All Aboard! - The Managerial Rollercoaster

[JamesScott2908]

Quinn has came along nicely, Looks like a potential mainstay in the team! good to see him grab his first too! Shame about Hatfield, Thought he looked like he would develop well!

 

[Werrett]

The Final Month of the Season

We now find ourselves in May of 2017, the final month of the 2016/17 campaign and with Europa League Football all but guaranteed we only needed a win to secure a placing in the top 6.​

---

We started the month with a strong 3-0 victory over struggling Charlton Athletic, goals coming from Cabella, Tioté and Gil Romero who once again prove that we can score from all over the pitch. Cabella has been in inspired form this season and is certainly a contender for the player of the year award.

Scoring 3 in 27 shots is slightly concerning but nonetheless a 3-0 win is certainly a pleasing result.​

---

We followed up our victory over Charlton with a disappointing defeat to Norwich City, Nathan Redmond grabbed the only goal of the game as our top 4 chances were blown out of the water. A top 5 finish is also looking unlikely due to our goal difference, a disappointing defeat but we'll try to pick ourselves up for the Final match of the season.​

---

We finished the season with a brilliant home win over league winners Manchester United, as the headline states we were very good when in possession and proved to be very clinical in front of goal, Bony was fantastic. A great way to end the year!​

---

As you can see we finished in 6th place and met the board expectations in doing so, another year of European Football for the Magpies! Manchester City finished 9th which is shocking considering how good their team is, relegated teams include Forest, Charlton and Villa. Aston Villa is an interesting one, they have some good young talent and I may look to poach some players.​

---

The Toon are in Europe Once Again

I'm delighted with this news headline, we were predicted to finish 8th but exceeded the media estimates by finishing in the top 6 for a 2nd successive season.​

---

Transfer Budget Revealed

Heading into the 2017/18 season we will have a transfer kitty of almost £16,000,000 to spend on new players, as well as an available wage budget of £250,000.

Hopefully we can continue to strengthen the squad with this money.​

 

[Werrett]

Major Leagues Across Europe

View attachment 313782

Rather than present the winners of each league individually I thought I'd just show all of the top 5 leagues and let you analyse them for yourself, make things more interesting.

There are some surprising relegations!

---

Barclays Premier League

​

---

Liga BBVA

​

---

Serie A

​

---

Bundesliga

---

Ligue 1

​

 

[Werrett]

Barclays Premier League Awards

With the 2015/16 season coming to an end here is a look at the award winners from the past season.

---

PFA Players' Player of the Year:

Pavel Savitskiy (Tottenham)

Young Belorussian Pavel Savitskiy claimed Players Player of the Year following his impressive season in which he scored 23 and set-up 8 for Tottenham Hotspur, a fine season by the young winger.​

---

Player of the Year:

Mario Balotelli (Liverpool)

A fine season by the Italian as he claims the Player of the Year award following a prolific season. 23 goals and 8 assists for Balotelli as he helps the Reds to a top 4 finish.​

---

PFA Young Player of the Year:

Romelu Lukaku (Everton)

​

The 24 year old was voted by his fellow professionals as the best Young Player of the Year following a season which saw Everton finish 7th. Lukaku himself found the net 20 times and assisted on 6 occassions.​

---

Top Goalscorer:

Mario Balotelli (Liverpool)

Balotelli claimed the Golden Boot ahead of young winger Pavel Savitskiy due to the fact that he played 3 games less than the Belorussian, Chelsea's Edinson Cavani followed suit with 22 goals as he claimed 3rd place.

---

Golden Glove:

David de Gea (Manchester United)

It's getting old now isn't it? David de Gea claims the Golde Glove for the 3rd year in a row following 25 clean sheets in 37 games from the Spaniard. Our shot-stopper Tim Krul claimed 2nd place which is particularly impressive despite being only half as good as de Gea statistically.

---

Best Eleven:

Remy Cabella found his way into the Best XI as he had an impressive year in a Necastle shirt, his best season to date! Virgil van Dijk and Hatem Ben Arfa were name among the substitutes.

---

Manager of the Year:

Antonio Conte (Manchester United)

A fine year for the Italian as his title-winning campaign with Manchester United see's him claim the Manager of the Year award, a title claimed by yours truly only last season!​

 

[SamPeters]

Unlucky in not getting 4th, just to think that Norwich game would been all the difference, if you won by 6/7 goals lol but good luck for next season!

 

[Mikeyp77]

Great story- finally catched up on it all. As a Newcastle fan it's great to see you doing so well with them. Often find them a good team to play with on FM as they can often go one way or another.
Keep the posts coming!

 

[Average Joe]

Nice! Keen to see who you can poach from Villa, if any.

