AFCB's defence was strong despite Newcastle's goal

While we won't harp on about it for too long, Newcastle's goal against the Cherries was the only disappointing event that Tyne & Wear had to serve up at the weekend. Sitting 0-2 away from home with a howling Newcastle crowd none too pleased about the story unfolding before them, it probably came as a bit of a shock when Perez found the back of the net on 80 minutes.

I'd like to highlight the quality of Jonjo Shelvey's curved pass from the back that negotiated AFCB's midfield and defence, ending at the feet of Perez in his stride. It was a real peach of a pass for Newcastle. It split Cook and Francis and even with Franno and Smith trying to get back on terms, it left too much for them to do. Artur Boruc made the decision to come out to try and narrow the angle, but the ball he went down early and the shot flew past him. It is not often that the Cherries get caught out by a long through ball, but I think the quality and vision of Shelvey's pass was exceptional while the starting positions of Cook and Francis made the possibility for the pass.

Eddie did not have too much to grumble about after the 1-3 win at Newcastle.

Luckily Newcastle did not really get any more momentum after the goal. It was also late on in the game. The Cherries have become good spoilers of games and as early as the hour mark the referee was having words after Charlie Daniels was taking his time to get the ball back into play from a throw on. It had been comfortable at 0-2 and yet there was a few moments of uncertainty that crept into the Cherries' game when the gap had been cut to a one goal lead.

It says a lot about the team though that they went again and Charlie Daniels made the game safe. I would have been inclined to rate the back four much higher if they had have kept a clean sheet as to do that at St James' Park would have been terrific. While the clean sheet escaped our lads this time though they are showing that the team is defending particularly well and was able to weather Newcastle's early storm when they did have the home crowd with them for a while. 

Eddie Howe said that AFCB did not make it easy for themselves at times and keeping leads with a tight defence is something that has been an area where improvements can still be made, but the Cherries are starting to see out games now and back to back wins are pushing the Cherries towards a strong end to the season.

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Newcastle have strengthened but are still struggling

Newcastle had plenty of time to reflect on their 5-1 demolition handed out by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge a couple of weeks ago. Since then they have had a midweek game against Stoke where they lost out narrowly, but they are finding it hard to pick up points and the Cherries have to make the most of that.

The media have been focussing on the amount of money that Steve McClaren has been able to spend in January and while the signings of Jonjo Shelvey, Andros Townsend and the signings of Henri Saivet and Doumbai may have strengthened the Toon Army, but they have heaped even more pressure on the manager. Two wins in their last 10 games is only one win worse than the Cherries, but Newcastle are finding it hard to break out of the lower regions of the table and that in itself brings its own pressure as well.

Newcastle Utd players at Dean Court earlier this season.

Goals are what will save the Geordies if anything does, but with midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum their top scorer there is plenty of room for improvement from their strikers. Andros Townsend was rested with a hamstring problem but could make it back for this game. Mitrovic and Perez have had their moments including Perez' goal at Dean Court, but McClaren had to strengthen in January and he decided on Seydou Doumbia on loan from AS Roma. Doumbia still has not scored yet. In fact, I am not sure if he has even made it on the team bus! 

McClaren may also have hoped that the return to fitness of Steve Taylor would make a big difference in defence but the drubbing that Newcastle got at Chelsea still leaves a question mark over the back four with Janmaat, Coloccini and Aarons not proving very water tight, although they got a clean sheet a week earlier against WBA at St James' Park. That is the worry. At home Newcastle are a different team and the Cherries will have to quieten the crowd with some early pressure if they are to pull away from Newcastle and get a win, which would be one of the most important of the season. I even believe a draw would be a good result for the Cherries as it would be very damaging to Newcastle not to make any ground on the Cherries at this stage.

Newcastle's team last time out against Stoke City.

