Match day thread - NUFC v Southampton

[Crouching Shola Hidden Talent]

Basically the same uninformed s**** we always get from those that hate us, divine right to everything under the sun, wanting to be spending silly amounts, wanting to be top 4...

It wasn't only what he said, but the sheer pleasure he seemed to take in making a totally predictable and petty jibe. All the 'why do Newcastle think they are special' s****, alongside 'every club wants to have more money and compete'. It's just so f***ing lazy and ignores all the issues that have plagued our club for ages. It was akin to the Rio Ferdinand s**** spouted before, but instead of promoting a s*** show of a sports brand, Owen was just using it as a means of self justification for being such a soul sucking, money grabbing turd.

[Blue & Maroon]

Imagine wanting your club to better itself

[Sanchino]

Great win. One of the best first half displays if not the best of the season with the pressuring, tackling, aggression and passion. We were all over them they had no answers, especially the front three were terrific and Perez showed his quality, people keep talking about his consistency but if he started banging in 15+ goals per season and providing 10+ assists he'll be in a top six side without a shadow of a doubt. He had everything you wanted in a wide forward, he worked hard, off the ball movement, touch, technique and most important of all he put the ball in the back of the net. Clever little hat-trick. I hope we see Perez's peak years here as he will only get better now he's 25 and if we bring more quality into the squad it will elevate everyone's game.

Second half we took the gas of the pedal and some players looked a bit tired but credit to Southampton's manager as he saw how poor they were in the first half made some solid tactical adjustments plus some good subs bringing in the physical and powerful Lemina & the energetic Armstrong which boosted there attack and got them back into the game. At one point when Schar and Miggy had gone off and Long came in I had a terrible gut feeling it would end 2-2 or even 3-2 but thank god we secured that third to kill the game off.

Onto Brighton next.. but a crucial summer awaits. Will Rafa stay? Will we get some ''quality'' players in? Will we compete in the top half next season? Will we sign Big Rondon? Who will go.. and who will stay? Lots of ifs, maybes and buts... BUT one thing's for sure we will be playing Premier League football next season.

[Valentino's fast feet]

Atmosphere was f***ing class today btw

Took my Mrs to her first Newcastle game vs Palace the other week, '' The Gateshead Hartlepool game was much better, this was slow boring s****''

Why couldn't I have taken her today?

Love SJP when there is a bit of 'bite' to the game and atmosphere, Anhzi, Benfica, Everton this year, West Ham when Guti scored, Forest the '1st' promotion season, any game vs The Mackems, imagine if we were actually chasing something.

Benfica game was brilliant Mate I went with (not a Newcastle fan) had a bet on, and all he needed was BTTS score for our game. The bellend. Great night tho.

[lassassinblanc]

I was randomly checking in on the score, match wasn't on in Norway... I'm at my future mother in laws birthday party so I've been checking score throughout the night

No excuse

Tbh

Who cares

WE WON WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE

[Tsi]

No excuse

Tbh

Who cares

WE WON WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE

Chill was joke

[bodacious benny]

We are f***ing stupid if we let Ritchie go in summer.

[Tsi]

We are f***ing stupid if we let Ritchie go in summer.

Yeah shame with Haydens situation as well he's been massive this season.

[lassassinblanc]

Tbh

Who cares

WE WON WE ARE PREMIER LEAGUE

Chill was joke

I know mate
Howay the Toon

[lassassinblanc]

We are f***ing stupid if we let Ritchie go in summer.

Yeah shame with Haydens situation as well he's been massive this season.

If we can replace them with like 4 like then I'm OK with losing them 2b honest

[Sanchino]

We are f***ing stupid if we let Ritchie go in summer.

Not really. Ritchie's coming up to be 30 in Sep by the new season starts so might aswell cash in now for him if there's a good offer on the table. Yes he's a hard worker, has a great cross in him, very professional, experienced and solid but in this system that our wide players requires speed and movement i don't see him playing further forward as he suits more a traditional 4-4-2 as a wide midfielder which we don't play no more and wing-back he's been very honest and capable but that's not his natural position. If we want to be were we want to be we need to get more quality in those wing-back positions. I don't know if Manquillo, Yedelin or Ritchie are the answer. I'll keep them as squad players but i don't think all three will be happy with that. I was hearing rumors of a return to Bournemouth with us getting Fraser in return plus giving them cash which would be a brilliant deal as Fraser's a speedy little wide-man who can give Miggy and Perez good competition and can be a alternative if we want to play Perez through the middle (if Rondon doesn't sign) with Miggy and Fraser out-wide we'll have so much dynamic fluid attacking pacey movement it'll be a nightmare for opponents. Same with Hayden too, he's replaceable. I have a feeling there will be a lot of playing and potentially coaching staff changes next season (I hope Rafa does stay). Diame, Hayden, Ritchie, Joselu & Kenedy all potential outgoings.. remember we still have the likes of Gayle and Murphy to come back too. Aarons, Saviet and Colback too...

[Hjl]

We are f***ing stupid if we let Ritchie go in summer.

