All Aboard! - The Managerial Rollercoaster

[Werrett]

Champions League Final - Berlin 2015

View attachment 317293

Arsenal have won their first ever UEFA Champions League following a 2-1 win over Bayern Munich at the Olympiastadion in Berling, Germany.

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

View attachment 317292View attachment 317291

Arsenal were very impressive in the final, having conceded a late equaliser from Robert Lewandowski they fought from deep inside to pull out the winner through Arsenal youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Oxlade-Chamberlain's Champions League winning goal is likely to stick in the minds of Arsenal fans for generations.

The only trophy to have evaded Arsenal's grasp in recent years has finally been won by the London side with Arsene Wenger being praised for his efforts by fans and pundits alike.

Here is a look at how Bayern Munich and Arsenal came to meet each other in the final.

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And here is the group that Arsenal qualified from at the start of the Champions League adventure.

View attachment 317289

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Manager Hirings

Following the sackings of Gary Monk, Sam Allardyce and Steve Bruce these three clubs have now hired new managers for the upcoming season.

Alan Pardew Returns to West Ham

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Pardew returns to former club West Ham United in a bit of an unexpected move, I look forward to encountering him throughout next season's campaign and wish him all the luck as he looks to turn things around at Upton park.

I'm sure West Ham fans remember Pardew's previous reign at Upton Park in which a lot of controversy surrounded the surprise signings of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.

Tony Pulis to Hull City

View attachment 317283

Having come close to relegation in the past season Hull City have hired Tony Pulis as their new manager. Pulis who is renowned for his defensive tactics may be a good hiring for the Tigers as they look to stop their back-line from leaking so many goals.

Pulis makes his return to management having been out of the game since his surprise exit from Selhurst park back in August following a conflict with the Chairman.

Warburton to Swansea (From Brentford)

View attachment 317282

Swansea have taken the biggest gamble here as they hire former Brentford manager Mark Warburton, a relatively unknown name in Football but I wish him all the best as he looks to help the Swans bounce back into the big-time.

Warburton is seen by many as a surprise hiring at the Liberty Stadium, but with a good squad at hand he has a good chance of helping them return to the Premier League.

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Promoted Sides

Having forgotten all about the Championship I decided to look at who would be joining us in the Premier League next season, here's a look at the table from last season.

View attachment 317281

Some interesting promotions from the Championship, least of which was Norwich City who were always expected to bounce back, but with them being my local team I'm glad to see them get promoted back into the Premier League.

Ipswich will also be joining Norwich next yer having won the play-offs after finishing in 5th place, it'll be very interesting to see them back in the Premier League along with the East Anglia derby.

Charlton are another surprise package, a couple of good players in their squad such as Solly, Vetokele and Gomez but I'm glad to see somebody different get promoted.

Three ex-BPL sides returning to the big time, exciting stuff!

(Also funny to see three Yorkshire clubs get relegated...)
​

 

[Werrett]

Ben Arfa Set to Stay

Hatem Ben Arfa has today signed a new deal at Newcastle that will keep him at the club until 2019, this deal comes after a week of controversy surrounding the Frenchman.

View attachment 317205

I'm delighted to be offering Hatem a new deal, over the years he's been instrumental in some of Newcastle's finest goals, such as the likes of those against Bolton and Blackburn. With only £12m to spend it is definitely a cheaper alternative to signing a new winger and despite his work rates I believe Ben Arfa can play a pivotal role for us as we look to qualify for European Football.

Hatem Ben Arfa expressed his delight at the new deal to journalists inside St. James' Park:

HBA: "I'm delighted to sign a new deal here, as fans know the last few years have been tough to me but with the new management at the Club I feel a lot of happiness around Newcastle and am pleased that the gaffer has trusted me with a new contract."

Reporter: "You've been very susceptible to injuries this year, especially the broken ankle suffered against Southampton, will that affect your performances throughout the season?"

