Robins or Magpies? Bristol City v Newcastle United – Match preview.

Posted on March 19th, 2010 | 223 Comments |

Scrumpy the robin.
Scrumpy the robin.
Newcastle United travel to Ashton Gate on Saturday for a tea-time kick off against managerless Bristol City.

The Robins are on a poor run of form currently and have won only two of their last six matches at Ashton Gate, something that the Magpies will be looking to capitalise on in an effort to secure promotion at the earliest possible opportunity.

Caretaker boss Keith Millen will take charge of Bristol City, who are now only seven points clear of the relegation places. Following Gary Johnson’s mutual departure on Thursday, the stand-in boss admits he is relishing the chance of testing his managerial abilities against the league leaders. Speaking to the official Bristol City website, Millen had this to say:

“It’s the perfect game to have really. The Newcastle match is one everyone in Bristol has been looking forward to for a long time and it’s going to be a full house.”

“We need to get over the shock of what happened quickly, get back on the training ground and stay focused on the Newcastle match.”

Millen will be missing a few players for his first game in charge with Evander Sno, Jamie McCombe and Marvin Elliot all sidelined with long-term injuries. Jamal Campbell-Ryce will also be unavailable as he serves out a one game suspension for his dismissal against Plymouth on Tuesday. The Robins starting line-up for that Plymouth match was:

Bristol City: Gerken, Orr, McAllister, Fontaine, Carey, Elliott, Skuse, Sproule, Campbell-Ryce, Maynard, Maierhofer.

Newcastle front man, Peter Lovenkrands, faces a race against time to be fit for the game after limping out of the 3-0 victory over Scunthorpe on Wednesday with a calf injury. Alan Smith is still out and will join long term absentees Joey Barton, Shola Ameobi, Steven Taylor and Mike Williamson on the sidelines.

Again it’s very much a case of how we set up for the game tomorrow. Will we go with the hard to break down, nick a goal 4-5-1? Or will we stick with 4-4-2? With Wayne Routledge back fit again, I’d suggest it should be the latter as having him on the pitch makes us look much more balanced. Assuming Lovenkrands doesn’t make it, I expect a starting XI of:

Newcastle Utd: Harper, Simpson, Hall, Coloccini, Emrique, Routledge, Nolan, Guthrie, Gutierrez, Best, Carroll.

Fitz Hall could be a very important player for us against Bristiol City. His height and aerial ability will be needed to try and nullify the threat of 6ft 7in Austrian forward Stefan Maierhofer, but with two wingers and two tall strong forwards in the Newcastle side, the Bristol City defense will also have to be on top of their game.

Newcastle are unbeaten in seven league matches although it’s Bristol City who hold the advantage when it comes to the head-to-head record between the two teams. Of the 12 games played, the Magpies have recorded 3 wins, and Bristol City have come away with 5 victories.

The last time the two teams met at Bristol City was more than a decade ago, in September 1995, where Newcastle annihilated Bristol City 5 – 0 in a League Cup match. Our last league win at Ashton Gate was a 2-1 success back in January 1993.

Going with the form book then it has to be an away win, although Newcastle will have to guard against what will inevitably be a fired up Bristol City buoyed by the new manager. On the other hand, if we stick to what we can do then we should give them something to worry about.

My prediction: 0-1

Howay the lads!

Venue: Ashton Gate

Date: Saturday, 20th March,

Kick-off: 5:20 pm.

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

Related Posts:


223 Responses

  1. Magpies all the way and im gunning for a 2-1 win, though im not that keen on Best but atlest it means there is a good chance that young Ranger should get a decent run out.

  2. This match should start out hard and fast. I’m sure the BC side will want to show that they can do better without the former gaffer – since they pushed him out. NUFC will want to press for that early lead, and we have the quality to do just that. If NUFC blow away the Robins, this could really hurt their chances of pulling themselves together and keep in the Championship next year.
    I see a key to the game being what Lovenkrands replacement brings in striking. A few Newcastle shots just wide or off the woodwork (didn’t we do that about 3 or 4 times when Bristol came to Newcastle?) could give Bristol some hope and push them on resulting in a very tight match. If NUFC puts one away, it could take the wind from under the wings of the Robins, and make it clear plunder for the Magpies.

