A Mag For All Seasons

Match Preview: Fulham (a)

2011-02-02T20:37:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 24

Fulham (a)

Date: Thursday 3rd February 2011
Venue: Craven Cottage
Kick-Off: 7am (AEDT), 6:30am (SA), 6am (QLD), 5:30am (NT), 5am (WA)
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 2 viewers choice
Forum: Match Thread

Last 5 Form:
Fulham
FAC4 - Spurs (h) W 4-0
PL - Liverpool (a) L 0-1
PL - Stoke City (h) W 2-0
PL - Wigan (a) D 1-1
FAC3 - Peterborough (h) W 6-2

Newcastle United
PL - Spurs (h) D 1-1
PL - mackems (a) D 1-1
FAC3 - Stevenage (a) L 1-3
PL - West Ham (h) W 5-0
PL - Wigan (a) W 1-0

Match Stats:
All time - Fulham 25 wins, draws 13, Newcastle 24 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

Fulham $2.10, Draw $3.25, Newcastle $3.60

Did You Know?
Fulham are the oldest professional football team in London.

Team News:
Newcastle United likely line-up: Harper, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Enrique, Barton, Guthrie, Nolan, Jonas, Best, Ameobi

From: Harper, Krul, Coloccini, Williamson, Campbell, Enrique, Simpson, Perch, Jonas, Barton, Nolan, Guthrie, Vuckic, Ferguson, Ameobi, Best, Lovenkrands, Ranger, Richardson, Dummett
Unavailable: Tiote (suspended), Smith, Ben Arfa, R. Taylor, Gosling, Ireland, S. Taylor, Airey (all injured)

Match Preview
Before discussing the upcoming Fulham match I must first cover off some of my thoughts regarding the latest chapter in Mike Ashley's tale of woe at Newcastle United Football Club. We currently find ourselves in a little bit of a he-said, we-said affair; Carroll has claimed that he was pushed out of the club, and the club have countered that he wanted an improved deal and that if he didn't want to go he could still be here. Now I'm not privy to all of the facts of the situation, but the two most patently obvious ones are as follows;
* Andy Carroll could not legally talk to Liverpool unless the Club gave him permission to do so.
* The Club could not force Andy Carroll out. He had a five year contract that needed to be honoured.

The logical conclusion to reach from this is that the club, when enticed by the excessively large £35M carrot, wanted to cash in. Convincing Carroll to talk to Liverpool would be easy. They knew that he'd be offered a substantial pay rise in order to join the Merseyside club, they knew that his agent would be pushing for a deal in order to maximise his own slice of the pie, and they knew ultimately that he's an impressionable 22 year old with stars in his eyes. The inevitable happened and Carroll made a last ditch attempt to remain at the club by pressing for an improved contract just months after signing a new deal. When that failed Carroll submitted his transfer request; a move that will have ensured that Mike Ashley did not have to pay any loyalty bonus to Carroll. Off he hopped in Mike Ashley's helicopter on a direct trip to Liverpool. It hardly seems reluctant on any of the parties behalves.

The greatest problem to come out of this whole nasty affair is the current state of our playing squad. We entered the window with manager Alan Pardew claiming that he was planning on making at least one signing, and possibly more, noting that he needed to strengthen our squad. Instead we've seen three players leave (Carroll, Routledge & Xisco) and only one come in (Ireland). Stephen Ireland is, or at least at one stage was, an excellent prospect. However after a poor year at City and an even worse cameo at Aston Villa his stock has dropped significantly and this can be seen as nothing more than an opportunistic signing. He may come good or he may not, either way the risk is minimal as he's here only on loan until the end off the season. Courtesy of our actions in this window we're left with a less than inspiring strike force consisting of the ever-present Shola Ameobi, Leon Best who hardly set even the Championship on fire, 31-year old Peter Lovenkrands and 19-year old Nile Ranger. It's not a forward line that will have many defensive units too worried. Carroll was the clear outstanding talent amongst the bunch and yet he's been sold, with no replacement. That for me is an almost unforgivable piece of business incompetence, unsurprisingly from the comedy duo who wrote the book: Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias.

Now onto the Fulham game. Despite the frustrating points we've thrown away in the dying minutes of our past two league games we go into this one on the back of a four match unbeaten run. Fulham's league form has been largely indifferent, but their last start was a 4-0 dismantling of a full-strength Tottenham side in the FA Cup. That result was somewhat an anomaly for Fulham, who sit in 15th place on the table having scored just 25 goals in their first 24 league matches. By comparison we've scored more goals just in our home matches (26), picking up a total of 36 at all venues. Our strikeforce is obviously weakened at the moment, though our leading scorer wouldn't have been available even if he was still on our books. It once again falls to Ameobi and Best to pickup the slack with Lovenkrands and Ranger on hand if required. Kevin Nolan's goal scoring ability from midfield could also prove critical if we are to leave this match with a result.

The Manager
Alan Pardew will have a significant task on his hands in overcoming the negative feeling at the club resulting from the departure of Carroll.
"The mood on the training ground wasn't great. We are disappointed to lose a friend and a player. Disillusionment? You can't hide that because Liverpool gained Carroll and Suarez, and Chelsea gained Torres and we haven't gained a striker in that process."
He added:
"Myself and the players are sad to see Andy leave and I hope he remains our friend. It was an extraordinary situation for him and for us. I am confident the group can pull themselves together. By the time we get to the game at Fulham they will be ready to show that."

Keith Rowe - DjBigK

Andy Carroll sold to Liverpool for a record £35m

2011-02-01T18:01:00.000+11:00

So Andy Carroll is sold to Liverpool for a record £35m on the last day of the January transfer window.

Gutted. Simple as that.

Mike Ashley has no fucking clue what he is doing with OUR football club. We should be building a team around Andy Carroll for the next 10 years. Yes £35m is amazing money, but do we need the money that much? Ashley won't reinvest a third of that so it makes no business sense what so ever.

A player of Carroll's talent, potential and goalscoring ability don't grow on trees for a club like Newcastle United. Throw in the fact he is a local lad and it is heart breaking stuff.

Toon Talk fanzine editor Steve Wraith has claimed he exchanged a series of txt messages with Andy Carroll yesterday, with Carroll saying "They have kind of said we don't want u but want me to say I wanna go. And I said I don't want to go." and when asked "any message you want put across to the fans?" Carroll replied "They said they wanted the money. Gutted to be leaving Newcastle but I was kind of pushed out the door. Gutted to be leaving my home club but I was practically told to go. Didn't want to leave that's why i signed a five-year deal.".

Of course Mike Ashley has a track record of selling key players without replacements lined up so we shouldn't be surprised by this move. For example, James Milner was sold for £12m at the deadline in August 2008, while Charles N'Zogbia and Shay Given were sold for £5m and £6m respectively at the deadline of January 2009.

Where does Alan Pardew go from here should be interesting. After insisting Andy Carroll "is not for sale" all month does this make his position untenable? Or does it prove he is just an Ashley puppet? I think we know the answer.

All in all this is another sad chapter under the Mike Ashley era, and while Ashley stays at the club you can't see how we can ever move forward. Sad times.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Newcastle United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

2011-01-24T20:48:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 23

Date: Saturday 22nd January 2011
Kick-off: 3:00pm (GMT)
Venue: St James' Park
Attendance: 51,010
Referee: Mark Halsey

Teams
Newcastle: Harper, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Barton, Guthrie (Perch 74), Nolan, Gutierrez, Best (Lovenkrands 65), Ameobi (Ranger 88).
Subs: Krul, Campbell, Xisco, Ferguson.

Goal: Coloccini 59

Tottenham: Cudicini, Hutton, Dawson, Gallas, Bale (Bassong 11), Lennon, Modric, Jenas (Crouch 71), Pienaar (Kranjcar 83), Van der Vaart, Defoe.
Subs: Pletikosa, Kaboul, Corluka, Sandro.

Goal: Lennon 90+1

Alan Pardew said after the game:

"For some reason we got exuberant, trying to score the second. I was crying out for a hurricane, something to stop the game. It was like basketball at the end. When you’re a hardened professional like myself, you just want it to be seen out. You need a little je ne sais quoi. If you’re a nailed-on good Premier League team then this would not have happened. We've come up against a Spurs side that in the first half looked like they were going to give us a really tough afternoon. They knocked the belief out of us with their movement and passing. And it wasn't till half time when we sat them down and adjusted a couple of things and put a bit more belief in the players that we looked like what we can do, caused them all sorts of problems. We took the lead and if it wasn't for exuberance at the end, trying to get a second and the crowd urging us on and all getting a little bit carried away, we would have a really big victory today. Unfortunately for us, its only a draw. It is disappointing for the players because we lost a late goal last week under different kind of circumstances in terms of we got really deep and was rash with a few clearances. But today, it was the opposite - we was too stretched and charging around looking for a second so somewhere in the middle there is a balance. We are going to put some work in in Portugal and I think maybe crank up our levels a little bit and to see games out. We looked tired at the end of both games and maybe that was a factor. I thought he (Coloccini) was the stand out player today, he was brilliant in everything he did. I'm pretty close to securing another player of our squad and that will be a big bonus for the club. So I've concentrated on that, if one becomes available I think can help then great but the squad players for me are doing terrific. There is a good feeling in the group and good strength."

Match Report
Newcastle United conceded a last minute goal for the second week in row to drop two points and hand Tottenham Hotspur a late draw at St James' Park.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

mackems 1-1 Newcastle United

2011-01-20T21:00:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 22

Date: Sunday 16th January 2011
Kick-Off: 3:00pm (GMT)
Venue: Stadium of L*ght
Attendance: 47,864
Referee: Howard Webb

Teams
Sunderland (4-4-2): Craig Gordon; Nedum Onuoha (Bolo Zenden 76), Titus Bramble (c), Anton Ferdinand, Phil Bardsley; Steed Malbranque, Kieran Richardson, Jordan Henderson, Ahmed Elmohamady (Jack Colback 88); Darren Bent, Asamoah Gyan
Subs not used: Simon Mingolet, Marcos Angeleri, Paulo Da Silva, Cristian Riveros, Andy Reid

Goal: Gyan (90)

Newcastle (4-4-2): Steve Harper; Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique; Joey Barton, Alan Smith (Danny Guthrie 36), Kevin Nolan (c), Jonas Gutierrez (Dan Gosling 90); Leon Best (Peter Lovenkrands 89), Shola Ameobi
Subs not used: Tim Krul, James Perch, Wayne Routledge, Nile Ranger

Goal: Nolan (52)

Alan Pardew said after the game:

"I enjoyed that atmosphere and I could see the experience we had on the pitch coming through. People like Kevin Nolan and Alan Smith knew what it was all about. We have taken four points from the derby this season and we look forward to the next one. I’m sure Steve Bruce will say that his team are higher in the league. We still have that to address this season. We have disappointment after conceding late on, but we have a really tough game with Spurs now. We have to concentrate on that because you want to aspire to where you can. Sunderland are having a great season and we have to look at where they are. We have had a lot of serious injury time. The fourth official’s info was good but I felt five minutes was a lot. You don’t see many games like that. It was harsh if I’m honest. I thought it was three or four minutes. It boosts the crowd when you get that. The ref said ‘here’s a bit of excitement’, which it proved to be. We were so negative in our approach at Stevenage - this time we got a grip of it in the second half. The disappointing thing was that when we broke we had a couple of chances. I am frustrated. I thought the players had a good mentality, started fast and on the front foot. We tried to hurt them. The first half was like a derby with nothing really happening, but the second half was excellent. We got the goal. That period when our fans made lots of noise, I thought we would see it out. We perhaps could have got a second. What cost us was a lot of injury-time. It feels like a defeat in the dressing room."But my message was, when you lose key players you have to perform. We did. I have been really buoyed by Shola and Leon – they may just have saved me a problem looking elsewhere and it’s not just them. Peter Lovenkrands has done well too and we’ve got Phil Airey just beneath them. Shola and Leon were as good as the strikers at Sunderland in Darren Bent and Gyan. They did very well indeed. That is good for us because we have Andy carrying an injury. This has altered my thinking in the transfer window and we might be looking to improve in other departments now.”

