Newcastle United 2-0 Middlesbrough - 20/12/09 - post match reaction from page 15

[Willow]

Solid performance in bloody freezing conditions, clean sheet, some great performances and 10 points clear!

 

I'm well happy

[The Bonk]

Oooohhh, Shearer reckons we are definitely up, without a problem...

 

BBC Sport pundit Alan Shearer: "They've not hit top gear yet. From what I've seen in this league, the big difference is the forwards. Newcastle have the players to finish teams off"

 

Can't wait till we hit top gear. We're pissing this league at half speed.

[GM]

Anyone remind me why Middlesbrough sacked Southgate 

 

Just had a look on their forum, many of them are blaming him for where they are now 

 

From the beeb site: From lewisbroad on Twitter: "I bet Middlesbrough only appointed Gordon Strachan to save money on putting new initials on the manager's jacket..."

 

They should be grateful. It could have been Graeme Soumess.

[ChezGiven]

Rich, that was his only mistake and it wasnt really a mistake, it was a first time volleyed pass which swerved the wrong way for Jonas.

 

He didnt give the ball away either so which was the other pass?

 

As soon as he came on he did an overhead kick in the middle of the pitch to put it out for no reason.

 

A few mins afterwards from a corner he crossed it out of play towards the corner flag.

 

Just have a look back in this thread man, you werent watching if you missed his mistakes. He got better as the game improved yes, boro were already down by that point.

 

We looked better when he came on and i didnt see him 'give the ball away'. I dont classify a defending overhead kick as that. Dont remember the cross. Thats one example then.

 

The fact that you think i should be looking in this thread instead of watching the game speaks volumes.

 

 

[Cronky]

In the last 15 minutes, we played the best football that I've seen from us this season. We need to carry that confidence into the next few games. I know we're top by 10, but I actually think our performances can improve. We often seem to be paying the opposition too much respect.

[TRon]

Apart from that "pass" for Jonas I thought Butt did (surprisingly) well.

 

 

 

The problem isn't him or Smith, both can do the holding role, we need more from the fella playing in front of him.

[Rich]

In the last 15 minutes, we played the best football that I've seen from us this season. We need to carry that confidence into the next few games. I know we're top by 10, but I actually think our performances can improve. We often seem to be paying the opposition too much respect.

 

Do you have amnesia?

[Guest firetotheworks]

In the last 15 minutes, we played the best football that I've seen from us this season. We need to carry that confidence into the next few games. I know we're top by 10, but I actually think our performances can improve. We often seem to be paying the opposition too much respect.

 

Did you miss the Ipswich match?

[The Bonk]

Anyone remind me why Middlesbrough sacked Southgate 

 

Just had a look on their forum, many of them are blaming him for where they are now 

 

From the beeb site: From lewisbroad on Twitter: "I bet Middlesbrough only appointed Gordon Strachan to save money on putting new initials on the manager's jacket..."

 

They should be grateful. It could have been Graeme Soumess.

 

His big red nose would have looked good in Smoggie colours. 

[Cajun]

Apart from that "pass" for Jonas I thought Butt did (surprisingly) well.

 

 

 

The problem isn't him or Smith, both can do the holding role, we need more from the fella playing in front of him.

 

My view on it (well these days anyway) is if a player is doing something in most games that will make a big contribution to us winning then I will turn a bling eye to the rest.

 

As long as Harewood/Nolan/Shola continue scoring I will forgive their general poor performance. We can get away with it in this league, if we go up however....

[LiquidAK]

Pleased with that. No-one had a poor game, players that weren't great (Butt, Nolan) were still very solid. Enrique and Jonas started kind of lazy but got better and better as the game went on. Every game Colo plays he's looking more and more a Premier League defender, looks like he just needed time to settle. Guthrie can cross better than our wingers, and I love Shola.

[Frazzle]

Butt was crap as usual.  He made a fair few crap passes, it wasn't just the Jonas one.  What about when he decided to give it to our dugout?

[Pilko]

Harper 7 - Made the few saves he had to quite well. The way he managed to nose the freekick rebound with his nose onto the post and catch it was quite impressive. Decent in the box also on crosses.

