Newcastle United 0-1 Tottenham Hotspur |
|
Date:
Saturday 21st August 2004
Kick Off: 3.00pm UK
Venue: St. James' Park
Att: 52,185
Ref: Mike Dean
Comp: Premiership |
| Premiership
Match Report In Association With Toon
Ale |
|
Misery On Tyneside
What a week, what a day. We should have realised as we marched off
to our spiritual home for a match against a team we usually do well
against that a miserable week wasn't going to get any better. It never
does with Newcastle and those of us who thought we'd pick up 3 points
should know better. It starts bad, gets worse and then we get over
it and move on. After this performance and all the little but significant
things that are going on in and around the club however, even the
sternest of optimists (which I am a member of) will struggle to give
reasons of hope that point to us moving on. Not any time soon anyway.
We looked lost on the field against Spurs and we look lost off it.
After the 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough my glass was half full - now
it's half empty. That's the nature of the beast that following this
strange, engrossing and very stressful, but never dull club inflicts
on our emotions. One week we are climbing Everest the next we are
crushed by an avalanche.
And that's what this week has been. An avalanche of conflicting emotions
all serving to leave us feeling low on hope and optimism that this
Season will be better than the last. That our club is heading in the
right direction. First our number 8 was booed on our home patch while
on England duty for his refusal to play on the right-wing and his
snub of the Captain's Armband at the Riverside. Then come a meek apology
via a statement issued to the press, an apology that our Chairman
quietly revealed he had to be coaxed into making. Then the bombshell.
Selling our prized defender to Real Madrid with just over a week until
the transfer window closes.
All of which pushed this first home game of the Season into the background.
But if there is one thing in life that can close wounds, patch up
broken hearts and gloss over any cracks it's 3 points on a Saturday
afternoon. Not with Newcastle though. The wounds are deeper, the heart
is shattered and the cracks are getting bigger. 3 points would have
put a positive spin on a negative week but after a first half in which
we camped in their's and tested their keeper to his full ability -
3 points never fully looked like being won.
As soon as Atouba's 51st minute shot left his boot after Carr invited
him to let rip I just sensed it was going to be one of those days
and that's how it turned out.
Yet in the first half nobody would have predicted the second half
and although the quality of crosses and delivery from set-pieces were
awful, we did cut open the Tottenham defence time and time again.
We also played some good football and always looked the much stronger
of the two. We were playing with a high tempo and pushing the Spurs
rearguard and midfield deeper and deeper. That all important final
ball was the only thing missing in our performance.
We'll score in the second half...
We didn't, Spurs did. From then on in we just looked completely lost.
Instead of using our heads to look for openings, to create clear cut
chances, we just panicked. Lots of sideway passing, lots of passing
on responsibility. It seemed as if nobody wanted to take the game
by the scruff of the neck. Shearer was being dominated by King. Bellamy
found himself taking on one too many. Robert was losing it and giving
the ball away in that infuriating lackadaisical manner of his (that's
how Spurs scored). Butt couldn't get on the ball. JJ disappeared and
Milner looked like a little boy way out of his depth. Which made the
crowd restless which in turn made those in Black & White even
more nervous. From a promising first-half to a damp squib of a second
half.
Fresh legs and new ideas were needed but Bobby waited until the final
14 minutes to change things. By then Robert, after a shocking spell,
was getting back in the mood and looking our most dangerous player...off
he went however to a warm reception for Shola. Then on come Kluivert
for Shearer...no it was Milner. Then bling bling boy himself for JJ
in the centre. An arrival which brought about predictable boos and
jeers. Thankfully they were drowned out by cheers and clapping, even
though the little waster doesn't deserve any.
So with 4 strikers on the pitch and no Robert we become even more
ragged, losing our shape and if anything the 3 subs just further strengthened
Spurs. Robert's set-pieces were woeful throughout and having gone
off, the mantle of set-ball man fell to Bellamy, who's delivery was
even worse than the Frenchman's. That was our only viable source of
getting back into the game as the minutes ticked down, all the way
to the 90th minute. All the way down to the final whistle. Where boos
and jeers waited for the Toon.
As they so often did last Season.
A win on Wednesday night when we make another return to St. James's
to face newly promoted Norwich will settle some questions. Until the
next defeat.
Toon
Player Ratings Vs Spurs
Next up: NUFC
Vs Spurs (Wednesday August 25th 2004 Premiership 8.00pm K.O)
| Newcastle
United |
Tottenham |
Match
Facts & Stats
Half-Time: 0-0
Full-Time: 0-1
Yellow Cards: 3
Red Cards: 0
Goalscorers: None
Yellow Cards: Robert (68)
Red Cards: 0
Substitutions: 3
Dyer (for Jenas 76), Kluivert (for Milner 76), Ameobi
(for Robert 76)
Injuries: Both Milner and Bellamy picked up little
knocks but they ran them off.
