This will be an interesting one after yesterday with us winning and Hughton getting sacked. Could see the return of Stevie G for this one but who do you drop with Lucas playing so well and it'd be an absolute shame to move Raul out to the wing. Personally I think he should go back to his role behind Torres now that there appears to be a midfield pairing more than capable of supplying the two of them.
It would be hard to drop both Babel and N'gog after they both played well but it probably is more important to keep the CM pairing together. Its a nice problem to have though. I think we should take them no matter who plays, we just need to set up to go after them. If we play like we did away to spurs we really should beat them
I hope you know what your doing opening this thread, I was on a roll ya know! Anyway, its a tough one.... bring back Torres and Stevie or start with Babel & N'Gog... Ideally, we want our best players in their best positions and we all know the demolition job that Nando & Gerrard did to the Toon a couple of seasons back. preferred line-up would be... Reina Johnson... Kyrgiakos... Skrtel... Aurelio Kuyt... Raul... Lucas... Maxi Gerrard... ........Torres Having Babel & N'Gog on the bench is a plus after their good performance together, but I'd like to see Babel start somewhere if the above line-up doesn't happen.
I think Stevie will probably start on the bench and the team will be the same as the Villa game apart from Nando in for Babel
I presume this is on ESPN on saturday.. Agree with the team posted above..Having Babel and Ngog on the bench is decent attacking options.
Agree with the team btw, start Stevie then withdraw himself and Torres if we're winning comfortably for Babel and Ngog
it's a good selection headache for the manager to have weather to bring back stevie and nando or to stick with babel and ngog
Newcastle away 11/12/10 5.30pm KO Time to pick up some away points. Great time to get Newcastle, they are all over the shop with the Hughton thing and fans will be concentrating on directing their anger towards Ashley I'm sure on sat. Hopefully the players are pissed off too and distracted by off field issues. I would like to see Pepe Johnson Skrtel, Soto, PK Dirk Raul Lucas Maxi Ngog Torres Need Soto fit to deal with Carroll and I would not change the midfield four as they have been so strong in the last 2 games. Gerrard to come on second half if needed. Unlucky for Babel but can't justify starting him over Nando.
I don't want Gerrrard anywhere near the middle of the field after seeing Lucas and Raul running the show the other night, no matter what Andy Gray says Stevie G is not a central midfielder! If we play high tempo attacking football (like we did with Lucas and Raul against Villa) we will win this game, for certain! If Stevie is fit get him back playing in the hole behind Torres but if Stevie isn't fit I'd go with Cole and Torres up front. Newcastle are there to be got at and with the right supply Torres will run riot on their defence.
Would keep Lucas and RM together for this one, want to see Lucas put a run of top performances together, I still worry about him against combative midfields. V Chelsea he was outstanding but against Wigan and Stoke he was appalling, along with a lot of others mind you. He seems to perform against teams that want to play football and are not overly aggressive but if it goes wrong for him early on in games it seems to take him a long time to recover. Concentration and belief on his behalf and I think we could have a player
lucas and raul have been great in centre mid id leave them in. with stevie and nando back bable and ngog will have to drop out we should beat these if we play well like the last games with spurs playing chelsea and arsenal playing manure we can make some ground up here
The Guardian newspaper running with a story that Stephen Gerrard is unlikely to be in the line-up Saturday evening.
I wouldn't tinker with the starting 11 too much in this one. I think we looked pretty comfortable against Villa Monday but was a bit concerned with the amount of ball we let them have. Newcastle are likely to have a new man at the helm on Saturday so everyone will be up for it! If we pressure them from the off we can really dampen the atmosphere and get an early goal. Lets hope they appoint Pardew because there will be some disgruntled fans if they do. I won't rush Gerrard back for this as Miereles and Lucas have been playing well. I would leave Babel up top with Torres in the hope his pace will cause problems. The main problems is the full back areas!! Aurelio v Konchesky and Johnson v Kelly?
Reina Johnson Kyriagkos Skrtel Aurelio Kuyt Mereiles Lucas Maxi Torres Babel This would be my preferred line-up don't rush Gerrard back especially when others are playing well. Only reason I'd have Babel in for Ngog (because I think they both deserve a place after monday but need Torres to start) is because want to see what he can do with a run in the team. Alot of people players and fans won't be happy with Pardew on Saturday so this is a great oppurtunity for us to get an away win under the belt. Back Ngog to score first on Monday and I'm gonna bet some of the winnings on Nando wetting the babys head with a goal
The last time we went to St James Park we looked and played like champions. Newcastle where in a mess that day and they'll be in a bigger mess come Saturday. It will be unforgivable if we don't go for the throat from the off, if we can get a early goal then they're is no reason why Nando can't make up for the 4 or 5 goals he should have had against them that day. Come on redmen 3 points away from home is not too much to ask.