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Cardiff City 0 - 1 Newcastle United - 13/09/09 - post match reaction from p19


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        Houghton has been great his tactical nous really surprised me. We played hard teams so far this season yet we cop reasonably. Every team will have bad patches but it is better to face lesser teams than the hard ones. Luckily Relgation did a wonder of good to killer up the dead woods.

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Some baffling comments on here,  can't believe people are saying we were awful/crap.  I'd say we've just went to one of the so called best teams in the league,  who are always strong at home and done a top top professional job on the them with an excellent defensive display.  We started really well, took the lead and then sat back with 2 banks of 4 and said come on then break us down if your good enough and they've barely threatened Harpers goal.  It wasn't even like it was backs to the wall last ditch defending they rarely got into a shooting oportunity in the box.  Off the top of my head i can think of Rae's shot over just after we scored, Burke's shot which Harper saved comfortably and the penalty shout when Taylor blocked Chopras shot.

Yes it would've been great to go there and blow them away with a scintilating football display but we went there to win a game of football and did it well.

Smith was tremendous sitting in front of the 2 centre halfs,  Jose totally snuffed out of the creative threat of Burke, don't think Burke got past him all game, Joe Ledley is meant to be the best midfielder in the CCC but our midfielders never gave him a kick and young Ranger had another decent game up front on his own.  Yes we weren't that good going forward but we were leading the game and didn't need to bomb forward going for a 2nd.

 

If this is the kind of reaction from people on here after a 1-0 away win against one of the best teams in the league then god help us when we do get beat.   Some people on here want to give there heads a shake and look at the big picture.

 

Best post of the thread...if Harper can go through this season,doing the same as today,i.e. nothing,we'll be up by March.

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Guest nwgeordie

I believe there are some gentlemen on this forum that need to grow up. We  won, probably beating the best competion in the league we are in at the moment. Become an infomed Newcastle supporter and get behind the lads. Join me, I have been doing it for over 71 years, no matter what league they are in.

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Ranger isn't going to get any service with that midfield. Our only real route to goal with that team was to get Ranger to hold the ball up after dropping deep/wide, pile midfielders/fullbacks forward, and then hope that we somehow work it around well enough to create a chance for anyone who happens to be in and around the box. It's asking alot for Ranger to hold the ball up out wide and then get on the end of a cross or through ball, especially away from home against a solid team.

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Guest Alan Shearer 9

I'm happy. We could barely string three passes together, but I'm happy.

 

That's pretty much all anyone's said, but apparently that classes as moaning/whinging/not getting behind the team. :idiot2:

 

Stop moaning

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I'm happy. We could barely string three passes together, but I'm happy.

 

That's pretty much all anyone's said, but apparently that classes as moaning/whinging/not getting behind the team. :idiot2:

 

Stop moaning

 

Stop fucking him, then.

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Guest Alan Shearer 9

I'm happy. We could barely string three passes together, but I'm happy.

 

That's pretty much all anyone's said, but apparently that classes as moaning/whinging/not getting behind the team. :idiot2:

 

Stop moaning

 

Stop fucking him, then.

 

I've got a thing for dwarves mate mind your own business

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Wake up and smell the roses, guys.

 

Those on here who want this club to win in style every week need to understand that it is impossible in this league, in the condition our club is in.

 

Hughton,s tactics yesterday were spot on. We got the early goal and away from home aganst reasonable tough opposition, we got men behind the ball and frustrated them. Our lack of depth up front ensured we had to defend. I didnt think Cardiff looked particularly dangerous at all. Chopra never really threatened and their only real chance fell to Rae in the first half and that was defended well.

 

It was an excellent "ugly" win and a few more of those away from home until we can strengthen the squad, will not go amiss.

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The only thing that really worries me about our performance yesterday is the lack of running from Barton and Nolan. They need more movement, I find that because these two don't move enough Smith is under more pressure in defence than he should be, also Ranger lacks support in attack because the two don't run in quickly enough.

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Wake up and smell the roses, guys.

 

Those on here who want this club to win in style every week need to understand that it is impossible in this league, in the condition our club is in.

 

Hughton,s tactics yesterday were spot on. We got the early goal and away from home aganst reasonable tough opposition, we got men behind the ball and frustrated them. Our lack of depth up front ensured we had to defend. I didnt think Cardiff looked particularly dangerous at all. Chopra never really threatened and their only real chance fell to Rae in the first half and that was defended well.

 

It was an excellent "ugly" win and a few more of those away from home until we can strengthen the squad, will not go amiss.

 

Yeah! I hope all you people who have said that take note of this.

 

:rolleyes:

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The only thing that really worries me about our performance yesterday is the lack of running from Barton and Nolan. They need more movement, I find that because these two don't move enough Smith is under more pressure in defence than he should be, also Ranger lacks support in attack because the two don't run in quickly enough.

 

We basically need wingers. Very badly.

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Agreed. We need wingers when we play weaker opposition especially at home where we are really going for goals.

 

However, against teams like Cardiff, Boro, WBA, Sheffield Utd etc away, the ability to keep possession in midfield or get players back behind the ball and hit the opposition on the break is more paramount than the use of wingers in an attacking sense.

 

Our main problem yesterday was the substitutions. I would not have taken off either Guthrie or Taylor because I thought they were contributing more to the team than the likes of Nolan and to a lesser extent, Barton. Barton was isolated on the left much of the time but his ability to hold on to the ball and try and play little intricate passes was there to be seen although the likles of Nolan failed to support him. I would much prefer to see Barton through the middle than out on the wing but under yesterdays conditions, I thought he did OK.

