Match Report: NUFC 0-0 Charlton Athletic
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 Friday
24 February 2006
By Gaz
Pearson
Newcastle and Charlton played out a drab 0-0 draw at St. James's in
this re-arranged fixture from the infamous match that was snowed off
in January.
United looked a shadow of the side that trounced Portsmouth only a
week and half ago. Is the Glenn Roeder magic running out? Maybe not,
but this was far from vintage from a Newcastle side missing Alan Shearer
and Keiron Dyer.
Consequently the threat posed to the Charlton backline was significantly
weak. Shola Ameobi meandered around up front but at times looked like
a lonely, lost giraffe wandering aimlessly, showing the touch of a
baby elephant at times.
His second half header that he really should have buried summed up
a woeful night for the wannabe number m9.
Performances like this one are not going to do him any favours primarily
with a Tyneside crowd who are rapidly running out of patience with
him and ultimately with the new manager who will take over.
Although Newcastle were lacking any real threat in the final third
the tenacious Emre in midfield was doing his best to break the deadlock...
but even he found it hard going to beat a stubborn Charlton with ex-Sunderland
keeper Thomas Myhre in inspired form.
Credit must go to the Addicks for once again grinding out a hard-fought
but thoroughly deserved point at the Old Gallowgate. They were far
from great themselves but with a water-tight defence and the pacey
Darren Bent up-front there was a real sense, especially in the second
half, that they could actually go on and nick the game. Shay Given
pulled out a couple of great saves to deny the Charlton striker.
An injury to Titus Bramble left Roeder with a bigger headache and
he opted to put Zoggy at left-back. On came Albert Luque... well I
think he did! A lot of people have stuck up for Luque and I myself
have been prepared to give the lad a chance but any more displays
like that and he should be sacked never mind sold.
He didn't look remotely interested and when he did have the ball he
looked a danger only because he kept passing to Charlton players.
At the end of the 90 minutes it was fair to say that a draw was a
fair result. Newcastle never really looked like scoring and Charlton
defended well. Let's not kid ourselves, who ever comes in has a real
job of making us a top-six side once more. We have the players, but
at the moment we are too inconsistent. Consistency is the key and
let's hope that whoever does come in can bring this to the club.
Plus points: Boumsong did OK. Shay was superb as ever. The game actually
got played without a drop of snow in sight. The negatives: Bramble
injury. Albert Luque. Shola had a poor game. Referee Rennie and his
assistants never really let the match flow. Verdict: 0-0 and nothing
really unjust in that scoreline.
Perhaps on another night we would have gone on to win the game. However,
if Shola playing like this is going to be our future then we are in
real trouble. Owen, Shearer and Dyer all walk back into the team.
Individually we have some fantastic talent, we now need a new manager
to come in and get some consistency back at our club.
Lineups & Match Facts |
United: Given, Ramage, Bramble (Luque 55), Boumsong,
Elliott, Solano, Parker, Bowyer, N'Zogbia, Emre, Ameobi. Subs not
used: Harper, Faye, Clark, Chopra.
Booked: Parker.
Charlton: Myhre, Young, Perry, Hreidarsson, Spector,
Kishishev, Holland, Hughes (Euell 70), Ambrose, Marcus Bent, Darren
Bent. Subs not used: El Karkouri, Powell, Randolph, Bothroyd.
Booked: Young, Ambrose.
Att: 50,451.
Ref: Uriah Rennie (South Yorkshire).
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Post-Match Reaction: Glenn Roeder |
"We need more of a cutting edge up front.
"There was lots of endeavour, a few close shaves and we had the best
chance with Shola Ameobi, but he has put the ball over the crossbar.
"There was never a gilt-edged chance, but I don't think you could
knock the players' commitment during the game."
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Charlton Post-Match Reaction: Alan Curbishley |
"We've needed to keep a clean sheet and we're delighted with it.
"We've been desperate to improve our away form and we looked the most
likely to win in the last 10 minutes.
"We've never had a good run-in, but hopefully this season will be
better."
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