Match Preview: Portsmouth Vs NUFC
Toon Ganning For A Record
Portsmouth have lost 8 of their last 10 games and will be looking
to end a 4 game losing streak tomorrow afternoon at Fratton
Park where as United will be looking to make it 9 straight wins
in a row to set a new club record. Something has to give in
this game and this is without a doubt a banana skin fixture
for Graeme Souness' men which they mustn't take lightly.
Pompey, leaderless off the pitch and low in confidence on it,
are struggling badly and since Harry Redknapp and former United
manager Jim Smith exited a few miles down the road to bitter
neighbours Southampton, their form has been as awful as our's
has been great.
Following Wednesday's excellent trouncing of the Greek's the
confidence in camp United couldn't be any higher and Souness
will have Jean-Alain Boumsong back and possibly Patrick Kluivert
and while the French defender will walk straight back into the
side, the same can't be said of the Dutchman. He has another
rival for his shirt - Kieron Dyer - who capped a fine performance
playing off Alan Shearer at St. James's the other night with
a wonder goal.
Given his manager a decision to make. Will he drop Dyer back
to wide right for Kluivert or will he stick with the No.8? I'd
personally like to see him stick with Dyer as he's the ideal
away day outlet. His pace and energy could play a huge part
in this game as Pompey will have to come out and attack us.
Recently we have shown we can soak up the pressure so we can
play a patient, counter attacking game. We have the players.
This isn't the type of game in which Kluivert would get much
joy from however as it could be frantic and ugly. I don't expect
this to be a great game of football where creative minds can
flourish so I'd leave Paddy on the bench.
In midfield I would drop Nicky Butt for Amdy Faye. Going back
to his former club for the first time since moving from Fratton
Park to Tyneside could be to our advantage. Faye will know the
strengths and weaknesses of our opponents individually and as
a team and with an extra incentive to get one over his old pals,
he could be a big player for us.
Alongside him Lee Bowyer needs to start as he's looking very
dangerous of late and has a look of goals about him. He could
be a potential match winner with his late bursts into the box.
On the right I'd stick with Jermaine Jenas, to stop the forward
runs of Pompey's Matt Taylor who has a cracking left-foot and
likes to bomb on - a source of many goals for the home side.
Either way this is a tough fixture and following United you
just know a slip up is around the corner somewhere and somehow
and it wouldn't surprise me at all if we were to come away with
a defeat and a poor performance but I don't know... there is
something different about Newcastle of late. We are a lot tougher,
more resolute, hungrier and dare I say it stubborn.
If Pompey want to end their dreadful run and with it our excellent
run they will have to play out of their skins to get it - they'll
have to give us a mighty kicking. If Newcastle want to clinch
that record 9th win in succession, they just have to work hard,
play to their strengths and don't give it up.
Fingers crossed. Good luck Graeme and the lads.
[Full
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Behind Enemy Lines: The View From A Portsmouth
Fan
Newcastle-online caught up with Phil,
the Editor of a Portsmouth fans site Pompey Web to get his views
on tomorrow's match between the two sides at Fratton Park, Amdy
Faye, Yakubu, Harry & Jim, NUFC and many other things. This
is what he had to say...
[Read
More +]
UEFA Cup QF/SF Draw: NUFC Vs Sporting Lisbon
Newcastle have been paired
with Sporting Lisbon in the Quarter-Final of the UEFA Cup this
afternoon.
The Quarter-Final draw in full:
Steaua Bucharest/Villarreal Vs AZ Alkmaar
CSKA Moscow Vs AJ Auxerre
Newcastle United Vs Sporting Lisbon
Austria Vienna Vs Parma AC
The Semi-Final draw in Full:
Vienna/Parma Vs CSKA/Moscow
Newcastle/Sporting Vs Steaua/Villarreal/Alkmaar
If Newcastle go all the way to the final, we shall be the designated
home team.
QF ties (two legged) to be played: 7th and 14th of April.
SF ties (two legged) to be played: 28th of April and the 5th
of May.
Final: 19th of May (Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal).
Freddy Shepherd on the draw:
"We look forward to welcoming our old friends from Sporting
back to Newcastle.
"We have a good relationship with them having played them a
couple of times already this season, and it's a tie we'll look
forward to.
"They won here in pre-season, then we drew with them at home
in the group game earlier in the season. Maybe this time it
is our turn for a win?
"I'm sure Graeme Souness and his team will know a lot about
them already having played them in the UEFA Cup.
"In the FA Cup, we are going to Cardiff for the semi final,
and we know the final of the UEFA Cup is in Lisbon so hopefully
we can have two trips there as well!"
Hugo Viana will not be allowed to play against United confirms
Shepherd:
"The phone rang straight away after the draw, and it was
Sporting asking if they'd be allowed to play Hugo in the games
against us.
"We politely declined!"
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8 Winning Factors That Prove Souness Is Doing
A Great Job
In my opinion of course...
1 - Team Discipline:
Regardless of where you stand on the Craig Bellamy 'issue' nobody
can deny that Graeme Souness has done what he promised to do
right at the very beginning, what he was initially hired to
do - sort out a dressing room short on discipline. Those in
Black & White are now letting their football do their talking
for them. There is no back biting, disgruntled looks, hands
on hips, bad apples or malevolent glances towards the dugout
and no bad press.
The Bellamy situation could have been handled better of course
but isn't the end result the be all and end all of football?
8 wins in succession since the Welshman was jettisoned across
the border to Celtic Park speaks far louder than any words uttered
to Sky Sports News. Far far louder.
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Match Report: NUFC 4-0 Olympiakos
Does anyone know anywhere in Newcastle
that sells humble pie?
62 minutes gone on the 17th February 2005, 1-0 down against Heerenveen.
A large number of supporters would have given Graeme Souness his P45
there and then as we looked impotent up front, hopeless at the back
and with an FA Cup tie approaching against the Champions-elect, the
majority had the season written off. The 'Sack the Board' chants emanating
from the away end of the Abe Lenstra stadium were a throwback to the
dark days of the 1980s and the gloom which had slowly descended onto
Tyneside over Christmas looked like staying for a long time.
[Read
More +] |
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