Special Feature: English Premier League’s weekend conclusions - Part 5
Newcastle United’s win at the weekend against West Ham United have given them due rise in the English Premier League standings as the Tyneside team now occupy the ninth place spot with three wins, two draws and four losses from their nine games thus far.
Two of Newcastle’s losses have come against Manchester City and Manchester United respectively, so one can say that their state this season has not been a despairing one. There was a time when Newcastle were seen as a permanent fixture in the Premier League
but all of that changed two seasons ago when Newcastle were relegated to the Championship frankly because of some bizarre managerial decisions and Mike Ashley’s failure to sell the club.
During their tenure in the lower divisions, Newcastle have rebuilt their mentality and at the weekend their win against West Ham just proved that. They were ruthless in attack but the credit should go to their manager, Chris Hughton
who deployed a two man attack to exploit the Hammers' defensive frailties. Newcastle fielded Shola Ameobi and Andy Carroll in attack but this meant that their midfield was a little imbalanced with Joey Barton occupying a left midfield role. However, Barton
did better than his critics expected him to do so as his crosses from out wide were spot on as both of them resulted in two goals for the Magpies.
The main reason as to why Barton was used on the left wing can only be realized if one studies Wayne Routledge and James Perch closely. Both left sided players played early on in the season for Newcastle but their inability to
cross the ball forced Hughton’s hand with regard to his team selection at the weekend. The weekend's win should in reality be a lesson for Routledge who has “tried” to make a football career for himself as a left winger. It is truly unacceptable for a winger
to be a failure at crossing the ball especially when he has a 6 foot 5 inch striker to aim for in the opposition’s penalty area.
As Barton was shifted out to the left side of midfield, the central midfield’s disruptive responsibilities were taken up by Cheik Tiote. Newcastle had signed Tiote in late August near the conclusion of the summer transfer window
from F.C Twente. Tiote was seen as a bit part player in the beginning but his performances for the men in black and white have suggested that he can be the next big thing in the Premier League. His composure on the ball coupled with his defensive capabilities
might just mean that Newcastle will have to offer him an improved contract if they are indeed to pry him away from a move to one of the bigger names in English football.
Birmingham City bailed themselves out of trouble at the weekend as well with their win over Blackpool. Ian Holloway’s team clearly came up short against a resurgent Birmingham side which was aiming for their second win of the season.
Birmingham’s win propelled them five places upwards in the Premier League table where they now rest at the 12th place spot. Before the weekend started, Birmingham were in trouble of entering the relegation zone as they occupied the 17th
place spot on early Saturday morning but Liam Ridgewell’s scrappy goal against Seasiders dispelled all such fears.
Bolton Wanderers were unsuccessful in capturing all the three points at the weekend as they played out a one all draw against Wigan Athletic. However, the game saw Johan Elmander netting his fifth goal of the season for Owen Coyle’s
team. Interestingly enough, Johan’s all five goals in the 2010-2011 season have come in Bolton’s matches away from the Reebok Stadium. Usually, scoring away from home is considered to be quite a tough task for any striker in the league but it seems as if the
pressure of performing at the Reebok Stadium has worked adversely for Elmander. The Swedish striker has not scored even a single goal at the Reebok Stadium this season in the English Premier League.
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