HBA: "I don't think it will, it was a bad injury but I feel fit and raring to go, at the very worst it might just mean I miss the odd game due to lack of fitness or a niggle but I'm sure players like Ayoze and Yoan can step in during my absence and do a fine job."

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Lascelles Joins Burnley on Loan

I've taken the decision to loan young defender Jamaal Lascelles to Burnley for the 2015/16 season, having completed a successful loan spell at Nottingham Forest I believe he needs to get some Premier League Football under his belt and feel that it may be too early for him here at St. James' Park.

As you can see he's got some fantastic physical and mental stats for a youngster but I just think he needs another year away from the club, I can't guarantee him the first-team Football he needs here at Newcastle this season.

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Newcastle Sign Alli

I've completed my first-deal of the transfer window by signing MK Dons youngster Dele Alli, although I'm not a huge fan of signing 'wonder-kids' as it can make the game unrealistic I fully believe that Alli is a player who could one day turn up at Newcastle and with the board expressing their desire to bring in young players I'm delighted to have signed the starlet for £2,000,000.

D.Alli: "It's a sad day to leave MK Dons, the club have been so good to me over the past few years but with Newcastle's interest in me I couldn't turn down a move to the Premier League. I hope Dons fans understand the reason behind my decision to leave, Paul Clement has had nothing but kind words for me since expressing his interest and I look forward to playing under him."

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Newcastle Fan Awards

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Wenger Resigns From Arsenal

The most shocking news of the day comes from the Emirates Stadium where long serving manager Arsene Wenger has handed in his letter of resignation from the London Club.

Reporters were quick to get a statement from the Frenchman.

Reporter: "Mr. Wenger, can you please give the reason behind your sudden resignation from Arsenal? Many fans and pundits thought you were sure to be retiring at the Club you've spent so many years at."

A.Wenger: "I know it may come as a shock but I just feel that now is the time for change, despite my age I still feel I have a lot to offer to another team somewhere and having won the Champions League here at Arsenal I feel I have done everything there is to do at the club."

Reporter: "So you're planning to take up a vacancy elsewhere?"

A.Wenger: "That is the plan, yes."

Reporter: "Do you have any ideas on who will be hired to succeed you at the helm?"

A.Wenger: "I do not, no. That decision is down to the board and I wish them the best of luck in choosing their next manager, this is a wonderful club with a lot of tradition and fantastic players. I wish them all the best in the future, I'm a Gunner for life."

Reporter: "Thanks Arsene."

A.Wenger: "Thank you."
​

 

[SamPeters]

Dele Alli will be a great signing mate! also nice choice in keeping HBA as he will do great

 

[Werrett]

Dele Alli will be a great signing mate! also nice choice in keeping HBA as he will do great

Ben Arfa's a bit of a risk, he's got extremely poor work rates but hopefully he can do a job for us!

Alli certainly looks promising.

 

[Werrett]

Villas-Boas Takes Arsenal Hot-Seat

The country tuned in today as former Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas was unveiled as the new Manager of Arsenal Football Club.

Reporters were quickly on the scene to question the new Manager.

Reporter: "Andre, you've been named today as Arsenal's new manager, what does this mean to you following the resignation of Club Legend Arsene Wenger?"

AVB: "It's a great honour for me, Arsene has been a fantastic servant here for many years and has achieved no end of success with the club, but his resignation I'm delighted that the board have trusted me with this position."

Reporter: "As a former Spurs manager, was this a tough decision for you?"

AVB: "No not at all, I enjoyed my time at Tottenham but I would never consider myself a die-hard Spurs fan. Once I learned of Arsenal's interest it was hard for me to say no to such a big club."

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New Deals at St. James' Park

Newcastle United have today revealed that Daryl Janmaat and Virgil van Dijk have today signed new contracts to tie them to the club for the foreseeable future.

Following the impressive performances from these players last year there have been a lot of rumours flying around regarding interest from clubs across Europe. With that in mine I took it upon me to offer the players new deals in a bid to keep the at the club.

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More Signings at St. James' Park

With the pre-season advancing I have confirmed the signings of three more players.

