Bolton (home): The Aftermath

Four points after two games, with a trip to Old Trafford thrown in to boot, reads as manna from Heaven for a lot of Newcastle fans. Whilst the Bolton game can hardly be deemed a classic, it`s the satisfaction of scraping three points in these situations, seeing them botch a penalty and watching Owen feel his way back to fitness with the aid of a goal. However, as usual there can be improvements...

Midfield Creativity

The fact it took so long to break down a well-organised but limited Bolton side causes a slight rise of the worry-o-meter here at VN. Watching the Deco masterclass at Wigan today shows how we could seriously cope with midfield playmaker to unlock the doors. Both Owen and Martins make some fantastic runs and it would be great to have the likes of an Arshavin / Modric to pick them out.

Steven Taylor`s arms

Can someone staple the lad`s hands to his side? His perennial mode of defending is to handball anything that goes into the danger area. In the melee that caused Bolton to be awarded a penalty, he didn`t do it once but twice. Whilst Colo looked cracking all game, our local lad continues to cause unnecessary palpitations.

Injuries

Bloody injuries! Duffer and Oba join the ranks of the crocks just as the squad seemed to be getting close to full strength. Whilst Duff`s absence can be compensated by the Jonas / N`Zogbia / Enrique axis on the left, we`re right up sh*t creek in the forward positions with Shola struggling, Owen getting fit, Viduka still time away and Smith marginalised / injured. Time for a 'wow` signing methinks.

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