Pre-match narrative 
Seriously, how does Alan Pardew still have a job? The much-maligned manager (an understatement at this point) leads the black and white troops to the Liberty Stadium in hopes of Newcastle's first league win of the season. Meanwhile, Swansea has not won a Premier League match since August 30, though three early wins are good enough to put the Swans fifth in the table. Last season's 3-0 loss at the Liberty was the only defeat Newcastle suffered last November and December. In fact, Pardew's side hasn't managed a point against Swansea since 2012.
Here's another disturbing stat: Newcastle enters tomorrow's match on a 720-minute* dry spell away from St. James' Park. All indicators are looking very grim as the Toon makes the long trip away from the North East.
*stat courtesy of nufc.com, which points out that an OG at Liverpool is the club's only away tally in that time.
Team we want/team we'll get
Seriously, how does Alan Pardew still have a job? The much-maligned manager (an understatement at this point) leads the black and white troops to the Liberty Stadium in hopes of Newcastle's first league win of the season. Meanwhile, Swansea has not won a Premier League match since August 30, though three early wins are good enough to put the Swans fifth in the table. Last season's 3-0 loss at the Liberty was the only defeat Newcastle suffered last November and December. In fact, Pardew's side hasn't managed a point against Swansea since 2012.
Here's another disturbing stat: Newcastle enters tomorrow's match on a 720-minute* dry spell away from St. James' Park. All indicators are looking very grim as the Toon makes the long trip away from the North East.
*stat courtesy of nufc.com, which points out that an OG at Liverpool is the club's only away tally in that time.
Team we want/team we'll get
Pardew isn't doing it, so I'll keep suggesting it. All of the available evidence shows that neither Emmanuel Rivière nor Papiss Cissé is suited for a lone striker role. But playing in tandem, with Rémy Cabella in support, they may be able to string together a few chances. What does Newcastle have to lose at this point? It's not like I'm trying to break up an attacking juggernaut.
How Pardew will screw this up
For one thing, continuing with a formation with the creativity of a wet sock. At Stoke, the 4-2-3-1 Pardew insists on deploying proved lifeless once again. Rivière's double against a weakened Crystal Palace team proved to be a mirage. Cabella is looking more and more like the swordsman against Indiana Jones - fancy, utterly pointless skills - and Moussa Sissoko has packed it in until his probable move in January. Something else is needed, and fast: a different idea, a personnel change, whatever it takes to wake the squad up from its current offensive malaise. A continuation of the same lineup and formation would only confirm the manager's complete incompetency masked as stubbornness.
On the defensive side of the ball, starting Paul Dummett would be a colossal mistake against speedy Nathan Dyer. Dyer, snubbed from the recent England squad, would leave Dummett chasing shadows and picking up bits of Fruit-of-the-Looms for 90 minutes.
Finally, Swansea's style of play is the antithesis of Newcastle's under Pardew: quick, slick, and direct. This is not the 2011-12 side, which could sit deep and hit Swansea on the counterattack, as it did in its resplendent orange shirts in its last win at the Liberty. The tactics which drip from Pardew's DNA almost certainly guarantee another heavy defeat. He must push his squad up the park and challenge an opponent currently brimming with confidence, at least compared to his own players.
Predicted Chronicle headline
Frankly, at the moment, this team stinks. The players know the manager is well past his expiration date and just playing chicken with the owner to claim his severance. The only excitement coming out of the club lately was the revelation Cheick Tioté has two wives and a mistress.
The Newcastle fans who remain positive are the ones who still believe in Santa Claus and happily ever after. Tomorrow's inevitable defeat will continue the club's worst start in the Ashley era, prompting the Chron to lead with the headline:
Time's Up
Sounds like a perfect recipe for another hiding....for us.
Posted by: JeffC | 10/03/2014 at 11:04 AM
Cannot understand why Pards wouldn't roll the dice on something different. It's not like he's taking the Entertainers and forcing them to pass 46 times before scoring.
Why not this?
Krul
Janmatt Willo Colo Haidara
Sissoko Tiote Colback
Cabella Cisse Rivere
He ran a 4-3-3 when he had Demba Ba playing the part of Rivere in this case. Why not try it?
Oh, and by the way, I watched the Stoke game and our set-pieces sucked. The worst part is that the delivery was so poor we only had chances on a small percentage of plays. When it comes to set piece plays Colback has one more chance...and then have someone else do it.
Posted by: MNTOONARMY9 | 10/03/2014 at 11:10 AM
I genuinely wonder if the reason why Pardew isn't changing anything is that he's just trying to get fired and take his payoff as quickly as possible at this point. It's mind-blowing.
Interesting suggestion to try Rivière in the Ba role. He'd certainly be better as a wide forward than Cissé is.
Since we clearly don't have a set piece taker this year (I think Cabella has also been pretty useless in that regard), I almost wish we just took every free kick quickly and played every corner short. At least then it's not a guaranteed turnover and counterattack.
Posted by: Matt | 10/03/2014 at 11:26 AM