It is often said that a true measure of any person is how they respond in the face of adversity. Some of us are candid enough to admit that they don’t handle pressure particularly well.  As Alan Partridge once confessed “Anyone who knows me professionally will know that under pressure my work does suffer”;  yet others seem to thrive on it.  At Newcastle we perhaps discovered that about many of our players in the aftermath of relegation in 2009.  At that point the rats/sinking ship analogy was given a sick note and signed off for 6 months due to exhaustion from overuse.  Yet as much as the likes of Duff, Owen, Martins and Bassong showed their true character, we also got to see the true mettle of players like Nolan, Smith, Coloccini, Harper, Gutierrez and others.  None of them had done a great deal to impress up to that point but the strength of their character as individuals played a huge part in our ability to come straight back up and deliver a decent first season back in the top flight.

There was something of a changing of the guard in that respect just under two years ago.  The “big characters” were moved on or found themselves marginalised.  The nature of the dressing room changed and in Coloccini we had a captain who led with calm authority.  Not one for barking instructions or putting a rocket up the arse of an underperforming team-mate, Coloccini’s style as captain has been to lead by example.  Yes, we were lucky to be relatively injury-free last season but the fact is in 29 of our 38 league games we either kept a clean sheet or conceded just 1 goal.  That comes from having a well-organised defensive unit.  It cannot be overstated just how important Coloccini was as part of that, both as a player and as a personality.

You can even trace that form through to this season.  Far be it from me to speculate as to exactly what has gone on in Coloccini’s personal life but it’s hard not to look at the Liverpool away game in early November as some sort of turning point.  Up to then, while we hadn’t been brilliant this season we’d looked fairly solid at the back barring the Man United home game – but I’m going to file that one away under “Shane Ferguson at left back”.

By the time Coloccini returned to the side things were starting to unravel horribly.  Shipping 20 goals in 8 games, the defence looked to be a complete shambles, with our captain being one of the worst offenders.  Stories emerged about problems in his personal life and we slowly had to come to terms with the compromise that we were going to lose him at the end of the season.  Gradually, with his future at the club apparently resolved, Coloccini seemed to return to form and up until his injury against Southampton, the defence started to look a little bit sturdier once again.

However, that most recent absence seemed to coincide with the team beginning to fall apart at the seams.  Stories of Pardew “losing the dressing room”, cliques, instability and general unrest. In the aftermath of farcical displays against Man City, Sunderland and Liverpool the silence from the players was deafening.  Pardew increasingly a lone voice at the club, aside from the obligatory “We’re gonna win next weekend for the fans” soundbites every week from Shola and Taylor.  It wasn’t just media silence, either.  Anyone watching the Liverpool game, for example, could clearly see that it was no ordinary defeat – this was more than just a bad day at the office.  Players were hiding, they weren’t talking to each other, heads were dropping and no one on the pitch was doing anything to lift their team-mates.  It dawned on me after that particular game that we’d pretty much gone through an entire season without hearing from any of the club’s nominated captains.  Coloccini retreated completely post-November.  Meanwhile other than a few quotes about his own personal exhaustion/depression issues, Yohan Cabaye has basically maintained a very low profile at a time when the club appeared to be in freefall.

Coloccini’s back injury, coupled with the widely-held assumption that he’ll get his wish to return to Argentina this summer, offered Cabaye a window of opportunity – an audition, if you like – to prove himself as a captain.  He seems the obvious choice in so many ways: regular first choice player, at the heart of the team, respected (seemingly) by our French (and non-French) contingent – lots of boxes ticked.  Yet, and perhaps I’m being harsh, I feel that he’s failed his audition.  Just as the team last season seemed to reflect the calm authority of its captain, the team this season has reflected both Coloccini’s chaotic state of mind in the winter and, more recently, the apparent tendency for Cabaye’s head to drop in the face of adversity.  Things might be better next season, but that Alan Partridge quote does appear to apply to Wor Yohan to some extent.

Yet, looking around the squad, the alternatives don’t exactly jump out at you.  The manic, constantly suspended/injured Tiote?  The chaotic gung-ho Steven Taylor?  The omnipresent Shola?  The barely-speaks-a-word-of-English Sissoko or Cisse?  Gutierrez would perhaps be a contender but he doesn’t appear to have either the motivational power of Nolan or the serene aura of Coloccini.

While much has been made of nationality in recent weeks, perhaps it’s character and personality where the real issue is.  Effectively this then becomes the main focal point of our summer recruitment.  If Coloccini is on his way, we need more “captains” playing for us each week.  Otherwise a bad start to next season will prove extremely difficult to turn round.

Author: Paul McIntosh

Follow Paul on Twitter @mcintoshpaul

On Thursday this week the nation’s press will get an opportunity to meet Alan Pardew for the press conference ahead of the West Ham game. Once the horror show against Liverpool has been discussed, talk will turn to player availability for the coming weekend. The excitement will be palpable as we find out which of our knackered players are getting closer to that long-awaited comeback. In other words, it’s Thursday, it’s five to two, it’s time for Knackerjack. A little reference for the teenagers, there…

As is often the case when teams have a disappointing season, the number of crocks in the squad is one of the first lines of defence. Undeniably it has been a factor, certainly compared to last season when Krul, Simpson, Coloccini, Cabaye, Gutierrez and Ba all managed at least 32 league starts and even Williamson’s return to fitness dovetailed almost perfectly with Steven Taylor’s achilles injury.  The fact is, injuries barely played a part last season at all.  Competing in the sphere of tiny margins as we are, it made a huge difference. Look back through last season’s league games and see how many you can pick out as being truly impressive, exciting victories.  Maybe half a dozen, several of which were when Cisse & Ben Arfa hit top form in March/April.  Much of what was achieved last season was based on grafting and grinding out points.  Taking a battering at Loftus Road, Ewood Park and Old Trafford but escaping with a result, for example.  Keeping 19 clean sheets in the process.

