Never mind Relayer,it's just part of a rugby song,a parody of Bless em all. Bless em all,bless em all,three fifths of five eighths of f*** all. Anyway we're sandwiched in between the CL champions and the PL champions and nobody thought AVB was any good including yours truly. Most of us said we'd be patient including yours truly and it seems to be paying off. Bloody well done so far AVB,I'm glad that that match is out of the way. I said that it might be season defining so let's see. Same score as up there 2-1.
Good game chaps. You deserved the win. I dare say you might be in trouble if (big if) Bale leaves. Holtby (as I predicted) looks like a top, top player. Hope you finish 3rd
Thanks QWOP(What the hell does that stand for?) but for me the match was wider than the scoreline suggests. Yes you beat Villa who are near the bottom and Chelsea who have conceded at home against Wigan so I feel that your form and challenge were overrated. That should have been a wider score than that though I am happy with it. I think you'll avoid the drop.
It is the flash game. Go play it. I must warn you, it is very hard though! The game changed once Gouffran came off. Until them I felt we were in it. Meh, you are a CL team whereas we are a top 10 team.
The Magpies came and give it a go. Credit to them. None of our players should be singled out for criticism today., even Dempsey tried his best. There were some fanastic performances from Dawson, Lennon and of course, Bale put in a Herculean shift again. We owe part af this win to Hugo. Without him, we may have been looking at a (2-2) draw.
Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of his, but surely making that one save is what either of our keepers would have been expected to do. As we have all mentioned, Dawson had a really good game today and provided great cover for the keeper. Unlucky with the deflection, he put in a number of 'death or glory' blocks in around the box.
Cheers. You guys came and had a go. Certainly looks an improvement over a few weeks ago. Bale is a very special player and I obviously hope we can keep him. However, once again, our failure to sign a decent striker in Jan almost came and bit us on the arse. Bale has scored a lot of important goals for us this season. Without him, I dread to think!...
I meant in general. Obviously, our terrible start (worst ever in the Premiership) means we may struggle to break the top ten this season (though as it stands we are not miles off)
Great performance for the most part. Bale was obviously very good but I'd temper that praise by saying that Newcastle played right into his hands after our second goa, their fullbacks went missing and you need to man mark him all gamel. Lennon was probably our second best player, getting back and tackling all over the pitch whilst still creating chances at the other end too. Much improved from our centre mid duo, Parker was particularly good in the first half but gave the ball away a lot in the second and Dembele looked more involved all game. It looked like a straight red for Cabaye, not sure how Dowd only saw fit to book him. Tiote coming on scared me too as he's always got a few leg breakers in him and went with a karater kick across Dembele getting nowhere near the ball which could've caught Dembele very badly if he'd got in the way. All in all a good performance, if Bale and Caulker had scored their sitters it would've been more comfortable but it was an important return to a better quality of football after it had been lacking for a few weeks.
Expected..., Maybe....., but how many would actually pull it off. I suggest you look again at positioning, his consentration, and reaction.
The main disappointment for me today was the goal we conceded. It seemed to me from where I was sat that in addition to poor play from Naughton, two players were slow in reacting and so when the ball was played down the line, the pass took 4 of our players out of the game. Then when the cross came in, the strike was from Caulker's "area" as he had switched off. Granted the deflection was unfortunate and Lloris stood no chance, but doesn't alter the fact it was a very poor one to concede. But it was a big win. For me, the season really goes up a gear at the beginning of February and with our next league game not for another 16 days, it was imperative to get the 3 points today.
I know what you're trying to say, but if you bear in mind how hard it is for keepers to maintain full concentration when having little to do, then in that context, it becomes a good and vital save. The same could be applied at the other end where Krul denied Bale when he might have been caught out through having little to do for a long while.
Spurs are grinding out results because the defence looks fairly solid and you have a match winner at the other end. It's a good omen. There is no way you can be successful in the PL without both resilience and a trump card or two.
Was a good game of football today I think, of course we went home delighted but I think NUFC went home satisfied knowing they played a good game. Both teams had some great goal scoring chances but we did have the better of them and I think the win was deserved. Bale has been unstoppable lately, I know it's a team game blah blah blah but the guy has single handedly won us 3 points yet again. He's becoming our version of van Persie (at Arsenal... And even Utd now come to think of it) in terms of creating and finishing chances for himself. We really cannot afford to lose him, with or without CL football next season, not even £60m could replace a talent like him. I really haven't seen a winger like him before, he can burst from 30/ 40/ 50/ 60+ yards with such pace and then finish with so much power and accuracy it's incredible. If I had doubts before, I certainly don't now, but I can safely say he really is in the elite group of players just behind Messi and Ronaldo (the group consisting of players such as van Persie, Falcao, Neymar, Xavi, Iniesta, Cavani) and can most certainly be labelled "World Class" in my eyes. Onto other players, Parker was back to his best defensively but did annoy me with his poor passing. He was creating a vicious cycle for himself at times - win the ball, give it away, win the ball, give it away - but it was definitely nice seeing him go into them crunching (but fair) tackles which he hasn't done much of. Mousa unfortunately still has yet to impress me since post injury, a few neat dribbles here and there but is looking nothing like the player he was in the early half of the season. Daws and Caulker were immense at the back, though similar to Parker, Daws did hit a few stray passes. Hugo was brilliant, off his line like a cat on E at times and was faultless for the goal, harsh deflection. Lennon's work rate yet again is unmatched, even in the 85th minute he was tracking back and helping out BOTH full backs, really has come on leaps and bounds this season. Interestingly, on Soccer AM this morning, Walker was on the "team mates" episode and he said Lennon is becoming a big moaner - to me, maybe I'm jumping the gun but it seems as if he's coming of age and taking charge, leading by/ and trying to set an example if you know what I mean, which is great in my opinion. Holty continues to impress and I was gutted for the guy when his shot went just over the bar, would've loved him to score. Overall, delighted with the deserved win against a very solid and strong Geordie side, I ****ing hate Pardew but their club as a whole is one I have neutral respect for and wish them well for the season.
I don't think anyone should allow themselves to have an issue with Lloris or be "put off" just because of a fans over praising of Hugo, as Lloris has been a complete gentleman since he arrived, no hassle, put his head down and waited for his chance, so there is zero reason to dislike or have an issue with Hugo. Of course this doesn't mean hes perfect and we should coo over every save he makes, yet as spurcat mentioned, for a keeper not having much to do, but still pull off an important save, takes a high level of concentration and we're lucky to have such a talented keeper between the sticks.
Some may say I'm over-hyping him but I personally think Hugo is the best keeper in the league. Or at least on par with Cech and Hart. I think he's fantastic, his speed off of his line to help the defence when they're flat footed is very hard to find in a keeper, add that to the fact he's an extremely good shot-stopper and just has an aura (similar to Brad) in which I don't have heart in mouth moments when seeing him come to claim and hold or punch the ball. Definitely our best signing of the season so far for me.
I think a little myth has been created around Lloris. I don't think anyone has expressed dissatisfaction with Lloris on this board. The debate was all around his immediate inclusion or not when he arrived. That's history and there is no point whatsoever in rehashing it. However we do have one poster who when he chooses to grace us with his presence attempts to claim the Lloris high ground as he perceives it. I find that a little sad but it in no way affects my view of Lloris, why would it? We are all Lloris fans here...........aren't we!
On form no keeper can lay claim to be better so you're not over hyping. Cech doesn't seem to be the same and Hart (for me) has always been slightly over rated due to the fact hes English and playing for the champions, yet Hugo can hold his own with any keeper in this league.