Elliot

Janmatt, Taylor, Lascelles, Dummett

Shelvey, Colback

Sissoko, Wijnaldum, Gouffran

Mitrovic

Newcastle Home Form
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AFCB Away Form
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Competition time - Guess the minute of the Last goal
I am just keeping you on your toes by changing the competition this week to ask you in what minute do you think the last goal will go in for either team during the game between Newcastle Utd and AFC Bournemouth? 

Tweet the minute to @Peter Bell19 to win an AFCB key ring with screwdriver end fittings - I rather like that prize! If no one guesses the exact minute we will go with the closest guess and if we have more than one correct answer we will draw the winner from the hat. Good luck!

There's still a weakness in central defence

With Simon Francis filling in as a central defender, the back four is not quite how many of us would have expected it to be at the start of the season. While Francis says he likes playing there, it is perhaps not his best position and since he has moved there it is apparent that the goals against are still growing which may be more a fact of how the team is dealing as a whole when defending their goal, rather than any individual. But the fact is AFCB are weaker when Francis does not play at right back.

The changes do have an effect on the team no matter how much they train in those positions. Adam Smith has not played badly at all. In fact he has been a player that I have given good ratings too of late, especially in the Southampton match. He is getting used to being in the team and he did not have that many games at right back, even in the Championship season. The changes are somewhat enforced and have been made in an attempt to try and win more clean sheets.

Distin is still trying to help the team get some more clean sheets. 

Unfortunately, it is still work in progress for the back four. Sylvain Distin is starting to show how he'll confidently beat a player, one on one, when he has his back to goal and he is perhaps a voice that the players need to hear more on the pitch. No one is barking out instructions that visibly though without Elphick in the team, and some of the string characters need to show themselves at times. Some of the BT Sports analysis also showed that the centre halves are not getting tight enough to forwards and are allowing them to turn - at this level they can't do that.

Having said that, the goal that Perez scored for Newcastle was disappointing as it was really a goal out of nothing. The central defenders did not cope with a ball around the D of the box just like they did not when Dembele scored for Spurs a couple of weeks earlier. Neither goal is the kind of goal that we have seen scored often against the Cherries, but there is concern when a player can waltz through the centre of the Cherries defence to score. It's happened more than once. Some answers are needed.

Cherries fail to score against Toon and crash into bottom three

Match Report

7 November 2015

AFCB 0 v 1 Newcastle Utd

Attendance: 11,155

AFCB and Newcastle Utd walk on to the pitch.

The Cherries' bus got stuck in the mud on eight points as they broke down at home, not knowing how to reach their destination of a second home win. Having dropped Glenn Murray, and with a clutch of players trying to grab the scoring wheel, AFCB ran their visitors hard but only seemed to steer the majority of their shots wide. Eddie Howe was full of praise for his players for most of their efforts in the first 70 minutes of this game, but the need for a goalscorer in the team was never made more evident than in this match which saw the Cherries lay siege to the Newcastle goal, but ultimately run out of ideas on how to beat Rob Elliot. He admirably defended Newcastle's lead that was scored by Perez in the 27th minute, when AFCB's defence seat on deck chairs and forgot to clear a bobbling ball that Perez duly prodded underneath Adam Federici. It was an undeserved lead and a one-sided contest, but the Cherries now look a side that has a real problem in front of goal and has a habit of leaking goals themselves.

Dave and Zak talk Newcastle Utd on Cherry Chimes FanCam.

Newcastle in their change strip.

Lee Mason in the middle with the captains.

Newcastle players get ready.

More pictures are on MatchDay Gallery.

There were a couple of changes to the AFCB team with Marc Pugh being injured with a soar achilles tendon problem and Glenn Murray dropped from the 18-man squad. Artur Boruc made it to the bench and there were starts for Josh King up front and Junior Stanislas in a five-man midfield. Steve Cook also made it back to the bench.

This was a game that the Cherries dare not lose and they came out early on firing well with Josh King going close in the first five minutes having raced up the right and powered his shot at the left side of the Newcastle goal, where Rob Elliot turned it round the corner. Charlie Daniels then had a dig from distance that just ran wide of the left post! Junior Stanislas was keeping moves going and he forced another corner on six minutes.

