us to improve. It isn’t going to happen mates.
Rotonda heights
Oct 7, 2015 at 4:54 PM
Comment #29ohio
trouble is they’re not cheap failures any more as carr’s obsession with thauvin is thus far proving.
Sazzer
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:00 PM
Comment #30http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/fabricio-coloccini-undroppable-newcastle-united-10213633
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:00 PM
Comment #31GeordieinOhio
That’s where his brief is showing the biggest signs of failure as he can’t sell our players for massive profit as the reality is he’d struggle to give most of them away they are so poor. Apart from the players who cost us nothing or small fees he’d most certainly lose money on the vast majority of the squad
Jib
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:03 PM
Comment #32I feel like the subject of Kipling’s poem.
I’m keeping my head when all around are losing theirs .
I’m being hated, but I don’t give way to hating.
The truths I’ve spoken are twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.
I love being right.
JackButler
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:04 PM
Comment #33Rotonda heights
Carr apparently scouted Thauvin for more than two years, two years where he’s been woeful to say the least and yet the we paid full asking price for the lad when no one else was interested in touching him………..and we did that at the expense of a proven, commanding centre half.
Madness at its finest
BandB
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:05 PM
Comment #34Jib
How’s your close-season prediction that the new coaching team would put an end to our injury and disciplinary woes going?
Are you factoring injuries into your excuse making yet?
Jib
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:08 PM
Comment #35Geordie 2
It’s a work in progress.
We are just at the base camp suffering from diaroea , then we will start our assault on the summit there will be the odd rock slide and blizzard maybe even a fight with a yeti but we’ll get there in the end.
(cue triumphal music)
Jib
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:12 PM
Comment #36B and B
Football is a strange old game.
I’ve watched our game against Shitty many times now and I kid you not if we had the rub of the green that the Mancs esp Aguero had , we could have quite easily have been 4 – 0 up at half time.
BandB
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:15 PM
Comment #37I’m not disputing that Jibbers….
I was very impressed by both first halves.
But playing well for one half and losing isn’t quiet as good playing well for two halves and losing. Or playing badly for two halves and drawing.
It’s second bottom result of the sliding scale that ends with playing well for two halves and winning.
Mister Tuff
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:16 PM
Comment #38hahahaha – this blog is good for a laugh and the one or two psychos, King Percys’ fawning dogs and the other rabble and flat earth society members always entertain. Not through fact or superb blogging but because of their buffoonery.
The latest : Jib Jibberish (the blog pest) and part time multiple stating he’s always right.
He must have forgotten about that famous club team he was on about a while ago – you know -that real top team- Brazil United.
F*****g Brazil United. You cannot make it up.
Jib -get yourself away to the Ladies Wrestling Forum -you’ll be fine there.
Ian Toon
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:27 PM
Comment #39Jib- Try watching a game with no sound. You will be surprised how much you are influenced in your judgment by commentary. That’s my contention regarding supporters: fans.
Tsunki
Oct 7, 2015 at 5:28 PM
Comment #4032Jib // Oct 7, 2015 at 5:03 PM
I feel like the subject of Kipling’s poem.
I’m keeping my head when all around are losing theirs .
I’m being hated, but I don’t give way to hating.
The truths I’ve spoken are twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools.
I love being right.
Well you can’t be accused of modesty Jeff. I suppose you would love being right as it’s not often Google bolsters your thinking. And the bit about not giving way to hating – excuse me while I hold my aching sides – but if it’s not that, then what exactly is it that spurs you on to use you Googlehammer on anyone who dares a typo or supposition? I think this is another one of those occasions jeff, where you come back into a room for getting that earlier on you perched a bucket of tar atop the door. If it was Kipling who wrote the poem I’m sure it began with ” The boy stood on the burning deck, his pocket full of crackers…”