Match Report
You lucky bastards!!! Asamoah Gyan scored an injury-time equaliser to deny Newcastle United victory in the Tyne-Wear derby at the Stadium of Light.

Magpie captain Kevin Nolan had put the Toon ahead with a improvised back heel on 52 minutes. Newcastle had throughly deserved all three points with an dominating performance that saw them miss several crucial chances.

Two points lost, however, at the start of the season we would have all taken four points and at an aggregate of 6-1, so not too much to complain about.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Match Preview: mackems (a)

2011-01-15T17:49:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 22

mackems (a)

Date: Sunday 16th January 2011
Venue: Stadium of Light
Kick-Off: 11:00pm (AEDT), 10:30pm (SA), 10:00pm (QLD), 9:30pm (NT), 8:00pm (WA)
Referee: Howard Webb (South Yorkshire)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 2
Forum: Match Thread

Last 5 Form:
5under1and
FAC3 - Notts County (h) L 1-2
PL - Aston Villa (a) W 1-0
PL - Blackburn (h) W 3-0
PL - Blackpool (h) L 0-2
PL - Man Utd (a) L 2-0

Newcastle United
FAC3 - Stevenage (a) L 1-3
PL - West Ham (h) W 5-0
PL - Wigan (a) W 1-0
PL - Spurs (a) L 0-2
PL - Man City (h) 1-3

Match Stats:
All time - 5under1and 46 wins, draws 46, Newcastle 52 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

5under1and $2.10, Draw $3.25, Newcastle $3.60

Did You Know?
The two clubs have never played out a goalless draw since the inception of the Premier League. Overall, 48 goals have been scored in 17 games, an average of 2.8 goals per match. So get your bets on 0-0 then!!!

Lee Clark you legend.

Team News:
Newcastle United will be without long-term injury victims Hatem Ben Arfa and Ryan Taylor, while Cheik Tiote starts his three match ban and Steven Taylor is set to miss out also. Top goalscorer Andy Carroll still hasn't recovered from a thigh injury meaning Newcastle will be without their tailsman.

5under1and should welcome back defender Nedum Onuoha after a recent hamstring problem, while both Lee Cattermole and Danny Welbeck could return from injury ahead of schedule.

Match Preview
This is my first match preview after returning from travelling around following the Ashes (I'll not mention cricket on here honest!) and what more of a fitting game to get back into the swing of things then the mackems away.

Sunday night sees the 144th Tyne-Wear derby with 5under1and hosting Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light. Newcastle are sitting in nineth place with 28 points while the mackems are three places and five points ahead of them, however they have played an extra game.

Manager Alan Pardew has a few selection headaches with Andy Carroll, Cheik Tiote and Steven Taylor all missing.

Pardew has hinted he intends to play two strikers to give 5under1nad 'something to think about', so with the return of Shola Ameobi it means Leon Best, Peter Lovenkrands & Nile Ranger will all be fighting it out for the other spot. Having scored a hattrick against West Ham Best should be the man to partner Ameobi upfront.

Replacing Tiote will be Pardew's most difficult and crucial decision he needs to make. As ever in all derby games the midfield battle is where the game is normally won or lost. Tiote's ball retention and passing ability would have been vital, making his sending off against Stevenage even more frustrating.

For me Pardew has three realistic options either bringing in Danny Guthrie or Alan Smith, or moving Joey Barton into the middle of the park and playing Wayne Routledge down the right-flank. Routledge has been in and out of the team of late but he has shown glimpses of his potential recently, however, I suspect with this being an away derby game his lightweight frame won't be used from the start. Personally I would go with Guthrie in centre-midfield as he apparently starred alongside Dan Gosling in a midweek friendly against Hibs, but he hasn't played much football this season with injuries so I suspect Pardew will play Smith. Smith must keep a cool head and if he can do that then we have half a chance of keeping eleven players on the pitch.

The absence of Steven Taylor is a blow in terms of his recent return to the team and form, but more importantly for his local pride as along with Carroll being out it means we'll only have Ameobi and Stephen Harper as local boys. Pardew will no doubt go with Mike Williamson and Fabrico Coloccini at the heart of the defence and how they cope with Darren Bent and Asamoah Gyan is also a crucial factor in the game.

5under1and manager Steve Bruce is out for revenge after Newcastle destroyed his side 5-1 at St James' Park 77 days ago. The alleged boyhood Newcastle fan claims he went straight home that day and has never watched a re-run of the game since, well if we needed any evidence of his lack of Geordieness that is it!

The mackems have an excellent home record this season winning 6, drawing 4 and only losing 1. So with this being a rare derby game with them ahead of us in the league they had to be favourite you'd say. That is something they aren't used too at all so hopefully they choke under the pressure trying to revenage that 5-1 win.

HOWAY THE LADS lets do these...

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Thank you for your support in 2010

2010-12-31T09:59:00.000+11:00

Aussie Mags would like to thank everyone for their continued support and help throughout 2010.

This year has been our biggest year so far. Aussie Mags has grown rapidly with our ever expanding list of users on the forum, Facebook and Twitter greatly appreciated. We've been able to get exposure in the Evening Chronicle, through my radio appearances on Radio Fremantle and taken part in Footy Fans Down Under supporters club events. However our biggest achievement is that as well as being recognised by nufc.com, Aussie Mags in now also listed on the clubs official website as being the supporters club for Australia.

As most of you know I'm currently on a 6 week holiday so the updates have been of a minimum of late, but fear not from the 10th January normal service will resume and Aussie Mags will look to make 2011 another great year.

Hope you had a great Christmas and here's to a Happy and Black & White New Year. See you in 2011.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Congratulations to Andy Carroll England International

2010-11-19T07:14:00.000+11:00

Congratulations to Andy Carroll for making his England debut at Wembley in England's 1-2 defeat to France on Wednesday night (GMT).

Carroll was one of the few England players to enhance their reputations in what was an awful performance by England who were outplayed by their French opponents. Playing mainly as a lone striker Carroll received little service, but he battled away admirable and looked more than comfortable at international level. On 72 minutes Carroll left the field, apparently uninjured, and was replaced by Cardiff City striker Jay Bothroyd.

Speaking after the game Fabio Capello heaped praise on Carroll:

"It is important for me that some young players play here at Wembley against a good team like France. In this friendly fixture it was important to know the value of the young players. I told the players it is different to play with the Under-21s than to play here. In the first half France played better, in the second half we played better. I am happy for Carroll for his performance and I understand he is a good player for the future for England"

The 21-year-old Geordie striker spoke to Evening Chronicle afterwards:

"I was happy with my performance on the night and it obviously leaves you wanting to experience a bit more. For me, it was a great experience to be out there and playing with top international players. I've really enjoyed it. The atmosphere in front of 86,000 people was a real buzz and it's something I'll never forget. Now I'm just looking forward to Bolton Wanderers on Saturday."

In a spooky coincidence Carroll made his debut at the same age, against the same team, and at the same venue as Alan Shearer did in 1992. England needs a good Geordie in it's team, see Bobby Charlton, Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle, Gazza and Shearer, so well done Andy we are all proud of you.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

The World Football Programme radio appearance (Sat 13th Nov)

2010-11-16T06:58:00.000+11:00

I made another appearance on Radio Fremantle’s The World Football Programme last Saturday (13th Nov) to talk about the English Premier League. The show was again hosted by Penny TannerHoath & Jason Washington-King, and joining them was John O'Connell from The International Football Show.

I took time out from Footy Fan Down Under's Melbourne Pub Competition to speak about Joey Barton's punch, Newcastle's recent form, that weeks EPL results, the fixtures that weekend, and the young England hopeful's looking to be part of Fabio Capello's upcoming squad.

To listen to the full interview yourself download it here and then fast forward to 11 minutes and 45 seconds.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle United

2010-11-10T06:59:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 11

Date: Sunday 7th November 2010
Kick-off: 1:30pm (GMT)
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral)
Attendance: 60,059 including a sold-out away full of 2,000 Magpies

Teams
Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Fabregas, Nasri (Arshavin 56), Walcott, A Song, Wilshere (Bendtner 73), Chamakh (Van Persie 57)
Subs Not Used: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue, Rosicky
Booked: Clichy, Sagna, Koscienly, Fabregas
Red Cards: Koscienly

Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Jose Enrique, Coloccini, Williamson, Barton, Tiote, Nolan, Gutierrez, Ameobi (Ranger 82), Carroll
Subs Not Used: Soderberg, Campbell, Steven Taylor, Smith, Routledge, Lovenkrands
Booked: Tiote

Goals: Carroll 45

Post-match comments:

Newcastle manager Chris Hughton said:

"With Andy (Carroll), it's about making sure that all the headlines he is making are on the back pages. He is a young man, he has made mistakes, but he has got to make sure he learns from those mistakes, and I am quite sure he will. He is an environment here where he is getting a lot of support from the club, certainly the staff and the supporters, and I am quite sure his concentrations will be very much on football, 100 per cent. Young professional footballers are easier targets. They have a different lifestyle, as people see it. They are young, privileged men and that's how people see it. They have got to make sure they don't get caught up in the pitfalls of it all. All we can do for our part is support him and create an environment in which he can flourish. At the moment, he is a young man who is playing very well on the back of an excellent performance at Arsenal. The reason why we gave him that number nine shirt is because we saw that potential in him, and we hope that continues. He is a player in form. He is, of course, a little bit different to a lot of the other England strikers at this particular moment, which perhaps sets him apart. He is an old-fashioned centre-forward, he is left-sided and has a prowess in the air. He is certainly different. He is still developing his game, he will have bad periods, he will have ups and downs as all centre-forwards do, but at the moment, he is a player playing very, very well. He's providing the team with a wonderful platform up front and scoring goals as well. The most important thing is that his mind is very much concentrated on doing the best job he can for this football club. He has a prowess in the air but he has other aspects in his game. He gives us a mobility that stretches defences. He has a way to go and is working on other aspects of his game. I would love to see him picked for Newcastle United, that's all I'm bothered about. There was no question he would play after what has been written about him. I made a selection based on the continuity in the last couple of games. Andy is mentally very strong and not difficult to manage. This is a team that worked hard to get promotion back to this division. They know where they want to be. This result showed what it meant to everyone. It was a magnificent team effort. It is a very difficult place to come and get a result and come and get a victory. You know before the game they are a side that will have the majority of possession, they had quality to bring on, difficult day."

