A Good Week

Another one from Sibi!

3 games played since my last post but after each game i thought the team was getting better and better hence the non appearence of my rantings. Against Arsenal lady luck shone brightly for us when a pummeling was on the cards.. Against Celta Vigo and Pompey both pundits predicted the Magpies will be defeated by a single goal margin.. Were they terribly wrong! Eat yer words yer wankers!! With Dyer onboard, Newcastle looked a diferent team.. His workrate is an absolute gem linking up the midfield with the strikers.. It's what we've been missing all this while.. The game was really entertaining too! Let's hope we go on a good run and start climbing the league table..

Man City 0 - 0 Newcastle, 11/11/06

A rare early kickoff meant i was full of energy when the game started at 9pm Malaysian time.. Fully anticipating a no holds barred encounter between 2 teams badly in need of a win, i was left fuming when the first half was over. Chances were few and far between with the game not even flowing at a decent rate. Bore draw was written all over it. Second half came and went and suprisingly Newcastle played the best football of their season in the last 5 minutes of the second half when chances after chances were created but no one could put it away. Dyer came on as a substitute and his trademark burst and short passes injected the much needed drive to win matches. Sadly his team mates were as determined as ever to NOT show any determination in winning games!

Richards brushes off Milner

Starting a half fit Shola rather then Rossi or Luque just shows that Roeder has totally lost the plot. With Luque now publicly stating he wants a January move, we'll be lamenting what could have been come May when we are still short of strikers and Luque picked up where he left and bangs more goals in La Liga. The January transfer window cant come soon enuff, it'll be Roeder's last chance salon to prove his worth and get the magpies some really good defensive signings, failure to do so and relegation is a possibility with his name tarnished beyond repair..

Watford 2 - 2 Newcastle(5-4), 07/11/06

Sibierski heads the lead

Against a team tipped for relegation, Newcastle just managed to pip them for a spot in the last 8 of the league cup through penalties, but not before trumpeting it was a marginally deserved win. What the hell has the team come to? From a top 4 side to now this? Happy for a slim win over the likes of Watford? We've drawn Chelsea next! That's just great, a very slim chance to progress indeed but atleast that game will be shown live unlike this game. Will that game be pleasent viewing, most probably NOT if current performance is anything to go by. The heroics of Harper and Parker manage to delay the unavoildable.. Tick tock tick tock.. The clock is ticking for Roeder..

Newcastle 0 - 1 Sheff Utd, 04/11/06

When will he ever get it right??

A clueless and inept performance not only from the whole team but the manager too! Picking a 4-5-1 approach against a team not having won an away game and even scored an away goal from the start of the season really dumbfounded me. We should have gone 4-4-2! With Duff returning to the left, milner on the right, Luque playing in the hole and Rossi up front! It would have made everyone playing in their favourite positione! Duff & Milner would be able to run at the opposition's back, Luque would be able to make use of his long range shooting abilities while Rossi, an intelligent player could try to sneak in, control a pass well and execute a well placed shot. I'm not plucking things out of thin air here.. It's what they are good at based on the matches I've seen them play.. The more Roeder insist the players of playing to his approach of long balls and low quality crosses the more we suck and loose games! His apparent bias at selecting Zogbia even when he's not delivering the good stuff on the left wing really irks me too. Its time he goes back to the basics and plays everyone in their best position! Moore and Bramble should be droped too because we are consistently loosing games with this CB pairing! Go for Taylor and Ramage you nitwit!

Somebody's head will roll.. Soon..

The game was a bore to watch and i nearly doze off! This game was shown live at 1am in the morning! I was thinking of going to sleep when Sheff Utd struck.. Sigh.. Looks like the Palermo game was another false dawn.. Or was it the 6 changes made for this game was the cause of the lost? Who knows and i dont give a damn! With the names on the team sheet, we should have won against a team of mostly Championship material but sadly, most of the players was found wanting with Parker and Duff the major culprits.. No point rambling on about how they suck so much, we lost out to a team without an away win all season! Typical Newcastle, when a team needs a break or wants to break a duck, just wait for the match against Newcastle, we will surely do you guys a favour! Boos was aplenty at the end of the game, some going to the extent of making a loud gathering seeking Shepherd's removal.. Sad day indeed..

Palermo 0 - 1 Newcastle, 02/11/06

Luque's flying but Roeder doesn't care

Against all odds and fielding half the team of of non-regular players, Newcastle managed to pull of one of the suprise victories for all european matches played that night. Luque was handed a start and played well in patches but what's important is he manage to score the winning goal.Tim Krul was another shining example with a very good perfomance for someone making a debut on a european night, away from home and with the home team expected to win big. The defence which contained Bramble from start till finish managed to hold out for the win eventhough they were bombarded in the second half, and when they failed, in comes Tim Krul with several top drawer saves. It's too early to tell but in him i think we have a good replacement for given and harper in a few years time. I didn't catch the full game as this game was shown as a delayed match at 8am in the morning when i'm well on my way to the office!! Oh Astro please show replays at more appropriate times! :(

Newcastle 0 - 0 Charlton, 28/10/06

The keeper gets a mouthful from Rossi

Finally a match shown live on our shores, at 12midnite! oh well.. better then nothing.. Playing against a team from the bottom 3, it should be easypickings for all 3 points, but i was wrong.. Newcastle United struggled to beat a team of average joes which makes me wonder, are our team full of average joes too? Bramble was restored in the starting lineup and the customary lapse of concentration happened in the 60th minute but lucky for us, Bent sent his shot wide.. We were not punished this time.. Solano too was poor.. After plundering 2 goals in midweek he was wasteful in his distribution of the ball in this game,quality delivery in the final third was lacking and he just cant track back fast enough.. Nzogbia is another player guilty of being wasteful too.. He's too easily dispossesed.. Duff and Rossi deserves a mention for being a handful in this game but still the winning goal eludes them both.. I hope we have better luck infront of goal in our next game against Palermo.