GET EXCITED - World Cup 2018, now with even more corruption!

[Blotto]

There's an ad for the Courier Mail running in QLD and it's main focus is how it gives the public the chance to voice their opinion.

One lady says 'I wish soccer players would man up!'

Blotto?

Honestly don't care what some feral bitch from Queensland has to say. The fact is millions of people worldwide love the sport. When League becomes as popular, give me a yell.

[Pat]

chelsea have this one in the bag.

I wouldn't be so sure. They're certainly favourites, but anything could happen between now and the end of the season.

How do you rate newcastles chances of staying up? I thought they looked as promising as you could reasonably expect vs one of the best club sides full stop. Carroll and Smith played well, and fast counters like they were trying could hopefully catch out average sides. The 1st and 3rd goals were fair game; the second goal was down to woeful defending and should have been cleared much sooner.

Glad we kept Ameobi though.

[Blotto]

Newky were good value in the first 30 or so minutes. Just got overpowered after that. As long as they make St James' Park a fortress, they'll stay up I reckon.

As the commentator said during the game, At least they got this fixture out of the way early on in the season.

[Pat]

Thats it. I mean, man u had something like 70% possession for the first half. They did well to hold the fort as long as they did.

A few moments of good passing (actually, their passing was nice and quick when on target). Carroll will be the man to watch along with routledge. And aside from the one that earnt him a yellow, barton made some good tackles too.

[DjBigK]

Beaten but not disgraced, but for mine there was as many bad signs as good.

Carroll did quite well up front, spare for missing that golden chance, however isolated on his own as he was he's largely going to be ineffectual. He needs to develop a relationship with another forward. Playing Kevin Nolan in a quasi-midfield position is not going to cut it in the premier league. I'd perfer if they went a more traditional two forward role rather than playing Nolan in a position where for the most part he is completely anonymous out there.

have to disagree with you about Smith, Pat. I though he was ordinary. The effort was there, but he doesn't read the game well and isn't quick enough to make up for that. Consequently he's chasing shadows most of the game and is likely to make bad challenges. We need some more movement in our central midfield. Danny Guthrie is a start because he tends to read the game ok, and is good in posession, but ultimately someone with pace who limit the time opposing players get on the ball. Smith offers absolutely nothing in attack from midfield so he's want to be good in defense to warrant a position in the side - and quite frankly he isn't. He was only included in that side as Danny Guthrie picked up some sort of knock prior to the game. Perch so far has looked poor down the right, but it would be harsh to judge him so early on the basis of a handful of pre-season games and a match at Old Trafford. Coloccini and Williamson did quite well all things considered, but I have concerns about their pace. Interestingly Williamson was the better of the two though he is not first choice and will be behind Taylor and Sol campbell once they're available. Enrique didn't have a great game, but effectively nullified Valancia. I don't have any concerns about his as he's clearly our best player, and is capable enough to handle anyone the league will throw at him. He does need to learn though, that he can't stay on the ball at the back like he did in the Championship. He'll learn that soon enough.

Our wide men are a frustrating pair, as they play themselves into good positions but fluff the final ball pretty much time after time. Routledge needs to look for earlier passes, and Jonas needs to avoid playing himself into wide channels on his own. They both need to work extensively on their crossing.

In closing we need to bring in players. Chief is some sort of creative spark with pace and skill from midfield. Ben Arfa is that saga ever ends would be a start. Up front we ultimately need someone to work with Carroll, someone with league experience. We also need a right back, perch doesn't appear to be good enough, Simpson likewise, Ryan taylor can't defedn and is slow. I'd sooner be rid of them all and have them replaced with one premiership quality player.

[DjBigK]

Oh, and I think we will have enough to just stay up provided we get a couple of faces in. if we don't it's going to be a long hard struggle with a core of players lacking in too many areas.

[Blotto]

That's the problem though, doesn't seem like the Fat Man is interested in spending any cash....

[Pat]

I'll read that again later dj, but I had to watch the game with the volume down low so probably missed a lot of context to the game.

[Pat]

I really wish I had foxtel now. Newcastle up 3-0 at half time vs Villa.



I hope I wake up to good news tomorrow.

[DjBigK]

6-0

Unbelievable stuff!!!!!



Andy Carroll hat-trick!

It all could have been very different, 10 minutes in Villa had a penalty after Harper fouled Ashley Young. Missed by Carew .

..and then it all turned good.

3 to Carroll, 2 to Nolan and the first, an absolute cracker to Joey Barton.

[General Chaos]

And Chelsea already have an insurmountable goal difference after 2 games!

Nike Ball FTW!

[Pat]

I am so happy with that result last night. Watched the live text updates of the 1st half, some comments were made about Nolan being old and slow. Happy that he answered that criticism somewhat. Also good to see Barton improving, his tackling was alright last week too.

As I mentioned last time after the man utd loss, newcastle look dangerous if they go forward quick. Their defence is a clear weakness as suggested by the live commentary I saw (defending deep, must be the argentine influence?). But as I also said, Carroll looks like he could do well and hopefully routledge does carry on with his form last year. And I am still confident Ameobi will be very important for us this year.

I think based on last nights result there isnt too much to take from it since villa are a bit unsettled atm. But if we can string wins like that (doesnt need to be as emphatic) against sides like wigan, west brom, west ham etc it will be a good chance to stay up.

Now to hope that barton didnt do a hitler as I check the latest headlines......

[Pat]

Oh, and

[Pat]

Ignore the hitler, it was a soccernet beatup. The 'salute' was him signalling the end of the moustache after their first return EPL win.

Article no doubt written by a bitter villa fan.

[Pat]

Time to update thread title

[Pat]

Weekend of the one - nil.

[DjBigK]

Cracking cracking goal from Ben Arfa. He looks some player.

Tiote also had an awesome full debut. If we can keep those two on the pitch we'll be a much better team than I expected.

[Pat]

Take THAT, Chelsea.

[Cardsy]

... and THAT Scunthorpe.

[DjBigK]

Scunthorpe or Chelsea at Stamford Bridge... Hmmm....

Instant classic. Cracking match even though the ref tried to take it away from us with a dodgy penalty. Super Shola!!! Quite a few big scalps this round, could make for a much more interesting competition.

[pilonv1]

Anyone seen a gif of that fuck up by the Fury keeper versus Wellington?

[General Chaos]

lolpool cheat and they still can't win.

[General Chaos]

Games Ranch's very own David Carney!

Mr Carney can you please post in here while a game is on and Carney is on the field? I bet you can't. We are on to you

[Pat]

Thats not actually him, is it?

[Cardsy]

He is too busy scoring goals for Australia to post Chaos.