European bid looks over as Newcastle grab a draw
Posted by JamesB in Birmingham, Newcastle | 30 April 2006
Yesterday Newcastle condemned Steve Bruce and Birmingham to relegation by holding the Blues to a draw at St Andrews. At the end of the game it looked like it could have gone either way; a breakaway for United sadly ended up with Titus Bramble being the man clean through on goal, and his touch was heavy. At the other end Given pulled off a double save right at the death, reminding us exactly why he is in the EPL team of the year.
This draw, combined with Blackburn's win at the Valley, means we lost the 6th place we held momentarily and Europe now looks unlikely. Blackburn, who are two points ahead of us, have a game in hand over us, and after the Middlesbrough win in their UEFA Cup semi there is a chance that only 5th place in the league will be good enough for a UEFA cup spot. In fact potentially it could even be fourth place, if Spurs finish fourth and Arsenal and Boro both win their European finals.
Michael Owen's long awaited return was marred by news after the game that he was feeling the pain in his foot, which coupled with Rooney's injury yesterday will have England fans worried ahead of the World Cup.
On the plus side, another clean sheet for our much maligned defense means we now have 12 for the season, quite a haul considering the amount of criticism that is aimed our way. It goes to show that earlier in the season it was our inability to score that cost us, although since Roeder has taken over the goals have been flowing more freely.
On the subject of goals, Owen confirmed the other day that he will be playing for us next season, hopefully putting to bed worries from some fans that he will go to his old club Liverpool. It would be nice to think that he feels he owes the club something, after paying his high wages for a whole season in which he barely played for us.
On a final note, people may well have noted Roeder has been given permission to manage us until the end of the season but no further, and yesterday Alan Curbishley resigned from Charlton as from the end of the season. Whether there is anything odd about this or not remains to be seen, quotes from the man such as "I'm tired of football and need a break" probably suggest not though.
