Archive for May, 2011

Match Preview: West Brom (h)

Published by Row 'S' Army on May 22nd, 2011 - in Season 2010/2011

 

2010/2011 – Match 38

West Bromwich Albion (h)

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Monday  23rd May 2011
Venue: St James’ Park
Kick-Off: 1am (AEST), 12:30am (SA), 11pm (WA)
Referee: Lee Mason
Australian TV: None

Last 5 Form:

Newcastle United West Brom Albion
PL – Chelsea (a) D 2-2 PL – Everton (h) W 1-0
PL – Birmingham (h) W 2-1 PL – Wolves (a) L 1-3
PL – Liverpool (a) L 0-3 PL – Aston Villa (h) W 2-1
PL – Blackpool (a) D 1-1 PL – Spurs (a) D 2-2
PL – Man Utd (h) D 0-0 PL – Chelsea (h) L 1-2


Match Stats:
All time: Newcastle 41 wins, Draws 30, West Brom 44 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with…

Newcastle $2.00, Draw $3.40, WBA $3.75

Did You Know?
West Brom have never lost on the final day of a Premier League season, winning one and drawing three times. While Newcastle United have won only one of their last eight Premier League final day games.

Team News:
Newcastle will be without Jonas Gutierrez after he picked up a knock last weekend meaning his season is over along with captain Kevin Nolan, Stephen Harper, Hatem Ben Arfa, Dan Gosling, Danny Guthrie, Mike Williamson, Tamas Kadar, Haris Vuckic, and James Perch. Cheik Tiote again will not be considered because of the threat of suspension, while Alan Smith and Leon Best are now available after ankle injuries.

For West Brom manager Roy Hodgson is only without Graham Dorrans (ankle) and Pablo Ibanez (hamstring).

Match Preview

Season 2010/2011 comes to an end tonight as Newcastle United round off their campaign with a home game with West Brom Albion.

With safety sworn up early all the talk on the terraces will be about the summer rebuilding by Alan Pardew. How much of the Andy Carroll money will Pardew be given and which areas of the team & squad should be strengthened first?

Everybody will agree the one position we need to buy in is striker. The loss of Carroll in January was always going to be huge and with no replacement purchased at the time it left a big hole in the team. Peter Lovenkrands, Shola Ameobi and Leon Best have all filled the gap well at various times since without anyone of them excelling.

Another position that looks it’ll need a replacement is left-back. In midweek Pardew hinted at the difficulty in getting Jose Enrique to the table for contract talks. The Spaniard had claimed he was putting off talks until safety was guaranteed, but he now appears to have gone back on that promise.

The current amount of injuries in the first-team has given a opportunity to some of the kids to prove to Pardew that they are ready to make the step up next season.

So far 19-year-old Shane Ferguson has been the stand out with a string of impressive substitute appearances culminating in a energetic and dominate display from the start at Stamford Bridge last week. In addition Kazenga LuaLua, who is back from a lengthy loan spell at League 1 Champions Brighton Hove Albion, looks to have improved since he was last seen in a black & white during his substitute spell last week. Last week also saw the debut of Shola’s brother Sammy, and the 19-year-old Geordie certainly didn’t look overawed showing a nice first touch and a fine turn of pace down the right wing.

The loss of Jonas Gutierrez should mean a start for either LuLua or Sammy in right midfield, while if fully fit Leon Best should be given a start because you would think he has more of a future at the club than Peter Lovenkrands. Otherwise it’ll be the same team as at Chelsea and this eleven should be too strong for West Brom with the packing of a home crowd in end of season party mood.

My Starting XI:
Tim Krul
Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique
Sammy Ameobi/Kazenga LuaLua, Joey Barton, Ryan Taylor, Shane Ferguson
Shola Ameobi, Leon Best

See you all in again August.

HOWAY THE LADS!

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Share|
Tags:
No Comments »

Chelsea 2-2 Newcastle United

Published by Row 'S' Army on May 15th, 2011 - in Season 2010/2011



A injury time Steven Taylor header earned Newcastle United a deserved point against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea defender Ivanovic put Chelsea into an early lead after only two minutes, before Newcastle hit back on ten minutes when a Ryan Taylor free-kick took a massive deflection off Jonas Gutierrez to wrong foot Petr Cech.

With seven minutes remaining Alex looked to have won all three points, in what could be Carlo Ancelotti last home game in charge at Chelsea, with a header following poor judgement by Tim Krul. But Taylor didn’t read the script and his late header means Newcastle have gone the season unbeaten against Chelsea with two draws in the league and a 4-3 League Cup victory.

