Newcastle United 0 - 0 Derby County - 28/12/09 - post match reaction from p12

[Frazzle]

Just because he creates out wide doesn't mean his best position is out wide.  He creates goals because he's good footballer not because he's out on the wing.  He wasn't amazing last season, no surprise, we got relegated.

[Guest BooBoo]

Shown up again tonight as a tediously one dimensional team with a fairly cowardly manager.

[Thespence]

Just because he creates out wide doesn't mean his best position is out wide.  He creates goals because he's good footballer not because he's out on the wing.  He wasn't amazing last season, no surprise, we got relegated.

 

Just because he says he prefers playing CM does not make  his best position either.

[cp40]

Shown up again tonight as a club with a wanker for an owner

 

 

fyp

[Jayson]

Theres been nothing to base him being better on the wing on atall.

 

Hes done well on the wing, we've not even seen him in the middle in this league yet. Last season he did alright in the middle, played in several through balls for the strikers. He has good vision, hes good on the ball, he can move with the ball & he can loop it in from the middle anyway so makes no sense to leave him isolated on the wing. He can dictate play for us if given the chance.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Shown up again tonight as a tediously one dimensional team with a fairly cowardly manager.

 

I'd love to know what he says to them at half time after the second half performances at Barnsley, on Saturday and tonight.

[Nepharite]

s*** performance. But we should have still won, still managed to grind out 2 clear opportunities (Both Taylors) and one of them should have gone in.

 

One reason we didn't win that today apart from the missed chances = Smith and Nolan in the centre in a 442, absolutely shocking. Especially Nolan, he should be played off the striker or not at all, the midfield was nonexistent for periods in the first half and for the whole second half. Pathetic from Hughton that Guthrie didn't even get on at all when Nolan was clearly running on empty from about 55 mins. Furious that Nolan and Smith completed the 90 together.

 

[Frazzle]

Shown up again tonight as a tediously one dimensional team with a fairly cowardly manager.

 

I'd love to know what he says to them at half time after the second half performances at Barnsley, on Saturday and tonight.

 

Probably nothing.  Nolan probably gives the team talks.

[Guest Heneage]

Part of me wonders if the 'Let's show them who's boss' spirit is gone a bit from the players seeing as they are at the top and had a convincing lead so they now just think players will come and roll over for them.

[Mick]

 

 

I'd love to know what he says to them at half time after the second half performances at Barnsley, on Saturday and tonight.

 

I don't see him as the inspirational type, he reminds me of Roeder.  Shearer came in last year and slated our fitness; I think we have that same problem now so it’s not just Hughton sending them to sleep.

[Thespence]

Theres been nothing to base him being better on the wing on atall.

 

Hes done well on the wing, we've not even seen him in the middle in this league yet. Last season he did alright in the middle, played in several through balls for the strikers. He has good vision, hes good on the ball, he can move with the ball & he can loop it in from the middle anyway so makes no sense to leave him isolated on the wing. He can dictate play for us if given the chance.

 

Lets move the CCC 2nd most creative player if assists are a indicator just for the crack. The scouse thug should/is back soon so he will more than likely want to be/will be the main man in the middle of the park.

[Dave]

Theres been nothing to base him being better on the wing on atall.

 

Hes done well on the wing, we've not even seen him in the middle in this league yet. Last season he did alright in the middle, played in several through balls for the strikers. He has good vision, hes good on the ball, he can move with the ball & he can loop it in from the middle anyway so makes no sense to leave him isolated on the wing. He can dictate play for us if given the chance.

 

Lets move the CCC 2nd most creative player if assists are a indicator just for the crack. The scouse thug should/is back soon so he will more than likely want to be/will be the main man in the middle of the park.

 

You're assuming that his assists will just dry up in the centre - why?

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Part of me wonders if the 'Let's show them who's boss' spirit is gone a bit from the players seeing as they are at the top and had a convincing lead so they now just think players will come and roll over for them.

 

[Frazzle]

Theres been nothing to base him being better on the wing on atall.

 

Hes done well on the wing, we've not even seen him in the middle in this league yet. Last season he did alright in the middle, played in several through balls for the strikers. He has good vision, hes good on the ball, he can move with the ball & he can loop it in from the middle anyway so makes no sense to leave him isolated on the wing. He can dictate play for us if given the chance.

 

Lets move the CCC 2nd most creative player if assists are a indicator just for the crack. The scouse thug should/is back soon so he will more than likely want to be/will be the main man in the middle of the park.

 

You're assuming that his assists will just dry up in the centre - why?

 

I want to know this as well...I'm confused.