  3. thats a bit more cash for club then.would be a bit more worried if they had a NEW manager in for this game,as it is if we hold for 20mins i go for 1-2 would like a 4-4-2 but we will see

  4. Icedog I agree mate a 4-4-2 is the way to go start as you mean to go on. I dont think we should be going for a draw in these games.

  5. Hi all…. I’m planning on making the trip to watch my first NUFC game on 24 April for the Ipswich game…

    Any tips on places to stay and places to drink etc?
    Also where should I book my seat?

    Can’t bloody wait!

    HWTL
    BC 0 – 2 Toon

  6. roscoe,ring booking office for tickets
    i drink in strawberry outside club only one i go in,
    as for places to stay cannot help there i dont have that problem,maybe some of the lads on here might help you good luck

  7. icedog, cheers for the advice…

    I’ll book the seat online… by where I mean which stand??

    I’m coming from Dubai!

  8. roscoe – I’d wait a bit mate. I hear a rumour the the Ipswich game is being move for BBC coverage which should be announced next week.

    If it doesn’t get moved there are plnty of hotels in Newcastle. It depends whether you want something cheap and cheerful or of you want somewhere real nice to stop. Try a Travel Lodge or something, they aren’t that flash but you know what your going to get.

    Regards drinking, anywhere really. A lot of places to choose from so again it depends what your looking for, quiet or rowdy. Pre match I usually go in the Fluid bar or The Strawberry if I get there early enough.

  9. Still only 25 so cheap and cheerful is good and rowdy is great!

    Thanks for the heads up on the possible moving of the game!! when do you reckon it will be safe to book?

  10. roscoe,gallowgate end,leazes end,are behind the goals,other stands are roughly sides of pitch depends were you like to be,enjoy your trip

  11. roscoe – Just had a look, chances are that if the game is moved it will only be to a Saturday evening kick off on the same day as Sky have 3 games on the Sunday already.

  12. magster – apparantly Chelsea are signing that lot to replace the old gets they already have

  13. toonsy old habits die hard,my da took me in the centre paddock (old name) from 5yrs old,so i stick there,my son loves gallowgate east side goes there noisey sod

  14. sorry geordieboy…you need to help me on that one….was it the post about Nick Barmby ?…

  15. Munich – Don’t reply mate, it’s clearly one poster using different user names.

  16. Icedog I never take nowt to do with shopping or bills mate I done it once about 20 yr ago as I was allways going on at her about how much she spends, so she said I should look after it, that I dont know how much stuff cost. I got so stressed I never questioned her again mate. ;)

  17. feckin hell mate surely you’ve got better things to be doing on a Friday night, come to think of it, IVE got better things to be doing on a Friday night, night lads, Im off for a couple jars, let’s hope we contiune winning on the road tomorrow eh?
    TOON TOON!

  18. o rite toonsy im 62, thoght u were much older and had a great depth of knowledge about the english game. my mistake didnt know u were so young

  19. big dave dito been there done that like you,dave how many players we need for next year and where iyo

  20. Just because I’m younger doesn’t mean I know any less than anyone.

    If you really want an answer, in my opinion football only started really changing with the invention of the Premier League. All that money going to the top handful of clubs and not filtering down through the leagues is causing the gulf in class we all see.

    That is why promotion this season is so important as the TV money is going to be £50 million for each team, widening the gap between spending ability of teams in the premier league and championship further.

    It goes further than that. Increased money not only aids the squads of the teams at the top level, it helps their infrastructure aswell. Back in the good old days it wasn’t uncommon to have good players pop up at any team. Now because the top teams have invested the money in training academies it means that those players that may have popped up at say Tranmere or other small teams like Sunderland and started their careers there only to be sold on for money, are now being inducted at young ages into these academies, meaning less money filtering down.

