Palermo v Newcastle

[kennethlindheim]

Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder has revealed he will start Albert Luque in Thursday's Uefa Cup match against Palermo.

The forgotten man of St James' Park, a £9.5 million signing by Roeder's predecessor Graeme Souness, will come in from the cold, with The Magpies hoping to alleviate a growing injury crisis.

A 23-man party jetted out to Sicily on Wednesday morning, with strikers Obafemi Martins, Shola Ameobi and Michael Owen (injured) and Giuseppe Rossi (ineligible) all unavailable.

With precious few alternatives in attack, Roeder will plump for Luque, who has started just two matches this season - both in European competition, and only on Monday was in reserve team action for the club's second string.

"Albert Luque will start tomorrow (Thursday) night and it is a big opportunity for him. The ball is very much in his court," said Roeder.

"This is the opportunity for him to show what he can do on a fairly big European stage, and the chance to prove that he really wants to play for Newcastle United."

A trip to the Serie A high flyers will pose a strong examination of The Magpies' mettle, and Roeder is urging his side to prove their worth.

"It will be a typical Italian crowd with fireworks, rockets and the whole lot, and to make matters worse for us, the pitch itself is no more than average," added Roeder.

"But it is a match for the brave. We will have some young players out there tomorrow night and we can only hope that they grow into men.

"We have obviously had Palermo watched and they play a high tempo game. They score a lot of goals and they concede a lot, so you have always got a chance.

"However, we are not going into the game with any negative thoughts, and we know if we can come away with a draw, then it will be a fantastic result for us."

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?...+forgotten+man

[kennethlindheim]

Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder says his side are taking the UEFA Cup seriously despite sending a squad to Palermo which is virtually a reserve team. Damian Duff, Celestine Babayaro and Stephen Carr were all left behind with slight knocks while Scott Parker will also be given extra time to recover from an ankle injury picked up against Charlton at the weekend. Youngsters Fraser Foster, Tim Krul, Paul Huntington, Matty Pattison, Alan O'Brien, James Troisi and Andy Carroll, on the other hand, were all included in his 23–man squad.

"I have a reputation for playing young players if required and that may be the case tomorrow. This is what these boys dream of at Newcastle and I would not have brought them if I didn't feel they had the potential," said Roeder.

Krul is the most likely of the seven to start, with goalkeeper Steven Harper struggling with injury and facing a fitness test tomorrow morning. "Steve Harper has had a small problem over the last few weeks which he has been getting away with. If the situation tomorrow is that Krul has to start, I have no problem with that whatsoever. He is Holland's best young goalkeeper and will be challenging to become our number one in the future," said Roeder.

Palermo are the current join leaders of Italian Serie A and saw off Fiorentina last weekend and have already taken three points from the San Siro, the home of AC Milan, to merit their place alongside Inter at the summit of Italian football. Roeder has sent his scouting team to do a thorough evaluation on them.

"We have seen them play five times, which is perhaps more than normal. We have gone into great depth and I have spoken to West Ham's chief scout, who has already scouted Palermo for them," said Roeder. "They are a very good team with some very good individuals who could all play very well in the Premier League. Like I have said, tomorrow we are playing one of the favourites for the UEFA Cup this season. I have always appreciated Italian football and Italian players and they are some of the best in the world."

http://www.northeastfootball.co.uk/r...p?news_id=1705

[Mighty T.A.L.]

I predict a 3-0 win to Palermo.Second best team in Italy these days...Impressive.

[kennethlindheim]

It's unlikely to nick a point off Palermo considering all our players that is either injured or rested. Let's not forget that their last two macthes have been away wins at AC Milan and Fiorentina.

[LAF]

I'm looking forward to this game. Should be good.

I doubt Newcastle will get anything. Palermo are confident while Newcastle are not. You never know though, eh?

[Pennywise]

Luque, Luque, Luque

1-0 victory over Palermo in Italy is strong and very impressive. Even Palermo were the best team, Krul did a great match and the lads worked together as a team and fought to the bitter end.

[kennethlindheim]

Albert Luque scored just his third ever goal for Newcastle as The Magpies secured a fantastic 1-0 win over Palermo in Sicily to take control of Group H.

Glenn Roeder's side came into the game off the back of a worrying Premiership slump, and with a number of high profile absentees, but the forgotten man of Tyneside popped up with a first half header to defeat the joint Serie A leaders.

Whilst Luque provided a cutting edge in front of goal, the fact that Newcastle maintained their 100 percent record in the Uefa Cup was largely down to teenage keeper Tim Krul as the debutant took full advantage of injuries to Shay Given and Steve Harper to produce a string of outstanding saves as a weakened Magpies side earned an outstanding, if somewhat fortuitous, victory that could galvanise their season.