 

Simpson 6.5 - left Lita unmarked from that early corner and also got booked and made one or two poor tackles, on the whole did fairly well without setting the world on fire and was relatively steady, particularly second half.

 

Coloccini 9 - total colossus at the back, Lita hardly had a kick all game. He certainly looks like the £10m defender that we bought, and has also learned Jose's knack of shadowing the ball out and using his strength. Better in the air than last season too. That instance in the second half when he sprinted half the pitch to keep the ball in, then skinned the player running towards him was great.

 

Taylor 8 - quieter than Coloccini but did quite well. Lots of pointing, "come short!" motions with the hand and pulling Frankenstein faces. Class handball also which for me made up nicely for Wintergate and Fat Eddie Murphy all them years ago.

 

Enrique 9 - brilliant in both attack and defence, crossing was hit-and-miss but supported attacks excellently. Also has the strength of "the bull" he is named after. He really is slumming it in this division.

 

Guthrie 7.5 - not a winger but did better than usual out wide, and what a ball for the second goal, total peach of a cross. Good for him to get 90 minutes under his belt and show his credentials. Set pieces on the whole good also.

 

Nolan 7 - some cracking tackles and the usual drifting into the box late. Distribution still leaves a bit to be desired but a good performance here imo. Seems to have shed a tiny bit of weight, also.

 

Smith 6.5 - few of his customary dive tackles early doors and kept things ticking along nicely until his departure in the second half. Almost scored too, surely it can't be long now!

 

Jonas 8 - won loads of free-kicks and lifted pressure from the back four by running with the ball. Much improved performance, and his link-ups with Enrique are divine. Hope he doesn't leave in January.

 

Ameobi 7.5 - Shola man, stop wrapping your hands around the bloody centre half! Did well holding the ball and won a few headers, obviously assisted the goal (well disguised foul btw) and scored that header.

 

Harewood 7 - Easy finish and could have had another. Seemed to try a lot harder than he has of late, but for me is worth his place in the starting 11 at the minute for his goalscoring. I've slagged him off as much as everyone else but I'm willing to admit he's beginning to win me over.

 

SUBS:

 

Butt (for Smith) 6 - Mixed bag. The overhead kick, wtf but just ticked things along nicely. Canny few good tackles too.

 

Ranger (for Harewood) 6 - Decent hold-up play and a good run to set up Nolan late on. Still learning certain parts of the game, but another canny little cameo from wor Nile.

 

Pancrate (for Ameobi) n/a - No time to make any real impact

 

[Jayson]

Rich, that was his only mistake and it wasnt really a mistake, it was a first time volleyed pass which swerved the wrong way for Jonas.

 

He didnt give the ball away either so which was the other pass?

 

As soon as he came on he did an overhead kick in the middle of the pitch to put it out for no reason.

 

A few mins afterwards from a corner he crossed it out of play towards the corner flag.

 

Just have a look back in this thread man, you werent watching if you missed his mistakes. He got better as the game improved yes, boro were already down by that point.

 

We looked better when he came on and i didnt see him 'give the ball away'. I dont classify a defending overhead kick as that. Dont remember the cross. Thats one example then.

 

The fact that you think i should be looking in this thread instead of watching the game speaks volumes.

 

 

 

I said you should check back in the thread to see reactions to the moments im talking about. Not while its happening.

 

A defending overhead kick in the middle of the pitch is fine yes, problem is he was surrounded by no one. We looked better because we scored a 2nd not long after he'd come on & Boro went massively off the pace.

 

I dont randomly dislike players anyway, ive backed Butt previously on his better games. I agree after the first 7 mins on the pitch, he didnt do much wrong apart from the ball passed to Jonas as others are mentioning. Put across a nice volley to Jonas also & played some nice passes sideways. Its when he tries to knock it fowards or we're under pressure defensively where it all goes wrong.

 

Its fine to say he had a decent game, but you're going way to far the other way by claiming he barely put a foot wrong. That is all

[Guest firetotheworks]

Harper 7 - Made the few saves he had to quite well. The way he managed to nose the freekick rebound with his nose onto the post and catch it was quite impressive. Decent in the box also on crosses.

