So Cruel….
Well after completing dominating it and looking like one team will ever win it we lose the game in the 90th minute to Blackburn from Matt Derbyshire.
I have to say im absolutely GUTTED!
I just instantly stuck my head in my hands and was silenced having sung my lungs out for the previous 90 minutes. It really has been so long since I felt so gutted.
The lads played well and if not for Friedel between the Rovers sticks they would have been way out of it before the end.
Chances for Smith, Owen and Duff came and went.
Who knows where we are going to get 3 points from because currently we don’t have lady luck or justice on our side of the field.
The lads tried but after Owen’s 1v1 and Friedel made an awesome save you just gulped and thought hopefully its not one of those days… IT WAS!
So low….
I’ll comment further but for now im off to try and cheer myself up… somehow! (Any suggestions please post in comments below)
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 am
Lile I say, I felt sick… I’m really glad to see we could dominate a game and that we’ve got the players/ability to do so against a team competing for Europe, but my main concern is whether the players can keep their heads up for another few games to make that win come? If they become completely demoralised we could get to that stretch of “winable” games and promptly lose them. We’ve lost our cushion now well and truely so we’re right in the thick of it.
One thing I must say though is that we need to drop Smith. Everyone else looks reasonable but as hard as he tries he never looks like scoring a goal and there’s no way about it, we need both strikers looking able to score. I’d prefer to see Viduka back playing but failing that I’m afraid Carroll might be needed to be dropped in at the deep end…
March 2nd, 2008 at 9:34 am
Yes I agree about Smith. He currently offers us nothing… Yes Owen/Martins may not be a suitable partnership together but frankly Owen hasd been playing without a partner most games hes played. Martins are Carroll at this juncture there just is nothing to lose. I think both will bring goals and the timing of Oba back may just get us goals to keep us up. Big positive we played Blackburn off the park and that win will come. I think due 2 anxiety our first win will come away from home.
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:08 pm
I agree. If we put in a performance like that Birmingham will have to do something special to stop us getting a win. I also agree Martins needs a game – if nothing else I would have betted on him to score the chances Owen had and I wouldn’t usually say that. His youth would mean he simply hit chances, not tried to place them. However I don’t think we’ll see Owen dropped this season, now he’s captain. If there’s some way to accomodate both Martins and Owen with either Viduka or Carroll that might be the way to go, although we’d still need the width in midfield… It’s tricky but I trust Keegan to get it right after the performance yesterday.
Not looking forward to Liverpool though.
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Yes I totally agree there are good signs most notably the MOM performance from Enrique.
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:12 am
Yup, certainly glad to see we should now have a settled left back playing (suprisingly) at left back. We all know that most teams have a strong right winger (more common than good left wingers for obvious reasons), so a decent left back is a must. With N’Zogbia and Carr playing there recently we’ve had a gaping hole in our defence. Hopefully now we can use saturday’s defence to build upon and try to score some goals. Whatever happens against Liverpool I expect us to at the very least get a goal and keep things respectable in defence…
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:43 am
I just hope your right Simo I really do. Even a draw out of Liverpool will be a great confidence boost. I still think our first win under KK will come away from home with less pressure and anxiety from the crowd. Im just pleased that on the pitch things are actually improving and the scorelines don’t tell the whole story. Fat Sham Allardyce has alot to answer for. Surprisingly Duff came out saying they are fitter under Keegan than they were under the Fat Scientific man.
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
hey chaps, they didnt televise the match here live in S.A., so i didnt check the result and watched at 4:00am sunday morning, i must say i too was gutted, we could have held on for a draw, but really we should have won that game. MO was looking good, just couldnt finish, why martins didnt start is beyond me. Smith is a passenger, although he puts in alot of ‘effort’ its all for nothing. (cept for the yellow cards) we’ve got to push for a draw at least against liverpool. Simo, i agree with you on the teamtalk page, i just get so frustrated with the amount of garbage that some so-called fans spout off on there, as for the fans from other teams, its really annoying, so probably just gonna post here, where we can get some civil conversation going with good fans who support the lads.
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I totally agree I made my last post on there today. I just wish we could get a few more Newcastle fans on here for a good old chin wag! So spread the news. I still approve first posts and if any other fans start trying to get on it won’t happen.
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:44 pm
I posted the address for this place in my last post, no one’s come across yet but if we can get a few more trickling in we can actually have a grown up debate about the club (finally). I’ll look at a few other boards, see what I can find…
As for the Teamtalk board I’d just had enough. I’m working on my final design piece of my degree so am stressed enough at the moment and having half-wits continually having a dig got under my skin more than I can be doing with at the moment.
