Match Day Thread Burton Albion at home

A toilet seat would be an improvement on Wearside Jack.

 

Been begging for this all season

Mbemba-Lacselles/Hanley-Clarke is strong enough for this division easily and allows us to put another striker up top!!!

Yedlin/Gamez/Dummett/Lazaar/Anita to fill full back positions and Rafa even gets to keep his 2 holding midfielders

 

I don't think Mbemba will get in. Despite Lascelles and Clark having their ups and downs, Rafa has clearly pinned them as his first choice. He rarely changes regardless of form of individuals. It is only really physical demands that makes him tinker. He has a set way of playing and those two obviously fit the bill for him for whatever reason. I think he is pretty stubborn, to the point of shooting himself in the foot. On the other hand there is a lot to be gained from a well drilled team through consistency in approach and selection too. People wanted an identity too. While it may not be great to watch we do have one under Rafa.

 

A question to throw out for everyone

Who or what wouldn't be an improvement on Colback?

That's right, we ask all the hard questions on this forum.

 

Fumaca

 

Wor lass in her slippers.

 

An Ethiopian smack rat

 

Nigel Clough insisting our players should have been booked for the reaction to the penalty decision last night?

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spor...el-clough-believes-newcastle-players-12856158

As a coach I understand how you have have rose tinted glasses on and back your team to the hilt but for him to come out with this rubbish is beyond a joke.

Ask yourself Nigel - if you, your backroom staff, your 11 men on the pitch and your 50,000 fans had the same decision going against you what your reaction would have been at the time, would you just accept it and smile?

Everyone bar the four people who needed to know (the officials) knew the decision was incorrect and I guarantee all of the Burton bench and players knew it too.

Always had time for Clough but that is ****ing ridiculous!!!

 

to be honest ,,we got the result so thats it for me ..

its the ones that get away with mistakes that would of effected the result , that does my nut

 

This all day. All he had to say was "yep, looked like a strange decision" but no - has to trot out that hackneyed manager garbage. Bores me senseless and smacks of inherent dishonesty. This is why I like Conte and think the likes of Arsing and Jose could learn a thing or two before they become extinct.

 

Question for those there last night - ignoring the pen, how did we play? Another team lower half of the league - why didn't we test their keeper a bit more?

 

My view was that we started decently. Pace and tempo were up from usual. We were essentially in control but didnt seem to have the killer instinct and the final pass was lacking. As the game went on continued to control but especially after the goal we didn't seem to want to press for the second goal and we just controlled the game to the end without being stretched as Burton are probably one of the worst teams at St James' this season.

As Hank says Rafa at times seems content to just win 1-0 rather than push for a second giving a possibility of leaving an opening for the opposition to have a chance. Ultimately his job is to get us up and if he does then he's done a good job. Thing is to get the enjoyment from winning as opposed to playing dominating, attacking football. Worry about the quality of football once we're back in the PL.

 

We got at them early on, especially down our left flank, with Dummett getting forward and linking well with Atsu. After 15 mins or so Burton seemed to get to grips with us better and got defenders back in numbers, crowding us on the wings. They had a wall of players around the edge of box throughout so getting balls through the middle for Gayle was a problem, although our slow play made it easier for them than it should have been. Second half I thought our tempo dropped significantly and there was a lot of sideways passing, and the likes of Atsu (who had been switched to the right wing, and Ritchie to the left, part way through the first half) wasn't adventurous enough and was coming deep for the ball too often.

We were in control but it didn't look likely we would score. CM looked better with Diame in it although neither he nor Shelvey got forward enough - in general we really lack players with the balls to run with the ball at their feet and break the lines. Ritchie worked his arse off and was doing quite well on the right at the start but not so productive on the left after the switch. He was man of the match though. So all in all, the game followed much the same path as most other home games this season, with the problem really being around the tempo of the play being too slow and us lacking a bit of guile to break down a deep lying, high intensity (off the ball) defence. It was an okay performance and they got the 3 points which is the most important thing at this stage.

 

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totally agree with this he was a different player

 

They piled 11 men behind the ball very hard to break down looked nailed on nil nil until Ritchie struck.

 

Basically anyone who can kick a football.

 

Is it a deal-breaker if they can't, or is there some leeway?

 

Not sure if you love Colby or just misread the question.

 

Just heard about and seen the penalty incident. It would have been hilarious if you had drawn 0-0 in the end

Anyone you lot kept telling me that Newcastle never got penalties....?