I'm sure most of you know how good Bony can be, and if with Swansea being relegated from the Premier League I decided to splash the cash in a bid to get the team firing on a more consistent basis. Hopefully Bony can fire us to European Qualification.

The next signing is Marouane Fellaine from Manchester United, for a fee of £4.5m I believe Fellaini will prove to be a great signing for the club and while he can be an aggressive player he has a great engine and proves a lot of physicality in the midfield.

Van Aken is a more unheard of player, the young central defender plays for Heerenveen in Holland but has showed great signs of potential throughout the season and having scouted him many times in the past few months I decided to take a gamble on the young Dutchman.

As you can see Van Aken has some very good stats for a young defender and with a bit of tutoring and development here at Newcastle hopefully he can go on to become a star defender in the Premier League.

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Pre-Season Schedule

The pre-season schedule this season isn't very exciting, we head off to Colombia to face Medellin before returning to England to see out the rest of our pre-season campaign.

Hopefully the pre-season will be a good chance to see some of our new players in action while trying to mould the squad together.
​

 

[Werrett]

Pre-Season

Pre-season didn't go as planned, we only managed to win one of our matches and put in some very poor performances along the way. New Striker Wilfried Bony was out injured so I was unable to see how he'd fit into our tactics but based on pre-season will certainly be making changes to try and get us to play how I know we can.

I'm not too displeased about the pre-season as it's mainly a time to get the players back to full fitness.

Following the game against Gateshead Wilfried Bony has now recovered from his injury and will be in with a shout of making the match squad for the opening game against West Bromwich Albion.​

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Louis Van Gaal has guided Manchester United to another piece of silverware by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the Community Shield at Wembley.

Manchester United celebrate winning the Community Shield for the second time in 3 years.

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A very impressive performance from Manchester United as summer signing Radamel Falcao scored a brace to secure the victory for the Red Devils.​

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Capital One Cup 2nd Round Draw

With the start of the season approaching we have been drawn against Championship side Brighton & Hove Albion in the 2nd round of the Capital One Cup. Following last year's elimination at the hands of Middlesbrough we will certainly be looking to go one further this year, starting with a win against the Seagulls.

The match will take place on Tuesday 25 August, 2015.

Kick-Off: 19:45

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Expectations

Despite being predicted to finish in 8th place again I'm hopeful that we can push on and get European Qualification, but first we need to play well..Better than pre-season anyway.​

 

[Werrett]

2015/16 Campaign Fixtures

August:

September:

October:

November:

December:

January:

February:

March:

April/May:

 

[SamPeters]

Why does it seem everyone is getting Brighton in their cup games haha but i hope you lose that one but the rest good luck mate and a couple of nice signings

 

[Werrett]

August Begins

Here's a look at the fixtures we will be playing during the opening month of August, hopefully we can get off to a good start against West Bromwich Albion.

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Our Season Opener!

Attendance: 50,366

With the match only 30 minutes away from kick-off, the team sheets have been released!

[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Newcastle United[/TD]
[TD]West Bromwich Albion[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Krul (GK)[/TD]
[TD]Foster (GK)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Janmaat (RB)[/TD]
[TD]Richards (RB)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Yanga-Mbiwa (CD)[/TD]
[TD]Bougherra (CD)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]van Dijk (CD)[/TD]
[TD]Olsson (CD) (c)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Santon (LB)[/TD]
[TD]Davidson (LB)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tioté (DM) (c)[/TD]
[TD]Mulumbu (MC)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Antia (MCR)[/TD]
[TD]Flamini (MCR)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Fellaini (MCL)[/TD]
[TD]Yacob (MCL)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sarabia (AML)[/TD]
[TD]Brunt (ML)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ben Arfa (AMR)[/TD]
[TD]Morrison (MR)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bony (STC)[/TD]
[TD]Ideye (STC)[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Pre-Match Prediction

J.Redknapp: "I can't look past Newcastle in this game, St James' Park was a tough place for teams to visit last year and with the additions of Bony and Fellaini they certainly have a lot of physicality in the side to partner the pace. West Brom have the likes of Joleon Lescott missing at the back, a man you feel would have been responsible for marking the Ivorian. I'm going for a 3-0 home win."