 

[Werrett]

Great story- finally catched up on it all. As a Newcastle fan it's great to see you doing so well with them. Often find them a good team to play with on FM as they can often go one way or another.
Keep the posts coming!

Thanks man, glad you're enjoying it so far! Always had a bit of a soft spot for Newcastle but as you said, they're a challenging save as things can go from good to bad in an instance, always wanted to see them succeed!

Nice! Keen to see who you can poach from Villa, if any.

Thanks! Will definitely be looking to poach some English talent from their team, but it may not be easy...Benteke has already left so that option's gone, but we'll see!

Unlucky in not getting 4th, just to think that Norwich game would been all the difference, if you won by 6/7 goals lol but good luck for next season!

Definitely! If I had have beaten Norwich we might have put more pressure on the top 5, but I'll take 6th!​

 

[jordankane18]

How did Sunderland do this season haha loved seing them drop 2 divisions ! On my new save Sunderland are bottom after 12 without scoring a single goal and only have 2 points hahah

 

[Werrett]

The FA Cup Final - 2017

View attachment 313564View attachment 313563

May 27th, a day that would forever be engraved in the brains of Newcastle fans all over the World, the clubs first chance to win a major trophy in many years and with the fans placing so much faith in the squad, I'm praying that I can deliver the silverware to the Toon myself.

Wembley is rocking with the red and white army of Stoke fans out in numbers to cheer on their team, Newcastles fans fill the other side of the stadium in what looks like a Tyne-Wear derby, but I assure you it's much more important!

The attendance for this match is 90,000.

A full house here at Wembley!​

---

Team Line-ups​

---

Here's a look at the teams that will be participating in this years FA Cup Final.

​

[TABLE="class: cms_table_outer_border, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Stoke City: 4-4-1-1[/TD]
[TD]Newcastle United: 4-3-3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Begovic (GK)[/TD]
[TD]Krul (GK)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wilson (LB)[/TD]
[TD]Santon (LB)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Shawcross (CD)[/TD]
[TD]van Dijk (CD)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Huth (CD) (c)[/TD]
[TD]Lascelles (CD)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rajtoral (RB)[/TD]
[TD]Janmaat (RB)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Kavlak (MCR)[/TD]
[TD]Gil Romero (DM) (c)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bentaleb (MCL)[/TD]
[TD]Anita (MCL)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] Arnautovic (ML)[/TD]
[TD]Cabella (MCR)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Moses (MR)[/TD]
[TD]Gouffran (AML)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jota (CF)[/TD]
[TD]Ben Arfa (AMR)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Waris (STC)[/TD]
[TD]Bony (STC)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

---

Pre-Match Prediction

---

With the game only minutes away from kick-off we got some predictions from pundits Jamie Redknapp (Left) and Gary Neville (Right).

Presenter: "Gentlemen, any favourites ahead of this game?"

G.Neville: "I think it's going to be very hard to separate these two teams, Newcastle have been fantastic but home but average away from home whereas Stoke have been quite the opposite. Playing at a neutral ground could be quite interesting as both teams might be a little tentative, ultimately I think a late goal might swing this one."

Presenter: "How about you, Jamie?"

J.Redknapp: "I'm going for Newcastle in this one, I just think their attacking unit will be too much for Stoke to handle, they've got a couple of extremely creative midfielders who will look to exploit the gaps in Stoke's defence, but an early Stoke goal on the other hand could swing it in their favour. It's gonna be a great game!"

Presenter: "Thank you gentlemen, right, let's go pitch-side!"

---

First Half

---

The players are out, the handshakes have taken place..Now let's get this game underway!

The referee checks his watch as the clock strikes 15:00 and...Phweep! We're off!

...

11th Minute: Newcastle now with a throw just inside the Newcastle half, Janmaat throws it into Bony who chests it down before turning and passing it to the feet of Hatem Ben Arfa. The Frenchman pulls the ball back to Gaston Gil Romero who's found space on the edge of the box, Romero into Cabella who flicks it round the corner to Bony!....GOAL!

Wembley erupts as Newcastle strike first blood! Powerful Striker Wilfried Bony latches onto Rémy Cabella's flick before curling the ball past Begovic with his left foot, a sublime finish to cap off a wonderful move!

Newcastle United (Bony) 1-0 Stoke City

Bony runs to the travelling Geordies to celebrate his FA Cup Final opener.

---

37th minute: Stoke City have a free-kick now, just inside where the corner flag is sitting, Jota stands over it, surely a shot is off the books here?

Jota opts to cross it in, it's a lovely whipped in ball that curls into the feet of Robert Huuuth!....SAVE!

