Karl Darlow has now played 8 times for Newcastle this season and six times since Rob Elliot picked up his serious ACL injury in late March and Karl has played very well in those games.
He was our Man of the Match on Saturday with a superb performance which culminated in his terrific match-winning save from Yohan Cabaye’s penalty attempt after 70 minutes.
Karl also made three excellent saves in the first half to keep us in the game when Palace were the better side.
Karl Darlow’s brilliant penalty save
This is what Karl said after the game:
“That’s possibly the most important save I’ve ever made.”
“In football you have different moments in your career that you remember, and that will definitely be one of them if it keeps us in the division.”
“Time is always important for any manager. My feeling is that we are going in the right direction, we’re doing the right things.”
“I never had any doubt I could play at this level,” “It was one of those situations where I needed to get an opportunity and now I have to take it.
“You need a run of games, especially as a goalkeeper just to get your eye in. But I have trained hard all season.”
“Sometimes it pays off and days like this are special. It was one of those moments that could keep us in the division.”
With the great win on Saturday Newcastle now have a genuine chance of avoiding the drop and that’s even more true if we can beat Aston Villa on Saturday at Villa Park and make it 11 points from the last five games.
Karl Darlow gets some love from an appreciative manager
Then we play Tottenham at home on the very last day of the season on May 15th.
A win in that game would almost guarantee we are safe.
Here’s what the bottom of the table looks like after the weekend’s games.
UEFA Champions League Group F
Team | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | GD | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dortmund | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
PSG | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
AC Milan | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 8 |
Newcastle | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -1 | 5 |
We have a chance!
Comments welcome.
18 comments so far
Munster Mag
May 1, 2016 at 11:15 PM
Comment #1If anyone else goes on about british grit or some other similar thatcherite bollox in terms of who we should be signing, i’ll get annoyed . One look at Athletico Madrid or the hard working players at West Ham or Leicester or Englands woeful efforts at making an impression at recent tournaments should tell us all that work rate and skill and ambition is not a combination that we should be mining for in england as a first port of call.
Lee Charnley Bunga Party
May 1, 2016 at 11:19 PM
Comment #2@Munster
The hardest working players at the moment seem to be Spanish or South American players but the likes of Leicester and West Ham have also had the benefit of hard working British players with quality which is what we could do with as well as a Spanish flavour rather than French and Dutch imports
Sir Braveheart
May 1, 2016 at 11:36 PM
Comment #3Villas late capitulation will have knocked any confidence or wind out of them. In front of a toxic home support they might be ripe for the taking. A 3 or 4 goal rout would go some way to helping our goal difference which could still be important. Not to mention our confidence.
Bobbybee
May 1, 2016 at 11:36 PM
Comment #4Evening all! So, how many are still 100% convinced we’re doomed and that division one will follow? 😉 I suspect the number may have shrunk, but not completely. Nothing like belief to help keep you feeling young. Another 1-0 at Villa will suit me and then see how the ground lies again. One step at a time is all we can do and we’re not doing too bad now. That rapdoor to freedom just opened a liitle bit further. Let them draw all their games, it won’t be enough if we keep winning. 😉
mainemagpie
May 1, 2016 at 11:39 PM
Comment #5Historically speaking if Newcastle beat Villa next week and get to 36 points we will have a 50-50 chance of survival. In 20 seasons of the Premier League 36 points have guaranteed survival ten times.
Tsunki
May 1, 2016 at 11:40 PM
Comment #6Keeps is the most dammed position of all. Poor Jak Alnwick bought the farm when rudely shoved into the spotlight from academy comfort. Darlow has risen fortuitously and grasped the opportunity with safe hands. Good for him. Coincidentally his compatriot Lascelles has provided grit beyond years to show the way to a senior squad grounded in bonus payments and contractual obligations. it’s the football after all that really matters. The young lads know that. The players that see their early promise disappearing down the plughole ( yes, andros) know that. At the end of this season, whether we stay up or go down, it’s not the ‘seasoned pros” we will be acknowledging. I like this. It refutes the lie that the youth are the ones that don’t have the determination and passion to have a real go at the future.
