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Newcastle United 1 - 2 Hull City - 13/09/08 - post match reaction from page 21


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This was always going to be a hard game with Keegan gone. There was always the chance we would slip back into the old habits of how we played pre-Keegan (see Derby and Wigan games). That's exactly what happened. We were beaten by a side with more less quality than we potentially have. It's not relegation form. It wasn't last season and it's not likely to be this season... and hopefully when the new boss comes in and the wounds start to heal over our form will pick up and top-half finish might still be on.

 

We can talk about the protests and the crowd today, but short of a few Keegan chants what was the big difference? We still had 50,000+. The players wouldn't have been paying attention to banners. For the most part the fans got behind the team.

 

The players:

 

Given - Got a hand on the penalty. Little he could do about the second.

Edgar - His passing and crossing isn't up to much, but defensively he did well. He made a couple of good challenges early in the second half and wouldn't have been my choice to be subbed.

Bassong - Strong.

Taylor - Good first half, quiet in the second. Looking much more reliable next to Coloccini.

Coloccini - Quiet game all round. Did lots of cleaning up at the back. Seems to be having a calming influence on Taylor.

N'Zogbia - For the first 70 minutes it wasn't worth having him on the pitch. He can't defend, he's not a left back. Going forward after running the length of the pitch understandably meant he wasn't playing as well as we know he can. When he was pushed further forward he was much better, playing a part in Xisco's goal.

Geremi - Looked rusty.

Butt - The flesh is weak but the spirit is strong. He's a battler and his appearances should be reserved for stiffening things up to protect a lead. Same mould as Alan Smith but with a touch more quality. Shouldn't be a starter.

Guthrie - Red card aside, he was the best player in black and white today. He wants the ball, he looks confident on the ball, and he's capable of doing something with it. Once suspensions are over the central pairing needs to be Guthrie/Barton or Guthrie/Gonzalez.

Xisco - Good debut. Had a quiet first half. Obviously still adjusting to the pace of the premiership as he was caught napping once or twice. Towards the end of the game I think we saw a glimpse of what's to come. He did well in holding up the ball in situations where Ameobi falls flat on his arse. Did well linking up with Owen regularly. Good little passer; lets just hope he can keep scoring, too.

Owen - Quality as always. Linked our (mostly) static midfield to the forward line. Played a part in the goal and just about every other chance we had today. Get this man a new contract ASAP.

Ameobi - Shit. You've had your chance now politely fuck off, sir.

Gonzalez - Came on and showed good ability in holding on to the ball and picking out a pass. Exactly the kind of player we were crying out for last season. He wasn't rushed into giving the ball away of making hopeless sideways passes a la Butt and Geremi. I can see him playing a fair few games for us this season.

 

There are plenty of positives to take from today. If we get the right man in sharp-ish we can still make a good go of this season. We have a solid set of players. If we focus on the younger players, give them the games ahead of old hands like Butt and Geremi, then I can see getting a good top half finish. Guthrie, Xisco, Taylor and Edgar all put in decent shifts. The new arrivals all seem to have the required quality and attitude to do the business here. We just need to bring it all together.

 

Jonas won't be out for too long. Martins, Viduka, Duff, and Enrique are all back in the next couple of weeks which will give us more options. Enrique really needs to start getting games. N'Zogbia isn't a defender and the last 20 minutes of the game proved just how valuable he is to us going forward. Martins will give us another outlet to take some of the workload of Owen, and also give him that little bit more space in which to inflict damage.

 

Don't get me wrong, today's result is gutting... but not surprising, and not necessarily how it will be every week.

 

We're not far off and an inspired managerial appointment will get us there. Have faith.

 

Great post. 

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I think it was Hughton's way of not applying for the job.

Shola and Xisco up front was never going to work. Too similar in style. Time to go Shola - like yesterday.

Butt, Guthrie and Geremi all have no pace. None of the three should be regular first team picks at present though Guthrie may develop.

Zog is not a full back - witness their second goal.

Edgar is an emerging defender - the 433 formation call for an attacking fullback.

 

So with about 5 players who shouldn't be in the first team its hats off to the Board for the depth of the squad and hats of to hughton for exposing the lack of quality so easily.

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Guest LucaAltieri

Clear penalty tbh, dunno what people on here were on about. :undecided:

 

Shay should have done better.

 

Didn't see MOTD but first time round it looked like the Hull player abandoned the ball and stepped in front of Butt to take the foul as he slid in. Might just have been the angle.

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Clear penalty tbh, dunno what people on here were on about. :undecided:

 

Shay should have done better.

 

Didn't see MOTD but first time round it looked like the Hull player abandoned the balls and stepped in front of Butt to take the foul as he slid in. Might just have been the angle.

 

He saw the opportunity for a penalty and went for it... but tbh, it was a fucking dreadful tackle. Mistimed, inaccurate, nowhere near the ball - begging for a penalty. Stupid. Epitomised Butt's performance.

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Some of the posts are laughable at times.

 

The board has broken the players, f*** off man. Of course they'll have been affected by the massive low the club everyone has, but it is there duty to go out and at least attempt to entertain us, they're paid professionals for f***s sake.

 

I had a feeling this would be a problem and felt the crowd really needed to get behind them, obviously this was not the case. Let down by both parties on this occassion.

