NiceToMichu
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Good story, fella!
Are you going to bring Rolando Aarons into the starting XI?
Are you going to bring Rolando Aarons into the starting XI?
All Aboard! - The Managerial Rollercoaster
- Thread starter Werrett
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Let me take this moment to enjoy Liverpool being top........okay, I'm ready to return to reality!
Getting European football will be vital this season. Europa League would be a great achievement for you to build on. Titles take years to build towards (assuming you care about your club's future financial stability)
Definitely! I'm not expecting to be a title contending team anytime soon, could be looking at anywhere between 5-7 seasons before we have a squad that good, but with a predicted finish of 8th I'd be very happy with a Europa League finish.
Thanks very much! I'm definitely hoping to incorporate him into the starting XI, he made the bench in my most recent match and will get a chance later in the season for sure.
Enrico Pucci
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Great diary and story. Love the detail, keep up the good work!
Thanks man, appreciate the kind words!
December/Christmas Football
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December was a good month for the club, not only did we beat our fierce rivals Sunderland but we also managed to pick up great results against Liverpool and Arsenal.
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We were unlucky against Liverpool. Had you have offered me a 0-0 before the game I'd have broken your hand off but the course of the game was somewhat in our favour, despite having less chances we managed to maintain 61% possession at Anfield, an incredibly statistic which shows the progress we are making at the club, but overall I'm happy with the result.
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The 3-2 loss to Chelsea was another game I felt we were unlucky in, we put up a valiant effort to contest with Chelsea's strong squad, fighting from behind twice before falling to a late Eden Hazard goal, Chelsea have become the first 'top 4' team to beat us at St. James' this season, I'm very happy with our home form.
Despite Papiss Cisse pulling the score back to 2-2 we were unable to keep Chelsea out towards the end of the match, but the Senegalese striker is on a fine run of form at the moment.
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Burnley were a team I thought we'd be able to beat, but the newly promoted side showed their fighting spirit as they took an early 2-0 lead against us, no thanks to some shambolic defending. However we showed our Premier League class as we fought back to 2-2 before rattling the post late on through Papiss Cisse, we were unlucky not to win in the end, the story of the month so far.
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We picked up a very much needed win over West Ham in a tightly contested match, both teams had chances to win it and following some poor defending Zarate gave West Ham the equaliser, slotting the ball past Tim Krul.
It was through Ferreyra that we led, his early finish put us 1-0 up and the on-loan Argentine was having a fantastic match as he slalomed his way into the box before being brought down by Winston Reid, a cool head from the young striker as he put the ball in the back of the net to earn us the 3 points.
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Our final game of the calendar year saw us take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium only two days after our triumph against West Ham. A bit of rotation was made but nothing radical.
The first half was quiet with very few chances created, a very quiet atmosphere surroundd the stadium, it's almost like the fans were beginning to become bored.
In the 2nd half Fernando gave Arsenal the lead after 56 minutes with a good finish from the edge of the box before Senegalese Striker Papiss Cisse clawed back the equaliser to earn us a point away at the Emirates.
A fantastic performance, and a well deserved point.
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We finish the calendar year of 2014 sitting in 9th place, only a couple of points shy of the top 7.
It's going to be a tough ask to get European Football this year but with a media prediction of 8th placed it's simply too early to rule out the possibility. The extra income would certainly help the club.
Hiring a New Scout
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Former West Ham United scout Gianluca Nani has been brought in to help add some insight to our Scouting Network in a bid to help us discover talent as well as tracking our transfer targets.
This is my second staff hiring since I took over at St. James' Park.
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Gianluca has some great scouting attributes and will no doubt prove to be a very useful member of the backroom here at Newcastle United.
FA Cup 3rd Round Draw
With the end of December nearing it is now time for the 3rd round draw of the FA Cup.
The balls are mixed in the bowl, and the draw will now commence.
...
Presenter: "Alan, if you'd like to do us the honour of pulling out the next candidate."
Alan Shearer: "Sure thing...There we go."
Presenter: "And what number did you pick out?"
Alan Shearer: "Twenty Eight."
Presenter: "And that is..Newcastle United, your former club Alan! If you'd now like to pick out another name so that we can see who Newcastle will be playing at home to..."
...
Alan Shearer: "Certainly..Number Seventy Eight."
Presenter: "Seventy Eight..And that is..Gillingham, the League One side."
