The Prophet

The Stoke/Blackburn games were disappointing from both a offensive and defensive point of view however you have to bear in mind we're a newly promoted, relatively limited squad, the more we strengthen the squad the more we're able to deal with tactics. Hughton clearly knew we'd have a problem breaking sides down who park the bus and that's why he's brought in Ben Arfa and we've been pretty unlucky to lose him so early on so you have to look to the rest of the squad. The problem in both games was we were too heavily reliant on our left hand side which made us predictable. This happened against Stoke because of the poor delivery of Routledge and Nolan being marked out of the game which left Carroll, our biggest threat, isolated. It happened against Blackburn because Barton kept drifting inside which played into their hands, Nolan was market out the game, Shola/ Ranger were poor and once again because of this Carroll was left to fight a losing battle. That's a 4-4-1-1 and a 4-4-2 which have failed to effectively break down a compact defensive unit. What other options are there though? Guthrie? Vuckic? Ryan Taylor? There isn't a lot of choice and that's part and parcel of being new to the division. We knew at the beginning of the season Ben Arfa was going to massive in unlocking defences, we've lacked that kind of options for years but now he's injured we're light in options. Initially I thought a striker and right back would be needed in January but while we still need a striker I'd be looking to bring in a quality right winger. It would provide a lot more balance and as a consequence the side would be far more threatening. A quality delivery from both flanks would make us a different proposition and while Barton has provided that to an extent we need someone who will hug the touch line and attack the left back. All four goals were pretty poor from a defensive perspective. Against Stoke two set plays and an individual error and a long ball against Blackburn. Against Stoke it was more understandable when you're under the cosh from such a direct side you will make mistakes and that's what their whole philosophy is about, we lost our concentration twice and we were punished. Yesterday it was more disappointing because its not like they had us under constant pressure. The first Tiote just seemed to lose it in his feet and the second was a rare error in judgement from both centre backs. There isn't too much you can do about that except hope they don't do it again.

Aye you know it's going to be one of those nights when your player goes and thumps an oppsing player.

Aye tis what I though. He tried to take it out of defence and lost in his feet, seemed to rattle him for the rest of the gmae though. Nothing wrong with putting your foot through it from time to time.

4 in the league, 1 v Chelsea in cup Got to love people saying Jonas MOTM, he would be next to useless without Jose doing two jobs down that flank. All in all too many poor performances against a team with a gameplan of anti football, whether it was tiredness, over confidence or just a woeful day at the office(happening too many times at home) we just didnt deserve anything last night. We simply must win on Saturday as the run of games til the new year is looking tough. We don't have the creativity to break sides down, simple as that. The player we brought in to pick through defences is sitting on the treatment table while our top goal scorer from midfield was marked out of the game. We had no width on the right because Barton kept drifiting inside and attempting the diagonal so Jonas and Jose were left to try and pick our Carroll for the entire game because Shola/Ranger posed little to no threat. It makes us very predictable. The most annoying thing is we've scored against both Stoke and Blackburn and let too sloppy goals in at the back. All four were basic defensive errors, not picking up men, dwelling on the ball, not dealing with a straight ball down the middle. As soon as we meet a side who rough us up at the back a bit we seem to lose our concentration.

He made one error really. He got done by the same long ball Colo failed to deal with, the pair of them need to take responsibility. I thought he was pretty decent in the air last which is where the main threat came from. He was limited on the ball but then we known that for a while.

Hindsight-tastic. Wouldn't of touched him based on what I saw of him in the Championship.

Based on what? Boumsong would of liked twice the defender playing behind Arsenal's midfield.

Doesn't really answer the question does it?

Why exactly does Williamson deserve to be dropped?

The goal was an absolute balls up from both Williamson and Colo, they both had a chance to deal with it and failed.

Eh? But that's the point I'm making. If we hadn't of made two massive errors we would of probably won the game, but we did and as a consequence we lost. Our defence essentially cost us the game. Same as our defeats have cost us climbing the league.