Match Highlights

Match Report
Newcastle United rounded off a remarkable week with a convincing 1-0 victory over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium which moved the Magpies up to 5th place in the league. This was Newcastle's first victory away to Arsenal since that historic Monday night in December 2001 when they beat the Gunners 3-1 at Highbury to break the 30 game streak without a win in London.

It was a towering Andy Carroll header on the stroke of half-time that won the game for the Magpies. Joey Barton floated a free-kick deep into the box and Carroll got his head to the ball before goalkeeper Fabianski to direct it into the back of the empty net.

As spectacular and memorable the 5-1 victory over 5under1and was last week, this performance and result was perhaps even more eye catching from Chris Hughton's team. Newcastle did ride their lucky at couple of times with Theo Walcott hitting the crossbar and Tim Krul making a fine one-handed save, but don't take any of the credit away from the Magpies.

Not many teams leave the Emirates stadium having had more possession during the 90 minutes than Arsenal (49% to 51%). Arsenal are the kings of the possession football game, there ability to keep the ball and pass teams to death is Arsene Wenger's trade mark. However, we are starting to see Hughton getting his team to play this attractive and effective style of play also. Last week 5under1and were unable to cope with the Newcastle passing game and it was most encouraging to see them try to play the same style at times away from home.

Naturally a lot more defending was required in this game and the back four & goalkeeper did a remarkable job. Jose Enrique restricted his usual forward runs and comfortably contained the pacey Walcott down the Arsenal right-flank for the vast majority of the game. On the opposite side right-back Danny Simpson probably had his best game in a black & white shirt, his awareness to read the game and his ability to tackle and break down the attacking threats has been a welcome addition since his return from injury. And again Mike Williamson & Fabricio Coloccini were the rock in the middle of the defence.

In midfield Cheik Tiote's reputation is growing rapidly with every game. The Ivorian international again was outstanding in the middle of the park running the show against some world class opposition. Barton also was highly influential playing out wide of the right hand side of midfield, his accurate passing and crossing crucial to Newcastle's attacks.

Finally upfront the partnership of Andy Carroll and Shola Ameobi is blossoming into a good one since Hughton decided to switch from 4-5-1 to 4-4-2. Amoebi had one of his more impressive and effective away performances, he held up the ball well and ran at the Arsenal defence when he could, while Carroll chased every ball and his arial ability caused the Arsenal defence plenty of headaches.

Full credit to Chris Hughton he really has taken this Newcastle United team to a new level this season. Not just with the results he is getting but in the manor is which they are doing it. We haven't seen this type of quality football played since I've moved to Australia and long may it continue.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Match Preview: Arsenal v Newcastle United

2010-11-07T14:18:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 11

Arsenal (a)

Date: Monday 8th November 2010
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Kick-Off: 12:30am (AEDT), 12am (SA), 11:30pm (QLD), 11pm (NT), 9:30pm (WA)
Referee: Mike Dean (The Wirral)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 1
Forum: Match Thread

Last 5 Form:
Newcastle United
PL - 5under1and (h) W 5-1
CC4 - Arsenal (h) L 0-4
PL - West Ham (a) W 2-1
PL - Wigan (h) D 2-2
PL - Man City (a) L 1-2

Arsenal
UCL - Shakhtar Donetsk (a) L 1-2
PL - West Ham (h) W 1-0
CC4 - Newcastle (a) W 4-0
PL - Man City (a) W 3-0
UCL - Shakhtar Donetsk (h) W 5-1
PL - Birmingham City (h) W 2-1

Match Stats:
All time - Arsenal 65 win, draws 36, Newcastle 65 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

Arsenal $1.30, Draw $5.00, Newcastle $11.00

Did You Know?
Newcastle United have not beaten Arsenal away in ten games and in the five visits since the Emirates Stadium was built, they have drawn one and lost four, scoring only one goal in those games.

Team News:
Arsenal are expected to have captain Cesc Fabregas back after he missed the midweek trip to the Ukraine and young starlet Jack Wilshere returns from suspension. Midfielders Alex Song (calf), Denilson (groin), Andrey Arshavin (virus) remain doubtful while Manuel Alumunia, Abou Diaby, Robin Van Persie, Emmanuel Frimpong, Kieron Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey and Thomas Vermaelen are all still on the injury list.

Newcastle United are still without long term injury victims Hatem Ben Arfa (broken leg), Dan Gosling (knee), Leon Best (ankle), Stephen Harper (shoulder), while Sol Campbell (thigh) is rated doubtful.

Match Preview
Newcastle United travel down to London to taken on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in a live Sunday lunchtime kick-off.

Following on from their emphatic victory over 5under1and last Sunday Chris Hughton and his team will be full confidence ahead of this difficult trip. Hughton spoke to the press ahead of the game saying:

"It goes without saying – you have to be confident after that (5under1and victory), how can you not be? But whether you’re confident or not, we are going to as tough a place as they come in Arsenal. Most would consider it one of the most difficult. But we go there with confidence and the feel-good factor is there from the last couple of Premier League games. We must be mindful of the quality they have, but not fear it. We are aware of what they achieved in their Carling Cup game and that they have also had a midweek game in the Champions League. They were able to rest a number of their players in that game. But in view of whether they play them again or they rest them, one thing I do know is how they will play. They play the same type of football throughout and we all know what it is. And whatever side they put out, it will be a top-class side. There will be no surprises there. The way they play they can bring in quality players whenever they like. And we have to play as well as they do if we are to get a result.”

Despite the fact that Newcastle have a very poor recent record away at Arsenal the football played by Hughton's team last week was some of the best we have seen at St James' Park for a long time. Of course playing Arsenal on their own turf is a tough assignment for any team in the Premier League. Hughton's recent change of preference from a 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 formation away from home should give Newcastle plenty of attacking threat and with this set to be Arsenal's fourth game in 10 days, including a trip to the Ukraine, they may never be a better time to catch the Gunners cold.

Arsenal's only home league defeat so far this season has come against fellow newly promoted side West Bromwich Albion. That day WBA took the game to the home side and were 0-3 up before Arsenal clawed back two late goals.

Key to the game will be how Newcastle's back four of Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini and Jose Enrique cope with the first 30 minutes of the match. An early goal for the Gunners could spell disaster for the Magpies, with the free flowing football of Arsenal making it very difficult to come from behind against, as the likes of Samri Nasri, Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshire will exposure any space given to them in the final third.

Left-back Enrique will need to be at his best to stop the in-form Walcott, the England International scored two goals in the Carling Cup last week and another good goal against Shakhtar Donetsk in midweek. Walcott's pace will no doubt force Enrique to not have the luxury of being able to support Jonas Gutierrez as often as he would like. Meaning Enrique can ill afford to give Walcott any space to utilise his blistering pace and this is something manager Hughton will be mindful of.

For Newcastle the onus will be on strikers Shola Ameobi and Andy Carroll to cause the Arsenal defence as much trouble as possible. For this to happen it will require some good quality service from the midfield, meaning the delivery out wide from Joey Barton and Gutierrez will be vital. If Carroll and Ameobi can make life difficult for the Arsenal defenders, then the space in behind can be expoilted by Kevin Nolan who thrieves off the knock down's from the big men.

A Newcastle United victory is not of the question, but Arsenal rightly start as overwheleming favourites, so it will be interesting to see if United can continue on from where they left off last week and any postitive result here would be seen as a bonus for the season.

HOWAY THE LADS!!!

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Newcastle United 5-1 5under1and

2010-11-01T17:52:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 10

Date: Sunday 31st October 2010
Kick-off: 1:30pm (GMT)
Venue: St James’ Park
Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
Attendance: 51,988

Teams
Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Jose Enrique, Coloccini, Williamson, Barton, Tiote, Nolan, Gutierrez, Ameobi (Ranger 86), Carroll
Subs Not Used: Soderberg, Perch, Steven Taylor, Smith, Routledge, Lovenkrands
Booked: Tiote, Carroll, Simpson

Goals: Nolan 26, 34, 75, Ameobi 45 pen, 70

5under1and: Mignolet, Bardsley, Bramble, Turner, Onuoha, Henderson, Cattermole (Mensah 76), Malbranque, Elmohamady (Gyan 40), Welbeck (Richardson 55), Bent
Subs Not Used: Gordon, Zenden, Da Silva, Ferdinand
Booked: Malbranque, Onuoha, Bardsley, Cattermole, Turner, Mensah
Sent Off: Bramble (53)

Goals: Bent 90

Post-match comments:
Newcastle manager Chris Hughton said

"If you had asked me before today's game would I settle for a scrappy 1-0 win where perhaps we didn't play so well, of course I would have done. It is about the three points, which sees us go a couple of places up the table, which is a really nice feeling at this stage. But this is a massive game around these parts. We weren't in this fixture last year - they have had to wait two years for it - and to do it in the fashion we have done has certainly made this city fairly buoyant this evening. (What will you do to celebrate?) A couple of glasses of wine, I think. I am very, very proud. We had a group of players today who went into what was always going to be a very tough game - they [Sunderland] are a side in very good form at the moment and have a lot of quality in the team. The first period was always going to be a little bit to and fro. We fortunately got the first goal, but I thought the way the team pushed not only to get the second, but to get the third, coming out in the second-half period where they could have sat back a little bit, but no, looked for that fourth and fifth, it was an outstanding performance."

5under1nad manager Steve Bruce said

"All I can do is apologise. When you get beaten as badly as that, here of all places, it will take a lot of recovering. Me, as manager, I will take full responsibility. Anything that could have went wrong, went wrong; from red cards to mistakes. I've been saying all week that we must handle the occasion. But from the off we didn't and we got blown away by a far superior team on the day. I've got no complaints about anything. I could sit here and try to make excuses but I'm not looking for that. We've been badly beaten and the mark of everyone is how we respond."

Match Highlights

Match Report
It was a derby day to remember on Tyneside as Newcastle United thrashed 5under1and 5-1 at St James’ Park on Sunday lunchtime. Not even the most optimistic member of the Toon Army could have predicted such a brilliant performance and result from Newcastle, as a hat-trick from captain Kevin Nolan and two goals from Shola Ameobi blew away the mackems.

