Newcastle United 0 - 2 Chelsea - 04/04/09 - Post match reaction from page 14

[Gallowgate Toon]

Thought we did well in the 1st half and I don't believe that it was a coincidence that Duff's arrival on the field signalled the team's surrender.

 

Duff was abysmal.

 

He did his usual trick of standing on the byline waiting for the ball, very rarely trying to find some space.  He was woeful tracking back, often leaving Enrique exposed as he slowly trotted back after losing possession.  Duff was that bad during the game that I half wish we'd brought Smith on instead since he'd have actually tried.

 

Taylor was crap, just crap.  His set pieces were a complete waste of time, his passing was poor and his marking was often non-existent.

 

I didn't think that Martins was anywhere nearly as bad as some people have made out, he had a couple of chances but he needs about 5 good chances to score anyway, had the midfield managed to produce more opportunities then I'm sure that he and Owen would have had done better.

 

Owen looked far more interested in the game than he's looked for months but once the supply dried up in the 2nd half he was largely ineffective.

 

I'm not sure what was going on when we should have been counterattacking, but on a number of occasions when Harper picked up the ball we'd have 7 players on the edge of our own box and they'd all be slowly jogging out.  The midfielders should have been charging up the field to try and start an attacking move.

 

Our problems are all largely in the midfield, they don't create enough chances and they don't break up play well enough when required.  It's been the same since Sir Bobby left but no one has really managed to deal with the problems there.

Agree with the last line, when Guthrie came on we looked so much better. Butt and Nolan yikes, they got over run by a more athletic midfield yesterday, their marking was abysmal.

[Guest BooBoo]

Nolans been shocking since he signed. It's hard to think of anything positive he's contributed.

[Gallowgate Toon]

Nolans been shocking since he signed. It's hard to think of anything positive he's contributed.

I still think i'd rather see him and Guthrie start next game over Butt, who in my opinion put in one of the worst performances i have ever seen yesterday.

[Thespence]

Nolans been shocking since he signed. It's hard to think of anything positive he's contributed.

 

Nolan, Butt, Geremi, Owen & Cacapa doing sprint training must be epic to watch.

[Guest BooBoo]

Nolans been shocking since he signed. It's hard to think of anything positive he's contributed.

 

Nolan, Butt, Geremi, Owen & Cacapa doing sprint training must be epic to watch.

 

Would recall that scene out of Knowing Me Knowing You where some old grannies re-inact a relay race from the 1938 Olympics.

[joeyt]

Thought Essien was class yesterday, although we did give him loads of room

[Disco]

Damien Duff can't fuck off quick enough. Absolute horseshit

[Guest Howaythetoon]

One of the worst performances we've had this season, quite shocking really.

[Ronaldo]

Nolan and Butt are a fucking disgrace man. The worst central midfield we've had in the premiership without major injuries

[Disco]

Got threatened with being 'escorted from the stadium' at the match - little tin pot hitler wifey steward at the front of my stand. Wouldn't have been so bad but shes absolutely rank n all.

[Guest toonlass]

Harper - 7 - Didn't do a lot wrong in my book.

 

R Taylor - 5 - Why wasn't this lad taking any of the set pieces?

Beye - 7 - Definitely a better RB but not terrible in the centre.

Coloccini - 4 - Just not good enough. Poor, poor performace today.

Enrique - 6 - Average tbh.

 

Jonas - 6 - Concentrate on the simple things man, you don't have to pass 23 men to impress us, just learn to pass the ball to someone you know.

Butt - 8 - Worked hard, tackled hard, better than he has been for a while now.

Nolan - 6 - Great work rate, faded like the rest of the team in the second half.

Lovenkrands - 5 - Better up front than on the wing.

 

Owen - 5 - Not good enough. Only seems interested when he has the ball, and didn't have it enough today. Infuriating.

Martins - 6 - Made more of an effort than Owen, but again inconsistant throughout the game.

 

Duff - 5 - Another poor performance from Duff.

Guthrie - 7 - Has to start against Stoke.

Carroll - 5 - No real contribution to the game imo.

[joeyt]

R Taylor - 5 - Why wasn't this lad taking any of the set pieces?

 

Were you even at the game?

[Guest toonlass]

R Taylor - 5 - Why wasn't this lad taking any of the set pieces?

 

Were you even at the game?

 

Did I type that, I am hungover as fuck.

 

I meant Why was this lad taking the set pieces.

[Frazzle]

Harper - 7 - Didn't do a lot wrong in my book.

