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THE AMAZINGLY BRILLIANT PENFOLD MATCH DAY THREAD V BRISTOL CITY

Discussion in 'Newcastle United' started by Delusional Full Stop, Feb 24, 2017.

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The score

  1. Toon win

    68.8%
  2. Draw

    18.8%
  3. Toon second

    12.5%
  1. Consett Mag

    Consett Mag Well-Known Member

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    We're safe in the top two for 10 days. Probability is that we'll end up there but it may go to the final game.

    Most concerning part is our home form. Lascelles confidence is shot. So too will Darlow's be after his mistake today.
    The amount of balls we got into their box both halves today should have had somebody get a leg to one of them. Mitro doesn't seem to be able to get on the end of anything.
     
    #81
  2. anyobrien

    anyobrien Well-Known Member

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    did anyone else see ritchie hammering nitro in the 1st twenty minutes for not getting near a ball pinged across the box..... Thought they would come to blows.
     
    #82
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  3. Lord Jonjomort

    Lord Jonjomort Well-Known Member

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    But he's right. Mitro is, I'm sad to say, useless. Murphy on Tuesday please. He'd have buried that header.
     
    #83
  4. InBiscanWeTrust

    InBiscanWeTrust Rome, London, Paris, Rome, Istanbul, Madrid
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    Tuesday night looking like a big game all of a sudden.

    Huddersfied drawing is huge plus brighton and Newcastle though. And with them not playing on Tuesday, good chance for both teams to open up even more of a gap.

    Cant remember who was talking to about but you have 3 very tough games now, brighton and reading away, Huddersfield at home. They didn't think would lose many of them, didn't take into account a draw at home today though. Next few weeks could see you guys open a gap on Huddersfield or see them really catch up.

    just hope their good form is coming to an end. 6 in a row now ended so fingers crossed they start dropping few more points.
     
    #84
  5. Captainchaos.

    Captainchaos. Well-Known Member

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    Colback was the problem
     
    #85
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  6. General Lee Speaking

    General Lee Speaking Well-Known Member

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    Firstly, I thought Bristol City defended really well for the most part. Classic away team performance against us with a high work rate and counter attack approach. They closed us down and stopped us playing for the first hour or so. The last half hour we were much more in control of the game though - it seemed to coincide with Diame coming on for Colback which I think meant Shelvey started to pick the ball up a bit deeper and he got his passing game going.

    If the first goal was offside it was marginal (I think it probably was offside) but I was watching Lascelles and their number 18 at the time and Lascelles just totally lost his man so he has to take much of the blame for that one. For the second goal I think Dummett was within his rights to try and head the ball and you can call it bad luck that Darlow didn't anticipate it, or you can say it was his fault. It was probably a bit of both really. The second half was a lot better as the tempo was upped and it brought more chances. Mitrovic should have got his main chance (the header) on target but I didn't have a problem with his performance other than that. Atsu was over-hitting his crosses and he put a bit too much on the one that people think Mitro should have got to IMHO. Ritchie's workrate was admirable. Clark had a good game and helped us get forward quicker in the second half when he frequently brought the ball forward and got involved - must have been a deliberate tactical change from Rafa? Shelvey was hit and miss through the game, Colback did nothing again, Lascelles needs a game or two out, Yedlin isn't very good at defending and doesn't do much going forward so apart from being quick what does he offer? Get Anita back in the side and see if he can do better. Perez very hit and miss also. Dummett tried to get involved more than normal in attack but he's limited in what he can offer - it just isn't his natural game. Atsu had a decent game and it was a breath of fresh air to see crosses coming in from the left and us not being so lopsided in attack.

    So, not a great performance, but I think the lads deserve a lot of credit for the second half display and for getting something from the game after going in 2 down at the break. The team over the last few seasons would never have done that; it would have been heads down and tools down, so the team spirit is strong. We deserved to win the game I think but defensive errors have cost us so hopefully we can cut that out and stop dropping points we shouldn't. I'd like to see some changes for the next game but the next game is Brighton away on Tuesday so we need our strongest side out and Rafa will need to pick the side carefully. I'd actually set up a bit more for defence and counter attack but it's a real shame Gayle isn't available for that game as he's perfect for that approach.
     
    #86
    Delusional Full Stop likes this.
  7. Albert's Chip Shop

    Albert's Chip Shop Top Grafter
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    I'm fully expecting us to finish 3rd.
     
    #87
  8. Albert's Chip Shop

    Albert's Chip Shop Top Grafter
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    Bobby Madely is the ref for Brighton... he's a confirmed Huddersfield fan apparently.
    Summat not right there...
     
    #88
  9. Warmir Pouchov

    Warmir Pouchov Better than JPF

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    I must have watched a different game. We had the odd sniffle but we are far from creating clear cut chances. The chances we had were half chances or just range shots - ones where as an opposition player I'd be saying "well if he scores from there fair play". Kidding ourselves is not the way round this, the manager needs to front up and address HIS issues. The formation/attitude/mental prep is his domain and it's losing is ground.