 

The board have forced out the man who got them playing as a team, who instilled belief and confidence back into them, who set them up to have a more positive season as evidenced by the positive start. They obviously enjoyed working for him as a coach and liked him as a man, of course losing him will have a massive impact. Especially when there is no sign of anyone credible coming in and added unrest on the stands. I guarantee several will be eying January for a quick exit while others will fall into the same trap as fans, apathy towards the club and season resulting in piss poor performances and going through the motions. I f***ing knew we'd lose today and I couldn't understand any predictions of a win or a decent performance, fan protests or no fan protests. Oh and fans did get behind their team, there is only so much we can do. Don't be one of those cocks that blames the fans.

 

Did you actually read my post?

 

I clearly didn't try to make the fans the sole reason for our loss, that would be idiotic. They didn't really help though did they? You got a section who went to support the team, a section who boycotted and a section who were marching round the ground with banners. Now no matter what your opinion on the issue at hand is you can't seriously tell me the latter two helped the team?

 

Regarding the intial part of your post I agree, Keegan was an inspirational icon. I can fully understand them being on a low they are being payed to play football. The average fan on the street would put their heart and soul into playing for their club, board room crisis or not. There were fans paying to watch them, so I expect at least some level of professionalism as a post to the "fuck it, we're a goal down" attitude. If they're thinking about leaving drop them, we can't afford that attitude on the pitch.

 

What we needed today was 100% commitment from the fans and the players if we wanted any form of result and we got it from neither. I'm not saying I blame them because I fully understand why, but to say I wasn't disappointed with them would be a blatent lie.

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Guest michaelfoster

Result was awful, very few players performed

 

Given - 7 - was unlucky with the pen as he got a hand too it

N'Zogbia - 6 - did ok going forward, rubbish in defence

Taylor - 6 - did ok i suppose

Colocinni - 7 - best defender

Edgar - 6 - looked canny in defence but cant attack

Guthrie - 6 - played ok till he tried to snap fagan's leg

Butt - 4 - please retire already, useless ginger t**t. Cant tackle without sliding, usually missed the ball, conceded stupid penalty

Geremi - 5 - poor, too slow & useless at set pieces

Ameobi - 3 - 1 mark for lasting 45 mins, 1 for managing to breathe & 1 for comedy value for being booed off when subbed

Owen - 6 - tried but didnt get the service

Xisco - 6 - seems a canny lad, strong, decent first touch, gets involved, could be decent repalcement for fat boy Viduka

 

Nacho Gonzales - 6 tried to get involved, some neat first touches

Bassong - 6.5 did canny at LB and worked well with N'Zogbia

 

Hughton - 6 - should of took Shola off at half time or preferably locked him in the dressing room, Gonzales maybe should of been on a bit earlier too.

 

The Ref - Andre Marriner - His name is as rubbish as his performance, back to the championship son.

 

Fans - 5 - 50k was the attendence, should of done their protesting outside the ground and concentrated on getting behind the lads inside the ground instead of doing the anti Ashley & Wise chants. The guy with the banner after HT was cringeworthy, next time if you want to make a banner, go to an arts & crafts session instead, ta.

 

Overall Hull played better and deserved their 3 points.

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It is a fact that we would have won that match if Kevin Keegan was our manager

 

It is a fact that the bunch of twats left supposedly running our club should f*** off and die.

 

It is a fact that if I ever encounter Derek Llambias in person I will end the c***.

 

 

 

Embarrassing.

 

Your first point is a joke and shows a complete lack of respect to Hull, never mind our injury situation.

If Kevin was still our manager...WE WOULD HAVE THRASHED Hull not just any win...

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Did anyone realise that Hull were wearing our third kit shorts from last season? :lol:

 

Aye saw that while watching the game, they should have worn the whole kit, wasn't easy telling them apart with that dark top.

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One of my pet hates is seeing teams introduce away kits that still potentially pose a clash. Fucking senseless.

 

I've generally got a bee in my bonnet about football kits nowadays anyway.

 

Was nice seeing an all-retro clash at West Brom today; neither team with sponsors! That's about as rare as rocking horse shit in today's game.

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One of my pet hates is seeing teams introduce away kits that still potentially pose a clash. f***ing senseless.

 

I've generally got a bee in my bonnet about football kits nowadays anyway.

 

Was nice seeing an all-retro clash at West Brom today; neither team with sponsors! That's about as rare as rocking horse s*** in today's game.

 

It's like us. We clearly brought our 3rd strip out probably to use in Cup games only...and who do we draw? The only club in the draw that round with a colour clash. :lol:

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It's a miracle we dont see banners calling for Shola's departure tbh, ridiculous excuses and boasting combined with the s*** we see from him on the pitch.....

 

if he was a Spanish import he would have been shot by now

 

he was fucking appalling yesterday like, what the fuck is hughton doing playing the balloon?

 

stick ranger or someone on, give them a chance...we know what we're gonna get from shola so why bother?

 

always escapes me that...they've written smith off completely but persevere with ameobi?  baffling

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Probably been said but the team we had to put out yesterday just hi-lighted the fact that our squad is far too thin. We have big problems ahead.

 

Yep,

 

This is why Keegan was also furious with the transfer window, he kept saying we need this and that but obviously whoever was making the final decision was not lsitening.

 

It all came home to roost yesterday.

 

Shola really out did himself yesterday.

 

 

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