All,
for those of you unable to attend games at Gallowgate for whatever reason here is another of my match accounts for this season, including personal thoughts as a Newcastle supporter as the day’s events unfolded both outside and inside St James Park.
Pre match training before the game today was a bit of a lonely affair at first as my long time pal and fellow Mag Alan is in Germany for the week and for whatever reason some of the others that regularly join us also didn't turn up. Perhaps it was simply a case of me being Billy no Mates for the day or perhaps they are trying to tell me something...Umm! Anyway even when on your own there's no better place on this earth to talk football than in The Toon as Geordies just love discussing the game. So it was hardly surprising I eventually got chatting to two like minded guys while watching the first half of the Merseyside derby.
I always enjoy hearing the views of supporters I don't know as it often provides an interesting counterpoint to my own views on The Toon. Today was no exception as we discussed why West Brom appear to have held a hoodoo sign over NUFC for the past three seasons and whether this particular Sunday afternoon Newcastle could actually take all the points for a change. We all agreed that The Baggies are a hard working side without being anything special or possessing a true superstar. Could it be they are just lucky when playing NUFC or have the Toon been poor in those previous games? Reasonable shouts on both counts, but none of us were too keen on that being the main reason and simply decided today would be a good day to put the hoodoo to bed. Nothing spectacular in terms of scoreline either 1 or 2 - 0 or 2 - 1 would do us fine. As long as Newcastle took the three points we would all be satisfied. The thing is with our opponents holding their hoodoo sign over us I couldn't get the idea out of my head the day could end up being a nightmare of halloween proportions.
With the second half of the Everton v Liverpool game about to start I said my farewells and made my way up to the ground. Like most of the crowd going in that direction I looked up to see what the droning noise was circling St James Park. Certainly not the usual Police helicopter, but a light aircraft towing Wonga's latest strap line about the return of SJP to the Geordie faithful. I reckon Wonga will also haunt (pun intended) supporters no matter what they do to try and escape or until such time as Mikey dumps them for someone else. Fortunately not long afterwards I was finally inside the ground renamed St James Park, but only in a business sense. For the majority in The Toon Army it had never changed in the first place.
Next up was the usual team check as APee had to make enforced changes whether he liked the idea or not thanks to Mr T's red mist moment during the derby. I was hoping that youngster Bigirimana may have an opportunity to play the holding role, however it soon became clear the more experienced James Perch had been brought in to fill the gap left by Tiote. The real surprise being the selection of Shola ahead of Cisse, although in many ways not that much of a shock given the recent form of Papiss.
There also appeared to be a degree of tension among home supporters around the ground as the teams kicked off for the first half, with Newcastle attacking The Leazes End. Can't put my finger on why other than it just felt that way to me. West Brom may not be the most fashionable side in The Premier League, however they are also a neat and tidy passing side, if a somewhat physical one when it suits. The opening ten minutes of this game were nothing special with both sides content to probe without creating a real threat. The first sign of a goal coming on about fifteen minutes in when Stroller put in a terrific cross from the right which Ba really should have scored from with his head. That miss almost came back to haunt (no pun intended) us as The Baggies broke clear on the counter with just over 25 minutes gone. Only a great stop by Krul preventing Romelu Lukaku from opening the scoring. Newcastle's defence once again playing a very high line up field, which I must admit I don't like as neither of our central pairing for this fixture, Williamson and Colo, are blessed with great pace should they get caught. There then followed a couple of other attempts by Newcastle before Ba finally broke the deadlock with 35 minutes showing on the clock at pitch-side. It was route one to say the least, with Krul launching the ball from his box, then knocked on from the head of Shola and Ba doing the rest, despite being held, with a volley on goal which went past Foster. The goal appearing to settle both the team and the crowd from it's jitters.
Cabaye then started to pull the strings in midfield, however chances were still far and few between for both sides. The best Newcastle could come up with was a long range effort from Santon some thirty-five yards out and a Stroller shot that was put high and mighty over the bar. Although in my view the best chance to score fell once again to Chelsea loanee Lukaku, some five minutes before half-time. However he was once again foiled by Tim Krul, much to my relief and most of the people around me. Even though Newcastle held the lead I was mighty pleased to eventually hear the whistle to signal the break as I thought surely The Baggies must eventually score if The Toon give them as many clear cut opportunities during the second period.