  21. toonsy well said m8,but why do you have explain yourself to others?you know what you know m8

  22. Ice I dont think we need many Players to be honest I would take 1 or 2 1st teamers and a few backups. I know your not that keen on Joey B but I think him and Guthrie with Jonas and Routledge would be a good midfield, im pretty happy with our back 4 but if we could pick up a real good right back and a good back up for Jose but tbh im not sure that we dont have enough ;) .
    I see we are starting to get a few knobheads on here at times and im glad to see toonsy not biteing as much :lol:

  23. toonsy your right to a certain degree, in the good old days in the 1970’s there was a team of scouts called fletcher moss scouting association. they were involved in scouting the best british tallent such as malcom macdonald who played for nufc during the 70’s. most players even back then were scouted early, so i dont agree with the comment that most teams back then had good players popping up.

  24. Yes, but what im saying is that although they were scouted early in their careers they would still be at a club, usually a smaller one unless they were lucky.

    SuperMac started his career at Tonbridge, they would have got a fee from Luton then Luton would have got a fee from Newcastle so the money flowed through the leagues.

    If it was nowadays then SuperMac would have been swiped from school age to play at a bigger team in one of their academies, like Jack Wilshire who joined Arsenal aged 9 or 10 I think.

  25. big dave fair comment,your right jb will never be my cup of tea imo we def need m/f with bit of guile,would like another c/f (PROVEN) to go with carroll&loverman,i like k.doyle,at wolves hes in shit team with no width,then give the kids we have the last few games take it from there

  26. Any1 here think the current transfer windows should be scraped and go back to the old system.Might help a few of the smaller grass roots clubs abit.

  27. i agree toonsy, all thats shifted through the years is that scouting is more apparant at a younger age. i disagree with this as at a young age many kids have talent and its harder to see which player has more potential. thats why when they get older more and more tennagers are released from the top clubs. scouting should start when the child hits the age of 14 through to 18

  28. magster keep taking the pills you knob, can you not think up your own names you prize knobhead go get a life you sad sack of sh1te, and you dont need to reply as I dont normally answer to idiots without a village.

    Toonsy yeah

  29. NUFCELITE – If the window only applied for league clubs I think would be better. Then again, if Gateshead for example have a great player in the making then they will benefit from getting the extra games out of him. Hard to call whether transfer windows are good or bad.

  30. Dave – It’s hard to say really. I mean surviving is the key next season isn’t it so I wouldn’t want to upset this current team too much as they appear to work well together and for each other. Definately a proven striker, thats for certain.

  31. Think have a transfer window would mess with your bussiness myself, like haveing a shop then being told your can only order supplys twice a year. Look at pompey for instants they have the money in players but cant sell when the ship is sinking.

  32. I hope Nicky is going to play ,we missed him against scun.I’m not sure what CH was thinking when he didn’t select Nicky ,but it was a poor decision.

  33. Yeah but Pompey got themselves into the mess. I mean the writing was on the wall from the back end of last season and they did bugger all. When the brown stuff hit the fan in January, they didn’t do enough either.

    If you knew you could only buy them supplies twice a year then you plan for it I guess. The problem is in transfer windows, players are in high demand which means the prices in general go up.

  34. NUFCELITE, I’m not from GB, so I didn’t quite understand it.Where did Nicky put his socks?

  35. Yes but without the window i dont think pompey would have gone under.In the past 1 or 2 clubs had trouble with depts,But since that transfer window rule came in to effect, a lot more clubs seem to be going out of bussiness.

  36. NickyButtFan most newcastle supporters know nicky butt is past it, mate try being a andy carrol fan or something mate.

  37. in the football game now you pays your you takes your chance,ref pommpy i think rednapp/stor have a lot to explain there part,owners put to much trust in them imo

  38. Yeah they were, but they had a rich owner that bank rolled it to be fair. It just shows what can happen when it goes wrong.

  39. Used to live in southampton made the trip there when newcastle were there tiny little shit hole of a ground itis.

  40. Think we need to make the ground abit bigger myself, so we can really compete with the big boys.

  41. icedog @ 82 Your right me ol bean ;) and when are you going to get a pic up its easier to find you when your scrolling through.

    Toonsy dont avoid the question bonny lad who do you want to replace ?