The atmosphere around St. James Park can probably be heard in Sunderland today, the fans are giving it their all and with the hopes of qualifying for European Football they'll be hoping for a dominant performance today.

...

The referee has a quick check of his watch and...Phweeep!

Newcastle United's 2015/16 campaign is underway as West Brom get the ball rolling.

...

2nd minute: Janmaat with the ball now down the right hand side, plays it into Tioté who has the armband today. Tioté knocks it out wide to Ben Arfa, he cuts inside and runs at the West Brom defence with pace, he cuts past Olsson and shoots!...But it's just wide of the post!

Great play by the French winger who looks fired up since returning from Hull City, he was only inches away from giving Newcastle the lead with that effort!

...

45th minute: Phweeep! The referee calls time on the first half here at St. James' Park, Newcastle will feel that they should be ahead through Hatem Ben Arfa's early effort.

...

Half-Time Analysis

Presenter: "So Jamie, what did you think of that first-half?"

J.Redknapp: "Well it wasn't the best Football we've ever seen but that's to be expected as it's the opening day of the season, I feel Newcastle have been the better side so far, they've enjoyed plenty of possession in the final third but similarly to last year have failed to take their chances, but I feel a goal is coming soon."

Presenter: "And what did you think of Ben Arfa's early effort? Newcastle almost took the lead immediately!"

J.Redknapp: "Oh it was a fantastic solo effort, he picked the ball up what, 25-30 yards from goal and just ran at the West Brom defence and with his pace you can't afford to stick a leg in. That's something Newcastle have missed in this past year, someone who isn't afraid to take things on, but ultimately he was very unlucky with that effort. He's been impressive."

...

The players are back on the pitch, John Moss checks his watch and..

Phweep! The second half is underway here at St. James' Park!

...

51st minute: Ben Arfa runs at the West Bromwich defence once again, wonderful feet from the Frenchman but the ball is knocked away by the right leg of Davidson, it bounces back to Anita on the edge of the box who knocks it back to Ben Arfa, wonderful flick from the Frenchman into the feet of Bonyyyy!...GOAL!

Newcastle have taken the lead at St. James' Park and it's new signing Wilfried Bony on the scoresheet, a thumping effort from the Ivorian striker following a great passage of play from the home side, Foster had no chance!

Ivorian Wilfried Bony who picked up 17 goals last season has his first at Newcastle, a dream debut for the 26 year old.

It doesn't take long for the Geordie faithful to start chanting Bony's name, he's certainly a fan favourite following that goal!

...

70th minute: Anita picks the ball up in the center of the pitch following a van Dijk header, he chips the ball into the feet of Hatem Ben Arfa who is hugging the touchline, Ben Arfa darts into the space as he glides past Davidson, he's past Olsson in a flash and continues his run, what a run by Ben Arfa! He reaches the edge of the box and hits it!...GOAL!

Oh what a goal by Hatem Ben Arfa! The Frenchman picks the ball up just inside the West Brom half before turning on the jets, lovely ball control from the winger as he flashes past Davidson and Olsson before firing the ball into the bottom right hand corner, magical goal and it's 2-0 to Newcastle!

This isn't the first time Ben Arfa has scored a spectacular solo effort, his goals against Blackburn and Bolton in previous years were glimpses of the Frenchman's brilliance.

...

81st minute: The ball is with Anita now, the playmaker has been instrumental in this match so far as he picks out Sarabia on the left hand side, Sarabia gets the beating of Micah Richards and pulls it back into the center to Ayoze!..Oh he's missed it!

That should really have been 3-0 but the young Spaniard was always leaning back when he hit it and has sliced the ball miles over the bar!

...