    If you are going to play Mitrovic at home, you simply must have players around him. Otherwise with his pace deficit he will be behind the play. I'm sorry but this isn't down to Mitrovic or Colback or any other player people want to pin it on. This is mindset and set up alone for me. It actually seems to be getting worse not better. Even against villa when we had Gayle - he had zero chances and he just got completely mauled - it wasn't because of his hammy either before someone uses that excuse.

    The good thing is these issues are very easy to solve. The manager simply has to understand what is wrong (not enough bodies in attacking areas/play too slow/attitude). You then have to actually change of course. We've tried to just get thru it, it hasn't worked. We now have to learn and adapt. Mitrovic will score goals in the right set up. Until we set up correctly it is foolish to try to pin it on him.
     
    #89
  10. Delusional Full Stop

    Delusional Full Stop Here to serve all your counselling needs.
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    Agree with almost everything except Colback comment.

    Main problem is the slowness of passing from the back. Secondly, when teams back off we have to move forward quickly into the space and commit the opposition players and, thirdly, we have to be passing the ball forward (Colback in particular fails on this).
     
    #90
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  11. General Lee Speaking

    General Lee Speaking Well-Known Member

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    It's a wonder you aren't managing Real Madrid with all that expertise. If only Rafa had your knowledge of the game.

    We got plenty of players forward in the last game but the problem was the players weren't very good, and also, rather unfortunately, the other team was trying to stop us scoring.
     
    #91
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  12. Warmir Pouchov

    Warmir Pouchov Better than JPF

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    Sorry just to be clear, Colback was ****.
     
    #92
  13. Warmir Pouchov

    Warmir Pouchov Better than JPF

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    Well Rafa did have a go at that rather unsuccessfully...

    The funny thing about your comment is, my comments are pretty much just some basics of football. You don't need to be a Real Madrid manager to realise what is wrong with us.

    We will just have to agree to disagree. We are not getting enough players forward at home. The results at home seem to back this up. Unless of course you are happy with our home form. The everything is hunky dory <ok>
     
    #93
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2017
  14. Lord Jonjomort

    Lord Jonjomort Well-Known Member

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    Its never so simple. The issue we have is forgetting there's another team on the pitch. The players are just as guilty of this mental failing. They expect it to be easy and are constantly surprised when it isn't. This is where Brightons experience is paying dividends.

    Yet for many of those matches we lost or drew we could point to moments when we could have won. It's not been a season of breaks for us so far, unlike Brightons penalty fest, but let's see where things stand in 10 days. These things even out.
     
    #94
  15. Warmir Pouchov

    Warmir Pouchov Better than JPF

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    Mental preparation - again part of the managers domain. I do also think some of the players are not great in terms of their approach, obviously you can't pin it all on Rafa (although he did choose them). No doubt at all that players are prone to lapses and odd games where the attitude slips a little. However in 6 games this season at home already we have dropped points - 4 defeats and 2 draws. I don't think its being disrespectful to the opposition in this league to expect us to have a very strong home record with good performances. We did spent 50m odd afterall to buy a squad capable of guaranteeing promotion.

    The bottom line is we are underperforming at home. It does make me chuckle when the opposition is raised as the issue. **** me can you imagine what is going to happen if we get promoted and fantastic away form we have shown isn't so easy to come by (it is fantastic and the manager deserves a huge amount of credit for the mental preparation, tactics and set up).

    If my auntie had a cock and balls she'd be my uncle. So yes some of the games have been nip and tuck. The point is we are making the games like that in some instances.

    Don't get me wrong, I fully expect us to go on and get the job done - we are 5 points clear of Huddersfield. I'd be surprised if we didn't manage to win the league with this manager, this squad and the money we've spent. Anything else would be under achieving. However I'd not jump off the deep end if we ended up 2nd or even went up through the play offs. I wouldn't even be bothered if we didn't go up to be honest. As long as we are learning from the reasons why. We just need to get after teams early and force them to try and play. I'm simply saying that as he has found the solution away from home, he now needs to look at how he overcomes the home issue. I don't think that is unfair.

