Tuesday, December 07, 2010

De-Baggied

West Bromwich Albion 3 - 1 Newcastle Utd

I thought I'd write this in the style of Newcastle's ummm play. So, um, here goes...

Depressingly, um, we could barely, um, string, two um, passes, um, together. Our play, um, as, um, disjointed and sloppy as, um we've seen for, um, quite some, um, time.

(Nope, can't carry this on any longer - watching the match was bad enough, trying to write it up in the same style is almost as painful).

The sad reality is that, as the game which subsequent events have made Chris Hughton's epitaph, it was a desperately disappointing way to finish. As a team, we just didn't perform well. The home team were dominant in all areas, able to seemingly slice through us at will. Danny Guthrie completely failed to get to grips with the game in midfield, and both Spidermag and Wayne Routledge were too isolated on the flanks, which left Cheik Tiote with too much to do in midfield.

Up front, Big Lad and Rocky were unable to dominate the centre-backs and therefore our hopeful punts forward came to nothing, while at the back Campbell and Taylor looked like a rusty pairing with only one good set of legs between them. It was, to be frank, terrible.

The goals, when they came, were largely of our own undoing. The first, by winger Somen Tchoyi, was a result of some pretty terrible defending from a set piece. The second followed Guthrie's slip in midfield which allowed Peter Odemwingie to run through on goal, and the same player added a third late on when Campbell's pathetic attempt to play the offside trap backfired.

A goalmouth scramble at the death, which saw Peter Lovenkrands score following a blocked Rocky shot, was far too little too late - both for this match and, with hindsight, for Hughton.

Other reports: BBC, Guardian
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