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With our name having been pulled from the bowl we will be facing League One side Gillingham at St. James' Park, I'm fairly confident of our chances of progression but we'll have to be alert and Gillingham will be giving it their all..The pressure is on us to avoid an upset.
Our expectation for the FA Cup is to reach the 6th round but ultimately I'd love to win a trophy, Newcastle haven't won a trophy since they won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup back in 1968/69.
The match will take place on Sunday 4th January, 2015 at 15:00.
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Quite a large gap forming between 6th and myself so I can't see it happening, but who knows!
Cristiano Ronaldo Claims Ballon D'or
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Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo was named as the winner of the 2014 Ballon D'or ahead of Lionel Messi and Robin van Persie. The Portuguese forward has now won the honour on three occasions and is delighted with receiving the prestigious award.
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C.Ronaldo: "I am very delighted to have won this award for the 3rd time in what has been a truly fantastic year for me, not only have I scored a lot of goals but I've helped my team to win La Decima which feels fantastic, but I will always focus on the team more then any personal awards and that is why I am solely focused on winning the league as well as another Champions League. From the bottom of my heart I want to thank everyone who voted for me throughout this process, I am truly humbled."
Lionel Messi certainly took the plaudits for his fashion sense but the Argentinian forward will certainly be disappointed not to have won the award.
Coloccini Granted LOA
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Fabricio Coloccini has today been granted a leave of absense by Newcastle Manager Paul Clement, it is believed that the Argentinian defender has become unsettled at the club in recent times due to personal reasons back home. Rather than keep the player against his will Coloccini has been allowed 2 weeks to return home.
Newcastle will certainly miss their captain throughout this period but with van Dijk, Williamson and Steven Taylor still at the club they look as though they have enough quality to see them through.
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The First January Signing
Newcastle United have today confirmed the signing of Spanish Winger Pablo Sarabia from Getafe for an undisclosed fee (Although it is reported to be in the range of £5m), the former Real Madrid prospect will fly over to England within the next day or two to be unveiled by the club before meeting his new teammates.
Newcastle Manager Paul Clement had this to say on the matter.
P.Clement: "We've been watching Pablo for a couple of weeks now and he's been fantastic over in Spain for Getafe, we've looked a little lackluster down the wings this season and Pablo is the right kind of player to bring some flair and excitement to the club. Although £5,000,000 is a hefty fee I believe he will be capable of showing his value here at Newcastle United."
The statement from Paul Clement sparked a reply from Pablo himself.
P.Sarabia: "I'm excited. Although I'll be leaving my beloved Spain for a new country I'm excited to be offered the opportunity to play in the Premier League and with Newcastle showing signs of ambition I believe they are the right club for me. I'm sad to leave Getafe having enjoyed the past few years here but I wish the club all the best as I embark on this new adventure."
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I'm very pleased with this signing, as you can see Sarabia's value has already shot up which makes me believe that £5m was a cheap deal indeed for the young winger.
While he lacks the work-rate that I'd usually look for he's got some great on the ball stats, he's a bit of a Ben Arfa but without the attitude, I'm very eager to see how he gets on in the Premier League.
Sarabia in action for the Spanish Under 21's early in the season.
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Not a very exciting match to kick off the new calendar year, despite having more chances and possession we were unable to find a breakthrough at the King Power stadium, I may have to look into buying a new striker during the window.
After playing Leicester City in the league we returned to FA Cup action to take on League One side Gillingham in the 3rd round.
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The game proved to be a comfortable one for us, Gillingham although having a few chances never really managed to get a foot-hold in the match. We created a lot of chances and I'm disappointed to have only scored two but the progression is the key thing.
Pablo Sarabia also scores his first two goals in English Football, a man of the match performance from the promising winger and hopefully he can continue this goal-scoring hunger in the league.
FA Cup 4th Round Draw
Following our 2-0 win over Gillingham in the FA Cup 3rd round we were placed into the 4th round draw, which took place immediately after the match.
Presenter: "Martin, if you'd like to get us started and please pick out the first name from the metaphorical hat."
M.Allen: I certainly can do..Just give it a good rummage..Alright..There we go."
Presenter: "If you could please show the camera the number you've picked out, Martin."
M.Allen: "Number Twenty Two."
Presenter: "Twenty-Two..And that is..Fulham, the ex-Premier League side who will be playing at the Craven Cottage in the 4th round of the FA Cup, but who will their opponent be?"
...
"We'll let you do the honour this time, Alan."
A.Shearer: "Believe me I'm honoured, the next number is..26."