Consistent team selection was vital in turning defeats into draws and draws into wins: that’s not rocket science, just as it’s no great revelation to point out that when injuries do bite as they have this season you soon see the impact on results and, eventually, confidence.  The hope back in the summer was that our squad players – largely untested last season – would be a year older, a year wiser and ready to step up if needed.  What we’ve since learned is the likes of Ferguson, Tavernier, Sammy Ameobi and Bigirimana simply aren’t up to the job, at least not yet.

While injuries can’t be cited as the sole reason for a season of disappointment it would be churlish not to recognise them as being an issue . What is slightly more difficult to ascertain is how well the injuries themselves are being handled by the club.

Let’s look at some examples.  Here’s a string of numbers for you: 1, 3, 7, 3, 4, 1, 1.  Those numbers represent runs of consecutive league games Cheick Tiote has managed this season.  His most recent unexplained knock caused him to miss the game at West Brom ending his “run” of one game.  That run consisted of his lethargic, rusty display against Sunderland a week earlier.  We know from experience that Tiote takes a good 2-3 games to get fully “warmed up” after an absence.  Perhaps it is nothing more than bad luck.  Perhaps he really has had seven separate injuries in eight months.  Probably nothing more than mischief-making to suggest his injuries are being mis-managed.

How about Hatem Ben Arfa?  His hamstring strain in late November seemed to be a bad one.  Little was said about an expected recovery date.  Then, out of the blue, less than three weeks later he’s back and scoring at Craven Cottage.  Subbed on 70 minutes “to protect him for the coming games” according to Pardew.  We didn’t see him again for three months.  Back he came, again somewhat out of the blue, and straight into the starting XI on the plastic pitch of the freezing Luzhniki Stadium.  Again subbed in the second half, again he disappears for weeks afterwards.  Over a month later – he reappears once more for the game at home to Benfica.  Looking decidedly out of shape, “Fatem” has now made four consecutive cameos and is apparently “on the verge” of starting a game.

Davide Santon; tweaks his hamstring at the (real) Stadium of Light, appears in the starting XI against Fulham three days later, lasts 17 minutes before his hamstring goes completely and his season is over.

Fabricio Coloccini; Another vague prognosis following bone damage in his back. “In contention” for the Sunderland game. “Pencilled in” for the West Brom game. “Return postponed” until the Liverpool game.  It goes without saying he missed that one too.  Who knows, maybe he could have helped keep it down to 5-0…

Ryan Taylor; desperately unlucky to sustain a horror injury back in August.  Back in training this month, building up fitness, when a relapse effectively rules him out of the whole of NEXT season.

Yohan Cabaye; Started the season slowly (after 20 minutes of pre-season game time), missed the horror run of winter form but is now back in the side playing every week despite looking utterly wrecked in the second half whenever he plays.  It’s worth noting that we’ve picked up an average of 1.32 points per game when Cabaye starts. Contrast that with 0.62 per game when he’s absent and you can understand the temptation to pick him every time.  However, whether he’s carrying an injury or simply lacking in stamina there’s no denying that he looks shot after an hour or so whenever he’s played lately.

I have to reiterate that this could all be nothing but bad luck.  However, what’s consistently frustrating from a fan’s point of view is the lack of information (or indeed sheer misinformation) that comes from the club.  Are the medical staff handling the injuries properly?  Are these delayed returns because the rehabilitation isn’t as it should be?  Is Pardew deliberately withholding information in order to facilitate “surprise” returns like those of Ben Arfa?  Does Pardew even know when players are due to come back?  Is it club policy not to announce when they expect a player back from injury?

One thing that’s true of all football fans, particularly when things aren’t going well, is that they want honesty and clarity from their club.  Maybe I’m not reading the right newspapers but I truly don’t know exactly what has been wrong with Tiote this season.  I have no idea what led the club to believe that Coloccini might have been almost ready three weeks ago when he’s now a “probable” for the trip to West Ham.  No one really seems sure why Ben Arfa was deemed fit to play that game in Russia (taking a month to recover) when anyone in the world could see it was a risk.

The problem when information is withheld or when information is vague is that it gives the impression you don’t really know what’s going on.  At a time when growing numbers are questioning Alan Pardew’s ability to do his job I feel that this is one area where he, and the club as a whole, could claw back some ground with the fans.  A bit of clarity and openness around the injuries within the squad would have perhaps increased faith in the job Pardew is doing.  It might even have encouraged a bit more sympathy for his plight – something he could really do with just now…

Author: Paul McIntosh

Follow Paul on Twitter @mcintoshpaul

This time last year Newcastle were on an upward trajectory.‭ ‬They’d built on a good start based on defensive stability,‭ ‬added some flair and clinical finishing,‭ ‬and maintained their position in the pack chasing the leaders.‭ ‬They’d found a way to play that was effective and suited the personnel,‭ ‬and were pushing for Champions League qualification.‭ ‬Punching at their weight for the first time in years,‭ ‬the club finally seemed to have staff in key areas who were good at their jobs and working together to achieve common goals.

All that has fallen away over the course‭ ‬of a season which has got worse the longer it has gone on.‭ ‬Even if relegation is avoided this term,‭ ‬a continuation of form will rule out a second escape next year.‭ ‬The trajectory the club is following now is one of an airliner that’s lost its bearings,‭ ‬powerdiving towards the sea.‭ We’re assured‬ those on board aren’t following the instruments blissfully unaware of what’s approaching,‭ but are they‬ looking out of the windows powerless and panicking‭? ‬Either way a change of direction is paramount.

