When a contributor reckoned at Salut! Sunderland last week that we might be in for a hammering at St James’ Park, he was shot down in the nearest thing to flames we get around here.
Well, it this wasn’t a hammering, we want to know what it was. Pete Sixsmith’s will doubtless expand on his tale of woe tomorrow. This was today’s diary of gloom (with interjections from the Blackcats list). It starts with gentle banter before descending into the darkness …
1115 About to leave the North east’s finest stadium for the landfill site
1215 Crossing the Tyne leaving civilisation behind
1230 Coming along Westgate Rd with cheering Mags welcoming us
1235 First sighting of the landfill site
1238 About to leave bus. Lots of friendly faces above bodies decked in black and white. Horses herd them into the Black Bull
1250 Entering the home of the Great Satan. I’m in. Now to scale the 138 steps
1315 Whimsical song being played about how wonderful Newcastle is. We await the arrival of the opera singing t***
1321 Opera singer has been sacked. Instead we have a folk group who would grace the Phoenix Club. Welcome to England’s tackiest club. H’away the Lads
THEN:
One down. Nolan
Two down. Atrocious defending. Nolan again. Could be a hammering
Horror show -Rob (Blackacats)
Three down. Ameobi pen. A display so awful words fail me
Bramble off
Four down. Ameobi
Five down. Nolan
Could see us being down to nine shortly – Rob (Blackcats)
What: 9-0? – Ian (Blackcats)
A complete embarrassment from start to finish
Gyan Bent has scored but just a little late
1600 We are held outside. Let us out!!!
1625 On the way home. Bring on the tablets and the vodka
1640 Crossing the Tyne. Away from the darkness at last
“Well I really think this has been on the cards for a few weeks now. The 4-5-1 formation was finally exposed along with our non-goalscoring, non-creative midfield, a right sided midfielder that can’t cross. Titus did exactly what I hoped he wouldn’t. The Mags will be gloating. But Stevie B, that’s what happens when you don’t pick your best players & play a formation that doesn’t capitalise on one of the best natural goalscorers in the PL. Add to that the booking & susequent suspensions, one of those bottom 3 places is looking perilously close. Next match will see Gordon & Richardson recalled as a minimum, but Gyan has to start, and anyone apart from Welbeck will do me. A gutless performance from players in a crap formation. Heads must roll….” – Ian Porter (Blackcats)
Being a Toon fan, obviously Sunday was a fantastic and quite sureal day. I can’t name one player that had a bad game and we controlled every area of the pitch for the entire 90 minutes which is extremely rare to see in the Premiership. Obviously great credit goes to Hughton and the players but the way in which S*nderland just folded without a fight was like watching England in the World Cup. No passion, no commitment, not one player playing to their potential and the same conclusions can be drawn from the world cup, you can hark on all day about tactics being right or wrong but at the end of the day its the players that let the team down, not the tactics. If the S*nderland players had matched the commitment and spirit shown by the Newcastle players the tactics may well have paid off, just like in the World Cup
As a toon fan, cant understand how Bruce can leave Gyan out, 13mill, outstanding world cup, on the bench. Cant help think that Bent and Gyan would have given us the run around as we struggle with pacey attackers.
I think Ferguson only agreed to Welbeck’s loan if he played a certain amount of matches, only way you can understand how he gets a game ahead of Gyan.
Agent Bruce Mission accomplished
reading the comments fromboth side,,
proud to be from the north east,, great site, great fans
you get to try and redeem your selfs in january,,
… Ohh wait what was the score 5-1 to the BEST and BIGGEST team in the north east. King Nolan hat-trick and shola double Yeooooooooooooo!
Gloating is permitted, Mark, babyish abuse is not. Hence the small edit to exclude your opening words – salutsunderland)
The thing is, Brucie has no plan ‘b’ – other than to throw money at the team. He spent however much on Gyan – a player I’d love to see playing for us- and keeps him on the bench! Only Gyan and Bent have scored for your lads – the 2 own goals aside – putting massive pressure on them. He needs to get the midfield scoring -and soon- or discontent will occur.
Oh…and as for the game being played at a landfill site…arent you getting st james’ mixed up with the riverside?
