N-O Panel: Post Match Liverpool (h)
By Jonny Hall On Tue 27 Nov 2007 |
Newcastle crashed and burned for the second successive home game, when Liverpool demolished the North East side 3-0 with ease. The Steven Gerrard show rolled into town while Sam Allardyce was seen again making some strange tactical decisions. Let’s see what the panel thought…
Rich
“Well then, there goes another bemusing day at the office for our beloved Newcastle United.
Am I the only one who thought with Mike Ashley and Sam Allardyce steering this formerly rudderless ship that it might be different to be a member of the Toon Army? Big Sam never said it would be easy, he never said it would come quickly, but surely even he never expected things to turn this sour so fast. “You don’t know what you’re doing” was blasted at him from his own fans, from all four corners of the ground, in scenes that I could scarcely believe I was witnessing. What must have been going through his mind?
In fairness to my less-than-happy peers in St. James’, I can understand where they were coming from. An incredibly odd-looking 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 formation thing began proceedings, with Smith supposedly in behind Viduka and Martins and with Beye and Enrique outside of the shakey Rozehnal - unsurprisingly, it didn’t last long. Quite what James Milner had done to get dropped again puzzles me and quite what Alan Smith had done to justify selection perplexes me even further. It was a very, very odd team selection and one that caused perhaps the most impotent display I’ve seen with my own eyes from our team.
No shots on target… not even a bloody corner… it was unreal stuff. The substitutions were as baffling as the initial selection, the lack of cohesion was sickening and in my opinion only Shay Given and Habib Beye can come out of this game with their heads held high-ish. Were Liverpool even that good? I doubt it… we were just as bad as we’ve been for a long, long time. The commentator on Sky Sports said that he had never witnessed such a one-sided Premiership game in all of his years covering the game… and to be honest I struggled to disagree with the Liverpool-loving, Gerrard-shrieking, Torres-felating b****** for the first time in the game.
I’m not entirely sure where we go from that abortion of a performance, but it’s safe to say that I’m looking forward to a trip to Ewood Park even less than I was prior to this fixture. I suppose all we can hope is that we’ve seen the worst and things can only get better from here… this is Newcastle United, though, and it doesn’t usually work like that. Time to fasten those seatbelts up again and to hold onto your hollyhocks because our rollercoaster isn’t coming to a halt just yet, not by a long chalk…
Man of the Match: Habib Beye”
Tom
“When Allardyce was appointed manager, I was sceptical that he was the right man for the job. As the summer went on and the feelgood factor was rolling, I started coming around to him, and I came away from his talk-in at Shearer’s bar back in July impressed with what he had to say. With the season underway, I felt that some people were being critical too soon and that time was needed for the team to gel and Allardyce to find his feet and get the club sorted.
However, recent performances have increasingly suggested a team with a lack of ideas, with ever-changing formations, and this is exactly what we saw today.
The frustrating thing is that Allardyce has brought good players in, but I wonder with all the formation changes that take place both game to game and within single games whether the players know what they’re supposed to be doing. Today’s game was definitely a case of ‘guess the formation’ with our players looking clueless. We were crying out for Milner, and Allardyce’s decision to put him on the bench was baffling. Shortly into the second half we got our wish, and Milner finally came on… for N’Zogbia of all people!
It was a decision that provoked vociferous cries of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ to ring out from the St James’ Park stands, and I believe that this could well be the truth. Allardyce took the job believing he could do here what he had done at Bolton, and he was wrong. Newcastle is a very different animal and he is outside of his comfort zone and doesn’t know what to do.
The ball is in his court. Either he gets an idea - and quick. Or if it really is beyond him, then we need to be looking elsewhere. He was quick to rule himself out of the England job, but perhaps he should reconsider.
Blackburn away next week, and then a midweek home game against Arsenal. I can’t see us getting anything from either game, can any of you?”
Jonny Hall
“My second opinion on this panel, and I have to comment on THAT.