Not really. Ritchie's coming up to be 30 in Sep by the new season starts so might aswell cash in now for him if there's a good offer on the table. Yes he's a hard worker, has a great cross in him, very professional, experienced and solid but in this system that our wide players requires speed and movement i don't see him playing further forward as he suits more a traditional 4-4-2 as a wide midfielder which we don't play no more and wing-back he's been very honest and capable but that's not his natural position. If we want to be were we want to be we need to get more quality in those wing-back positions. I don't know if Manquillo, Yedelin or Ritchie are the answer. I'll keep them as squad players but i don't think all three will be happy with that. I was hearing rumors of a return to Bournemouth with us getting Fraser in return plus giving them cash which would be a brilliant deal as Fraser's a speedy little wide-man who can give Miggy and Perez good competition and can be a alternative if we want to play Perez through the middle (if Rondon doesn't sign) with Miggy and Fraser out-wide we'll have so much dynamic fluid attacking pacey movement it'll be a nightmare for opponents. Same with Hayden too, he's replaceable. I have a feeling there will be a lot of playing and potentially coaching staff changes next season (I hope Rafa does stay). Diame, Hayden, Ritchie, Joselu & Kenedy all potential outgoings.. remember we still have the likes of Gayle and Murphy to come back too. Aarons, Saviet and Colback too...

Colback lol.

[Micky Quim]

Easy win

For who

I think Southampton will try and do a palace and hit us on the break. It’s winnable but I won’t be too unhappy with a draw.

[Don Sholeone]

We are f***ing stupid if we let Ritchie go in summer.

He brings a lot of workrate and commitment to the team but feel he's really lacked in technical quality, honestly think he's the sort we should be looking at replacing if we are wanting to improve, ideally it would be nice to have him as a squad player but don't think that is likely.

[bodacious benny]

We are f***ing stupid if we let Ritchie go in summer.

He brings a lot of workrate and commitment to the team but feel he's really lacked in technical quality, honestly think he's the sort we should be looking at replacing if we are wanting to improve, ideally it would be nice to have him as a squad player but don't think that is likely.

Saw a stat the other week about the amount of chances he’s created this season and he is right up there.

[beatski]

He brings a lot of workrate and commitment to the team but feel he's really lacked in technical quality, honestly think he's the sort we should be looking at replacing if we are wanting to improve, ideally it would be nice to have him as a squad player but don't think that is likely.

Saw a stat the other week about the amount of chances he’s created this season and he is right up there.

Second after Perez

[Sanchino]

We are f***ing stupid if we let Ritchie go in summer.

He brings a lot of workrate and commitment to the team but feel he's really lacked in technical quality, honestly think he's the sort we should be looking at replacing if we are wanting to improve, ideally it would be nice to have him as a squad player but don't think that is likely.

This. I wouldn't mind him as back-up/squad player because he'll be useful with his ability to play as a winger/wide-midfielder/wing-back/full-back, would be a great versatile option to have of the bench but at this stage of his career were he probably has 1 or 2 more full seasons left in him at the top level I'm guessing he'll want to play week in week out. I love his professionalism, work-rate and attitude but sadly he does lack in certain areas were our style of football isn't suited for him no more, he lacks speed and technical ability which is needed if you want to play that position further forward which Miggy and Perez currently occupy. If we played a 4-4-2 with him out wide pinging crosses all day to a front two of Rondon and Carroll (how Barton did back in the day when we used to have Carroll and Shola uptop) then fair enough but how our current set-up is of speedy counter attacks I don't see him fitting him into this system he's been squeezed in as a wing-back due to our lack of options there as Barreca doesn't seem good enough / out of favor or both and Kenedy's been of the boil this whole season while Yedelin is error-prone so Ritchie's a steady but unspectacular option right now. Both wing-back areas need upgrading for next season as Manquillo's been decent at times but he also can be error prone and lacking in quality at times and his attacking play is non-existent at times.

[bodacious benny]

I don’t get the notion that someone who is 29 only has a couple of years left of top flight football.

Top level footballers can play well into their mid-late 30s nowadays given that players now are the generation who have had the best in sports science, therapists, conditioning, dieticians, physios etc for their entire careers. It’s not the 80s (or even the 90s) where you got to 30 and were looking at retirement. Someone like Ritchie easily has 5 seasons left in him, if not more. He’s only 29, very fit and to my memory hasn’t really ever suffered from many serious injuries which could potentially curtail his career.

[Ramone]

For me he's similar to Milner, not technically amazing but brings a lot to the team and rarely makes glaring errors. Plus he can play in a variety of positions. He'd probably be last on the list of players I'd want us to sell at the end of the season.

[Sanchino]

I don’t get the notion that someone who is 29 only has a couple of years left of top flight football.

Top level footballers can play well into their mid-late 30s nowadays given that players now are the generation who have had the best in sports science, therapists, conditioning, dieticians, physios etc for their entire careers. It’s not the 80s (or even the 90s) where you got to 30 and were looking at retirement. Someone like Ritchie easily has 5 seasons left in him, if not more. He’s only 29, very fit and to my memory hasn’t really ever suffered from many serious injuries which could potentially curtail his career.

Yeah that's a valid and fair point. Just saying that Ritchie with his style of play by 32/33 he will potentially decline as he was never blessed with pace so imagine him in a few years time if he loses that extra yard of speed he won't be as useful as he is now but his footballing brain and crossing will of course still be there but will he be able to run around with his high work-rate like he used too? Daddy age can catch up to anyone.. plus when you lose that extra yard of speed it will affect how you play as you will have to time your runs better, pressure more selectively, when to hold and when to go and you won't be able to get past a speedy young full-back to get a better cross or pass in. Those little things at Premier League level are worth there weight in gold, of course you have some phenomenal exceptions were you'll see players in there mid thirties still performing but they've had to adjust there position on the pitch, will play more selectively instead of playing week in week out or the team's had to make adjustments to fit in a older player so they can play to there strengths. Take an example Glen Murray who's 35 and still scoring goals at this level, but Brighton know how to play to his strengths and they don't expect him to make long-bursting runs, chase every ball or run in behind defenses but they know if you give him service in and around the penalty box he will score, mind most of his goals sometimes come from headers or pens but credit were credit is due he's still doing his thing.