After flirting about with a few teams from several divisions and countries I have decided to do a story with my beloved Newcastle United. The reasons are many and varied from the excitement to manage the new players they have signed that I have never had before to just managing a team that I have a lot of affection for.
I just want world domination and obviously find the Geordie Aitor Herrera!!! lol
(I am using an up-to-date database so I even have Facundo Ferreyra)
On taking over and assessing the squad I was quite excited as the squad is full of young talented players with a bright future ahead of them.
We have a top quality keeper in Tim Krul, some excellent defenders in Yanga-Mbiwa and Santon, solid CMs in Sissoko and Tiote and lots of creative flair in Cabella, de Jong and Ben Arfa. Add the finishing power of Cisse (alas not in real life unfortunately) and Ferreyra and I have a strong team before any additions.
In the youth setup we have some exciting prospects in the shape and form of Rolando Aarons, Gael Bigirimana, Adam Campbell, Remie Streete and Adam Armstrong.
So having said all that I didnt need to buy anyone did I??
OF COURSE I DID!!!!!
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PLAYERS IN
My most expensive signing was Will Hughes from Derby County for $9m. He will be my backup CM and will be in line to take over from Tiote when he develops further and will be a core member of the side. So too will EderAlvarez Balanta whom I brought in from River Plate for $6.5m. He will go straight into my first team and will be the rock at the back for many years to come. View attachment 349408View attachment 349406
My only other money spent was the $1.1m I paid to Dundee United for John Souttar. The 16y/o CB looks to be a decent prospect and being a Scotsman myself I feel if I can develop him I can therefore help the national team. View attachment 349404
Arguably my biggest signing was on a free transfer as I managed to get the former World Player of the Year and Brazilian superstar Ronaldinho to come up to the sunny north east!!! I want him to train up my youngsters and make the difference in our big games. Surely he can make a difference when called upon??? View attachment 349400
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PLAYERS OUT
I sold Jonas Gutierrez to Monaco for $2.2m, Sammy Ameobi to Derby County for $1.3m and Gabriel Obertan to Toulouse for $1m.
Out on loan went Gael Bigirimana and Curtis Good to my feeder side St. Mirren while Shane Ferguson, Paul Dummett and Mehdi Abeid have also been loaned out.
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NEW STAFF
Being a Scotsman I have decided to load up on a load of Scots to help me out. Steve Clarke is my new assistant manager while Roy Aitken, Jim Blyth, Kevin Cruickshank, Alex MacQueen and Arthur Albiston have all taken up roles at the club.
Also joining are Paul Winsper, Rene Meulensteen, Adolfo Sormani, Phil Cannon and Mike Rigg amongst others while I have brought back Faustino Asprilla to the club as a scout.
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HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS
I have said a top half finish but I am really gunning for European football for next season. I would also like to sevure the permanent signing of Facundo Ferreyra so if I could get my hands on another $6.5m that would be handy!!!!
This is my expected first team.
Krul
Santon - Alvarez Balanta - Yanga-Mbiwa - Janmaat
Tiote - Sissoko
Cabella (LW) - de Jong - Ben Arfa (RW)
Ferreyra
Many of those could change. If de Jong doesnt perform then Ronaldinho will jump in. Cisse and Riviere will put pressure on Ferreyra to do well while Will Hughes, Vurnon Anita, Yoan Gouffran and club captain Fabricio Coloccini wont take sitting on the bench too lightly.
AUGUST
Sunderland 0
Newcastle United 3 (Ben Arfa 26, Yanga-Mbiwa 38, Alvarez Balanta 70)
What a way to start off as we win the Tyne-Wear derby in emphatic style and it probably should have been by 5 or 6 to tell the truth.
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Newcastle United 3 (Sissoko 22, Yanga-Mbiwa 28, Ben Arfa 53) Burnley 1 (Kightly 38)
A comfortable win which I expected.
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Capital One Cup 2nd Round Bury 3 (Lowe 50, 56, Scapuzzi 60)
Newcastle United 4 (Gouffran 20, Ayoze Perez 30, 90, Riviere 102) AET
PHEW!!!! I fielded a mixture of youngsters and backups here and they just managed to make it through. We cruised the first 45min and then undid all our good work and it required a last minute strike from Ayoze Perez to take it intro extra-time where we grabbed the winner.
