Newcastle United - December 2010

Hi all and welcome back to the latest installment of my Newcastle United story. After a mixed December I was looking to get a run of wins on the bounce. The first game of the month was against Spurs at home then a trip to Anfield to face Liverpool then an away game against Bolton followed by two home games against Chelsea and the Tyne-Tees deby to face Sunderland.

v Spurs (h) Barclays Premiership

The first game of the month saw us play Tottenham Hotspur who are one of the teasm that are chasing the european places and I was expecting this to have a good tempo to the game. It was an even first half with both teams creating chance but netiher could take their chances. It took until the 54th minute of the match for the first goal to be scored and it was the visiting team who were ahead thought Aaron Lennon. A good cross from Luka Modric seemed to evade everyone apart from Lennon and he had a simple tap in to make it 1-0. The final whistle had gone and my run of bad form had continued. Hopefully I can turn things round in my next game against Liverpool at Anfield.

v Liverpool (a) Barclays Premiership

It was now three straight defeats and I needed to start getting back into the habit of winning but had a tough encounter against Liverpool and I knew it was going to be something special to win today. Liverpool did take the lead when Alberto Aqualini's shot took a slight deflection off Taylor and wrong footed Consigli, Liverpool were winning 1-0 ahead. I started to create more chances in the second half and was starting to think that I could knick a point here. My wish was then shattered in the last five minutes of the game when Milan Jovanovic slipped free on his marking to slide the ball into a empty net. I was dissapointed with the end result as I felt in the last ten minutes that we were the better side. Next up was Bolton at the Reebok.

v Bolton (a) Barclays Premiership

I now faced a game against Bolton Wanderers and this was the game that I felt could get the winning run back on. That seemed less of a reality when Bolton took the lead halfway through the first half with Johan Elmander getting the goal. A mistake by Burdisso let in Elmander and he cooly chipped the ball over the keeper to give Bolton the lead. I needing a immediate response and I got one straight from the kick off. A long range effort from Davi hit the post but it was the ever reliable Macheda who was on hand to pick up the pieces and slot the ball home. I think that after that goal both teams felt that a draw was a good result as neither made any real threatening chances. I will take this final result but I am still without a win this month and my next game is agianst Chelsea. (things just dont get any better do they)

v Chelsea (h) Barclays Premiership

Wiith no win in five I needed a return to form but I was unlikely to get it in this game as I was facing a Chelsea side who were top of the table and had not lost a signle game so far this season. So you could imagine the joy on my face when Andy Carroll's trademark headers gave my Newcastle team the lead. After this goal I turned the teams philosophy to counter attack to try and restrict the Chelsea chances and to possibly grab a goal on the break. This seemed to work until Didier Drogba scored the equailser 10 minutes later with a near spitting image of the header that Carroll scored. Normal service resumed after the second half when unsuprisingly Chelsea took the lead when Frank Lampard's drilled shot nestled into the bottom corner of the Newcastle goal. I decided that I had nothing to lose after this goal and put my team on the offensive. With just ten minutes left to play we scored again and the scorer for the second time today was Andy Carroll. His goal was a brilliantly curled effort from the edge of the box the score was 2-2. The final whistle blew and I was delighted with the performance as we managed to grap an unlikely goal to draw with Chelsea. Special praise has to go to Carroll, he is down he pecking order in the starting line-up behind Okaka and Macheda but he has proved to be a valuable assett and has scored in most of the games he has started in. Hopefully my players can take confidence in this result and win the Tyne-Tees derby at St. James against Sunderland in the next league game. 

v Sunderland (h) Barclays Premiership

This was the last game of the month and probabally the most important game for a Newcastle fan in a season. The home game against their most hated rivals Sunderland. I was hoping for a carnival atmostphere from the fans to spur on my players and this seemed to work as we took the lead in the 3rd minute of the match. A through ball from Danny Guthrie saw Okaka pick up the ball on the edge of the box and a bullet strike fired Newcastle into a lead infront of the Leazes End. It was certainy turning into a derby day game with a lot of rash tackles and bookings but things got even better of the team in black and white when Alan Smith's pass fell to Gosling and he had time to pick his spot and place the ball into the back of the net to take Newcastle into a 2-0 half time lead. I felt hat I needed to keep it tight for 5-10 inutes in the second half but Sunderland got one goal back through Kenwyne Jones. He outmuscled Coloccini in a 50-50 and took full advantage of the chance presented to him and Suderland found themselves back in the game. Lukily for me they couldn't create any more chances and the game finished 2-1.

December Results

After a poor start to the month I really turned it round after the Bolton game and got a brilliant point against Chelsea and derby win against Sunderland.
League Table

This month saw us slip down the league ito 10th and I was hoping for better in Janurary to move back up the table.

Thanks for reading, next post will be here soon

Warren