Skirge Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I posted in the match thread durring the 1st half that I hated the Big Sam drop off behind the ball shit that we were doing, we just invited them onto us, in the 2nd half we did much better chased the ball high up the pitch, gave them no time to pick the passes they could in the 1st half. But Harewood lasted about 10 mins doing this before he was fkd and Carroll still never really bothered doing it anyway, Nile does it as a natural part of his game and we need that effort from the off, I say give Loven and Nile a go upfront together they cannot be any worse that what we have tried so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Going by the Forest game, there seemed to be 2 problems. Firstly, yes, Harewood was poor. He's always been a bit limited, but you could usually depend on him for a bit of aggression and a willingness to knock defenders around. On Saturday, he seemed to have a very distracted look about him, and we couldn't even depend on him for a bit of physical presence. Secondly, two big centre forwards alongside one another isn't ideal. In the first half, we were trying to hit long balls to them, which didn't work. We kept it on the deck in the second half and dominated the game, but neither striker looked much like scoring. A lot of our goals this year have come from the midfield, and whilst we didn't look like world-beaters with a 4-4-1-1, we were still getting results. I think we should go back to that formation. Either that, or we should go with Ranger, who can at least run down the channels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 What surprised me wasn't the poor first touch or finishing, but that he kept on getting eased off the ball and that he was slow as shit in possession. He might not be at full fitness, and remember it was uncertain if he would even make that match, so i wouldn't want to judge him too harshly, but it is a little worrying. I also agree with Tron about ball retention. Ranger is, oddly enough, the best striker we have for stickability, he can run down loose passes, has a good touch, is strong, and plays it back to midfielders sensibly. Carroll is a bit more raw, and doesn't do the basics as well as Ranger, but on the other hand he takes more risks and is more creative for others (as well as scoring more so far). These are our two 'second strikers' and one of them should be played alongside one of either Harewood or Lovenkrands, our current 'number 9' type forwards who play on the shoulder. Since Carroll and Harewood were poor on saturday i'd be inclined to try Ranger and Lovenkrands. Gol said Scunthorpe's centre halves are liable to being turned and these two are also our fastest forwards. But until Shola returns none of the 4 stand out as being dead certs for a starting position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heron Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 The answer to our poor performances is that we lack width and drive. Smith getting booked in the 2nd minute killed the game for us on Saturday. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BooBoo Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I've said this in several threads but it's the lack of creativity that's costing us. Our collection of strikers aren't the sorts who will create their own chances. They need service and at the moment they're feeding on crumbs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
binnsy Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Harewood was absolutely shocking on Saturday, not sure what it looked like on TV but from where i was behind the goal his movement and general desire to get on the ball was woeful, we'd have had better movement if we'd played Jackie Milburns statue up front. Also after watching the highlights last night how bad was that miss when Taylors free kick hit the post, strikers should not be missing the ball when they come across them like that. Yes Carroll wasn't much better but at least he was putting himself about, plus for all the arguments about his touch most of the balls he was getting were coming to him somewhere between hip and head height with a big strong centre in Morgan battering into the back of him. From my point of view i think with the players that we have in our squad we need to be going back to the 4-5-1, 4-4-1-1 formation, filling the midfield and playing Nolan off the lone striker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 The answer to our poor performances is that we lack width and drive. Smith getting booked in the 2nd minute killed the game for us on Saturday. A booking the ref said sorry to Smith for at HT Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frazzle Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2009/10/19/hughton-plays-down-marlon-harewood-snub-72703-24964269/ Didn't notice this at the time. It would be stupid to blame one player for anything but maybe Harewood has dragged down the morale a little since he came? Either way, he should stop being a ****, he was crap all game and deserved to come off even earlier. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowen Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I've said this in several threads but it's the lack of creativity that's costing us. Our collection of strikers aren't the sorts who will create their own chances. They need service and at the moment they're feeding on crumbs. Our midfield was the worst in the premiership last season and has only got worse. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skirge Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 He did not travel back with the squad Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowen Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 The answer to our poor performances is that we lack width and drive. Smith getting booked in the 2nd minute killed the game for us on Saturday. A booking the ref said sorry to Smith for at HT I was still trying to get my pint finished on the concourse and missed it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustynrg Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2009/10/19/hughton-plays-down-marlon-harewood-snub-72703-24964269/ Didn't notice this at the time. It would be stupid to blame one player for anything but maybe Harewood has dragged down the morale a little since he came? Either way, he should stop being a ****, he was crap all game and deserved to come off even earlier. He was the worst player on Saturday, lost the ball everytime he got it. He wants to be grateful we've taken him on - hopefully he'll be gone in January. