Newcastle 3 - 2 Everton - 07/10/07 - Post match reaction from page 16

[PM]

2 points:

 

My mother was at the game (in my seat, the bitch), and thought the booing was FOR Martins.  I wasn't at the game, and thought it'd be for the decision to take him off.

 

And, Cacapa has been brilliant for us so far.

[Wullie]

The feeling at the match was that the boo's were for the decision to take him off rather than at Oba directly.

 

Makes more sense than booing Oba, but still a pretty stupid thing for people to do. Wasn't exactly bringing a fucking centre half on at 1-1 was he?

 

No wonder Sam's said he's taking credit for the substitution.

[TêteDeMaure]

It definetly wasn't booing Oba, couldn't have been, singing his name directly after! Not even our lot are that daft.

[Guest optimistic nit]

The feeling at the match was that the boo's were for the decision to take him off rather than at Oba directly.

 

 

aye but as soon as they mentioned owen there was a big cheer. also why boo the decision to take him off, as he was not playing well.

[Guest optimistic nit]

faye was very good, cacapa less so, i have been less than impressed with him so far

 

Really?

 

He's looked absolute class so far imo.

 

 

well he's made too many mistakes/ falls whenever i've seen him, also not been dominating enough in the air and out positionally occasionally. i'm mentioning them all because these are things that a 31 year old ex lyon captain should be doing. i think he's our best defender, but he looks to me like he wont fully adapt to our league until about 15 games.

 

i've only based this on the derby, west ham and citeh games (and highlights from a few and the everton match football first) and those games we were maybe not the best to judge.

[sicsfingeredmong]

Taylor down to 4th choice CB now, he won't like that.

 

 

Especially his father.

[sicsfingeredmong]

Smith was class today up front as a supporting striker in terms of his linkup play. Thought hed be a s*** signing, but im happy to eat my words - this has been the second game in a row where hes looked very bright in attacking areas. Dont think hes going to score many goals even as a forward, but if others around him are doing the business in that particular category, then it really doesnt matter, because his one-touch-passing and intelligence in his linkup play is arguably considerably better than that of Viduka's, Owen's or Martins'.

 

If were playing a 4-4-2, from what weve seen thus far, it should be Smith + other up front (until Martins improves his basic play anyway), especially once Barton and Emre get fully fit, simply because were going to be playing better possession football with a frontman who is capable of recieving the ball comfortably and consistently finding a teamate. Viduka has had some good moments for us up front, but the rest of the time hes been chasing shadows, fouling defenders, and having a tug-of-war competition with his marker, which ultimately results in us wasting possession or doing little with it.

 

Hes s*** in comparison, and maybe its too early to call, but Smith could possibly be the closest thing to a Beardsley replacement weve had since Pedro was sold to Bolton - that link between the midfield and attack, someone bright enough and capable enough to consistently play other players in when in good attacking positions. Needs more games in that position at the very least.

 

Couldn't agree more re: Smith.

 

There's no comparison between Smith & Viduka, in terms of work-rate/being prepared to the put in the hard yards for the team by linking up the play between midfield & the final 1/3 - shaking his marker and operating in both outside channels rather than just taking up space in the central corridor and wrestling with his marker for much of 90 minutes.

 

Smith, if utilised as a withdrawn forward, would be one of the first players attached to my teamsheet.

[merlin]

This game brought home some harsh truths to many NUFC fans - those who have put Martins & Given on a pedestal(i.e can do no wrong)have had a huge wake-up call today.

Martins' control is little short of abysmal - if he had a first touch, he might be worth 10m quid - as it is, I wouldn't pay anything like that sort of money for him ; Allardyce had it spot-on when he said he was a scorer of great goals rather than a goal-scorer...

 

I hope that the booing which occurred when Martins was subbed wasn't aimed at his being replaced by Owen, but I suspect some of it was, and that is a disgrace. What is more, Owen seemed to think so, because he put his hand up to his ear after scoring...

