UEFA Cup Round of 32 - 2nd Leg
 

Season 2006-2007

NEWCASTLE UNITED

 v

S.V. ZULTE WAREGEM

  Date: Friday 23rd February 2007
  Venue: St James' Park
  Kick Off: 6:45am (AEST)
  Australian Live TV: None (Please Note: For all you boys back home in blighty, Channel 5 will provide live TV coverage)
  Internet Live TV Coverage: Check http://www.football4less.com
  Weather Forecast: 5c
 

 
  Squad:
 

Not announced yet
   
  Team News:
  Brought to you in association with
   
 

- Michael Owen (knee) is in the final stage of his rehabilitation and is back in training.
- Shola Ameobi (hip) is probably out for the season after his hip operation.
- Tim Krul (knee) currently has no return date.
- Craig Moore (hamstring) is back in training.
- Peter Ramage (hamstring) is out for a couple more weeks.
- Shay Given (groin) is out for a couple more weeks.
- Stephen Carr (thigh) is out for a few more weeks. (Hopefully)
- Charles N'Zogbia (knee) is back in training.
- Emre (groin) is back in training.
- Olivier Bernard (hip) made his comeback for the reserves but doesn’t seem 100% fit.
- Oguchi Onyewu is ineligible to play in the UEFA Cup
   
  Philippe Albert’s pre-game comments:
  "I was at St James's Park for the games against Liverpool and Manchester United and I see them a lot on television," said Albert, now a TV pundit in his homeland. "They were two great games and great results for Newcastle. They've had lots of injuries and suspensions this season but they've coped really well."

"They're not far from the top six (in the Premiership) and could go a long way in Europe this season, so who knows what could happen in the next few months? The defensive set-up provides the main source of Albert's optimism. Karel D'Haene's strike in Ghent last week was only the fourth United have conceded in 11 games in this season's Uefa and Intertoto Cups. And the Belgian argued: "They'll go very far in Europe this season because they have a good team and seem to be playing really well away from home especially. With the fans behind them at home they will be really hard to beat. I've been very impressed with their defence. When you don't concede many goals away you always have a good chance."
   
 

My thoughts:
 

’Forgone conclusion’, ‘walk in the park’ or ‘piece of piss’, most peoples thoughts on how this game will go and well to be quite frank, you’ve had to be Johnny Pessimistic to think otherwise wouldn’t you?

The Belgium part-timers didn’t really cause our defence too many problems in the 1st leg and it looked like Titus may have found his level but in saying all that, we still didn’t manage to keep a clean sheet. Some things never change sadly.

Being 3-1 up, this game represents a good opportunity for Roeder to perhaps rest a couple of players ahead of Sunday’s trip to Wigan. Kieron Dyer and Obafemi Martins would seem to be obvious candidates, as they are crucial to our attacking fortunes and an injury to either of them doesn’t bare thinking about. So all you trainspotters out there get your anoraks on and pencils out, as you might be in luck, that rarely seen locomotive Albert Luque may be coming to town. No guarantees obviously.

Presuming we don’t inherit the same Birmingham style imploding complacency, it should be last 16 here we come, where Fenerbahce or AZ Alkmaar wait for us. The real competition starts from there on in.
 
 

HOWAY THE LADS!!!
   
  Did you know?
 - We haven’t lost a UEFA Cup game at St James’ Park since 1997, when Monaco beat us 1-0, meaning we’ve gone nineteen games unbeaten at home.