[Archived] Newcastle / March On Ewood

[G Somerset Rover]

Big big 3 points. Fair play to the boys they dug in very deep at times. If the buffoon could somehow leave then we may still be within a chance.

[DE.]

Steele - 10 - Faultless today. He'll not have a better match all season.

Nyambe - 2 - Terrible. Can't pass, can't tackle, out of position all the time. Looked like a boy against men. Taking him off the pitch changed the game for the better.

Greer - 6 - Composed, did a good job.

Mulgrew - 7 - One of very few proper footballers in our team.

Williams - 5 - Caught out more than once, but did alright.

Feeney - 3 - Our rare attacks quickly broke down once he got the ball. Terrible footballer.

Lowe - 5 - Ran around a lot, and dat tackle. Game changed for the better once he moved to right back.

Akpan - 5 - Worked hard, but was bypassed for most of the match.

Conway - 3 - Barely involved before getting injured.

Graham - 3 - Forgot he was on the pitch.

Emnes - 5 - Tried to get involved, won the foul that got us the goal.

Subs:

Evans - 7 - A positive impact after coming on. Brought composure to a midfield that was severely lacking for most of the match.

Gallagher - 5 - Could have put us one up before Mulgrew's free kick. Didn't do too much otherwise.

Brown - N/A - Not on for long enough to rate.

Overall, it's both hilarious and bizarre that we've robbed six points from the best team in the division despite being objectively terrible in every way. I don't know how to feel about it. It was a shambolic performance reminiscent of a non-league team in a cup tie, but ultimately the result is all that matters.

Jason Steele and Newcastle's lack of bottle won us the match. Honestly, though, we all know what's coming in the next few matches... so might as well enjoy this one.

[Tango]

Football: It's a funny old game.

[neophox]

Havent seen this fighting guts for years..

Mulgrew was brilliant today with Steele.

[RTM08]

Fantastic performerance!!

Fantastic isn't the word I'd use. It's another complete fluke, it gives Coyle another bullshit excuse to stay on and this could be the one result that ultimately relegates us.

Good result, horrible performance for the most part.

[Blue blood]

Robbed em!

Steele motm. Much better second half but Newcastle should've been out of sight in the first half. Very worried about Greer and Nayambe in defence but encouraged by Gally, Mulgrew and Evans as well as Steele.

[jim mk2]

Cardiff won so still in bottom 3.

Fair play to Coyle on the last 2 performances

[LewisF]

Wow.

I couldn't join in with the protest, but what a win.

[perthblue02]

Source: https://twitter.com/Imowencoyle/status/815964276024348674

[roverandout]

How are Newcastle top of the league? They're @#/? terrible

[Husky]

Sky Sports are terrible. Straight over to Man Utd.

[neophox]

Its consistency that is the key...with a proper manager and a proper management this squad could had been higher up the league.

[DE.]

How are Newcastle top of the league? They're @#/? terrible

Because the Championship is full of teams who are even worse.

[SIMON GARNERS 194]

Rovers impersonate Dick Turpin once more against the Barcodes...that's Football!

Cardiff win means we stay in bottom three though.

[LDRover]

Fair play to the team, real spirit shown at the end. In Mulgrew we have a quality operator, we desperately need him to stay fit.

[perthblue02]

Sky Sports are terrible. Straight over to Man Utd.

to be honest better than an interview with Keoyle , if you need that here is one with his Irish relatives

[Gav]

18 points of the playoffs

Promotion push starts here.

[Mike E]

Charlie Mulgrew - 2

Newcastle United - 0

[RoverCanada]

I think Akpan was playing between the 50-60 minutes, but I'm not entirely sure. Feeney once demonstrated he can run in a straight line sorta fast. Lowe's passing was atrocious as always, but he was doing yeoman's work keeping the shape in that 1st half given the rest of the midfield was absent. Graham showed up in the 85th minute... Emnes has some skill, but he was nowhere to be seen whenever Graham was fruitlessly trying to win a long ball. Solid stuff from Greer, Mulgrew, and Williams all game.

I thought we were in trouble when Conway went off as he seemed to be the only one willing to try anything forward (and was notably gassed because of it!), but Gallagher's speed threat seemed to back Newcastle off a bit. Evans on for Nyambe turned the tide entirely. Nyambe got straight lit up. Evans' inability to last more than 60 minutes may hurt this squad more than anything this year (same can be said for Mulgrew).