Match Details
Date: Sunday 15th May
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick-Off: 1:30pm (GMT)
Referee: Lee Mason

Chelsea (4-3-3): Petr Cech; Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry (c), Alex, Ashley Cole; Ramires (Florent Malouda 65), Frank Lampard, Josh McEachran (Michael Essien 65); Nicolas Anelka, Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun (Didier Drogba 65)
Subs not used: Ross Turnbull, Paulo Ferreira, David Luiz, John Obi Mikel

Goals: Ivanovic 2, Alex 83

Newcastle United (4-4-1-1): Tim Krul; Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique; Peter Lovenkrands (Sammy Ameobi 82), Joey Barton (c), Ryan Taylor, Shane Ferguson (Kazenga LuaLua 69); Jonas Gutierrez (Nile Ranger 76); Shola Ameobi
Subs not used: Ole Soderberg, James Tavernier, Alan Smith, Shefki Kuqi

Goals: Gutierrez 10, S.Talyor 90

Share|
Tags:
No Comments »

Match Preview: Chelsea (a)

Published by Row 'S' Army on May 14th, 2011 - in Season 2010/2011

2010/2011 – Match 37

CHELSEA (A)

 

 

 

 

 

Date: Sunday 15th May 2011
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick-Off: 10:30pm (AEST), 10pm (SA), 7:30pm (WA)
Referee: Lee Mason
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 1

Last 5 Form:

Chelsea Newcastle United
PL – Spurs (h) W 2-1 PL – Birmingham (h) W 2-1
PL – Man Utd (a) L 1-2 PL – Liverpool (a) L 0-3
PL – West Ham (h) W 3-0 PL – Blackpool (a) D 1-1
PL – Birmingham City (h) W 3-1 PL – Man Utd (h) D 0-0
PL – WBA (a) W 3-1 PL – Aston Villa (a) – L 0-1


Match Stats:
All time: Chelsea 61 wins, Draws 38, Newcastle 48 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with…

Chelsea $1.22, Draw $6.30, Newcastle $12.00

Did You Know?
Newcastle United have not beaten Chelsea in the league at the Bridge since the 1986/87 season, since then we’ve recorded six draws and eleven defeats only scoring 7 goals.

Team News:
Newcastle will be without captain Kevin Nolan and Stephen Harper who both have gone under the knife this week which has ended their season. They join a big list of casualties who aren’t expected back until next season that includes Hatem Ben Arfa, Dan Gosling, Leon Best, Danny Guthrie, Mike Williamson, Tamas Kadar, and James Perch. While Alan Smith and Kazenga LuaLua are now both back in training.

For Chelsea captain John Terry is a slight doubt with a hip injury, while Jose Bosingwa, Ryan Bertrand and Yury Zhirkov are all out.

Match Preview
Newcastle United make their final trip of the season as they head down to the Kings Road to take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge tomorrow night.

The season will no doubt be over for Chelsea by the time kick-off comes round as a win or a draw for Man United tonight will mean a record 19th league title for the Red Devils.

Despite the number injuries in his Toon squad, manager Alan Pardew still has a few decisions to make about his starting XI. Youngsters Michael Richardson, Greg McDermott, Ryan Donaldson, Phil Airey, James Tavernier, and Sammy Ameobi all join recent substitute sensation Shane Ferguson in a youthful travelling squad.

One decision already made by Pardew is to drop Cheik Tiote in fear of the Ivorian midfielder picking up his 15th yellow card of the season which would rule him out of two games next season.

Pardew’s back four should pick itself with Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini and Jose Enrique lining up infront of Tim Krul.

In midfield Pardew’s only real experience comes in the form of Joey Barton, Jonas Gutierrez and Ryan Taylor. The absence of Kevin Nolan could well free up a slot in a reshuffled midfield four for Shane Ferguson and possibly Michael Richardson. Another option Pardew will be considering will be dropping Peter Lovenkrands back into a wide position with Nile Ranger and  Shola Ameobi upfront.

My personal preference would be to give youth a chance to impress in these final two games and in that I would start Shane Ferguson and Michael Richardson in midfield, and play in-form reserve striker Phil Airey upfront. Airey scored twice in the reserve teams 4-0 victory over Blyth Spartans in the Sage Northumberland Senior Cup Final in midweek and has been highly impressive all season for the reserves.

My Starting XI:
Tim Krul
Danny Simpson, Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique
Jonas Gutierrez, Joey Barton, Michael Richardson, Shane Ferguson,
Shola Ameobi, Phil Airey

With a woeful recent record at Stamford Bridge any Newcastle United line-up would be set to struggle against Chelsea who have 31 out of of 37 home games under Carlo Ancelotti. Hopefully the home side will be flat after losing the title meaning we can take advantage and give the Blues a good game, but if we do concede early and our midfield gets exposed, Frank Lampard and co could run riot and our typical Stamford Bridge experience will kick in.

Let’s try and stay positive though. HOWAY THE LADS!

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Share|
Tags:
No Comments »

Finishing ahead of Sunderland is big spur for Kevin Nolan

Published by sTyLe on May 6th, 2011 - in Season 2010/2011

KEVIN NOLAN insists Newcastle United have still made solid progress in the Premier League this season – without spending a king’s ransom.