After the typical fiery and intense opening to the match, which saw the predictable early yellow cards, the rout began on the 26 minute. Nolan improvised brilliantly in the box to flick the ball over his head and into the net following a Mike Williamson knock down from a Joey Barton corner. It was a sublime piece of thinking from Nolan to give the Magpies the opening goal.

Eight minutes later and Nolan made it 2-0. Striker Andy Carroll mis-kicked a volley that smashed into the ground and bounced over Ameobi and the mackem defence straight into the path of Nolan at the far post, the midfielder took one touch and calmly slotted the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper.

Things were to get even better for the home side in first half injury time when 5under1and defender Nedum Onuoah clumsily brought down the advancing Jonas Gutierrez in the box. Up stepped the Newcastle nominated penalty taker, Ameobi, and the big Geordie striker made no mistake with a brilliantly struck shot into the bottom left-hand corner. Half-time 3-0.

The second half saw Newcastle continue where they left off. Carroll and Ameobi was causing havoc in the 5under1nad defence with Carroll chasing down every ball and looking a real threat. In the midfield Barton, Nolan and Cheik Tiote were pulling the strings, while as ever Jose Enrique and Jonas combined well down the left.

On 53 minutes the game effectively ended for the sad mackem b@st@rds when former Magpie Titus Bramble chopped down Carroll who was making a marauding run towards the box. The defender was given a straight red card and there could be no complaints from 5under1and as Carroll would have had only the goalkeeper to beat.

Ameobi made it 4-0 on 70 minutes to yet again send the Toon Army into raptures. A right-wing cross from Danny Simpson found Carroll who’s fierce header hit the crossbar and Ameobi reacted to the rebound first to fire home a brilliant volley from 8 yards out.

Five minutes later Nolan completed his hat-trick becoming only the third player to do so in a Tyne & Wear derby and the first person for 25 years since a Peter Beardsley hat-trick beat 5under1and on New Year’s Day 1985. A Joey Barton corner was met by Ameobi whose towering header across goal found an unmarked Nolan in front of goal and the captain headed home to spark even more pandemonium in the stands.

With the Newcastle players knocking the ball around with ease to cheers of ole with every touch, the Toon Army knew they were witnessing a match that will be talked about in the same breath as the Man Utd 5-0 humiliation and the Barca 3-2 Champions League triumph.

The celebrations were halted for a couple of seconds when Darren Bent scored in injury time, but nothing was going to take anything away from what was a glorious performance by Newcastle United. The 51,988 that turned up for this game, and the millions of people watching on TV, could not have expected to see what they saw. This was a once in a lifetime result by Newcastle and something we will cherish forever. Things on Tyneside and St James’ Park have never felt this good for a very long time.

Full credit to Chris Hughton and his players, they have just written themselves into Geordie folklore forever.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Match Preview: mackems (h)

2010-10-30T14:48:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 10

mackems (h)

Date: Monday 1st November 2010
Venue: St James' Park
Kick-Off: 12:30am (AEDT), 12am (SA), 11:30pm (QLD), 11pm (NT), 9:30pm (WA)
Referee: Phil Dowd (Stoke)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 1
Forum: Match Thread

Last 5 Form:
Newcastle United
CC4 - Arsenal (h) L 0-4
PL - West Ham (a) W 2-1
PL - Wigan (h) D 2-2
PL - Man City (a) L 1-2
PL - Stoke City (h) L 1-2

Sunderland
PL - Aston Villa (h) W 1-0
PL - Blackburn (a) D 0-0
PL - Man Utd (h) D 0-0
PL - Liverpool (a) D 2-2
CC3 - West Ham (h) L 1-2

Match Stats:
All time - Newcastle 51 win, draws 46, sunderland 46 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

Newcastle $2.25, Draw $3.20, sunderland $3.30

Did You Know?
The History of the Tyne and Wear derby is regarded by many in the North East as the modern day extension of a rivalry between Newcastle and Sunderland that dates back to the English Civil War when protestations over advantages that merchants in Royalist Newcastle had over their Wearside counterparts led to Sunderland becoming a Parliamentarian stronghold.

Lee Clark you legend.

Team News:
Newcastle United will be without injury victims Dan Gosling, Hatem ben Arfa, Leon Best, Stephen Harper, Sol Campbell and while Steven Taylor has returned to full training this game will come too soon for him.

Match Preview
The 144th Tyne Wear derby takes place tomorrow night as Newcastle United entertain sunderland at St James' Park and for both sets of the supporters this game can make or break a season.

A break in hostilities last season while Newcastle regained their Premier League status means the expectation is even greater than normal for this match. Boasting 51 wins compared to 46, and with only one defeat in the last eleven games, Newcastle have had the recent advantage including being undefeated at home since 2000. However, as is usually the case form goes out of the window with everything on the line in the derby and more often than not it is the team who wants to win it more that prevails in what is sure to be a tight and firry affair.

Following on from their exit in the Carling Cup in midweek Newcastle manager Chris Hughton will restore his strongest line-up with Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez, Cheik Tiote, Joey Barton, and Fabricio Coloccini all coming back into his side. Barton and Tiote will have a key role to play in what will no doubt be a tough midfield battle. This will be a big test for Barton, who's discipline and temperament has been excellent of late, as he will be targeted by the sunderland players to see if they can make him react.

Despite the fact this will be Carroll's first derby game, the Geordie striker knows what this game is all about after being a season ticket holder at St James' Park, and he will looked upon to lead the line and be the main threat. His striker partner at West Ham last week, Shola Ameobi, had one of his poorer games this season but Ameobi has an excellent record in this fixture with four goals making it difficult for Hughton to consider leaving him out.

Heroes are made in this game, just ask Liam O'Brien, Scott Sellars or Emre, and players have built reputations by scoring goals in these games. The likes of Andy O'Brien and Nikos Dabizas will not be in anybody's greatest ever starting XI but scoring against the mackems will mean they will be remembered forever on Tyneside. I wonder who the next Black & White hero will be?

The short trip up the road to Newcastle upon Tyne will be a well travelled one for the 2,600 mackem supporters and their players. Without an international airport, or train station on a national rail line, and without any world class shops, bars and restaurants, the inbreds from down the road have no choice but to come up to Newcastle to use decent facilities. This fact must stick in the throats of every single one especially considering the people of Tyneside had no need to make that reciprocal journey other than when their team is playing at the stadium of shite.

What a truly horrible bunch these lot are....lets hope we smash them, Howay The Lads!!!

Update (31/10/2010)...
Past & present players pre-match quotes
Fabricio Coloccini said:

"We know the game can make us into a hero. This is a very important game, but I don't want to make history in one goal against Sunderland. I want to write a history over a long period. But we know how important this game is, and we have to win it. We have to think only of the three points."

Liam O'Brien said:

“Oh, yes it’s a real platform for anybody to write their way into the history books. I think it’s one of the biggest derbies in the world. It’s right up there with Celtic v Rangers and I suppose you have to have played in one to fully understand it. It’s one of the biggest games of the season of course for Newcastle. And I’ve got fantastic mem-ories of playing in them – the week building up to the game is really exciting too. They haven’t played one for a season now and it can add to the pressure for Newcastle when Sunderland have been doing better. There are standout memories for me in the derby, of course. But I will never forget the day I scored the free-kick against Sunderland. We’d won 10 great games on the spin and even though we’d been ahead through a deflected goal from Kevin Brock, we thought the 11th win was out of our reach. It looked like it was going to be a draw. But we got the free-kick. A couple of people came over but I said, ‘get away’, John Beresford come over and said ‘Let me take it’. I said ‘get away’ in no uncertain terms. And then Bez chirped up, ‘where you going to put it!’ He knew by my expression I wasn’t letting anyone take it, maybe because he’s smaller than me! I always had it in mind to put it where the keeper was standing because I knew he would move.”

Shay Given said:

“You cannot walk the streets in Newcastle without somebody talking to you about football – not least during derby week. That shows just how much it all means up there. It is certainly one in which you just do not want to lose.I had a lot of great memories from derby games, but the one which probably sticks out the most was when we won 1-0 at the Stadium of Light in 2002 when Nikos Dabizas scored and we were on our way to the Champions League. Any game like that when you have helped the team to get the result is satisfying, especially against the local enemy.I hope the atmosphere will still be alive when I go back and they are still talking about a derby win. I have to say I fancy Newcastle to do it as well. I hope that is not putting the kiss of death on them, but I know there is more than enough quality within the ranks to get a result. The lads will be up for it and I fancy them to take those important three points.”

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Match Preview: Newcastle United v Arsenal

2010-10-26T21:17:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - 4th Round

Arsenal (h)

Date: Thursday 28th October 2010
Venue: St James' Park
Kick-Off: 5:45am (AEDT), 5:15am (SA), 4:45am (QLD), 4:15am (NT), 2:45am (WA)
Referee: Andre Marriner (West Midlands)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 2
Forum: Match Thread

Last 5 Form:
Newcastle United
PL - West Ham (a) W 2-1
PL - Wigan (h) D 2-2
PL - Man City (a) L 1-2
PL - Stoke City (h) L 1-2
CC3 - Chelsea (a) W 4-3

Arsenal
PL - Man City (a) W 3-0
UCL - Shakhtar Donetsk (h) W 5-1
PL - Birmingham City (h) W 2-1
PL - Chelsea (a) L 0-2
UCL - Partizan Belgrade (a) W 3-1

Match Stats:
All time - Newcastle 65 win, draws 36, Arsenal 64 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

Newcastle $3.70, Draw $3.40, Arsenal $1.91

Did You Know?
Newcastle United have not beaten Arsenal in a cup tie since George Robledo's goal beat the Gunners in the 1952 FA Cup Final. Since then Arsenal have won the last six meetings in both the League and FA Cup.

Team News:
Newcastle United will be without injury victims Dan Gosling, Hatem ben Arfa, Leon Best, Stephen Harper, Sol Campbell and Steven Taylor.

Match Preview by DjBigK
After a solid victory in the league it will be interesting to see whether Chris Hughton continues with his policy to play youth and fringe players in the Carling Cup. Interestingly, despite Arsenal's history of employing the same policy some early rumblings from Arsene Wenger indicate that the Frenchman would be playing his strongest 11 in this match. Whether that suggestion rings true remains to be seen. After an impressive 3-0 win in the league the prospect of their first 11 could be a very daunting one, particularly if we field less than our best.

Personally I'm not entirely decided on who we should be playing for this match. With the crucial derby coming up Sunday at home it's critical that we can field our strongest 11 in that match, so that could be an argument for Chris Hughton to give the fringe and youth players a chance to pick up from their impressive win over Chelsea in the 3rd Round. On the other side of the argument, with a number of strong sides already eliminated from the Carling Cup if we were to progress to the quarter finals it's not impossible to dream of a berth in the Cup Final, and from there a trophy is just 90 minutes away.