 

Simpson 6.5 - left Lita unmarked from that early corner and also got booked and made one or two poor tackles, on the whole did fairly well without setting the world on fire and was relatively steady, particularly second half.

 

Coloccini 9 - total colossus at the back, Lita hardly had a kick all game. He certainly looks like the £10m defender that we bought, and has also learned Jose's knack of shadowing the ball out and using his strength. Better in the air than last season too. That instance in the second half when he sprinted half the pitch to keep the ball in, then skinned the player running towards him was great.

 

Taylor 8 - quieter than Coloccini but did quite well. Lots of pointing, "come short!" motions with the hand and pulling Frankenstein faces. Class handball also which for me made up nicely for Wintergate and Fat Eddie Murphy all them years ago.

 

Enrique 9 - brilliant in both attack and defence, crossing was hit-and-miss but supported attacks excellently. Also has the strength of "the bull" he is named after. He really is slumming it in this division.

 

Guthrie 7.5 - not a winger but did better than usual out wide, and what a ball for the second goal, total peach of a cross. Good for him to get 90 minutes under his belt and show his credentials. Set pieces on the whole good also.

 

Nolan 7 - some cracking tackles and the usual drifting into the box late. Distribution still leaves a bit to be desired but a good performance here imo. Seems to have shed a tiny bit of weight, also.

 

Smith 6.5 - few of his customary dive tackles early doors and kept things ticking along nicely until his departure in the second half. Almost scored too, surely it can't be long now!

 

Jonas 8 - won loads of free-kicks and lifted pressure from the back four by running with the ball. Much improved performance, and his link-ups with Enrique are divine. Hope he doesn't leave in January.

 

Ameobi 7.5 - Shola man, stop wrapping your hands around the bloody centre half! Did well holding the ball and won a few headers, obviously assisted the goal (well disguised foul btw) and scored that header.

 

Harewood 7 - Easy finish and could have had another. Seemed to try a lot harder than he has of late, but for me is worth his place in the starting 11 at the minute for his goalscoring. I've slagged him off as much as everyone else but I'm willing to admit he's beginning to win me over.

 

SUBS:

 

Butt (for Smith) 6 - Mixed bag. The overhead kick, wtf but just ticked things along nicely. Canny few good tackles too.

 

Ranger (for Harewood) 6 - Decent hold-up play and a good run to set up Nolan late on. Still learning certain parts of the game, but another canny little cameo from wor Nile.

 

Pancrate (for Ameobi) n/a - No time to make any real impact

 

 

I'd swap Nolan and Smith's marks, but other than that 100% spot on.

[Rich]

Butt was crap as usual.  He made a fair few crap passes, it wasn't just the Jonas one.  What about when he decided to give it to our dugout?

 

Get to fuck man, as Bluf would say.

 

Credit where credit is due, he certainly wasn't as crap as usual.

[Rich]

Harper 7 - Made the few saves he had to quite well. The way he managed to nose the freekick rebound with his nose onto the post and catch it was quite impressive. Decent in the box also on crosses.

 

Simpson 6.5 - left Lita unmarked from that early corner and also got booked and made one or two poor tackles, on the whole did fairly well without setting the world on fire and was relatively steady, particularly second half.

 

Coloccini 9 - total colossus at the back, Lita hardly had a kick all game. He certainly looks like the £10m defender that we bought, and has also learned Jose's knack of shadowing the ball out and using his strength. Better in the air than last season too. That instance in the second half when he sprinted half the pitch to keep the ball in, then skinned the player running towards him was great.

 

Taylor 8 - quieter than Coloccini but did quite well. Lots of pointing, "come short!" motions with the hand and pulling Frankenstein faces. Class handball also which for me made up nicely for Wintergate and Fat Eddie Murphy all them years ago.

 

Enrique 9 - brilliant in both attack and defence, crossing was hit-and-miss but supported attacks excellently. Also has the strength of "the bull" he is named after. He really is slumming it in this division.