 

R Taylor - 5 - Why wasn't this lad taking any of the set pieces?

Beye - 7 - Definitely a better RB but not terrible in the centre.

Coloccini - 4 - Just not good enough. Poor, poor performace today.

Enrique - 6 - Average tbh.

 

Jonas - 6 - Concentrate on the simple things man, you don't have to pass 23 men to impress us, just learn to pass the ball to someone you know.

Butt - 8 - Worked hard, tackled hard, better than he has been for a while now.

Nolan - 6 - Great work rate, faded like the rest of the team in the second half.

Lovenkrands - 5 - Better up front than on the wing.

 

Owen - 5 - Not good enough. Only seems interested when he has the ball, and didn't have it enough today. Infuriating.

Martins - 6 - Made more of an effort than Owen, but again inconsistant throughout the game.

 

Duff - 5 - Another poor performance from Duff.

Guthrie - 7 - Has to start against Stoke.

Carroll - 5 - No real contribution to the game imo.

 

Butt 8? :/

 

I can't remember him completing a pass, he was ****, as bad as ever.  The time that summed it up for me was when he was given the ball, managed to fall over, tried to pass on the floor and couldn't muster the strength to get it to a teammate.

 

Martins worked harder than Owen? Owen was chasing none stop, Martins just stood in front of his marker the whole game.

 

As for Jonas getting the same rating as Nolan?  You sure you haven't made a mistake there?

[Guest toonlass]

Harper - 7 - Didn't do a lot wrong in my book.

 

R Taylor - 5 - Why wasn't this lad taking any of the set pieces?

Beye - 7 - Definitely a better RB but not terrible in the centre.

Coloccini - 4 - Just not good enough. Poor, poor performace today.

Enrique - 6 - Average tbh.

 

Jonas - 6 - Concentrate on the simple things man, you don't have to pass 23 men to impress us, just learn to pass the ball to someone you know.

Butt - 8 - Worked hard, tackled hard, better than he has been for a while now.

Nolan - 6 - Great work rate, faded like the rest of the team in the second half.

Lovenkrands - 5 - Better up front than on the wing.

 

Owen - 5 - Not good enough. Only seems interested when he has the ball, and didn't have it enough today. Infuriating.

Martins - 6 - Made more of an effort than Owen, but again inconsistant throughout the game.

 

Duff - 5 - Another poor performance from Duff.

Guthrie - 7 - Has to start against Stoke.

Carroll - 5 - No real contribution to the game imo.

 

Butt 8? :/

 

I can't remember him completing a pass, he was ****, as bad as ever.  The time that summed it up for me was when he was given the ball, managed to fall over, tried to pass on the floor and couldn't muster the strength to get it to a teammate.

 

Martins worked harder than Owen? Owen was chasing none stop, Martins just stood in front of his marker the whole game.

 

As for Jonas getting the same rating as Nolan?  You sure you haven't made a mistake there?

 

Its opinion mate.

[Frazzle]

Harper - 7 - Didn't do a lot wrong in my book.

 

R Taylor - 5 - Why wasn't this lad taking any of the set pieces?

Beye - 7 - Definitely a better RB but not terrible in the centre.

Coloccini - 4 - Just not good enough. Poor, poor performace today.

Enrique - 6 - Average tbh.

 

Jonas - 6 - Concentrate on the simple things man, you don't have to pass 23 men to impress us, just learn to pass the ball to someone you know.

Butt - 8 - Worked hard, tackled hard, better than he has been for a while now.

Nolan - 6 - Great work rate, faded like the rest of the team in the second half.

Lovenkrands - 5 - Better up front than on the wing.

 

Owen - 5 - Not good enough. Only seems interested when he has the ball, and didn't have it enough today. Infuriating.

Martins - 6 - Made more of an effort than Owen, but again inconsistant throughout the game.

 

Duff - 5 - Another poor performance from Duff.

Guthrie - 7 - Has to start against Stoke.

Carroll - 5 - No real contribution to the game imo.

 

Butt 8? :/

 

I can't remember him completing a pass, he was ****, as bad as ever.  The time that summed it up for me was when he was given the ball, managed to fall over, tried to pass on the floor and couldn't muster the strength to get it to a teammate.

 

Martins worked harder than Owen? Owen was chasing none stop, Martins just stood in front of his marker the whole game.

 

As for Jonas getting the same rating as Nolan?  You sure you haven't made a mistake there?

 

Its opinion mate.

 

Butt misplacing every pass isn't opinion though, its fact.

 

I'm not having a go like, just trying to vent some of my frustration caused by players like Butt. 

