Newcastle United 1-0 Wigan Athletic - 1/9/07 - Post match reaction from page 19

[Liam Liam Liam O]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2002390000-2007400908,00.html

 

Good slideshow of photos here, cant post them directly due to the protection technology used.

 

The opening line of the report

 

 

MICHAEL OWEN handed Steve McClaren a massive boost by scoring the winner at St James' Park.

 

[Shearer9]

I don't buy this "poor team effort" stuff, it's not easy to break down a team with 9 or 10 men always behind the ball.  If it were, Man Utd would have beaten the likes of Reading, Portsmouth, Man City and would have scored more than 1 against the mackems.  I thought we had a really good game, the only bad part was our finishing, which can be improved. 

[Guest guinness_fiend]

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[Boey_Jarton]

Im suprised people are saying we played well, when really we were quite poor against a poor Wigan.

 

We did look good at the back especially Cacapa & Rozendahl, but lacked any spark in midfield. Smith & Butt were poor, Smith did nothing wide right and Butt kept losing the ball too easy, he did run alot but he made quite a few mistakes, i definitly wouldnt say he was 'solid' today. You cant really play Butt & Geremi in the same team as they are both defensive midfielders & they were both playing CM.  Taylor was alright (for those critisising Steve Bennett today, the best decision he made was to turn Taylor into the recovery position when he realised he was spark out)

 

I think Owen was poor today despite his goal, i think those giving him an 8 are very generous as he missed alot of chances he is still not match fit & looked knackered after an hour, Martins should of started with Owen on the bench. He fluffed an easy one on one with the keeper over the bar and missed a fair few chances. Viduka was annonymous. Harper didnt have much to do apart from  a great save from a freekick

 

Cant comment on the red card as it was far too sunny in the East Stand, i could hardly see most of the game.

 

Was nice that they introduced Beye before the match & also Sibierski got a good applause when he went off.

 

Heskey is a dirty tw@t as he kept kicking lumps out of everyone.

 

Finally a big shout out to the cute female paramedic in the East Stand.

 

Ratings

 

Harper 7

Taylor 7

Rozehnal 8

Cacapa 8

N'Zogbia 8

Geremi 7

Smith 6

Milner 7

Butt 6

Viduka 6

Owen 7 (would of been 6 if he hadnt scored the winner)

 

Subs

Ameobi 6

Martins 7

 

Female Paramedic 9

 

Most downbeat post thus far. If we had not won you would be slitting your wrists by the sounds of it!

 

Most dissapointing aspect of the game today was the farcical turnstyle scenario for getting into Level 7.

 

I got to the game at 2.40 and still missed the first ten minutes of the game. The queue for our turnstyle was about a mile long yet numerous other turnstyles had no queues at all but were for electronic season ticket holders only. At 3.10 the stewards decided to let us go through these  turnstyle gates instead, without even showing our tickets. It was an absolute farce and the system needs sorting out.

[PM]

What a bunch of dirty bastards Wigan are.  Hope they go down.

 

So relieved the goal came.  What a ball from Martins.

[pedro111]

I was so glad we scored, I couldnt bare another nil nil with two weeks untill our next game. 

[Kev]

We were struggling to score again!

Viduka and Owen were shite! viduka hasnt played well yet

Owen is just getting fit though

dont see why martins doesnt play! by far the best forward at the club and he sparks the crowd

Zoggy was outstanding as usual today, steady defence

[Guest Knightrider]

When we drew 0-0 with Villa at home Allardyce correctly stressed the importance of keeping clean sheets predicting they will eventually lead to 1-0 wins and that's what we got today which in turn will lead to more emphatic wins as the team slowly but surely get to grips with one another and all the new tactics and methods introduced since a change in regime.

 

Under Roeder we'd have grown frustrated and forgot about the defensive responsibilities probably leading to a break away goal from the opposition and a 1-0 loss. Instead we kept our heads and came away with a  deserving if nerve racking 3 points, having for large periods dominated the match.