The Sicilians looked like a team bang in form in the opening five minutes as they threatened to tear The Magpies apart, with debut keeper Krul finding himself under hefty pressure after stepping in for the injured Harper.

The young Dutchman was denied the chance to make his first save for the North East outfit when Steven Taylor's outstretched boot blocked a shot from Gianni Munari after just two minutes, and defensive partner Craig Moore also had to be alert when he got in the way of Franco Brienza's clipped effort from the right two minutes later.

With Marco Pisano then fizzing a shot just over the bar before Brienza attempted to chip Krul from 40 yards after a poor clearance from the keeper, it seemed as though The Rosanero were ready to dish out a superior victory to the 3-0 win at La Favorita that dumped West Ham out of the competition in the first round.

However an under-strength Newcastle side responded well and it was midfielder James Milner who led the fightback as he drove across the face of goal before having his shot blocked by Pablo Dellafiore.

The former Leeds man went closer still at the end of a breathless opening ten minutes when he caught Mattia Cassani in possession and spun expertly inside the box. However he was then denied on two counts as Alberto Fontana parried his effort and referee Jaroslav Jara denied his claims for a penalty after being pulled to ground in the process of getting his shot away.

Reputed Liverpool target Andrea Caracciolo was close to giving the Italians the lead when he raced onto Nicky Butt's weak header back and poked the ball past the onrushing Krul, but Moore was on hand to clear again as Newcastle settled into their stride.

After slowing the hosts' early tempo, The Magpies found themselves in front after 37 minutes thanks to the elusive Luque, but it was Milner who drew the plaudits after some superb build-up play.

The 20-year-old skipped past Cassani on the left wing and delivered an inch perfect, rasping cross that Luque only had to nod past Fontana from six yards for an impressive 1-0 lead that The Magpies took into half time.

No doubt aware of the potential damage of a home defeat in what is a hotly contested group, Francesco Guidolin's side emerged with a renewed vigour and Caracciolo underlined his danger by firing just over the bar from a tight angle.

Giovanni Tedesco went even closer on 52 minutes after giving Nolberto Solano the slip at the back post as a free-kick went through a sea of players, however his header could only brush against the side netting in a let-off for The Magpies.

Munari also headed wide from a Cassani cross as The Rosanero upped the ante, but as the Italians improved so did the young Krul, with the rookie shot stopper making a succession of outstanding stops.

After Guidolin threw on two attackers in Fabio Simplicio and David Di Michele on 65 minutes, Palermo swung in a free-kick from the left and Krul produced a world class stop to tip Giuseppe Bavia's header away with his palm before springing up to deny Di Michele's follow-up effort.

The former ADO Den Haag teenager then rushed out quickly to get a leg to Caracciolo's shot after the striker broke clear in the box, and Krul was also equal to another effort from the talented front man after a quick set-piece on 75 minutes.

As Newcastle's attacking input became non-existent it was clearly a question of whether Palermo would beat Krul on what was fast becoming an outstanding debut for the Dutchman, but Simplicio could only curl another chance wide of the upright.

With three minutes to go Brienza collected a fine backheel from Di Michele in the box and worked some space, but Krul dived to collect his prodded effort to ensure he would end the night with a well-deserved clean sheet, and with it the credit for a tremendous result for the travelling Tynesiders.

Roeder even had a chance to make Andrew Carroll Newcastle's youngest ever player in European competition at the age of 17, but the only statistic that truly mattered was the three points that Newcastle collected with their first win on Italian soil.

http://home.skysports.com/matchrepor...PID=6&channel=

By no means do I think we were the better side over the 90 minutes, although it was a cracking away performance. We certainly rode our luck at times, but we were never expected to dominate this game. And a good performance and confidence booster for Luque, hopefully he retains his position on Saturday.

Excellent teamwork in a challenging game. The difficulty will be maintaining the performance. Always capable of a one off but consistancy is whats needed.

Really pleased with Milner and Kruls performances. The two unsung hero's of the game are Moore and Butt in my opinion. They were absolutly class in my opinion, Moore in particular.

Well done!

[skeeta]

Guidolin's selection policy seems to have back fired.

This UEFA format is unspeakably awful, isn't it?

[Mighty T.A.L.]

Impressive result and a new clean sheet by Newcastle...The defence seems to bee a lot improved these days.

[kennethlindheim]

Maybe because of the new assistant manager, Nigel Pearson? One conceeded goal in five games is for us very rare.

[LAF]

I'd just like to point out that Palermo were also under strength.

Good result though and Luque scored !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Leftfooted]

Strong result for the Magpies in a difficult time.