First part: true. Second part: pretty meaningless statement. In what respect?

While it's true we struggle to break teams down people seem to have overlooked that our defeat today was down to two glaring defensive errors. Defend like we did at Arsenal and we've got another three points in the bag.

Stupidity from Barton. You just know tomorrow's rags are going to be all over it like a cheap suit.

Jonas marked out of the game pretty much - midfield flooded to Nolan proved ineffective. Nothing down our right hand side as Barton kept on drifting in to try and make a difference. We played right into Fat Sam's hands tonight. We had plenty of possession just no creativity. Thought Jonas was one of our more threatning players if anything Carroll looked completely isolated due to Nolan being marked out of the game and Shola/Ranger being largely ineffective. Its also worth bearing in mind we did actually score but were let down by two poor pieces of defensive play. How many crosses went into the box today and how many saves did Robinson have to make? Answer - not many at all! Hughton should have tried something different a lot earlier than he did - unfortunately it would appear there is no Plan B.

Thought he was alright on the whole, didn't cover himself in glory for the goal but neither did Colo.

Didn't realise Fulham haven't won away from home this season.

Jonas marked out of the game pretty much - midfield flooded to Nolan proved ineffective. Nothing down our right hand side as Barton kept on drifting in to try and make a difference. We played right into Fat Sam's hands tonight. We had plenty of possession just no creativity. Thought Jonas was one of our more threatning players if anything Carroll looked completely isolated due to Nolan being marked out of the game and Shola/Ranger being largely ineffective. Its also worth bearing in mind we did actually score but were let down by two poor pieces of defensive play.

Really don't understand how Hughton 'lost the tactical battle.'

Thought his tactics were alright to begin with. An unchanged in from side, if it ain't broken and all that. It's not like he can prevent the basic defensive errors that cost us goals tonight. Add the fact his most creative player is on the treatment table and I don't think he did a lot wrong. I'd of perhaps brought Rouledge on instead of Ranger but you can see why he made the change he did.

Ranger? Explosive?! More than Ameobi. His only other option is Lovenkrands. Ignore the Prophet. He brings false heralds, and I think Ranger must have wronged him at some time. Possibly splashed him with a puddle as he drove by in his big Ranger Rover. Ranger is a young, raw, ineffective player who needs to be loaned to lower league to learn his trade. Offers no threat in front of goal what so ever.

Ranger? Explosive?! More than Ameobi. His only other option is Lovenkrands. He faced a difficult choice give the lack of options, can't really criticise him too much. I'd of brought Routledge on personally and stuck Barton in the middle to give us an extra body. There again I'm not a Premier League manager so who am I to judge.

Ranger? Explosive?!

Looked injured to me.

Krul 6 - Looked assured again, couldnt really do much for either goal. Simpson 6 - Alright, didn't put a foot wrong but didn't offer a lot going forward. Williamson 5 - Alright on the whole but a weak effort for the second. Colo 5 - See Williamson, got completely caught for that second goal. Enrique 6 - Same as Simpson with slightly more threat going forward. Barton 5 - Hit and miss but still one of our more creative players, probably shouldn't of been on the park after that dig on Pederson. Nolan 5 - Alright going forward, clumsy coming back. Looked like he might be carrying an injury Tiote 5 - Probably his worst game in a Newcastle shirt. His passing was spot on but he got caught in posession which led to the first and gave a couple of daft fouls away around the box. Daft against any side. Jonas 6 - Probably our most creative player. Ran at the blackburn defence and put a couple of half decent balls in. Carroll 7 - Great header for the goal. Always a threat in the air, helped out well defensively too. Shola 3 Absolutely woeful. Obviously carrying an injury, but his control and blance were absolutely shocking. Ranger 4 - Not much of an improvement on Shola. Offered little in the way of a threat. The one time he got in behind he fluffed his lines.