 

Whatever Owen's thoughts about NUFC are, you cannot say he doesn't do the job when fit - he caused problems for their defence as soon as he came on, and to put Martins in the same class as Owen, both as a goalscorer, AND a footballer is just high-lighting ones lack of knowledge about the game....

I have made my points about Given on a different thread, so will not go over it here.

 

Positives - Smith much better as a front-man, and his link-up play with the others was very good, but you can see why he will never score many goals - too unselfish in the area.

Enrique, for me, is a better fullback than any at the club already, and that includes Beye ; I don't think he made a bad pass all day, never conceded many fouls, and supported Zog & Milner well - it was a first class full debut.Maybe we should not judge until he has a good winger against him...

Faye is a decent contact defender, but will always concede free-kicks ; Butt was in & out - great goal, unquestioned effort, but some sloppy passing.

Milner looks in need of a break, and we could do with another good right-sided flank player.

 

Emre made an immediate contribution, both with his passing & the goal, but I wonder how effective he will be away from SJP - if he COULD do that, he will make a big difference to midfield.

 

Capaca was excellent - his reading of the game is better than any other defender at the club, and I still reckon he should have been skipper ; he sets an example to rest of team, and we missed him badly last week.

 

My main gripe is STILL the sloppy surrendering of possession - we put ourselves under far too much pressure by this, and it needs to be corrected ; the best spell of possession in the whole game was when Zog took the ball to their corner near the end.

 

Whilst we have Owen in the side(and Viduka when fit) we will always be able to snatch a goal, but there is as yet no pattern of play emerging ; it WILL happen in time, but whether we have all the players necessary yo do this is a matter for debate.

 

Just glad we managed to grab the 3 points which looked unlikely after they equalised.

[1878]

Just seen the goals this morning

 

What the fuck was going on?

 

When was the last time Nicky Butt scored a toepoke from 2 yards, nevermind a 20 yard belter?

 

Emre doing something other than neat & tidy but ultimately useless passes for once and our old mate St. Michael scoring was the icing on the cake.

[Guest icemanblue]

Nothing ever changes with this shite football club.

 

Fuking useless cunts.

 

 

 

Twat.

[Guest Hodgson09]

We won and everyone assumes we played well. What bollocks. Enrique our best player? fucking hell I know he's our first proper fullback in a while but there is no need to teabag him so much. He had an average debut. The team as a whole played crap and that is the truth of the matter.

 

Smith was good , and in all fairness our MOTM, but he was shown up by Emre who did more in his short time on the pitch than anyone.

 

I just watched the game again and it just confirms that we were poor against Everton, and looked like crumbling once Johnson came on. Yes it was the same match that I watched the previous night, and Enrique still didn't look very good, but oh well maybe I watched the wrong game twice.

 

It was another match where we didn't look like scoring but managed to score three. I am not convinced as yet.

[NSG]

Just thought i'd mention the pivotal moment of the match: Cacapa's tackle on Anichebe. Without that, we'd probably have ended up with nothing. Stunning challenge.

[geordie jamie]

Surely this is a good sign they we are scoring and picking up points without playing well. For me the midfield is not balanced need barton and emre back to get a run of games. When our midfield clicks then the team will play much better.

[NSG]

People keep going on as if we played shit. IMO Everton created fuck all except their first goal, the second being a fluke.

 

On the other hand, we've stuck it in the net three times, Oba's missed a sitter and we've had numerous attempts at goal throughout the match, especially one's in the first 30mins drawing one top class save from Howard.

[Mowen]

If Cesc Fabregas had scored the goal that Nicky Butt did yesterday it would be bummed into next year.

[johnnypd]

This game brought home some harsh truths to many NUFC fans - those who have put Martins & Given on a pedestal(i.e can do no wrong)have had a huge wake-up call today.

