Fabricio Coloccini (now retired)

[TRon]

Having seen it again, I think it's more Taylor's fault. He should win that ball every time, Coloccini's mistake was expecting him to do so and leaving himself on the back foot against Bale.

having seen it again (and again and again) taylor could have done better but as last man, colo was flat footed and slow to react. most of the blame goes to colo here.

 

He was flat footed because he expected Taylor to win the earlier challenge which until the last second it looked like he was going to.

[Dr Venkman]

I don't think he's finished, or anywhere near it, but I do think he should be replaced by Mapou once we're safe. We need to be preparing for next season asap.

[Tooj]

He was dogshit today.

 

Nar.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Having seen it again, I think it's more Taylor's fault. He should win that ball every time, Coloccini's mistake was expecting him to do so and leaving himself on the back foot against Bale.

having seen it again (and again and again) taylor could have done better but as last man, colo was flat footed and slow to react. most of the blame goes to colo here.

 

He was flat footed because he expected Taylor to win the earlier challenge which until the last second it looked like he was going to.

 

Even if Taylor had tried to win it, he might have been too far away. And Colo couldn't react quick enough from his starting position. And Bale is lightening quick. It was really unlucky for them both TBF, and yard or two difference in either of their positions and it's not a goal.

[TRon]

Having seen it again, I think it's more Taylor's fault. He should win that ball every time, Coloccini's mistake was expecting him to do so and leaving himself on the back foot against Bale.

having seen it again (and again and again) taylor could have done better but as last man, colo was flat footed and slow to react. most of the blame goes to colo here.

 

He was flat footed because he expected Taylor to win the earlier challenge which until the last second it looked like he was going to.

 

Even if Taylor had tried to win it, he might have been too far away. And Colo couldn't react quick enough from his starting position. And Bale is lightening quick. It was really unlucky for them both TBF, and yard or two difference in either of their positions and it's not a goal.

 

It looked like Taylor stumbled slightly when going for the challenge which allowed Bale to steal that vital yard. In any case, Bale caused us a lot of problems all afternoon. I don't know if anyone was detailed to keep him quiet but it didn't work.

[The College Dropout]

Having seen it again, I think it's more Taylor's fault. He should win that ball every time, Coloccini's mistake was expecting him to do so and leaving himself on the back foot against Bale.

having seen it again (and again and again) taylor could have done better but as last man, colo was flat footed and slow to react. most of the blame goes to colo here.

 

He was flat footed because he expected Taylor to win the earlier challenge which until the last second it looked like he was going to.

 

Even if Taylor had tried to win it, he might have been too far away. And Colo couldn't react quick enough from his starting position. And Bale is lightening quick. It was really unlucky for them both TBF, and yard or two difference in either of their positions and it's not a goal.

 

It looked like Taylor stumbled slightly when going for the challenge which allowed Bale to steal that vital yard. In any case, Bale caused us a lot of problems all afternoon. I don't know if anyone was detailed to keep him quiet but it didn't work.

 

We either tried to make him defend or ignored him. He plays the Cronaldo position for Spurs though. Looks like he's told not to track back too deep/much and be up the field to spring counters like Cronaldo. That leaves the LB vulnerable but we didn't we get at him. I think it was the City match, Vertoghnen was playing LB, no protection whatsoever. He was knackered lol.

[Elliottman]

I thought up until the second goal he put it some vital blocks and was playing really well. Seem to remember Lennon running at him and he just took the ball off him. Couple of crosses he read really well too. He isnt himself like no doubt but thought he was ok yyesterday. Still cant decide who was at fault for the 2nd, bit of both maybe.

[KDT]

I think Yanga-Mbiwa is going to be good.

[Unbelievable]

I think Yanga-Mbiwa is going to be good.

 

[Hanshithispantz]

:I see what you did there:

[KDT]

He was f***ing brilliant against Chelsea like.

He certainly hasn't been in the form of last season no doubt about it.

The Sunderland match he was great.

Whilst i don't think he should be dropped in the PL, Coloccini has been poor consistently since S'land.

 

Fully agree with "he hasn't been at the races" comment. I was saying he was playing poorly before the news came out that he wanted to leave and I got shouted down, people blaming Willo or simply overlooking poor mistakes by Colo etc.

 

 

Same with Cisse, a bunch of excuses/overlooking faults.

For his standard, can people really argue against the claim he's been poor this season?

