Guthrie out. Vuckic out. Colo still out. Perch questionable. Get ready for the Simpson and Willo show? With Swansea's ability to keep it on the deck that worries me a little.
Starting XI: Krul; Santon, Williamson, Perch, Simpson; Tiote, Cabaye, Jonas; Ba, Cisse, Ben Arfa. Looks like 4-3-3 but that could easily go to 4-4-2 to help plug the gaps against Barcelona Lite.
TV is saying its a 4-4-2 but regardless that is a strong lineup with all our injuries... Perchenbauer will clean up everything in defense so we should be fine.
Our possession percentage is in the 20s. Fortunately Swansea haven't been able to do much with it (yet).
Halftime: Swansea 0-1 Newcastle. We have done zilch since Cisse's goal. Swansea with basically all the possession but no end product.
Damn, Cisse made the early goal look like finishing is as easy as breathing. Since then, we have done some interesting things. The front 3 (it is a 4-3-3) have been freely swapping, at one point it was Ben Arfa up top with Cisse on the right and Ba on the left, but mostly Ba and Cisse have swapped. I thought early on it was a way to keep Ba happy, but now I see that we are playing deep and rotating the front 3 thru the striker position for rest. Ben Arfa has been commited and effective when helping the defense. Cisse is defending with a smile on his face. But Ba's body language is a bit unenthusiastic. Jonas has won a couple of important free kicks to relieve the pressure. I hope we come out and play a bit in the second half. Even though we have been defending, we have not been pressuring, so there should be some gas left in the tank. Perhaps that is the plan, as we have mostly kids to rotate into the first 11 at Bolton on Monday.
Swansea might lack in end product a little bit but their movement, passing and recovery is so good it feels like we're playing against 13-14 men. Speaking of end product, here come Graham and Sinclair, their two leading scorers on the season....
Again speaking of end product .... he scores when he wants. What a finish. Nine in eight, seven in the last four for Papisto. 20-odd percent of the possession, 100 percent of the goals.
The look on Ba's face when Cisse scored is trouble. If something like Cisse rested and Ba starting up top on Monday doesn't happen... Bye Bye Ba in the summer?
hope they get champions league spot im liking this club alot now plus i like newcastle beer ! CHEERS!
Full time. 0-2. Two great goals from Papisto, two consecutive clean sheets WITHOUT our top two center backs. Impressive. Roll on Monday, hopefully we have enough guys rested to get it done.
Impressive. 4 in a row. The squad is very thin, but Ferguson and Raylor looked good in sub roles, and Gosling didn't get a red card. Santon did well, maybe he is back as first choice. Hopefully Tiote isn't a long term miss.
Well that panned out like how I hoped it would, sit back and absorb pressure and hit them on the break. On the first goal it seemed to me they were doubling up on HBA, which left Cisse free to carry on being a goal machine. He's the most effort less finisher I've ever seen in black and white.
I'm starting to get a little worried about Ba's goal drought and the arrival of Cisse stealing his thunder. Could have a bad effect on Ba staying or going in the summer. Hopefully the fans can show they still love Ba and want him to stay, and hopefully Ba can be mature enough to be happy to share the spotlight with Cisse.
Watched this game earlier, it was nice game between surprising teams so far this season. Cisse is a class striker, I always rated him higher than Ba even though they are both very good players on their day. CL football isn't impossible at all, but I think the 'game at a time' approach would work better for the team right now. Just keep on trying to the end and see where it gets ya. Loved watching this team this season.