Those few short months‭ ‬have changed the club for the worse.‭ ‬A disappointing summer ended‭ ‬with insufficient reinforcements added to allow the squad to challenge in all competitions.‭ ‬Put another way,‭ ‬the deficiencies of the squad meant that performances in one competition had to suffer to enable progress in another.‭ ‬Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse were swapped from last season,‭ ‬Cisse playing wide with Ba central,‭ ‬in an attempt to keep Ba happy.‭  ‬The switch wasn’t successful in terms of results,‭ ‬and Ba left in January anyway,‭ ‬by which time Cisse had lost the form which had made the side so dangerous in the second half of last season.‭ ‬This contributed to Alan Pardew’s major problem,‭ ‬that tactics which had worked well last season stopped being as effective.‭ ‬Playing on the break away from home failed when at one end of the field the defence was less stable and thus less solid,‭ ‬and at the other the attack’s efficiency,‭ ‬the ability to take more chances than they missed,‭ ‬was reduced too.‭ ‬Newcastle’s away form has been woeful.‭ ‬One win all season in the league,‭ ‬9‭ ‬points from a possible‭ ‬51,‭ ‬is the record of a team not just in trouble but dangling below the trapdoor.‭ ‬Without the three last gasp league game winners at home they would already be deep in trouble.

The heavy derby defeat has focused attention on Alan Pardew.‭ ‬He’s claimed the criticism both of himself and the team since has been unfair.‭ I agree in the sense that a derby thrashing like that necessarily results in reactions being over the top. It doesn’t follow that severe criticism is unjustified however, just that the end of the world many speak of is yet to happen. ‬My own experience of the criticism flying around is that it’s mainly aimed at him, though the players haven’t been entirely immune.‭ ‬We have good players,‭ ‬it’s generally agreed,‭ ‬but we’re regularly outplayed by sides which look less accomplished on paper.‭ ‬This strand of thinking concludes that this has to be the manager’s fault.‭ ‬A new manager would provide a silver bullet for the problems,‭ ‬either through being more tactically astute or by motivating the side better.

‏As far as motivation goes, good players don’t need a Churchill speech barked at them and to kick a chicken round the dressing room before they’re effective. They just need to be presented with a coherent game plan which they believe in. On the other hand, as Alex Ferguson once said “‬A manager can talk about tactics but if the players can’t bring that inner beast out of them then he is wasting his time.‭” A manager isn’t responsible for dragging aggression and energy from his charges, the players themselves should be expected to provide that. Where motivation becomes a problem is when players refuse to perform for a manager they either dislike or don’t respect. Recall the change between Alan Shearer under Ruud Gullit and in Bobby Robson’s first home game in charge. Ineffective for some time transformed into 5-goal superhuman in a couple of weeks. Was the Divine Elbow not trying previously or just so exasperated with a manager he didn’t respect that he’d lost his way? I don’t think Pardew has lost his dressing room, the regularity of last-minute goals pointing towards a team trying to the last, but you’d have to be a member of that group to know for sure. The sea change in Sunderland’s results under Paulo Di Canio from the stagnation of Martin O’Neill shows what a fresh approach or a clean slate (in a footballing sense anyway) can achieve. We won’t find out in their case until next season if it’s a dead cat bounce or a sustainable improvement. My own guess is that the latter is driven in the long term by squad improvement rather than motivational techniques or tactical gambits. After all, didn’t O’Neill himself oversee a remarkable change of form on his arrival, only to see it gradually ebb away?

‏If that is true, don’t the players have to carry a large proportion of any can going? We’ve convinced ourselves over time that Graham Carr possesses a magic touch in the transfer market, and taking into account the amount of money most of our recent signings have cost he probably does. Could it be that they’re not quite as good as we all think though? Players have been bought, albeit too late to allow an assault on the whole season, without making enough of an impact.

‏In all this Pardew doesn’t escape censure. He hasn’t been able to gain enough of an improvement from the new recruits. An over-cautious approach invites bad teams up the pitch to attack us. A refusal to play some players or to drop others means we rarely have an-form 11 on the field. An insistence on sticking to favoured formations when the personnel they suit are unavailable has been unproductive. He’s unable to change tactics during a game when they evidently aren’t working. Notwithstanding this, the suggestion that all fault can be laid at his door is unrealistic. I expect him to still be in charge in August, so long as relegation is avoided, the club having repeatedly stated its aim of stability. For the club to prosper next season, there needs to be a more successful summer than last year in terms of recruitment, the players need to step up their level of performance, and Pardew himself needs to address his own weaknesses. It’s asking a lot, but if any of those three strands of the club fail to deliver than change will become necessary.

Author: Mark Brophy

Website: http://markbrophy.wordpress.com/ for a back catalogue of Mark’s writing.

Follow Mark on Twitter @mark_brophy

The FA have announced that no retrospective action is possible on Callum McManaman’s “coming together” with Massadio Haidara in Sunday’s Wigan v Newcastle fixture which left Haidara in hospital, the extent of his injuries as yet unconfirmed. Newcastle and Haidara’s sense of injustice, though enhanced by a performance from referee Mark Halsey which could most charitably be described as incompetent, is based not on displeasure at losing the game. All teams have suffered decisions which have lost them a game here, or a game there. These things do not even themselves out over a season as goes the comfort of the soft-headed, but even so all have fallen victim at one time or another. No, the injustice arises from the tackle, from falling victim to something so evidently, demonstrably wrong and that wrong then going unpunished both on the pitch and off it.

Explaining their standpoint, the FA released a statement:

…in the summer, it was agreed that retrospective action should only be taken in respect of incidents which have not been seen by the match officials.

Where one of the officials has seen a coming together of players, no retrospective action should be taken, regardless of whether he or she witnessed the full or particular nature of the challenge. This is to avoid the re-refereeing of incidents.

In the case of McManaman, it has been confirmed that at least one of the match officials saw the coming together, though not the full extent of the challenge. In these circumstances retrospective action cannot be taken.

Their rule, and it is theirs’ alone, not FIFA’s or UEFA’s, has a gaping hole at its heart. Retrospective action cannot be taken if the match officials have seen the incident. Even if, as in this case, no official saw clearly the full extent of the challenge. In effect the officials have seen the offence enough for there to be no comeback after the event, yet not enough to deal with it at the time. As stated, this is to prevent officials’ decisions being revisited. It certainly isn’t meant to ensure justice is done, if anything this rule is designed to enable the FA to shirk away from confronting mistakes and having to correct them. In this, as in so many other things, the FA fall down in the execution of their responsibilities, and what is worse they do it by choice. They seem to believe that the authority of officials must be protected above all else, even when faced with evidence that this authority has been used incorrectly.

