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Toon Player Ratings Vs Cheltenham Town (a)
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 Match
Date: 28 January 2006
By Paul
Mosley
An in depth look at each individual performance from Newcastle's 2-0
win over Cheltenham Town in the 4th Round of the FA Cup, rating the
players, the manager, Toon fans and the referee.
Players |
Shay Given - 6 |
Shay had just about nothing to do and will be delighted to have kept
a rare clean sheet. Made a handful of bread and butter saves, and
distribution was not great as per usual. The performance of the B-team
infront of him, however, will have yet again given him serious cause
for concern. Hard to give him a score so I’ll give him 6.
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Peter Ramage - 7 (My man of the match) |
Another very assured performance from the youngster from Ashington.
He was often left as our last line of defence, making clearance after
clearance from crosses from the Cheltenham right. He also produced
a brilliant cross which led to our second goal, and should have had
a penalty when he was fouled in the area.
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Jean-Alain Boumsong - 4 |
After having spent 5 months looking suspect against Premier League
defences, Jean-Alain looked even worse up against League 2 Cheltenham
and in particular Kayode Odejayi. The Nigerian gave Boumsong a torrid
afternoon, never giving him a moment’s peace and far from an £8m man,
leaving Mark Lawrenson to joke he was the subject of a bid from Plymouth
(they were talking about Odejayi). The pinnacle of his atrocious display
was hauling down Odejayi for a stone wall penalty which the referee
somehow failed to give, and he allowed them back into it when he again
messed up and allowed Odejayi through, with the Nigerian thankfully
missing the target. He improved afterwards but it was just not good
enough, Jean-Alain.
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Titus Bramble - 5 |
While Titus’ defending was substantially better than his partner Boumsong’s,
it’s not much use when he wins the ball only to send a looping ball
out of play or straight back to the opposition, and he demonstrated
his immense ability to do so again on Saturday. Also needs to improve
dramatically.
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Celestine Babayaro - 6 |
Not too bad from the Nigerian. A little bit suspect in defence, allowing
a few nasty crosses to come in from his side, but he got forward pretty
well, was in the right place for the 1st goal and even though his
attempted cross/shot didn’t quite work, Chopra buried the rebound
anyway.
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Nobby Solano - 4 |
I can’t say I can remember Nobby being involved in too much in the
game. He did play a small part in the build-up to the goal with a
neat interchange of passes with Ramage, but otherwise he was pretty
much anonymous as he once again played a very narrow role until he
was withdrawn for Emre. One has to wonder if his position is under
threat with Dyer ‘soon to return’.
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Scott Parker - 7 |
Well he’s back, and couldn’t you tell? For the first time in weeks
we weren’t overrun in midfield as Parker made his plethora of blocks,
challenges and interceptions. His touch was sometimes not perfect,
and he conceded possession sloppily a few times, but he was solid
overall and was in the right place at the right time to deliver his
well-deserved 1st goal for the club, hopefully the 1st of many. Welcome
back. The difference in our midfield was clear to see for after he
went off we looked more vulnerable.
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Lee Clark - 5 |
Clark as ever showed passion and desire to fight for the cause and
was full of energy, but didn’t really transfer that into anything
meaningful when in possession of the ball. Like Solano he was pretty
much anonymous in what will, injuries permitting, be his last game
for a while.
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Shola Ameobi - 6 |
Shola toiled away in the unfamiliar left-wing role on his return from
his latest injury setback. He worked hard for the cause and while
he didn’t do anything particularly meaningful going forward, he was
willing and able to get involved when required. Nice to see him get
through the 90 minutes unscathed.
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Alan Shearer - 5 |
Once again the build-up centred around Shearer and the cliché of ‘the
record’, but other than one very close shave it never even looked
like coming in this match. He might have got it had we been awarded
a 1st half penalty, but we weren’t, so instead he had to be content
with a magnificent touch on to Ramage in the build-up to our 2nd and
killer goal. In the second half he really should have got number 201,
but just failed to connect with N’Zogbia’s cross, so the search goes
on. Otherwise he was completely anonymous.
|
Michael Chopra - 7 |
Chopra produced his best performance in a black and white shirt to
date, although one must take into account the opposition. He was always
willing to get involved, and showed superb striker’s instinct for
his goal. He faded a little in the 2nd half and was subbed, but hopefully
the 1st domestic goal of his Newcastle United career will do him and
his confidence the power of good.
Subs |
Emre (59 mins, for Solano) – 6 – Nice to see the
little Turk back, and he was straight back in the groove, adding several
touches of sheer quality, and almost a goal.
Charles N’Zogbia (66 mins, for Chopra) – 6 – For
the brief time he came on looked eager and very able, and almost created
Shearer’s record breaker with a super run and cross.
Albert Luque (76 mins, for Parker) – 5 – The Spaniard
had a few nice touches while he was on, and showed he wasn’t afraid
to have a go.
Boss Man |
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Graeme Souness - 6 |
Souness hurried Parker and Ameobi back into the starting 11 for a
must win clash, and to be fair to him they’ve come through unscathed,
as has Emre. One has to wonder what young N’Zogbia has done to upset
Souness, with him having to sit on the bench while Ameobi fills the
wide left role. Otherwise the team pretty much picked itself, and
although many were disappointed to see Luque not involved, I felt
it was a good decision to give him a break and let Chopra have a go,
and this was vindicated with Chopra’s goal.
Mags |
|
Toon Fans - 10 |
I’m told the away end was particularly chilly, but the sense of humour
of those who travelled to Whaddon Road certainly wasn’t frozen as
the comrades in the Carlsberg Stand backed the team to the hilt, with
ditties such as “If Shearer/Luque/No-one scores, we’re on the pitch”
and all sorts of songs about the Cheltenham goalkeeper Higgs, as well
as songs referring to horses and burgers. And they saw us take a rare
away win after having to get there for 12.30 on a Saturday. Well done
to all of them who made the trip.
Referee |
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Mike Riley - 7 |
The Leeds official had a very quiet game, with almost no decisions
to make. Both sides should really have had penalties, United for the
foul on Ramage and Cheltenham for Boumsong hauling down Odejayi in
the second half. Otherwise, a game without cards which is always refreshing
to see, and Riley was well assisted by Peter Kirkup and Glenn Turner.
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