Oh what a save by Tim Krul! The Dutchman comes out quick to spread himself at the feet of Robert Huth, Krul keeps Stoke City off the score-sheet!

A fantastic save by Golden Glove runner-up Tim Krul keeps the score at 1-0!

---

45th minute: Phweeep! It's half time here at Wembley where Newcastle United lead Stoke City 1-0!

---

Half Time Analysis

---

Presenter: "What did you think of the first-half there, Jamie?"

J.Redknapp: "As I predicted, Newcastle have come out strong and found the breakthrough via their attacking unit, a lovely bit of build up play and a great finish from Wilfried Bony. Not much of a response from Stoke City bar that Robert Huth header, which was only kept out by a wonderful save by Tim Krul."

Presenter: "How about you, Gary?"

G.Neville: "I agree with Jamie, Stoke haven't really offered much of a response since going a goal down, Newcastle look in control at the break. Mark Hughes will have to choose his words carefully here."

Presenter: "Thank you for the input there Gentlemen, let's return for the second half as we see the players emerging from the tunnel."

---

Second Half

---

The Referee checks his watch and Phweep! The 2nd half is away!

---

67th Minute: Free-kick once again for Stoke from the edge of the box, former Chelsea winger Victor Moses stands over the ball.

Moses whips it in to the far post, Bentaleb beats Gil Romero to the front post flick on which is met by Huth!...Off the bar!

But it drops to Majeed Waris!...GOAL!

The Potters fans explode with noise as Majeed Waris knocks the ball over the line following the rebound from Robert Huth's header, Waris was simply the quickest to react and bags Stoke the equaliser!

Newcastle United (Bony)1-1 Stoke City (Waris)

Former Trabzonspor Forward Majeed Waris bags his 20th goal of the season as Stoke respond to the deficit, 1-1!

---

90th Minute: The referee checks his watch.. Phweeep! End of 90 minutes here at Wembley, we're going to extra-time!

---

Extra-Time

---

Phweeep! Extra-Time is udnerway, will there be late drama here at Wembley, or are we heading to a shoot-out?

(30 minutes later)

..Phweep!

After two extra halves of 15 minutes we're still unable to break the deadlock, this Final will be decided by a penalty shoot-out!

Fans can't bare to watch knowing that their teams trophy campaign will be either won, or lost by a series of spot-kicks, a 'Krul' end for one of these teams!

Newcastle United will be hoping that shot-stopper Tim Krul can re-perform his World Cup heroics for the Netherlands against Costa Rica back in 2014.

---

Penalty Shoot-Out

---

The kick takers have been decided and it appears that Stoke City will take the first penalty.

[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Stoke City[/TD]
[TD]Newcastle United[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dawson - GOAL[/TD]
[TD]Ayoze - GOAL[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wilson - MISS[/TD]
[TD]Sarabia - SAVED[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Waris - GOAL[/TD]
[TD]Bony - GOAL[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Arnautovic - GOAL[/TD]
[TD]Anita - GOAL[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bentaleb - GOAL[/TD]
[TD]Santon - SAVED[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Stoke City have done it, they've won the shoot-out!

Stoke City Win The FA Cup!

Newcastle United (Bony) 1-1p Stoke City (Waris)

Davide Santon's poor penalty is the nail in the coffin as Newcastle United fall to defeat in the FA Cup Final.

This is the first time in their history that the Potters have won the trophy having lost in their first and only other appearance to Manchester City back in 2011.

Newcastle United have now finished as runners up an astonishing 8 times!

It's another day of heartbreak for Newcastle United fans as the clubs major trophy drought has now risen to 48 years.

This result will certainly sting for some time, my first final as a manager and I've fallen to defeat. But I'm proud of the players, they did an amazing job to make it this far and were ultimately unlucky as we lost in a 50/50 shootout, well played to Stoke though, they deserve credit where it's due as they put up an admirable fight to last 120 minutes!

We can still look back on a massively successful season, we made the knock-out stages of the Champions League, made it to Wembley and finished 6th.

We can take the positives from this season, and the negatives, and look to build next season as we continue to search for that first trophy!

That'll do it from us, until 2017/18!
​

 

[Werrett]

How did Sunderland do this season haha loved seing them drop 2 divisions ! On my new save Sunderland are bottom after 12 without scoring a single goal and only have 2 points hahah

Haha, they got relegated in the first two seasons (Incase you hadn't seen) but they pretty much dominated League One this season, as expected!..Especially when you spend over £45,000,000 on players.

 

[Klippybo]

Unlucky in the cup final. Fine Santon and Sarabia for missing the pens and Krul for not saving enough of them lol

 

[Average Joe]

Gutted mate! Oh well, bring a few player in this year and start again!

