Alan Shearer - from pundit to manager

We now enter the final game of the month with a bit of confidence after 2 wins on the bounce after a good draw against Arsenal ...

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I was so so disappointed here with this result! We were just shocking at the back!!

Ron Vlaar got Hull off to a flyer by scoring an own goal after 7 minutes. To be fair, Vlarr didn't know too much about it after a powerful striker from N'Doye hit him and gave the keeper no chance. We just didn't close him down and allowed him a free strike.

Rhodes then levelled things up minutes after. At least we can still count on him scoring, thats 7 in 7 now.

However, straight from kick off, Robertson took the ball and easily beat Janmaat to put in a looping ball, N'Doye was in the box and out-jumped Vlaar to head home. This was less than 60 seconds after Rhodes has equalised.

Hernandez then put Hull 3-1 up after a dreadful mistake from Vlaar allowed him in on goal. Vlaar was far too relaxed on the ball and paid a heavy price.

Wijnaldum gave us a brief hope by netting from the edge of the box. To be fair, his effort was tame and should have been saved.

Aleksandar Mitrovic is really putting his stake in for getting a rare start. He netted his 3rd in 3 goals in injury time to rescue a point which half an hour earlier looked so unlikely.

So, this brought an end to September. Let's see how the table looks:

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Well, we've only played 6 games but find ourselves in 10th place (pretty much where I expected to be).

What's most pleasing is the amount of goals we're scoring, although the defence is definitely a concern.

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We're level with Man Utd (who are top of the league) in terms of goals scored, both on 15 from 6 games.

If we can sort the defence out then we'll be laughing!


PLAYER OF THE MONTH:
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MANAGER OF THE MONTH:
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Just at the start of October, we received a loan offer for one of our forwards:

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Championship side, Norwich, offered to loan Aleksandar Mitrovic for one month.

After mulling over the offer I decided to turn Norwich down. Mitrovic has made a couple of good performances recently, although they were brief they were still impressive.

I'll review his position in the squad in January.

Shortly after this we got some good news concerning Jack Colback ...

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I received an email from the physio who informed me Jack was now training with the first team and can be selected for matchday squad's from now on.

I called him into my office after hearing this ...

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Alan Shearer - Jack, thanks for seeing me. Take a seat.

Jack Colback - Thanks boss.

Alan Shearer - How was training? Feeling okay?

Jack Colback - Training was good boss, I'm feeling much better. I'll be ready for the first team in time for Chelsea next week.

Alan Shearer - That's good lad but I think I'm going to ease you back in the first team. You've had a really bad injury and I don't want this to affect you further down the line.

Jack Colback - But I'm feeling good boss, I'm ready! I can't wait to play again!

Alan Shearer - I don't want to fall out Jack, I see you as a massive part of my plans in central midfield. I just don't want the injury to hold you back.

Jack Colback - Okay boss, I trust you. See you in training tomorrow.​
 
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We were just outclassed here by a far superior side in Chelsea.

Chelsea raced into the lead after Oscar scored from close range. They then doubled their lead through Eden Hazard just 2 minutes later.

Chelsea effectively wrapped up the game game on 23 minutes after Juan Cuadrado smashed his effort past Krul.

We made the scoreline a little more respectable after Jordan Rhodes got one back with just a few minutes to go.​
 

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A very even game!

We dominated the game in terms of possession but in terms of chances the game was very even.

Rhodes had a couple of good chances but for once he hadn't brought his shooting boots!

The game looked to end a draw before Fabricio Coloccini did what all good captains do and found that extra gear that we needed. He scored a great header from the near post after Matt Lowton put in a pinpoint delivery.​
 
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We actually played really well here!

23 shots with 10 on target compared to Stokes 3. We just couldn't find the back of the net, Jordan Rhodes was the biggest culprit following his second blank in a row. He missed some really good chances today.

Stoke opened the scoring just after the half hour mark after Coloccini headed clear a cross from the right wing but the clearance only went as far as Moses who smashed it into the top corner. He left Krul with absolutely no chance!

We eventually found the equaliser when Janmaat's deflected cross found its way through to Perez who ended his goal drought by finishing well.
I'm glad we found the leveller here but I can't help feeling disappointed to only come away with a point here.
​
 
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Our good form in the cup continues as we swept aside Bolton in a fairly one sided affair at St James Park.

Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring after the half hour mark. Mitrovic finished brilliantly after a good ball from strike partner, Papiss Cisse.

It was then Cisse himself who doubled the lead just 4 minutes later. He broke the offside trap after Tiote played a long ball over the top, Cisse latched onto it and finished calmly to really put the game beyond doubt.