A lot has been said in defence of the tackle itself. There have been a few main threads of this defence. Firstly, McManaman got the ball first before following through into Haidara. Secondly, there was no intent to harm him. Thirdly, McManaman’s youth, the fact he was making his full debut and his fine personal qualities mean we should give him some leeway on this. Finally, these things happen in football and we should all move on.

Any contact with the ball before striking Haidara was fleeting and incidental. Haidara’s only chance of escaping injury was to leap out of the way, something he was unable to do. McManaman was always going to fly into his opponent whether he got the ball or not. The factors which turn a foul deserving of a booking into a straight red are recklessness in endangering your opponent, and the use of undue force in the tackle. I’d argue both those criteria were met in the tackle on Haidara, and that means it doesn’t matter how much of the ball he got.

The arguments regarding the intent in the tackle are puzzling. How can anyone know the intent in McManaman’s mind as he decided to make the challenge? It looked to me like he meant to leave his mark on his opponent at the very least, but that’s my opinion, one I know many will disagree with in the North-West. More importantly his intent and my or anyone else’s opinion on it doesn’t really matter. A footballer has a duty of care, one not to endanger an opponent. By hurling himself into the challenge in this way, McManaman did endanger Haidara. Whether the harm was premeditated or not, it might as well have been because he chose to ignore his duty not to risk the health of his opponent. I’d compare it to drink-driving (obviously not in the scale of its effects). When you choose to drink and drive you relinquish your right to claim you didn’t mean to harm anyone should the worst happen and this is the same.

McManaman’s youth and the fact it was his first Premier League appearance is neither here nor there. He could easily have made it Haidara’s last. Yes, his circumstances will have made him more excited than others on the pitch, but every single player on that pitch at one time made their debut as a youngster and not many of them will have done anything like this. I’m sure he’s full of remorse now, and no doubt helps old ladies across the road when he can. The idea that his character is somehow divorced from his actions is bizarre. He is that kind of player. We have nothing else to go on but what he has done, and 1 hospitalization per Premier League start is one hell of a ratio.

These things do, of course, periodically occur in football. That’s no reason not to criticize and to punish when it does. Much of this might come across as an attack on McManaman himself, but that’s not the purpose of this. He made a bad decision, and should have been punished for it. That’s it as far as he goes. The arguments made here are more against the crass excuses made for him and for everyone who ever finds themselves in his situation. For the part of the FA, does anyone think their governance and disciplinary procedures are anything other than chaotic? Every time a question is asked of the FA they come up short, on any subject it seems. If change is provoked by this then maybe something of worth can be salvaged from a situation which up to now has had nothing to redeem it.

Author: Mark Brophy

Website: http://markbrophy.wordpress.com/ for a back catalogue of Mark’s writing.

Follow Mark on Twitter @mark_brophy

Even at the height of summer, no-one ever goes to Kharkiv for the scenery. Cossack outpost-cum-provincial Russian town-cum-Soviet centre of science, Ukraine’s second city – forty kilometres south of Russia but almost five hundred east of Kiev – was the inaugural capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the birthplace of the T-34 tank and the spot where the atom was split for the first time outside the USA.  Its strategic industries also made it one of the most fiercely contested battlegrounds of the Second World War: by the time the Red Army and the Wermacht had finished their extirpative to and fro in August 1943 seventy percent of the city’s buildings were nothing more than rubble.

Hardened by Stalin’s forced collectivisation and a devastating pre-war famine, the city was soon back on its feet, the millionth tractor rolling off the production lines at the famed Kharkiv Tractor Factory one year before Newcastle United made their first venture into Europe by virtue of a midtable finish and the one-city-one-club rule.  While Kharkiv remained a giant of Soviet industry, its biggest football team was a resolutely middling affair.  Metalist spent only four seasons in the Soviet Top League prior to 1981, and their USSR Cup win over Torpedo Moscow seven years later remains the club’s only major honour to date.

Independence brought a downturn in fortunes both on and off the pitch. “Kharkov was freezing,” the novelist Andrey Kurkov wrote in 1996. “The buildings loomed grey over the pavement.  Everyone was in a hurry, as if afraid of finding their block on the verge of collapsing or shedding its balconies.”   Metalist, relegated from the top-flight in 1994 and 2003, had achieved nothing of note besides an appearance in the final of the 1992 Ukrainian Cup when Oleksandr Yaroslavsky arrived in 2004.  Persuaded to invest in football by Donetsk owner Rinat Akhmetov, Yaroslavsky took a Shakhtar-lite approach to building his team, pumping $500 million into the club and signing up a phalanx of Balkan and South American talent. Marko Dević, a naturalised Serbian, formed a tripartite goal threat with the Argentinean internationals Jonathan Cristaldo and Sebastian Blanco. Fininho, Jaja, Taison, Marlos, Cleiton Xavier and Wilian Gomes came from Brazil, while four more Argentines, the defenders Christian Villagra and Marco Torsiglieri, holding midfielder Chaco Torres and skipper Jose Ernesto Sosa, capped 18 times for his country and once of Napoli and Bayern Munich, Senagalese centre-back Papa Gueye and the Serbian Milan Obradović would eventually form the core of a side which has finished third behind Shakhtar and Dynamo Kiev in each of the past six seasons, and smashed Red Bull Salzburg 8-1 on aggregate en route to the quarter-final of last year’s Europa League.

