(I WILL NOT BE PUTTING DETAIL LIKE THIS IN EVERY MATCH REPORT ONLY DOING SO BECAUSE IT IS FIRST MATCH IN SAVE AND AGAINST RIVALS, WOULD APPRECIATE FEEDBACK ON THIS AS WOULD BE UP FOR HEARING DIFFERENT WAYS OF WRITING MATCH REPORTS, THANKS)
NEWCASTLE V SUNDERLAND
So the time had come, Super Sunday, first game of the season and against the Mackems live on Sky, it doesn't get much bigger. I had been at the ground since 8am preparing for this one, preparation is key and the feeling was totally different to going out there and doing it as a player, although to my regret i had never walked out there in front 52,000 at St James' Park as a player and as a local lad and a Newcastle fan it was 'the dream'. I had been on the books as a kid and the i will never forget the day i got told i was not going to be offered professional terms with the club, It is something which has strived me on to do better with football and is the reason i am here today waiting to lead out the lads in a Tyne-Wear derby.
I had finished my pre-match Sky interview and headed back to the changing room to reveal the starting line-up and pre-match talk...
RIGHT BOYS 4-5-1 LIKE WE PLAYED IN PRE-SEASON, I WANT YOU TO ATTACK FROM THE
OFF...TEAM TODAY KRUL IN GOAL, DANNY (SIMPSON) AND SANTON FULL BACKS,
STEVEY TAYLOR AND FABRICIO IN THE CENTRE, MIDFIELD 3 OF TIOTE AND CABAYE WITH
GABBY (OBERTAN) GETTING FORWARD WHENEVER POSSIBLE, JONAS RIGHT WING,
DEMBA ON THE LEFT CUTTING IN AND SUPPORTING SHOLA UP TOP....
OKAY LADS LET'S DO THIS, THIS ONE MEANS THE WORLD TO THESE FANS OUT THERE,
LETS SHOW THEM HOW MUCH WE WANT THIS!!!!!!!!
BLACK AND WHITE PRIDE RESTS ON THIS RESULT
THE NEW SEASON KICKS OFF......
I received a great reception from the fans which was amazing but it was time to get down to business, i shook the hand of Steve Bruce and wished him luck. Mark Halsey blew his whistle and we were off, we started the better side i felt, having more of the ball like a home team should then in the 17th minute i was out of my seat 1-0!! Ba! although we all thought, it had been ruled out for offside, slightly dubious but i'll give the lino the benefit. Sunderland were starting to look more dangerous and on the 26th minute...
BENDTNER SENDS AWAY FANS CRAZY
1-0 , Nicklas Bendtner a free header from a corner, shoddy marking i was upset in the manner we conceded and had left us with an uphill struggle. To be fair we showed great charachter and the heads of my boys never went down. 6 minutes later a great pass from Cabaye set away Demba Ba...
1-1! on 32 minutes Demba one on one with Mignolet and he slid the ball past him for the equaliser, the noise inside St James' was mental, i leapt up off my seat in celebration, what a moment!
The lads seemed up for this one now but in the 40th minute Sunderland had a goal ruled out through Bendtner who was clearly offside, nevertheless the guy was becoming a handful for our back line. Half time.
Back in the dressing myself and John Carver discussed our worries about Bendtner and our thoughts on our players performances, i was happy with Demba Ba he was causing Angeleri all kinds of problems down the left, Shola was very quiet up top, told him to dig deep and keep working hard and his chance would come. I reminded the lads of what this game meant to the people in the North-East and to go out and really put a shift in for the fans.
ST JAMES' BOUNCING AWAITING SECOND HALF
We really come out the traps in the second half and were looking comfortable on the ball which i was pleased with, Jonas was looking more effective and in the 60th minute he went on a mazy run down the right hand side, squared the ball in what i can only describe as a cross come shot which Mignolet could only parry into the path of...
Big Shola! 2-1 to us and i was ecstatic, a simple finish, a tap in, did we care did we ****! we were 2-1 up against Sunderland at St James' Park after going 1-0 down. The crowd were going wild, Blaydon Races was the voice of the stands but we needed to keep focus, we kept solid, kept the ball well, on the 75th i had to make changes Jonas looked tired and so did Obertan and fair play they had put shifts in out there, i was especially pleased with Gabby Obertan as i he had been asked to play in a central role which he wasn't used to. Gosling replaced him and Peter Lovenkrands come on for Jonas Gutierrez on the right hand side to sit in behind Shola.
On 80 minutes disaster struck, our search for a 3rd goal to kill the game off had seen us get caught on the break. Sunderland's new signing from Lille Ludovic Obraniak had nocked the ball past Steven Taylor our last defender and was free to go one on one with the keeper....
OBRANIAK MAULED BY TEAM MATES
2-2....a gutting feeling really, i felt we really didn't deserve that and with 10 minutes to go what a finale we had in store, it was nail biting stuff, what a way to start football management. Two minutes later Shola had picked up a knock and had to come off, i moved Demba up top as the lone striker and brought Sylvain Marveaux to slot in on the left.
There was still 8 minutes plus stoppage time left and i could sense another goal, the worrying thing was i wasn't sure which team would get it. We still looked the better side and on the 84th minute Demba Ba had the ball on the right hand side similar to where Jonas put that ball in which lead to our second, Demba squared it inside to Lovenkrands who dinked a ball into the 6 yard box.....
UNBELIEVABLE SCENES AT ST JAMES'!!!!!
3-2!!!!!! WHAT A FEELING! what a rollercoaster of emotions... super sub Sylvain Marveaux got his head on Lovenkrands's ball to be what surely was the winning goal in the 84th minute. Sunderland looked deflated and surely there was no way back this time. We had another chance late on with Ba to make it 4-2 but it wasn't to be.. the full time whistle went and St James' Park erupted! The players were overjoyed and as for the fans it was like nothing i had ever witnessed in football, this is what i'm here for, this is what i was put here to do. After a brief handshake with Steve Bruce it was time to enjoy the moment.
We had won 3-2 against Sunderland in an epic clash, i had won my first league game as a manager and what a feeling, what a buzz, its a feeling i now want every week. I can't wait for the next one!
In the dressing room I told the lads i was delighted with the character they had shown to come back and win the game. I grabbed hold of Sylvain Marveaux and said "this is the Premier League son! enjoy it you won't have to buy another drink in Newcastle again!" he seemed to understand as he had a beaming smile on his face. I also congratulated Demba Ba who was magnificent out there. It was a moment to savour for everybody involved.
I told the lads to unwind and enjoy tonight as we had Monday off, but also to be ready for Tuesday's training as we had work hard for next weekend's game against Wigan, well i say weekend we were to play in front of the Sky cameras again on Monday Night Football at the DW.
NEWCASTLE (4-5-1)
KRUL 7, SIMPSON 7, SANTON 7, COLOCCINI 7, S.TAYLOR 7, TIOTE 7, CABAYE 8, OBERTAN 7 (GOSLING 6), GUTIERREZ 8 (LOVENKRANDS 7), BA 8, AMEOBI 7 (MARVEAUX N/A)
UNUSED SUBS: HARPER, WILLIAMSON, SMITH, BEST
SUNDERLAND (4-2-3-1)
MIGNOLET 7, ANGELERI 6 (RICHARDSON 7), BARDSLEY 7, BRAMBLE 7 (WICKHAM N/A), TURNER 6, JALI 7, VAUGHAN 7, OBRANIAK 8 (mom), LARSSON 7, SESSEGNON 7 (KILLGALLON 6), BENDTNER 7
UNUSED SUBS: WESTWOOD, NOSWORTHY, LAING, EGAN
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