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The Quarter Final draw wasn't kind to us as it saw us paired up against Chelsea.

The one saving grace being that the tie is to be played at St James Park.

​
 
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Another draw in the Premier League which makes it two in a row.

This was another pretty close game but I'm seriously disappointed in the way we played, especially to only have 2 shots on target all game!

West Ham really should have won this and in truth we had Tim Krul to thank for keeping us in the game! He made several brilliant saves to keep it goalless.

This is the first game in which we haven't scored!​
 
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What a shocking result!

Southampton were the better team here and took the lead just after the hour mark after, Shane Long got in front of Ron Vlaar and connected with a cross from the right past Krul.

We equalised and looked pretty good at this point, Moussa Sissoko capitalised on a Southampton mistake at the back which he easily finished to make it 1-1.

We then really stepped up a gear and looked the winner (I couldn't accept 3 draws in a row), after searching for the winner Southampton broke from our corner and finished with ease. In the end they had 4 on 1 at the back, Ward-Prowse was played through and finished well.

Shane Long then finished the game off by making it 3-1, again they caught us pushing too many players forward, this time trying to find an equaliser.

This result is not acceptable, I'll be calling the lads in first thing Monday morning for extra training!

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Monday morning after the Southampton game, I ordered the squad in early to discuss what's going wrong!

Alan Shearer - Right then, thanks for coming in on your day off lads. Appreciate it. I want to go through why things have gone so badly wrong recently. What do people think?

Fabricio Coloccini - I think we're leaving ourselves open in midfield boss.

Mousa Sissoko - I agree, we're also very narrow when we don't play any wide midfielders.

Alan Shearer - I appreciate your honesty lads. We need to change something now before things get even worse! We've got Leicester coming next which is very winnable.

Jack Colback - I think the wingers are the biggest problem, our full backs are too exposed.

Alan Shearer - Right, I'm going to discuss a new formation with the coaching staff this morning, I'll have it ready for you after your training session. Graham Carr is taking today's session, enjoy it!​
 
I asked both my assistant manager (Bruno Demichellis) and coach (Peter Beardsley) into my office to discuss our new formation/tactic.

Alan Shearer - Hi lads, take a seat. Thanks for coming.

Bruno Demichellis - No proble, what changes were you thinking of?

Alan Shearer - We're too open playing this diamond formation, I want to utilize my wide players more. I was thinking something like this ...

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Peter Beardsley - Looks good boss. This way we have cover for the full backs but can attack just as easily.

Alan Shearer - We can then drop the wingers a little deeper if needed or have them as forwards against the smaller teams.

Bruno Demichellis - Good idea boss. I'll inform the players when they get back from training.

Alan Shearer - That's good, tell them I'll put the teamsheet up on Friday as usual. ​
 
After that meeting we had Leicester at home. As promised, I put the teamsheet up the day before for the lads to see. This change of formation could either be hit or miss ...

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What a turnaround!

Jordan Rhodes certainly found his shooting boots for this game by bagging a brilliant hattrick which now puts him on 11 goals in 13 games.

We controlled the game from start to finish, barring a 10 minute spell when Leicester equalised.

It was Rhodes third goal that really caught them eye after he finished from the edge of the area which fired past the keeper into the top corner.

After Rhodes good work was done it was the turn of the midfielders to shine. First Jack Colback finished well after good work from Vernon Anita.

Yoan Gouffran then capped off a wonderful display by scoring the 5th and adding real gloss to the win!

The only disappointment here is the injury to Matt Lowton which really didn't look good, our coaching staff will have to look at it on Monday morning.

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Just after the Leicester game I got into the office to find an email from our physio (Michael Harding) who had a report on the injury Matt Lowton picked up ...

"Hi Alan,

Congratulations on the win against Leicester again. It was a great performance.

I don't want to put a dampner on things but the results of Matt Lowton's scan have just come in and it's not good news I'm afraid.
​
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The scan has come back to confirm the break. I was hoping it was a fracture but this is a bad break!

From experience, he'll be out for around 4 months, any earlier than that will be a miracle.

Sorry to give you the bad news but at least you know now and you can plan accordingly.

See you next week Alan.


Michael Harding" (Physio)

4 ******* months, I thought! I was distraught, the high of smashing Leicester was gone instantly as this injury sunk in.

I'd only signed Lowton as back up on deadline day but his performances gave me no option but to make him number one choice.

He had averaged 7.58 over his 7 appearances and assisted 3 times. He's a constant threat down the right and always delivers an awesome ball.

He'll be missed!​
 
The final game of the month came against Man City away from home ...