If the choice is to go with fringe players we could still put out quite a strong side. Danny Guthrie, Wayne Routledge, Peter Lovenkrands and Alan Smith will all be available. In form left back/midfielder Shane Ferguson has looked a prospect, and Nile Ranger has impressed in patches. Our current Spanish outcast Xisco should be chomping at the bit to prove himself. Tamas Kadar has not disappointed at the back when called on. Up and coming midfielder Haris Vuckic has been talked about a lot and should relish another chance to test himself against a strong opposition. After being dropped from the first team after a string of poor matches James Perch will want to get straight back out on to the pitch. Add to that mix a spattering of first team experience and they should be capable of putting in a good showing.

Whatever the case I'll be watching on keenly!

Thanks to Keith Rowe (aka DjBigK) for supplying his view on this match.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

West Ham 1-2 Newcastle United

2010-10-25T19:25:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 9

Date: Sunday 23rd October 2010
Kick-off: 5:30pm (GMT)
Venue: Upton Park
Attendance: 34,486 including 2,950 travelling supporters
Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside)

Teams
West Ham: Green Jacobsen, da Costa, Upson (Ilunga 53), Gabbidon, Behrami (Barrera 76), Parker, Noble, Obinna, Cole, Piquionne (McCarthy 67).
Subs Not Used: Stech, Ben-Haim, Boa Morte, Faubert

Goals: Cole 12

Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Williamson, Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Barton, Nolan, Tiote, Gutierrez, Carroll, Ameobi.
Subs Not Used: Soderberg, Guthrie, Routledge, Lovenkrands, Perch, R. Taylor, Smith

Goal: Nolan 23, Carroll 69

Newcastle manager Chris Hughton said afterwards:

"It’s been a tough week and that was a big win. My position is completely different, but I’m delighted for this group of lads. It’s a very spirited group of players and staff that we’ve got. Whenever they have been questioned they have generally come up trumps. It’s difficult to single out anyone because it was a good team performance. West Ham is not an easy place to come and when the team sheets go up you see the quality that they have. I think that was the best performance of my time here. No disrespect to the Championship – where we had some tremendous performances – it is hard in the Premier League and it means that little bit more. It was definitely the best performance of the season so far."

Match Report
Newcastle United recorded their 250th Premier League victory with a 2-1 win over West Ham United at Upton Park on Saturday. After going down to a early goal by Carlton Cole Newcastle came back to claim victory thanks to goals from Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll.

Manager Chris Hughton decided against playing his usual 4-4-1-1 away formation and resorted to a more traditional 4-4-2. Carroll was partnered upfront by Shola Ameobi, while the returning Nolan was moved back into centre midfield with Joey Barton moving out right at the expense of Danny Guthrie.

The Hammers started the better of the two teams, the home side finding too much space in behind the Newcastle back four as the pace of winger Victor Obinna and striker Frédéric Piquionne exposed the Magpies high defensive line. Twelve minutes in and West Ham's pressure told, Mark Noble feed Obinna down the left flank and the wingers perfect cross found Cole in the box who had a simple tap-in.

After what was a shaky start for Newcastle the West Ham goal seemed to inspire the Toon as they then started to dominate, and only 11 minutes later the match was level at 1-1. A Barton right wing cross found Carroll at the back post and the big strikers knock down fell to Nolan who smashed home a first time left-foot strike.

The second half saw why West Ham are bottom of the Premier League. A thoroughly inept performance by the home side was taken advantage of by Newcastle who again dominated the half without playing having to much top quality football. Midfielder Cheik Tiote bossed the midfield, and as usual Jonas Gutierrez & Jose Enrique caused plenty of problems down our left-flank.

On 69 minutes Newcastle got the goal their dominance deserved. Barton was again the provider, another perfect right wing cross found the unmarked Carroll who headed home from 5 yards out. After a difficult week for Carroll this was the perfect way to round it off, and with Nolan scoring Newcastle's other goal it meant celebrations around in the Nolan household.

This was the result Newcastle needed leading into a massive week with games against arsenal in the Carling Cup and the derby match at the weekend. Chris Hughton will be happy with his teams performance and pleased with his teams response to his 4-4-2 formation.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Match Preview: West Ham v Newcastle United

2010-10-23T12:58:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 9

West Ham United (a)

Date: Sunday 24th October 2010
Venue: Upton Park
Kick-Off: 3:30am (AEDT), 3am (SA), 2:30am (QLD), 2am (NT), 12:30am (WA)
Referee: Chris Foy (Merseyside)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 1
Forum: Match Thread

Last 5 Form:
Newcastle United
PL - Wigan (h) D 2-2
PL - Man City (a) L 1-2
PL - Stoke City (h) L 1-2
CC3 - Chelsea (a) W 4-3
PL – Everton (a) W 1-0

West Ham
PL - Wolves (a) D 1-1
PL - Fulham (h) D 1-1
PL - Spurs (h) W 1-0
CC3R - sunderland (a) W 2-1
PL - Stoke (a) D 1-1

Match Stats:
All time - West Ham 37 win, draws 35, Newcastle 47 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

West Ham $2.30, Draw $3.20, Newcastle $3.20

Did You Know?
Andy Carroll scored his first ever Premier League goal against West Ham in a 2-2 home draw back in January 2009.

Team News:
West Ham welcome back England defender Mattew Upson who missed last weeks game at Wolves, while former Magpie Kieron Dyer should face his former club after regaining his place in the starting line-up. Zavon Hines and Jack Collison are both our with long term knee injuries.

Newcastle United are again without injury victims Dan Gosling, Hatem ben Arfa, Leon Best, Stephen Harper and Steven Taylor. Sol Campbell is out with a new thigh injury, while right-back Danny Simpson should return to the starting XI after three successive reserve team outings and captain Kevin Nolan has been declared fit.

Match Preview
Newcastle United travel down to London to take on West Ham United looking for their first win in four games and their 250th in the Premier League.

Despite being bottom of the league West Ham have recovered well from losing their opening four games and are now unbeaten in four matches, including victories over sunderland in the Carling Cup and against Spurs. A win for the Hammers would take them above Newcastle and round off a miserable week for manager Chris Hughton. Unbeaten in their last three matches against Newcastle confidence will be high in the hammers camp.

There has been plenty of off field distractions for Hughton with assistant manager Colin Calderwood leaving to become the new manager of Hibernian and striker Andy Carroll appearing in court charged with assaulting his former girlfriend.

With only 1 point in the last three games and without a victory for over a month, Hughton has some serious decisions to make with regards his team line-up. Hughton claims Carroll is in the right frame of mind to play, but with the striker due in court again on Monday (facing a separate assault charge) and given his car was torched by vandals the other day, he would be forgiven for resting his number 9 especially considering Shola Ameobi has found the back of the net in recent weeks.

Hughton also needs to decide whether to switch away from his favoured 4-4-1-1 away formation in search of a much needed victory. The returning Kevin Nolan means Hughton can easily play that formation, but whether he gambles and plays a second striker will probably depend on whether he chooses to start Carroll.

In defence James Perch has been slaughtered of late after a string of poor performances, so given Danny Simpson has now played three reserve team games the time is right for Simpson to come into the team and give Perch a much needed rest.

After the exploits of Charles N'Zogbia last week, the Toon Army will be fearing they don't experience the same fate this week from another former player in Kieron Dyer. Dyer moved to West Ham for £6m in 2007, but there have been few positives to his West Ham career which has been blighted by injuries. Dyer missed the entire 2007-08 season after a double leg break in pre-season and he didn't return to first-team action until January 2009. Having made 6 starts already this season the 31-year-old appears to be over his nightmare, but lets hope he doesn't find he goalscoring boots just yet.

A massive game for Newcastle then, with home matches against Arsenal in the Carling Cup and the big derby against sunderland coming up this week, the team needs to find back some sort of it's early season form and rhyme quickly, as three more defeats this week would spell disaster for everyone at the club.

HOWAY THE LADS!!!

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Calderwood gone and Carroll going down?

2010-10-20T18:09:00.000+11:00

Firstly apologies for not doing a match report on the 2-2 draw at home to Wigan game last Saturday. A combination of being in Mornington all weekend, a hectic work week and the depression of actually watching the re-run has halted my efforts to bring it to you. You can read my comments and thought in the Match Thread on our forum if your bothered.

It has been another interesting week in the life of Newcastle United FC with again all the headlines being off the field sadly.

Firstly on Sunday the news broke that striker Andy Carroll had been released on bail following a charge of assault. Carroll is alleged to have attacked his former girlfriend Laurie Henderson in her Ponteland home in the early hours of Sunday morning. Carroll denies the charge and oddly has a bail condition where he must live with Kevin Nolan, what relevance Nolan has to all this is unknown.

As ever the UK tabloids have had a field day with this piece of juice news. The Sun yesterday ran a story with the headline Toon star 'beat me after sex with pal' as rumours circulate about what, if anything, actually happened.

This fresh allegation of assault is hardly what Carroll needs as he has another court appearance due on Monday (25th) where he will face a different charge of assault after an alleged brawl in a nightclub last year. This can't help that court appearance in the slightest and you have to think that he is in serious danger of going to jail. Innocent until proven guilty naturally and Carroll does deny both charges, but one thing is for certain he really needs to keep his head down and have a serious think about the people he is associated himself with. It is typical that all this has comes out just a week after the club agreed to give Carroll a 5-year contract, he won't be much use to us if he is spending time in Durham prison!

In other news this week assistant manager Colin Calderwood has left the club to become new manager of Hibernian. This one has surprised most people as we didn't see this coming, Chris Hughton and Calderwood have worked well together over the last year or so, but I guess the lure of a management position, especially back in his native Scotland, was probably too much to refuse for Calderwood. Anyway good luck to the bloke I hope he does well.

There has been no mention of any replacements so far by Hughton or the club so it will be interesting to see if they promote from within, hire a new guy, or alternatively not replace Calderwood at all. Speculation is rife about possible replacements or re-shuffle in the club management but the Daily Mirror take the award for the biggest pile of bollocks, they claim Joe Kinnear is set for a sensational return to the club as manger alongside Peter Beardsley with Kevin Nolan player-coach.

Just your average week at Newcastle United FC then!

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Match Preview: Newcastle United v Wigan Athletic

2010-10-15T07:05:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 8

Wigan Athletic (h)

Date: Sunday 17th October 2010
Venue: St James' Park
Kick-Off: 1am (AEST), 12:30am (SA), 12am (QLD), 11:30pm (NT), 10pm (WA)
Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 1 viewer's choice
Forum: Match Thread

Last 5 Form:
Newcastle United
PL - Man City (a) L 1-2
PL - Stoke City (h) L 1-2
CC3 - Chelsea (a) W 4-3
PL – Everton (a) W 1-0
PL – Blackpool (h) L 0-2

Wigan
PL - Wolves (h) W 2-0
PL - Birmingham (a) D 0-0
CC3 - Preston (h) W 2-1
PL - Man City (h) L 0-2
PL - sunderland (h) D 1-1

Match Stats:
All time - Newcastle 4 wins, 2 draws, Wigan 5 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

Newcastle $1.83, Draw $3.40, Wigan $4.50

Did You Know?
Wigan's fans and Wigan people in general are known as 'pie eaters' or 'pies' which is reference to the 1926 General Strike, when Wigan miners were forced to eat 'humble pie' and return to work before miners in other towns, even though they had been on strike before the other towns joined in.