Taison – adeus…

Since then Kharkiv have lost Dević and Taison to Shakhtar for a combined £17 million, and Yaroslavsky to a spat with the city council over ownership of the 40,000-capacity Metalist Stadium, which was expensively redeveloped in time for Euro 2012.  “I invested not only money, but also a part of my heart and soul,” Yaroslavsky said in a Christmas Eve statement which blamed the “incomprehensible grievances” of the local authorities.  For his part, Mayor Hennadiy Kernes suggested a more probable cause was “money, financial gains and the unclear situation with fixed matches,” referring to a 4-0 win over Karpaty Lviv in 2007-08 which is still being investigated by the CAS in Lausanne.  The new owner, Gas Ukraine executive Serhiy Kurchenko, has promised “the title within three years and a European trophy within five” and is already negotiating to buy out the city’s stake in the stadium.  New supporter initiatives include paying for 500 fans to attend the first-leg at St James’ Park, while Ukraine internationals Oleg Krasnoperov (ineligible for the EL), a midfielder formerly with Vorskla Poltava, and Bogdan Shust, back-up goalkeeper as Shakhtar won three titles and the UEFA Cup between 2005 and 2009, have been added to a squad which is currently fourth in the domestic league, just two points behind second-placed Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk.

Although Taison was arguably the pick of Metalist’s South American contingent, his replacement, Jaja, scored thirty goals in sixty-one appearances in his previous stint at the club, including this strike (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxR3NyI3NgY) against Besiktas in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup.  Coach since 2005, Myron Markevich briefly took the helm of the national side in 2010 and favours a fluid, attacking style of football which has seen his side average almost two goals a game in their eighteen league matches this season.  In Kharkiv, Markevich’s preferred shape is likely to be 4-3-3 with any two of Marlos, Willian Gomes and Jaja regularly interchanging positions with Cristaldo, top-scorer this season with 12 goals, Cleiton Xavier playing the Cabaye role, Sosa the pivot in midfield and Edmar, Brazilian born but naturalised Ukrainian, moving somewhere between the two.  37-year-old Oleksandr Goryainov will almost certainly start in goal, behind a back four which has latterly consisted of Gueye alongside either Torsiglieri or Andriy Berezovchuk, with Villagra at right back and Fininho or Sergiy Pshenychnykh on the left. Essentially, it’s a Latin American team in eastern Ukraine playing a Gallic one from north-east England.  For the first leg, Oleg Shelayev might be drafted in to combat Tiote and/or Sissoko, though Markevich does have form for dispensing with a midfield anchor altogether.

Before their spate of January signings, Newcastle would have most likely been picked apart in midfield and out-manoeuvred in defence.  Now, with Metalist hampered by the long winter break – they won’t have played competitively since losing 1-0 to Rapid Vienna on December 6th and have recently been on winter training camps in Dubai and Valencia  – I make us favourites to go through – narrowly.

If you’re travelling to Kharkiv, the Metalist Stadium is two stops from the city centre or four from the railway station, beside Metrobudivnykiv and Sportyvna stations (tokens cost 2UAH (about 15p) from machines at station entrances).  Sumskaya is the city’s elongated answer to Northumberland Street, bending north from  the museums and cathedrals at Konstytutsiyi Square (Instorychny Muzei Metro) and continuing past Ploshcha Svobody (Freedom Square; Universytet or Derzhprom Metro), which has the USSR’s first high-rise building, thousands of square metres of concrete and monumental statues to Lenin and Shevchenko (Taras, Ukraine’s national poet, and not Andrei, Chelsea’s biggest flop pre-Fernando Torres).  With 100,000 students at the city’s universities, Kharkiv isn’t short on pubs.  Shato, on Ploshcha Svobody, and Starogrod (Pushkinskaya Metro) both brew their own beer. Churchill’s Music Pub, near Arkhitektora Beketova Metro on Darvina Street, is a cellar bar with live music, and there is, of course,  more than one faux-Irish pub to choose from.  Go Kharkov (http://www.go-kharkov.com/best-places-in-kharkov/#comment-228) has the best, and most up-to-date, listings.  На здоровье and Howay the lads!

Author: Michael Hudson

Website: The Accidental Groundhopper

Bio: The day I finally accepted I was never going to be even half as talented on the football pitch as Archie Gourlay I decided to do the next best thing and follow Newcastle United wherever they played. After moving abroad, I’ve since followed wildly unsuccessful football teams around South Korea, Japan, Italy, Latvia, Czech Republic and Ukraine. Still to see any of them win a trophy. Beginning to think it might be me.

You can also find Michael and his vast knowledge of football on twitter: @DolphinHotel

January the 19th – Newcastle United 1 Reading 2. The 12th league defeat of the season – 21 points tallied in 23 games – the Magpies spiralling uncontrollably towards relegation.

On the back of such a valiant but fruitless Christmas period, the importance of the fixtures in January grew exponentially.  Point(s) against Everton was squandered in a game where little was expected – a dour draw against Norwich provided only small relief in points and morale.

Defeat to Reading was suicidal by Newcastle; a mixture of woeful performances on the field and management on the touch line conspiring to gift a first away win of the season to a side as poor as any to visit St James’ in recent years. The weaknesses were painfully visible: ‘the asset’ is looking in serious danger.

Bluntly, relegation this season would be a catastrophe for NUFC – the inevitable stripping of the far more tangible assets that were on offer in 2009 promising to be as brutal as that which occurred to Leeds during their demise.  But this season also holds the addition peril of being the last in which the current PL TV deal stands – a huge increase in revenue set to begin in the 2013/14 season only serving to increase the gap between 1st and 2nd tier football.

The gamble wagered in pre-season has failed alarmingly, and the potential danger was clear.  The speed of Newcastle’s quadruple acquisition in the week previous has undoubtedly taken everyone by surprise – but when considering the logic of spending in the region of £15m on badly needed players, or face a very real threat of ‘the asset’ (viewed from strictly business eyes) being devalued to an extent from which it would be almost unrecoverable, Ashley’s dusting off of the cheque book becomes very understandable.  Solace can be taken in there being a reaction from the board, but this is bluntly their last opportunity to right the wrongs of their own policy this summer (apportioning much, but not the entire blame for our current plight). The losses of the original gamble have left us facing elimination – and as such we are now ‘all in’.