[Guest BooBoo]

Owen was far superior to Martins yesterday.

[Ronaldo]

cant believe anyone can look at Butt and Nolan and think they contributed anything yesterday. They were both typically absysmal

 

[Guest Heneage]

Sounds like Guthrie should easily start, him and Barton is a lovely thought.

[Ashley17]

Gah. Was always going to be hard to win against a good side, but if Shearer's ideas involve hoofing it to two midgets then good luck, especially against Stoke next week. Granted Chelsea make it difficult to play from the back but it was just atrocious at times. First half we did ok, didn't really have an effort though. Closest being Martins failing to swing his leg at a low cross and in abou the 2nd minute Jonas decided to try and kick a loose ball from a corner that Cech spilled instead of going with his head.

 

Second half we never got going, not helped by Duff being turbo shit and Coloccini being even worse. When he was pissing about for the first goal there was a sense of inevitability when he failed to clear it, and I've no idea what Ryan Taylor was doing on the line but it wasn't helpful. And Lampard nearly missed. Second goal was just too simple. After that it was the usual plodding around until full time, except for Owen's "goal." Harper had to make a lot of saves aswell.

 

Chelsea's fans are sickening, they said fuck all until they went in front then once they got the goals it was as if they'd won the league. Oh and they're going to Wembley. They sang the same song about 10 times in half an hour.

 

Harper - Some good saves, atrocious kicking. I'd hate to see him play Golf with all that slicing.

Ryan Taylor - Very very average. One good set piece. Numerous bad

Enrique - Defended pretty well, bit below his recent high standards

Colo - Shite, really piss poor.

Beye - Did okay out of position, look forward to him being back at right back.

Butt - Meh. Lots of endeavour but a yard too slow to everything.

Nolan - The same but hes 5 years younger. Oh dear.

Jonas - Decent enough, had nothing to work with.

Lovenkrands - Ran about a lot, hope he's okay

Owen - Plenty of tracking back and some nice touches in and around the box, will struggle when we hoo the ball

Martins - When Owen drops deep stay I wish he'd play through the middle, really shouldn't be having to contest long ball after long ball against Alex and Terry

 

Subs:

Duff - Turboshit.

Guthrie - I like this kid because he can pass a football and he gets more talented players on the ball.

Carroll - Too late to make any impact, tried anyway.

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

Good touchline insight

 

Even Alan Shearer fails to halt Newcastle United slide

Newcastle 0 Chelsea 2George Caulkin

No fanfare, no milking of the moment, no team huddle, no nonsense. And at the end of it all, as the hullaballoo dissipated and emotion seeped away from St James’ Park, no points to show for it. The new manager remained straight-backed and steely-eyed.

 

“There’s been enough said, written and sung about me,” Alan Shearer stated (he was not offering an opinion). “Now that’s all gone. Time to concentrate on what we’re here for.”

 

Newcastle United do not need a saviour. They are not, in spite of all those clichés, in the market for Messiahs. What they require is prosaic; organisation, discipline, pace, ability, better players. Off the pitch, they yearn for an owner with a bit of class and a modicum of good sense. And, yes, supporters crave a figure that they can construct their hopes around, but no more so than at Anfield, or at Arsenal or any other club.

 

In some ways, Saturday was a disheartening experience — partisan frenzy never quite consumed St James’ Park, its team was not transformed into tigers and Chelsea were mean-spirited — but in others, it was necessary. Mike Ashley and his cohorts have drained belief dry and Shearer does not want his arrival to make grown men weep; he wants it to feel like a splash of icy water.

 

 

Shearer is not offering dreams. He and Kevin Keegan are driven to their core, but they are different men; Newcastle is Shearer’s domain and his return is romantic, but his sentiment is calculating. Or, as he put it: “I can understand why people have chanted my name and want me here. But that means nothing to me — I want to be here to save this football club.”

 

After a season of turmoil and fractured promises, few Newcastle fans have their heads in the clouds. Under Ashley’s leadership — a contradiction in terms? — calamity always looms; despair has eased through Shearer’s appointment, but it has not been erased. They had eight games to avoid relegation. Now it is seven. They are still in the bottom three, three points short of safety.

 

Should it be grasped and Shearer stays — as he wants — there are rich possibilities but, for now, it is an idle, irresponsible thought. The good news is that the 38-year-old already looks, sounds and acts like a manager. The fit is natural. “I enjoyed it,” he said. “I didn’t enjoy coming away with nothing and then walking into the dressing-room, but that’s part of the job I was well aware of.”