By the way, does anyone know whether Viduka might be fit by the weekend? He was pencilled in for the Blackburn game but didn’t make it. We desperately need him back even if simply to displace Smith, who is awful. I’m disappointed by him, I really thought he’d be a great buy. Fingers crossed Emre comes in for Barton too – at that point we have our first team fully fit, so there’s no excuses for the Birmingham game. I’m even hopeful of snatching something at Liverpool although I doubt it’ll happen…
March 4th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Good luck with the degree work Simo! I hope you get your work done
I think on the Viduka front something is up. Keegan gives everyone a chance but I really think hes thrown his toys out of the pram. At least Barton has put himself forward with all the bother he has – he hasn’t shyed away from it. Emre and Viduka are certainly the opposite of that. I think its far too easy for them to just go on the sick. I think both players will be out at the end of the season. I really do. When your back is against the wall you see who comes out fighting and they certainly haven’t.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:50 am
as much as Barton has had his problems, i still think if he can get to the kind of form he was when he was playing for a mediocre man city side, it would help us tremendously, its just that all his off-field problems happen to coincide with his lack of form? One of the boro fans said before the start of the season that Viduka will play a handful of games, and this has proven to be true, he isnt the star he was last season, and i really see him going from club to club from now on as one of those journeymen players who is looking for one last paycheck, he really hasnt produced anything special, and for the wages we are probably paying him he’s just not worth the effort, i’d rather have carroll playing, at least the lad is hungry! emre has never been the same since the whole racist affair (i think about a year ago) and his never ending injury problems arent helping either, but on his day (which only happens like twice a season) he is devastating.. but alas we lack the consistancy that will allow us to remain in the top half of the table (although at the mo we have been consistently losing
) i’d like to see us have a go at pool this weekend, we need to carry on from the blackburn game, and try and get the first goal, liverpool havent been as good as they would have liked to be this season, and if we can surprise them, i think we can take them…my team for this weekend: Harper, Beye, Faye, Taylor, Enrique, Milner, Barton, Emre, Nzogbia, Martins, Owen. i dont know, what do you guys think?
March 4th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Snick I don’t see any problems with that team at all. It would probably be my choice but more than likely Emre will be injured and because he has been can’t see KK starting him even if fit. It would more likely be on the bench based on how KK has handled those coming back from injury so far. If as the case I would like to see NZogbia through the middle bursting on as he’ll bring the ball forward and it usually sticks with him therefore leaving Duff our wide left who little by little looks a bit better though nowhere near what he was at Chelsea. Least we are getting games out of him and hes not one of the ones shying away!!! I think he gets the rough end of the stick sometimes but I agree he hasnt been anything like we expected him to be but lets encourage not discourage. My team would be Harper, Beye, Faye, Taylor (who aint playing well), Enrique, Milner, Butt, Zogbia, Duff, Owen, Martins. I know many say Owen/Martins can’t work but given the service either or will score but they probably won’t create for each other but thats hardley any different to Smith but least Martins can get you a goal and generally a goal out of nothing when he explodes. Smith is just too laboured and likely to get booked. I do think we need to get the frontline consistant week in week out as it will help. Martins when fit usually stays fit for a long time… can that be said for Viduka?
March 4th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I’d be happy with either of those two line-ups. Unfortunately I think you’re right about Emre and Viduka, although as I say if they got fit and stayed fit I’d play them both as a) Emre can produce chance after chance and b) Viduka might provide a good foil for Owen – although it’s telling that I say “might” as they’ve not played together enough for us to really tell.
Ideally (and this is a must for next season) you want a partnership up front but as you say Owen is getting chances now despite his “strike partner” essentially not being there. For now we simply need players who’ll score their chances and that’s Owen and Oba. I’d suggest a 433 with Carroll but I can’t see us creating things without wingers.
As for Barton, I just can’t stand the lad. I’m not a “throw away the key” type, he needs rehabilitating, but for now he’s a thug who disgraces the club. Still, if he’s going to play I agree, for now, if he could reproduce his Man City form he’d be a big help. Still, he can’t play at Liverpool, so it’ll have to be Butt (I’m not certain Barton can provide enough defensive cover by himself anyway). Assuming Emre’s out/on the bench, I’d put N’Zogbia on the inside next to Butt, although I suspect we might not see much more of Charles as I can imagine he’s effectively given up, eyeing a summer move down south come what may…
March 4th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Yeah thats my worry with Zoggy now. Is his head elsewhere. That may be why KK took him out of the firing line against Rovers but I think Bartons head is elsewhere as well. Though credit to Barton he did put Owen through on goal twice…