My Newcastle Report - the bad run continues

Nobody would have seriously expected it not to, to be honest, but it was still disappointing. I always check my spreadsheet record which shows our complete history against every team (games played, won, lost etc) and I had forgotten how good a home record we have against the Magpies. Only one defeat before yesterday but that was the 5-0 thumping inspired by Kevin Keegan. They had another little forward last night who threatened to do the same, although it's hard to think of Gayle as a "great" player. We gifted him both goals and he almost got a third with that attempt in the first half which flew just behind him so he had to try something spectacular, and failed. And that't the key word of the moment - "gifted". We just have to stop giving goals away, but I'm not sure we know how to.

I was pleased to see Adam Jackson given a start last night and, apart from his part in their first goal where he really should have cleared it first time, he had a decent debut. I felt a bit sorry for Angus MacDonald but something has to be done about a defence that is starting to concede goals at an alarming rate. That's not to blame Angus for that poor state, but we had to change something. James Bree and Andy Yiadom both did reasonably well at full back but neither of them have the tackling skills of a certain recently departed individual. Maybe he would have struggled at this level - and who would blame him? - but he is being missed every game. Going back to Jackson though, he should (on paper) be better than Angus having come to us from Middlesbrough but let's not forget that he spent last year playing for Hartlepool.

There is our problem, and it's obvious to anyone with eyes to see. Most of our lads have lower league, or even non-league, experience. They can improve, obviously (don't forget that Dwight Gayle made his name at Peterborough), but I fear that this might not be the place to do it. Wonderful though it was watching us win our second Wembley final last May, I can't help thinking that one more year in that division might have been to our benefit. It may not of course - the disappointment of losing to the thugs of Millwall could have set us back too much, plus our star players may have left anyway. It doesn't matter though - we won it, we went up and we now have to deal with it. We began in such fantastic form and some of us even started looked towards another promotion next May. It's hard to see that happening. In fact it's hard to see us finishing in the top half this season.

On the other hand there is always another transfer window to come and, this time, we really have to import some experience. Not the journeyman wastes of space like we did before but we need a couple of older heads to steady the ship. For me, the best we can hope for between now and then is to notch another two or three wins and go into the new year hovering around 12th to 16th spot. We're in trouble, let that not be forgotten. We can all laugh at Rotherham and their losing streak (six on the trot is it?) but we are only one draw better than that at the moment. I'm not saying we are going to lose again and again and again, but we need a win desperately now. Our record at Griffin Park is not great but how much better things will look if we come back with a point or three, and then beat Brizzle as well!

Like many others, I enjoyed the match last night, but only in parts. We played some good football, we tackled well, we had a couple of chances to score. But in between there was too much ball giving away, too much standing off opposition players running with the ball and too much inevitability that once they scored we would definitely lose the match. It was so disappointing to lose an early goal in the second half, just like Saturday, and it was such a messy one as well. Talented though our defenders are individually, they lack the collective "Alamo" spirit as a unit. I remember matches in the past where players have thrown their bodies in front of shots and just kept them out no matter what. It seemed to happen often when we had the likes of Bobby Hassell playing but things are different now. Defenders are (or think they are) "footballers" nowadays and would rather nutmeg a forward and then spray a good pass out. Unfortunately so many of those passes end up being hopeful punts which either fly beyond everyone, or come straight back at us. It happened often last night. It's becoming a regular thing.

It was good to see the skipper back and he had a decent game, with Sam Morsy supporting him very well. He looks like a good prospect for us but you would expect Scowen to come back in when available. The glaringly obvious midfield problem for us is that our two wingers are just not doing it at the moment. It will come again, surely, but right now they are both hopeless. Taking Hammill off was the sensible option, rather than risking going down to ten men but you can imagine his frustration when he saw Kent left on the field instead. Liverpool need to be told to forget their arrangement that he has to play the majority of games. He's not good enough. He has all the skill and tricks, granted, but he doesn't have the application or guile to pass defenders regularly. I'm not writing him off yet but he's disappointing us all at the moment.

There's not much up front either, is there? Sam tried last night but never got near a scoring chance. Marley did his usual running and heading balls on, mostly to nobody. Tom Bradshaw and Elliot Lee came on and floundered around for 25 minutes or so, contributing virtually nothing at all to the cause. I wonder if the Newcastle fans realised that Lee was the son of one of their former heroes, Robert Lee? The lad must have something but he is never going to show it for us and I wouldn't be surprised when he links up with his made George once more in January.

So, in summary, it was a good evening for atmosphere with the away end packed and in full voice plus the home sides of the ground looking well populated as well. If only we could have got a goal towards the end to rouse everyone to a grand stand finish. We just might have salvaged a point had that fizzing cross been connected with by Bradshaw. I'm not saying we would have deserved a point but it might have happened. In the end though we have to succumb, once again, to the moneyed classes of this division and there will be plenty more of those to come between now and May. Let's just hope we pick up enough points not to worry about going back down.

One brief point on the officials to finish. We all know what we saw last night - incompetence as usual with so many decisions causing howls of derision from both sets of fans, especially ours. Jonjo Shelvey was allowed to talk to the referee throughout and then, because they were such good mates, he got away with the kind of tackle that got Scowen sent off on Saturday. A yellow was nowhere near the punishment that he deserved. Oh well - what can we expect? Referees will never side with the likes of us when they have the billionaires on their case every match, will they?

 

Oh, I forgot. Our announcer had an off night as well!

Half time scores - he called the Championship League One. Then he called League One League Two.

When we made our double change he had the names the wrong way round. Isn't he standing in or near the tunnel when he does this? If so he would know which players were running on the field. As there was a gap between the two changes it just looked silly.

 

There is a lot spoken on here about the centre half regarding the first goal, but where was the right back?