  42. On it icedog :)

    Dave, I wouldn’t want any replaced, as in sold, but I do think we could improve.

  43. toonsy

    The problem was that they had rich owners who *didn’t* bankroll it all. They had a succession of middle-eastern types coming in with promises to put money into the club, but all they seemed to do was sell players.

    The money just never seemed to materialise.

  44. I mean before that Darth, that gaydamak bloke. It was whne he lft after stitching them up that the trouble began.

  45. argh man I’m really not up for WUMS commenting in other peoples names, it always has to bloody happen eventually doesn’t it? It’s nice not having to log in every time I come here to comment and hopefully it’ll stay that way

  46. Think if man utd were to sell scholes, it would probally mean hes past it, so why buy there rejects asim

  47. class is permenant, scholes is a better player than nolan, alot of people think nolans passed it, scholes is performing well this season and would be a good addition to our squad

  48. Scholes is past it we dont need anymore part-timers, but then again he could help Butt carry the nets and balls at Benton. im not one of Nolans biggest fans but I would rather stick with him

  49. Just dont want any1 the teams gonna have to carry,He would look at newcastle as a step down,dont want any more has beens geting a big wage then thinking he can just go though the game and pick up a big wage packet,if he aint good enough for man utd why should he be good enough for us.

  50. Think nolan has been very underrated by us mate, he won championship player of the year award, so he must be doing something right.

  51. Did you see nolans interview after he was capt,you could see from the way he was talking, he was very proud of that, thats the sort of player we need if we are to do well in epl

  52. NUFCELITE I just think Nolan could do with a bit more training and maybe shed a few pounds then I think he would be a lot better

  53. Think you might find hes 1 of the main driving forces for team spirt i think, and the man has fire in his belly so i like nolan a lot,always handles himself like a true pro.

  54. Big Dave nothing happened to mine it had just started happening to other people! I agree NUFCELITE Nolan is severely underrated by us. He’s never been my favourite player but if he shed a few pounds, which he probably will end up doing once back in the PL, and becomes a little more mobile then he’ll be a very handy squad player/starter in the prem. Personally I think we’ll be lining up with Guthrie/Barton in the middle next year, although I’d love to see O’Hara at the toon

  55. Think you might be right devonmag,fell nolan has a few years left in him yet,felt for a while hes been playing with a injury, could explain why he maybe needs to shed a few pounds

  56. Think the newcastle supports should give barton a go, you seen how much ground that fella covers during a game.Hes a very fit boy if you get him to his peak.

  57. Icedog, I think you are getting me and Big Dave mixed up, it was my missus who went shopping today and she managed to save money by buying expensive stuff at sale prices. Still not cheap though but hey she is worth it she works blo*dy hard at keeping me in Beer. :)

  58. when we played villa at st james park last year Barton was unplayable mate, he played his opposite number (Gareth Barry) off the park. People don’t get national call ups by mistake

  59. Think barton is the kinda player the fans have to embrace,hes the type of player, that will run though a brick wall for ya, if he felt wanted.

  60. Looks like you both packed up for the night, just goes to show you spend a few hours away from the blog and confusion reigns. Still on reading some of the inane posting from a few idiots I didn’t miss a lot. The people I am not referring to I am sure will appreciate my sentiment and not take offence at my comment.

  61. NUFCELITE, I said much the same about Joey in an earlier comment today (yesterday). I reckon good Joey is exorcising evil Joey and we might finally get our moneys worth. I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts the game tommorrow with Nolan backing up Carroll. We ought to beat them comfortably but a draw will suffice.

  62. Think we will win 2v0 tomorrow,do we really care what the players got up to in the past, as long as they earn there wages with us.Im sure more than 1 of us here has made more than 1 mistake in the past,long as hes trying to put himself right and learns from his mistakes,he should at least be given a chance.Plus if he gets back to his best he will be a great player for us.

  63. DevonMag, I thought you would be comatose by now as you had already had 4 scrumpy by midday, or did you have a break. :)

  64. Oh well looks like everybody is to bed so I might as well do likewise. I have a busy day tommorrow, I work part time as a Brain surgeon at a Sunderland hospital. I’m not actually qualified but nobody seems to notice for some reason.