Team News:
Newcastle will be without long term injury victims Dan Gosling, Hatem Ben Arfa, Steven Taylor and Stephen Harper, while Leon Best is getting closer to a return to action. News is awaited about the fitness of Fabcrico Coloccini who was forced off with a groin injury in the last game against Man City. Meanwhile, Danny Simpson and Danny Guthrie have both played comeback games in the reserves and are in contention to making their first appearance of the season.

Wigan welcome back midfielder Tom Cleverley after the Manchester United loanee looks to have recovered from a knee injury.

Match Preview
Newcastle United take on Wigan Athletic at St James’ Park this Saturday night as the Premier League returns to action following the international break.

Following successive home defeats to Blackpool and Stoke City the Magpies go in search of their second home victory of the season and their 250th in the Premier League. The omens are positive with Newcastle winning three and drawing one of Wigan’s four previous visits to Tyneside.

Wigan will potentially have three former Magpies in their line-up with the Caldwell brothers, Gary and Steve, and Charles N’Zogbia returning to SJP. Naturally all the media and fan focus will be on N’Zogbia after the Frenchman left Newcastle under a cloud in 2009.

Rumours in the summer of 2008 claimed N’Zogbia would leave but they never materialised, however, by that December N’Zogbia made it clear he wished to leave in the January transfer window stating "After four years at Newcastle, I want to reach a higher level of ambition. I don't think that is possible here.". The final straw came a month later when a falling out over the alleged mispronouncing of his name by then manager Joe Kinnear, N’Zogbia released a statement saying he would never play for the club again. The next day he was sold to Wigan for £6 million in a deal that saw Ryan Taylor move in the opposite direction.

Quite how Charles N’Zogbia thinks he can reach a higher level at Wigan Athletic is still to be clear, the one thing that is certain is that his return to St James’ Park will provoke a loud reaction out of the home crowd. Another talented footballer gone to waste because of his ego.

Newcastle manager Chris Hughton will no doubt be considering a few options with regards his team selection this week. A replacement for injured Hatem Ben Arfa will be required and Hughton may also decide to reshuffle his pack and return to a 4-4-2 formation bringing back Andy Carroll into the starting-lineup. When quizzed about recalling Carroll, Hughton said "It is a big question, isn’t it? The important thing for me is to field a team which can go out and win the game. We are at home and we are on the back of two home defeats – and we do not want to make it three. We just have to field a team which will win, whichever way we can. The emphasis is very much around how we win.”

Right-back James Perch is one player who could be in danger of losing his place in the team after a serious of unconvincing performances. The former Nottingham Forest captain has so far struggled to make the step up into the Premier League and is likely to be dropped for either Ryan Taylor, who has been performing well in the Carling Cup, or the returning Danny Simpson. Simpson has played two comeback games in the reserves following an operation at the end of last season, including captaining them to a 3-2 win at Blackpool in midweek and his return is well timed.

After two straight home defeats to teams who are likely to struggle this season a third defeat is unthinkable for Newcastle. After building so much of last seasons success around their home form, Chris Hughton will be looking for a positive performance and result to kick-start the Magpies season.

Let's hope they can get one....HOWAY THE LADS!!!

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

An Aussie Goes Geordie

2010-10-13T07:19:00.000+11:00

My missus was tidying out up her hard disk at work the other day and she came across a scan she had e-mailed me a few years back of an article in the Melbourne free MX newspaper.

Re-reading this brought a big smile to face as the author described an away game perfectly and it gave me a slight insight into what it must be like to go to a Toon away game as a complete stranger to us Geordies.

To be fair to the author he did, or saw, all the essential parts of what a Toon away game is all about.

For example, pre-match drinking in a bar overran by Geordies. Check. Singing all the way to the ground and during the whole 90 minutes. Check. Drinking a half-time Bovril. Check (if no beer is on sale anyway!). And watching a game that “never reached any great heights”. Check, I’ve been to so many of those.

I guess that is the point, you don’t necessarily go to watch Newcastle United away games for the match itself. I know that may sound silly, but it is true. Yes naturally we hope or want, depending on our expectation levels at the time, Newcastle to win or at least not lose, but at times the away experience is largely about having a laugh with your mates and representing our great city that is Newcastle upon Tyne with pride.

My first experience of a Newcastle United away game was way back in the mid 1980s when my parents took me to Anfield to see us take on the best team in the land at the time. As a 12 or 13 year-old I enjoyed it so much I got my parents to take me back again the next season. For the record, Newcastle lost both games but I was hooked, and when I was old enough and could afford it I went to as many away games as I could.

St James’ Park is a wonderful stadium in the perfect location in the city centre and any Aussie Toon fan that travels to the UK is naturally going to go to a home game, however, I would encourage any of you to get yourself to a Toon away game because I guarantee it will be an experience you will not forget.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

The World Football Programme radio appearance (Sat 2nd Oct)

2010-10-07T22:26:00.000+11:00

Those good people from Radio Fremantle’s The World Football Programme invited me back onto their show last Saturday (2nd Oct) for the third time. This week regular host Penny Tanner-Hoath was joined in the studio by Don Evans and the three of us discussed the latest news and results from the Premier League and Europe.

The main topics of conversion were Newcastle’s defeat at the hands of Stoke City, Man City victory over Chelsea, Manchester United’s attacking woes, crowd attendances across Europe and the Bundesliga, plus the latest round of Champions League games.

To listen to the full interview yourself download it here and then fast forward to 32 minutes and 20 seconds.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Manchester City 2-1 Newcastle United

2010-10-05T20:49:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 7

Date: Sunday 3rd October 2010
Kick-off: 1:30pm (BST)
Venue: Eastlands
Attendance: 46,067 including 2,600 travelling supporters
Referee: Martin Atkinson

Teams
Man City: Hart, Kompany, Boateng, Lescott, K.Toure, Barry (Johnson 72), Milner, Silva, De Jong, Y.Toure (Adebayor 56), Tevez (Vieira 86)
Subs Not Used: Given, Boyata, Santa Cruz, Jo
Booked: Boateng, Kolo Toure, Tevez

Goals: Tevez 18 pen, Johnson 75

Newcastle: Krul, Perch, Enrique, Coloccini (Campbell 36), Williamson, Nolan (Carroll 76), Barton, Tiote, Ameobi, Ben Arfa (Routledge 7), Gutierrez
Subs Not Used: Soderberg, R.Taylor, Smith, Lovenkrands
Booked: Coloccini, Williamson

Goal: Gutierrez 24

Manager Chris Hughton spoke afterwards:

"Coming here with the world class players that they've got and what they are able to bring off the bench, you know that it would be a difficult day anyway. I thought we went through large periods of the game when we were able to contain them. We were comfortable enough and our goalkeeper wasn't tested so much, but you have to have some decisions go your way and I think the referee has made two horrendous decisions. My first impressions were that Mike Williamson had played the ball and also the fact that it was outside the box. They were confirmed when I saw it again. My first impression when Shola Ameobi went down was that his standing foot had been taken away from him and that was confirmed as well. Absolutely (it's a penalty). We've already seen it. Lescott loses his footing and of course - absolute penalty. It's a tough enough place to go. He (Andy Carroll) did have a bit of a virus last week but I felt over the last few games he has just lost a little bit. And Shola had a fabulous game at Chelsea in the Carling Cup so I wanted to give him a chance. But Andy is a massive part of this club and will continue to be for a long time."

Mike Williamson on the penalty decision:

"My view was, I thought at the time - and I've seen it afterwards - that I did get a clear touch of the ball. Maybe it was a difficult angle for the referee to give it. I would have thought more likely, it was for the linesman to give but he didn't and the ref did. You saw the ball deviate to the right. You'd be able to tell that I got a nick on it because that's the angle I was coming in from. Unfortunately it didn't go for us, and it did change the game. Anywhere on the pitch, I got the ball - it doesn't matter where it was. But the actual 'offence' happened outside the box and my momentum took us in the box, so it was very disappointing. We're very disappointed with the result. We felt we were strong and had good possession and good periods of the game. They've got a lot of quality and we kept them at bay for long periods. So we take a lot of positives, but we're very disappointed with the result."

Match Report
Manchester City maintained their unbeaten home record this season with a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United at Eastlands. However, the match was overshadowed by a horrific double-leg break for Newcastle winger Hatem Ben Arfa.

With only four minutes on the clock tragedy struck for Ben Arfa, the French winger was brought down by a savage tackle from Man City midfielder Nigel De Jong and shockingly referee Martin Atkinson waved play on without awarding a free-kick or a card. Dutch international De Jong is a serial offender and this seems to be the final straw for his national manager Bert Van Marwjik. Van Marwjik spoke after pulling Nigel de Jong out of his latest squad:

"I've seen it (the tackle) on TV. It was a wild and unnecessary challenge. I don't think he did it on purpose, but he goes in way too hard in this challenge. That's a pity, because he doesn't need tackles like this. The strange thing is that the referee doesn't give a card. Apparently there are other standards over there. I have a problem with the way Nigel unnecessarily searches for the limit....I just told the players- I told them that I saw no other option. In the future I will agree with Nigel to talk. Now I want the staff and the players to concentrate on the next two important qualifiers."

Ben Arfa has since had a successfully operation but given the severe nature of the leg break no recovery time can realistically be set. The player has stated he wants to stay on Tyneside to recover which will benefit both club and player. However, whether we see Ben Arfa in a Black & White shirt again has to now be in question as he only has a limited amount of time to recover before the club makes their decision to make the loan move permanent. As good as a player as he has looked the club can ill a found to put sentiment before spending millions of pounds these days.

Newcastle have written to the FA requesting that they look into the indecent and hand out any appropriate punishment. Sadly I except the FA to claim they are powerless to do anything and the matter will go no further.

On 18 minutes Newcastle's afternoon went from bad to worse when Mike Williamson was adjusted to have brought down Carlos Tevez just inside the box. Replays made that decision look dubious at best with Williamson just beating the man to the ball. Tevez made no mistake and smashed the resulting penalty beyond Tim Krul to make it 1-0.

Newcastle rallied and were first denied an equaliser when England goalkeeper Joe Hart tipped a Fabrico Coloccini's long drive drive over the bar before fellow Argentinean Jonas Gutierrez levelled to score his first ever Premiership goal. City defender Kolo Toure blocked a Gutierrez's left-wing cross back into the path of the Argentinean as he advanced into the box and Gutierrez blasted the ball past Hart from 10 yards.

The Magpies looked the better of the two sides for the remainder of the half despite Gareth Barry having a great chance for City. Half-time 1-1.

The start of the second half brought about more industrious play from Newcastle without them creating any real openings and on 72 minutes substitute Adam Johnson scored a brilliant individual goal to ultimately separated the two teams. The England international danced and weaved his way past a couple of players into the box before firing a suburb low left-foot strike past Krul.

