The Toon Army

I just got out of the maggie thatcher and opened the curtains to what looks a horrible day . A light snow last night on the ground and showers of hail . Not weather to be playing Stoke in!!

Salzburglilly wrote: A lot of bodies back for todays game... could be a huge week for the Club!

Do you reckon we'll get to see Owen today ?
I don't mind him . His goals to appearance was ok and he's not a fool or idiot like some of the other money grabbers we've had . I would never say this to anyone who sits near me though, they all hate him .

Ben Arfa is available and I'm looking forward to seeing how he'll go beside sissoko . Jonas might start and ben Arfa will appear in the second half .

Swing low, sweet chariot, coming forth to carry me home!!

Slow & Blind wrote: Just bought tickets for Thursday night . Sales seem to be way ahead of previous Europa matches . Hopefully we'll get a big crowd, top tier open, and get a great atmosphere going .

I'd love to go on Thursday, I reckon it will be a completely different atmosphere to a league game. I'm confident of Newcastle scoring but I'm also wary of Anzhi nicking a goal. I think if they get past Anzhi everyone will really believe the club can go all the way. Fulham got to a Europa league final & Boro did as well - both had weaker squads or perhaps less talented squad than this Newcastle team. Athletico gone, Chelsea will hopefully be knocked out Thursday. Get Sunday out of the way first however, huge game tomorrow. Newcastle win & they're level on points with Stoke but lose & the gap is 6 which would be hard to make up in terms of trying to move ahead of them into mid table.

Seems  Ben Arfa got a dead leg on Thursday and may be missing  again on Sunday!

Salzburglilly wrote: Fantastic  performance  from a  half strength team in Moscow  against a  team who has won all their home games in Europe this season, Pardew  set the team up really  well

Great performance tonight, really could have won the game if they had been more adventurous. Next Thursday will be very difficult now, I don't know whether Anzhi were very poor or Newcastle were very good. I just can't make up my mind.

Perch, M'Biwa & Elliott were brilliant & for 3 lads who haven't played much 1st team football recently, I thought they were very good tonight. Haidara looked at home at left back & I thought Simpson was very good. It would be easy for Simpson to throw his toys out of the pram lately but in fairness his attitude seems to be spot on. Ben Arfa was rusty which was to be expected. 60+ mins tonight will bring him on a huge deal & a start at home on Sunday in front of 52,000 & hopefully he'll hit the ground running. Obertan was crap for 80 mins but did 1 or 2 useful things toward the end - not good enough though.

Great performance though from all the players, I can't help but feel Anzhi will offer a lot more than they did tonight. Obviously a clean sheet is very important next Thursday if Newcastle are to progress.

Fantastic  performance  from a  half strength team in Moscow  against a  team who has won all their home games in Europe this season, Pardew  set the team up really  well

Edited by Salzburglilly - 07 Mar 2013 at 7:14pm

Coloccini out until May apparently, he broke 2 bones in his back against Southampton. Jesus this is all we need now. He cleared a ball doing an overhead kick & landed on his back & ended up breaking bones - talk about a freak accident.

Really hope this isn't the start of a bad few weeks for the club. Get a decent result tonight & beat Stoke on Saturday & hopefully that is the end of the relegation worries.

Game Day!!Match is live on ITV 4, here is a link anyway..

http://www.firstrow1.eu/watch/173192/1/watch-fk-anzhi-makhachkala-vs-newcastle-united.html

I think Pardew is nuts if he plays Ben Arfa from the start. 4 months without a match & playing on a plastic pitch in -4 or -5 degrees weather would be mental in my opinion. If he starts Shola I'd be confident of getting a draw, these Russians wouldn't really be used to playing against players like Shola in the Russian league. Big test for the likes of Simpson, M'Biwa, Haidara & Elliott. Not a whole lot of first team experience between them. I'd be least worried about M'Biwa though - he captained Montpellier in the Champions League!

I'm going to stick my neck out & say a 1-1 draw, Cabaye with the goal.