  65. NUFC, he seems like a canny prospect, another one I’d like us to try and get is Commons from Derby he was ace against us, unfortunately.

  66. Not seen commons so dont really know about him,like to see us put a bid in for dorrans though,would also like to see ohara at the club as well,think we will be parting company with butt in the summer wages will cover both i think.

  67. Good night NUFCELITE and anyone else still around, last one out switch the light off and put the cat out.

  68. Looks like i will miss all the remaining matches in March. Geez,all the game time slot is way too late for me. :(

    Might try to wake up in the wee hours to watch Forest match.As it is the deciding match.

  69. the fightback begins here…

    norwich

    newcastle

    forest

    west brom

    luton

    …….@ a very :) 16/1 ish

  70. Working today so got my dad texting me every time we smash the ball into the back of net.
    Fancy us to bag a few today-Howay The Lads!
    Have a good weekend Boys and Girls :)

  71. The Mags to win 1-3. We have to be up for it as realisticly we probably only need 3 more wins and a couple of draws. Howay the lads

  72. Just watched the A-league Grand Final Match.

    Is there anyone here “old” enough to rmb any similar situation whereby 1st place & 2nd place in BPL is 1 point gap,and the very last match they Vs. each other????

    ps:Sydney FC won on penalties shoot-out. :lol:

  73. No worries Toonsy The Idiots were letting on to be you and Icedog and a few others, I thought when I stopped going on to Eds that was the last I would see of them but lastnite was the night of the Muppets.

    Worky are you about

  74. morning all – could be a tougher game than we think if houghton sets us up as 4-5-1
    we need to get at them and grab early goal – they’ll be trying to impress with thier biggest crowd of season and a new boss

  75. stevep I think you could be right they will be out to impress but if we get stuck in with a 4-4-2 and dont go for a draw we will be ok

  76. Big Dave just to clear up some confusion between you and Icedog have look at comment 119.

  77. BIG DAVE/BIG WILLY,sorry you lads for last night,but i hope you realized a lot of those comments were not mine and i feel awful about it but what could i do,big dave i think your idea of profile photo would be good one,trouble is being comp think i dont know how to do it m8

  78. Icedog no worries mate I knew it wasn’t allways you, but a pic helps I can talk you through putting a pic up mate if you like

  79. No problem Icedog with me, just hope they stick with their own blog at the Sunderland home for brainless idiots from now on. :)

  80. reet will see at the top righthand side of this page, click PROFILE then scroll to the bottom of the page > Picture Profile, upload a new picture click browse and that will open up a new window find the pic you want and click open then at the very bottom click update profile ;) job done

  81. big dave, i can see tools and page and feed etc but no part saying profile… i think batty might have hidden it or flogged it

  82. icedog – If yo u can read this commonet, go up to the top of the page and on the right hand side click ‘profile’.

    When that page loads, scroll down past persoanl options, name, contact info, about yourself. You’ll then come to ‘profile picture’.

    Where it says ‘Upload a new picture’ the should be a box that says ‘browse’, click that and it will ask you what picture you want to use from your pictures. Ok it and bobs your uncle.

  83. Icedog where it says Welcome Icedog then just below it it says
    Dashboard
    Profile
    Log out
    Then the recent comments ?

    Ollr http://www.NufcRadio.tk normally have it but there should be a few links for todays game but ye prob wont get them till not long before kick off

  84. Toonsy did you see them wingnuts letting on to be you, who wiped the comments you or Worky, I hope Worky can ban their IP’s as I dont mind wum’s that much but when they start use others names it gets me real fu*king p#ssed off

  85. Dave – I chopped them all mate. I would have won if I hadn’t had to go to work aswell :)

    I know who it was and it pissess me off aswell, Dave. Using others names is low in my opininon but all I can say is I am sorry for it.

  86. thats a piture of wor lass before she combs her hair,naa its my puppy dog about 50-52klg,heed big as polar bear

  87. The Toon will win 1-0 today, a rare Enrique goal i reckon.

    Regards,

    Ed Speeed

    p.s. ‘mon the lads.