 

Five minutes gone and he was shaking his head and bawling at José Enrique. “José! José! Hit it long.” As Chelsea attacked, Shearer swivelled on his heels and glared at his bench. “Who’s marking John Terry?”

 

A little later, there was a botched cross from Jonás Gutiérrez. “That’s f***ing useless!” He does not need soft-soaping; he will have recognised Fabricio Coloccini’s witless defending, the dearth of shots.

 

How Newcastle could do with Shearer as a player; the elbows, the backside, the free kicks, someone to hoard possession. “Have you seen my knees?” he said. “But, yes, you’re kicking every ball. And saying a few things, too. I apologise about my language, but I’m probably not the only one this season. It’s very different, very frustrating. But I can’t wait to get back in with them, to work with them, to see where we get.” The bug has bit.

 

Excuses were not embraced. A deflected effort from Michael Owen appeared to cross the line when Newcastle were two goals behind, but Shearer accepted that his side were already beaten. They held out until the 56th minute, when Coloccini’s sluggishness allowed Frank Lampard to score with an easy, stooping header, but had no answer, nor to Florent Malouda’s second. Steve Harper, the goalkeeper, was their best player.

 

So a battle lost and more to come. Hope is not rampant, but there is some. And Newcastle now have a figurehead, direction, a reason to be proud.

 

“Alan is very intelligent, a great personality,” Guus Hiddink, the Chelsea interim manager, said. “Normally when a team in this relegation zone are 2-0 down against Chelsea, they drop morale. But they fought back. This is basic for the upcoming time for Newcastle. He can manage it.”

 

[Cronky]

 

Guus Hiddink, the Chelsea interim manager, said. Normally when a team in this relegation zone are 2-0 down against Chelsea, they drop morale. But they fought back. This is basic for the upcoming time for Newcastle. He can manage it.

 

 

It was a scrappy performance, but this is what I noticed. The team kept believing, from first minute to last. Mental toughness is what we need at the moment, and Shearer has it.

[mrmojorisin75]

When has Carroll inflicted damage? He's out of his depth in premiership football, much like Shola

 

xisco then mate, a top two of owen & martins will get us relegated 'cause our midfield cannot provide for them

 

a battering ram like carroll (no one's saying he's a great player) or a xisco to try and hold up the play and allow the midfield to join and/or bring owen into the game is a must imo

 

as i say stick with the top two from saturday we'll go down i reckon

[Guest battyleespeed]

When has Carroll inflicted damage? He's out of his depth in premiership football, much like Shola

a battering ram like carroll (no one's saying he's a great player) or a xisco to try and hold up the play and allow the midfield to join and/or bring owen into the game is a must imo

 

as i say stick with the top two from saturday we'll go down i reckon

 

Spot on.

 

The only mistake has been that Ameobi was given the role of battering ram earlier in the season and thus that tactic didn't pay off as much as it could had. We'd really ought to put Carroll in there.

 

I wouldn't have a problem with playing two small statured strikers, if they'd be intelligent in their movement and quick. Martins is really f***** useless. He can only run straight forward and Owen just lacks the engine and aggression for the type of movement that is needed up front. Lovenkrands has been pretty good with his movement up front and despite lacking fitness seemed to know what he was doing. His performances actually showed how poor the two, Martins and Owen, have been all season. 

 

 

[mrmojorisin75]

When has Carroll inflicted damage? He's out of his depth in premiership football, much like Shola

a battering ram like carroll (no one's saying he's a great player) or a xisco to try and hold up the play and allow the midfield to join and/or bring owen into the game is a must imo

 

as i say stick with the top two from saturday we'll go down i reckon

 

Spot on.

 

The only mistake has been that Ameobi was given the role of battering ram earlier in the season and thus that tactic didn't pay off as much as it could had. We'd really ought to put Carroll in there.

 

I wouldn't have a problem with playing two small statured strikers, if they'd be intelligent in their movement and quick. Martins is really f***** useless. He can only run straight forward and Owen just lacks the engine and aggression for the type of movement that is needed up front. Lovenkrands has been pretty good with his movement up front and despite lacking fitness seemed to know what he was doing. His performances actually showed how poor the two, Martins and Owen, have been all season. 

 

 

 

agree with the lack of movement but as i said in a post elsewhere i also think a large part of that comes down to our diabolical midfield...if they were providing better balls to the front, MORE INTELLIGENT BALLS, then oba & owen would be able to improve themselves

 

look at it from their pov at the moment as 2 small strikers....what kind of pass are you likely to get in our team?