90th minute: Phweep! There's a massive cheer around St. James' Park as the referee calls time on the match, a brilliant start to the season for Newcastle as they grab a 2-0 victory over West Brom!

Newcastle United celebrate their winning start to the season following a 2-0 win over West Brom.

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I'm very pleased with our victory, a little disappointed to allow West Brom 20 shots on goal but the majority of them were from outside the box, hopefully we can build on this winning start.

...

Here's a look at the result across the Premier League from the opening round of fixtures.

Once again there's another North London Derby to kick off the season, I'm sure AVB got a...Heated reception!

Elsewhere there are plenty of expected wins from the likes of Liverpool, City and United who all produced a lot of goals while keeping a clean sheet at the back.

Chelsea also recorded a big win to start their season, Costa bagging a brace against Burnley and we had our impressive win over West Brom.

Carragher and Neville's first MNF of the season saw Alan Pardew's West Ham United overcome newly promoted Norwich City, a strong performance from the Hammers as they complete the turn-around at home.​

 

[SamPeters]

Nice win there mate!

 

[Werrett]

The Rest of August

After playing West Brom we continue through the rest of August, hoping to gain a feel of how the team would perform in the league this season.

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So this match was absolutely horrible to watch, Arsenal came out very quickly in the first half and quickly found themselves 2-0 up, we had defended poorly and thoroughly deserved to be where we were.

Tioté then decided to hack down one of Arsenal's midfielders and the Ivorian saw red for his disgraceful challenge and after this, as you'd expect, Arsenal began to dominate and found the net twice more to go 4-0 up.

We did pull one back through an own goal but Arsenal found a 5th late on to complete the thrashing, a very very poor performance.

Newcastle fans could only look on in disgust as their team were battered by the Gunners.​

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There was no time to reflect on our 5-1 loss at the Emirates as we were quickly scheduled to face Brighton & Hove Albion in the 2nd round of the Capital One Cup, and with expectations of reaching the Quarter Finals we needed to progress from this match.

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We progressed past Brighton, albeit by a narrow margin, new signing Marouane Fellaini found the net late in Extra Time to secure the win for us, we still struggled to find the net throughout the match which is concerning me a little bit, but the lads did well to fight back from 1-0 down.

Following the match we were put into the pot for the 3rd round draw where we would take on...

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Tottenham Hotspur..Away from home. A ****** tough draw which in all honesty frustrates me, I really hoped to reach the latter stages of this competition but we don't have a very good record against the big teams away from home, so I'm pessimistic about our chances.

The match will take place on Wednesday 23rd September at 19:45.​

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We rounded off August with a fantastic 2-1 win over Southampton, with both teams having ambitions of European Football I'm glad to have gotten the result over our competitors.

Ben Arfa and Bony were once again on the scoresheet, the two have been outstanding so far and have proved to be great pieces of business by the club. (I count offering HBA a new deal as good business).

A great performance by Newcastle as they celebrate their 2nd home win of the season, St. James' Park already looks like a tough place to visit!

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August was a good month for the club, despite a poor pre-season we rallied together and managed to win 3 of our 4 matches. There's a lot of work to be done following the loss to Arsenal but having won all 3 of our home matches I'm very proud of our performances so far at St. James' Park.

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Having played 3 matches we currently find ourselves in 7th place, but it's early days and we can't get too sceptical about our league position. But it's something to build on for sure.
​

 

[Werrett]

Rounding off the Transfer Window

The end of August brings around the deadline of the Summer transfer window, we've made quite a lot of signings in this window and I'll quickly go through each of the signings.

