Reserves Update

Taken from NUFC.com

Southampton Res 5 Newcastle Res 1

The first half of Newcastle's maiden season in the U21 Premier Reserve League concluded on Monday evening with a heavy loss to Southampton at the Silverlake Stadium of Blue Square South side Eastleigh Town.

And although the final score hardly reflects the overall balance of the contest, there was only ever going to be one side doing victory rolls at the home of the Spitfires, as the Saints ensured their place in the Elite Round.

The Magpies by contrast finished their 12 game season sixth out of seven sides in National Group 2 and will compete in a newly-formed Tier 2 group, comprising of the bottom seven sides from the 3 National Groups.

Southampton started brightly and Ben Reeve shot against a post on eight minutes as both sides tried to adjust to a surface that passed an earlier pitch inspection, but was being worked on until kickoff and sanded in some areas.

United looked to have come through unscathed though and had two chances of their own around the 20 minute mark - JJ Hooper heading Marcus Maddison's corner over and Romain Amalfitano getting sight of goal in the box, but seeing his effort deflected for another flag kick.

That all counted for nothing though when Southampton took a 23rd minute lead thanks to a close-range shot from striker Tadanari Lee and when Sam Hoskins rifled home from distance just four minutes later, the Saints looked well on their way to doing the double over us.

Coach Peter Beardsley's response was to replace Dennis Knight - who had seen one shot beaten away with the score at 0-1 - with fit-again Adam Campbell. However it was his strike partner Hooper who came closest to reducing the arrears in the 43rd minute, 'keeper Cody Cropper blocking his effort after an astute pass from the lively Marcus Maddison.

Any thoughts of a second half resurgence from the black and whites were extinguished barely a minute after the restart when Ben Reeves took advantage of some slack defending to net with a rising shot from 12 yards

Adam Campbell managed to reduce the arrears on 53 minutes, claiming his sixth goal of the season when a shot from distance ended up in the net thanks to a sizeable deflection from the unwitting Stephens.

However the Saints looked as if they could up the tempo if required and restored their three-goal advantage within eight minutes when Sam Hoskins turned his marker on the edge of the box and drew Jak Alnwick before firing in.

Ben Reeves grabbed his second of the evening and Southampton's fifth in the final minute to complete the scoring. Again the goal came after our defence was outwitting by some good close control and a neat exchange of passes - things that United seldom achieved all night, with the contributions of alleged first teamers Mehdi Abeid and Romain Amalfitano especially fitful.

The main reason for posting this is to note the bits in bold. Campbell continues to impress after his lay off. I'd like to see him on the bench in upcoming fixtures ahead of Sammy possibly. His energy is something we lack from the bench.

The other two sadden me. I don't know what has gone wrong with Abeid, he looked promising pre season. Maybe these rumours about his attitude are true. Amalfitano is a concern too. He looks to have struggled to make the grade. Also worth noting there was still no sign of Remi Streete?

 

Like you WP l thought we had a "one for the future" in Abeid, and was constantly left wondering why we were not seeing more of him, especially in the Euro games.
He got a start not to long ago, sorry cannot remember which match, and l thought great, let's see what he can do. He was anonymous for the most part, which was a great shame. I guess if Pardew isn't playing him, it's for a reason? Not good enough, or possibly as you say an attitude issue.
For me he seems like a younger version of Marvo, who is another that has left me slightly disappointed.
Surely, it can't be long before Campbell gets a look in.

 

Ouch

 

Anyone else think we overestimated Graham Carr's abilities?

 

I question what we do with the players he finds us more than i question his ability.

 

Sadly, as a club, we seem to get too used to defeat.
Too many young 'uns and not enough depth in the squad to develop them in tandem with experienced pros.

 

I think Carr is a top scout. Regardless how much homework he does, you can't get everyone right or predict how they will develop because some of it can't be viewed with the eye. Of course you can assess character aswell as technique and other things you view with the eye.They are human beings and subject to being influenced by events in their life or changes in their personality amongst a raft of other things.

All clubs end up with ones which don't work out. 100% scouting records simply do not exist because there are too many variables. Carr still found players who have been instrumental in the turnaround in this clubs fortunes. It was only a matter of time before some didn't work out. I have doubts about Amalfitano and indeed Abeid now but they can still turn it around.

 

I also think Carr is an awesome scout. However let's not be expecting Tiote-like discoveries every single signing we make. The youngsters Abeid, Amouthful, etc were signed for a reason, and that was they had potential to develop. We are expecting them to be finished articles like Tiote, that's impossible.

The problem is the fans expectations of our youngsters. Come on now, we've never been known to be a factory of quality youth products and it isn't going to change overnight. Take a look at who we're trotting out there now, Sammy, Fergie. Undoubtedly we've seen glimpses of their potential, but then again they're currently ****e. They need some time to develop and not right now at EPL level against those kind of opposition like Man ****ty and co. Some of our expectations over the likes of Abeid, Amouthful, Curtis Good, as we're literally expecting them to come into the first team when there's an injury to deliver.

If those players were really EPL-ready, they wouldn't have been sold for nominal fees and the club would've demanded much more. This is exactly why I used to visit the webblog (nufcblog.com or something) and I stopped as I felt the way the editor was writing there, it was as if we had youngsters worthy of the 90s Manchester United youth batch.