Whilst i don't think he should be dropped in the PL, Coloccini has been poor consistently since S'land.

 

Fully agree with "he hasn't been at the races" comment. I was saying he was playing poorly before the news came out that he wanted to leave and I got shouted down, people blaming Willo or simply overlooking poor mistakes by Colo etc.

 

I don't understand that. For a CB to be actually poor as in very, very bad indeed. You would have to want him dropped.

For his standard, can people really argue against the claim he's been poor this season?

 

Absolutely. Colo since he arrived at the club has only had one season where he has been absolute world class and consistent. The Championship doesn't count and for the other seasons at the club he has shown a tendency to have a poor game every here and then. The guy is a top class footballer but like all defenders when there is a lack of help he is prone to have a mistake or so. Look at most top defenders. I mean in the PL, Kompany, Skrtel, Lescott, Ferdinand, Cahill, David Luiz all of them have had one or two costly mistakes.

 

So your argument is an absolute shitfest. Colo has been steady for our last three games. He was nowhere near at fault for the penalty caused by Debuch, or the fact that Perch can't react to a freekick, because let's be honest here, a freekick from that range should never go in when hit at that height. It wasn't a very good freekick and it still went in. And for the 2nd goal both our CBs were at equal amount of fault, so based on that logic Streete and MBiwa should start since they haven't been bad this season yet.

How many genuine "poor mistakes" has he actually made? You do your argument no favours when you list giving a free kick away as one of them.

Off the top of my head, I can think of Fulhams's second where he lost Rodellega, Stokes second where he didn't track Jerome and Bales second on Saturday. He was also recklessly sent off against Liverpool and wasn't great against Arsenal.

 

Not poor all season but certainly not as imperious as last season.

 

To me, he doesn't look fit and we also have to consider his off the field problems too.

 

EDIT: Suarez's goal and Bruges' first weren't exactly his finest moments either.

So we're probably looking at half a dozen mistakes that have led to goals in 20 odd Premiership games, I doubt that's too far off any other season barring last year, where he was playing in a side that collectively finished 5th.

 

We've shipped goals for fun at times this season, a centre back is hardly going to be covered in glory, but I think he's looked solid all season except for when we've came up against pacey hard working forwards, who he's always struggled against.

So off the top of your head you've got 6, 2 of which were against the most in form players in the league at the time in Suarez and Bale.

 

I'm not saying he is beyond criticism but for every mistake you've just listed I could probably pick out a game this season where he has been the best player on the pitch. Yeah he hasn't been as good as last season where is was one of the best CBs in the league, but he certainly hasn't done enough to justify being dropped from the team.

[KDT]

I feel I may have gone too far.

[pi_D]

Get out.

[Wilson]

http://img.skysports.com/13/01/218x298/MYM_2890035.jpg

 

 

[Kanji]

I think Yanga-Mbiwa is going to be good.

 

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Poor defeding is poor defending.

 

 

"He let Bale get the ball, move on".

 

Aye, getting sent off for no reason and missing 3 games, who cares though?

 

 

Oh he's not physical. That's not a problem in the Premiership.

 

 

Never he said he's looked a shambles. But he been under-performing, you see the difference? We have been poor as a team and as indivduals largely. Colo has been poor, can we just admit that? Never said he's unfir or declining but I do think one of the reasons for his own personal dip in-form is the issues that make him want to leave.

 

What is your last question about? We wouldn't be 15th had he performed like last season. same way we wouldn't be 15th if Cisse had scored 15 goals this term. We wouldn't have finished 5th with this season's Cisse. He's a valuable member of the team, his performance directly correlates to points ffs.

He's one of the biggest differences in us winning/losing points.

 

 

Come again? The season we were relegated our two best performers were our right back and centre back. Ba was near the top of the scoring chart this season and yet how many points separated us from the relegation zone when he left? Fair to say Ba was a valuable member of the team, did his performances have a direct correlation to points?

 

Another case in point, the Sunderland game away this season (arguably Colo's greatest in a NUFC shirt). How many points did we get? There may be an indirect correlation with points obtained and the performances of a centre-back but the primary objective of football remains scoring more goals than your opposition. And I know you can trace an involvement to certain goals or certain incidents to back-up what seems to be a particularly semantic point (see below) but its far harder to measure his contribution to the team in the context of 90 minutes of a game. I.e. what would have happened had he not been playing.

