With many thanks to Newcastle season ticket holder Liam Miller, we ask a few questions about his beloved Magpies.
With many thanks to Newcastle season ticket holder Liam Miller (@LiamMiller89), we ask a few questions about his beloved Magpies. We ask Liam about Alan Pardew’s future at the club, Newcastle’s danger men ahead of tomorrow’s game and a prediction for the encounter.
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1) Alan Pardew is going through a tough period at the moment in terms of form, are you still confident he is the man to take Newcastle forward?
Yes. Some decisions this season have been questionable and the fans always think they could do a better job. Last season he was the best thing since sliced bread so you can’t just discard him when the side goes through a tough time. He hasn’t been able to field a first 11 in any game ALL season.
2) Who are the player/s to look out for in your side ahead of Saturday’s game?
Yohan Cabaye in his first start in 3 months. Davide Santon has been our top performer this season and Papiss Cisse back in a central position.
3) People are talking about a possible relegation scrap for the Magpies, surely you won’t be there come the end of the season will you?
I don’t think so. We have Ben Arfa, Steven Taylor, Cabaye, Tiote, Simpson, Ryan Taylor, Gosling all to come back, plus hopefully some new additions. If Coloccini goes back to Argentina as speculated (for family reasons) it could damage morale even further but I hope he can stay.
4) What are your strengths and weaknesses as a team that you have noticed over the past couple of games?
Mike Williamson has really struggled this season and we have looked really bad defensively for the majority of it. We are always vulnerable to the counter attack and haven’t scored from a set piece for a year. The clean sheet in the last game was a positive and we will hopefully create more now that Cabaye is back from injury.
5) How much of a loss is Demba Ba for you?
He’s obviously a big loss, especially for the lack of money we received for the quality of player that he is. I definitely feel that Papiss Cisse can fill the void when replacing him through the middle as long as we can create chances for him to feed off.
6) What position would you like to strengthen the most this month and any names that spring to mind?
We need probably 2 centre backs and at least 1 striker. It’s hard to name targets for us as we almost always sign young upcoming talents that aren’t always well known. It always seemed that we were going for Douglas from FC Twente as a centre half. I’d take him and then maybe an attacking winger that can also play through the middle.
7) What Reading player do you rate the most and why?
Danny Guthrie – the guy was absolutely brilliant for us last season. He played quite often due to injuries and suspensions and was superb. Nobody wanted to see him go but as we couldn’t promise him regular first team football it was hard to keep him at the club.
8) What’s your prediction for the game?
I think it will be a Newcastle win 2-0. Marveux and Cisse 🙂