Bobbybee
May 1, 2016 at 11:42 PM
Comment #7Sir B, i suspect leaving it to gd might result in disappointment. Can’t see where the mackems will get a hammering from either, but they won’t win all their games either. You are right of course, a hammering v villa will do us no harm at all on both fronts, but my cunning plan is to simply get more points. They must be now realising we ain’t going anywhere quietly. 😉
Tsunki
May 1, 2016 at 11:42 PM
Comment #8Munster is “Thatcherite” still a thing in NI? It certainly isn’t here. it’s tough to move on.
Sir Braveheart
May 1, 2016 at 11:45 PM
Comment #9@Bobbybee
I was wholly convinced that we were going down after Norwich. I’d mentally and emotionally prepared for it. Now Im struck by that most potential to and dangerous of illnesses…hope.
I think if results go our way next week, a four points to lead with two games left will be too much for Sunderland and Norwich to cope with. It’s a big ask and I think it’s un likely. I think Sunderland will get four points between now and the end so we need to match that.
The suspense is a killer.
Munster Mag
May 1, 2016 at 11:48 PM
Comment #10Tsunki, I aint from NI
Tsunki
May 1, 2016 at 11:48 PM
Comment #11Now I don’t want to unearth the politics demon but… is there any brit who seriously remembers the Thatcher era with fondness? It was grim. It was ludicrously repressive, patronising and awful and that bag single handedly donated the government to labour, who I didn’t care for much either. Just saying.
bettyswallocks
May 1, 2016 at 11:49 PM
Comment #12Bobby……. It’s looking evermore possible, or is it just youthful hope?
Munster Mag
May 1, 2016 at 11:49 PM
Comment #13Sir Braveheart, much as we love Rafa, 3 or 4 goals aint his thing. He is all about compactness, shape and not conceding
Sir Braveheart
May 1, 2016 at 11:51 PM
Comment #14Predictive text running riot there!
I think a win next week and both the others losing will damage their confidence enough to mean they won’t pick up the points needed to close a four point gap. However I suspect Sunderland will draw and so we’ll still be in touching distance from their perspective.
Just need a win next week at all costs.
Tsunki
May 1, 2016 at 11:52 PM
Comment #15Munster – no I realise that, but you use Thatcherite in the way I expect it from a politically controversial aspect that dominates perspective in certain parts of NI. It still bites hard and I understand why. I think that what many do not understand is that a lot of mainland England has a fairly dim view of Thatcherism.
Sir Braveheart
May 1, 2016 at 11:54 PM
Comment #16I know Rafa doesn’t set up for big high scoring wins, but if Villa are devoid of any fight it might be a possibility. A 3-0 win and a 2-0 loss for Sunderland brings the goal difference to just two. Could be all important yet.
Munster Mag
May 1, 2016 at 11:56 PM
Comment #17Tsunki, I dont either, it wasnt a political point. But 20-30 years ago we were all hearing about brit grit so I am just saying that it didnt do much then and it wont do much now – not in isolation anyway. British or Irish playetrs arent worth an awful lot as a concept now. We just need to look beyond France – and in France too! Sadly I still reckon Makems will do us, but as I told Bobby, Fat Sam is an ogre in my life , the bogeyman! 🙂
Bobbybee
May 1, 2016 at 11:59 PM
Comment #18Betty, Sir B, but tell me, is that hope not exciting? 😉 This is the best part of an absolutely dismal season and i’m going to enjoy it to the max. Just the fact that we’re still in it with two games left is in itself a minor miracle. I’m convinced we’ll make, but if we don’t, i’ll be no more devasted than if i’d given up weeks ago. Devastation is devastation, there’s hardly levels of it. 😉 I said it weeks ago that i don’t think Rafa had the mackem and norwich games as winners. They were his preparation games, where he would get the players completely out of their malaise, because one thing is certain – in their previous mindset we were doomed. He used those games to prepare them for the run in. Any points from those games would have been/were nice, but he had his eye on the run in. He’s now got us playing Rafa style and the difference is there for all to see. He won’t be happy if we slip up at villa!! As he said, let’s get into the last game still in with a chance – and that looks very possible now. 😉