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Toon Player Ratings Vs Fulham (a)
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 Match
Date: 14 January 2006
By Tanzo
An in depth look at each individual performance from Newcastle's 1-0
defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage, rating the players, the manager,
Toon fans and the referee. Also included in our match analysis are
ratings for Fulham.
Players |
Shay Given - 7 (My man of the match) |
Given was one of the few players who can come away from this game
with some kind of credit. Shay made some excellent saves during the
game and continues to be one of our more consistent performers. In
the first-half he made two fine stops to deny Fulham and for their
goal, he actually saved the initial strike. Had his defenders been
more alert Malbranque wouldn't have been left unmarked or the ball
would have been cleared. God knows how much longer he’ll stick around
to endure this incompetence, his contractual hold-up is quite worrying.
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Stephen Carr - 5 |
It appears Carr picked up some form of stomach injury and now faces
another injury lay-off. When on the pitch had a quiet first-half and
wasn’t able to join the attack as much as he’d like to have been.
With injuries in the centre of defence, we could do with Carr in the
side as he gives as a natural attacking threat down that right flank,
which Ramage just doesn't provide often enough.
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Jean-Alain Boumsong - 6 |
Boumsong had one of his better games, without being completely spectacular.
He seemed to work well with Ramage in the first-half, and he kept
things pretty much together. He made a few vital clearances at the
back as well, and was unlucky not to score when he saw his header
cleared off the line. This is much better from the Frenchman although
he needs to be a lot more tougher in the air.
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Peter Ramage - 6 |
Ramage looked pretty comfortable at centre-half alongside Boumsong
before switching to right-back for the second half after Elliott's
injury. Along with the whole team, he played his better football in
the second half though. He was involved in many of Newcastle’s moves,
getting forward well and linking up with Solano down that right to
good effect.
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Celestine Babayaro - 5 |
Another disappointing game for Babayaro in the main, with this match
seemingly passing him by. He didn’t get forward too much and was pretty
anonymous from an attacking perspective. This may also be a consequence
of Newcastle’s main moves all coming from the right hand side for
most of the second half. The Nigerian needs to get involved more.
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Nobby Solano - 6 |
Nobby was always a threat from set pieces and was also the main architect
of all Newcastle's good build-up with his crossing and corners, though
he was unable to unlock the Fulham defence on this occasion which
said more about those around him than anything else. Playing a withdrawn
position doesn't best help him nor the team either I suppose.
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Lee Bowyer - 4 |
Clearly, Bowyer feels his time is up on his Newcastle career. He’s
looking disinterested and was very sloppy in possession. On two occasions
in the second half he gave up after making a poor pass the second
of which presented Fulham with possession and they raced up the field
and scored, resulting in a strong volley abuse from yours truly towards
him. He did get into the box once or twice but generally he had a
poor game, his mind obviously elsewhere.
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Lee Clark - 5 |
Whilst he’s only a stopgap for our depleted squad, Clarkie has came
in and seized his chance. He was tidy on the ball and never gave up
all game, as you would expect playing for his home town team and up
against his former club. However he was unable to break down Fulham’s
defence and help create anything from the engine room. We need Parker
and Emre back quickly.
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Charles N'Zogbia - 5 |
Charles N'Zogbia suffered in that most of our play came down the right
hand side with Nobby and Ramage dominating that side for Newcastle
when on the ball. The Frenchman struggled to make a real impact on
the game and looks short of confidence. As ever he worked hard though
before going off near the end.
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Alan Shearer - 4 |
A pretty quiet game again from Shearer who suffered from a lack of
service, and at this stage of his career rarely is able to fashion
something out of nothing like he used to. I didn’t see the elbow incident
clearly (Arsene Wenger II?) but it appeared harmless from where I
was, though on further inspection in the papers it does appear that
it was a bit naughty.
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Albert Luque - 5 |
Luque unfortunately took some abuse from the traveling support. He
still continues to try and beat opponents using the same trick despite
not being very successful with it. He also needs to toughen up, as
he is hesitant to challenge for the ball. That said, his game isn't
about fighting for balls, he isn't a target man and he rarely gets
the ball to feet or into space.
Subs |
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Robbie Elliott - 5 |
Came on for the injured Carr at half-time. A steady game from Robbie,
I hadn’t noticed he’d come on to be honest, till around the 60 minute
mark.
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Michael Chopra - 5 |
Came on for Charles N'Zogbia and looked threatening, had one effort
saved by Niemi.
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Alan O'Brien - 5 |
Came on for Luque towards the end and looked lively, though he didn't
have much time to impress. The lad's first taste of the Premiership.
Here's hoping he has many more opportunities.
Boss Man |
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Graeme Souness - 5 |
The team practically picked itself due to being completely obliterated
by injuries. I wasn’t sure if we played 4-4-2, I suspect we did, or
4-5-1 as Luque would often drop very deep. I think he left his substitutions
very late, as it was clear after about an hour that we were struggling
to create any chances. A pacy O’Brien who can whip crosses in may
have brought us some joy had he been brought on much earlier than
he was.
Mags |
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Toon Fans - 7 |
Jam-packed again and support to the team was good. A few chants came
across loud and clear and they stuck with the team till Fulham scored
before tempers frayed. It wasn’t a vintage performance on the field,
but the fans didn’t let this dampen their mood.
Referee |
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Alan Wiley - 7 |
I can’t fault him, he let the game run most of the time and got most
decisions spot on. He did miss a potential handball though, which
could have seen us get a point from an otherwise miserable afternoon.
Opposition |
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Fulham |
Niemi, 6.
Rosenior, 5.
Knight, 7.
Pearce, 6.
Niclas Jensen, 6.
Radzinski 5. (Malbranque 62) 7.
Boa Morte, 6.
Legwinski 5. (John 73) 6.
Elliott, 5.
Helguson, 6.
McBride, 6.
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