Yep. It gets worse.

Actually, that title's a bit of a misnomer. In all fairness, the boys played better (on the whole of the evening) than they have in the past couple weeks, and Sam came out with a 4-4-2 formation for the first time in a long while. They kept the ball on the floor because the wind was howling in their faces for the first half, and they proved that they can move the ball quickly and efficiently if they put their minds to it.


First half:
We created a load of chances, had many nice set ups to goal. In the middle third of the field, we clearly won most of the battles. They were battling, winning loose balls, setting up nice plays up the middle and on the sides, and usually putting in a lot of decent crosses. Zogs was immense coming forward, and I'm almost starting to like him at left back because he's so quick and dedicated, he can drive forward and set up offenses and at the same time, get back and cover the defense fairly well. (It's still obvious he's not a natural left back, though. So when serious defending is needed, he's a sore thumb. But when we're on the attack, he basically creates opportunities which wouldn't be there if we had a more natural defender in there.)

The defense was also solid. There was one time when Cacapa (again) made a bad pass and almost let them in, and there was the other time when they scored the goal (but that was mainly Butt's fault for not tracking back enough) but the goal was a phenomenal shot and a beautiful piece of football and FINISHING (we'll get to the purpose of the all-caps in a moment).

So the defense and midfield was solid, but every time the ball came into Oba, or any time one of our mids tried to finish the play, there was ALWAYS a poor touch after an initially optimistic setup. Oba was just dreadful. He and Viduka both played with spirit (and I was surprised how much Duke was running today keeping in mind how cold it was) but they just can NOT put the ball in the net! I can't understand it. Lack of confidence? Dissolution (vis-a-vis a Randy Moss in Oakland)? Whatever it is, it needs to stop quickly, because we should have been up 3-1 instead of down 1-0 at halftime.

The other thing that needs to be brought up is the CONSISTENT lack of luck and bad calls coming our way. Last week, we lost the match SOLELY because of the poor linesman (okay, and maybe a couple bad substitutions by Sammy (more on that later)), and this week, there were a few REALLY bad calls that went our way. 1) Duff was called offsides on a play where he wasn't. Here's the thing - in the same play, he was taken out when he was clear on goal. So we were called for a bad offsides, when it should have been a direct kick and a red card. This was in the first half - would have REALLY changed the atmosphere of the match. Then, Elano CLEARLY went for Faye's body and not the ball - received a yellow rather than a red. If it were Butt or Barton (or any other "bad boy") he would have gotten the red. But he's got a fairly clean reputation - but no matter: A dreadfully poor and potentially dangerous tackle is a dreadfully poor and potentially dangerous tackle, and deserves RED. Being one of their best players on the pitch, that would have also massively affected the outcome of the match.


Second Half:
Sam must have told the lads just to give up because that's basically whate we did in the second half. After an initial burst of confidence by a near miss by Michael Owen (who came on for Oba - a wise decision in my opinion - but where MO made up for Oba's lack of finishing ability he let down in the speed department and that really hurt us when he partners up with Mark "Molasses" Viduka), we dropped our heads and basically phoned in the rest of the match. Now - up until this point, you'll notice I've not criticised Big Sam ONCE. He put out a good squad in a good formation. I wouldn't have started Butt (let alone given him the arm band - Beye clearly deserves it) but that's just one decision. But then, for some unknown reason, he decides to put on Enrique (a defender who deserves to be starting). It's good that we got to see him, and I understand that he was able to move N'Zogbia up to midfield (where he really belongs) and take out Duff who's still only becoming match-fit. But A) he took off Faye (who was IMMENSE all game and almost deserved MOTM for me) instead of Butt who is a DEFENSIVE-ONLY mid and we needed a goal and had been having a shocking game. Shocking. B) once Duff left and Zogs shifted to left mid, it became really really really stale on that side of the pitch. Duff gave a certain level of physicality and intimidation that Zogs couldn't match. But in theory, zogs vs. duff is a toss up because of duff's lack of matches since his injury. I'm not completely blaming sam for that - i'm blaming him for leaving Butt on the pitch. So from that point on, we had absolutely nothing going forward. They ended up scoring again (after three of our defense men got caught TOTALLY standing and watching) and the match was well over.

So Sam's got problems. In all fairness though - his line up was good, the lads were a bit disappointing, and Man City were absolutely sublime. I think we've got a few players who just really aren't good enough for the level that the club and the supporters aspire to. I think Sam has been really really stubborn and, for the lack of a better term, stupid in the first half of the season, but this match actually made me think he might be changing. We've got some tough games coming up (starting with Man U at Old Trafford on Saturday) and honestly, if one had to choose which direction we were going, one would have to say we're looking more like relegation-fodder than a European-bound club. I don't think either will happen personally.

I think we'll finish in 12th or 13th place, probably about 10-15 points clear of the drop. A sad place to be for a Newcastle supporter, but hopefully it'll be enough to prompt some major change in the summer.

Player breakdown:


Keeper: I Used to love Given - but he hasn't made any of his brilliant trademark saves this season - I still prefer him over Harper.


Defense: I'd go with Beye (and give him the armband) on the right, Taylor and Faye in the middle, and Enrique on the left. Taylor has been playing good, solid, no-nonsense ball, and Faye is just a big, strong, smart, quick player. Like him a lot. Enrique is BIG physically (which is weird because in photos he looks normal) and just seems like he would make a great addition to the box when defending set pieces, etc. Rozehnal and Cacapa: Sorry guys, I liked you in the beginning, but there are just too many cracks and too few pounds and muscles there. They seem very frail - physically and mentally.



Midfield: I'd go with Milner on the right, Emre and N'Zogbia in the middle, and Duff on the left. Milner still isn't good enough, but he gives his all. Emre is great, but lacks ambition. N'Zogbia is naturally a left wing, but is creative and smart enough to run the pitch. Duff is irreplaceable on the left. Period. Barton can go to hell, Geremi is lazy and old, and Nicky Butt is similarly lazy and old. He gives it his all and loves the club and the game, but just doesn't have it in him anymore.


Striker: This is kind of a tough one. I'm still saying Oba and Duke and Owen and Smith need to fight for spots. But they've all got ups and downs. Oba - great outside shot and speed but lacks intelligence and finishing (sometimes). Viduka - when he wants to be, hes fantastic. But he's crazy lazy and slow. But he's tall. Cha-ching. Owen - obviously reads the game as well as anyone in the league. But he's not quick or tough or strong from outside the box. He's only a "finisher" and isn't REALLY a great creator, in my opinion. Smith - again - can be huge when he's into it. But he gets excited too quickly and sometimes makes really poor decisions. He's obviously big and strong which is good but his head often gets the better of him.

And manager. Oh, manager. Big ol' Sammy. I think if we sack him before this season is out, we'll be laughing stocks and it'll continue the downward spiral that this league is headed into. I hate when he plays the ugly ball, because WE HAVE BETTER PLAYERS THAN THAT. We're not Bolton. For the last time, WE ARE NOT BOLTON. But like I said - this game showed signs that something may be getting through to him.

Let's go boys - please don't be relegated and if possible, let's turn this damn thing around and finish in the top ten!! Comments very, very welcome.
This means you too, Brett. Do your best on this one.