[Yorkie]

Just got in having felt my fingers all day long with no problems. My new stadium puffy jacket is the fucking BUSINESS.

 

Anyhow, my analysis. Sheff Wed, early goal. Plymouth, early goal. Peterborough, early goal. Swansea, early goal. Boro, early goal. We start every one of our home games at a million miles per hour and tend to grab an early goal or two (or three). Today we didn't and it was almost as if every single man in black and white went "uh shit, wtf do we do now?"

 

We should have won that game by an absolute landslide. Derby parked the bus infront of goal and even then they weren't very good at doing so. They offered absolutely no attacking threat and we sneaked through their (pretty pourus, it has to be said) backline on numerous occassions.

 

Today made a massive case for the likes of Harewood. People don't want us to keep him on cos he's sluggish, has pretty poor technique, appears lazy, 'is no better than what we've got'. But the guy can put the ball in the net and that was the only thing we were lacking today. I said the other day, i like our strikers, there's potential with some of them - but the likes of Marlon have got ten years experience of being in the right place at the right time and we saw that in his most recent appearances. I know Hughton dropped a dispicable bomb by dropping Shola and Guthrie (the latter being an absolutely disgraceful decision which i honestly can't get my head round) - but today was one of those games which needed an old carthorse to stab the ball in the back of the net. And since Nolan didn't seem as predatory as previous games, we needed a Harewood in there.

 

I've said on several occassions here that, because of the way we defend as a team, all we ever need to do is sneak a goal and it's three points. Today was no different to any of those scrappy 1/2-0s (it was arguably a better performance, infact), but no one but the sodding thing in the net.

 

It's frustrating but it's not a massive concern in my opinion. Newcastle at Christmas is Newcastle at Christmas, only this time our festive underachievement hasn't come in the shape of losses. So given our variating mishaps over the past two games, we've escaped in some ways and that's what Champions do. We're still a few points clear with West Brom to come here fairly soon and we should be confident of beating them. Roll on Jan.

 

Hughton needs batting over the head for his last two performances though.

 

Ratings:

 

Harper - Barely worth even rating.

 

Simpson - 5. Comfortable at the back but he might aswell have gone and sat in the East Stand in that second half cos he contributed a frustrating amount of nothing.

Taylor - 7. Solid as ever but should have scored, arguably on a couple of occassions.

Coloccini - 8. Stalwart, long may it continue.

Enrique - 6. Best footballer in the league in the first half. Frittered out and got sloppy in the second.

 

Taylor - 5. Similar to Simpson really. Canny free-kick but that was a shocking miss towards the end of the first half. Corners were pretty hopeless too.

Smith - 7. Put himself about well, won some tackles, passed the ball forward (watch and learn Nicky Butt)

Nolan - 7. See above.

Jonas - 7. Decent performance. Piled forward to good effect and his delivery was fairly decent too. The men in the middle should have been a lot better...

 

Carroll - 5. Contributed virtually nothing.

Lovenkrands - 6. Would have received the same rating, only he actually broke sweat, unlike his counterpart.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

 

 

I'd love to know what he says to them at half time after the second half performances at Barnsley, on Saturday and tonight.

 

I don't see him as the inspirational type, he reminds me of Roeder.  Shearer came in last year and slated our fitness; I think we have that same problem now so its not just Hughton sending them to sleep.

 

He strikes me as the sort of manager that the players 'like' rather than one who they think is any good.

 

[Thespence]

Shown up again tonight as a tediously one dimensional team with a fairly cowardly manager.

 

I'd love to know what he says to them at half time after the second half performances at Barnsley, on Saturday and tonight.

 

Sheff Wed (H), Palace (A), Blackpool (A), Peterborough (H), Swansea (H).

 

Would of lumped Watford in there as well but I reckon that was more down to Nolan getting sent off than CH half-time teamtalk.

[Jayson]

Several of Guthries assists have come from him dropping further into the middle anyway, so not sure where it comes from.

 

Probably only 2 or 3 of his assists have come from deep on the wing.

[Liam Liam Liam O]

Just got in having felt my fingers all day long with no problems. My new stadium puffy jacket is the fucking BUSINESS.

 

Anyhow, my analysis. Sheff Wed, early goal. Plymouth, early goal. Peterborough, early goal. Swansea, early goal. Boro, early goal. We start every one of our home games at a million miles per hour and tend to grab an early goal or two (or three). Today we didn't and it was almost as if every single man in black and white went "uh shit, wtf do we do now?"

 

We should have won that game by an absolute landslide. Derby parked the bus infront of goal and even then they weren't very good at doing so. They offered absolutely no attacking threat and we sneaked through their (pretty pourus, it has to be said) backline on numerous occassions.

