Toon Have Had This 'Throw In' Threat Before!
Last updated : 04 December 2008 By Footy Mad - Editor
I find it bizarre that a Premiership club can hang on in there with one tactic ... Plan A ... and no Plan B.
But it seems to work for them, although it is only a matter of time before their bubble bursts. God forbid ... how long can they be a threat with a THROW-IN?
We saw it taken to extemes back in the 1990s at Tranmere Rovers, where they had their own player who could launch the ball like a scud missile.
But they pushed it to the limits. They had ball-boys (right around the pitch) with a towel each, and when Tranmere won a throw in, the player was given a towel to dry the ball.
But when Barry Venison (pictured) asked for a towel for a Newcastle throw-in, he was refused.
Tranmere claimed afterward there is no rule in the game saying a club must provide towels for opposing players to dry the ball.
Danny Guthrie has revealed how Newcastle are preparing to face the task on Saturday.
Delap, the former Carlisle United and Sunderland midfielder, can launch the ball into the penalty area with the speed and trajectory of a corner kick from almost anywhere in the opposition half.
Guthrie: "I've never seen anything like it before. We'll be doing a bit of work to counter it because it's got them a few points this season.
"It's hard to practice against, because we don't have anyone who can throw it in like Delap does. We can kick it in or hurl it in at a different angle, but it's the trajectory of his throws that makes them so difficult to defend.
"They come in hard and low, and it's hard to replicate that in training. We've been trying though and we'll be coming up with a few plans. We're going to have to be careful.
"I wouldn't really know who's got the longest throw at our club, but we certainly don't have anyone who could come close to Delap.
"It's impossible to compare what we do to what he does. We just tend to keep it simple and throw it down the line.
"There was a lad at Tranmere used to do something similar, but it's not something you come up against very often. He drives it in against you, and you have to have a plan in your mind to deal with it.
"Everybody has made a big deal of it this season, so it's not like we're going into the game not expecting it. Maybe we'd rather kick it out for a corner than concede a throw - that's something we'll be discussing in the next few days.
"We have to be aware of what they can do, but the most important thing is that we impose our football on the game and don't drop down to their level. We don't want it to become the kind of game that they probably want it to be. It'll be interesting.
"It's all part of football. Different teams play different styles and that's fair enough. This is what has got them their points so far, so we have to respect that.
"But we also have to stick to our own game and not fall into their trap. If we stick to playing football, and don't get sucked into a battle, we should take all three points."