TOON CRUSADER ...
BORO v NEWCASTLE PLAYER RATINGS ...
Harper - 8 - Couldn't really do anything about the 2 goals. Made some good saves and commanded his area very well. Our man of the match.
Simpson - 7 - Did well. Never really got to the line to put in a cross, but was good at bringing it out of defence. Also linked well with Jonas when he went to left back.
Hall - 7 - A good game. Was good in the air and made some key challenges. Looks a good defender for this level.
Coloccini - 7 - Good as usual. Was more no nonesense today and was good in the air. Thank goodness his injury was only a dead leg.
Kadar - 7 - Did very well. Was OK defensively at left back, but did really well when he went into the centre. He looks to me like hes going to be a really good Prem centre-half in the future.
Pancrate - 6 - Had a few fruitless runs at their defence, but never really got into the game.
Guthrie - 6 - The lad was busy, and always wanted the ball, but could never really take Boro apart with his passing.
Nolan - 6 - Quiet. Was always an option in the middle,and never got caught in possession, but it never really happened for him going forward.
Gutierrez - 7 - A typical away display from Jonas. Gave us a great outlet by running at their defenders, and was our main avenue of attack. Though his general end product was not great, he did play a great through ball for Lovenkrands' goal. A typical example of Jonas as a player was when he beat 2 players with skills and then failed to make a simple short pass to a team-mate.
Lovenkrands - 7 - Scored a great goal, and was a threat with his moevement whenever we went forward.
Carroll - 7 - Got his goal, but other than that was pretty quiet. Was always a threat in the air, as he always will be with his ability.
SUBS:-
Butt - 6 - Played disciplined holding role and gave us greater solidity. Was often there to restart attacks when the ball broke out of their defence.
R. Taylor - 5 - Never really got into the game, and his set pieces were poor.
Best - 5 - Was a presence up front, and did help keep it up their end, but never looked a danger. If I was Hughton I'd seriously think about giving him up as a bad job, and sell him in the summer to a Championship side. Sometimes with all the best intentions from both sides, things just dont work out, and this looks to be one of those times.