Minimal

Don’t mention the score!

Five-star Chelsea thrash Magpies [Soccernet]
Good grief. Couldn’t they have declared once they got to three? Right, time to go on the record. While I’ll give the team all of my support at the matches, it’s fair to say we’ve had something like this coming for a while. Well, maybe not 5-0, but a good kicking nonetheless. Despite our on-paper resurgence (which was all against poor opposition, btw), we've yet to really catch fire.

It’s also no surprise that Andy O’Brien (he who put the ball in the mackems’ net, god bless him) was in the thick of it today. He’s been a very weak link in the Newcastle back line this season and has deserved his marching orders more than once. Clumsy, lacking confidence and with shocking distribution, he’s really not up to Premiership standard at the moment. While Bramble could be equally accused of dodgy distribution, at least his wayward passes are thumped harmlessly out of play miles upfield. At the back, making tackles where it matters, he’s solid. I just wish I could say the same of O’Brien. Woodgate can’t come back too soon.

At both full-back positions, we’ve struggled too, although moreso on the right than the left. Olivier Bernard’s greatest weakness has been a tendency to drift too much into the centre, leaving his man wide open. He’s also had a couple of games where he’s made alarmingly rash tackles time after time, but got away with it. He is improving, mind, and other than the drifting, he’s a bit of a star. Over at right back, though, Aaron Hughes is having a pretty awful season. Poor distribution, easily dispossessed and a certain lack of confidence have seen my head in my hands far more often than I’d like. A season or two back, he was great in a right-wing partnership with Solano, but all that’s gone since Bobby took a dislike to the Peruvian. At least Bowyer’s helping out.

Elsewhere on the pitch, and on the bench for that matter, we seem to be pretty well stocked. In midfield, we’ve got the sort of situation only top clubs can get — plenty of star players on the bench or in the reserves, no doubt getting agitated. Up front’s not bad either, as even a lack of Craig Bellamy doesn’t seem to have caused too many problems. It’s only really the back line that needs a bit of reinforcement. Woodgate was an excellent acquisition by Bobby. All we need now is about 3 or 4 more like him so that we’ve got a first rate first choice, plus the depth of quality we have elsewhere on the pitch. Roll on the January transfer window.

Update: re the Andy O’Brien thing — what was I thinking? Bring on Stevie Caldwell! If it’s confidence you want, this lad does everything in his power to provide it. Give him a decent run and I reckon we could have a star in the making. The lad was made to marshall back lines. :)