Complete and utter rubbish; as simple as. From the moment Newcastle stepped onto that pitch in a 3-5-2 formation, I knew there was going to be trouble. That was the first tactical mistake Sam made against the ‘Pools and it certainly wasn’t the last.
Where was Geremi supposed to play? Even he didn’t know where he was meant to be half of the time. He kept looking to the dugout with his arms in the air in a “What the hell” fashion only for there to be no reply.
The players didn’t care, there was no urgency and no passion on the pitch. Martins and N’Zogbia were non-existent and the substitutions were woeful. We needed width on the right so Allardyce took off our only other winger for Milner? Half the time it was if he wanted to piss off the fans.
A complete and utter disaster. Allardyce needs to drop this tactical mess, and revert back to basics or he’ll soon be out.
MOTM: Habib Beye - The only man out there who looked like he cared.”
Join us on Friday for the buildup to our trip to Blackburn next week. Fingers crossed for a good-in!
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I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting!
Sent in on: December 8th, 2007 at 12:21 am
Agree with Mike. Does anyone really think we could ever win the Premiership or Champions league playing Allardyce’s style of football and I dont care if he gets it right or not. The big sucessful clubs play the ball on the pitch with high speed passing, creative movement and blistering pace off the ball. If none of the aforementioned is there all you have is the long ball game and do you see Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool play this way NO !! It appears its all Sam knows so lets get rid and and make the transition with a top flight manager not a Roeder, Souness, Gullit, Dalglish, by the way who are they managing now, nobody any good thats for sure??
Sent in on: December 4th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
It all started to go wrong when we played pompey and lost 4-1. Why on earth did we play milner on the left and n’zogbia on the right?
According to people around me Sam doesnt know what he is doing and i agree. We shouldn’t be playing 4-3-3 at home and we surely can’t be leaving out the best crosser of the ball in the team on the bench in the form of milner. He was given money to purchase defenders of high standard and it hasn’t worked. We are playing another spanish mis-fit in the form of enrique at the back, although he is better than Babyaro. Stephen carr made his name on the team sheet and played for 20mins and he still looked like the brick carrying pie eater he was before.
We need to start balancing the team out a bit. The players need to start playing for the money they are earning and at least gain a respectable uefa cup postion.
The likes of Gerrard and Kuyt made newcastle look awful a few days ago and i would’t be suprised if blackburn play the same passing style liverpool played and have us run ragged. Is blackburn the end for Big sam and England could have their man? We will find out soon enough
Sent in on: December 1st, 2007 at 1:21 pm
well it looks like more fans - like myself - have seen the light and realised that again we’ve been screwed by shepherd.
sam allardyce is in NO WAY qualified to manage a big club and he is proving it now.
we were all deluded to think this man would get us organised, sorry to say.
at least under roeder, souness or whoever else we could play some football, create chances. with sam we are an embarrassment.
i’d go as far to say this is worse even than gullit’s mess at the start of the 1999-2000 season, and that’s saying something.
to hell with this back the manager nonsense - we’ve waited long enough - not just the past ten years but for 30 years or even more - to get a top manager in.
bar robson and keegan we’ve had to put up with under-qualified managers, big heads who think they’re special like allardyce, and complete jokes like charlton and souness.
why be patient this time? you know sam’s style of football. okay it isn’t all long ball, but his comparisons with chelsea and liverpool were obsolete. they play decent stuff and create chances. we’re doing neither.
if you honest;y think we should back this man and see this style as the future of NUFC then i despair for what lies ahead, i really do.
and shame on fanzines, websites and ex-players who constantly say “back him” when deep down they too know this man isn’t right for our club - his attitude, approach, tactics (or lack of them).
to lose to liverpool is no disgrace. to lose to liverpool like that is absolutely unforgivable. maybe if it had been 8-0 it would have woken more fans up.
sad times.
PS no more “transition” crap either. look at city. it all lies with the qualities of the manager. and our’s is sorely lacking.
Sent in on: November 28th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
Crikey this must be the worst performance I have witnessed for many a year - are things going to improve - short term I Doubt it, Big Sams Tactics and Team Selections are so baffeling that even his own players dont know(or care)on what role they are expected to perform.