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We were beaten by a fairly poor Man City side here today.

We started the game brilliantly and really took the game to them in the opening 20 minutes, we played well without really testing Joe Hart that much.

Just as we were turning the screw on them, Bryan Oviedo fouled James Milner on the edge of the box which was judged to be just inside ... penalty awarded. Yaya Toure stepped up and send Tim Krul the wrong way.

All that good work gone to waste!

Man City really took control after this point but again, without really looking like scoring.


We had a couple of half chances, Mousa Sissoko coming the closest after about 70 minutes.

Our task got harder when Cheick Tiote was shown a straight red card which. This was really harsh, it was definitely a foul and possible a booking but never a sending off!

After this we struggled to create anything further with only 10 men!


So at the end of November we had managed to consolidate 9th position in the league:

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13 games in and we've managed to pick up 17 points. This is pretty much where we expected to be.


PLAYER OF THE MONTH:
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MANAGER OF THE MONTH
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This is the third time in a row that Pochettino has won! Has that ever happened before?!

It comes as Tottenham remain top spot, 1 point clear of Man City with a game in hand.​
 
December started with a tough game against league leders, Tottenham at St James Park.

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A decent draw here against Tottenham who are now top of the league.

A fairly even game which really could have gone either way.

We opened the scoring through Remy Cabella, who's performances have really improved after being moved o the right wing.

Erik Lamela equalised not long after with an unstoppable effort from 20 yards out on his left foot.

We really had chances to win the game, Rhodes and Gouffran both missed great chances which would have clinched the game


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I was really excited for training this week, after the draw against Tottenham and the win against Leicester a couple of weeks ago, our confidence was high and looking forward to Everton next.

Just after the training session there was a loud knock on my door ...

Alan Shearer - Hello ...

In walked Moussa Sissoko.

"Moussa Sissoko - Hello boss, may I come in?"

Alan Shearer - Of course Moussa, take a seat. What can I do you for?

"Moussa Sissoko - Well ... "

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Alan Shearer - Okay, I have to admit this has come as a surprise. I haven't heard of any interest.

"Moussa Sissoko - I just want your word that you'll accept any decent offer and allow me to play at the highest level."

Alan Shearer - Of course Moussa, I'd love you to stay here but I appreciate you want to play in the Champions League. Providing the offer made is high enough then we'll accept.

"Moussa Sissoko - Thanks boss, that's all I wanted to hear"

Alan Shearer - No problem. But Moussa, this is dependent on your performances, make sure they don't drop!

"Moussa Sissoko - I promise boss. See you tomorrow"

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A real disappointment here!

The news of Moussa wanting to leave really hurt the squad and I think they brought it into the game.

We didn't even manage a ****** shot on target all game!

Steven Naismith opened the scoring midway through the first half and really Everton never looked back.

Kevin Mirallas then doubled the lead with just over 10 minutes to go.

This was always going to be tough as Everton are 5th in the league and flying high.​
 
Next up is the big one, the Tyne-Wear Derby to be played at St James Park ...

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Another draw! We need to kick this out if we're going to do any better than a mid-table finish.

We totally dominated the game, over 60% of the ball while restricting Sunderland to just 1 shot on target.

Jordan Rhodes had a rare quiet day in front of goal, while Moussa Sissoko and Jack Colback being the sides driving forces.

We now must concentrate on Chelsea who we play in the League Cup quarter final next​
 
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What an unbelievable result, and performance.

Chelsea risked playing a weakened side which back fired badly, only Eden Hazard, Gary Cahill, Ivanovic and Courtois regained their place from their last Premier League game.

We meanwhile, ripped apart our normal cup team and played our usual league side which worked a trick.

Georginio Wijnaldum opened the scoring after 15 minutes after Jordan Rhodes put through a good ball. Wijnaldum has hit some good form recently and has well and truly kept his place in the side.

Rhodes then came to life in the second half and bagged two more. It was a mistake from Cahill that led to the first goal after he left it to the keeper who had no chance of beating him to the ball. The out-moved Cahill again for the second and then finished well.

There was then still time for Sissoko to add a 4th late on and make sure there was no fightback from a poor Chelsea side. He headed in well from a wide free-kick.

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After that brilliant win over Chelsea, I couldn't wait to find out the opposition in the Semi Finals ...

​
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I just hope to god that we avoid Man Utd, either of the other two would be great though.

Derby have done brilliantly to make it to the Semi's, beating Hull in extra time.

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I'll take that!

QPR over two legs should be very winnable.

Unfortunately for Derby they got the tough draw by facing Man Utd.​
 
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