General NUFC stuff

[Choppy Chop Chop]

Where is Terry Hibbit, Tony Green, Wyn Davies, Bob Moncur  Frank Clark was a target for the Boo Boys and IMO should be nowhere near. 

[number37]

I was thinking about the all time best XI, give it a bit of thought, maybe too much thought, and came up with a lineup but then considered substitutions but couldn't remember how many subs are allowed these days and ended up with a squad big enough to take to a rugby World Cup. 

 

I also tried to think of a viable, feasible team based on playing style and also relationships with other players and how they would fit in with each other. It was a bit difficult when considering players from different eras.

 

So I did the easy thing and abandoned the single team approach and instead went for how a match between two teams could look like if there were to be a glamorous friendly played at St. James' Park, a Newcastle Exhibition, if you like - Sir Bobby Robson XI v Rafa Benitez XI. I picked these two managers for their legendary statuses and also, most importantly for this exercise, because they're not involved on the pitch. 

 

Here are my two teams.

 

Sir Bobby Robson XI:

 

Rafa Benitez XI:

 

They're definitely fuelled by my own personal biases and I know there are notable exclusions but isn't that the beauty of this kind of thing? I've swapped players in and out of both teams and also swapped between them and even I'm not 100% satisfied but I have to draw the line somewhere. 

 

The goalkeepers are most likely the easiest to interchange but I thought Given wouldn't be under too much aerial threat from Gallacher/Milburn/Keegan (admittedly I don't know how tall Jimmy Lawrence was but I suppose I could check if I wanted). I was really keen to go for a Shearer/Gallacher combo due to their size differences in a Shearer/Bellamy type way but I then thought having Macdonald/Shearer up front with Hibbitt and Solano out wide would be quite tasty. 

 

The differences between the two defences was also interesting to me because it's a nice clash of styles as they could maybe show there are many different ways to defend. Plus, I think it would also be interesting to see how they'd deal with the attacks they'd each have to face. 

 

As I say, even I don't think either side is the absolute "best" eleven of Newcastle United and there are most likely players in each side who wouldn't make a "best of" but my approach was to put together teams that would in principle be most likely to function (kind of) if they actually had to play with each other - but still be comprised of a significant number of our best. There are some examples of square peg/round hole as I've tried to shoe horn players in positions where they wouldn't be fully comfortable but maybe there can be some tactical flexibility and a strong use of imagination. 

 

Who knows who would win this game (I do lean slightly more towards Rafa's team though) but I would be surprised if both sides still had their full eleven at the end as I reckon it could get a wee bit spicy. 

 

It would be great to see who would make it into our respective sides, who our common players would be and maybe the odd wildcard here and there. 

 

In case you're interested, I just used www.lineup11.net but other similar sites are available. 

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by number37
Sir Bobby had two number 6s

[Yorkie]

Canny teams @number37 but my immediate response is I dunno how you can chuck a modern CM in there and go for Cabaye when Bruno is just him and so much more...

[beardsleymagic]

Surely Gascoigne has to be in?

 

[jack j]

52 minutes ago, number37 said:

I was thinking about the all time best XI, give it a bit of thought, maybe too much thought, and came up with a lineup but then considered substitutions but couldn't remember how many subs are allowed these days and ended up with a squad big enough to take to a rugby World Cup. 

 

I also tried to think of a viable, feasible team based on playing style and also relationships with other players and how they would fit in with each other. It was a bit difficult when considering players from different eras.

 

So I did the easy thing and abandoned the single team approach and instead went for how a match between two teams could look like if there were to be a glamorous friendly played at St. James' Park, a Newcastle Exhibition, if you like - Sir Bobby Robson XI v Rafa Benitez XI. I picked these two managers for their legendary statuses and also, most importantly for this exercise, because they're not involved on the pitch. 

 

Here are my two teams.

 

Sir Bobby Robson XI:

 

Rafa Benitez XI:

 

They're definitely fuelled by my own personal biases and I know there are notable exclusions but isn't that the beauty of this kind of thing? I've swapped players in and out of both teams and also swapped between them and even I'm not 100% satisfied but I have to draw the line somewhere. 

