Newcastle United 1 - 2 Swansea City - 19/4/14 - Post match reaction from page 27

[r0cafella]

Sorry if Posted already but It seems like the penny has finally dropped with .COM

 

Alan Pardew became the first Newcastle manager ever to preside over five successive Premier League defeats, as Swansea eased their relegation fears thanks to goals in

added time at the end of each half on Saturday.

 

A woeful lack of quality from both sides left another 50K+ home crowd suffering in silence, the lifeless nature of the match giving it the air of a pre-season friendly.

 

And although a fifth successive defeat came to pass, the timing of both City goals - and United breaking their own scoring famine - meant that dissenting voices were only evident at full time: for 90 minutes this was a silent vigil.

 

Given his side's decline, the point that looked inevitable as the game moved into second half added time would have been seized upon by the manager as proof that the rot had been stopped - regardless of the feeble display that his disenchanted rabble of a side had served up.

 

An ill-advised lunge by Cheick Tiote on former smoggy Marvin Emnes changed all that though, stand-in referee Anthony Taylor correctly awarding a penalty and City striker Wilfried Bony shooting past Tim Krul.

 

Taylor had stepped up from fourth official duty after half an hour, when Chris Foy decided that he was unable to continue in the middle. The match referee had taken an early blow in the face from a ball that was blocked by Fabricio Coloccini, falling to the floor before resuming following some treatment from the United physio.

 

Having clung to the return of Mathieu Debuchy and Loic Remy like a life raft in the lead up to this game, Pardew opted to name both players on the bench, prompting inevitable comments of the "fit enough to play, fit enough to start" variety from fans and pundits alike.

 

And with a certain degree of inevitability, both players were on the field by the 40th minute mark, not because our colander-like defence had been breached, but due to injuries picked up by two of our front trio.

 

Fielding Shola Ameobi, Luuk de Dong and Papiss Cisse (the Hatem Ben Arfa "situation" dealt with by allowing him to return to France on Thursday with an alleged injury), the wide right role handed to Cisse didn't look to suit him and almost immediately he was hobbling with a leg problem.

 

Cisse's removal saw the arrival of Debuchy and a return to midfield for Vurnon Anita, while Remy replaced a dazed- looking De Jong shortly before the half time interval.

 

By then though, SJP had witnessed an all-too-rare goal, made even more of a collector's item by coming from Ameobi and involving an assist from De Jong.

 

Krul's long punt upfield was nodded on to De Jong by Shola, who took the Dutchman's return pass before turning to hit a low shot beyond Michel Vorm to register his first Premier League strike in a remarkable 1,399 minutes and only a second in his last PL 55 outings.

 

But rather than building on that lead though, the Magpies never looked like scoring twice for the first time at home in 2014 and continued in much the same sloppy fashion.

 

A brief flurry from Swansea before the break saw them level with the simplest of goals, Wilfried Bony leaving his marker Mike Williamson for dead before heading a right wing corner in unopposed at the near post.

 

The second period continued in a similar style with only a scuffed Dan Gosling volley and a speculative Vurnon Anita effort bothering Vorm.

 

Krul looked like he'd earned his side a point later on, when scurrying off his line to block Bony's run with his legs but neither side looked like adding to their first half strikes until the game moved into added time.

 

A home attack broke down in the City box and as the visitors swarmed forward, substitute Emnes sped into the box but looked to have been crowded out by Coloccini.

 

However Tiote opted to dive in and upend his opponent with a ridiculous challenge. That saw him booked and handed Swansea the chance to record their first away win under the guidance of Garry Monk and put some daylight between themselves and the bottom three.

 

Three games remaining then, and with the nightmarish prospect of what awaits us at the Emirates and Anfield, there's just one more afternoon of purgatory on Barrack Road before we can turn our back on this shower - and begin to worry about which three teams could possibly contrive to finish below us next May.... 

 

Gut-wrenching though it is to admit, as Bony ran up to take that penalty, our over-riding feeling was rooting for him to beat Krul -that's how much of a head f*ck watching this rubbish week after week has become.

 

And just as sadly, we'd willingly see Cardiff come here and win for the second time this season, were another home loss enough to prompt the demise of this discredited buffoon who calls himself the manager. Presumably the squad won't risk a lap of "honour" whatever the score....

 

Putting aside the "bigger picture" view we subscribe to that whoever fills the manager/coach role is immaterial while the current status quo prevails, something has to change if this end of season hangover isn't to become something far more elongated and debilitating. 

 

Tasked with achieving a top ten finish, home wins by Stoke City and Crystal Palace next weekend would see Pardew could take his side to Arsenal the following Monday down in eleventh spot.

 

Despite that though, his post-match burbling suggested he would have been content with a draw - an appalling lack of ambition mirrored in the inspid, pride-free apology of a performance he presided over, that again prompted scores of fans leaving with the score 1-1.

 

Thanking the fans for their backing (in reality not booing him or his side, but providing a vote of no confidence by their lack of support) was pathetic, while his suggestion that the winning goal could have been prevented had he been on the touchline just invited further derision - what did he intend to do, tackle an opponent? 

