Birmingham City Vs Newcastle United |
|
Date:
Sunday 3rd October 2004
Kick Off: 3.00pm BST
Venue: St. Andrews
Ref: Howard Webb (Rotherham)
Comp: Premiership |
| Match Preview
In Association With Toon
Ale |
|
Graeme Souness goes looking for his 5th successive win at St. Andrews
with his new team looking to make it 6 wins in 6 and 4 Premiership
wins on the spin. Like us, Birmingham haven't had the best of starts
to the new season, languishing in 16th place on 6 points. Not exactly
the start Steve Bruce would have liked. With 7 new signings made in
the Summer and the recent addition of Dwight Yorke who fell out with
Souness while at Blackburn, City's squad looks totally different yet
they still play exactly the same way. Solid, hard working and predictable.
Quite boring in fact.
With all those new faces they have struggled to gel as a team hence
their inconsistent start, yet there is no doubt Birmingham have a
fine team on paper but they still lack that goal threat, especially
with Mickel Forsell out injured for the rest of the season. Bad news
for them, good news for us as he is capable of destroying our defence
with his power, pace and eye for goal.
Instead Birmingham's hopes rest on the broad shoulders of Emile Heskey,
signed to score goals and hailed as the nearest thing to wor Shearer.
And to think we could have had Bruce in our dugout...
Whether the the trip to Tel Aviv will play any role or not
in Souness' selection for this match and indeed our performance, remains
to be seen. If we can defend like we did at St. Mary's, keep focused
and work hard, our extra quality should prevail. We are full of confidence
and on a good run where as Birmingham are looking to get into some
form. They aren't quite sure of themselves as a team yet and I doubt
Bruce is either, trying to accommodate the right balance and getting
the right team out is proving to be a headache for him.
This fixture has often represented a tough challenge for Newcastle
and we don't have the best of records at St. Andrews. Up against a
strong, organised, disciplined team, albeit not the most creative,
will prove to be Souness' toughest match thus far. A win at Birmingham
could take us up into 4th and further enhance this unwanted marriage
as a relationship with promise.
Given |
Carr |
O'Brien |
Hughes |
Bernard |
Bellamy |
Butt |
Bowyer |
Jenas |
| |
Shearer
|
Kluivert
|
|
For Them: Muzzy Izzet
(CM)
The
man signed from Leicester in the Summer is Birmingham's answer to
our very own Lee Bowyer. A box to box goal grabbing, goal creating
midfielder. Vastly underrated and a dangerous player against any team.
He will have to be watched closely, especially at corners where he
is adept at getting on the end of crosses and loose balls in the box.
He likes to roam and can play just off the forward line too. A tricky
customer to pick up and one who the Blues will look to for goals.
For The Toon: Lee Bowyer
I've
been saying this for a while now, Lee Bowyer is going to explode with
goals one of these days. He hasn't had the greatest of starts to the
new season but since Souness took over he has found himself in his
favoured central midfield slot and his performances have picked up
of late to the point where he's testing the opposition keeper more
and more. This is an ideal game for him where the battle will take
place in midfield and he will be keen to get off the mark. Up against
Robbie Savage he will have to be careful not to allow the Welshman
to wind him up, something he is susceptible to every now and again.
Not much football will be played in this match I feel so Bowyer will
have to make those darting runs of his and support the front two pretty
quick as the ball could be pinged from one end to the other. One goal,
just one goal will, you feel, be the first of many for the season
and if we are to push for that 4th spot those in the centre will have
to contribute their fair share. Something Bowyer is noted for doing.
Lets hope he does so in this game.
Robbie
Savage
I actually rate him as a player and think this type of player is needed
in most teams, we have Bellamy, Birmingham have Savage. However he
is a twat of the highest order and deserves the usual. Boooooooo...
| NUFC Squad News &
Pre-Match Reaction |
Manager Graeme Souness on the match:
"We're on a good run with four wins on the trot,
and hopefully we can extend that on Sunday when we go to Birmingham.
"But we know it will be tough because Birmingham City is never an
easy place to go to. We're playing well at the moment and the players
have shown a tremendous attitude and will to win in the last few matches.
"There is a steeliness in the squad, they all want to win their individual
races and battles, and we're defending well.
"If we continue to show that attitude then we will always cause
the opposition problems."
United squad:
Given, Harper, Carr, Bernard, O'Brien, Elliott, Hughes, Johnsen, Taylor,
Ramage, Butt, Bowyer, Jenas, Robert, Milner, Ambrose, Brittain, Shearer,
Bellamy, Kluivert.
| Birmingham Squad News
& Pre-Match Reaction |
Manager Steve Bruce on the match:
"The
one thing we have got to do is have a complete performance from the
first minute to the 90th.
"I was certainly encouraged by our second half performance at Bolton,
but that would not have been difficult after the first half.
"Let's hope we can put the whole thing together on Sunday and kick-start
our season.