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I agree with what you're saying to an extent, but the need for wingers isn't purely about getting attacks in from out wide imo, it's also about keeping central midfielders not suitable for playing out wide in the middle where they can perform to an adequate degree.

 

Our current first team midfield options (or regulars) are all to a man central midfielders, bar Ryan Taylor who is a fullback. None of them have the ability, pace, dribbling or movement to play out wide. They're all too slow and too limited for that area of the pitch, and I'd venture so far as to say they simply don't know how to play there, much like Lovenkrands doesn't know what do when he's playing out wide as opposed to up front (this also applies to Nolan up front). Even if the game requires a solid defensive shift from all areas of the pitch, these guys are still causing problems because they're inviting pressure by being out of position/losing the ball/not supporting teammates/etc.

 

Hence, I'd view the central midfielders out-of-position issues as being a fundamental reason for why there's very little support or movement once we're in attack, so we need to get other players in who can then allow the better midfielders to play where they're supposed to play. Of course, with Ashley being a Scrooge we'll not bring wingers in, so it's a mute point.

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A good result but the team lived dangerously in the second half.

 

The ball was given away too easily far too many times, with Barton the main culprit ; he is starting to look lazy/casual, and you cannot do this at this level because you will be hustled into errors.

 

Ranger did a sterling job up front on his own - even when Lovenkrands came on, he received little support and therefore attacks broke down easily ; hopefully, Carroll's presence will make a big difference to being able to keep the ball when it is played up front, because although we got away with it today, there will be times when the opposition score first, and when that happens we will struggle to equalise without getting caught on the break....

 

Whilst Taylor didn't deliberately handle, I have seen pens awarded for those sort of ball-to-hand incidents in the area, notably when Beresford was penalised in a game after promotion in 94 - there was no way he could have got his hand out of the ball's path, but the ref still gave a pen......

 

Enrique(and the whole defence) did well, but he did make one mistake near the end which could have been costly - otherwise, he is looking very composed at this level as a defender.

Great goal by Coloccini, esp as he won the ball ,played it out to the wing and then ran in to meet the cross,

Still have questions over his defensive play at times. It was his error that forced Smith into a rash challenge on the edge of the area second half...

 

3 very valuable points and very welcome, but I still feel we will have tougher challenges - they seemed a bit wary of us for the first 20 mins of the game and we will have tougher battles at places like Boro and Sheff Utd in my opinion.

 

Just hope that Ashley's lack of spending(esp for forward players) does not come back to haunt us - no question that Smith will be sorely missed whilst he is suspended.

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Merlin

 

A fair assessment of the game and quite right about the penalty decision. If I was Cardiff, I would have been miffed to say the least, although it wasnt exactly deliberate, Chopra's shot could have beaten Harper.

 

I felt a bit sorry for Barton, in a way. He was too many times, hemmed in on the byeline with no movement from Ranger, Nolan or Enrique to give possession too. Therefore, he ultimately lost possession because of this.

 

The defence handled most things well and the tactic of playing Smith just in front of the back four to handle the Bothroyd effect worked well. I was amazed at the commentators who seemed to go into ecstacy everytime Chopra got the ball. I thought that it was clear that they really wanted to see us shot down in flames by him. Suffice to say, it was an excellent result and with new loan signings coming in soon hopefully, players coming back (Guti, Ameobi, Carroll), we will be all the better for it. Nice to know also that we have already got two very tough away trips out of the way in Cardiff and WBA with a good points return.

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Merlin

 

A fair assessment of the game and quite right about the penalty decision. If I was Cardiff, I would have been miffed to say the least, although it wasnt exactly deliberate, Chopra's shot could have beaten Harper.

 

I felt a bit sorry for Barton, in a way. He was too many times, hemmed in on the byeline with no movement from Ranger, Nolan or Enrique to give possession too. Therefore, he ultimately lost possession because of this.

 

The defence handled most things well and the tactic of playing Smith just in front of the back four to handle the Bothroyd effect worked well. I was amazed at the commentators who seemed to go into ecstacy everytime Chopra got the ball. I thought that it was clear that they really wanted to see us shot down in flames by him. Suffice to say, it was an excellent result and with new loan signings coming in soon hopefully, players coming back (Guti, Ameobi, Carroll), we will be all the better for it. Nice to know also that we have already got two very tough away trips out of the way in Cardiff and WBA with a good points return.

I do agree with you on Barton, he likes to hold the ball and thread little intricate passes through, hard to do when there's noone around you. To be fair to the commentators Chopra the little brat did cause us a lot of problems, I felt he was at the heart of Cardiff's attacks, running, holding the ball and playmaking. The quality around him just wasn't good enough to beat our defence, apart from when we got lucky a couple of times.

Maybe it's just me, but for most of the game I was thinking, hey if we had chopra alongside ranger supporting Nile's hold-up play we'd rip this league apart.

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Yes, Chopra was very active but other than one ball from the byeline to Rae, who shot over the bar and the penalty appeal, I thought he was largely ineffective and as we say here in Australia, ran around the park like "a chook with no head". Maybe he was just too desperate to score but I was never really worried by him.

 

As for someone else supporting young Ranger, I can think of far better options than Chopra.

 

As for Ranger, the kid did well, particularly in the first half and it was a quality far post leap that contributed to the goal although I must admit, I thought the ref would blow for a free kick before Taylor played it back in. The lack of support was tough on him and there will be times when he will look dangerous especially at home. However, he has a long way to go in his education and hopefully, he will be nurtured rather than thrown to the lions, as our only current option.

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