Martins' control is little short of abysmal - if he had a first touch, he might be worth 10m quid - as it is, I wouldn't pay anything like that sort of money for him ; Allardyce had it spot-on when he said he was a scorer of great goals rather than a goal-scorer...

 

Positives - Smith much better as a front-man, and his link-up play with the others was very good, but you can see why he will never score many goals - too unselfish in the area.

 

that's funny, cos Martins' movement, control, passing and link up play was just as good as Smith's was. there were two or three slack moments through the entire game but every player has these, Smith included who misjudged a few passes out wide and put in a poor pull-back into the box when Martins was in space, in the move that led up to the goal. Smith's best contribution to the match was a great through-ball to Martins, but Martins timing, anticipation and run were impeccable on that occasion. then again Martins played a lovely first-touch layoff, with his back to goal holding off an everton player, to Smith about 5 mins before the goal went in, that Smith had deflected wide. maybe you forgot that. weird that some people always feel a need to slag Martins off, even when he has a decent match. his problem yesterday was missing a great chance and fading badly in the 2nd half (along with smith and most of our side!) and i think your just mindlessly rejurgitating generic complaints rather than looking at this specific game. i'm not a smith fan at all and have slagged him off mercilessly before, but i'll not pretend he didn't have a good game just cos i don't rate him overall.

 

I hope that the booing which occurred when Martins was subbed wasn't aimed at his being replaced by Owen, but I suspect some of it was, and that is a disgrace.

 

i didn't hear much booing but it seemed aimed at bringing Martins off and not at bringing owen on, who received a rapturous applause when he ran onto the pitch. nothing disgraceful about that.

[Guest Kenton Magpie]

Big Sam was right to take Oba off yesterday, his decision won the game for us!

 

 

[Skirge]

The two worst parts of the game again was the lack of quality in the crosses from Milner and Zoggy and how poor Zoggy looked when he was played wide right in the 2nd half.

 

Both of our Fullbacks played well both going forward and backing up play and in their defensive duties too, Enrique can put in a decent cross also.

A lack of concentration from Zoggy and a massive deflection gave them their two goals, other than that I thought we coped very well with what they had to throw at us. We looked much brighter in midfield they played with more spirit and fight, Smith is much much better through the middle like that rather than outwide.

Emre was class, scored a great goal and put in a quality free-kick for Owens goal, Emre needs to start every game if he stays fit but Sam has to give Martisn and Owen a chance together.

I really hope Martins does not think that booing was aimed at him, it was all about the fact he was being taken off for Owen.

[Cajun]

I have very limited PC time at the moment so hope its ok just to ask a few quick question without having to read this whole thread.

 

How did Enrique get on? Was Beye as good as he has looked recently?

 

How did Faye and Cacapa partner each other, I would imagine they would work quite well being 2 different type of defenders (one cool and classy the other more of a strong and aggressive player). I did see Faye’s stop on the line then clearance again almost straight after which impressed me after years of seeing the type of defending which would end up comically (for the opposition) being sliced into the net or something.

 

Emre do well for the short time he was on (pretty sure it is a yes with his top finish and assist). Funny how we get a creative player back and he creates something…

 

I gather Martins and Milner had very quiet games? Saw the Martins miss which was exactly the type of chance I assume Allardyce was talking about the other day.

 

How did Zog do? Butt scored a very good goal for him, how was his performance for the rest of the match? Geremi quiet?

 

What was Smith like up top, doesn’t really need to be said I don’t rate him in midfield and although he doesn’t really have any outstanding attributes I still have faith in him to put in decent performances up front with his work rate and ability to occasionally flick on a good ball (see Martins effort).

 

Did Rozy come on in midfield?

 

Sorry that’s quite a long post but as said (and its my own fault) I have very limited access to the net at the moment.

 

Many thanks.

 

[TRon]

Everton are doing ok this season so a win shouldn't be sniffed at. Good solid performance IMO, ok we haven't quite clicked yet, but we won and worked hard as a team. Smith looked good up front, but he's not going to get many goals so he will need to be played alongside Owens or Martins. Emre's cameo was just what we've been missing this season. Took the ball down and used it intelligently. He'll need to do that from the off when he starts a game though, that's his real test. Good three points and Barton back for Spurs. I'll take that.