The Scouser – like the United faithful – is hopeful of seeing new faces this summer, but feels Newcastle’s first season back in the big time has been a success.

The Magpies skipper has issued a rallying cry ahead of the final three games of the season, with United still in with a genuine shout of finishing ahead of big spenders such as Sunderland, Stoke City – and Aston Villa and in a top-10 position.

Nolan has also underlined the importance of getting over the finishing line ahead of a Sunderland side who have blown over £20m this season and still struggled.

When asked on the possibility of trumping the Wearsiders, United’s derby hero told the Chronicle today: “That would be nice – but we’ve got to look at it in perspective.

“They’ve gone out and spent millions and millions of pounds.

“If we had have had the chance to do that and bring players in, we would have been a bit higher than we are.

“Then you see Steve Bruce saying he’s got to buy seven players in the summer.

““That’s a target (finishing ahead of Sunderland) to make sure we finish the season strongly.

“It’s something we can work on – I don’t see why not.”

Nolan today assured the Geordie public that United aim to come out fighting against Birmingham City on Saturday.

The 3-0 loss at Liverpool has left sections of United fans concerned about which direction their side are heading, with the lack of firepower causing plenty of anxiety on Tyneside.

However, with a top-10 finish still up for grabs for United and winnable home fixtures against the Carling Cup winners and West Bromwich Albion to come, Nolan is confident of a respectable Premier League finish – and nudging home against the old enemy Sunderland.

Finishing ahead of the Wearsiders is by no means a sign of success to many United fans, but after hammering Sunderland 5-1 and coming close to a double at the Stadium of Light, a higher place in the table would mean order restored for the black-and-white faithful.

Just a matter of months ago Sunderland fans were bragging about dusting off their passports with a European tilt in mind.

Yet Nolan is only focused on what can be achieved at St James’ Park.

Nolan – who admitted he was taken aback by the strength of support at Anfield with his team 3-0 down – said: “We don’t really want this season to peter out – we want to finish strongly and get the momentum for next season.

“Our fans are brilliant, I always speak so highly of them.

“They’ve been like that all season.

“People at Liverpool were just saying to me that they were fantastic.”

Nolan also feels United must aim to match the brilliance of the fans. He said: “I genuinely believe they’re the best in the country.

“There’s no-one to beat them home and away.

“They’ve been with us through thick and thin, and hopefully we can give them a good couple of home games and get some points on the board.”

United beat Birmingham 2-0 back in February and Nolan would love to make it a double over the Carling Cup winners.

He said: “They’re going to come out fighting and scrapping for everything.

“It’ll be tough, we know that.

“We’ve got to play like we have been at St James’.

“We were fantastic in the last game against Manchester United. If we do what we did there, we’ll be OK.”

Share|
Tags: ,
No Comments »

The World Football Programme radio appearance (Sat 30th April)

Published by Row 'S' Army on May 4th, 2011 - in Season 2010/2011

I made another appearance on Radio Fremantle’s The World Football Programme last Saturday (30th April) to talk about the English Premier League.

The show was hosted by regulars Penny TannerHoath & Jason Washington-King, with the topics up for discussion the title race, the relegation battle and my recent trip to St James’ Park whilst I was working away in Sweden.

To listen to the full interview yourself download it here, then fast forward to 0:49 for my voice over and 4:40 for my interview.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Share|
Tags: , ,
No Comments »

Coloccini: Strong finish is important for NUFC

Published by sTyLe on May 2nd, 2011 - in Season 2010/2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

FABRICIO COLOCCINI has indicated the importance of a strong finish for Newcastle United.

The Argentine has been delighted with the progress made by the black-and-whites in their first season back in the Premier League since relegation two years ago.

However, with the Magpies all but mathematically safe, the former Deportivo la Coruna man wants to finish off the job in the last four games.

He told the Chronicle: “We have been solid for most parts of the season and everybody has stuck together.

“This season was always going to be difficult for us, more difficult than last, of course.

“I think we have held our own against a lot of very good teams.

“We have had good results against Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool.

“We have shown we can live on the same pitch as them.

“Now we have some big games left, Chelsea and Liverpool, and we must have the same mentality.”

United’s back four has consisted of the same cast of characters for much of the season.

Coloccini added: “We are proud when we keep a clean sheet.

“It is not just the defenders because we all defend as a team.

“Every player works hard to get a clean sheet.

“That is what we must do again at Liverpool and Chelsea.

“If we can, then we have a chance of a great result.”

United sit on 41 points going into the last four games.

Yet Coloccini thinks there is more to come and that United can build on their total.

He said: “We cannot think of anything but picking up more points, and especially in front of our own fans.

“We want to finish strongly so everybody can look forward to the new season with confidence.”

Share|
Tags:
No Comments »
© 2010 www.aussiemags.net