Newcastle United Vs Coventry City |
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Date:
Saturday 29th January 2005
Kick Off: 3.00pm BST
Venue: St. James' Park
Ref: Neale Barry
Comp: FA Cup 4th Round |
| Match Preview
In Association With Toon
Ale |
|
By
Ally Campbell
What a week this has been for NUFC, certainly doesn't surprise me,
nothing ever does with this team. We try to put the Bellamy/Souness
dispute to the back of our minds for 90 mins this Saturday as we entertain
Coventry City in the F.A. Cup. Personally, I can't wait. I love the
F.A. Cup to bits and i'd be surprised if we went all the way, but
theres nothing i'd love more than Alan Shearer winning the trophy
on his last ever game....although knowing our luck he'd be injured
for it anyway!
Saturday sees the long awaited return from fitness from Stephen Carr.
Time and time again we've been told he'd return but this time he's
in the squad. It causes a pleasant dilemma for Souness in defence.
Steven Taylor has been excellent in the unfamiliar right back role,
but as Souness points out in his press conference, we've missed Carr's
overlapping runs going forward. Taylor will be the first to admit
that he's not going to whip in a teasing cross. Personally, i'd put
Carr on the bench. The last thing we want is for him to play from
the start and pull up again, he needs easing back slowly.
The NUFC hamstring curse returned last week with new signing Boumsong
damaging his, its getting ridiculous, it really is. We'll more than
likely see the return of the O'Brien-Bramble partnership, but as we're
playing lower league oppostion we might just get away with it. It'll
be interesting if Babayaro plays, I think he probably will even if
he's not fully fit. We've got a quality replacement in the shape of
Bernard, but he's not flavour of the month and he's unlikely to play.
We didn't play particularly well against Arsenal at the weekend, but
we were away against the Champions and looked to be playing with the
intention of shutting them out rather than going for the win. I think
we'll see a return to the 4-4-2 system. The absence of Bellamy means
that we haven't really got anyone suitable to play on the right of
the forward three. We welcome new signing Amdy Faye from Portsmouth,
whom I imagine will walk straight into the team at the expense of
Lee Bowyer.
Bowyer has looked sluggish recently, but to be fair he's been no worse
than Dyer or Jenas, but its the change I expect. Faye is a solid defensive
player, and this will do Jenas the world of good. He looked good alongside
Butt, and he should look good with Faye. It just allows him to move
forward more which is where most of his talents lie. He's not a bad
defensive midfielder, but he's not really a good one at the moment
and Faye should allow him to push forward and create chances. On the
topic of chances, we'll more than likely see the usual home performance
with plenty of chances created, most of them missed! It'll also be
a good game for Kluivert to gain some fitness in, i'd start him with
Shearer, but it could well be Ameobi as he did in the Carling Cup.
Coventry lost their last game 2-1 to QPR, and are struggling in 21st
in the Coca-Cola Championship. That stat is irrelevant on Saturday
though, they'll be coming here hoping to cause an upset and if we
aren't careful they may just do so.
Given |
Taylor |
O'Brien |
Bramble |
Babayaro |
Dyer |
Jenas |
Faye |
Robert |
| |
Shearer |
Kluivert |
|
Graeme Souness vs. Micky Adams
Micky Adams comes to St. James' Park in his 2nd game as manager, and
has never taken a team to the 5th Round of the Cup before, lets not
break that eh? He's a good manager though and will have his players
up for this one as he tries to make an instant impression on the Highfield
Road faithful.
Titus Bramble vs. Stern John
Not so confident about this dual. John always looked quite dangerous
when he was at Birmingham & Forest, and although he may have found
his level in the Championship rather than the Premiership, he'll score
given half the chance. This game reminds me somewhat of the Crystal
Palace FA Cup game a couple of years ago when Morrison troubled us,
I can see John and his striker partner McSheffrey troubling us. However,
Bramble is in good form at the moment, and hopefully it'll shut out
the Coventry attack.k with Bernard.
| NUFC Squad News &
Pre-Match Reaction |
Manager Graeme Souness on the match:
"Saturday afternoon is an enormous game for
this football club and we must be fully focussed on what lies ahead.
"We have to approach the game in the right frame of mind,
this game is a potential banana skin and we must go into it in totally
the right way.
"Coventry City have nothing to lose, they are coming up to
play at such a big stadium and great atmosphere but if we play thee
way we can, and start the right way, we should advance into the
next round of the cup."
United squad:
Given, Harper, Carr, Babayaro, Bernard, Hughes, Taylor, Bramble,
O'Brien, Dyer, Jenas, Bowyer, Faye, Robert, Shearer, Ameobi, Kluivert.
| Coventry City Squad
News & Pre-Match Reaction |
Manager Mickey Adams on the match:
"They don't come any harder than this. It's a one-off game and what
we are going to face against Newcastle is nothing like what we're
going to face in the rest of the Championship.
"But having said that, what I'm looking for is an attitude and
a desire to do well and if I get that, I'm more than happy - whatever
the result.
"Newcastle have got quality which can hurt Premiership defences, let
alone Championship defences. We've got our hands full and we know
that."
Coventry City squad:
Steele, Duffy, Williams, Leacock, Staunton, Morrell, Negouai, Hughes,
Doyle, McSheffrey, Johnson, John, Whing, Adebola, Jorgensen, Shearer.
| Previous 5 Meetings (at St.
James' Park - all competitions) |
| Date |
Score |
Comp |
Toon Scorers |
| 13/1/2001 |
Won 3-1 |
Premiership |
Speed, Ameobi, Dyer |
| 29/4/2000 |
Won 2-0 |
Premiership |
Shearer (p), Gavilan |
| 17/2/1999 |
Won 4-1 |
Premiership |
Shearer (2), Speed, Saha |
| 14/3/1998 |
Drew 0-0 |
Premiership |
|
| 15/3/1997 |
Won 4-0 |
Premiership |
Watson, Lee, Beardsley (p), Elliott |
| |
Newcastle
Wins |
Draws |
Coventry
City Wins |
| League |
27 |
15 |
18 |
| FA Cup |
4 |
1 |
0 |
| Total |
31 |
16 |
18 |
I'm predicting 2-0 victory for us, goals from Kluivert
and Robert. It won't be pretty, as Shearer would call it, a 'professional
performance'. But that'll do in the Cup. Howay the lads, don't let
us down this year! |
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