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Swansea City 2 (Pablo Hernandez 6, Britton 83) Newcastle United 2 (de Jong 36, 41)
This was a tough match and I am happy with a point. Siem de Jong's 2nd goal was a thing of beauty.
A decent start to the season as we took 7pts out of 9 and progressed in the Capital One Cup - just!!! The highlight of the month was our opening day victory in the derby match against Sunderland where we completely outplayed them on their own patch.
Things were quiet on the transfer front. I loaned out a couple of youngsters but that was it. I did reject offers for Tiote, Hiadara and Anita though.
Newcastle United 3 (Janmaat 5, Hughes 66, Cabella 81) Southampton 1 (Pelle 63)
Normally I would say this was a very good result but since Southampton have sold nearly all their best players maybe it is an expected result!
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Stoke City 0
Newcastle United 3 (Cabella 13, Begovic og18, Ben Arfa 90pen)
Another fantastic victory and performance. Remy Cabella is looking like a very good player indeed!
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Capital One Cup 3rd Round Newcastle United 4 (Campbell 6, Gouffran 15, 21, Coloccini 77) Wigan Athletic 0
A great win from my backups and youngsters as we destroyed a decent Wigan outfit.
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Newcastle United 1 (Hughes 90) Chelsea 4 (Oscar 16, Terry 29, Torres 71, Krul og78)
Our first bad day at the office. We just never turned up. I gave Ronaldinho his first start but he was pretty poor.
Apart from our last match against Chelsea this was a decent month. We easily won our first 2 games in the league and thumped Wigan in the next round of the cup to set up a tie against Burnley in the next round.
West Bromwich Albion 0
Newcastle United 1 (Cabella 26)
A hard fought win against a struggling West Brom side. They put us under the cosh in the 2nd half but we held strong.
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Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Cabella og17, Townsend 42)
Newcastle United 0
Spurs are top of the league and just beat Liverpool 7-0 so I wasnt too confident going into the game. We shout ourselves in the foot however as we scored an OG and had a man sent-off. Both Cisse and Ferreyra have yet to score this season.
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Newcastle United 4 (Ferreyra 18, 62, Alvarez Balanta 73, Hughes 86) Liverpool 1 (Lambert 87)
A magnificent win. Ferreyra finally scored and did so twice while Cabella ripped them apart as he set up 3 goals.
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Capital One Cup 4th Round Burnley 3 (Reid 49, Kightly 96, 112)
Newcastle United 4 (Cisse 42, Riviere 100, Ronaldinho 103, 119) AET
Through we go and it was tough. Cisse finally scored his first goal of the season and had a 2nd disallowed. Ronaldinho scored direct from both a free-kick and a corner.
This month was the same as last month as we won 2 league games, lost one and got through to the next round of the Capital One Cup where we will come up against Arsenal away in the quarter finals.
After a few months of not scoring my main 2 strikers Papiss Cisse and Facundo Ferreyra finally started scoring and I can only hope that they continue to do so.
We are going strong though at the moment as we are only 3pts off the top of the league and we are battling away in the European spots.
Newcastle United 5 (de Jong 9, 14, Ferreyra 35pen, Cabella 69, Ben Arfa 87) Manchester United 3 (van Persie 8, 23, Mata 34)
WOOOOOOOO!!! My hatred for Man Utd runs deep and we put them in their place here. Siem de Jong returned from injury and scored two and assisted two.
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Newcastle United 4 (Ben Arfa 9, 46, Ferreyra 15, 38) Leicester City 1 (Vardy 25)
Another big win. We have now scored at least 4 goals in each of our last 4 games.
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Crystal Palace 0
Newcastle United 2 (de Jong 83, Sissoko 86)
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West Ham United 3 (Yanga-Mbiwa og32, Jarvis 59, 90)
Newcastle United 4 (Alvarez Balanta 19, de Jong 27, Ben Arfa 64, 70)
An entertaining game in which we came out on top. Always nice to shut Big Sam up!!!!