"There is no better time to do that than when the big guns come to
town and we've got Newcastle and then Manchester United in two weeks
time."
"They've got a new manager in place and he's had a great start and
we wish him well.
"Newcastle is always a big game for myself because I'm from there
and it's the team I supported as a boy, but what's happened has gone
and it's history. Thankfully it's all been put to bed.
"Newcastle are a very talented team of individuals and they're a big
threat to any team so it should be a really good game and one we're
looking forward to."
Birmingham squad:
Taylor, Melchiot, Cunningham, Upson, Clapham, Gronkjaer, Dunn, Savage,
Clemence, Izzet, Johnson, Heskey, Gray, Vaesen, Yorke, Morrison.
 Howard
Webb
Last officiated a Toon game back in March at White Hart Lane when
Newcastle went down 1-0 to Spurs. There was a good penalty appeal
waived away by Webb when Aaron Hughes was tripped in the box. A sure
penalty. He had an otherwise uneventful game to officiate, booking
no players.
| Last Meeting (at St. Andrews) |
Birmingham City 1-1 NUFC (Premiership: 31st of January 2004)
Newcastle opened the scoring at St. Andrews with just over 5 minutes
to go to half time thanks to a 30-yard wonder goal from Gary Speed
and into the second half the Toon were looking good for a win on the
road. Until referee Rob Styles added to his many wrong decisions by
awarding Birmingham a free kick in injury time after Bellamy was adjudged
to have pulled back Cunningham, which he didn't. Furthermore Styles
brought forward the Blues set-piece after Viana kicked the ball away,
an act which earned him a yellow card. Cunningham took the free kick
and Stern John scored a last gasp equaliser after he escaped his markers.
Poor defending or a rotten luck? A bit of both. A very disappointing
return to Tyneside for the thousands of Toon fans who were charged
35 quid for their visit. Darren Ambrose made his full Premiership
debut that day.
The teams that day:
Birmingham: Taylor, Tebily, Cunningham, Purse, Kenna,
Johnson (John 76), Savage, Hughes, Lazaridis, Forssell, Morrison.
Subs not used: Bennett, Carter, Kirovski, Clapham.
NUFC: Given, Hughes, O'Brien, Woodgate, Bernard,
Ambrose (Bellamy 75), Jenas, Speed, Robert (Viana 88), Shearer, Dyer.
Subs not used: Griffin, Harper, Ameobi.
Birmingham scorers: John
Toon scorers: Speed
Attendance: 29,513
| Previous 5 Meetings (at St.
Andrews - all competitions) |
| Date |
Score |
Comp |
Toon Scorers |
| 28/9/2002 |
Won 2-0 |
Premiership |
Solano, Ameobi |
| 29/11/2000 |
Lost 2-1 |
LG Cup |
Dyer |
| 12/10/1999 |
Won 2-0 |
LG Cup |
None |
| 4/11/1992 |
Won 3-2 |
Div 1 (new) |
Peacock, Scott, Matthewson og |
| 9/11/1985 |
Won 1-0 |
Div 1 (old) |
Reilly |
| |
Birmingham
Wins |
Draws |
Newcastle
Wins |
| League |
29 |
22 |
35 |
| FA Cup |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| League Cup |
3 |
1 |
1 |
| Total |
32 |
24 |
36 |
| Form Guide (League &
Cups) |
| Newcastle |
Birmingham |
| Opposition |
V |
Result |
Opposition |
V |
Result |
| Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin |
A |
W 5-1 |
Bolton Wanderers |
A |
D 1-1 |
| West Bromwich Albion |
H |
W 3-1 |
Lincoln City |
H |
W 3-1 |
| Southampton |
A |
W 2-1 |
Charlton Athletic |
H |
D 1-1 |
| Hapoel Bnei Sakhnin |
H |
W 2-0 |
Middlesbrough |
A |
L 2-1 |
| Blackburn Rovers |
H |
W 3-0 |
Tottenham Hotspur |
A |
L 1-0 |
| Aston Villa |
A |
L 4-2 |
Manchester City |
H |
W 1-0 |
| Norwich City |
H |
D 2-2 |
Chelsea |
H |
L 1-0 |
| Tottenham Hotspur |
H |
L 1-0 |
Portsmouth |
A |
D 1-1 |
| Middlesbrough |
A |
D 2-2 |
Blackburn Rovers |
A |
D 1-1 |
| Liverpool |
A |
D 1-1 |
Liverpool |
A |
L 3-0 |
| *Last
10 matches in all competitions. Keys: V
= Venue L = Loss W
= Win D = Draw |
This game has a draw written all over it. I can see Newcastle shutting
up shop in a similar manner to how we did at St. Mary's 2 weeks back.
Birmingham themselves aren't exactly the kind of team to go goal crazy
and they play a predictable way. A game of few chances could ensue.
However as an eternal optimist and one who could never back against
my own club, I'll venture a 1-0 win to Newcastle with Lee Bowyer getting
his first goal of the season. Fingers crossed... |
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