Harry Arter also looked for space in which to shoot and Ritchie and Gosling found their efforts blocked by some stout Newcastle defending. Surely the Cherries would get a break with this kind of pressure mounting up.

However, when Distin missed a pass from Daniels and Mitrovic in a race to get to the ball it was lucky that the Newcastle attacker did not beat Federici to the ball. A slip at the other end by Mbemba almost let King in similarly, but Elliot was out sharply. King was making his presence felt and there were calls for a penalty when Coloccini took him down in the box, but referee Lee Mason felt it was too soft. Newcastle too wondered if a ball that hit Gosling might be worth a penalty shout in the Bournemouth box but play went on.

AFCB's best chance of the first half came when Josh King was played in by Gosling on the left and the striker just had Elliot to beat. He took one touch, to create more space, and then a second and before you knew it the angle had narrowed and he hit his shot right at the keeper! An opportunity gone on 21 minutes.

Meanwhile, Francis was bombing forward sometimes perhaps forgetting that he was playing centre back but it was good to see. Newcastle were not making much of a game of it, but a flick from Mitrovic outside the box seemed to cause havoc in the centre of AFCB's defence on 27 minutes. The ball just wasn't cleared, but fell nicely to Perez who seemed to have a clear path through to goal. He stabbed his shot passed Federici who got an arm to it, but the ball dribbled into the back of the net from Newcastle's only attack. It was 0-1 and we knew it even if the scoreboard didn't show it.

Harry Arter got on the ball now and blasted a shot wide in retaliation. The corners kept coming with the Cherries looking to get back on equal terms. A free kick from the right saw Josh King get a glancing header to it that Elliot clung on to. Adam Smith then blasted a shot just over the bar with another shot from a poor corner clearance.

More corners saw Gosling leap highest and head down only for Elliot to save down low right by the post. King then put another header over from another corner. It was getting frustrating!

Janmatt was yellow carded for a foul on King, but Newcastle held the lead at half time 0-1.

Half time scoreboard.

Second Half
The second 45 started with a fabulous Bournemouth move. It was started by Sylvain Distin who played the ball towards Matt Ritchie who did a step over, allowing the ball to run to Adam Smith. Smith then cruised to the byline on the right and put in a deep cross that Ritchie headed but right at Elliot, who pushed it over the bar! Next it was the turn of Gosling who got on the end of a Ritchie cross but headed over.

A real scramble in the Newcastle box saw an Arter shot blocked and the keeper failing to get the ball safe, but no AFCB player could poke the ball home. A more glaring opportunity fell to Junior Stanislas after Ritchie crossed a ball from the right and Gosling missed it, before it landed at Junior's feet. He leaned back and ballooned his shot over and stood in disbelief for a few moments afterwards. Oh no!

AFCB were still in command and getting the opportunities but there did not seem to be a goalscorer on the pitch for them. Elliot was punching corners away now and getting fairly used to them.

On 63 minutes Cisse replaced Mirtovic. The game was disappearing and it was not shaping up well for the Cherries. Arter's annoyance ended up with a yellow card for a clear shirt pull on the half way line. Eddie Howe finally made some changes with Tomlin and Kermorgant replacing Stanislas and King. McClaren took off Perez and brought on Thauvin. Perez was roundly booed by the AFCB fans for his early injury claim when he had wasted time with a physio running on but finding he had no work to do. There were a few more cheers when Rantie came on for Harry Arter.

The last 10 minutes only prolonged the suffering. Adam Smith went into the book and Tiote followed him into the book, but even with six minutes of extra time the Cherries could not fashion a clear chance. The last minutes were even prolonged further with a Newcastle sub as Anita was replaced by Mbabu. FT 0-1.

Sometimes you don't get what you deserve.

A great day for Newcastle fans.

Federici on his way off the pitch.