Transfers in:

[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Player[/TD]
[TD]Signed From[/TD]
[TD]Fee (£)[/TD]
[TD]Reason[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dele Alli[/TD]
[TD]MK Dons[/TD]
[TD]2,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Dele Alli is a young English player with a lot of potential, the board want me to sign young players for the first-team and after seeing Dele on the market for £2m I decided to snap him up.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Wilfried Bony[/TD]
[TD]Swansea[/TD]
[TD]15,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Bony is a proven goalscorer and having lacked an out and out goalscorer last season I decided to snap up the Ivorian, an expensive fee but I'm hopeful.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Marouane Fellaini[/TD]
[TD]Manchester United[/TD]
[TD]4,500,000[/TD]
[TD]Fellaini is a physical ball winning midfielder who will help add some strength to our midfield, £4.5m is a great fee for a player of his caliber.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Joost van Aken[/TD]
[TD]Heerenveen[/TD]
[TD]8,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Joost is a gamble, the young CB is relatively unheard of but has fantastic potential, with the philosophies set by the club I decided to invest in the young Dutchman.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Transfers Out:

[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD]Name[/TD]
[TD]Sold to[/TD]
[TD]Fee (£)[/TD]
[TD]Reason[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Shane Ferguson[/TD]
[TD]Sheffield United[/TD]
[TD]1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Doesn't really have the potential to make the first-team and after seeking out first-team football I decided to sell him on.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gabriel Obertan[/TD]
[TD]Ipswich Town[/TD]
[TD]1,500,000[/TD]
[TD]Obertan started well last year but having barely featured in the second half of the season I decided to sell him on to increase the budget.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Islam Slimani[/TD]
[TD]Bordeaux[/TD]
[TD]4,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Slimani was only signed last season but he's not really settled in to English Football and with the chance to make profit on him I decided to accept the bid[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Curtis Good[/TD]
[TD]Sheffield United[/TD]
[TD]1,000,000[/TD]
[TD]Having initially rejected a £400k bid for Curtis he expressed his desire to leave the club, and having negotiated United up to a £1m fee I accepted the offer.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

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European Transfer Round-Up

Here's a look at the major transfers from the other leagues in Europe.

Ligue 1 Round-Up:

Bundesliga Round-Up:

Liga BBVA Round-Up:

Serie A Round-Up:

Premier League Round-Up:

And finally I'll let you see all of the major transfers in the Premier League throughout this window.

​

 

[Werrett]

September

After a good month in August we now headed into September hoping to build on the good start we've had so far, here's an overview of the September league fixtures.

The away game against Manchester City is almost certainly going to be impossible for us, but Hull and Charlton are both winnable games and if we want European Football we should really press on and try to beat these teams.​

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The first match of the month was a hard fought battle at the KC Stadium against Hull City, the match was a midfield battle for the majority of the game before experienced defender Steven Taylor gave us the lead from a Vurnon Anita corner.

Delighted to get the 3 points but disappointed to allow Hull to have 20 shots.​

---

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Although we were dominated we were unlucky in this game. Tim Krul pulled off some fantastic saves to keep the game at 0-0 for a long time, in which time we had multiple chances to grab the win through the likes of Sarabia and Bony but we failed to take them and after that it was only a matter of time before City made the breakthrough.

Overall it was an expected defeat.​

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Capital One Cup 3rd Round

Following our defeat to Manchester City we took on Tottenham Hotspur in the 3rd round of the Capital One Cup, the draw was very unkind to is but we'd give it our best shot.

View attachment 317129View attachment 317128

Despite our best efforts we eventually fell to defeat. Bony got another goal to give us the lead early on but we never really came out in the 2nd half and were punished by Tottenham's strong attacking unit. We fell at the 3rd round of the Capital One Cup last year and it seems this year is no different.

But on the positive side we now have less games to play meaning we can focus our attention on qualifying for Europe.​

---

View attachment 317126View attachment 317125

We finished September with a very good performance against newly promoted Charlton Athletic in which we came away with a 2-0 victory. Fellaini and Cisse were on the score-sheet as we dominated the newly promoted team.

I'm pleased to have won two matches this month, if we want to qualify for Europe we have to beat the sides below us and this month I'm happy to see that we managed that.
​

---

Here's a re-cap on the results from September, an alright month but I'm disappointed to have been eliminated from the Cup so soon.