Clearly the midfield is the problem - it offers no support to the strikers and no cover to the defence, Until that is sorted(I would play NZogbia/Barton/Butt/Milner for 10 games)we will get nowhere and any half decent team will be able to take us apart with ease.
The pressure is now on for ‘Big Sam’any more repeats of Saturday and Mr Ashley may be handing him is P45 in the very near future
The next two games will give us a clue on where we are going.
Still - at least the Mackams are still below us - for now.
Sent in on: November 28th, 2007 at 10:15 am
I was embarrased with what I saw on saturday, the chosen formation was never going to work. The defence were all over the place, nobody was on the right wing at all and the strikers might well have not bothered being out there. I dont have any coaching badges but I could have picked a better balanced side. I fear there is not enough flair/creativity in the squad to be able to play attractive football even when everyone is fit! We have too many similar defensive players, no one in central midfield (like a gerard/lampard…as much as i dislike them) that will get forward and has the killer pass.
In milner and zogbia we have 2 decent wingers, one is on the bench the other a left back, why? Not 1 shot on target either, I find martins very frustrating, gets the ball gets tackled or tries to pass it, normally finding the oppostion. I do feel sorry for him, our top scorer warming the bench while Owen automatically gets picked on no merit. None of our strikers gets stuck in (except smith) but he is now a defender. I agree with Dave, none of our players charged the ball when we were out of possession yet Liverpool did, why?
I thought that big sam was a good appointment at the time but playing players out of position and leaving the better players on the bench is slowly changing my mind. I dont want another manager coming in as we’ll be back to square 1. Who would want it anyway? We’d probably get mclaren.
BS should have more time but be aware that the type of performances we’ve had in the last few games is simply no where near good enough! The long ball over the top is pub team stuff not premier league, its a 1 dimensional attack. Other teams know we have noone that can create goals through the middle or score regular from midfield so mark the strikers out of the game and thats us done! Its a good job other teams are scoring in their own net for us otherwise it’d be even worse!
Sent in on: November 27th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
PS - I think Blackburn away and Arsenal at home will be thrashings. Arsenal especially. They will not be as wasteful as Liverpool in front of goal.
Sent in on: November 27th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
it is clear (like most managers) that Sam feels he has to play his buys especially those that he has talked up (Smith, Geremi). I like both of these players but where they fit into any team I’m not entirely sure. Smith won’t get his game up front and is a good bench player as is Geremi.
The problem lies with the usual and so concisely obvious not to place square pegs in round holes. We have a squad that doesn’t need to do that. Injuries aren’t like they were last season and the squad is bigger. We have players for each position of a 4-4-2 then lets play 4-4-2. Not 3-5-2 or anything else. The players know what they are doing in a 4-4-2.
The reason that people are on Sam’s back is that we should not be expecting to beat Liverpool but surely put on some sort of challenge. It appears that this was purely down to tactics. Where the players poor, yes. But they could’ve been a lot better playing in their normal positions.
It is so obvious that it must be wrong! I don’t know!
Sent in on: November 27th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
When Sam was appointed I was all in favour of it.
I forgave the Derby match as a one off. I forgave the Man City game as an inevitable away defeat at a very good team.
When Sam started commenting that a draw at Reading would be a good result, and the way he set the team up for that, a few questions were provoked in my mind about if he had it right for this game. The result confirmed this.
Then to follow it by thrashings at home to Reading and Liverpool sandwiching a “blush saving” draw at Sunderland…
I eventually forgave the Portsmouth match as the opening 10 minutes were, frankly, a fluke. And a 1-1 draw against Sunderland was a result I would have taken before the game.
But the Liverpool match… I expected to lose this game. But the way we lost it. My god.
The starting formation was a bewildering suicide note. The tactics and substitutions were a total mess and a joke. Now there’s rumors of player discontent.