Summary
It is never a good time to be in the bottom three and yet on performances it is hard not to agree that the Cherries probably are a bottom three side at the moment. Endeavour is all well and good but there has to be a finish. There was no quality in front of goal for them in this match and AFCB need to find some way of punishing teams for all their possession. Without that they can expect to spend a lot of time in the bottom three. Sadly, there aren't many options for Howe in his team selection and that is becoming abundantly clear.

AFCB
Federici, Smith, Francis, Diston, Daniels, Ritchie, Arter (Rantie 79), Gosling, Surman, Stanislas (Tomlin 73), King (Kermorgant 73)

AFCB Subs
Boruc, Bennett, Cook, MacDonald, Tomlin, Kermorgant, Rantie

AFCB Ratings
Federici 6, Smith 6, Francis 6, Distin 7, Daniels 7, Ritchie 8, Arter 6, Gosling 7, Surman 6, Stanislas 7, King 6

Newcastle Utd
Elliot, Janmaat, Mbemba, Coloccini, Dummett, Sissoko, Tioté, Anita (Mbabu 93),
Wijnaldum, Mitrovic (Cissé 63) Pérez (Thauvin 77)

Newcastle Subs
Cissé, de Jong, Gouffran, Lascelles, Thauvin. Woodman. Mbabu

Referee watch: Lee Mason - let's just say we have history 2/10. Didn't expect him to give AFCB any decisions and they didn't get any.

Howe has to get the better of McClaren's Toons

Saturday will see another great battle for points at the Vitality stadium as Newcastle are the visitors and like the Cherries they desperately need the points. The Toon Army have similar problems to the Cherries in terms of confidence having earned just one win all season. If Steve McClaren loses this game though, he will surely come under even more pressure as fans see the gap above them to safety suddenly starting to widen.

It will be the first time that Steve McClaren has come back to the stadium since bringing his former Derby team who managed to claw a 2-2 draw against the Cherries in February, on that occasion in the Championship. So Steve knows Eddie Howe and Bournemouth's game well, and it will be his problem to come up with a way to defend against a team that he knows he can't afford to really lose to at this stage.

At the back they have been playing Daryl Janmaat and Chancel Mbemba along with Fabricio Coloccini and Paul Dummett, while Rob Elliot has come into the team for long term goalkeeping casualty Tim Krul. McClaren is probably going to have to make changes though as Elliot was suffering from a thigh problem even before their last match. Newcastle now have a goalkeeping crisis. Teenager Freddie Woodman may even have to play in goal against AFCB, although Ellliot hopes to recover in time. They have other problems too, as right back Daryl Janmaat is also a doubt having come off in the draw against Stoke City. Jamaal Lascelles, who replaced Janmaat in the game, is expected to fill in again if Janmaat can't recover in time.

Still, having kept a clean sheet against Stoke City at home in their last match, it is clear that Newcastle are going to make it hard for teams at St James' Park. When you look at their away outings though they look very fragile in defence. A humiliating 3-0 loss to the Black Cats was probably worse for their fans to suffer than the 6-1 drubbing at the Etihad. Newcastle are done the bottom for a reason. Like AFCB they let in too many goals.

They are also not a team though that strikes fear into other teams with their line up. In midfield Moussa Sissoko is probably the pick of their creative players, but one star performance from Georginhio Wijnaldum with his four goals against Norwich City marks him out as another player that the Cherries will have to be looking to stop. Newcastle have not played Pappa Demba Cisse up front since he came on as a sub in the last two minutes in the Norwich game. More often than not it is Ayoze Perez that has been given the role to support Aleksandar Mitrovic. Scoring has not been easy for them though and they have other concerns too about their general play.

The Cherries will roll up their sleeves for this one.

This is a huge game for both sides, but Eddie Howe has much in his favour with the match being at home and one of this being the longest away trip for the Magpies. A defeat for Newcastle would surely deflate them at this point, and it is a chance to change the direction of the season so far for the Cherries.

Newcastle Away Form
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AFCB Home Form
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