Articles 
We seem fully intent on self harm at the moment. Clever swots on telly can rattle off dead impressive stats all they want, but any side will have an incredible amount of possession if our game plan is to hand the ball to them at every opportunity, for the whole 90 minutes. For the 2nd time in a week we were minging, only this time the home side couldn’t find a cutting edge.
The game began with lots of Swansea pressure as we were slow and lethargic. Nolan in particular was way off the pace. The first real sight on goal was a Carroll lob from the edge of the box after a Coloccini knock down, but the shot had little control about it. Having seen Swansea pass the ball around nicely but with little end product, they came close from an Orlandi free kick which whistled just wide of Harper’s left hand post. Nolan should have done better when Coloccini picked him out but he sent his header wide of the target. After a wild Coloccini lunge had seen a yellow card flashed, Orlandi whipped in another hard and low free kick but again Harper dealt with it with little hassle. Within quick succession there were acrobatic efforts at either end, from Orlandi and Lovenkrands, but neither really threatened. With half time approaching a wild Swansea clearance rebounded for a corner and from Guthrie’s in swinger Monk almost chested it into his own net. The referee ended the first half with score still at 0-0.
The second half was as sloppy as the first as we kept on lacing the ball in the general direction of Carroll, who would do absolutely nothing with it. Swansea opened us up early on and how no one turned home the flashing cross is a mystery, Pratley saw a shot go behind for a corner and Dyer was allowed to send in a 20 yard shot from outside the box with Guthrie encouraging the shot rather than stopping it. By now there was some writing on the wall, and it clearly said “Swansea goal is coming.” After some neat passing and a clever dummy, the ball arrived at Cotterill’s feet. With time and space he steadied himself and picked out the top corner of Harper’s net from 20 yards. Rather than prompt a Newcastle awakening, Swansea continued to dominate and we kept on getting caught in possession and hoofing the ball into Nowhereville. At times our touch and execution of a pass are embarrassing. For professional footballers, like Smith and Nolan to have absolutely no ability whatsoever, it makes a mockery of the Nation’s scouting system that there are players who have far superior technique still playing local, non league football, whilst these 2 jokes make Kevin Dillon look like Socrates. Having seen Harper deny Cotterill a second we seemed to be heading for another (deserved) defeat, but with 87 minutes played, Leon Best sent over a right wing cross which Carroll leapt to nod home for a leveller. We were grateful for the point in the end.
Nottingham Forest’s defeat at Doncaster sees us return to the top by a point and extend our advantage over Billy Davies’ side to 5 points. What is rather concerning is that we now have a return of just 4 points from a possible 15 on the road.
Newcastle Team:
Harper,
Simpson,
Hall, BOOKED
Coloccini, BOOKED
Van Aanhort,
Routledge,
Smith, (Captain)
Guthrie,
Nolan,
Lovenkrands (Best 66 mins)
Carroll. BOOKED
Subs not used:
Krul,
Kadar,
Williamson,
Ryan Taylor,
Ranger,
Pancrate.
Swansea City:
De Vries,
Williams,
Tate,
Monk,
Bessone (Rangel 7),
Pratley,
Orlandi,
Dyer (Butler 80),
Cotterill,
Allen,
Kuqi (Pintado 74).
Subs not used:
Cornell,
Trundle,
Gower,
Richards.
Referee: Kevin Whoolmer
Man of the Match: Coloccini, with my hand full of straws
Attendance: 15,188
League Position: 1st
