Match Preview/Stats/Thread: Newcastle Utd v West Ham Utd
By Tyne-Talk January 4 2011
Newcastle United host West Ham tomorrow evening, their 2nd must win game of the week. After a 1-0 win at Wigan on Sunday, manager Alan Pardew will be looking to take 3 points off former club West Ham before the weekend’s FA Cup games.
Newcastle go into the game with two wins, one draw and three defeats from their last six games, whilst West Ham travel on the back of two wins, two draws and two defeats from their last six games.
Newcastle continue to be without Dan Gosling (knee), Hatem Ben Arfa (broken leg) and Ryan Taylor (ankle), whilst Andy Carroll (thigh) and Sol Campbell (illness) are also unavailable.
Joey Barton will not miss the game, despite collecting his 5th yellow card in a row against Wigan. The rule book states that 5 cards prior to 31st December will receive a 1 match ban, but as Barton picked his up on the 2nd January, punishment will only be issued on his 10th card of the season.
Leon Best and Nile Ranger have both been promised opportunities by Alan Pardew but are likely to start on the bench as he opts once again for Peter Lovenkrands to partner Shola Amoebi up front.
West Ham manager Avram Grant will be desperate for his 2nd win in a row after a difficult end to 2010 and much speculation around when, not if he will be sacked. Unfortunately he is without Jack Collison (knee), Edgar (knee), Kurucz (knee), Manuel Da Costa (ankle), Kieron Dyer (thigh), Thomas Hitzlsperger (thigh), Herita Ilunga (muscle problem) and Benni McCarthy (calf), whilst Valon Behrami (hip) and Lars Jacobsen (heel) are both doubts for the game but both return to training today.
Mark Noble is expected to start after coming on as a substitute at the weekend.
Fact: West Ham have conceded 33 goals in the league this season and picked up 33 yellow cards so far.
Fact: West Ham have not won at St James’ Park since 1998 when they won 3-0 thanks to Ian Wright.
Newcastle United
West Ham United
20
Played
21
25
Points
20
7
Won
4
4
Drawn
8
9
Lost
9
29
Goals Scored
22
31
Goals Conceded
33
Match Preview/Stats/Thread: Newcastle Utd v West Ham Utd
Posted by: TyneTalk (IP Logged)
Date: 04/01/2011 16:04
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what do we know about kadar, though? i think in all honesty that a nightmare injury scenario with defenders dropping out would see first perch then simpson moved into centre back for premier league games, as we havent seen anything of kadar.
just the way i read it, as whatever peoples hopes are for kadar, he hasnt appeared to be close to making a breakthrough just yet.
If Sol ever gets fit then that gives us four good CB until the end of the season. If thats the case then Kadar should really be sent out on loan to hopefully a Championship side until the end of the season, as even if he was fourth choice then he probably wont see much game time. Ive heard Preston need some players.
If he does the business then its a real bonus and a step forward to doing the business in the Premier when surely Sol gets released at the end of the season.
I just cant see the point in him playing in the reserves when he could go out. The lad is 21 coming up so needs games.
I cant say I know a load about him but would like to think Newcastle would be forward thinking enough not to put two short, slight FB in centre half in front of him. Even if this means the odd mistake then it would have to be on par with the points dropped or goals conceded by having Perch playing CB against the likes of Davis/Jones and the like.
If he is good enough he is good enough. Not trying to compare them but take Chris Smalling. He was playing non league 2-3 years ago and I think was down to play for Man U tonight and according to Wiki only played 13 games for Fulham.
but didnt perch end a game in there recently biff? or did i dream that?
i finf it hard to have an opinion based on anything other than his lack of game time. if we were truly forward thinking, he'd have played a few games, or maybe he isnt quite good enough. time will tell.
True, we know little about Kadar. I did think he looked better than Perch in defense in the one game I remember when they were on the field at the same time: the cup defeat to Arsenal.
To me, if Perch is 4th or even 5th choice then we need more. He's not a PL center half, no way.
My laptop is going out the window in a minute. Firstly had to download something to make the 1st link work - now no sign of it on the laptop and it still failed to work! Constantly "not responding".
Why is it I never get to see the 1st half of any game for having to make streams work - very frustrating.
in fairness i did say it last year he never got time to adjust and then this year after pre season wheres his chance? he has grabbed it with both hands
those who didnt see, we got a routine looking indirect free kick well outside the box. barton shaped to cross, then side footed along the ground to loven, who took the ball to the byline and crossed hard and low. it reached best beyond the far post, who put it away nicely.
a pretty good show so far, the whole team are getting involved and looking to pass the ball around. jonas and barton are certainly in the mood, though as per usual its not always clear what jonas means to do with possession. great start though.
there is no link carys thats how they get away with it go to the link on google then it says go to main page of adthe.net
then follow the 1st link for west ham newcastle brings you to the game
good work again by jonas, his cross comes out to nolan who places it past the keeper from a fair way out. well played all round tonight.