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I've said this in several threads but it's the lack of creativity that's costing us. Our collection of strikers aren't the sorts who will create their own chances. They need service and at the moment they're feeding on crumbs. Our midfield was the worst in the premiership last season and has only got worse. Yep. Bad though Harewood was, I don't think it should excuse the poor show from so many midfielders which has been a feature before Marlon turned up. The fact that both strikers were in a constant battle to win high balls and rarely had the ball played to feet shows just what a poor service they got. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayson Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Its not going to be a complete coincidence that we've got these results when he's been in the side. The rest of the side wasnt playing much worse a few games ago & we were getting results. So its not perfect, but we need a solution to get back on winning ways. If that means we have to have players who can make something out of longball football then do that instead, harewood losing us possession = endless chances we could have had to score dissapearing. Rangers probably less clinical right now, but we'd probably keep possession more & other players would get into more attacking positions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyn davies Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Oh well I suppose Hughton will sign Harewood on a permanent contract seeing as he's sh*te Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Apart from Ipswich, we've actually been pretty poor since the transfer window closed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Apart from Ipswich, we've actually been pretty poor since the transfer window closed. I'd forget about the Ipswich game tbh, there won't be an easier game all season. that side just looked lost. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cp40 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Apart from Ipswich, we've actually been pretty poor since the transfer window closed. perhaps the players were playing to be away while it was open Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Apart from Ipswich, we've actually been pretty poor since the transfer window closed. perhaps the players were playing to be away while it was open That and/or they were worried a proper manager might come in. Now it's confirmed to be soft-touch Chris they're back to taking the piss. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I don't know if it's been discussed anywhere else, but there's this story in the Chronicle about a major row between Calderwood and Harewood after the Bristol game. It also says that Harewood refused to shake Houghton's hand when he came off against Forest. There may be something in it. There's was something seriously wrong with Harewood's frame of mind on Saturday. He wasn't committed at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weezertron Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 I don't know if it's been discussed anywhere else, but there's this story in the Chronicle about a major row between Calderwood and Harewood after the Bristol game. It also says that Harewood refused to shake Houghton's hand when he came off against Forest. There may be something in it. There's was something seriously wrong with Harewood's frame of mind on Saturday. He wasn't committed at all. Wouldn't surprise me that Harewood was pissed that they made him play dispite carrying an injury (he seemed to have overcome his foot injury too quickly considering how shit our medical staff are). I agree, there's no way that Marlon or any player could be that shit without something being wrong, whether a bust up or not being fit to play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Decky Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 They need to lay off the booze and pizzas. Seriously though, it seems like some of them are having quite a few big nights out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mantis Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 They need to lay off the booze and pizzas. Seriously though, it seems like some of them are having quite a few big nights out. Its ok they will be putting 200% into Tuesdays game to make up for Saturday. Lets hope the Caretaker decided to play midfielders in their right position as an absolute minimum. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 We played about as badly as I can ever remember at SJP against QPR until Harewood came on. I think we've missed Coloccini in the last 3 games. He's obviously part of our best defensive unit and allows us to play the high line effectively with his clever distribution. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mowen Posted October 20, 2009 Share Posted October 20, 2009 We played about as badly as I can ever remember at SJP against QPR until Harewood came on. I think we've missed Coloccini in the last 3 games. He's obviously part of our best defensive unit and allows us to play the high line effectively with his clever distribution. We've still only conceded 2 in the last three though, one of which was a deflected shot from outside the area. It's the continued lack of ability to create or finish anything meaningful going forward which is costing us and it's down to the midfield not functioning properly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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