Sunday 23 March 2008

Resurrected

Toon 2 Fulham 0

Phew... Last time we played Fulham, we scraped a flukey win which wasn't really deserved. Ir wasn't the same this time, this was a deserved win and it could have been much more than the two goals that ended up separating the teams.

Thanks to Sky I watched the whole of the game, and I think that I might be in a state of shock... Barton actually can play football. Having hitherto shown nothing to justify his selection, he played well and him and Butt looked like a good midfield team. Geremi still struggles with the corners though, but hey, you can't have everything.

What was gratifying to see was the goals. Firstly, Viduka had a typical game, does virtually nowt, except win a few headers and score a cracking goal. The way he plays must annoy the hell out of most of the rest of the team... but he got the important early goal that made so much difference yesterday. It settled down the team and, as importantly, the crowd. Apart from a short spell in the early 2nd half, it looked as though there would only be one winner after Big Mark's goal. That said, I'm still struggling to see why Martin's was taken off with 15 mins to go rather than the rotund Aussie.

Secondly, EMO - he played like a captain yesterday. Rather than just standing around waiting for the ball to come to him, he went and got the ball and kept going throughout all the game. He had a couple of horrible misses, but kept on trying and got his goal at the end of the game. Best game I've seen him play for us, since the hat-trick at West Brom.

So, the upshot of yesterdays game? Well, not a whole lot really- 3 points nearer safety, (but still plenty to do) team spirit shown, (maybe a bit of belief will start run through the team now) a clean sheet, (hallelujah) and Keegan's first win (admittedly against an awful Fulham team). That said, he's not the Messiah, but this might just be the start of the resurrection of the team (well, it is Easter Sunday, so maybe you'll forgive me the biblical pun).

Oh - and I learned something yesterday - dreams are just part of your subconscious mind... Don't put money on a dream, it won't happen.

But, I wonder what the odds are of EMO getting injured playing for his favorite team against France on Wednesday? Pretty high I'd guess.

2 comments:

Michael said...

Shame the mackems won too, eh?

I can't see us taking anything at Spurs but six points from Reading and the other lot should be about enough now.

The sooner this season's over with, the better.

ise_67 said...

Ah yes, a well deserved win indeed but still a crazy substitution by taking 'Femi off again.

Pleased to see that Barton can actually play but it's too little too late IMHO. We've had too many awful displays from him to warrant regular inclusion in the side.

Oh and while I'm on, can someone please practice passing and taking corners with Geremi, it's getting embarrassing now man!

Overall though a much better and much more confident Toon display; let's carry this on please but can someone shoot those pigeons on the pitch first!