 

Guthrie 7.5 - not a winger but did better than usual out wide, and what a ball for the second goal, total peach of a cross. Good for him to get 90 minutes under his belt and show his credentials. Set pieces on the whole good also.

 

Nolan 7 - some cracking tackles and the usual drifting into the box late. Distribution still leaves a bit to be desired but a good performance here imo. Seems to have shed a tiny bit of weight, also.

 

Smith 6.5 - few of his customary dive tackles early doors and kept things ticking along nicely until his departure in the second half. Almost scored too, surely it can't be long now!

 

Jonas 8 - won loads of free-kicks and lifted pressure from the back four by running with the ball. Much improved performance, and his link-ups with Enrique are divine. Hope he doesn't leave in January.

 

Ameobi 7.5 - Shola man, stop wrapping your hands around the bloody centre half! Did well holding the ball and won a few headers, obviously assisted the goal (well disguised foul btw) and scored that header.

 

Harewood 7 - Easy finish and could have had another. Seemed to try a lot harder than he has of late, but for me is worth his place in the starting 11 at the minute for his goalscoring. I've slagged him off as much as everyone else but I'm willing to admit he's beginning to win me over.

 

SUBS:

 

Butt (for Smith) 6 - Mixed bag. The overhead kick, wtf but just ticked things along nicely. Canny few good tackles too.

 

Ranger (for Harewood) 6 - Decent hold-up play and a good run to set up Nolan late on. Still learning certain parts of the game, but another canny little cameo from wor Nile.

 

Pancrate (for Ameobi) n/a - No time to make any real impact

 

 

I'd swap Nolan and Smith's marks, but other than that 100% spot on.

 

I'd take about 1 full point off everybody.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Only Leeds have conceded less goals

[ChezGiven]

Butt was crap as usual.  He made a fair few crap passes, it wasn't just the Jonas one.  What about when he decided to give it to our dugout?

 

Get to fuck man, as Bluf would say.

 

Credit where credit is due, he certainly wasn't as crap as usual.

 

Nah Rich, thats what frazzle would call an intelligent football post.

[Frazzle]

Butt was crap as usual.  He made a fair few crap passes, it wasn't just the Jonas one.  What about when he decided to give it to our dugout?

 

Get to f*** man, as Bluf would say.

 

Credit where credit is due, he certainly wasn't as crap as usual.

 

Not as crap as usual still = crap.  On his worst days its embarrassing.

[Guest firetotheworks]

Butt was crap as usual.  He made a fair few crap passes, it wasn't just the Jonas one.  What about when he decided to give it to our dugout?

 

Get to f*** man, as Bluf would say.

 

Credit where credit is due, he certainly wasn't as crap as usual.

 

On his own scale he was good.

 

On the scale of the being a footballer overall he was below average.

[Frazzle]

Butt was crap as usual.  He made a fair few crap passes, it wasn't just the Jonas one.  What about when he decided to give it to our dugout?

 

Get to f*** man, as Bluf would say.

 

Credit where credit is due, he certainly wasn't as crap as usual.

 

Nah Rich, thats what frazzle would call an intelligent football post.

 

Coming from someone who thinks keeping the ball is more tiring than last ditch defending...

 

You haven't got a clue.  

[Frazzle]

Butt was crap as usual.  He made a fair few crap passes, it wasn't just the Jonas one.  What about when he decided to give it to our dugout?

 

Get to f*** man, as Bluf would say.

 

Credit where credit is due, he certainly wasn't as crap as usual.

 

On his own scale he was good.

 

On the scale of the being a footballer overall he was below average.

 

Exactly.

[Guest Heneage]

What's Lovenkrands got to do to get a game? He scores against Watford, Swansea and hassles opponents, yet he's not had a look in the last two games.

[Jayson]

Strange to say as they both scored, but i think lesson learned is dont play Ameobi & Harewood together. Atleast dont play long balls to them if you do, we lost the ball doing that for a good 50 mins of the game. Both seem more useful with Loven next to them, maybe even Carroll.

 

Was much better when we knocked it around 2nd half, but still our only threat with them both was on crosses. Carroll offers danger from long balls & Loven is good with through balls. So id prefer to have those options to.