Toon v Plymouth – match reaction and whatnot.
Posted on September 21st, 2009 | 5 Comments |
“There were periods of the game where we made hard work of it.
“For whatever reason, we weren’t able to sustain it and of course the longer the game goes without getting that second one, Plymouth are lifted by the occasion and feel they can get something.”
The substitutions made all the difference though, about which Hughton said:
“I think it’s fair to say Danny and Nile have changed the game.
“When you make changes you hope they make an impact, sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.
“Thankfully, they did make a major impact.
“We needed that Kevin Nolan goal and it encouraged the lads.”
Hughton also sang the praises of Andy Carroll, saying:
“What delighted me more than anything is this is a lad who’s been out for a period of weeks and it was touch and go whether I started him,” said the caretaker manager.
“We are still looking to strengthen in that area, but Andy Carroll certainly solves some problems for us. He has got stronger and better.”
One of the players Hughton was hoping to get to strengthen in that area is Marlon Harewood, although the News of the World claims we now face competition for him from Sven Goran Eriksson, the current Godfather at Notts County. The NotW suggests that Harewood would be prepared to drop all the way down to League Two to join the Middle East-funded moneybags outfit, although I have my doubts. Nevertheless, let’s just make sure of it and get him signed as soon as possible; we’ve already missed out on Kamara and Vaughan, which were two of Hughton’s other options.
Danny Simpson limped off during Saturday’s game but Hughton doesn’t think it’s too serious:
“He just jarred his ankle and it’s one of those ones we will see how he is in the morning.
“But the fact he came off early enough, hopefully might have stopped any further damage.
“But we will assess that one in the morning and see how he is.”
Steven Taylor explained his ‘X-Factor’ celebration following his goal on Saturday:
“I have been getting a lot of stick because they think I’ve have got the Simon Cowell white teeth. All I use is Colgate!
“But it’s just because they drink a lot of coffee and they have got yellow and brown teeth – that’s why you never see them smile on the touchline.
“They wanted me to do the celebration, so I did it. It keeps them happy anyway – but I still didn’t get a smile from them.”
So there you have it. I’d just like to say well done to fellow author Bowburn Mag for completing the Great North Run in 2hrs 14mins with a gammy knee – he just needs a couple of new feet now!
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.
I won’t talk about the bigger long term picture as I get castergated for doing it.
So a win is a win.
There is one question I have – Why does Hghton continue to play one up front? Plymouth looked the team at the top until we went 4-4-2.