 

The whole team played well as a team although some individuals weren't on top of theirs and yes we had some good fortune, but their daft sending off wasn't one instance of good luck, not in my opinion anyway as it made Wigan more defensive and direct.

 

We also played some good stuff and on another day could have scored a few while Wigan had no joy whatsoever from the back-five (I say five because Harper is looking quite good between the sticks) despite some very rough stuff.

 

All in all an excellent days work from everyone. 5th in the table with a game in hand having registered 8 points from 12 already is tremendous stuff given all the changes since the end of last season on and off the pitch while not exactly putting in stellar performances. Furthermore the best is really yet to come, we are nowhere near our best in terms of personnel and performances, not by a long stretch.

 

3 clean sheets in 5 games too, champion.

 

Well done Sam and the lads on an excellent start to the season, fingers crossed we keep improving which I think we will do.

[JH]

That's a thing, Stevie Harper, I love the fact that after a good game, Allardyce is giving him his chance the game after despite Given's fitness. I think it's important that Given isn't automatic first choice, healthy competition.

[Guest michaelfoster]

Most downbeat post thus far. If we had not won you would be slitting your wrists by the sounds of it!

 

Most dissapointing aspect of the game today was the farcical turnstyle scenario for getting into Level 7.

 

I got to the game at 2.40 and still missed the first ten minutes of the game. The queue for our turnstyle was about a mile long yet numerous other turnstyles had no queues at all but were for electronic season ticket holders only. At 3.10 the stewards decided to let us go through these  turnstyle gates instead, without even showing our tickets. It was an absolute farce and the system needs sorting out.

 

I just think we really struggled to finish off a poor wigan side, we really should of won 2 or 3 nil. Up untill Owen scored i was starting to think we could sit here all afternoon & not score.

[gonufc]

We were struggling to score again!

Viduka and Owen were s****! viduka hasnt played well yet

Owen is just getting fit though

dont see why martins doesnt play! by far the best forward at the club and he sparks the crowd

Zoggy was outstanding as usual today, steady defence

 

[Guest Knightrider]

That's a thing, Stevie Harper, I love the fact that after a good game, Allardyce is giving him his chance the game after despite Given's fitness. I think it's important that Given isn't automatic first choice, healthy competition.

 

It's Harper's shirt to lose at the moment, which as you say is very healthy indeed, and that goes for everyone.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

That's a thing, Stevie Harper, I love the fact that after a good game, Allardyce is giving him his chance the game after despite Given's fitness. I think it's important that Given isn't automatic first choice, healthy competition.

 

It's Harper's shirt to lose at the moment, which as you say is very healthy indeed, and that goes for everyone.

 

Think Given will be back in very soon though

[Guest andynufc84]

 

 

 

Such a relief today, I thought we were never going to score!

 

We are clearly a 'work in progress' but we'll get there i'm sure. Rozenhal and Cacapa absolutely costed it at the back, brilliant. Wigan wen't gonna score if they were still playing now.

Some of our play was very frustrating today, Taylor/Smith down the right didn't work so it was left to Charlie and Milner.

 

Butt and Germei toiled in midfield but it was all a bit scrappy. Nice to see we have the quality to nick the game, if you can bring a player like Martins on who can go ahead and create a goal then that is very very encouraging.

 

All in all a good win but a relief more than enything.

 

 

[Liam Liam Liam O]

 

 

 

Such a relief today, I thought we were never going to score!

 

We are clearly a 'work in progress' but we'll get there i'm sure. Rozenhal and Cacapa absolutely costed it at the back, brilliant. Wigan wen't gonna score if they were still playing now.

Some of our play was very frustrating today, Taylor/Smith down the right didn't work so it was left to Charlie and Milner.

 

Butt and Germei toiled in midfield but it was all a bit scrappy. Nice to see we have the quality to nick the game, if you can bring a player like Martins on who can go ahead and create a goal then that is very very encouraging.