 

[Werrett]

Unlucky in the cup final. Fine Santon and Sarabia for missing the pens and Krul for not saving enough of them lol

Haha, that'd be a bit harsh!

Gutted mate! Oh well, bring a few player in this year and start again!

Stoke are my bogey team so I wasn't too surprised! But hey, I'd rather just take the loss and move on than keep replaying until I win it, keeps the story interesting.

 

[Werrett]

Some End of Season News

After the season ended I decided to approach the board and ask for a few upgrades to help us in our pursuit to develop first-class young talent, to my surprise Mike Ashley agreed that these requests will match the clubs philosophy and so agreed to grant the requests.

He did however refuse to upgrade the training facilities which is a little disappointing, but we'll work with what we've got.​

 

[Werrett]

Stuttgart Win Europa League!

German side Stuttgart have won the Europa League for the first time in the clubs history after beating Italian giants A.C. Milan 1-0 at the Parc des Princes in France.

Stuttgart have only made the Final once before where they suffered defeat back in 1989.

In what had been a fairly even playing field Stuttgart claimed the victory with a goal from wonder-kid Arianit Ferati mid-way into the first-half. The fans will remember this day for some time!

Here's a look at the stage tree showing how the two teams journey to the Final, starting from the Quarter-Finals.

Stuttgart possibly had the easier run of the two, but the German side were very good regardless and were fully deserving of the European triumph!

---

Barcelona Lift Champions League

Barcelona once again triumphed in the Champions League Final to win the club competition ahead of English side Chelsea F.C. at the Olympiastadion, Berlin.

The Olympiastadion was rocking as fans from all across Europe came to spectate the Champions League Final with an overall attendance of 74,244.

Despite Chelsea scoring in the 1st minute of the match, Barcelona came from behind to win the match 3-1 with goals coming from Dani Alves, Luis Suarez and wonderkid Sergi Samper to help Barcelona lift the Champions League for the 5th time, tying them with Liverpool.

Former Liverpool player Luis Suarez celebrates putting Barcelona 2-1 up in the Champions League Final.

Barcelona last won the Champions League back in 2011.

Here's the path followed by Barcelona and Chelsea on route to the Final:

Both teams overcame English competition in the Quarter-Finals before playing in exciting semi-final match-ups.​

 

[Werrett]

Newcastle Fan Awards - 2016/17

​

---

Pre-Season Schedule

Couple of away trips to Austria, Turkey and Greece as well as our Europa League qualifying matches. Overall a pretty here n there pre-season in an attempt to warm the lads to traveling away again.

Hopefully we can get some good results and build some momentum.​

 

[PaperClipFMer]

Nice story mate! Unlucky in the cup final though.
Newcastle have become a real bogey side for me in my Sheff Utd story (dont think i've beaten them yet) so its no surprise your doing well

 

[SamPeters]

Good luck for the upcoming season!

 

[Werrett]

Getting Through the Pre-Season

Coming into the pre-season the priority is always to strengthen the squad, but there are other important tasks to be carried out, such as backroom changes, tactical tweaks and of course motivating the players.

My first order of business was to make some changes to the staff at the Club, and so I've hired a few new faces.

---

Serginho - Scout

Serginho was recommended to me by my backroom staff, and having seen his attributes and knowledge of other leagues we currently don't scout, I decided that the decision to hire him would be a good one, especially as we're always looking for top bargains!​

---

Jon Harley - Coach

Harley joins us from Premier League rivals Chelsea, and with the quality of his attributes I'm sure he'll make for a brilliant coach here at St. James' Park.​

---

Fernando Hierro - Director of Football

Purely some experimentation here as I brought in Hierro to act as our Director of Football. Hopefully he can do great work for us but if things go downhill I can always get rid of him, I'm eager to try new things in a bid to find success!​

---

Europa League - 3rd Qualifying Round Draw

After finishing 6th last term we were entered into the qualifying rounds of the Europa League, here we were drawn against Cypriot side AMO Apollon Limassol, while the draw could have been tougher we'll certainly take nothing for granted as we look to qualify for the group stages.​

---

Pre-Season Results

​

Pre-Season started badly but got better as things went on, the squad is still getting familiar with one another but as you can see this didn't stop us beating Limassol 13-0! Progression to the play-off round was confirmed where we will play:

​

Mlada Boleslav, a good draw for us. I think we'll do well in this one and in reality we should qualify easily, but we'll make sure we avoid complacency in this tie.

---

The squad have been training well ahead of the new season and with an away match vs. Palace as the season opener I know the squad is feeling confident of a good result. Hopefully we can crack on and have another very successful campaign and touch-wood win our first trophy!​

---