Lol… who’s the fraking idiot who said that Bramble shouldn’t have been sent off??? he was the last defender & he took Carroll out, so it’s an instant RED… if you don’t know the fraking rules, don’t post stupid comments like that for frak sake….
Plus, the ref was on our side.. did you actually watch the same match as the other 50,000+ Toon fans, we had 3 yellow cards so how was the ref on our side???
I’ve never read such a load of bo!!ocks coming from a supposed Toon fan, yer a joke fella, maybe you’re just pretending to be a Toon because you don’t like the fact the Muckems were stuffed 5-1, thats alright, it won’t be the last time we do that, just imagine if HBA had been playing too… we’d have been in double figures…. lol
Well done to the lads, to CH & to the fans at the ground, you sang out loud, you sang out proud, you sang out until you heard no other sound…. HWTL…
I have to agree with Martin. We were better in every department totally out muscling Sunderland all over the park. Even with both teams current form, I expected us to win especially with both Carroll and Ameobi up front. Carroll must be an absolute nightmare to play against and just gets better and better. As for Shola, this is by far the best game I have ever seen him play. The mackems should have played 2 up front because Williamson isnt the quickest. Overall its the best feeling I have ever had after a derby match because of how easy it was
Oh so easy. Been talking to a few mackems this week and I thought we were going to be playing Barcelona having listened to their comments. Its no wonder you envy everything about us
This game was not about the ref as some points out, neither was it about the rub of the green for Newcastle… The simple conclusion is that this game was won on pure strenght, vision and technique and only thing missing was flair on our side.
That said, i agree that however hurtfull this result is for your team, you shoulndt start blaming Bruce and walking down the same path we have in the past. He took you from a relegation scrapper after Keane to a respectable position and you would do well to remember that.
Last but not the least, well done to allot of you Sunderland fans in here for being gracious in defeat… I wasnt expecting that to be honest.
Oh im waiting for the excuses….”it was our formation” “The best players arnt there” LOL, face it…..you got thrashed by the North Easts 1ST Premier team, and thanks for getting Bramble….Newcastle can alway count on him LOL, oh my god your such a joke LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Well played Newcastle and especially Kevin Nolan. Brilliant performance from him and I won’t shy away from admitting it. Had it in the neck all night from people, and will do for a while – fair enough one of them asked if Shearer was playing but what can you do? Better team won, but it felt like every chance they had went in. On another day that would have finished 1-0 or 1-1, but it didn’t, not on the day it mattered and I’ll take it on the chin and try and move on.
Well played Newcastle I suppose.
Fact is, 4-5-1 was the right formation to play against us (Newcastle) at SJP, as shown by Blackpool, Wigan and Stoke. HOWEVER, I couldn’t believe how high up the park your backline was playing. With Barton knocking balls over the top to the deceptively quick Carroll and Ameobi, you boys simply shot yourselves in the foot. By attacking us you played into our hands. If Bruce had bothered to study our games against the aforementioned trio, he would have seen that by sitting deep and defending for the first half hour, you can frustrate the team and fans, before hitting us on the counter, as Blackpool and Wigan did so successfully. Shocking tactics by Sunderland.
Armyoftoon, why you pretending to be a mag? We deserved the win, were much the better side, referee on our side, where were the refs against man city, against everton when Nolan was assaulted in the box, referees hate us, but you think he was our 12th man, whatever moron, piss off back to the unwashed, you have a Geordie manager, an ex Geordie centre half, and now fans pretending to be Geordies to try and give reason to the fact that ya’s are shite.
Doesn’t matter what formation you play with – it is only as good as the players on the pitch and whether they are up for the game or not. We weren’t.
As long as you control midfield, 5 midfield players give attacking options down both flanks and through the middle – but the Mags out fought us so it didn’t really matter what formation we played.
The stuff surrounding Hughton’s job through the week has clearly added to their motivation to make the biggest statement to Ashley about a contract. Unless, of course, it was all a ploy…..(highly unlikely).
It was deeply, deeply embarrassing. Gyan must wonder why he came. Please get your money’s worth and start him!
Saddest sight was on Sky – a shot of Sixer staring in disbelief at the end. He’s seen it all – but I suspect nothing as awful as this.
well, the talk of the pub last night was that NUFC would settle for a draw – well, I’m glad we didn’t!