In short, after how he behaved and what he did on Saturday I have lost confidence that Sam is the man to turn us round. The squad is playing way beneath the sum of its parts as Sam makes one baffling choice after another. Was his work at Bolton a fluke? Is he now being found out?
Sam couldn’t have done things much differently if he actually WANTED to lose. Apart from put an outfield player in goal. Is that next, Sam?
I shall stop short of suggesting “he’s just a fat Makem spy”. For now.
Sent in on: November 27th, 2007 at 11:51 am
I don’t know why Allardyce bought Smudger. He has to play as a striker or not get picked at all. Mucking about with him because he’s a “utility player” is nothing short of ridiculous, hes no better off than when he was collecting splinters on the bench at Man U at this rate. Allardyce’s football is boring, lacking invention and proving to be a square pegs in round holes exercise most of the time. I am Smudger’s biggest fan, have followed his career, but I do wonder mentally whether somethings not right because he just isn’t doing the business and I fear its like the whole situation with Ferguson all over again, getting shoved in the deep end in positions he shouldn’t even be considered for which slowly eats away at his confidence. A great pity. Mr Allardyce should watch his back!!
Sent in on: November 27th, 2007 at 11:07 am
Living in the North West of England you can imagine why I have not left the house for 3 days and will not venture out until the laughter of my neighbours dies down.
I cannot understand any manager who cannot see what 52,000 other pairs of eyes can see. Yes , sometimes the fans yell discontent at the wrong time for insignificant errors of judgement little realizing that one of the most difficult things in sport is to control a ball that is moving, spinning bobbling and play it perfectly every time especially when there are two or three opposition players bearing down on you. Did anyone notice how when we had the ball, not many times I know, but when we had it the player in control had two or three red shirts around him immediately, when they had the ball the man charged with defending that player stood off in case he made a mistake. For a manager to have no technical nous is unforgiveable, his cohorts on the bench were just as bad.
When I saw the team I immediately went to Ladbrokes and put a few pennies on Liverpool in the thought that if Newcastle somehow won I would not care about my loss and if Liverpool won I had the compensation of being able to afford a drink on the winnings to drown my sorrows. My sorrows were not drowned I didn’t win enough!
It will take a big man to say I was wrong and go back to basics but Allerdyce is supposed to be that big man, he must swallow his pride remove HIS men HIS favourites from the team and play a formation that the players are used to so at least they know what they are supposed to be doing even though they may find it difficult to do it. Everyone looked like a lost soul and all he did was keep the chewing gum company in the money. If Ashley is listening to the fans and there is every indication that he is he needs to draw Sam on one side and tell him -’back to basics Sam or on your bike’. I am not of the brigade that says sack him after a short reign, but he needs to be told what he is doing is not right. We have seen so many managers believe that they are right and the rest of the world is out of step playing players out of position. Simple straightforward football will always win through. A left sided player going down the left and a right sided player going down the right, at least when they approach the byline the ball will be at their strongest foot. Surely he can see that unless he is looking in a mirror and thinks he has got them playing on the correct side of the park. As far as Smith and Geremi are concerned they should not even wash the shirts of the rest of the squad as they do not deserve to be wearing our beloved black and white.
I live just 10 miles from Blackburn, do I dare go out until Christmas, but just like 52,000 other die hard fans I will be there hoping and praying that Sam or someone reads these forums and admits we have a point that should be considered. One of my friends runs a very successful magazine I think big Sam should read, it has world wide coverage and is called Junior Soccer Coach, wish he would look at their web site and get their tip of the week!
Sent in on: November 27th, 2007 at 9:46 am
like mclaren, allardyce believes himself bigger than the team, smith and geremi both allowed to leave their former clubs (sorry, Pushed)have a charmed life here at the toon. The unbalanced nature of the starting line up is a disgrace, most of the 52000 fans at the game, would have been able to put out on the paddock a better organised balanced side, than sam. obviously we all have our opinions on players, and team organisations, but this guy like mclaren has failed miserably,a loss agains blackburn at the weekend could be sam’s last game in charge?
Sent in on: November 27th, 2007 at 2:06 am