 

The goalkeepers are most likely the easiest to interchange but I thought Given wouldn't be under too much aerial threat from Gallacher/Milburn/Keegan (admittedly I don't know how tall Jimmy Lawrence was but I suppose I could check if I wanted). I was really keen to go for a Shearer/Gallacher combo due to their size differences in a Shearer/Bellamy type way but I then thought having Macdonald/Shearer up front with Hibbitt and Solano out wide would be quite tasty. 

 

The differences between the two defences was also interesting to me because it's a nice clash of styles as they could maybe show there are many different ways to defend. Plus, I think it would also be interesting to see how they'd deal with the attacks they'd each have to face. 

 

As I say, even I don't think either side is the absolute "best" eleven of Newcastle United and there are most likely players in each side who wouldn't make a "best of" but my approach was to put together teams that would in principle be most likely to function (kind of) if they actually had to play with each other - but still be comprised of a significant number of our best. There are some examples of square peg/round hole as I've tried to shoe horn players in positions where they wouldn't be fully comfortable but maybe there can be some tactical flexibility and a strong use of imagination. 

 

Who knows who would win this game (I do lean slightly more towards Rafa's team though) but I would be surprised if both sides still had their full eleven at the end as I reckon it could get a wee bit spicy. 

 

It would be great to see who would make it into our respective sides, who our common players would be and maybe the odd wildcard here and there. 

 

In case you're interested, I just used www.lineup11.net but other similar sites are available. 

 

 

 

 

Botman>Woodgate

Bruno>Cabaye

[number37]

6 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

Canny teams @number37 but my immediate response is I dunno how you can chuck a modern CM in there and go for Cabaye when Bruno is just him and so much more...

It was a close call, believe me! I think I didn't want to be too caught up with recency bias and perhaps wanted to see more in Cabaye compared to Bruno than there might be if I didn't want to end up with too many of the current crop. Bruno should be in instead if I were to reassess properly though, you're right. 

[number37]

3 minutes ago, beardsleymagic said:

Surely Gascoigne has to be in?

 

That's more to do with my own preference because I often struggle to separate the person from the player, unfortunately.

[Yorkie]

 

Had a blast at a 'my lifetime XI' (or rather, since I started supporting, so 1997ish) using that site. Jury's out as to whether Shearer would've been as successful without orthodox wingers. 

[The College Dropout]

Think Pope is better than Given pound for pound.  Shay was rooted to his line. 

[Kid Icarus]

For me your XI has to be restricted to your own lifetime or it's guesswork. I also prefer it when people choose their favourite XI rather than the best XI personally.

[Optimistic Nut]

Given

 

Trippier

Enrique

Botman

Schar

 

Batty

Bruno

Solano 

Robert

 

Shearer

Isak

 

[Pilko]

29 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Think Pope is better than Given pound for pound.  Shay was rooted to his line. 

 

Pope plays in front of a far superior defence, though. When you consider the absolute divvies Given had to share the backline with I think it brings it a lot closer.

 

Both can't kick. Can't choose one

Shot stopping pretty even, I'd go Shay but only just

Pope susceptible to rush of blood running out of his goal

Given susceptible to conceding long range shots

Pope far better at commanding penalty area / coming for crosses

 

Both got pretty poor pen saving records too - Pope saved only 3/29 (10.3%) in his career (one was against us - fucking Joselu ) and Shay saved 10/64 (15.6%). Appreciate this bit isn't just whilst at NUFC but Pope has an 0/3 record as we've barely conceded a pen when he's played, the knackers Shay played with gave them away virtually weekly at times.

 

I think it's really hard to pick one for sure, I'd be really interested to see how peak Shay would do playing in Eddie's side. 

 

[Optimistic Nut]

Given for longetivity and also ability. Pope was peak for 6 months and very good the rest, Given was peak for years. 

[Kid Icarus]

For 6 months Pope was by far the best 'keeper I've seen for us like. Similar to the Ginola/Robert debate, it's about peak vs output and enjoyment as well.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by Kid Icarus

[Kid Icarus]

Mine, FWIW. Really don't care about making these formations coherent, it's not like they're going to play  It's just about fitting the best/favourite players in for me.

