Shocking tactics from Hughton today. All the game needed for either team to get a result was one player to get the ball down, and spray a telling pass. Neither had one Cabaye tried hard when he came on, but we were so desperately short of invention and guile today that Posh would have beaten us A perfect scenario for David Fox (we didn't need two 'midfield enforcers', Newcastle enforced nothing all match through the middle) and I believe with Foxy's vision we'd have won that.
I thought Johnson was our best player today and he was ordinary to say the least - it did need Fox's artistry and skill today as the game needed something to lift it out of it's gloomy boredom. It's a damn shame I left my tin of paint at home as watching it dry would have been more fun ........
We gave the ball away so much at the end of the first half it was appalling football you wouldn't believe it was 2 premier league teams. Tettey tried hard and made some good bursts but was so wasteful. Never seen a game more crying out for a dictator and calmer like Fox. I said in the summer he was our best midfielder and we should build our team around him and it's becoming more evident that teams that don't over commit against us we can't pick them apart relying on just wes. I really think we should be looking to stop other teams by using the ball well and Fox would be integral to that and could be justified with either tettey or Johnson alongside, as he proved last year with Johnson when we played 1 up top with Morison.
My views on the team Bunn - Very little to do. Did what he had to with minimal fuss. Martin - Got forward towards the end of the game and hit the post. Turner - see Bunn Bassong - Looked shaky for the first ten or fifteen minutes but was back to his usual assured self after that. Garrido - see Bunn Johnson - defended well, worked hard, but constantly picked the wrong pass. Tettey - was the best player on the pitch for the first 15 minutes, but his passing was poor. Managed to find a black and white shirt or the touchline almost every time he played the ball Pilkington - Set pieces were awful. Drifted in and out of the game, partly due to the ball not going out to him when he was in space, but partly due to him not taking the initiative and coming after the ball Snodgrass - Set pieces were awful. A few good runs. Looked the most likely to create something. Hoolahan - Poor game by his standards. Dallied on the ball a bit too long sometimes. The crowd didn't seem too impressed by im being named MotM Jackson - Lots of effort, ran around a lot but never looked like scoring. Subs: Holt - Good to see him back. Looked more of a threat in 20 minutes than Kane, Jackson and Morison have done in his abscence Bennett - A couple of runs down the right, but didn't really have time to make an impact This was one of the worst games I've seen for a long time and was painfully obvious that it was being contested by two teams more concerned with not losing than going for a win. Next Saturday I fully expect to see Holt back in the starting XI in place of Jackson. I'd probably start Fox in place of Johnson or Tettey, for no other reason than both of the struggled to pass the ball today and that is Fox's strength. The only other change might be Bennett in for Pilkington as Pilks has a habit of drifting in and out of games and the last couple he seems to have been more out than in.
Spot on For me, Bennett at least showed some passion and pace when he came on. Passion that was in short supply elsewhere on the pitch. Be fair, Newcastle were very poor. Yet, despite being at home, we couldn't muster a performance to beat a poor side. That I find frustrating, especially when we have the type of players who can unlock a game like that, but opt not to use them/leave it too late.
I wonder if CH is persevering with Pilks as a result of his goals in some of the previous games. He's not consistent enough for me and I would rather have Benno in the starting 11. I'd also like to see Fox at least get 20 or 30 mins game time!!!!
Pilks can be frustrating at times, can play brilliantly then not so much. Today he had an awful game and his passing and set pieces was annoying to watch, I thought E. Bennett should have replaced him instead of Snodgrass. But I thought Tettey and Johnson did ok.
Pilks looked disinterested a lot of the time. There was a point halfway through the first half when Snoddy and Rusty cut down the right and Snoddy's cross sailed across the penalty box into the realms of nowhere and Pilks was trotting up the field at snails pace instead of running into the danger area where he could have been a threat. That epitomised his effort today for me. Also why does he always have to cut back to cross with his right foot, and Snoddy, playing on the right, has to cut back to cross with his left - seems a bit odd to me ? Snoddy on the left and Benno on the right next week please Chris.
Hughton likes to play with 'inverted' wingers. It works to an extent but it also means the opposition have a few extra seconds to get back and defend while the winger is cutting back onto his stronger foot.
They had at least 20 minutes to get back today, have a cuppa, have a crafty ***, read a paper and cook a meal in the time it to our attack to build. At least we didn't we lose today and it might be a very valuable point when all is said and done at the end of the season.
I felt sorry for Jackson today. A couple of people have been slagging him off, but he was asked to do a job that doesn't suit him without any support on the day from his colleagues. If we play Jackson up front, I think we have to play Fox in the midfield. It's no use pumping in high balls when your forward is five foot nothing. You need someone who can come up with a Peterborough type pass, or the pass that got us the goal at Portsmouth, and Jackson's pace on the end of it. Tettey's passing was woeful today and we all know that Johnson isn't that type of player (and I think he realises it too now, and generally keeps it simple). And why is Pilkington so untouchable? He and Snodgrass were both having bad games, but at least Snodgrass tries to work himself into the game when he's off form. Hoolahan was off-colour, too, which is probably why the team was. How he got MOTM I will never know (should have been Turner IMO). Also IMO, Hoolahan should have been substituted at half time.
Among the many interesting views thrown up by fans in the wake of yesterday's dismal showing, is this 'inverted winger' stat. Fine, if that's how CH prefers to set out, that's ok - BUT when it's clearly pants, like yesterday, change it and get them to switch wings, even if only for 10 minutes. Freshens things up and asks slightly different questions of both full backs. First thing Benno did after coming on was skin his full back and get (probably) the best delivery of the afternoon into the danger area - using his right foot Krul gathered it, but it was the first real sign of penetration from a wide area - and sadly I have to include all corner kicks and free kicks taken from wide in that.
I would hope that CH learned from that performance yesterday. Jackson needs the ball at his feet rather than in the air. CH can't help the fact that some players were under par, but could have tried Fox to give more creativity in mid-field. Newcastle didn't play well, but they did defend well, and adjustment was needed to break that down.
Jackson didn't make himself available to pass to feet, **** movement as usual, straight lines and away from the ball. Gave it away when he did get it.
it's getting to the point now that i am beginning to think it is time for wessi to be dropped. he was terrible yesterday and in the last few games has not performed anywhere near what we have come to expect of him. his play is almost all sideways and if he tries a forward pass it invariably rebounds off a defenders shins. Turner was easily my MOM.
For me, the problem was simple. We depend on Hoolahan to play and he didn't play well today. I thought Johnson was, by the standards of the game yesterday, pretty good, and after Turner our second best player. I thought Tettey was rather poor though, and I am very surprised we didn't see Hoolahan give way for Elliott Bennett AND Tettey give way for Fox. Interesting thing I noticed was Snodgrass was playing further forward and we seemed to be aiming our crosses at him (On the rare occasion we aimed a cross at anything at all) so maybe he should have played more advanced and Elliott Bennett could have had a start!
Johnson was playing very deep yesterday, but I should imagine that would be what he was told to do by the manager. Except from blazing a rebound over the bar by a mile, I can't fault Johnson at all. I hardly recall him giving away the ball myself, Tettey, Hoolahan and Pilkington were the culprits for that!
