Newcastle United - Nottingham Forest

[Plymouth red]

Firstly, we should not panic. This Newcastle side is a very different side to the one we may have faced 12 months ago. They have seen sensible investment, have a very sensible and able manager and have a settled, well organised side. They don't quite have the killer instinct of a top side but I believe that will come.

We are nowhere near that standard for a multitude of reasons, mostly that few players that turned out today have a) played alongside each other before and  b) played in the premier league before.

Should we be writing these players off because they didn't do brilliantly? Absolutely not. It will, whether we like it or not, take a good ten matches before we gel and get use to it. Now that might be too late for some bur it is a reality. Furthermore we need at least 3 or 4 more, particularly in the middle of the park. 

Steve cooper I's a good manager but he is no miracle worker. It will take time and we need to accept that. Hopefully the next game will be better but let's not get carried away. This first quarter of the season will be brutal

[McDurban]

Credit to the defensive structure of the team, they did well for most of the match.
Issue was they could not play out or retain any semblance of the ball around half way or inside the Newcastle half.
I appreciate Colback & O'Brien are not the midfield pairing we will see for the bulk of the season and today was the reason why.
Neither are strong enough to retain the ball, nor do they have a range of passing, both can tackle and harass the opposition into errors but there is nobody to give the ball too once they do.
Lingard did need to drop deeper, something I doubt he is used to doing.
Williams looks like a great player in the making, unfortunately without a midfield two there was no way he could link up with Johnson in attack.
Brennan looked lost, barely touched the ball.
Surridge battled away and could have done better with his two chances - Forest are going to need clinical finishing as opportunities to score will be rare.
Niakhate had a wobbly start but began to settle.
For Worrall and McKenna it was mostly business as usual.
Toffolo did okay.
Would love to see Garner and Yates pair up in the middle, that would solve a lot of problems and keep the team ticking over the Cooper way.
Henderson was superb, very confident in goal, under constant pressure and not a single sign of calamity.
Samba would have lost his rag out there.
Davies or similar would have made a difference to retaining the ball. They are definitely going to need a target man, I don't think Awoniyi is that, I think he plays off one.
Brennan might not be first choice?

Though the ref handed out yellows far too soon for what in the Championship are run of the mill tackles.

[Paplane]

Credit to the defensive structure of the team, they did well for most of the match.
Issue was they could not play out or retain any semblance of the ball around half way or inside the Newcastle half.
I appreciate Colback & O'Brien are not the midfield pairing we will see for the bulk of the season and today was the reason why.
Neither are strong enough to retain the ball, nor do they have a range of passing, both can tackle and harass the opposition into errors but there is nobody to give the ball too once they do.
Lingard did need to drop deeper, something I doubt he is used to doing.
Williams looks like a great player in the making, unfortunately without a midfield two there was no way he could link up with Johnson in attack.
Brennan looked lost, barely touched the ball.
Surridge battled away and could have done better with his two chances - Forest are going to need clinical finishing as opportunities to score will be rare.
Niakhate had a wobbly start but began to settle.
For Worrall and McKenna it was mostly business as usual.
Toffolo did okay.
Would love to see Garner and Yates pair up in the middle, that would solve a lot of problems and keep the team ticking over the Cooper way.
Henderson was superb, very confident in goal, under constant pressure and not a single sign of calamity.
Samba would have lost his rag out there.
Davies or similar would have made a difference to retaining the ball. They are definitely going to need a target man, I don't think Awoniyi is that, I think he plays off one.
Brennan might not be first choice?

Though the ref handed out yellows far too soon for what in the Championship are run of the mill tackles.

Thats a decent assessment McDurban.

[BadDog]

Garner is not the answer to our midfield issues.

[wassy04]

Credit to the defensive structure of the team, they did well for most of the match.
Issue was they could not play out or retain any semblance of the ball around half way or inside the Newcastle half.
I appreciate Colback & O'Brien are not the midfield pairing we will see for the bulk of the season and today was the reason why.
Neither are strong enough to retain the ball, nor do they have a range of passing, both can tackle and harass the opposition into errors but there is nobody to give the ball too once they do.
Lingard did need to drop deeper, something I doubt he is used to doing.
Williams looks like a great player in the making, unfortunately without a midfield two there was no way he could link up with Johnson in attack.
Brennan looked lost, barely touched the ball.
Surridge battled away and could have done better with his two chances - Forest are going to need clinical finishing as opportunities to score will be rare.
Niakhate had a wobbly start but began to settle.
For Worrall and McKenna it was mostly business as usual.
Toffolo did okay.
Would love to see Garner and Yates pair up in the middle, that would solve a lot of problems and keep the team ticking over the Cooper way.
Henderson was superb, very confident in goal, under constant pressure and not a single sign of calamity.
Samba would have lost his rag out there.
Davies or similar would have made a difference to retaining the ball. They are definitely going to need a target man, I don't think Awoniyi is that, I think he plays off one.
Brennan might not be first choice?

Though the ref handed out yellows far too soon for what in the Championship are run of the mill tackles.

Thats a decent assessment McDurban.

Except for the bit about Brennan not being first choice, come on. He's our star still, we need to rebuild around him again.

Be nice to see Davis in this week.