 

[Ronaldo]

9 minutes ago, Pilko said:

 

Pope plays in front of a far superior defence, though. When you consider the absolute divvies Given had to share the backline with I think it brings it a lot closer.

 

Both can't kick. Can't choose one

Shot stopping pretty even, I'd go Shay but only just

Pope susceptible to rush of blood running out of his goal

Given susceptible to conceding long range shots

Pope far better at commanding penalty area / coming for crosses

 

Both got pretty poor pen saving records too - Pope saved only 3/29 (10.3%) in his career (one was against us - fucking Joselu ) and Shay saved 10/64 (15.6%). Appreciate this bit isn't just whilst at NUFC but Pope has an 0/3 record as we've barely conceded a pen when he's played, the knackers Shay played with gave them away virtually weekly at times.

 

I think it's really hard to pick one for sure, I'd be really interested to see how peak Shay would do playing in Eddie's side. 

 

Pope has saved a lot of Penalties for us. Probably already more than Given.

[gbandit]

5 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

Mine, FWIW. Really don't care about making these formations coherent, it's not like they're going to play  It's just about fitting the best/favourite players in for me.

 

Very hard to argue with this. I love Enrique but I’m sure there have been many better left backs for us. Struggling to come up with names though. It’s not a position we’ve had a lot of superstars in. Agree with the rest of the players pretty much. Interesting to redo this in ten year’s time and see how many new names there are in it.

 

I personally couldn’t make up a best 11 without including Shearer, Lee, Beardsley, Schar, Trippier and probably Bruno now too 

[HaydnNUFC]

Best team from what I've seen after my first game, in January 2006.

 

Pope

Trippier

Schar

Coloccini

Enrique

Bruno

Cabaye

Tiote 

HBA

Wilson

Isak

 

Not a fan of putting Isak LW but struggling to think of a LW outside of ASM, and keeping Isak or Wilson out in favour of ASM is too harsh on both imo. 

 

Botman will eventually surpass Schar in this team in the next few years providing he continues to improve, but Schar has been by far our best CB over the last 2 years. Was brilliant in that 3-4-3 we played in Benitez's last few months here as well. Probably the best value for money signing we've made in recent memory.

[MrRaspberryJam]

Pope ain’t better than Given like 

[Kid Icarus]

1 minute ago, gbandit said:

Very hard to argue with this. I love Enrique but I’m sure there have been many better left backs for us. Struggling to come up with names though. It’s not a position we’ve had a lot of superstars in. Agree with the rest of the players pretty much. Interesting to redo this in ten year’s time and see how many new names there are in it.

 

I personally couldn’t make up a best 11 without including Shearer, Lee, Beardsley, Schar, Trippier and probably Bruno now too 

It's Enrique or Beresford, with Bernard 3rd in my lifetime imo and all just about preference between Enrique and Beresford.

[SUPERTOON]

Given is miles ahead of Pope imo.

[HaydnNUFC]

13 minutes ago, Ronaldo said:

Pope has saved a lot of Penalties for us. Probably already more than Given.

 

Pope has saved 5 penalties out of 10 for us, including the pens in the shootout against Palace in the League Cup last season. (3 v Palace, 1 v Brentford, 1 v Leeds)

 

Mitrovic had one disallowed for Fulham for double kicking the ball but I think Pope would've saved that one as well had he not double kicked it.

 

Given saved 6 penalties for us out of 48 faced.

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by HaydnNUFC

[Kid Icarus]

Pope being commanding on crosses is a huge plus for me over Given, on shot stopping there's not a huge amount between them.

[HaydnNUFC]

Dubravka was also great for us for his first 3 years here. Changed us for the better in 2017-18 and saved Bruce's skin countless times in 2019-20. After his injury that kept him out for most of 2020-21 he was not the same at all.

[Pilko]

18 minutes ago, Ronaldo said:

Pope has saved a lot of Penalties for us. Probably already more than Given.

 

Was looking at a record of normal time / in-game pens only tbf. His shootout record for us is definitely far superior to Shay.