At just the stage when a manager would wish to regroup his players for a final and possibly glorious push to the end of the season, Bobby Robson has this week seen his squad falling apart.St James' Park, 7.45On TV: UTV
Newcastle's biggest European game since the Fairs Cup final of 1969 occurs at St James' Park tonight against Marseille, but Robson is struggling to put out a side people can identify.
Sunday's 0-0 draw at Aston Villa came at some expense. Craig Bellamy's hamstring was torn; Jermaine Jenas's thigh went; Lee Bowyer, on as a substitute, tweaked a hamstring. Kieron Dyer played the whole game but is about 75 per cent fit. Shola Ameobi injured his groin playing for the reserves last week and is still unfit. Titus Bramble has a knee problem and was called "a doubt" by Robson yesterday.
Robson lamented "some rotten luck" but agreed with Alan Shearer, who made a virtue of the situation, saying: "What a giant opportunity for someone to come in and make a name for himself."
Tyneside is famous for its bridges and this could be the moment Michael Bridges earns a permanent deal at St James'. On loan from Leeds for the season, Bridges needs a few big games to win over a so-far sceptical public. "When he came on on Sunday, on the right side of midfield, with 10 men, it was difficult," the captain said of Bridges. "He did very, very well. Whether he plays or Shola or Michael Chopra, I don't know, but it would be great to see him succeed, because he's a nice lad and an honest lad."
It turns out Bridges is a lad with a stomach problem, though he trained yesterday and Robson would prefer him over the inexperienced Chopra.
An alternative would be to move Laurent Robert alongside Shearer, a tactic that makes sense but which would require some application from Robert - a Frenchman even the Marseille coach Jose Anigo describes as "unpredictable".
"I know him from his early days at Montpellier," Anigo added. "He makes things quite interesting for a coach. He must be pretty near the national squad but I'm not going to get hung up about a player as unpredictable as Laurent Robert." It was meant as a compliment.
Anigo said Marseille could take inspiration from Monaco beating Chelsea with 10 men. "It shows the quality of French football," he said.
"We will play the best team we can," said Robson. "If we get a good result we will have more players to choose from in the second leg, so we don't want the first game to get away from us. The spirit is willing, you saw that on Sunday."
PROBABLE LINE-UPS
NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-2) Given; Hughes, O'Brien, Woodgate, Bernard; Ambrose, Viana, Speed, Robert; Bridges, Shearer.
OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE (5-4-1) Barthez; Ferreira, Beye, Hemdani, Meite, Dos Santos; N'Diaye, Flamini, Meriem, Batlles; Drogba.
Referee: V Ivanov (Russia).
Guardian Service