Presenter: "Number Twenty-Six, that is..Newcastle United, your former club Alan! So just to clairfy, Newcastle United will be taking on Fulham at the Craven Cottage in the 4th round of the FA Cup."
...
"Thank you very much, gentlemen."
...
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Well the draw could certainly have been easier, an away trip to Fulham is never going to be easy as the Craven Cottage is a tough place to go. I'm pleased to have avoided the big names and feel that we have a good chance of reaching the 5th round of the FA Cup.
The match will take place on Saturday 26th January, 2015 at 15:00.
Another January Signing
Newcastle United have today confirmed the signing of Veteran midfielder Rio Mavuba from LOSC Lille for a fee reported to be around the £1,100,000 mark. The signing is seen as a ploy to boost Newcastle's dominance in the middle of the park with Mavuba's physical presence being a key factor in his play.
Paul Clement took to the media to explain the reasoning behind the signing.
P.Clement: "I'm very pleased that we have been able to sign Rio for such a cheap price, he's been a consistent midfielder in French football for many years and at the tender age of 30 still has much to offer in terms of his presence on the pitch. At times this season we've looked a little weak in terms of winning the ball back from our opponents and with Mavuba's high work rates and great tackling I'm sure this signing will allow us to strengthen in the middle of the park."
Meanwhile the French media was keen to get Mavuba's views on the deal.
R.Mavuba: "I'm delighted to be moving to the Premier League, I've spent almost my whole career here in France and have loved every minute of it, but with my career progressing I'm not getting any younger and would love the chance to play in the Premier League and that is the reasoning behind the move. I'm also very excited to meet up with some of my French teammates in Yoan, Moussa and Emmanuel. I'm very excited."
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Mavuba has some very good attributes for a 30 year old, while his strength may not be the best he certainly has the pace and energy to give us the full 90 and when combined with his work rates I can tell that he'll never stop working for us. He's got some very good on the ball stats and I believe his calm, experienced presence will benefit us in the middle of the park.
I'm very pleased.
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This game truly was magical, besides the Tyne-Wear derby win this is by far our best win so far in the 2014/15 campaign, we kept City's chances to a minimum with a great defensive display while taking our own chances to secure a 5-0 win! Albeit two of the goals were own goals but they were errors forced by our great football. Vurnon Anita was also a very unlikely scorer who managed to pick up two.
A fantastic performance from the Dutch midfielder as he bags his first two goals of the season.
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Following a 5-0 win over Manchester City we slumped to a poor defeat to West Brom..The game was a close affair and neither side deserved to win and it looked as though it was gonna end 2-2 until Haidara got himself sent off late in the game. The man advantage came to our downfall as West Brom found a late winner to take the spoils. A disappointing loss but we'll look to bounce back.
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We took an impressive 3-0 win over Fulham in the 4th round of the FA Cup, Anita once again finding himself on the score-sheet before Gouffran picked up a brace to secure the win. I'm pleased to have won this game in the manner we did, a clean sheet away is always nice and gives us a lot of confidence going forwards.
FA Cup 5th Round Draw
Following our victory over Fulham in the 4th round of the FA Cup we were now put into the pot for the 5th Round draw, with expectations of reaching the 6th round we'll be looking for a good draw here to help us reach our aims.
Presenter: "Welcome all to the 5th round draw for the FA Cup, I'm here today joined by Martin Keown and Graham Souness who will be responsible for picking the names out of the bag."
...
Presenter: "Martin, if you'd please like to give the bowl a shuffle and pick out the first team for us please."
M.Keown: "That sounds like something I can do, la-dee-da, right there we are..Number thirty-nine."
Presenter: "Thirty-Nine..That is..Manchester United, one of the big boys still in with a shout of winning the FA Cup, they will be playing at Old Trafford in the 5th round, but who will they face? Please do the honours for us Graham."
...
G.Souness: "This becomes more exciting every year..The number I have picked out is..Number Three."
Presenter: "Number Three you say? That is..Newcastle United, a team you once managed I believe Graham, first Shearer picks out his former team and now you do, uncanny! Just to clarify, Newcastle United will be taking on Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 5th round of the FA Cup."
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Well..This was by far the biggest cup game we've had so far this season, an away trip to Manchester United..We are most definitely the underdogs in this draw but we'll give it our best, even if we fall short of our expectations now I'm sure the board will understand that Manchester United are an extremely tough team to beat.
The match will take place on Saturday 14th January, 2015 at 12:30.
