Match Thread Newcastle v Bradford Wed 24 Sept 19:45 Carabao cup

Yes, that stood out for me. At half time I said to the bloke next to me that we need to bring Neuf on for his pace. But their full back dealt with him easily.
Their speed of thought and movement was very impressive. Our attempted passing moves, that have been cutting through L1 midfields, were spotted and nullified before they became dangerous. Great for the Cookster to get his goal at SJP though.

 

Positives - Cookie scoring, he deserved that for all he has gone through this year (is that about 3 goals in 70min of football for him now, that's Haaland levels). Great away end, great atmosphere, a wedge in the bank and a rare sight of footballs elite since we have been rattling round the basement leagues.

Negatives - How many stairs and who decided to shut the A1 southbound meaning a detour via Durham? A 2 hour journey was closer to 3 & 1/2.

My daughter hasn't seen anywhere bigger than Bolton or Barnsley for an away day before such were the games we have played so I was chuffed she got to see what I was lucky to see in my youth when I was lucky enough to see this every week in Championship and Premier League years.

Roll on Saturday and possibly more Cook, we have missed him.

 

That’s not what you said.

 

I was hoping to hear a “pecked by the magpies” chant.. ah well missed opportunity by Newcastle

 

That's what i've been thinking, was it 2 in 20 against Grimsby and 1 in 30 v Newcastle..?
That's a goal every 16 minutes, phenomenal guy, he's going to help big style for the rest of the season if he is well managed ...

 

Sat within a few yards of Charlie last night. What is he on? Constant chirping and whistling, singing Arsenal and Liverpool songs, shouting at no one in particular. If he was near me at VP I think I’d have to move.

 

I had his pleasure in the first half but thankfully he disappear in the second half. There were quite a few who appeared a bit worse for wear for drink.

 

Hey lads, Newcastle fan back and not on the wind up or owt.

Full credit to the 5k fans up there at level 7, made loads of noise throughout. Made up for Cooke, an unreal finish for a boyhood fan.

Hope everyone who made it up enjoyed their trip. Didn't know the A1 southbound was buggered, hope it didn't send you closer to Sunderland. That is nightmare fuel, right there.

 

Really good occasion for the football club last night. It was hard to actually enjoy the game though as we were never in it and very comfortably beaten. However it was a great moment when Cook scored and I'm so happy for him.

Slight moan about the team selection, I think it was very weak and made a difficult task even harder. I understand we need to rotate but I think we could've given a better account of ourselves with a few of our better players playing.

 

3 goals in 56 minutes to be exact. He is still the best goal scorer at this club, yeah he might not be able to sprint like the rest or manage 90 for a while (i think he only played 90 for about 60% of his City apps before the injury anyway), but nobody has that knack of positioning or giving the defenders a worry man to man like he does.

 

That’s rotating to protect players for the league games. It’s as simple and extremely well managed as that . As I said last night, do you want Byrne, Kelly, Hump etc starting on Saturday? I don’t because it won’t be easy !

 

I mentioned this before the game yesterday, when people were wanting to get rid of Kav. If Kav is behind him when he returns, then I give up.

The signing reminds me of when we resigned Andy Gray in 2012/13 season, totally unnecessary. He reminds me a bit of a physical Luke James, in terms of I can't even imagine him having a shot let alone scoring.

 

Its that system that sees us at the top of league 1. We couldn't do it last night due to the personnel he chose, it wouldn't have mattered anyway as they passed through us at ease and credit to Howe for going with such a strong line up.
Saturday should be different if Swan is back and we start the likes of Wright, Sarce and Neufville, be back to doing what we do best.

 

I wouldnt want to make exceptions for one player however would it be worth Alexander getting hold of humphrys and saying right come on then i'll give you a go where you want to play?

Despite all of Alexanders protestations, its clear humprhys isnt a striker. People might say what do you expect against champions league defending, but running, jumping and passing might be a start.

With cooky coming back slowly and if we can make sure Swan is fit, then let humprys be the interchange with sarcevic instead of Powell (who also appears just as useless at times).

There is clearly a player there somewhere and perhaps he needs an arm round him as his confidence looks shot but the longer it goes on with underperforming the negativity and noise is just going to get louder.

 

Agree with Kevin above. As Alexander said, the most important game this week is on Saturday. Especially playing on a Wednesday good decision to rest, or partially rest many of the starting XI at the weekend. I honestly don’t think, other than having a fully fit Cook out there for 90, it would have made much difference. The gulf in pace and skill was clear to see. On one level it’s a shame we didn’t have strongest team out, but the league is obvious priority. I’m not going to judge any of the players who came in last night. So far away from our usual opponents. We’ve had a great start and still plenty of games ahead of us to try and keep the squad together for. Although it was largely one-way traffic, I enjoyed the occasion. That away section makes my walk up to the upper tier of the kop seem like a breeze.

 

Football? Cookys completed it as they say.To fulfill a lifelong dream to play at St James Park, then to score in the way he did. We'll miss the big man when we eventually part ways.

 

Tonsillitis is pretty debilitating tbh. I doubt he will be able to play if he has infection. High temp, inability to drink. Even with paracetamol it throughs you out of whack. Recovery might be quicker for an athlete, but are still looking at a week at least.

 

I think Alexander said that Humphyrs has been having issues with his tonsils for a while, he's had a few random issues with them for a year or so and needs surgery. Fairly certain they said he had his tonsil surgery planned shortly.