Krul, Raylor, Colo, Willo, Simpson, MiniCheick, Perchinho, Gosling, Marveaux, Squidward, Ba. SUBS: Harps, Tav, Dreamboat, Vuckic, Amalfitano, Papisto, The Kid.
Vuckic opening his account, 1-0 Toon. Yeah Perch is at LB. Raylor was putting very little weight on that leg, wouldn't be surprised if he's out for a good spell.
Atromitos seem to have no problem giving up corners as Newcastle can't do anything with them. They had close to 10 and I don't think got a single shot on target off one yet.
From BBC: Newcastle boss Alan Pardew said: "It looks like Ryan Taylor has picked up a bad knock, and I might now have to speak to the chairman because we might need to bring someone in on the back of that. Let's hope it's not as bad as we fear."
That sucks. At least a positive result though. The draw for the group stage is tomorrow. Newcastle will be in Pot 3. Pot 1: Liverpool, Tottenham, Athletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Sporting Lisbon, PSV Eindhoven, Twente, Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart Pot 2: Napoli, Udinese, Athletic Bilbao, Hannover, Rubin Kazan, Metalist Kharkiv, Basel, Panathinaikos, Fenerbahce, Copenhagen, Brugge, Hapoel Tel-Aviv Pot 3: NEWCASTLE, Lazio, Levante, Borussia Moenchengladbach, Dnipro, Rosenborg, Young Boys, Genk, Steaua Bucurest, Sparta Prague, Partizan Belgrade, Viktoria Plzen Pot 4: Maritimo, Coimbra, Helsingborg, Rapid Vienna, Anzhi Makhachkala, Maribor, AIK Stockholm, AEL Limassol, Hapoel Kiryat Shmona, Molde, Videoton Fehervar, Neftchi Baku
I thought Obertan was really good, for us tonight, just a shame he can't use his pace as well as he should. If he could cross he'd be a great player to have. Pardew has done well to steer us through, but Christ it was nervy. Losing Raylor for a while would be a blow, he's the only player who can deliver a decent corner or set piece. When was the las time we scored from a corner or set piece? (not counting directly scoring a free kick) I'm genuinely curious, I don't remember any from last season.
Teams (for me) to avoid: POT 1: Atletico, Inter POT 2: Napoli, Kazan, Kharkiv, Hapoel POT 4: Anzhi, AEL, Haopel, Baku. First three because of competitive levels, last seven because the travel'll be a bear. Good thing we have a deep squa--oh, wait.
Dream Group for me would have one of the French sides or Twente out of pot 1, Copenhagen or Brugge out of pot 2, and any team not Anzhi Makhachkala out of pot 4