The end of September see's us sitting in 7th place, a much better position than this time last year where we were lying in 15th place, this shows the progress we are making as a club.

Last years table on the left and this season's table on the right.

As you can see it's a great improvement and I'm hoping we can kick on and continue to win matches.​

 

[Werrett]

October 2015

Currently sitting in the European places we went into October in hopes of extending our good form, I've got a good feeling about the season and am beginning to feel very confident with our squad.

These are the fixtures we'll be playing throughout October.

Liverpool away will be a tough game and Villa Park is never an easy place to go, but we've looked a lot better on the road this season and I don't see a reason why we can't grab a point (Or Three) from both of those matches.​

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View attachment 317124View attachment 317123

We began the month with a fantastic win over QPR at St. James' Park, we've been fantastic at home this season and showed our doinance over QPR during the 90 minutes. Ben Arfa once again getting on the score-sheet and I cannot stress how glad I am that I offered him a new deal at the last minute, he's been sensational!

Cabella's 35 yard free-kick wasn't bad either..

So far we've played 4 matches at home and have won all 4, it's been a fantastic start and hopefully we can continue to make St. James' Park a fortress.

St. James' Park...Can We Make it a Fortress?

You can see by this chart that we currently have the 2nd best home record in the Premier League, I'm extremely pleased and hope we can keep the momentum going.​

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View attachment 317122View attachment 317121

We were unlucky in this game..Janmaat's complete blunder led to Liverpool's opener as he mis-controlled a ball and allowed Coutinho to go through one on one, but Liverpool's defence also played a loose back-pass which let Bony equaliser.

I thought we had a very well deserved point but no, it had to be former Mackem Jordan Henderson who scored the equaliser in the 93rd minute!

Pure frustration, but we were unlucky.

Former Sunderland midfielder Jordan Henderson celebrates his late winner with Captain Steven Gerrard, breaking Newcastle hearts in the process.​

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View attachment 317120View attachment 317119

We finished the month strong as we secure a 3-1 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park, a brilliant performance which was definitely aided by Ron Vlaar's sending off, a nightmare for the home fans but I'm glad we were able to secure the win, three very big points!

Ben Arfa was once again in the spotlight as his brace helped secure the victory, the Frenchman has now scored 5 goals so far this campaign meaning he is the joint scorer alongside Wilfried Bony, hopefully he can keep it up!

Villa gave us a late scare through a Rasmus Elm penalty but substitute Papiss Cisse grabbed us the third goal to secure the points.

French Winger Hatem Ben Arfa has enjoyed a great start to the season, helping to guide Newcastle to the top 5 after 9 matches.​

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The month of October proved to be a successful one as we once again manage to pick up wins against the lower ranked teams. We're still yet to get a point against any of the top 4, losing all 3 of our matches against top opposition but we were very unlucky at Anfield..I mean a 93rd minute winner..That's unlucky.

Besides, all of the games against the top teams were away from home.

6th place! .. I'm almost certain that this is one of the first times we've ever been in the top 6 and while it would be a dream to hold on to this place we know it's going to be a tough ask, but if we improve on our away record I don't see why we can't have a successful season!

Poor Charlton look relegated already, will they beat Derby County's record for least points? (11)


...

Elsewhere all is quiet in the Footballing World, no sackings and no major news..I'm sure it'll all flood in at once meaning more exciting updates!​

 

[Klippybo]

keep it up!!! (apart from the defeats that is)

 

[Werrett]

keep it up!!! (apart from the defeats that is)

I'm trying! Really hoping to get some form of European Football. I just can't seem to beat the top teams just yet.

 

[SamPeters]

Not going too bad so fat mate! hopefully you can get European football and how dare you beat Brighton! lol

 

[Werrett]

Not going too bad so fat mate! hopefully you can get European football and how dare you beat Brighton! lol

Hopefully! And I only just beat them!

 

[Werrett]

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October was a good month, we managed to go unbeaten and picked up a big win at home to Tottenham.

