Post Match Review

Well then...first win under KK.

Am I the only one thinking this has not quite sunk in yet?

Me & Gaz summed it up when talking afterwards "we get three points you know!" - "3 points...you get three points for winning a game of football...whats that about?"

:)

Anyhow, the match.

We played well, not as good as we did against Blackburn, but if you watched the highlights on the BBC you may end up thinking we played like Brazil. The truth is we didn't. We scored early on and then sat deep. We still caused more threat than them playing like this mind.

Our defence held strong, with our most stereotypical Spanish named Spaniard 'Jose Gonzales Enrique Julio Geordio' putting in a good stint at leftback. Habib was as solid as ever, and the swapping with Geremi worked well. Faye looked more comfortable than midweek & Taylor was our best defender yesterday. All round good performance boys. My only qualm is that when we clear the lines chaps...push out a bit, sitting a bit deep, but then again...who am I to judge?

Our midfield seemed to combine well with both the defence and the attack yesterday, Joey Bizzle having his best (and probably only - for now) performance in a Black & White shirt before he gets banged up. As mentioned before, Gezza played well down the right & Na Na Naa Naaa Naa Naa Nicky Butt was our MOTM. He ran his heart out, tackled well, tracked back and linked up with the front 3 very well. Still pretends he is Paul Scholes at times with his 'lets-pick-a- 60yard-pass-out-of-thin-air attempts at times, but other than that, flawless performance.

The front three linked very well, with fatty holding the ball up and taking his chance very well. He actually ran for a few passes and challenged a few times too! Well done son, I'll buy you a pastie next time I see you in greggs! Oba was excellent (and no I'm not one of those 'Oba can't put a foot wrong' naysayers) yesterday. I don't know what the fudge is going on, but has he been in his back lane in Jesmond practising first touch all season...has anyone noticed his first touch yesterday and against Birmingham is far superior to what we have had in the past? Must be the Keegan influence I reckon.

And finally, our captain. In my books, EMO should not be captain. He does not lead, he does not command and he certainly does not organise the players. But yesterday, he did. The role (and the goal) yesterday was superb. Perhaps he is finally perking up to the idea that he is staying with us next season as no one is going to come in for him - contract pending of course.

Our man between the sticks needs no mention, he had to save two shots all game. One was easy, the other one not so easy. He made them, *clap *clap Mr Harper. I still say he can kick a ball more accurate than Given!!!

After all of that you would be thinking - how come the performance was not as good as Blackburn and we even won this time?

Well, they (the media) say we are a fickle lot. We come to be entertained (apparently) and we expect goals (supposedly). The fact is 3 Points will do for us no matter how we get it.

Now fuck off back under your shells and let us get on with things.