The only point of note during the break was one of the guys that sits next to me mentioned the following theory.... Once the Winter Ball (this season its a yellow thing from Nike) comes into use the kind of football Newcastle play becomes different. Can't say it's anything I have thought about a great deal, however I shall be taking note during our next lot of home games to see if there's any merit in what he says. With that snippet out of the way the second half began...
Not sure what was said in The Toon's dressing room at half-time, however ex Newcastle coach Steve Clarke certainly had his troops fired up from the whistle as they began to press from midfield looking to stretch the home defence. Lukaku once again providing a perfect outlet for his teams attacking moves up front. He is a big powerful lad and uses all his attributes to very good effect and watching him I thought up to then his finishing was the only thing missing. Yes you guessed it and please feel free to remind me not to have such thoughts during home games. As ten minutes into the second half the young centre forward finally got his reward with the equaliser. For me it all looked far too easy with our defenders mesmerised as the ball was passed about then eventually delivered across for Romelu to finish with an easy header past Tim Krul. Those jitters were coming back big time...
West Brom had gone up a gear after equalising. Now looking really dangerous and very strong in midfield. Jonas had been struggling throughout to get into the game, while Ben Arfa stopped receiving enough of the ball and even when he did was either fouled or man handled during his surging runs to prevent any threat from emerging. Not that the Ref gave him much in the way of protection with his decisions. On the hour mark APee clearly decided he had waited long enough and on came some subs. Danny Simpson being sacrificed for Cisse and Shola for Obertan. Stroller had a decent enough game up to that point, but I do wonder whether is he worth a starting place when unable to last the full ninety minutes. Regardless of that thought I could only surmise Newcastle's Manager wanted to inject a bit of pace to the side and hopefully create something that way. Barely five minutes later The Baggies Manager made the first of his changes, for whatever reason deciding to remove Lukaku who had been a constant thorn in the side for both of our central defenders and bringing on Shane Long. As the minutes ticked by Newcastle appeared to get worse, with our midfield all over the place. Don't get me wrong here as Perch is an honest hard working player, but simply looked lost at times chasing shadows as far as Mulumbu, Morrison, and Gera were concerned. In a game like this Jonas is wasted and offers no attacking threat what so ever playing the role he currently does on the left. I have already given my view about Hatem earlier in this piece, however to also see Cabaye our main creative midfielder having to drop so deep into our own half to pick up the ball, I almost wished it was full time to put me out of my misery. That misery was compounded further when with about fifteen minutes to go Ba limped off to be replaced by Sameobi...
So the game moved on to what I believed was it's inevitable conclusion with another point added to the total, but not much more in the way of a promising performance. Yet as I have said many times The Football Gods are not without a sense of drama, as well as humour.
On this occasion much to the relief of all in The Toon Army it was the unfortunate Baggies that were to be on the receiving end of the fickle nature of the deity that every fans prays will lead their side to victory. In the third minute of added time after the ninety a huge slice of good fortune came Newcastle's way. With Ben Arfa having gone on one of his runs, only to be again stopped in his tracks by a poor challenge. I was waiting for the whistle for yet another free kick, yet for some unknown reason Chris Foy allowed play to continue and the ball fell to the feet of Sameobi. I'm not quite sure what got into me at that particular moment, but I do recall screaming a fair bit and not all of it of the blue variety either. That aside Sammy moved goal wards and with the last of my breath I shouted "Just Hit It!" which he duly did. This is where those Football Gods come back into play as the shot then struck Cisse and completely wrong footed Foster in The West Brom goal.....the ball sailing into the back of the net to make it 2 - 1. Cue complete bedlam with a mixture of laughter, joy and sheer bloody relief. The Mags had nicked all three points literally right at the death.
Positives... a welcome three points if not completely deserved. The Baggies hoodoo is broken. Always good to win when not playing well.
Negatives... Our midfield needs sorting and I'll say it again IMO Cabaye needs someone along side him to play with. Ba's injury. Is this a clear sign of post Europa League syndrome?
Next up is a visit to Anfield where The Red Scousers lie in wait for another Sunday (4th November) afternoon showdown live on Sky at 4pm.
WL
I've seen Newcastle United win silverware!
What's next the Mayan Prophesy coming true? ;D ;D ;D