Alan Pardew, having regularly bemoaned the quality at his disposal, reputedly now has a squad far more appropriate for the demands of the Premier League, save for his trump card of Demba Ba.  Naturally, Pardew’s job will be to integrate these signings into usable and useful players in a very short time – but more over there is no time like the present to take a frank look at his own tactical and team selection decisions.  Jeers of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ may have been met with gestured retaliation from Pardew – delivering his own swipe at the ‘negativity’ in the post-apocalyptic landscape of the Reading defeat, but he can no longer deliver such tenuous excuses and ‘admit’ to mistakes he frankly shouldn’t be making in the first place.  Faith in him may have been battered en-masse, but he remains Newcastle manager and it is now up to him to restore both competence and confidence in the playing aspect of the club.

Tomorrow Newcastle travel to Aston Villa – a club rock bottom on confidence and a point and a place below them in the league.  The artificial boost of confidence to NUFC provided by the new signings has swept through the rank and file of supporters, and win could spark in motion a long overdue recovery.   But equally, things could soon come crashing down if we were to face defeat in that very same fixture.

The chips have been moved across the table, and now we await the turn of the cards…

Coloccini had signed during the sole summer of Kevin Keegan’s second stint as manager and had a difficult first season as the club power-dived to relegation. He stayed when others would not and was able to regain form in the Championship, though whether he received any offers to leave which matched his wages at Newcastle after the season he’d just had would be interesting to know. Following promotion he maintained his newly-regained form and was one of the best centre-backs in the top division for the two years following. He was rewarded with an extended four-year contract last year in recognition of his importance to the side. This season has seen a dip in form from the high standards of the previous three years, though he’d still be classed as the top defensive performer in the squad.

The news that he wished to leave was therefore an unwelcome shock for the club. The personal reasons hinted at have as yet not been made public, and we don’t really need to know what they are, though they have been the subject of fevered speculation as all kinds of rumours spread. Suffice to say though, that he was most definitely not threatening to quit football altogether. San Lorenzo, the Argentinian club currently employing his father, were very keen to take Coloccini off Newcastle’s hands and made the fact known in the media. It seems they were Coloccini’s preferred destination should the 31-year-old return to his homeland. However they were apparently not involved in the negotiations as Coloccini attempted to secure his release from Newcastle and offered precisely nothing in terms of a fee. Perhaps they are going to go for Messi on the off chance next week. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that.

The negotiations therefore seem to have been between lawyers for the two parties and reportedly Newcastle’s insisted they would sue Coloccini for £7m, his supposed market value, should he walk out. This was enough to persuade Coloccini to stay, as we were told, until the end of the season at least.

It isn’t obvious what will be different then to now, however. If San Lorenzo had enough money to buy him and were willing to do so then they would have done it in the last week. They are obviously hoping that agitation to leave from the player will be enough to see him released from his contract. Coloccini himself must be aware that moving will result in a substantial wage cut so that cannot be a block to the deal, only the Argentine club’s inability to produce a fee acceptable to Newcastle. Perhaps they are hoping to negotiate a fee somewhere between £0 and £7m which they can afford in the summer, but they are not a club with cash to spare due to their efforts to buy back their ground, bought by the military government of the time in the 70s for a token fee

Likewise, Coloccini seems unlikely to act differently in the summer. He is evidently unwilling to buy out his own contract right now, and must have been advised that were he to be sued by Newcastle for breach of contract if he walked out, he would most probably lose. If he is unwilling to follow either course now then he won’t be in the summer either.

Finally, will Newcastle’s stance alter in a few short months? There’s been a suggestion that in return for not walking out now and helping the club climb away from yet another relegation battle, Newcastle will look more favourably on Coloccini’s desire to leave in the summer. The idea of the club brokering such a deal would seem feasible but for one thing, Mike Ashley’s focus on the balance sheet. We’ve all become aware that second guessing what he’ll do in any given situation is a fruitless task but if there’s one thing we can be sure of, it’s that he doesn’t volunteer to give money away that he doesn’t have to. If Newcastle didn’t have legal right on their side we’re led to believe Coloccini would already be gone forever. That legal right will still be Newcastle’s once the season is over and relegation has hopefully been avoided. That suggests Newcastle will still demand a sizeable fee then, which we have already seen neither Coloccini nor San Lorenzo are willing to meet.

Of course hanging onto a player against his will is never a good idea. But perhaps Coloccini’s need to leave will have altered by the end of the season. Perhaps the change in recruitment policy that’s resulted in a stream of new signings in the last week and the hopefully resultant upturn in results will help persuade him to stay. Whatever happens, should he end up leaving after all it would seem most likely to be to a club yet to be mentioned in this incipient saga.

Author: Mark Brophy

Website: http://markbrophy.wordpress.com/ for a back catalogue of Mark’s writing.

Follow Mark on Twitter @mark_brophy

No so long ago

What was your first match?  If you have been going since you were in nappies what was your first match memory?  Why have you kept going back?

The reason I pose those questions is I have been pretty disillusioned with going since walking out of the Spurs match in August, a fairly late winner against a team I don’t like (that’s all of them by the way) a lovely day and a few drinks with close friends and casual acquaintances alike, what’s not to like?

This is the crux of it, I don’t really enjoy going at the moment and I don’t think the team’s lack of form can be solely attributed to this, seeing as that day against Spurs I think we played quite well.  Go back to my original questions; for me it was a sense of belonging to something bigger than just me, aspiring to be like the older lads around me (who let’s face it were probably a bit younger than I am now) singing different songs every game, belting out old standards and forgetting about whatever problems they might have outside of the ground.  I don’t think that exists anymore for me.