Not the best Valentine's day present!
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Rounding off the Month (January)
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A disappointing loss against Southampton, I felt as though we were capable of getting something from this game but on the day we didn't play very well, we had several chances but failed to find the net from most of them and with Southampton having gained such an early 2-0 lead we never looked like getting back into the game.
The Third January Signing
Newcastle United have today confirmed another signing in Algerian forward Islam Slimani, having started the season well with Sporting Lisbon the 26 year old forward has certainly impressed Newcastle manager Paul Clement.
The fee agreed between the two clubs is believe to be in the region of £2,200,000.
Algerian Islam Slimani impressed a number of people with his performances in the 2014 World Cup.
With Newcastle already having a number of strikers the media were keen to understand Paul Clement's reasoning behind the signing.
Journalist: "Mr. Clement, with Newcastle United already having the likes of Cisse, Ferreyra, Riviere and Perez at the club, what is your reasoning behind the signing of Islam Slimani?"
P.Clement: "Well as you know we haven't been the most free-scoring team this year with a lot of our goals coming from wide areas, this is something I'm keen to correct and with Slimani's prolific nature this season I believe he can do a good job for us."
Journalist: "Are you worried that you may have too many strikers at hand now?"
P.Clement: "No not at all, Ayoze has featured as more of a winger this season and has done a very capable job out wide for us, I believe this will be where he plays in the remainder of the season. Riviere on the other hand hasn't been able to settle in to English Football, I think the best move for the club is to try and find a solution, maybe a loan move to another club."
Journalist: "Thank you for your time, Mr. Clement."
P.Clement: "Pleasure."
With Islam Slimani on the flight over to England, the 26 year old posted an update on Social Media expressing his excitement at the move.
The update read:
"Very excited to be moving to such a big club, hopefully can force my way into the first-team! I'm very thankful to Sporting but need to look to the future. #Magpies #NUFC" - Islam Slimani
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Slimani has some very nicely rounded stats as well as the ability to finish, something we've lacked at times this season. And for £2,000,000 the risk is very low on this signing.
This will conclude the incoming signings as we don't have the money to sign anyone else.
Outgoing Player
Newcastle United have today confirmed the sale of Central Defender Mike Williamson to Premier League side Burnley for £450,000.
While no comment was made from manager Paul Clement the reason behind the sale is believed to be the lack of appearances made by Williamson throughout the season. The player had this to say.
M.Williamson: "Obviously I'm very upset to be leaving Newcastle, I've been part of this magnificent club since 2010 but I've come to the point in my career now where I need first-team Football, I'm not getting any younger and when I learned of Burnley's interest in my services I snapped at the chance to continue playing in the Premier League. I wish Newcastle and Paul Clement all the best, who know what the future holds."
Overview of our Transfer Activity this season
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I'm very happy with the additions we've made to the squad this year, the board asked me to sign young players and I feel that in the signings of van Dijk and Sarabia I've been able to achieve that. Overall throughout the season we've had a budget of £15m and I've spent most of that, but the squad needs the investment.
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Our final match of the month saw us take on Everton at St. James' Park, an impressive start to the game saw us go 3-0 up but some complacent defending late on almost cost us the game. I'm pleased to end the month on a high though.
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The end of January see's us still sitting in 9th place, we desperately need to rack together some wins if we're to get into the European places, but I have confidence in my players.
jordan rhodes
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wow, love the effort!
nice career
nice career
Thank you! It's never going to be as exciting as playing with Chelsea, Arsenal, City etc. but it's a challenging save, I'm glad you enjoy reading it!
Transfer Window Round-Up
Now that you've seen the transfers I've made here at Newcastle I'll show a brief summary of the major transfers across the other top European leagues.
Liga BBVA Round-Up
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Bundesliga Round-Up
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Serie A Round-Up
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Ligue 1 Round-Up
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Premier League Round-Up
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And the strangest bit of transfer news across the continent was Barcelona's decision to sell Dragovic back to Dynamo Kyiv, having only signed the Defender in the Summer the Catalan club have taken a loss of £1,000,000 to sell him back to his former club.
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He must have been unsettled, he didn't impress at all in his 4 appearances for Barcelona.
Tried to avoid the whole 'wonder-kid' scene, didn't wanna make the save become too unrealistic.
I'm hoping to push on for a top 7 finish but we'll have to see!