Having opted to start with Shola Ameobi instead of Andy Carroll, who later it was claimed had had flu during the week, Ameobi was tripped in the box by an outstretched leg from Jolen Lescott, but referee Martin Atkinson wanted nothing to do with it despite replays showing it was a nailed on penalty.

Williamson then had a late chance to salvage a point, but the defender fired a header wide from a corner.

The creditable performance by Newcastle United was encouraging, but the bad taste that will no doubt have been left in every Toon fans mouth from the Hatem Ben Arfa injury and the poor standard of the refereeing will fester throughout the international break.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Match Preview: Manchester City v Newcastle United

2010-10-03T10:55:00.000+11:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 7

Manchester City (a)

Date: Sunday 3rd October 2010
Venue: Eastlands
Kick-Off: 11:30pm (AEST), 11:00pm (SA), 9:30pm (WA)
Referee: Martin Atkinson (West Yorkshire)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 1
Forum: Match Thread

Last 5 Form:
Manchester City
UEL - Juventus (h) D 1-1
PL - Chelsea (h) W 1-0
CC3 - WBA (a) L 1-2
PL - Wigan (a) W 0-2
UEL - Red Bull Salzburg (a) 0-2

Newcastle United
PL - Stoke City (h) L 1-2
CC3 - Chelsea (a) W 4-3
PL – Everton (a) W 1-0
PL – Blackpool (h) L 0-2
PL – Wolves (a) D 1-1

Match Stats:
All time - Man City 53 wins, 38 draws, Newcastle 70 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

Man City $1.44, Draw $4.20, Newcastle $8.00

Did You Know?
Manchester City have never lost a Premier League game in October at home to a non 'Big-Four' side and Newcastle have won only one Premier League away game in October since 2003.

Team News:
Manchester City will be without Pablo Zabaleta after the defender suffered a hamstring injury in the midweek Europa League draw against Juventus. He joins Shaun Wright-Phillips, Micah Richards, Mario Balotelli, Aleksandar Kolarov and Alex Nimely on the treatment table.

Newcastle United will be without long term injury victims Dan Gosling, Stephen Harper and Steven Taylor. While Danny Guthrie and Danny Simpson are now back in full training but aren't excepted to be risked yet.

Match Preview
Newcastle United travel to Eastlands to take on Manchester City for the live Sunday lunchtime (UK time) kick-off looking for their 250th victory in the Premier League. City are unbeaten in the last seven Premier League games against Newcastle, winning five of those games, so this is set to be another tough test for Chris Hughton's side.

Hughton is excepted to name an unchanged side for the third league game in a row despite defeat to Stoke City last week. His preference for the 4-5-1 formation especially away from home means the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa, Wayne Routledge and Kevin Nolan will need to get forward when appropriate to lend some support to lone striker Andy Carroll.

Roberto Mancini sets his side out in a very familiar Italian style with three holding midfielders and two wide men supporting a central striker. Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong, and Yaya Toure were all excellent in containing Chelsea last week and again will look to dominate the middle of the park. While former Magpie James Milner and David Silva provide the width and support upfront for the teams captain and inspiration Carlos Tevez. Silva has taken time to settle so far at Eastlands so don't be surprised to see the excellent Adam Johnson playing instead of him down the left flank.

The Newcastle defence will need to be at its best to stop City who have already had 50 shots on target this season, the most in the league, so the back four will need to stay tight and concentrate for the whole 90 minutes. After poor performances last week James Perch, Wayne Routledge and Kevin Nolan will all be looking to improve this week otherwise their places in the team will come in question. In the case of James Perch a big improvement is required with the unlucky Ryan Taylor playing so well in the Carling Cup.

The Magpies have the highest percentage of shots on target this season so far with 53%, so with chances no doubt at premium the Newcastle players will need to take them if they are to return home with a positive result.

We are yet to taste victory at Eastlands and City haven't conceded at goal at home this season, so hold onto your hats this could be a bumpy ride....HOWAY THE LADS!!!

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Newcastle United 1-2 Stoke City

2010-09-28T07:22:00.000+10:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 6

Date: Sunday 27th September 2010
Kick-off: 4:10pm (BST)
Venue: St James' Park
Attendance: 41,915
Referee: Michael Jones (Cheshire)

Teams
Newcastle: Krul, Perch, Coloccini, Williamson, Jose Enrique, Ben Arfa (Gutierrez 62), Barton, Tiote (Ameobi 74), Routledge, Nolan, Carroll
Subs Not Used: Soderberg, Lovenkrands, Ryan Taylor, Smith, Ranger

Goal: Nolan 43 pen

Stoke: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Collins, Whelan (Delap 57), Whitehead, Diao (Fuller 49), Etherington, Jones, Walters, Fuller (Gudjohnsen 67)
Subs Not Used: Begovic, Higginbotham, Wilson, Faye
Booked: Diao

Goals: Jones 67, og (Perch) 85

Manager Chris Hughton spoke afterwards:

"It's a learning curve for us. We've got to make sure on the lows - and it's a big low today - that we bounce back. We didn't defend well enough from set pieces which are Stoke's strength. It does put pressure on us. We know we have to pick up results at home. There have been a lot of surprise results and at the moment every team seems capable of getting a shock result. As a team that has got promoted we are probably going to lose more than we will win. The teams that have more consistency are those who have the better players. That is why United, Arsenal are up there. This is a learning curve for us and we have to make sure that from the lows we bounce back. I am realistic to know where we are at the moment. My thoughts wouldn’t change. It would be nice to say we will win more than we lose, but I am realistic. We coped with them for the majority but it was all about pivotal moments, we also felt that we needed to get that second - and third goal. We were up against a Stoke team that upped their intensity and we didn’t do enough to get that second goal. Stoke had a very resilient backline and we weren’t able to break through. We didn’t create enough. All you can do is prepare the team. There is not a team that face Stoke who do not prepare for the long throw, that’s a strength of theirs. You are reliant on players doing their jobs and marking individuals. It is normal to be angry. You are frustrated when you let a lead slip. You need to get back into the game and you need to carve out opportunities. It was not through a lack of effort but we were up against a resilient Stoke side.”

Match Report
Newcastle United crashed to their second successive home defeat after surrendering a one goal lead to Stoke City at St James’ Park yesterday.

Manager Chris Hughton restored the starting XI that won last time out at Everton and the Magpies dominated the first-half without creating many clear cut chances. The crisp and precise passing was again in evidence with the Newcastle midfield dominating the play but failing to get in behind the heavily packed Stoke defence. Hatem Ben Arfa and Jose Enrique linked up well down the left, however the individual flashes of inspiration that were evident in the last two games didn’t materialise among the team.

Towards the end of the first-half the breakthrough finally came. Stoke centre-half Robert Huth’s clumsy block of an Andy Carroll run brought the striker down in the box and referee Mike Jones had no hesitation in awarding the penalty. Captain Kevin Nolan stepped up and coolly slotted home the penalty to give Newcastle the lead. Half-time 1-0.

In the second-half it was a different story. Stoke upped their intensity by applying more pressure onto the Newcastle back four with their usual direct long ball style and the home side crumbled.

Kenywne Jones was proving to be a handful in the air. The tall striker twice hit the woodwork with headers which the Newcastle defence were unable to deal with. Midway through the half Jones finally found the net, a Stoke corner found Huth at the far post and his header back across the face of the goal found an unmarked Jones who headed home from close range.

The goal sparked some life back into the home side but the appearance of throw-in specialist for Stoke, Rory Delap, meant the visitors were able to force the Newcastle defence back at regular intervals.

With five minutes to go Stoke grabbed their second goal curtsey of a James Perch own goal. A Matthew Etherington corner was whipped into the near post where a diving Perch got his head to the ball before Huth but he couldn’t prevent the ball sailing past the hapless Tim Krul.

Nolan had a great chance to level things up after good work from substitute Jonas Gutierrez down the left, but the midfielder screwed his first time shot wide of the post. Perch also had a late chance to make amends for his own goal however his shot was deflected wide. A classic game of two halves with Stoke good value for the win giving their dominance of the second half.

Much to ponder then for Newcastle manager Chris Hughton.

Too many of his midfield players were ineffective, Wayne Routledge and Kevin Nolan never really got into the game and contributed little. An decent first-half by Joey Barton was then backed up by a woeful second that included sloppy distribution and inaccurate final balls. This all makes the decision to substitute his other two midfielders, and incidentally his most consistent performing, Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheik Tiote even more of a baffling one.

Hughton also needs to reassess the flexibility of the 4-4-1-1 formation at home. Far too often Andy Carroll was left isolated upfront making it easy for the Stoke defence to nullify any treat. Right-back James Perch place in the team must also be considered with in-form Ryan Taylor and the returning Danny Simpson hot on his heals.

Something has to change because for all the good work done winning at Everton and Chelsea away, defeats at home to the likes of Stoke and Blackpool will put the team under extra pressure at the wrong half of the table.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Match Preview: Newcastle United v Stoke City

2010-09-26T12:58:00.000+10:00

Season 2010/2011 - Match 6

Stoke (h)

Date: Monday 27th September 2010
Venue: St James' Park
Kick-Off: 1:10am (AEST), 12:40am (SA), 11:10pm (WA)
Referee: Michael Jones (Cheshire)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 3
Forum: Match Thread

Team News:
Newcastle United will be without long term injury victims Steven Taylor, Stephen Harper and Dan Gosling, while doubts remain about the fitness levels of Danny Guthrie, Leon Best and Danny Simpson. Xisco will again be suspened but James Perch returns following one match suspension in midweek.

Stoke City have doubts about Jermain Pennant (hamstring), Kenwyne Jones (grion) and Jon Walters (ankle). Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen and midfielder Rory Delap are expected to return to the team about rested in the Carling Cup.

Last 5 Form:
Newcastle United
CC3 - Chelsea (a) W 4-3
PL – Everton (a) W 1-0
PL – Blackpool (h) L 0-2
PL – Wolves (a) D 1-1
CC2 – Accrington Stanley (a) W 3-2

Stoke City
CC3 - Fulham (h) W 2-0
PL - West Ham (h) D 1-1
PL - Aston Villa (h) W 2-1
PL - Chelsea (a) L 0-2
CC2 - Shrewsbury (h) W 2-1

Match Stats:
All time - Newcastle 39 wins, 19 draws, Stoke 21 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

Newcastle $2.00, Draw $3.40, Stoke $3.75

Did You Know?
Stoke City haven't won at St James' Park since 1976.

Match Preview
Following their midweek Carling Cup triumph Newcastle United return to Premier League action when they take on Stoke City at St James Park in a live Sunday afternoon game.

Manager Chris Hughton will again revert back to his strongest starting XI after making nine changes in midweek. Andy Carroll, Hatem Ben Arfa, Joey Barton and Jose Enrique will lead the changes to Hughton's team as Newcastle look to continue the momentum that has been gained by victories at Goodison and Stamford Bridge.

