Preston North End 0, Newcastle United 1

Nov 24 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

MIKE Ashley loves a gamble. The occasional stories of spectacularly unsuccessful gambles with everything from blackjack to HBOS show a man prepared to take a risk in return for a bit of fun.

Ashley’s carefree attitude extends to the way he runs Newcastle United and it seems unlikely to change while he keeps getting away with it. Last season Ashley guessed wrong, took the hit of relegation with a shrug of his shoulders, and moved on.

But in the Championship the businessman has the trump cards of a set of players inspired by the adversity he keeps throwing their way. Last night Lady Luck dealt the Magpies some pretty rough cards yet they were still able to end it with their fans chanting the now-familiar refrain “We are top of the league”.

His international clearance having arrived hours earlier, the need for Fabrice Pancrate’s recent arrival became obvious before the match had even started. Ryan Taylor injured his calf in the warm-up, forcing a change of formation and an unbalancing of the side.

Until right-winger Pancrate can gain the match fitness needed to make his first start of the season, United have no other natural width available down that side of the field.

Some might point to Peter Løvenkrands, alongside Pancrate on the bench. But the Dane is in a similar position having also joined as a free agent during the season. It is the problem with trying to run a title-challenging team on the cheap.

So rather than opt for the increasingly heavy legs of Geremi, Chris Hughton went from his preferred 4-4-1-1 away formation to 4-4-2, handing Marlon Harewood a start and pushing central midfielder Danny Guthrie onto the flank.

The man on loan from Aston Villa is yet another playing catch-up after no pre-season but Harewood looked in the mood, releasing Jonás Gutiérrez down the left with a beautiful early pass. The fit-again Argentinian provided the greatest early danger in Newcastle’s lop-sided formation, although his running came to nothing. Alan Smith, by comparison, looked hungry to follow Gutiérrez’s lead from United’s previous game and score a long overdue first goal for the club.

Prompted by Smith’s tigerish play and encouraged by the combativeness of Andy Carroll, the visitors started better without ever taking control of the game.