Newcastle Club Focus – Tribute planned for former Magpies captain Speed
Newcastle face Chelsea at the weekend looking to protect their current position in the top four. The game has taken on added significance as it is the first the club has played since the death of former player Gary Speed. A number of tributes are planned in remembrance of the popular Welshman who spent a large chunk of his career on Tyneside. Before the game the Welsh hymn Bread of Heaven will be sung and fans in the East stand will hold up cards to depict the number 11 which was Speed’s squad number at Newcastle.
On another occasion there may have been protests held as it would have been the first home game since St James’ Park was unceremoniously renamed the Sports Direct Arena. But the mood is likely to be much more sombre off the pitch on Saturday. Manager Alan Pardew wants his players to pay tribute to Speed with another home win. In the build up to the game he said: “Our players will be desperate for us to win to pay a tribute in that way. We can't guarantee that, of course, but we are going to try. He was a great player here and a captain of this club, and he has been a big loss to us this week.” The likes of Shola Ameobi, Steve Harper and Steven Taylor were all teammates of Gary Speed while assistant manager John Carver was also a close friend of the midfielder. Pardew admitted that it had been a difficult week on the training ground but he will be looking to end on a high note.
Following on from Newcastle’s two hardest games of the season they will feel confident of beating an inconsistent Chelsea side. It was expected that the two games against the league’s top two sides would deflate the Magpies and perhaps see them start to fall down the league table. But they did not disgrace themselves in either game with the team maintaining the standards that have been set all season. Newcastle has a formidable home record at the moment and they will be boosted by the news that the match is already sold out.
Pardew may name an unchanged team from the one which secured a point at Old Trafford last weekend. Midfield enforcer Cheik Tiote is still out with a knee injury so Danny Guthrie should continue in his place. The Ivorian is yet to fully recover from his knee injury and may not be ready to return for next week’s game against Norwich City. In other injury news central defender Mike Williamson is nearing a return after a long spell on the sidelines with an ankle injury. The former Watford player should be back in contention by the time the festive fixtures come around. Newcastle is currently short on defensive cover highlighted by the concern last weekend when captain Fabricio Coloccini almost missed the Manchester United game with a back problem.
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