[Paplane]

Credit to the defensive structure of the team, they did well for most of the match.
Issue was they could not play out or retain any semblance of the ball around half way or inside the Newcastle half.
I appreciate Colback & O'Brien are not the midfield pairing we will see for the bulk of the season and today was the reason why.
Neither are strong enough to retain the ball, nor do they have a range of passing, both can tackle and harass the opposition into errors but there is nobody to give the ball too once they do.
Lingard did need to drop deeper, something I doubt he is used to doing.
Williams looks like a great player in the making, unfortunately without a midfield two there was no way he could link up with Johnson in attack.
Brennan looked lost, barely touched the ball.
Surridge battled away and could have done better with his two chances - Forest are going to need clinical finishing as opportunities to score will be rare.
Niakhate had a wobbly start but began to settle.
For Worrall and McKenna it was mostly business as usual.
Toffolo did okay.
Would love to see Garner and Yates pair up in the middle, that would solve a lot of problems and keep the team ticking over the Cooper way.
Henderson was superb, very confident in goal, under constant pressure and not a single sign of calamity.
Samba would have lost his rag out there.
Davies or similar would have made a difference to retaining the ball. They are definitely going to need a target man, I don't think Awoniyi is that, I think he plays off one.
Brennan might not be first choice?

Though the ref handed out yellows far too soon for what in the Championship are run of the mill tackles.

Thats a decent assessment McDurban.

Except for the bit about Brennan not being first choice, come on. He's our star still, we need to rebuild around him again.

Be nice to see Davis in this week.

Id would've taken Brennan off today and stuck on a midfielder. There's no point him being on the pitch if he gets the type of service he did.

[Paplane]

I wonder whats going through Cooper's mind at the moment? He sounded really down in his post match interview.

[wassy04]

I wonder whats going through Cooper's mind at the moment? He sounded really down in his post match interview.

You wouldn't expect him to be massively chipper after getting battered in game 1 would you? Suspect he's thinking the same stuff as the rest of us!

[Ciscokid]

Newcastle were pretty good to be fair.
Lots of power, energy and their pace was electric. Precise accurate passing and running in behind at every opportunity. Toffolo has no pace I’m afraid. Williams more interested in going forwards than defending.
Johnson anonymous. Niakhate …oh dear.
Wouldn’t be surprised if  Newcastle were top 6.
Those who got carried away have had a rude awakening.
Any positives?
Henderson stopped it being a cricket score.
Mighten in his cameo performance was ok.
Southampton conceded 4

We need a good performance against west ham in front of the sky cameras.

I don't really get the criticism of Niakhate. I thought that he did ok given how porous we were through midfield and the channels. Lots to put right for sure starting with the team selection.

[Floridared]

Newcastle were pretty good to be fair.
Lots of power, energy and their pace was electric. Precise accurate passing and running in behind at every opportunity. Toffolo has no pace I’m afraid. Williams more interested in going forwards than defending.
Johnson anonymous. Niakhate …oh dear.
Wouldn’t be surprised if  Newcastle were top 6.
Those who got carried away have had a rude awakening.
Any positives?
Henderson stopped it being a cricket score.
Mighten in his cameo performance was ok.
Southampton conceded 4

We need a good performance against west ham in front of the sky cameras.

I don't really get the criticism of Niakhate. I thought that he did ok given how porous we were through midfield and the channels. Lots to put right for sure starting with the team selection.

He was out of position a lot of the time and I thought he had a poor first touch. Let’s hope that this was his worse performance for us, I would love him to be a great acquisition but at the moment I believe Cook is better.

[McDurban]

Newcastle were pretty good to be fair.
Lots of power, energy and their pace was electric. Precise accurate passing and running in behind at every opportunity. Toffolo has no pace I’m afraid. Williams more interested in going forwards than defending.
Johnson anonymous. Niakhate …oh dear.
Wouldn’t be surprised if  Newcastle were top 6.
Those who got carried away have had a rude awakening.
Any positives?
Henderson stopped it being a cricket score.
Mighten in his cameo performance was ok.
Southampton conceded 4

We need a good performance against west ham in front of the sky cameras.

I don't really get the criticism of Niakhate. I thought that he did ok given how porous we were through midfield and the channels. Lots to put right for sure starting with the team selection.

He was out of position a lot of the time and I thought he had a poor first touch. Let’s hope that this was his worse performance for us, I would love him to be a great acquisition but at the moment I believe Cook is better.

I've never watched Bundesliga so not sure how it compares to Premier. Maybe he was a little overwhelmed at the pace Newcastle where coming at him. I think Worrall and McKenna where also under pressure but coped better. 
He did improve as the game progressed, I don't thhk we have anything to worry about.
Henderson really impressed me, kept his head.

[JWJW]

I think we needed that. We were utter crap and got done over proper.

Newcastle are a good side, on a very good run of form, and we needed that to show us that we are nowhere near ready and we need to work damn hard to improve.

Johnson is a fair weather player.........if we are playing well and have lots of room, he plays well, but he is not going to be much use to use in the early games. We needed a midfield. Should have had a strong 4-4-2 and keep playing 4-4-2 until we have a settled team who have had time to gel. He will be more use coming on with Mighten late in the game to run at tired legs.......not a starter at the moment for me.

Lingard up top with a striker.

Mangala, Colback, LOB, Cafu in the middle. LOB and Cafu push forward when needed.

Williams, Wozza, Scot and Toff across the back.

Would have been much better - they passed their way through us - we need to be 4-4-2 for at least the first 10 games in my view.

Get settled and sorted and then progress.