 

All in all a good win but a relief more than enything.

 

 

 

The Taylor/Smith thing didn't work solely because of Smith IMO.  Thought Taylor did really well in an unfamiliar position.

[JH]

That's a thing, Stevie Harper, I love the fact that after a good game, Allardyce is giving him his chance the game after despite Given's fitness. I think it's important that Given isn't automatic first choice, healthy competition.

 

It's Harper's shirt to lose at the moment, which as you say is very healthy indeed, and that goes for everyone.

 

Think Given will be back in very soon though

 

Why fix something that's not broken though? Harper's kept two clean sheets in four Premier League games, that's enough to start at Derby a week on Saturday IMO.

[Guest Knightrider]

I just think we really struggled to finish off a poor wigan side, we really should of won 2 or 3 nil. Up untill Owen scored i was starting to think we could sit here all afternoon & not score.

 

Those are fair comments because we certainly made hard work of it at times, but they will come, the goals. The important thing at this early stage of our development however is points and clean sheets first and foremost, not goals and performances which will come from training sessions and confidence as everyone gets to know one another and to acclimatise to all these changes.

[Guest andynufc84]

 

 

 

Such a relief today, I thought we were never going to score!

 

We are clearly a 'work in progress' but we'll get there i'm sure. Rozenhal and Cacapa absolutely costed it at the back, brilliant. Wigan wen't gonna score if they were still playing now.

Some of our play was very frustrating today, Taylor/Smith down the right didn't work so it was left to Charlie and Milner.

 

Butt and Germei toiled in midfield but it was all a bit scrappy. Nice to see we have the quality to nick the game, if you can bring a player like Martins on who can go ahead and create a goal then that is very very encouraging.

 

All in all a good win but a relief more than enything.

 

 

 

The Taylor/Smith thing didn't work solely because of Smith IMO.  Thought Taylor did really well in an unfamiliar position.

 

Aye suppose so, once Beye is ready I don't think Taylor is in the starting 11

[Wallace]

I was confident that we would not concede today despite a couple of scares.  The defence look so good (it will be interesting to see how they perform when they play a really good attacking team).  It was just a case of when we would get the goal.

 

Butt was getting into a lot of attacking positions today - if only he could shoot.  He kept urging the team forward and seems very vocal on the pitch these days.

[Fugazi]

That's a thing, Stevie Harper, I love the fact that after a good game, Allardyce is giving him his chance the game after despite Given's fitness. I think it's important that Given isn't automatic first choice, healthy competition.

 

Let's hope Given doesn't put in another transfer request.

[Nicky]

The goal and a couple of other highlights are in Owens interview on world now

[Andy]

Defence were excellent today, but as everyone is aware, we still lack that killer pass in midfield. It may come in time, once the players start to get more familiar; but at the moment it looks like it could prove problematic in this kind of match.

 

Other than that I was impressed. Our tempo was fine, and our passing in general was a lot smoother than it has been. And, of course, defensively we look as good as we have in a long, long time. We're going to be a very difficult team to beat this season, and as long as we can continue to nick goals like we did today we'll do well.

 

I'm pretty optimistic at the moment.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

That's a thing, Stevie Harper, I love the fact that after a good game, Allardyce is giving him his chance the game after despite Given's fitness. I think it's important that Given isn't automatic first choice, healthy competition.

 

Let's hope Given doesn't put in another transfer request.

 

Alwaya think its funny when people mention the model pro, legend stuff and forget about that.

[Guest michaelfoster]

Can i ask does anyone know who the physios & club doctor are this year? I didnt recognise two guys who ran on with Derek Wright?

[Elliottman]

we were never ever in danger today. they posed no threat at all. we had a lot of possesion and always fancied us to nick one, without us having loads of chances.

 

All those people moanin, remember we had two unnautural full backs playing too.

 

oh and for all those idiots that said get rid of Owen..........