Stoke will pose a very different threat to that of Blackpool, who surprised everyone with victory at St James' Park two weeks ago, Tony Pulis's side are notorious for their aerial bombardment which have caused better sides than Newcastle trouble. Throw-in specialist Rory Delap is a major weapon for the Potters with his unique ability of being able to throw the ball deep into the box from almost anywhere in the oppositions half. This gives Stoke a distinct advantage and with tall striker Kenwyne Jones in their side it means the Newcastle defence will have to be on their guard throughout the 90 minutes.

However, Stoke are yet to pick up a point on the road this season and Newcastle will be keen to continue that trend by bouncing back from defeat last time out at home.

After a matching winning full debut at Everton last weekend Hatem Ben Arfa will be looking to impress his new fans even further. His energetic runs and skilful control certainly caught everyone's eye, and it will be hoped that he can serve up the type of quality crosses that striker Andy Carroll thrives on.

Surprise defeats yesterday for Spurs, Arsenal and Blackpool plus draws for Fulham and Birmingham means a victory for Newcastle would see the Magpies move up to 5th place in the league. You would think we should have too much for Stoke at home especially with confidence so high.

Hope you all enjoy it HOWAY THE LADS!!!

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Carling Cup 3rd Round: Chelsea 3-4 Newcastle United

2010-09-23T17:43:00.000+10:00

3rd Round

Date: Wednesday 22nd September 2010
Kick-off: 7:45pm (BST)
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Attendance: 41,511 including 1,500 away fans
Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)

Teams
Chelsea: Turnbull, Ferreira, Terry (Alex 46), Van Aanholt, Bruma, Ramires, Benayoun, Zhirkov, Sturridge, Anelka, Kakuta (Kalou 46 [McEachran 56])
Subs Not Used: Cech, Chalobah, Clifford, Mellis
Booked: Bruma

Goals: Van Aanholt 6, Anelka 70, 87pen

Newcastle: Krul, R.Taylor (Tiote 63), Coloccini (Williamson 63), Campbell, Ferguson (Barton 90), Smith, Gutierrez, Vuckic, Lovenkrands, Ameobi, Ranger.
Subs Not Used: Soderberg, Nolan, Carroll, Ben Arfa
Booked: R.Taylor, Ameobi, Tiote

Goals: Ranger 27, R.Taylor 32, Ameobi 49, 90

Manager Chris Hughton spoke afterwards:

''We showed great character and great finishing to get back in the game. The equaliser for them to get back 3-3 was the softest penalty you will ever see and it got them back in the game. Fortunately, it was us that stopped the game going to extra-time. I didn't think it was a penalty. That is an understatement. It disappointed me because at that stage we hang on and win 3-2. If we had not got the winner and it had gone to extra-time, it would have been a travesty. This was a game that most people felt we couldn't win irrespective of what side they put out. 'It speaks volumes for the players in the changing room. Hopefully it will give us the momentum to go into the next few games. Shola showed why he is still at this football club. 'He has had periods at the club where injuries have hindered his progress. That was the case last season. But on this form he is a top player.''

Two-goal hero Shola Ameobi added:

"The manager knows that I am unhappy - he knows that I want to be playing, like every other guy who is not in the team at the moment. For those of us who have not been playing a lot, this was a chance to show what we can do and I think we managed to do that. I have to do my talking on the pitch - hopefully that can push me up into the team on a regular basis. The boys have been doing fantastically this season and produced another great performance at Everton last weekend, so all I can do when given the opportunity is to score goals and play well. Outside the dressing room, no-one expected us to get a result, so it was remarkable. But we’ve taken confidence from our start to the season and are playing with freedom. Some of the younger lads showed a strength of character that was beyond their years."

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said:

"It was not our priority. I wanted to win but I’m not so disappointed. I was happy not with the result but for the performance, absolutely. We had a fantastic reaction when we were 3-1 down. We had 10 against 11 and showed good spirit and good personality, which is the most important thing for us. You can count on the future with these players. They played with flair, personality and character. This was their competition, they had a fantastic experience tonight. The game was difficult by the end but we are happy with the performance of our players. The match was very good and we came back into the game. The referee played a good match, he was fair on the pitch. This is not a problem. It was a good performance."

Match Report
A last minute header from Newcastle United striker Shola Ameobi sealed an incredible victory for the Magpies over Chelsea in the Carling Cup at Stamford Bridge. Ameobi's second goal of the game came from a Jonas Gutierrez corner to give Newcastle their first win at Chelsea sine 1986.

Unfortunately for me my FoxTel IQ box decided to play up and only starting taping the match when I get up at 6am to watch it 'live' in delay. Therefore, I had to start watching the game in the 50th minute with us 3-1 up, fortunately that quickly eased my annoyance of missing the first-half.

The home side started the match in their usual fashion of this season and took the lead on 6 minute thanks to former Toon loanee Patrick Van Aanholt. The left-back was able to score following a series of Newcastle defensive blunders that included Sol Campbell colliding with goalkeeper Tim Krul, Nile Ranger giving the ball away and Krul failing to block the deflected shot. It looked like being a long evening for Toon Army.

Newcastle responded well and on 27 minutes their efforts were rewarded when following some fine passing football the ball found Shane Ferguson down the left flank and the impressive 18-year-old left-back wiped in a cross that just evaded Peter Lovenkrands, but found Nile Ranger at the back post who cracked the ball home to make it 1-1.

Five minutes later and Newcastle were in front. Shola Ameobi was brought down on the outside the area and free-kick specialist Ryan Taylor fired home a suburb strike that left Chelsea goalkeeper Ross Turnbull well beaten.

Newcastle continued where they left the first half off with Ameobi making it 3-1 four minutes into the second half. The Geordie born striker picked up a loose pass and drove forward with the ball before curling home a brilliant a low right footed strike. This was the frustrating Amoebi at his best, if we had seen more of this type of play from the big man then his Newcastle United career could have been so different.

After making a double switch at half-time injuries to Kalou and then Benayoun left Chelsea down to ten man for the remainder of the match. This only seemed to inspired the Blues as the took the game to Newcastle.

Following plenty of Chelsea pressure the home side got themselves back into the game on the 70 minute. Van Aanholt made a marauding overlapping run down the Chelsea left before pulling the ball back into the path of Nicolas Anelka for the French international to stylisly stroke the ball home.

Chelsea capped off a remarkable 10 man comeback after referee Phil Dowd awarded the home side a penalty which Anelka cooly slotted home. How Dowd saw a foul on Alex by Mike Williamson is anybody's guess!

With the game heading towards extra-time Ameobi snatched a dramatic winner by heading home a Jonas Gutierrez's corner. This sparked wild scene's among the travelling fans housed in the Shed End. Newcastle have finally broke their Stamford bridge hoodoo and at the same time bundling the Champions out of the cup.

Liverpool, Man City, and Spurs were all dumped out the cup in this round so can we dare to dream? Of course we can but no doubt an away trip to Old Trafford or the Emirates will put a stop to that.

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army

Match Preview: Carling Cup 3rd Rd Chelsea v Newcastle United

2010-09-22T17:33:00.000+10:00

3rd Round

Chelsea (a)

Date: Thursday 23rd September 2010
Venue: Stamford Bridge
Kick-Off: 4:45am (AEST), 4:15am (SA), 2:45am (WA)
Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
Australian TV: Live on Foxsports 2
Forum: Match Thread

Last 5 Form:
Chelsea
PL - Blackpool (h) W 4-0
UCL - MSK Zilina (a) W 4-1
PL - West Ham (a) W 3-1
PL - Stoke City (h) W 2-0
PL - Wigan (a) W 6-0

Newcastle United
PL – Everton (a) W 1-0
PL – Blackpool (h) L 0-2
PL – Wolves (a) D 1-1
CC2 – Accrington Stanley (a) W 3-2
PL – Aston Villa (h) W 6-0

Match Stats:
All time - Chelsea 61 wins, 37 draws, Newcastle 47 wins

Odds:
Brought to you in association with...

Chelsea $1.25, Draw $5.50, Newcastle $10.00

Did You Know?
Newcastle United have not won their last 21 matches at Stamford Bridge since they beat Chelsea in November 1986. Newcastle have also failed to win a single cup tie at Chelsea in eight attempts.

Team News:
Newcastle United will be without the suspended Xisco and James Perch who has picked up five bookings in the opening five matches of the season, while Steven Taylor and Dan Gosling remain out injured. Leon Best, Danny Simpson and Danny Guthrie are all now back in full training and will come into consideration.

Chelsea are set to rest Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, John Obi Mikel, Michael Essien and Didier Drogba, while Frank Lampard is still unfit. Confirmed starters are Ross Turnbull, Jeffrey Bruma, Gael Kakuta, Daniel Sturridge and Patrick van Aanholt, while John Terry could make his comeback for part of the game.

Match Preview
Manager Chris Hughton has indicated that he will be making ‘significant changes’ to his starting XI for this Carling Cup tie against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Hughton told the Evening Chronicle:

“It’s the ideal opportunity for them. I’ve said that I will make significant changes, but it’s a chance for those that haven’t played. It doesn’t come any tougher, especially with the form Chelsea are in, but nothing has changed my thinking from the day the draw was made. We knew how tough it would be. Nobody expects us to get anything from the game – and that’s a plus. When that is the case you can go there with less pressure on you. Whether you can enjoy it or not it’s always down to what the result is.”

The Aussie Mags forum members seem to be in full agreement with Hughton as the talk on the match thread for this game has everyone fully backing the manager’s policy. Their argument (and I guess Hughton’s too) is that the league comes first and that it is important to give the fringe & younger players some game time.

The policy of playing younger and reserve team players in the Carling Cup has become the norm for the top teams in the Premier League. The devaluation, or disrespect some might say, of the competition has become very apparent over the last 10 years or so.

Now while I don’t totally disagree with this policy in principal, at the end of the day we surely have entered this cup competition to try and give it our best shot of winning it. So I beg the question, since when did Newcastle United start to not take cup competitions seriously? And why, as our trophy cabinet is hardly overflowing.

The fact that Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has also indicated that he will be playing a very young Chelsea side means they will not be at full strength and are potential vulnerable. The rampaging Chelsea we’ve seen in the Premier League would have been unstoppable at home for even our strongest starting XI but not so the team Ancelotti will put out tomorrow morning.

I hope Chris Hughton’s policy works naturally. Hopefully the lads can sneak through and extend our run in the cup, but if we lose by the odd goal knowing an Andy Carroll, or an Hatem Ben Arfa, or an Jose Enrique would have made a difference will be very frustrating indeed.

Great to see Foxsports have picked this game up to show live here in Australia, their coverage of English football really is top notch given the fact that they don’t just show the games that are live in the UK, they actually try and show as many games live as they can.

Let’s hope we all enjoy it...HOWAY THE LADS!!!

Andrew McTernan – Row ‘S’ Army