adios 717 Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 Aye, I had a lot of respect for Rafa from his Liverpool days. With the likes of Garcia, Gerrard and Alonso standing out in my mind. Also got more out of plenty of mediocre players to show his quality. Still, never going to be Barcelona. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 https://www.nufc.co.uk/nufc-tv/latest-videos/newcastle-v-wigan-the-full-90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 12736 Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 tbh, I think the fact we're top with a pretty limited bunch of players shows how good Rafa is. Outside of Gayle, Ritchie and Shelvey, there's not a Premier League player among them. Compare it to last time when you had Enrique, Carroll, Coloccini, Nolan, Carroll, Gutierrez, Routledge etc who were top flight players, it was no surprise we pissed it. This is a pretty young bunch so there's time for them to improve. Having said that, I'm not sure if it was my lingering hangover from Friday but that second half was a slog. After Ritchie scored, there was a 5 minute period where Colback, Hanley and Dummett were just knocking it between each other to the point where I wasn't sure if my brain had broken or I'd fallen asleep. Still, similar to a lot of games this season in that the opposition were total shit but worked hard enough to make it a bit tricky for us. I love Matt Ritchie, like, he's a great player. Thought Anita had a canny game and when he was a bit more adventurous with his passing, he caused them some problems so hopefully he can be a bit braver in future. Colback got pelters for simply existing but thought he was canny enough though you saw what an improvement Hayden is when he came on. Just in terms of mopping up and being a bit more of a presence combined with the fact he always has his head up and wants to get it forward. Lascelles had another ropey game, as he tends to when Clark isn't in keeping him in line as his lack of pace and agility really can expose him sometimes. Gayle was hard-working as always and when he dropped deeper, he played some clever passes. Did everyone see the size of their left back btw? He was about 7 foot 6 and not sure he won a header all game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howay 12447 Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 https://www.nufc.co.uk/nufc-tv/latest-videos/newcastle-v-wigan-the-full-90 Cheers, just watched that. Agree with what AH was saying about the match above. The referee was once again an inept twat, I've no idea what he was watching half the time there was a slide tackle on Shelvey outside the box in the first half where the bloke didn't even come close to the ball and the ref just allowed Wigan to play on. I thought that was the best little Vurn has played for us in yonks, he finally looked to come forward (into useful positions) and pass the ball forward, he played a pass through the defenders legs into the box to Ritchie that had us in a really good position 2nd half that was quality. If he would put in that type of performance more often I'd not moan about him anywhere near as much as I twist on about him now. The Lascelles and Colback string of errors that led to their goal was comical and I think it's something to look at as a positive that such a high percentage of the goals we concede are down to ridiculous individual errors from players who shouldn't be starters next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 (edited) Just finished watching it myself. The likes of @@Noelie would do well to watch it and see how much of the match Newcastle were in complete control. But for a ropey Lascelles (as you've both mentioned) it would have been very straight forward. Agree with Hermione that he suffers without Clark, who's so comfortable on the ball and plays it out so well from the back, it takes the pressure of that responsibility off Lascelles. Clark probably the surprise of the season for me. Weren't great in the final third; workman-like performance, but some games things just don't happen for you. Rafa is always going to be work first, flair second, but there'll be plenty of the latter. Also worth remembering how ruthless he is. When he's done with a player, they're done. Edited April 2, 2017 by adios Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 Was thinking during the match that Sissoko was having a pretty good game. Now feel I need to write Diamé a formal letter of apology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorthernsoul 1221 Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ayatollah Hermione 12736 Posted April 2, 2017 Share Posted April 2, 2017 Will say that Atsu's flick over that kid's head was class too. Even better when the kid he skinned tried to hack him straight down and he just shrugged it off and played Ritchie in. If the keeper hadn't made a decent save from it, that would have been a Goal of the Month contender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerbarton 24 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Just been chatting with a Brighton fan at work. Safe to say we're both pleased with Huddersfield's meltdown What I thought was interesting, though, is that he took a similar view to what we've been saying. They ground out the win at the weekend, and haven't really been playing that well. But it doesn't really matter at this stage. Looking at it pragmatically, we should now be promoted. But I'm not counting anything yet. Burton have acquitted themselves well in a lot of games - we need to take 3 points from them before the two tougher matches. If anything, I can see us sealing the deal against Wednesday and Leeds as we tend to do better in those fixtures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I'd say it could be all over with a win over Burton. Assuming Huddersfield manage 2ppg, I think Newcastle only need another 5 points. Mathematically it's in excess of 99.5% sure already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 30245 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 The bookies' opinions would suggest as much. Best price for promotion seems to be 1/50 with most quoting significantly shorter odds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I think that's an amazing price. Just looking at Betfair @ 1 - 25. Shame the market there is probably too small to be of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 See 1 - 1000 there as well. They don't like to take any chances, do they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 The bookies' opinions would suggest as much. Best price for promotion seems to be 1/50 with most quoting significantly shorter odds. I see that's William Hill, so I'm probably wrong and it's more like 95%. Seems way too low to me, maybe I'll do the actual sums at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meenzer 13980 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 I think that's an amazing price. Just looking at Betfair @ 1 - 25. Shame the market there is probably too small to be of interest. Yeah, what's available from 1.04 even down to 1.02 basically equates to about £30 profit. Though if one's convinced that it's free money, why not, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Think I'd rather just give the stake to charity tbh. Which, to be clear, I would never, ever do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haydnator 45 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Is the earliest we can be promoted vs Leeds? I personally think it'll be vs Ipswich or Preston. If it's the former it'll be quite funny that the one game Sky didn't pick to show us going up is the one we go up in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 30245 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 See 1 - 1000 there as well. They don't like to take any chances, do they? Aye, I saw a couple at that price when I had a look. FUCK. RIGHT. OFF. (Them not you) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adios 717 Posted April 3, 2017 Share Posted April 3, 2017 Is the earliest we can be promoted vs Leeds? I personally think it'll be vs Ipswich or Preston. If it's the former it'll be quite funny that the one game Sky didn't pick to show us going up is the one we go up in. Aye, I thought it was funny that five of the last 6 games are televised. Once promotion is pretty much a certainty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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