  88. Hey guys, I’m trying to register but I get “ERROR: The email address isn’t correct.” (my email is correct!?) Is registration closed?

  89. big dave its a dog mate i have a bitch as well from same litter like shes a about 40-42 klg

  90. Toonsy I have a good idea who it is I have only ever had words with 2 people on here and Eds, 1 was Stardust but we got over it and he is not a bad guy, and I know he wouldn’t stoop so low to partake in shit like that anyway. So that leaves 1 person.
    Why are you sorry you’ve done nowt wrong

  91. toonsy

    If you know who it was, can’t you block the IP?

    If people post using other people’s names, I reckon they’re crossing a very clear line there.

    If they can’t post under their own username, they can’t that interested in being heard anyway.

  92. Darth – Final say is with workyticket mate, it’s his gig after all.

    Sunderland winning already :(

  93. big dave naa m8 not much plus they catch a fair bit in the fields (rabbits) but never get any junk mail or door to door sales guys cannot understand that like ;) bloody wba up 2-0 all ready come preston

  94. DarthBroon your right theres a line that you dont cross, Thats what annoys me if you cant be big enough to have a go under your own name then dont have a go and go play with their action-man instead ;)

  95. Forest 1-0 up aswell now. We need a result later to destroy a little bit of their belief.

  96. I wouldnt be worried about wba or forest at this stage , our destiny is firmly in our hands

  97. Johno, agreed. Although it can still quickly change. I’m with icedog, I hope the lads see the results and gee up a little bit because of them.

  98. toonsy u worry to much! we are too far ahead! we have only lost 4 games in the league and us to lose 4 games in a row and them to win 4 in a row it isnt going to happen the only worry is winning the league.

  99. There is a high chance to see a “big” club relegated from BPL this season. It might be a battle between west ham,burnley,wigan,wolf.

    Just look at wigan inferior GD. hahahas.

  100. asim

    I’m not worried either.

    But I’m looking for WBA and Forest to get stuffed so’s I’ll be even MORE not worried :)

  101. the teams in ccc are nothing we only have to turn up to get some thing away. at home we are way to strong for them.today with routledge and jonas plus enrique we will score 3 or 4 this is the first time we will have them away from home playing fit.

  102. asim – It’s not worry, it’s years of false dawns following the toon and knowing that we are only ever 2 games away from disaster.

    You calmed down now asim? ;)

  103. Regardless of league, we have only ever been 2 games from disaster. Even before Keegan when we were in the old 2nd division.

  104. if peterborough can score we win are next 3 we are up! next saturday could be a good night for us. or defo the week after without being big headed.

  105. asim – If that happened i would be happy, especially as Im going to the Peterborough game and would see us getting promoted.

  106. Toonsy thats why I never worry about other teams, when you support the toon you have enough worries about them. I believe we should have no probs getting promoted but I still have thoughts that I try to put to the back of my head

  107. That’s it Dave, I believe we’ll go up but banging on about it being nailed on when it aint is asking for trouble. Hence my cautious optomism.

    After all, we were nailed on when we were 12 points clear in 96 weren’t we?

  108. can’t see us not getting promoted if we win todays game – it’ll then be about whether we go up as champions

  109. i recall a lot of games i went to over the years, could name many of them but will not,we just had to “turn up” guess what we got stuffed,still sticks in my crow to this day,old saying IF only

  110. looks like lovenkrands didnt make it – team for today…

    Steve Harper, Danny Simpson, Fabricio Coloccini, Fitz Hall, Jose Enrique, Wayne Routledge, Danny Guthrie, Kevin Nolan (c), Jonas Gutierrez, Leon Best, Andy Carroll

  111. Aye Steve, got the team spot on in my match preview. Let’s hope I get the scorline right aswell.

  112. okay,off to bed. Mr Wayne,Mr Best,Mr Carroll to score.

    Danny Haynes to bag a consolation.

    3-1 to toon. good night.

  113. toonsy off thread a bit,since r.money left the toon,and went to luton he has done wonders without bringing in one player