Another strong month as we won all of our games, scored a load of goals and conceded a fair few too!!! The highlight was the 8 goal thriller against Man Utd in which the lead was exchanged a few times before we settled it.
We are currently level with Man Utd at the top of the league and looking really strong. Lets see how we get on with the glut of games that come in December and I may have to re-asess my expectations!!!
I signed a new contract during the month as did my star performer of the month, Hatem Ben Arfa, which was a big boost.
Newcastle United 2 (Ferreyra 10, 33pen) Hull City 0
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Newcastle United 4 (Ferreyra 5, 22, 53, Cabella 19) Queens Park Rangers 1 (Austin 71)
Ferreyra was amazing here and had 1 disallowed too. His first was identical to van Persie's header against Spain in the World Cup and for his 2nd he chipped the keeper from long range.
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Aston Villa 0
Newcastle United 3 (Janmaat 38, Yanga-Mbiwa 64, Ronaldinho 78)
Thats 9 wins in a row now as we put Villa to the sword here. Janmaat's goal was a screamer.
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Capital One Cup QF Arsenal 1 (Rosicky 58)
Newcastle United 0
We were unlucky here and had a Cisse goal in the 1st half disallowed. Never mind.
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Arsenal 1 (Ozil 75)
Newcastle United 1 (Ferreyra 8)
A very good point this. Man Utd lost so we go 1pt clear at the top.
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Newcastle United 2 (Cabella 9, Ferreyra 67) Everton 0
We end the year with a victory. Ben Arfa missed a 2nd half penalty.
The final month of the calendar year was a great one as our only hiccup was the exit in the Capital One Cup to Arsenal. In the league we won every game apart from one draw against Arsenal away and our continued run of good form means we are 4pts clear at the top of the table.
My target for the season now is to finish in the top 4 which should be achieved and we will see how long our good run of form can continue to see if we can really mount a title challenge.
I will be hoping to raise some funds to get the $6.5m required to buy Facundo Ferreyra as he has hit a great vain of form.
Newcastle United 2 (Ferreyra 10, Ben Arfa 63) Manchester City 3 (Aguero 35, 45, Dzeko 81)
This was one that got away. We were doing fine and looked as though we were the ones going to win until we had a man sent-off.
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FA Cup 3rd Round
Newcastle United 5 (Campbell 2, 23, Ayoze Perez 19, 90, Gouffran 64) Nottingham Forest 1 (Blackstock 78)
My backups did a fine job here. Ayoze scored 2 and set-up 2.
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Newcastle United 6 (Cabella 18, Ferreyra 35, de Jong 45, 66, Ben Arfa 61, Brown og81) Sunderland 0
An amazing victory on derby day. It could have been even better as we had 2 goals disallowed!!!!
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Burnley 2 (Vokes 6, Marney 86pen)
Newcastle United 3 (Ferreyra 1, Ben Arfa 2, 61)
We got off to a flying start here as we scored 2 in the first 2 minutes. They fought back and had an equaliser disallowed but we got the points in the end.
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Southampton 2 (Pelle 73, 90)
Newcastle United 1 (Cisse 71)
Aaagggghhh!!!!! This is not a good result and it was a heartbreaking moment seeing their winning goal go in.
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FA Cup 4th Round Manchester United 2 (Herrera 17, Fletcher 81pen)
Newcastle United 3 (Ferreyra 44, Ben Arfa 70, de Jong 87)
FANTASTIC!!!!!! This is an excellent result. We were brilliant throughout and had an early goal disallowed but we got the win thanks to de Jong's late header.
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Newcastle United 4 (Ben Arfa 26, 56, Cisse 80, de Jong 85)
Swansea City 0
Another great win. The duo of de Jong and Ben Arfa are tearing the league apart at the moment!!!!
We suffered a couple of defeats this month in the league but we still end the month 2pts clear. We also progressed in the FA Cup by beating Nottingham Forest and Manchester United.