Goalscorers: Atouba (51)
Yellow Cards: Redknapp (68), Brown (88)
Red Cards: 0
Substitutions: 3
Brown (for Redknapp 69), Gardner (Kanoute 80), Jackson (Atouba
90)
Injuries: None to report of |
| Given |
Robinson |
| Carr |
Ifil |
| Hughes |
Naybet |
| O'Brien |
King |
| Bernard |
Edman |
| Milner |
Redknapp |
| Butt |
Mendes |
| Jenas |
Davis |
| Robert |
Atouba |
| Shearer |
Kanoute |
| Bellamy |
Defoe |
| Substitutes
Bench |
| Harper |
Keller |
|
Elliott |
Edson |
| Dyer |
Gardner |
|
Ameobi |
Brown |
| Kluivert |
Jackson |
| Fouls, Possession, Shots,
Corners & Saves |
| Newcastle |
The
Game |
Tottenham |
| 10 |
Fouls |
12 |
| 64% |
Possession |
34% |
| 6 |
Shots
(on target) |
8 |
| 6 |
Shots (off target) |
7 |
| 13 |
Corners |
3 |
| 5 |
Saves |
6 |
Our first home defeat of 2004 and stretching all the way back to the
end of December 2003 when Blackburn beat us 1-0 - a run of 14 games
(all competitions). Full competitive home debuts for Nicky Butt, James
Milner and Stephen Carr. It's now 1 win in our last 10 competitive
matches and our 7th League game since a win. Atouba's goal was the
200th goal that we have conceded at home in the Premiership. We've
now gone 28 Games without losing a game by more than one goal. Robert
made his 100th Premiership appearance for Newcastle and Milner made
his 50th Premiership appearance. It's now 9 League and Cup games since
we last kept a clean sheet.
| How The Goals Were
Scored |
Tottenham Goal 51 Minutes: Timothee Atouba:
Attacking their end Robert gave away the ball cheaply which Redknapp
picked up from the loose ball before spreading it wide down our right
to Atouba. With Carr backing off him the Cameroon international advanced
into the box and curled in a peach of a shot to the left of a Given's
goal at the Leazes End. Shay wasn't at fault but Carr most certainly
was.
| Match Reaction From
Sir Bobby |
Sir Bobby said:
"We've lost a match that we should have had won at half time.
We've lost the match in the second half from not being able to turn
their defence.
"They defended very well, and for that I have to give them credit.
They mugged us in that sense."
"I have to think clearly and as positively as I can after a home
defeat again, but I didn't have any argument with my team in the first
half.
"I thought they played very well, to be honest, played some nice
football, made chances.
"The trick in football is, when those chances have been made
you have to take one of them or two of them. Then you would go on
and win the game. We were clearly the better side."
"It's an incredible goal by Atouba. We always said to Steve Carr
'Push him up the inside on his right foot - he'll fall over'.
"As it happens, he didn't because he took it with his right foot
- I bet it's the only goal he's ever scored in his career like that.
"He bent it so far. He put it outside the far post, and it actually
came back inside - giving Shay Given not much of a chance.
"But there are two sides of the story, and the second one was
that in the last 20 minutes we dropped a bit."
Bobby on Dyer:
"I trusted my public, and the public didn't let me down. He wants
to build a relationship with the club and the fans, and that's why
he wore a black-and-white shirt and played for Newcastle United today.
"The fans were great to him. Overall, the response by the fans
was superb for the boy.
"He wondered how it was going to be; he had the courage to say
'I'll go on and I'll try and do my best' - and he got a great response
from the public.
"I thank them for that. Let's hope that settles down now, and
we can get moving."
| Match Reaction From
Jacques Santini |
Santini said:
"I give congratulations to my young team because this game was
a difficult game against a good Newcastle team.
"I am very happy today for my own team.
"It's a good performance, but we know we have a long and hard
season this year because the team is young.
"There are also new players at the club who have been here only
one or two weeks.
"It's a very good result because we will work with confidence
now, but then we have more hard games against West Brom and Birmingham.
"When we have two good results against Liverpool and today against
Newcastle, it is very important for the confidence."
| Your Shout: Toon
Army Match Reaction |
Tyne Bridge wrote:
well that was piss poor. In fairness the first half was decent, but
in the second half we just did not show up. Very stale. The subs should
have been made along time before they were. It was clear way before
then that we were out of ideas going forward and starting to panic.
We played much more football against the smogs. Today it was all a
bit frantic and a bit anxious. We were trying to get the ball forward
quickly and trying to make every ball count. In the first half we
still managed to create some chances. Bellamy was again the difference.
He was a live wire in the first half. Second half was poor. We went
behind quickly and never recovered. Spurs could have scored a second
really and Shay kept us in it.
The subs were pure panic with nobody knowing where to play at one
point. In the end it was comfortable for Spurs. They looked like they
had a plan and stuck to it. Their front two looked dangerous when
Spurs broke and we looked vulnerable. Like last season, we really
struggled for a method of play. Each man just receives the ball and
looks forward mostly in panic. Its very off the cuff. Unlike at Boro
where I thought we kept the ball well and waited for chances to play
the forward pass. Its hard to see how we are going to integrate Kluivert.
10 minutes at the end of games when its time for lob it into the mixer
is not the best way to use him. Today we looked like a team that has
some good individuals but lacks real coaching that gives them a method
to get the best out of them. Yet another big week for NUFC.
Ewan wrote:
A first half performance that should have produced at least two goals,
if not three. A sterling performance from Jenas, magnificent industry
and running from Bellamy, turned into a second half capitulation.
On just under fifty-six minutes I was almost screaming at the TV for
Robson to make a substitution. Robert kicked into gear after he got
his yellow card for 'handbags at fifty paces' with Jamie Redknapp.
Much too late. Shearer was largely ineffective, and I'm sad to say,
I think this will be the story of his final season. Football has changed
dramatically over the last ten years, Shearer hasn't and he's clearly
ten years older.
Our brilliant tactician of a manager resorted to his usual solution,
making three simultaneous substitutions in an effort to turn around
what, by the time the substitutions were made, was already an almost
certain defeat! Kluivert should have come on at half time. Why did
he wait so long before changing things? I'll never know! Santini changed
Tottenham's play, sitting a bit deeper and tighter with rapid breakouts,
and it seemed to take Robson thirty minutes to figure it out. The
first loss at St. James's in the year 2004! This is the worst start
we could have imagined. Five points lost in 180 minutes and played
very well for at least 135 of them!
GUTTED! |
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