 

And maintaining his inconsistent streak, Pardew expressed his delight at returning to the dugout for our next game - having previously spoken about watching from the stands after his ban ended in a bid to modify his behaviour.

 

Yet more stream of consciousness twaddle and like his formations, tactics and motivational speeches, totally ignored by a dressing room that propelled him to the manager of the year title two years ago.

 

Now they just want to propel him. And so do we. A change of direction is needed, because everyone is heartily sick of going backwards.

 

Forget ambition, forget austerity. If we were playing in the Northern League you'd look at the lack of heart, lack of pride and lack of commitment from the eleven players sent out wearing our shirts and do something about it. And short of emptying the dressing room, the bloke who took the plaudits should now suffer the consequences.

 

Pardew mentioned Bobby Robson's side in his pre-match waffle. Today further emphasised to us that like the late Knight, there came a point when he had nothing left to say to his players, no cards left un-played. Maybe his current no.2 could share his recollections of that time...

 

The failure to appreciate that and act saw Robson remain in post at the end of the 2003/04 campaign, only to then be ejected just four games into the following season - when it became apparent that nothing had changed.

 

Exactly ten years on, that time has now arrived for the second-longest serving manager in the division to be relieved of his duties after the final whistle at Anfield next month - the same venue that the previous administration should have made Robson's last in 2004.

[NUFC]

Who was the new fourth official?

 

Gary Beswick apparently, he's a PL linesman from Hartlepool so he must have been acting as reserve assistant or there as a guest of someone. He was linesman for one of our midweek games recently (possibly Everton)

[sempuki]

Sorry if Posted already but It seems like the penny has finally dropped with .COM

 

Alan Pardew became the first Newcastle manager ever to preside over five successive Premier League defeats, as Swansea eased their relegation fears thanks to goals in

added time at the end of each half on Saturday.

 

A woeful lack of quality from both sides left another 50K+ home crowd suffering in silence, the lifeless nature of the match giving it the air of a pre-season friendly.

 

And although a fifth successive defeat came to pass, the timing of both City goals - and United breaking their own scoring famine - meant that dissenting voices were only evident at full time: for 90 minutes this was a silent vigil.

 

Given his side's decline, the point that looked inevitable as the game moved into second half added time would have been seized upon by the manager as proof that the rot had been stopped - regardless of the feeble display that his disenchanted rabble of a side had served up.

 

An ill-advised lunge by Cheick Tiote on former smoggy Marvin Emnes changed all that though, stand-in referee Anthony Taylor correctly awarding a penalty and City striker Wilfried Bony shooting past Tim Krul.

 

Taylor had stepped up from fourth official duty after half an hour, when Chris Foy decided that he was unable to continue in the middle. The match referee had taken an early blow in the face from a ball that was blocked by Fabricio Coloccini, falling to the floor before resuming following some treatment from the United physio.

 

Having clung to the return of Mathieu Debuchy and Loic Remy like a life raft in the lead up to this game, Pardew opted to name both players on the bench, prompting inevitable comments of the "fit enough to play, fit enough to start" variety from fans and pundits alike.

 

And with a certain degree of inevitability, both players were on the field by the 40th minute mark, not because our colander-like defence had been breached, but due to injuries picked up by two of our front trio.

 

Fielding Shola Ameobi, Luuk de Dong and Papiss Cisse (the Hatem Ben Arfa "situation" dealt with by allowing him to return to France on Thursday with an alleged injury), the wide right role handed to Cisse didn't look to suit him and almost immediately he was hobbling with a leg problem.

 

Cisse's removal saw the arrival of Debuchy and a return to midfield for Vurnon Anita, while Remy replaced a dazed- looking De Jong shortly before the half time interval.

 

By then though, SJP had witnessed an all-too-rare goal, made even more of a collector's item by coming from Ameobi and involving an assist from De Jong.

 

Krul's long punt upfield was nodded on to De Jong by Shola, who took the Dutchman's return pass before turning to hit a low shot beyond Michel Vorm to register his first Premier League strike in a remarkable 1,399 minutes and only a second in his last PL 55 outings.

 

But rather than building on that lead though, the Magpies never looked like scoring twice for the first time at home in 2014 and continued in much the same sloppy fashion.

 

A brief flurry from Swansea before the break saw them level with the simplest of goals, Wilfried Bony leaving his marker Mike Williamson for dead before heading a right wing corner in unopposed at the near post.

 

The second period continued in a similar style with only a scuffed Dan Gosling volley and a speculative Vurnon Anita effort bothering Vorm.

 

Krul looked like he'd earned his side a point later on, when scurrying off his line to block Bony's run with his legs but neither side looked like adding to their first half strikes until the game moved into added time.

 

A home attack broke down in the City box and as the visitors swarmed forward, substitute Emnes sped into the box but looked to have been crowded out by Coloccini.

