Season 2006-2007

NEWCASTLE UNITED

 v

FULHAM

Not announced yet.

Michael Owen (knee), as we know, is out till next year with the injury he picked up at the World Cup.
Kieron Dyer (hamstring) is unfit but hopefully should be ready to return next week.
Shola Ameobi (hip) is struggling with a long standing hip injury.
Obafemi Martins (dead leg) is expected to be fit.
Olivier Bernard (match fitness) played 45 minutes for the reserves on Monday night but looked ring rusty and is unlikely to start.

My thoughts:

With the fall out from our transfer activity still rumbling on after a week or so, the Premiership makes a welcome return this weekend, with Chris Coleman’s Fulham the visitors to St James’ Park.

Our record at home to Fulham since they came back into the Premiership in 2001, isn’t the greatest. Out of the five games we’ve played at St James’ Park we have only won two, with the last coming back in the 2003/04 season.

With this being Newcastle United we’ve already had one ‘make or break’ game this season(Lillestrom away) and now this game could be a ‘make or break’ game for the supporters morale. The underlying feeling is that our transfer policy has been misguided and the club has, yet again, been mismanaged by chairmen Freddie Shepherd.

A defeat or poor performance could fuel the fire of frustration on the part of the fans but on the other hand, a Rossi or Martins hatrick, to start us on a run of wins, could see the fans forget all about the transfer activity and mismanagement. This is the fine line that football and, especially Newcastle United, is played in these days.

The starting IX should be interesting with Roeder having a few more options upfront now. If Obafemi Martins is fit, and Shola Ameobi not, then you’d expect Roeder to go with Martins and new loan signing Giuseppe Rossi as our new strike partnership, meaning it would be a surprise to see either  new signing Sibierski or Albert Luque in the starting lineup.

The midfield, again, has an abundant of riches. With Scott Parker and Damien Duff guaranteed starters, with the other 2 positions being made up from Solano, Milner, Butt, Emre or N’Zogbia. My money would be on Solano and Emre starting.

In defence you’d expect the same back four that started against Aston Villa 2 weeks ago to start again. The returning Olivier Bernard is still a little bit away from full match fitness, having not played a first team game for Rangers since March, and is most likely to occupy the bench.

It’s seems like a long time since we last played a game, with a lot of water going under the bridge since then, so a morale boasting win is certainly what the doctor ordered. Let’s hope we are having a celebratory drink come 2am (AEST) this Sunday morning and not thinking about what could have been.
 

HOWAY THE LADS!!!