The form of Siem de Jong and Hatem Ben Arfa has been amazing. They alone push the rest of the team forward with their goals and assists as well as secondary assists. Ben Arfa got my player of the month award as he scored 7 and got a rating of 8.28 but de Jong's last 5 games rating is 8.71!!!!!!!
I did nothing in the transfer window regarding signings but going out was Emmanuel Riviere to Monaco for $2.8m and Rob Elliot to Ipswich Town for $525,000.
FEBRUARY
Chelsea 2 (Diego Costa 17, Mikel 83)
Newcastle United 2 (Ben Arfa 37, Cabella 68)
We were minutes away from a great victory here but it was not to be. Petr Cech got the MoM award which tells its own story.
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Newcastle United 2 (Ferreyra 29, de Jong 35) Stoke City 0
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Newcastle United 0 West Bromwich Albion 0
A rare off day here. I am pretty disappointed with this result.
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FA Cup 5th Round Cardiff City 1 (Le Fondre 18) Newcastle United 1 (Cisse 13)
Another dodgy result but we are still in the hat for the next round and I did play my backups.
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Liverpool 2 (Lambert 31, Henderson 43)
Newcastle United 2 (de Jong 22, Yanga-Mbiwa 90)
Our 3rd draw in a row but I am happy with this one due to the fact that we had Tiote sent-off in the first half and the fact that we scrambled an injury time equaliser.
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FA Cup 5th Round Replay Newcastle United 3 (Ronaldinho 25, 46, 58) Cardiff City 1 (Kim Bo-Kyung 17)
Ronaldinho rolled back the years here and was magnificent.
This month was very tough but we end it top of the league on goal difference and through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup where we will play our deadliest rivals Sunderland.
We did come through the month unbeaten despite having some really tough fixtures against Chelsea and Liverpool but the home draw against WBA really annoyed me.
There was bad news to be had when Ayoze Perez got struck with a virus that will keep him out of action for 8 months - he looks a fine prospect.
Youth intake next month!!!!!
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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
RONALDINHO View attachment 347584 nobody stood out so his hat-trick was enough for him to get it
Great story so far man! Proper interesting read, nicely laid out too! Ronaldinho! What a coup! Excellent story, can't wait for more
If you don't mind mate, would you mind watching my Youtube video and commenting with some team suggestions? I'm going to do a FM Playthrough on there! Thanks!
MARCH
FA Cup QF Sunderland 1 (Altidore 83)
Newcastle United 2 (Cabella 35, 81)
This derby win takes us into the semis. Cattermole got sent-off in the first half unsurprisingly.
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Manchester United 2 (Nani 6, Shaw 39)
Newcastle United 0
The top 2 went head to head here and unfortunately we lost out. They now have a 4pt lead but we have 2 games in hand.
Ben Arfa got injured and is out for 6-7 weeks which is a big blow.
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Leicester City 0
Newcastle United 3 (Alvarez Balanta 9, Janmaat 53, Ronaldinho 77)
Our first game in hand is easily won here although they did have an equaliser disallowed. Yanga-Mbiwa and Cabella picked up injuries here which is a big worry.
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Newcastle United 2 (Gouffran 9, Aarons 78) Crystal Palace 0
This is getting rediculous - De Jong, Gouffran and Janmaat all went off injured here.
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Newcastle United 5 (Ferreyra 20, 36, Sissoko 60, Aarons 63, Alvarez Balanta 90) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Soldado 50pen)
This is a magnificent result - especially since I was missing 7 or 8 players going into this game!!!!
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Hull City 2 (Figueroa 10, Jelavic 48pen)
Newcastle United 1 (Sissoko 27)
This result is a bit of a shocker but fortunately Man Utd also lost.
We had our ups and downs this month but overall we end it 2pts clear at the top of the league with 6 games left to play and have a tie against Bolton Wanderers to play in the FA Cup semi-finals.
The downs were the defeats against Man Utd and Hull City and also the amount of injuries that my players started to pick up which no doubt was the main reason of our defeat against Hull. Fortunately 4 or 5 of the injured ones are due back within a week.