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Fantastic win over newly promoted Ipswich, this win maintains our 100% home record and I was very happy to see van Aken get his first goal for the club.

Joost van Aken, signed from Heerenveen in the summer got his first goal in a Newcastle shirt as he opened the scoring in Newcastle's 3-1 win over Ipswich.

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Great victory here as we managed to overcome Tottenham Hotspur and picked up a 1-0 victory at home. St. James' Park has been a fortress far this season and I'm glad to see the 100% record still going strong.

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Not really sure how we didn't win this game..Plenty of chances but we didn't capitalise on them and sure enough we conceded the equaliser. After they pulled it back the game went dead, I'm disappointed not to have won.

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We hit the woodwork 3 times in this game, we have to be more clinical in the future.

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Decent result against West Ham, despite being 1-0 up they fought back to go 2-1 in front following our poor defensively display, but we dug deep and pulled out the equaliser. Overall it was an even match and a draw was probably a fair result.

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5 matches unbeaten is always nice to see, there's a good vibe about the dressing room.

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Youngster Adam Quinn today signed his professional contract with the club, the promising youngster who arrived during last year's intake has been impressing the staff during training and we have decided to tie him to the club in hopes of developing the young man.

Adam Quinn was quoted by the media as saying:

A.Quinn: "I'm delighted to have signed a deal here at Newcastle, being a lifelong Newcastle fan who's grown up in the area I'm delighted to have the chance to stay and develop my Football Career with the club I love. The dream is to make the first-team but yeah, I'm very happy."

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Following our impressive results during October we now occupy 4th spot in the Barclays Premier League, this is the highest position we have ever been in during my 16 month stint at the club and with the good form we've been in we'll certainly try to hold onto this spot.​

 

[Werrett]

Christmas Football

December was a good month to round off the year, 4 wins from our 6 games which leaves me very happy, we also managed avoid suffering any serious injuries during the hectic schedule.

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Shocking start to the month. We picked up a lot of cards for needless fouls and got out-possessed at home for (I think) the first time this season, the 100% home record is gone.​

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A fantastic response to our home defeat as we battled to a 2-0 victory over Burnley, Bony and Sarabia on the score sheet as well as a much better defensive performance to ensure the clean-sheet victory.​

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We fell to an expected defeat the hands of league leaders Chelsea, we had a few good passages of play but only managed to create half chances, one of which saw Ben Arfa strike the post from long range.

I can't be too disappointed at the defeat, they were very dominant an thoroughly deserved the 3 points.​

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Three different scorers at St. James' Park as we overcame Manchester United in a thrilling match, a massive victory and a great way to aid our push for European qualification.

I was very impressed with our defenders as we managed to restrict Manchester United to only two shots on target, a great display from our young defence, very pleasing to see.
​

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I was over the moon with this result, Norwich City have been impressing fans everywhere in recent weeks having won 3 of their last 4. But we battled hard and showed our class as we managed to pick up a 4-1 victory over the Canaries, another fantastic game from Ben Arfa as he scores a brace before setting up Vurnon Anita's goal, a huge away win!​

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The final game of the long month of December saw us beat West Bromwich Albion 1-0 at the Hawthorns, another huge away victory as we win back to back wins on the road.

Bony grabbed the winner in what has been a great first half of the season for the Ivorian.

Wilfried Bony has scored 11 goals in 19 appearances since joining Newcastle from relegated Swansea during the summer.

As you can see Wilfried Bony is the joint goalscorer along with three other players having scored 11 goals in the league so far this season.​

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Injury List

At the end of the month I caught up with Head Physio Derek Wright to check on the list of injuries we have on our books at this moment in time.

I was pleased to hear that none of the injuries at the club were serious and that we were likely to see all of our players back to full fitness within the next few weeks.

​

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A great first half of the season see's us sitting in 4th place, just inside the Champions League qualifying spots, and while it is unlikely we will stay here we have began to build a gap between ourselves and the non-European positions.

Hopefully we can crack on in the 2nd half and repeat the success we've achieved so far.​