February
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This 4-1 win over Queens Park Rangers was a great way to start the month, we weren't fully at the races but we were extremely clinical with the chances we had created and it's a great sight to see Mavuba get his first goal for the club, a thumping effort from 20 yards that cannoned in off the post. Great start to February.
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A very impressive home performance saw us pick up a 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, having found ourselves a goal down we fought deep and pulled an equaliser out of the bag through Siem De Jong. St. James' Park has been a very tough place for the big teams to come this year with only Chelsea managing to beat us, a very pleasing performance from the lads.
Following our league match against Spurs we traveled to Manchester to take on Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 5th round of the FA Cup.
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We slumped to a 3-1 defeat in this match, we were always the underdogs but I was hopefuly. However we didn't seem to take many of our chances and quickly found ourselves on the back foot, sadly we were unable to turn the defecit around and lost 3-1. However, Islam Slimani did make his first appearance for the club since his move from Sporting, Slimani had been on duty with Algeria at the African Cup of Nations.
We were knocked out of the FA Cup following United's strong performance.
After being knocked out of our final cup competition we now return to league action, the league being the only competition we have to focus on.
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A fantastic performance saw us beat Hull City 5-0 at the KC Stadium, braces from Ayoze Perez and Papiss Cisse gave us the win as well as a late goal from Yoan Gouffran to cap off a wonderful performance, this was a great way to bounce back following our early cup exit.
This years trip to the KC had significantly less drama than last years fixture when Alan Pardew was sent off for headbutting Hull City's David Meyler.
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We rounded off the month with a poor home performance against Swansea in which we suffered a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Welsh side. Despite being 2-1 up at half-time we failed to keep Wilfried Bony quiet as he bagged a quickfire double to complete the turnaround for Swansea, I was very concerned at our poor marking.
Here is an overview of the results from February, the month was a so-so month in which we only suffered one league defeat but the cup exit was also a bit disappointing (Although expected), hopefully we can now focus on the league and achieve a top 7 finish.
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The Table
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We now sit in 7th place at the end of February and although we have played more games than Tottenham we still know that the pressure is on them. Over the next few months we need to crack on and get a strong finish.
It also looks as though Sunderland are favourites to get relegated, this means our Tyne-Wear derby in April may be our last for some time...
Capital One Cup Final
Manchester United win Capital One cup!
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Manchester United were named Capital One Cup Champions today following a 4-2 victory over London side Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley. The trophy comes to the delight of Manchester United manager Louis Van Gaal who today claimed his first trophy in English Football.
LVG: "I'm delighted, the cup is not the biggest trophy you can win by any means but it is still a trophy and I am delighted to have won it during my first season here. It feels fantastic."
The match saw 6 different goalscorers find the net before United were named as the winners of the competition, the celebrations will no doubt go on all night.
Captain Wayne Rooney lifts the cup alongside Vice-Captain Darren Fletcher.
Both Manchester clubs have now won a piece of silverware this season.
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A stunning display by Manchester United's attacking unit, nice to see English youngster James Wilson grab a goal at Wembley.
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We began the month with a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace away at Selhurst Park, a dissapointing performance when you consider the amount of chances we had. But we have to look on the positives, we didn't lose and the fact that we are creating a lot of chances is promising, we just need to bury them!
Krul Injured
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Newcastle shot-stopper Tim Krul will be out for the next 4-6 weeks after suffering a broken finger in Newcaste's 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace.
With the Dutch goalkeeper set to be out of action for the next batch of games Newcastle will be calling up their second choice keeper Rob Elliot. Elliot's only other features this season were during Newcastle's FA Cup run.
Rob Elliot will be forced to step up to the plate as he looks to keep Newcastle in with a shout of reaching the European qualification places.
Youth Intake
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March 5, 2015 saw the annual intake of youth at Newcastle and having been handed a list of the names of the players on trial with the club one player stood out, Adam Quinn.
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This young player had the best potential out of all the players on trial and looks to have some fantastic traits such as his technique, pace and dribbling. He's a short player standing at only 5"2 but he's a creative dynamo, hopefully we can develop this kid and watch him work his way into the first team.
He's one to keep your eye out for as he's now going to be training with the Under 19's.
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We fought valiantly at St. James' Park to pick up a 2-1 victory over struggling Stoke City, Facundo Ferreyra's brace inside the first 20 minutes proved to be the only goals of the game as we held strong to keep a clean sheet. A brilliant result.
A brilliant performance from on-loan Argentine Facundo Ferreyra saw him pick up the Man of the Match award.
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