 

Today made a massive case for the likes of Harewood. People don't want us to keep him on cos he's sluggish, has pretty poor technique, appears lazy, 'is no better than what we've got'. But the guy can put the ball in the net and that was the only thing we were lacking today. I said the other day, i like our strikers, there's potential with some of them - but the likes of Marlon have got ten years experience of being in the right place at the right time and we saw that in his most recent appearances. I know Hughton dropped a dispicable bomb by dropping Shola and Guthrie (the latter being an absolutely disgraceful decision which i honestly can't get my head round) - but today was one of those games which needed an old carthorse to stab the ball in the back of the net. And since Nolan didn't seem as predatory as previous games, we needed a Harewood in there.

 

I've said on several occassions here that, because of the way we defend as a team, all we ever need to do is sneak a goal and it's three points. Today was no different to any of those scrappy 1/2-0s (it was arguably a better performance, infact), but no one but the sodding thing in the net.

 

It's frustrating but it's not a massive concern in my opinion. Newcastle at Christmas is Newcastle at Christmas, only this time our festive underachievement hasn't come in the shape of losses. So given our variating mishaps over the past two games, we've escaped in some ways and that's what Champions do. We're still a few points clear with West Brom to come here fairly soon and we should be confident of beating them. Roll on Jan.

 

Hughton needs batting over the head for his last two performances though.

 

Ratings:

 

Harper - Barely worth even rating.

 

Simpson - 5. Comfortable at the back but he might aswell have gone and sat in the East Stand in that second half cos he contributed a frustrating amount of nothing.

Taylor - 7. Solid as ever but should have scored, arguably on a couple of occassions.

Coloccini - 8. Stalwart, long may it continue.

Enrique - 6. Best footballer in the league in the first half. Frittered out and got sloppy in the second.

 

Taylor - 5. Similar to Simpson really. Canny free-kick but that was a shocking miss towards the end of the first half. Corners were pretty hopeless too.

Smith - 7. Put himself about well, won some tackles, passed the ball forward (watch and learn Nicky Butt)

Nolan - 7. See above.

Jonas - 7. Decent performance. Piled forward to good effect and his delivery was fairly decent too. The men in the middle should have been a lot better...

 

Carroll - 5. Contributed virtually nothing.

Lovenkrands - 6. Would have received the same rating, only he actually broke sweat, unlike his counterpart.

 

I know I'm only picking up on a small amount of your post but I thought Smith & Nolan were both diabolical tonight.  Their midfield had 60 yards of free space in front of them every time they broke from the back.

[Frazzle]

Yorkie, 7/10 for Nolan?  He was rubbish.  

 

The reason Derby started to get into the game in the second half was because of the massive hole Nolan was leaving in the middle of the pitch.

 

2/10 for me.

[Mick]

 

He strikes me as the sort of manager that the players 'like' rather than one who they think is any good.

 

 

I agree, pity those whose opinion counts haven't a clue.

[Yorkie]

Yada Yada.

 

I know I'm only picking up on a small amount of your post but I thought Smith & Nolan were both diabolical tonight.  Their midfield had 60 yards of free space in front of them every time they broke from the back.

 

A 7 was generous for Nolan, probably - but not for Smith i'd say. Derby hardly came here to attack but Smith breaks up the play so well in this division and actually generates some forward momentum. He's meant to play deep - the full-backs have a chance to overlap and he passes the ball in a forward direction. It's good retaining of possession.

 

I honestly don't know what role Nolan plays. "The guy who scores quite a bit" is about the only label i can give him.

[Big Geordie]

Just watched the match - wish I hadn't bothered. Seemed to be an air of complacency amongst some of our lot. Some again seemed to be running on half steam. And once again, our lack of a Plan B was there for all to see. No-one in the midfield who could offer something a bit different and with our most creative player (Guthrie) sitting on the bench, Derby defended well (Addison looks like  he could be a player) and were worthy of their point. Our lot need to seriously need to buck their ideas up because this league is far from won.

 

Desperately need a quality playmaker sourcing in January.

[JH]

I know I'm only picking up on a small amount of your post but I thought Smith & Nolan were both diabolical tonight.  Their midfield had 60 yards of free space in front of them every time they broke from the back.

 

I agree. They're poor but can usually cover it up. Tonight, they were both shockingly bad.

[Mick]

 

I know I'm only picking up on a small amount of your post but I thought Smith & Nolan were both diabolical tonight.  Their midfield had 60 yards of free space in front of them every time they broke from the back.

 

And Harper kept us in it just before half time.