If I bring myself back to the present day I look around what is one of the best grounds in the country and wonder what would make me want to go back on a regular basis if I was a young lad taken for the first time.  Starting with the players on the pitch I don’t think it can be argued that the current crop of players are streets ahead of some of our previous sides in terms of attitude and application, but I think it is a sorry state of affairs when not being a pack of irredeemable parasites is seen as a positive – for me it should be a given.  In terms of ability some of them are very good at what they do, see Ben Arfa, Ba, Coloccini and some not so much – sorry but Williamson, Perch, Ameobi, this means you lads – not to say they don’t try with the limited ability they have, but talents to get your heart racing they are not.  As has always been the case Newcastle United has bags of potential to be a successful club in this country, however due to a succession of circumstances I won’t go into here, as you all know what they are, this will never be the case, so please don’t think this is a lament that we’ll never win anything, I accepted that a long time ago.I’m not trying to discourage the people reading this from going to matches if that is what they want to do and I’m not saying that I won’t continue to go, but I am seriously questioning what it is that will motivate me to do that.

I’d be genuinely interested to hear people’s answers to the below questions.  I often look around at the people near me and wonder what answer they would give if they were to answer honestly as some of them seem to actively dislike it from the moment they set foot in the ground to when they leave.  These are purely speculative suggestions, but could imagine some, or a combination of these would fit the bill;

•    It is an escape from the ups and downs of my day to day life.
•    It is somewhere I can express myself, which isn’t always easy.
•    I’ve got nothing else to do with my free time so why not this?
•    I started coming when it was the fashionable thing to do and don’t want to stop now as that will be an admittance that I was a bandwagon jumper.
•    I love the football team and what it represents (if anyone picks that it opens a whole other question of what exactly it represents?  Tradition, a link to family who came here before me, I feel I belong here……..)
•    This is how I am defined by myself and others, I am happy with that and don’t want to change.
•    I’m not as fussed about what happens on the pitch as I used to be but all my mates go and as we’ve grown up this is a rare opportunity to see them socially.

It might not be an easy thing to answer, as we may give a different answer depending on what is going on in our lives at any given time, but I think it is worth asking yourself rather than just continuing to do something, just because it is what you have always done.

I know from my own experience probably the most I’ve looked forward to going to the match in recent years was when I had a perch (not you James) in Level 7 during the Championship and first season back in the Premier League, across those 2 seasons we went from winning most games to being completely unpredictable, dishing out some hidings and taking a few beatings along the way.  The contrasting emotions of what went on on the pitch across those seasons again suggests to me that what happens on the pitch isn’t the be all and end of all of why I enjoy going.  So what was different then?  Firstly the view of the game wasn’t great, but we were close enough to the away fans to see the whites of their eyes, bounce our songs off theirs and everyone who was there wanted to be part of making a bit of a racket.   This isn’t supposed to be a teary eyed lament for the days of Level 7 or a call for a return for the days when fighting with other supporters was the norm rather than the exception, but a bit of needle with like-minded souls from another part of the world to you was always welcome and sometimes a nice distraction from the match itself.

During last season when it became clear that en masse move to The Corner from Level 7 wasn’t going to be quite the same one of my friends sent me a video of Dortmund fans creating a huge flag display before a home game, very impressive it was and as we thought “we’ll have a little bit of that”.  So we got ourselves a couple of flags that now sit at the front of our little section, now when I see them they make me feel that we shouldn’t have to have these embellishments to make the match enjoyable, basically we’re trying too hard, trying to find something that isn’t there and deep down I’m a bit embarrassed by them (sorry lads).

FC United of Manchester fans

I find the idea of going to support another team a foreign concept, it’s either Newcastle United or nobody for me, but I do look on with some interest at the exploits of those who follow FC United of Manchester.  You could say it would be easy to walk away from a team who have lifted every major prize in your lifetime and do something else as it won’t ever get better, compared with clinging on to the hope that we’ll ever win anything, but I still imagine it would have taken some soul searching.  I follow some of these lads on twitter and while how we portray ourselves on there is often a caricature of our real selves, I get the sense that they enjoy it for the reasons I got hooked in the first place.

So, what else am I supposed to do and what is the answer to the question of why do I keep going back?  For me at present going to the match is purely an opportunity to see my friends and stopping this (with a baby on the way in the New Year) has the potential to very quickly turn me into a social leper.  That might happen, it might not, but I’m prepared to see how I feel about it so have passed on my ticket for a recent league game and I won’t be hanging around the pub watching on telly when everyone heads off to the ground.  This might seem a step too far for some of you reading this, but it is common sense that if you continue to do the things you’ve always done things will never change.  The outcome may be that I get feel I’ve missed out and can easily rekindle my enjoyment for the match by giving some games the swerve in an absence makes the heart grow fonder style, or realise that not going regularly anymore isn’t that big a deal for me and pick and choose what games I’m going to.

I don’t expect The Corner to turn into Dortmund’s Yellow Wall ever, so have to be realistic in my expectations and the recapturing of the simple pleasures that seem to go along with following FCUM has to be my aim, deep down I hope I can do that.

Author: Adam Forster

Follow Adam on Twitter @adamf2384

David approves.

Stoke 2 – 1 Newcastle.  The fourth league defeat in a row for the Magpies.  Seven goals conceded – two goals scored – zero points; from a run of fixtures which was expected to be Newcastle’s relief to a tricky first season quarter.  None of this is a secret…

Setting aside the safety second transfer policy adopted by the board in the preceding summer, the distinct 442 formation insisted upon by Alan Pardew has bore the brunt of many critics, even ourselves at an earlier stage in the season, here.  Whilst many of the views contained within that piece written in early September remain, there is an overriding thought that the current layout is still underachieving for the resource that has been available.

A 442 lives or dies by its strength on the flanks – the ability for one, or preferably both wings to stretch the opposition’s midfield and get behind their defence to deliver to the forward line.  Without width or an outlet on the flanks the ball is forced through the congested centre, or straight over the top to serve the front two – sound familiar?  The typical left side combination of Santon and Gutierrez fails in an attacking sense primarily through the pair being heavily reliant upon their right foot and unable to cross or cut inside without cutting back or leaving the ball exposed.   There is no quick knock and in-swinging cross available to them – no cut across the defender with the ball on the safer goal side.