Exceptional stuff from Steele, though Newcastle really didn't test him that much considering how much of the ball they had.

I suspect we may be in line to be the first team ever relegated that managed to snag two wins from the league's top team... (I'd be curious if that stat is true!)

...jeez, Bristol City are now 1-0-9 in their last 10? Not one I would've picked for relegation threatened... Burton continuing to flail might be our main hope...

[Blue blood]

Steele - 10 - Faultless today. He'll not have a better match all season.

Nyambe - 2 - Terrible. Can't pass, can't tackle, out of position all the time. Looked like a boy against men. Taking him off the pitch changed the game for the better.

Greer - 6 - Composed, did a good job.

Mulgrew - 7 - One of very few proper footballers in our team.

Williams - 5 - Caught out more than once, but did alright.

Feeney - 3 - Our rare attacks quickly broke down once he got the ball. Terrible footballer.

Lowe - 5 - Ran around a lot, and dat tackle. Game changed for the better once he moved to right back.

Akpan - 5 - Worked hard, but was bypassed for most of the match.

Conway - 3 - Barely involved before getting injured.

Graham - 3 - Forgot he was on the pitch.

Emnes - 5 - Tried to get involved, won the foul that got us the goal.

Subs:

Evans - 7 - A positive impact after coming on. Brought composure to a midfield that was severely lacking for most of the match.

Gallagher - 5 - Could have put us one up before Mulgrew's free kick. Didn't do too much otherwise.

Brown - N/A - Not on for long enough to rate.

Overall, it's both hilarious and bizarre that we've robbed six points from the best team in the division despite being objectively terrible in every way. I don't know how to feel about it. It was a shambolic performance reminiscent of a non-league team in a cup tie, but ultimately the result is all that matters.

Jason Steele and Newcastle's lack of bottle won us the match. Honestly, though, we all know what's coming in the next few matches... so might as well enjoy this one.

Great post. Sums up everything I was going to say, although though Greer was a bit more of a liability.

[Tom]

That was glorious

Think people are overly harsh on Nyambe as well I think the positive influence was Lowe not in the middle rather than a change of right back

[Mike E]

Steele - Echoes of Big Brad Friedel. Faultless. 10.

Nyambe - thought he did ok first half but needed dragging off for a terrible second. 4.

Greer - Kept them at bay. Just. 5

Mulgrew - pretty solid in defence. Threw his head in everywhere and scored the winner. 8.

Williams - caught out a few times but did ok. 5.

Lowe - Guarded lots of space for some reason. 4.

Akpan - patches of solid defending and patches of Lowe/Nyambe awfulness. 5.

Conway - age beginning to show for a winger who relies on stamina. 5.

Feeney - slowed down every attack. 4.

Graham - did what he could, chased a lot. 6.

Emnes - kept the ball while the rest struggled to catch up. 7.

Subs:

Gallagher - offered another outlet once he came on. Did ok. 6.

Evans - steadied a midfield that needed fresh legs. 7.

Brown - did he do owt? No score.

[joey_big_nose]

Fantastic result, utterly undeserved.

There's been a lot of loose talk about rovers worst ever midfield in the 23 years I have been a fan, particularly obviously the last six years or so.

That said today's combination of Gallagher, Akpan, Lowe, Feeney was so unbelievably execrably bad I nearly threw up watching the first half. I don't think any of them you could actually call midfielders. They cannot pass the ball, none of them. Gallagher is a good striker and works hard on defence so no issue with him apart from being in the wrong position. The rest are woeful.

Surely we can find someone who can pass the ball. I'd take Keith Andrews back. He's leagues ahead of these guys.

Seriously, if Evans isn't fit, I would play Tomlinson as at least he can move the ball in a straight line.

[magicalmortensleftpeg]

Ludicrous result.

Can't fault the effort. The skill isn't there but the energy and determination certainly is.

We haven't had a competent central midfield in 5 years so no surprise that we got overrun there.

Found myself punching the air when Mulgrew scored which is reassuring.

We lose that game 9 times in 10. We must be more composed in possession and have more in our locker than just aimlessly launching it to Graham and hoping for the best.

All in all, great result but we're a million miles away from looking like a decent side. I'm just going to enjoy it for what it is.

[Iceman]

We really need a RB, and replacements for Feeney and Lowe