 

Harsh on the strikers I think - Marley played pretty well and between the 4 strikers I think we're doing pretty well in that department.
I like Bradshaw too but he can't do much with 15 minutes when we're 2-0 down.

I agree that Kent isn't offering much. Always looks sharp in the first half but never gets a good ball into the box or a shot in. Hopefully Janko will be back soon to give Kent a break


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It was always going to be tough to win but it was the manner of defeat in not testing the opposition keeper once in the whole game that's disapointing.

We are missing Mawson who's departure happened during a really good run of form. Jackson looked good last night and will only get better. As you said the defence needed changing because we can't keep leaking multiple goals every game.

Another season at the level below would have been horrible for the club, town and fans both entertainment wise and revenue wise. We'd have still lost Mawson, still not got back the likes of Fletcher/Isgrove and Hammill wouldn't have signed back up. Anyone that got even better from another season at that level would have been sold on when bigger clubs came calling.

I agree we need experience but many on here assume every experienced player is going to be a letdown like some we've had recently (all tarnished with the same brush) or they cost money we don't have but i'm sure league one for example has guys in our price range that have hundreds of games behind them and the experience that comes with it to pass onto our current crop of younger lads who are experiencing a blip.

Agree about our wingers being out of form but that's been pretty much all season so far. Add to that us conceeding at least two goals most games recently and it puts the strikers under massive pressure thinking they might have to score three goals a game on very little service if we are to pick up three points.

Can't have a go at Elliott Lee when he's barely been given a chance. Even on his lack of game time he's not very far behind the combined assists and goals of similar players like Hammill and Kent but off hours and hours and hours less playing time.

The crowd was good shame about nearly 5000 empty seats and only 12500 home fans. Our recent bad run and not letting Newcastle have the west stand cost us money and a 20k crowd. To say away following was given as 5991 they were very quiet in the first half. Conceeding another goal at the end of an half or start of the next half soon found them their voice.

Voldemort got away with alot last night like Chris Martin did saturday. But that kind of gamesmanship comes with experience and we only have Conor who's any good at pushing what's acceptable in the eyes of the official.

 

How many assists and goals does Lee have? I have it as nil. Accept he hasn't played much but to say he's "not far behind" is not very accurate. Plus he looks miles away fitness wise.

 

If somewhere we could find out the combined league minutes including injury time that Hammill and Kent have spent on the pitch and their combined assist/goal count and compared it to Lee the only big difference would be the lack of minutes of Lee. It's not like they are racing ahead in goals and assists.

 

There's a reason Lee hasn't featured.

 

I know that not all experienced players, if any are available that we could afford, will be a waste of money. You only have to look back over the years and pick out people like Hendrie and Hignett as great examples of players who have done well in the game coming to us and being full value. Oh for those two now!

I'm certainly not having a go at Lee - just saying that he is likely to leave with Moncur because if he WAS good enough he would have had some chances by now. He looked good at Stalybridge! He just strikes me as one that was brought in unnecessarily. I'd rather have more quality in one player than three or four average ones.

I agree about the crowd as well. It was quiet for long stretches but very loud at other times. The trouble is that once we were 0-2 down all the sound was coming from the away end, not surprisingly. As much a I love seeing both ends full I hate seeing thousands of away fans bouncing up and down at Oakwell.

 

Am I right in thinking that Liverpool are not insisting that Kent plays every game? As I understand it, if he doesn't play when fit all that happens is that the loan fee is increased. Seems a sensible arrangement to me - Liverpool want their player to get game time, but if we choose not to play him we pay for the privilege.

 

I doubt that any of us know the full details of that deal. Whatever it was we're not getting full value out of him yet. Maybe he will come on in the second half of the season. He's had his moments in every match but he is a long way short of what we need right now.

 

I remember people saying very similar things about Isgrove to be fair. One guy who sits near me thought he was the devil incarnate.

 

Oh I always like Isgrove. My only gripe was his finishing. I was saying right up to the end of the season that here was another Lee Glover. "Isgrove will never score a goal for us. Never!" Shows how much I know...

 

I agree about the strikers. With Payne injured, we're just making like for like substitutions and hoping that bit of freshness will help.

That's not a criticism of the strikers, more of the service they receive during games. We seem to have gone from attacking as a unit to knocking high balls up to hopefully be flicked on.

Both Winnall and Watkins showed what they can do when they're played through against Fulham, but that's happening very rarely.

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Should we have pushed the boat out a little bit and persued the signings of isgrove and Fletcher ? I dont know the costs or politics behind it but what I do know is that we have got 4 strikers at the moment that are very similar in quality . The sad thing is Fletcher and Isgrove are doing naff all at the moment. What a waste.

 

12500 home fans?? The announcer gave the away attendance of 5500 and the total of just over 18500 so 13000 home fans that would make it. Which isn't bad considering Tuesday night and a poor run.

 

Good report again.
Imo it's not the defence per se that needs changing , midfield and forwards giving ball away constantly which in turn gives no let up to the defense as a whole and coming under so much pressure inevitably we will get punished .
50 yard balls are not the way especially when we on the notion that the opposition are just gonna watch it reach its destination.
Time and time again long balls, telegraphed passes or dwelling on the ball is costing us.

 

For me that Alamo spirit you talk of was on show last season and has been this season, bodies thrown in the way and clearing the lines quickly. Didn`t think Mawson was any better than Roberts in the tackling department to be fair, but then when someone has paid 5M for him we suddenly have to up our opinion of him I suppose and change views. NARR.

 

The announcer definately gave the away following as 5,991 so it was 12,500 home fans.

 

Didn't even think the away end holds that many especially with the 1st 2 rows not used and they given them a small bit nearest east stand by looks but I'll take your word for it.