You aren’t as bad as you’re posting above (generally) but today was an awful performance and we howked you all over the park.
Barton/Tiote simply took your midfield to pieces and your defensive marking was non existent leaving gaping holes all over the place. It could have been a ten nil job. A Carroll had your defense run ragged and you will deservedly get slated for that shambles of a game you put up.
Would I be right in thinking that you still think SAFC are the better team? How I laugh. Off to Sky plus some MOTD2 keepers!!!
Absolutely gutted, a really poor performance and the worst possible time to produce it. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing, but the lack of experience in our side was clear to see as the players looked overawed by the occasion and atmosphere. It’s all well and good to harp on about having one of the youngest teams in the league, but surely today was the day to go for a bit of added experience and know-how in the shape of Zenden, Mensah etc. As poor as we were, Newcastle deserve credit for the way they played – Hughton should get a lot if credit for getting what is a limited side play to the peak of their ability. Talk of relegation is very premature though – looking at the fixtures in August I thought there was a chance we’d be in the bottom 3 going into this game, so this game excluded it’s been a good start. The Stoke game is huge now, we need a reaction and a win to get back on track.
Let’s keep it in perspective. Yeah, it’s the last team in the world that we want to have laying a beating on us but it’s only one game; in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t have to be all that significant. We’re still well set to finish the season above the Mags. All the same, let’s hope some lessons were learned today, not least by SB.
That’s rich from you lot coming to a landfill site, best stadium in the north east etc.
Just goes to to show who are, and always will be, the top team in the north east for facilties, team and the general surroundings.
TTBWA
i’m a toon fan, i watched the game. as much as i agree that in general terms the game was largly one sided and i’m thrilled that we won, i do have to mention that the ref seemed to me as being a newcastle supporter. he gave EVERYTHING our way. almost all our fouls on your players went unpunished. he allowed the game to flow in our favour. I think he was rather harsh on poor titus – a yellow was more that sufficient, it wasnt exactly a goal scoring opportunity. Yes, we played well but dont be so damning of your own team. A kinder ref would have given the game a better balance. that said – i think you can be proud of the way in which your team have played so far this season. one game doesnt tell the story of a whole season.
Al gardiner……..were not a Premiership side? Where were you last season? Have you forgot that, we beat Citeh, drew against Arsenal, Liverpool and Utd. So tell me, how are we not a Premier League team? Just another typical arm chair fan who does not know how to talk football
I really think your negative 4-5-1 formation proved to be your down fall. That and the fact that, no matter how you look at the two team, we’re the ones who are the most united. We’ve been through sh!t together over the last 12 months, in the spaz league, and we’ve come back all the stronger for it. I had theorised prior to kick off that our team spirit would be the difference between the teams, but in all honestly I think it was the formations that ruled the day today. We went for an unusual (for us) 4-4-2 at home against a defensive 4-5-1. Normally you might think, well yeah, that’s a normal home/away formation. But for us this season a 4-4-2 at home is something of a rarity. I think the fact that we had the unbelievably brilliant Barton on the right, the not so bad but not great Jonas on the left, the immense (eventually) Tiote pushing the midfield forward and allowing Nolan to go-a-poachin’ and the ever annoying duo of Caroll and Shola up front, it basically meant that we left ourselves dangerously exposed behind midfield (because the whole team, defence included, was pushing up) but because we were all pointing forwards, we really kicked the motherload out of your hapless midfield and full backs. That said I thought Turner for you was by far and away your best player, but one man cannot save a team, and unfortunately for you, your lot didn’t really understand the importance of the occasion for the full 90 whereas – and it took our first goal to make us realise it too – we did. So, I suppose I’m saying that the first goal made all the difference. And in the first 20 it could have gone either way
We have had our share of shameful days over the last couple of seasons so don’t rush to conclusions and judgements on the back of a beating, your season hasn’t been too bad up till today.
Got to say though, as much as your lads let you down badly, our lads were up for it the way we haven’t seen too much at home this season.
Bardsley was probably the pick of your lot, strong, quick and decent tackler.
Like a previous poster, thought Barton was massive in midfield for us and he is having a solid season so far.