    Home table
    GP W D L GF GA GD Pts
    1 Brighton & Hove 17 13 3 1 36 9 +27 42
    2 Huddersfield 16 12 2 2 25 13 +12 38
    3 Leeds Utd 18 12 2 4 24 12 +12 38
    4 Reading 17 11 4 2 26 13 +13 37
    5 Norwich City 17 11 3 3 37 16 +21 36
    6 Newcastle Utd 17 11 2 4 37 17 +20 35
    7 Sheffield Wed 16 11 1 4 24 14 +10 34
    8 Preston 18 9 4 5 29 21 +8 31
    9 Aston Villa 16 7 7 2 23 16 +7 28
    10 Derby County 17 7 6 4 21 14 +7 27
    11 Nottm Forest 16 8 3 5 27 22 +5 27
    12 Cardiff City 18 8 3 7 24 21 +3 27
    13 Brentford 16 7 5 4 29 18 +11 26
    14 Fulham 16 7 5 4 31 22 +9 26
    15 Ipswich Town 17 6 7 4 22 20 +2 25
    16 Birmingham City 17 7 4 6 21 23 -2 25
    17 Burton Albion 17 7 3 7 18 17 +1 24
    18 Barnsley 18 6 6 6 28 29 -1 24
    19 Bristol City 16 7 2 7 20 20 0 23
    20 Blackburn 16 5 5 6 22 24 -2 20
    21 QP Rangers 17 5 4 8 17 25 -8 19
    22 Rotherham 16 4 4 8 20 25 -5 16
    23 Wigan Athletic 17 3 6 8 12 18 -6 15
    24 Wolverhampton 16 4 3 9 19 26 -7 15
    Away table
    GP W D L GF GA GD Pts
    1 Newcastle Utd 16 11 2 3 27 10 +17 35
    2 Brighton & Hove 16 8 5 3 21 17 +4 29
    3 Fulham 17 7 6 4 25 17 +8 27
    4 Huddersfield 17 8 3 6 19 23 -4 27
    5 Barnsley 16 8 2 6 24 19 +5 26
    6 Sheffield Wed 18 6 6 6 18 19 -1 24
    7 Leeds Utd 16 7 2 7 22 22 0 23
    8 Reading 17 7 2 8 21 32 -11 23
    9 Derby County 16 6 3 7 15 16 -1 21
    10 QP Rangers 17 6 3 8 20 23 -3 21
    11 Preston 16 5 6 5 17 20 -3 21
    12 Wolverhampton 16 5 5 6 20 18 +2 20
    13 Cardiff City 16 5 4 7 23 28 -5 19
    14 Birmingham City 17 4 6 7 15 26 -11 18
    15 Brentford 17 5 2 10 21 30 -9 17
    16 Ipswich Town 17 4 5 8 13 22 -9 17
    17 Wigan Athletic 17 4 4 9 18 22 -4 16
    18 Norwich City 17 4 4 9 22 32 -10 16
    19 Burton Albion 17 2 6 9 16 30 -14 12
    20 Aston Villa 17 2 5 10 8 22 -14 11
    21 Bristol City 17 2 4 11 24 30 -6 10
    22 Blackburn 16 2 4 10 15 26 -11 10
    23 Nottm Forest 18 2 4 12 19 36 -17 10
    24 Rotherham 18 0 1 17 12 52 -40 1
     
    #95
  16. Lord Jonjomort

    Lord Jonjomort Well-Known Member

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    Let's just take Bristol City. What did you expect to happen from a team like that? 37 year old centre forward, quite a defensive line up - I'd expect them to sit deep and be aiming to get through the first 20 minutes without conceding. Get the odd chance, try to snatch a goal from a corner, type thing. I'd expect them to either defend in numbers and/or snap at the heels a bit, give us the ball at the back a lot. So if I were trying to manage us through that, I'd accept this was going to happen and make them run about - probe, without conceding dumb possession, let them chase a bit so we could look to go 1 or 2 up in the last 20 mins of the half. Second half maybe play our counter attack and pick off another goal or two. That's what I saw happen, in principal.

    What actually happened was conceding two stupid, sloppy goals - a theme of this season, I'm afraid to say, that Rafa will have tried endlessly to eradicate from our performances. The game management was non-existent again from the players and everyone had a 1/10 first half, because the game plan went to pot. Rafa got them in, gave it a rocket, got the CB's carrying the ball, pushed the play up 20 yards and we could have won the match. Probably should have won it, even if we only had a handful of decent opportunities. As I said, if Mitrovic does his bread & butter, we DO win that match, hence my ire.

    It's easy to say, in hindsight, what could or should have happened. Yes, there's an element of letting the shackles off that is probably the main criticism of the manager. We've agreed on numerous occasions that playing DM's in this league is almost always pointless, because the opposition aren't playing between the lines. Nobody has a no. 10 in the Championship!!

    But I can see why Rafa wants to attempt to keep it tight as well; it's not the same gulf in class league of old.
     
    #96
  17. Warmir Pouchov

    Warmir Pouchov Better than JPF

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    That can't be right surely?
     
    #97
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  18. Consett Mag

    Consett Mag Well-Known Member

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    What effect will that fact have? Surely he can't stop both of us getting any points? Ha ha.
    Maybe he'll try get us and Brighton to take a point each...

    That would do me actually.
     
    #98
  19. Warmir Pouchov

    Warmir Pouchov Better than JPF

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    Hopefully it will all be above board. I think if he was dodgy, it would us being targeted though as we look vulnerable and have a difficult run. I'm sure whatever happens won't be as a result of the ref. I do think it's a bit dodgy placement but it's just the way the cards fall I suppose
     
    #99
  20. Consett Mag

    Consett Mag Well-Known Member

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    The ref is a Huddersfield fan, I take it that means he's a Brighton fan as well?

    He's a Premiership ref, brought in for an important game between to of this league's big boys.

    Nothing going on here.
     
    #100

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