 

However Tiote opted to dive in and upend his opponent with a ridiculous challenge. That saw him booked and handed Swansea the chance to record their first away win under the guidance of Garry Monk and put some daylight between themselves and the bottom three.

 

Three games remaining then, and with the nightmarish prospect of what awaits us at the Emirates and Anfield, there's just one more afternoon of purgatory on Barrack Road before we can turn our back on this shower - and begin to worry about which three teams could possibly contrive to finish below us next May.... 

 

Gut-wrenching though it is to admit, as Bony ran up to take that penalty, our over-riding feeling was rooting for him to beat Krul -that's how much of a head f*ck watching this rubbish week after week has become.

 

And just as sadly, we'd willingly see Cardiff come here and win for the second time this season, were another home loss enough to prompt the demise of this discredited buffoon who calls himself the manager. Presumably the squad won't risk a lap of "honour" whatever the score....

 

Putting aside the "bigger picture" view we subscribe to that whoever fills the manager/coach role is immaterial while the current status quo prevails, something has to change if this end of season hangover isn't to become something far more elongated and debilitating. 

 

Tasked with achieving a top ten finish, home wins by Stoke City and Crystal Palace next weekend would see Pardew could take his side to Arsenal the following Monday down in eleventh spot.

 

Despite that though, his post-match burbling suggested he would have been content with a draw - an appalling lack of ambition mirrored in the inspid, pride-free apology of a performance he presided over, that again prompted scores of fans leaving with the score 1-1.

 

Thanking the fans for their backing (in reality not booing him or his side, but providing a vote of no confidence by their lack of support) was pathetic, while his suggestion that the winning goal could have been prevented had he been on the touchline just invited further derision - what did he intend to do, tackle an opponent? 

 

And maintaining his inconsistent streak, Pardew expressed his delight at returning to the dugout for our next game - having previously spoken about watching from the stands after his ban ended in a bid to modify his behaviour.

 

Yet more stream of consciousness twaddle and like his formations, tactics and motivational speeches, totally ignored by a dressing room that propelled him to the manager of the year title two years ago.

 

Now they just want to propel him. And so do we. A change of direction is needed, because everyone is heartily sick of going backwards.

 

Forget ambition, forget austerity. If we were playing in the Northern League you'd look at the lack of heart, lack of pride and lack of commitment from the eleven players sent out wearing our shirts and do something about it. And short of emptying the dressing room, the bloke who took the plaudits should now suffer the consequences.

 

Pardew mentioned Bobby Robson's side in his pre-match waffle. Today further emphasised to us that like the late Knight, there came a point when he had nothing left to say to his players, no cards left un-played. Maybe his current no.2 could share his recollections of that time...

 

The failure to appreciate that and act saw Robson remain in post at the end of the 2003/04 campaign, only to then be ejected just four games into the following season - when it became apparent that nothing had changed.

 

Exactly ten years on, that time has now arrived for the second-longest serving manager in the division to be relieved of his duties after the final whistle at Anfield next month - the same venue that the previous administration should have made Robson's last in 2004.

Good article.

[Dave]

Pardew had feared they might turn against him with such vehemence Ashley would be forced to sack him. Instead they restricted themselves to gentle boos and isolated calls for the manager's head. To muttering rather than mutiny, inertia not insurgency. "I was actually buoyed by that, I must say," Pardew said. "I have to thank them. Our crowd were brilliant."

 

[TaylorJ_01]

Driven by failure, buoyed by apathy.

[Raconteur]

It's about fucking time .com stopped laying all the blame on Ashley and the players. Makes you wonder whether something brought it on, because it's been shite on the pitch for a long time now. Are they just getting on the bandwagon now it's gathering some sort of speed?

 

[Dr Venkman]

Yes

[Jayson]

Pardew had feared they might turn against him with such vehemence Ashley would be forced to sack him. Instead they restricted themselves to gentle boos and isolated calls for the manager's head. To muttering rather than mutiny, inertia not insurgency. "I was actually buoyed by that, I must say," Pardew said. "I have to thank them. Our crowd were brilliant."

 

 

Atleast they got to see Shola Ameobi score a meaningless goal in a game we lost to a side fighting relegation. Wouldnt want to miss that to actually help make the club better again, lets support the current regime & then moan about the shite football we're being made to watch when we get home.

 

Might be better next week though.

[TRon]

Pardew had feared they might turn against him with such vehemence Ashley would be forced to sack him. Instead they restricted themselves to gentle boos and isolated calls for the manager's head. To muttering rather than mutiny, inertia not insurgency. "I was actually buoyed by that, I must say," Pardew said. "I have to thank them. Our crowd were brilliant."

 

 

 

[Sean]

It's about fucking time .com stopped laying all the blame on Ashley and the players. Makes you wonder whether something brought it on, because it's been shite on the pitch for a long time now. Are they just getting on the bandwagon now it's gathering some sort of speed?

 

Yep, people are fucking thick like. I said as soon as the papers turned on him that the general opinion would follow suit. Some people are too stupid to make their own minds up. I don't care in the slightest though, at least it's starting to happen now.