The formation Bruce has been playing for most of the season hasn’t worked brilliantly for a while now, Martin obviously missed the dreadful 0-0 against Blackburn and the equally poor game against Villa. Surely when you’re playing a team with a poor home record you start with 2 up front (and Wellbeck on the bench) putting them under pressure from the start. Even so, how can we have the extra man in midfield and still give Nolan the freedom of the park? Cattermole made one meaningful challenge, and that was when the game had long been over, Henderson ran around achieving little and Malbranque dropped deep to find the ball, leaving Bent completely isolated. It was a tactical shambles, handing the game to Newcastle. 5-0 against Chelsea is hard to take, this was totally unacceptable. Things have must change.
Big Dave: I was thinking of you in the introduction to the above posting. You were, unfortunately, spot on.
How can Steve Bruce constantly say ‘we can’t keep relying on Benty for goals’ when he plays him as a lone striker? And that ‘we need more goals from the midfield’, yet he plays 3 of the 5 midfielders defensively!? He paid just short of £14 million for a player that he doesn’t play. I am getting so frustrated with the bloke. Apparently, we are a team that aspire to get into Europe, and we want to be beating the small teams as well as the big boys….with Steve Bruce as manager!? Remind me please, what has he won as manager? Niall, you get what you pay for. You made a mistake
Whose got Martin O’Neill’s number?
Never in my wildest dreams (well ok that’s a lie) did I think we’d have it so easy today. I really expected it to be as close as the 3-2 when Emre had one of his best games for the lads. Lots went our way today but a bit of luck has ibeen coming, Bramble probably only deserved a yellow but it just shows he hasn’t learned anything, of all the players you have he should have raised his game above the rest of them…looking forward to the return leg!
face it guys you just were not good enough this time around, you may have illusions of grandeur but come on do you really think steve bruce would let you beat one of his own. he is a geordie and no matter how much he gets paid he will always bleed black and white. i may be impartial but you really are not a premiership side and i think you need to get used to that
I have never felt so let down, it was a shambles and I don’t think for all the hype prior to the game that the majority of the Sunderland players new what it was all about. They looked scared, there was no flow to our game and it was a huge let down for the fans. It seems odd that we can raise our game for the big four but there was no heart for this battle, they should be ashamed. I don’t mind getting beat but that score was due to being overawed and Steve bruce needs to deal with that.
*Cough* *Cough*
Please see my comment as posted here https://safc.blog/2010/10/another-voice-on-coping-with-newcastle/ ….
Can all of you who attacked me please apologise now and I may forgive you?
a complete and utter shambles
i’m emabarrassed and ashamed
although last week i did find myself agreeing with the commentor who said we’d get battered
it was on the cards.
relegation candidates
Newcastle supporters expressing themselves in civilised – even gloating – terms will be welcomed, subject to possible delay for moderation (anti-spam, not anti-Mag). But the first comment above exhausts the quota for the hard-of-thinking brigade.
Really appreciate that martin We just looked like we were up for it and bruce made a comment which i thought summed it up boys against men
Ill admit though i was hopefull but never thought we wud beat u by so much Barton nolan and tiote were the difference 2day barton has been class this season i know i will get hammered for this but so far this season he has been the best english center mid on show and shud get a look on the england squad
All tht sed sure yas will pick ya selves back up but u need to start gettin more goals
The formation worked brilliantly in the previous few games. The fact is, we were beaten by a vastly superior team. Newcastle outfought, outmuscled, outplayed and outclassed us in every department. Today apart from maybe 2 exceptions, none of those players deserve to wear our colours. They were gutless, shamefully inept and unable to motivate themselves. That result hurt me more than any other ever has done, but depsite the inevitable gloating and familiar insults we will receive, I have to dig deep and say well done to Newcastle. As much as it pains me to say it, and totally against my expectations, you proved you are still the North Easts’ top team. You richly deserved it.
Totally agree about Welbeck. Game could have been different if he was capable of looking up. He also has to cut in all the time from the left. How can he possibly keep getting picked when we have players of the quality of Zenden and Reid (or Steed) to play on the left.
Also, centre-back at right-back, right-back at left-back etc. Pick our best players in their best positions.
Hahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa.Hahahahahahahaaaaaaa! Annihilated as usual Mackems. We 8 Sundland, We 8 Sundland! lol