So here we go again, our 3rd home game in 8 days and I’m not sure that the liver can take much more. Sunday sees us entertaining the return of the Geordies, and moreso, the return of the one and only Joseph A Barton. The contrast in the club’s fortunes of late have been like chalk and cheese, Newcastle being relegated to the 2nd tier with not much input from the beer swilling Mike Ashley, whilst we on the other hand, have seen massive expenditure on players, with all areas of the club being highlighted for expansion courtesy of our kind custodian, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed – a gentleman who has put his money where his mouth is and proved that running a football club is more than just lining his own pockets; unlike those 2 Americanised clubs based not too far away.
Form
City come to the game off the back of an impressive win against the League Champions where we out-muscled, out-played and out-classed them; a professional performance that looked more like a game of chess than a game of football. And while our quality players seem to be gelling nicely, as seen in the Wigan game, the same may not be said about the Geordies. Newcastle are having a somewhat up and down season so far and come into this after losing at home to a poor Stoke side courtesy of a late own goal from their fishy sounding full-back, James Perch. How can a team who can beat a nearly full strength Chelsea on their manor, and tonk a decent Villa side, get beat on their own turf by the likes of Blackpool? It’s a funny old game as they say.
Head-to-Head
Who says we have no history, it’s only 117 years since this game was first played! In that time Newcastle have taken the spoils 64 times with City well behind on 49. Will this be the half century of wins; I sure hope so. Lately though, we’ve had a good run against Newcastle and have not been beaten at home since the turn of the millennium. Last time saw us take the game 2-1 courtesy of goals from SWP and Bellers, with Carroll scoring a consolation goal in the last 10 minutes; I still remember the nail biting that followed. A memorable moment for all though was when Sir Joseph of Huyton was taken off in the 2nd half with what was a suspected broken foot – Karma really is a bitch, eh Joey!
Tactics
An area that every one of us has a view on, and one thing all of us want to know is:
‘Will Mancini change his footballing perspective against the lesser teams in the league?’
Well, most of the games this season (and ever since he’s been here really), we have seen us adopt a very robust defensive unit with up to 3 defensive mid’s, covering and holding the line, and whilst this has been very effective at the back, it doesn’t really help out in the attacking department. If you discount the Liverpool game where we scored 3 goals from 3 shots on target, then the reality is that we’ve only put 4 past the keeper in the the other 5 games. We seem to be missing an effective front runner for Tevez to work off and it would be intriguing to see if Ade can get back to form and create the space up front for Tevez to terrorise the defences. What will be the formation, only Mancini can decide?
Key Players
City
It’s normal to go for an attacking player in this sort of game but I’m going to go against the grain and single out ‘Big’ Joe Hart. He’s cemented his place in the England set-up and has prised the excellent Shay Given away from the No.1 jersey, but as of late, he has made a few bloopers, the goal at Blackburn being the most obvious. Joe has become very commanding around his area and I feel the game plan for Newcastle will be to get as many set pieces as possible to allow the likes of Carroll and Nolan a physical and aerial threat. Hopefully Joe has the mental strength to put the few slip ups behind him and show the Geordies exactly what it takes to be England quality. I’ll be watching him closely from the stands to see how he gets on.
Newcastle
As you’d expect, I’ve plumped for Sir Joey himself. This is the man who many believe kept City in the Premiership with his tenacious tackling and powerful attacking runs. He was a bit of a hero back then, but now, many regard him as a thuggish Judas who just couldn’t wait to put the boot in on the way out of the door. How things change eh, Joey leaves for the trophies of Newcastle whilst we are saved by a Thai dictator and move on to bigger and brighter days.
I’d like to give Joey credit for taking the Geordies down, but alas, he only played 9 games that season for one reason or other (we all know what the main reason was though don’t we), and only his final game of the season, where he got sent off, can be classed as a defining point. At the same time, he can’t take any real credit for getting them back up as again, he only made a 15 appearances due to extended bans and injuries. This season however, he’s played in every game and seems to have turned his life around. Joey’s ‘Tache seems to have done the trick and his restrained approach has him playing to his abilities, but I’m wondering whether the atmosphere at ours will get to him, resulting in him reverting to type. If so, I’m sure our very own ‘Kung-Fu Panda’ will have something to say about it.
Prediction
I do like it when the Geordies come to town, they have a good crowd which bodes well for a decent atmosphere (Joey being there should help as well). Tactically I’m hoping that Bobby goes 2 up front and we attack from the off, setting the tempo against one of the lesser teams in the division. These are the games that we need to be winning comfortably if we are to claim a stake for the Champions League and I feel that whatever way we play, we will win. The quality and organisation of our side should outshine Newcastle and it’s just a matter of how many we put past them. If we go 2 up front I’ll say we’ll get a bag full whereas if we continue with our current tactics then we’ll win by the odd goal or two.
Also, I’m predicating that we’ll be sitting comfortably in 2nd place going into the International break and have every confidence of gaining ground on a Chelsea side who have a couple of difficult games to come. Let’s just wait and see what the future hold as nothing can be taken for granted, but one thing we can all be certain of, is ‘The Future’s Bright, and The Future’s Definitely Blue’.
COME ON CITY!!!
A big thanks to Beefymcfc from www.mancityfans.net for this premier league match preview