[M4]

Nothing ever changes with this shite football club.

 

Fuking useless cunts.

 

 

 

Twat.

 

Fucking easy coming along 16 hours later after the game is over calling people names.... idiot.

[Guest alex]

faye was very good, cacapa less so, i have been less than impressed with him so far

I'm actually quite embarrassed for you.

 

[lovejoy]

enrique looked quality.

 

as did faye.

 

and the boo-ing, as far as i thought, was for taking oba off

[johnnypd]

I have very limited PC time at the moment so hope its ok just to ask a few quick question without having to read this whole thread.

 

How did Enrique get on?

 

he was very good at times, i can see where he gets his nickname from, very strong lad. maybe not the quickest but fights for everything. one or two worries about positioning but kept Arteta very quiet.

 

Was Beye as good as he has looked recently?

 

positioning looks to be his biggest problem, and also a lack of upper body strength. thought he made one or two crucial tackles that seem to be overlooked on here, but otherwise not too impressive, sadly.

 

How did Faye and Cacapa partner each other, I would imagine they would work quite well being 2 different type of defenders (one cool and classy the other more of a strong and aggressive player). I did see Faye’s stop on the line then clearance again almost straight after which impressed me after years of seeing the type of defending which would end up comically (for the opposition) being sliced into the net or something.

 

thought the pair of them were class, understood each others game well and complement each other. loved Cacapa's tackle on Anichebe, and then Faye's last-ditch sliding clearance when it ran free straight after.

 

Emre do well for the short time he was on (pretty sure it is a yes with his top finish and assist). Funny how we get a creative player back and he creates something…

 

I gather Martins and Milner had very quiet games? Saw the Martins miss which was exactly the type of chance I assume Allardyce was talking about the other day.

 

Emre was excellent, Milner was poor, Martins was somewhere in between.

 

How did Zog do? Butt scored a very good goal for him, how was his performance for the rest of the match? Geremi quiet?

 

What was Smith like up top, doesn’t really need to be said I don’t rate him in midfield and although he doesn’t really have any outstanding attributes I still have faith in him to put in decent performances up front with his work rate and ability to occasionally flick on a good ball (see Martins effort).

 

N'Zogbia was quiet but he still had a couple of moments, one when put through by Martins and forced the keeper into a save, and a couple of times in the 2nd half he cut inside to good effect. poor by his high standards but he was stuck on the right for most the game. Butt had a good game, buzzing around constantly and moving forwards ,whereas geremi was a bit more relaxed, and he was the pick of all the central midfielders on the pitch.

 

Smith looked very good when controlling the ball and laying it off, didn't present much of a goal threat though, which imo means he shouldn't be a first-choice player up-front, and i think he lacks true creativity/skill/vision required to be a second-stiker in the mould of Viduka or Beardsley. tbh he played pretty much the same as he always does, but his style of play, with his back to goal, holding the ball up, pressurising defenders, showing good touches, making backwards passes and crossfield balls, is much more suited to the forward positions and as a result he looks 5x what he does in midfield.

 

Did Rozy come on in midfield?

think so can't remember much about rozehnal tho.

[Guest icemanblue]

Nothing ever changes with this shite football club.

 

Fuking useless cunts.

 

 

 

Twat.

 

Fucking easy coming along 16 hours later after the game is over calling people names.... idiot.

 

Or, and here's a thought, I was at the match yesterday, rather than sitting at home in front of my computer.  Although it may be hard to believe, when i returned home from the match, my first instinct was not to read the opinions of people who weren't there.

 

However, as a time filler at work (this being monday morning), i quite like to browse through said opinions.  Seeing as the post angered me somewhat,  i felt the need to respond.

 

And your problem with that is...?