The squeezed middle

The right side fairs no better.  The heavily enigmatic Hatem Ben Arfa has the potential to destroy a team on his own, but stationed at right wing has a very predictable tendency to cut inside onto his stronger foot.  Although his sheer brilliance has seen this performed to some effectiveness, teams have understandably looked to block off this avenue through a covering man – limiting Hatem’s ability to deliver from wide (again, forced onto his weaker foot) and in turn tightening / condensing the midfield / attack space by  his movement inside.  To compound problems, Ben Arfa has a compulsive preference to roam the field to find space and or generally follow the ball, occasionally leaving the right flank exposed to a nervy Danny Simpson and, again, the field narrowed.

With these basics in mind, it’s no surprise the strikers are squeezed and feeding off the very scraps of service.  The first step should be to balance to flanks and give it a fighting chance to deliver to the forward line, along with the ability to defend it already has.  At present, I believe NUFC wouldn’t go far wrong with a left side combination of Ferguson and Marveaux, and a right side of Santon and Ben Arfa / Jonas / Obertan – the latter depending upon Ben Arfa’s potential use as a free-role player to provide an alternative link between midfield and striker.  We only need look back to the devilishly simple but effective combination of Gillespie and Ginola (the former particularly simple) providing crosses for the powerhouse that was Les Ferdinand and the success it brought: you can argue the players available may have been slightly better suited, but was the system any more complicated than it needed to be?  Let’s take a few minutes to remind ourselves:

Resources may be finite, youngsters still learning, players still coming to terms with the English game but there is certainly enough ability there to increase our potency going forward and in turn our effectiveness as a team in the short term.

It can’t, and won’t be ignored, that this is only one part of a ball of problems contributing to our current plight – but NUFC cannot continue in their current stride as the football produced is undeniably ineffective against the most routine of opponents, the current dismal run only highlighting problems which have been visible for some time but left disappointingly unchecked.

NUFC can and will play better, more successful football again. But first they need to go back to basics.

As always, if you want our instant news and (kneejerk) reaction to anything Newcastle United or football related then follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/leazesterrace or on Facebook: www.facebook.com/leazesterrace

The recent return to the senior fold of both Nile Ranger and Xisco has seemed to some like a short term response to a temporary shortage in strikers. A telling comment on the molecule-thin squad at Newcastle, certainly, but no more than that. Can more be read into it?

Both Ranger and Xisco have been out of favour for so long they had ceased to be considered as options even. Ranger’s repeated off-field misdemeanours had led to Alan Pardew removing him from training with the first team, saying that he wouldn’t get another chance until he could be on time for a full six weeks. Pardew expressed doubt that Ranger would ever play for him again. He showed every indication of being someone who was on his way out of football for good.

Xisco has been out on loan pretty much permanently since 2009. Having been surplus to requirements for a number of years it seemed that he was neither rated nor wanted at the club, and his continued presence was purely a result of the club’s inability to move him on elsewhere.

Papiss Cisse’s form this season meanwhile has not just deserted him, it’s declared itself a conscientious objector and begun to campaign against the concept of goalscoring. Even so, the disastrous injuries in the midweek Europa League draw against Maritimo to both himself and Hatem Ben Arfa have left Newcastle’s striking roster looking as sparse as Nadine Dorries’ well-wishers list. For although Ben Arfa isn’t known as a front man he could certainly play as a second striker if required. Indeed many feel his best position might be playing through the middle off a central striker. Suffice to say that beyond the thankfully in-form Demba Ba we are now very quickly looking at the untried or at least the unproven. The broken body of Shola Ameobi apart, Sammy Ameobi and Adam Campbell might yet develop into top-class forwards but for now you wouldn’t be comfortable relying on them for long.

So it makes sense to bring back our previously unloved less-than-deadly duo doesn’t it? Both have at various times been good enough to represent their country at age-group level. Xisco never seemed to get a fair chance in my eyes before being shipped out, and it’s hard to deny that at a footballing level Ranger is worthy of selection, despite his lack of first-team goals. He’s genuinely troubled Premier League defences with his power, enthusiasm and physicality. I remember a Liverpool defence in particular being ruffled by him and his appearance from the bench turning the game in our favour in one of Andy Carroll’s last games for us. Cue Ranger’s selection in the first team squad for this weekend’s match with Southampton.

The injury crisis explanation falls down though when you consider that both Xisco and Ranger had been returned to the squad and indeed to playing for the senior squad, albeit in the reserves, some time earlier than the injuries happened. Looking beyond that then, it would seem that they’ve been restored to the squad for one reason only. Newly Nigerian Shola Ameobi is to play in the African Cup of Nations in early 2013, and will possibly be unavailable from early January to mid-February.  We’ll be a chip off Ba’s glass knee away from Ameobi minor and Campbell being possible first choicers. If Cisse’s lack of form and confidence continues until then, that will be a striker crisis which outstrips the current one by an order of magnitude. It is of course only luck rather than judgement which means Ba & Cisse themselves won’t be attending.

The only question which needs answering is whether Ranger and Xisco have been restored to favour merely to bolster the squad in case reinforcements cannot be rapidly recruited in early January, or whether they’re to be our front-line pairing possibly for over a month while the AcoN continues. Past transfer windows suggest to me that Mike Ashley does not usually contemplate paying over the odds for short-term fixes. Some regard his stance as a gamble, which sometimes comes off and sometimes does not. His view is definitely more long term than to buy someone for the sake of a month’s lost points. Whether you approve of it or not, get used to the idea of this pair in Newcastle shirts soon.

Author: Mark Brophy

Website: http://markbrophy.wordpress.com/ for a back catalogue of Mark’s writing.

Follow Mark on Twitter @mark_brophy