The youth intake was ok. I got a midget RB (he is 5ft 1") who is decent but the best one was this guy......... View attachment 347112
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Newcastle United 5 (Sissoko 51, 80, de Jong 74, Aarons 86, Cisse 90) West Ham United 2 (Powell 6, 43)
I couldnt see us scoring 5 at half-time here!!! This is a fantastic comeback. Rolando Aarons has stepped up to the first team squad due to injuries and is doing well.
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Queens Park Rangers 0
Newcastle United 4 (Sissoko 26, de Jong 43, Cisse 80, 81)
Another very fine victory. Cisse came off the bench and scored 2 fine goals.
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FA Cup SF
Newcastle United 6 (Aarons 2, Ronaldinho 4, Hughes 20, 30, Tiote 26, S.Taylor 42) Bolton Wanderers 0
We make it to the final where Leeds United lie in wait. I risked it by putting out my backups but we won incredibly easily.
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Newcastle United 3 (Ferreyra 8, Ronaldinho 55, 81) Aston Villa 1 (Grealish 30)
This win secures Champions League football for next season.
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Everton 2 (McGeady 44, 81)
Newcastle United 1 (Alvarez Balanta 54)
I had so hoped for a draw here but a Tim Krul mistake cost us dearly. Fortunately Man Utd drew so we are still top of the table.
We are so close to the title!!!! All we need is 2 easy games to see it through............. unfortuately we come up against Man City away and Arsenal at home!!!! Man Utd have to play Man City too so we may still be able to ****** the title without winning both games.
I am extremely confident of winning the FA Cup as we will face Championship side Leeds United in the final.
Really good layout mate hope you do well with Newcastle! I'am trying to do something similar With Inter who in recent years have struggled if you could have a look and give me some feedback that would be great ....
Manchester City 2 (Dzeko 46, Kompany 86)
Newcastle United 3 (Ben Arfa 9, 31, 78)
One game away now!!! Hatem Ben Arfa was magnificent here and helped himself to a hat-trick. Janmaat's sending off with 10min to go made it a nervy ending but we held on.
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Newcastle United 3 (de Jong 2, 7, 53) Arsenal 0
CHAMPIONS!!!!! I wasnt too confident going into this game but de Jong struck twice early on to settle any nerves and got his 3rd in the 2nd half. Man Utd lost to Man City so we could have lost and still won the title.
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FA Cup Final Leeds United 0
Newcastle United 4 (Ben Arfa 2, 56, de Jong 36, Hughes 76)
WE WIN THE DOUBLE!!!!
Leeds were no match for us and they never looked like causing an upset as we dominated throughout.
What an end to the season this was!!!!! We beat Man City and Arsenal to win the title and destroyed Leeds in the FA Cup final. It was basically a 2 man show in the 3 games as Hatem Ben Arfa and Siem de Jong ran amock.
Well its safe to say we overachieved this season as we won the double. I suppose on paper we have quite a strong side so maybe I shouldnt be too surprised but having never managed the likes of Cabella, de Jong and Janmaat before I am pleasantly surprised.
We got off to a good start in the league and at Christmas it was obvious it was going to be a 2 horse race between ourselves and Man Utd. We did have a sticky period in Feb/March but we came out of it on top and we ended the campaign brilliantly with victories over Man City and Arsenal.
We reached the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup and were unlucky to go out to Arsenal and in the FA Cup we won it with a bit to spare. We did well to beat Man Utd away and Cardiff gave us a few problems but we reached the semis and thrashed Bolton 6-0 before winning 4-0 in the final against Leeds.
Squad wise my first team did great. My 3 attacking midfielders were amazing and provided plenty of goals and assists. After a slow start Facundo Ferreyra started banging in the goals and talks are underway to sign him permanently.
In defence Krul was solid while Yanga-Mbiwa and Alvarez Balanta are as good a centre back pairing as you can get.
I didnt play my youngsters as much as I would like but with us going to be in the Champions League next season that should change.
Footballer of the Year - S.de Jong Manager of the Year Goal of the Season - F.Ferreyra v QPR (the one i said was like Van Persie's header in the World Cup) Players Team of the Year - E.Alvarez Balanta, D.Janmaat, S.de Jong (H.Ben Arfa, D.Santon)