is 3 by half time enough to have a look at ranger and ferguson? kadar hasnt made the bench, by the way, not sure why this is. williamson and perch are there though, maybe thats why.
where did this performance come from? we are destroying them! ok, its west ham, but this is a complete team performance playing great football! loven with the 5th!
its not a prediction, but something i'd like to see is tiote finish without a booking. with sunderland next week, and a ban in the offing for tow more yellows...
ranger wont be happy with that miss. looked easier to score. howay nile, put the next one in, we're making chances against a well beaten team. best time to put right such a miss
excellent match and a much needed 3 points, i've been one of Best's critics on here and have called for him to be sold but he was fantastic tonight! Worth a run in the team after that!
i for one didnt see such a convincing win coming. fantastic to see best find his feet in the premier league tonightwith three great finishes, but the whole team played a part. barton was immense yet again, running the whole show for over an hour, he was all over the midfield making himself available then driving the team on with forceful passing. every time he got the ball it was the start of an attack.
It's a pity I couldn't watch today's game. They showing the match tomorrow morning so I'll only get to watch it tomorrow evening. Should be good fun. Well done to the lads and well done to Pardew. Up to 8th on the table!
its refreshing to have a manager who is willing to use his full squad and not just use the same handful of players to fill holes whether they can play there or not!
it was good to see Ferguson come on and show that he isn't a million miles away from being a PL player!
Maybe Hughton watched tonights match and regretted some of his team choices!
Thanks Carys. I'll send you the ratings as soon as I get a chance after watching the match.
Must admit I've been impressed with most things Pardew has done since he arrived. From getting Taylor to sign a new deal, to securing Ben Arfa on a permanent deal and for his willingness to make changes it's been a fairly good start from him. Of course he still has a lot to prove but well done to him thus far.
Ferguson put in a fantastic 25 minutes, in my opinion. He frustrated Ben Haim constantly, made a couple great runs, and connected on a wonderful pull-back pass to Nolan that set-up Ranger's miss (Nile should have finished that with no problems).
Nolan's 1-touch passing at the top of the box today was amazing, and Lovenkrands really ran hard and had some nice chances, including the cool finish off the hard cross.
But oh my Mr. Best. I've defended his purchase, but I never actually thought he would produce like this. Sensational performance, especially with the style of his finishes, all cool well-placed shots just out of the keeper's reach.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:01:05:23:06:38 by waffles.
Very clinical from Best. Looked like a top class composed finisher today. I truly did not expect it. Especially since he has rarely played in recent times.
Loven was terrific. His movement when playing with a target man is brilliant. He always sticks close and looks to get on the end of knockdowns. West Ham helped by playing very deep mind. But nevertheless he was brilliant.
Everyone played well really. You couldn't fault anyone's performance. Save perhaps Nile's miss near the end. But they're only garbage goals at that stage of match anyway, as long as he scores when it matters.
Well I didnt see that coming and when I heard Best was starting I had a bad feeling. I love being proved wrong when it means 3 points in the bag though. Three great left foot finishes by Best and fair play to him. Not taking anything away but I thought Wigan were bad but West Ham just made them look world beaters.
Im pleased for Best and this will do him no harm as well as Loven. Waffles sums it up, "I've defended his purchase, but I never actually thought he would produce like this." Its been discussed before that when we signed him we were lacking goals and we would have picked him up for a mill at the most. At the very least his performance might mean that we make a profit on the lad if he was moved on. Well done son.
Tiote was class again but Barton was just unbelievable. i cant think of a better English midfielder at the moment and if it wasnt for his headline grabbing then he should be in the England squad. His vision, coolness on the ball and delivery is just class. He makes us tick and you can see how we struggle when he and Tiote are missing. Im so pleased at how mush he appears to be enjoying his football and time at Newcastle now. I think Nolan lost the ball towards the end of the match and he had a bit of a go at him in the right way. He really wanted the win and clean sheet. Just hope Tiote hasnt f00ked his hamstring as I was wanting him taken off when the fourth went in for that and the booking reason.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:01:06:11:40:07 by Biffins Bridge.
The English team is an old boys' club. Upson was in last Summer's WC squad and Barton can't buy a place. Pretty much says it all.
Tiote is an absolute beast-49 of 53 passing last night (100 of 109 in two games - ) and wasn't successfully tackled once. I hope he can take the cup game off and come back fresh. Another player whom I fear will become the object of large bids in the near future.
large bids such as the andy carroll bid im hoping we do the same when clubs come knocking for jose/colo/tiote and barton because I have no doubt they will.
Totaly shocked with the result as I thought it would be a close game, and what a result, but then the toon can turn it on at home. When I saw Best name I thought bloody hell but I was totally wrong. Really pleased as it meant I can rub it in on my mate who is a hammers fan, so he has got plenty of stick and will give him more tomorrow at football
Just need to turn it on the next league game and keep the gap going in the league
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