 

Im not sure why you've found it necessary to go to such lengths in posting about Colocinni (and not every other member of our starting XI this season), your point seems to be he's been poor this season but doesn't warrant getting dropped. Fair point many may feel. Doesn't really warrant a huge amount of elaboration though.

 

Quite simply the team has not played well this season at all. This has had far more to do with how the team has been set up, coached, and to a degree as a result of the injuries suffered IMO.  A poorly performing team means that the margins of error for players are reduced and individual incidents receive far more focus than they would ordinarily.

 

Though I don't think it was a poor team performance take last Saturday, had we beaten Spurs I can imagine many people saying Colo had a good performance barring the goals, goal or whatever. Instead its he had a poor game. What he has been guilty of at times this season is a couple of lapses of concentration and frustration. He's been a ball playing centre-back in a team that has kicked the ball away for fun, playing alongside Mike Williamson, and part of team bereft of confidence that invites so much pressure onto itself. Mistakes are all but certain to occur in that environment. He has been considerably exposed this season by poor team play in a way that wasn't the case last season. Dont feel that his performance levels are necessarily dropping to any tangible degree.

 

Anyway more than happy to agree to disagree. 

 

Moved from Mapou thread.

[The College Dropout]

Both went on to look very crap. Bassong has only looked a good player again 3 years later. Bassong was good for such a young man but he wasn't that good.

 

Without Ba's goals we would've been in the relegation zone, no doubt in my mind.

 

With colo on the pitch we where heading for 3 points. IMO we would've won had he not got injured. We also lost the 3 games he was suspended for after L'pool.

 

Yes, had Colo not made those two mistakes it would've been an excellent performance? Had we scored 3, it would be noted but overlooked like our poorish closing down of Chelsea's goals the week before.

 

I agree Pardew's systems haven't benefited the whole team but IMO some of his senior players have let him down. Especially the spine of the team + Jonas.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

Both went on to look very crap. Bassong has only looked a good player again 3 years later. Bassong was good for such a young man but he wasn't that good.

 

Without Ba's goals we would've been in the relegation zone, no doubt in my mind.

 

With colo on the pitch we where heading for 3 points. IMO we would've won had he not got injured. We also lost the 3 games he was suspended for after L'pool.

 

Yes, had Colo not made those two mistakes it would've been an excellent performance? Had we scored 3, it would be noted but overlooked like our poorish closing down of Chelsea's goals the week before.

 

I agree Pardew's systems haven't benefited the whole team but IMO some of his senior players have let him down. Especially the spine of the team + Jonas.

 

The point about Beye and Bassong wasn't about what they amounted to after that season but the relationship between good performances and points.

 

I shouldn't have used the Sunderland game as an example as I forgot he was subbed off before their equaliser  . Nevertheless it probably wouldn't take too much research to find an instance of Colo playing well and being on the losing side in our colours.

 

I didn't say excellent, I said good, as in solid, competent etc. There has been debate as to the fault for the goals hence why I phrased it in the manner I did.

 

Anyway, that's just what I felt about it all.

[The College Dropout]

 

 

No, let's. He missed 3 games and we got 0 points. In the next 3, against slightly better opposition we got 4 points. Direct correlation there.

[Shays Given Tim Flowers]

 

 

No, let's. He missed 3 games and we got 0 points. In the next 3, against slightly better opposition we got 4 points. Direct correlation there.

 

Its completely flawed statistical analysis. If you want to hang your hat on it, in order to further your point that he has been poor but shouldn't be dropped, so be it.

 

I'm out.

[Optimistic Nut]

http://www.goal.com/es-ar/news/4442/argentinos-por-el-mundo/2013/02/14/3751376/volver-iba-a-ser-un-sueño

 

Interview with Colo saying if he has to fulfil his contract with Newcastle then he will.

 

Also says the winter signings have made us strong enough to compete in the league and in Europe.

[Beren]

Very good performance from Colo.

[Dokko]

Forgot he broke Crouch's jaw and knocked out 3 of his teeth.  naughty.

[Dave]

Thought he was class tonight, at his imperious best at times.

[Mole_Toonfan]

Thought he was class tonight, at his imperious best at times.

 

Was very impressed with his partnership with Mbiwa until we sat back towards the end, it was so easy for them that's how class it was.

 

Shame Colo might not be around for much longer to solidify the partnership.