Match Preview – Brighton v Newcastle United
Newcastle – the team
You probably don’t need reminding, but Newcastle United were last seasons Championship champions after they managed to overturn a seven point deficit with three games to go to finish above a certain Brighton and Hove Albion. While our ascent to the Premier League was done with fans, players, manager and club all pulling hashtag together, the Toon did it under increasing acrimonious circumstances with Rafa the Gaffer and Mike Ashley getting on worse than Kim Jong-un and the UN Security Council. Remarkably, Rafa has stuck it out despite a frustrating transfer window (they didn’t sign a striker either) and with him at the helm, the Toon are currently sitting pretty in fourth spot. No matter there league position, the general consensus is that he is a top six manager in charge of a bottom eight squad and were he understandably to eventually have enough of the Ashley regime, you would expect Newcastle to be sucked back down towards the bottom. That makes this a pretty important game.
Newcastle – the place
Newcastle is a bloody excellent city, which naturally means after a 5.30pm kick off 345 miles from home up there last season, this time we visit St James’ Park on New Years Eve Eve. Known for its nightlife, it’s girls and it’s sport, it also played host to an incident that shaped the current stringent safety regulations guarding the use of paintball guns after PJ, a local youth from the Byker Grove Youth Club was blinded.
Newcastle – the people
Jimmy Nail hails from Newcastle which makes you wonder what is lurking in the Tyne given he has made a career off of singing about crocodile shoes. Other famous residents include Alan Shearer, Cheryl who-is-no-longer-Cole-but-nobody-can-remember-her-current-surname and Rudolf Abel, a former Soviet spy who is played quite brilliantly by Sir Mark Rylance in the movie Bridge of Spies.
A good WeAreBrighton.com memory of Newcastle at home
Does life get any better than Adam El-Abd embracing an 8 foot tall FA Cup that is walking around the pitch, after that smug looking bastard Alan Pardew has just watched his Premier League Newcastle side knocked out by Championship Brighton? No, it doesn’t.
A bad WeAreBrighton.com memory of Newcastle at home
Last season was pretty gutting when Newcastle scored twice in the final 10 minutes to win 2-1 at the Amex. Both teams ended up going up so it didn’t matter that much come the end, but had we held on we’d have had some proper silverware in the cabinet. As it was, Rafa’s tactical adjustments and substitutions won the day for the Toon. Why hasn’t he just resigned already?
Played for both
When it transpired a couple of months into the 2011-12 season that Casper Ankergren’s 20 Marlboro a day habit might not be conducive to being a Championship goalkeeper, we signed Steve Harper on loan from Newcastle. He lasted one month, five games and one win before returning to Tyneside. Tim Krul has since followed the same path but we presume that he cannot play against his parent club.
Dangermen
Jonjo Shelvey ran the show last time we met and should he not be busy making horcruxes or trying to kill Harry Potter, he poses a real threat. Matt Ritchie also always seems to play well against the Albion and has set up more than half of the Toon’s goals so far this season.
Betting
Pascal Gross went off injured in last weeks defeat at Bournemouth and if he isn’t fit for this one, then the onus will very much be on Anthony Knockaert to become the Albion’s main threat. He has had a quiet season so far but his ridiculously high standards but this could be the game where he finally announces his arrival to the Premier League and you can back him to score anytime at 16/5.
For more betting advice, check out our OLBG betting blog for Brighton v Newcastle United
Prediction
There is little to no chance that Newcastle will be as poor as West Brom were in our last game at the Amex. We’re going for a 1-1 draw.
