Howay The Lads - A Newcastle United Story

[Klippybo]

HOWAY THE LADS - A NEWCASTLE UNITED STORY

I am going back to my beloved Newcastle for hopefully my final FM19 save. The aims are obvious - end the 50 year and counting wait for a major trophy (apparently the Championship and the Intertoto Cup doesn't count lol) and become the top side in the world.

I spent the whole of yesterday - transfer deadline day - updating my database one transfer at a time as they were confirmed so I am using an up to date database and the fact that big Andy Carroll is back home is a nice thought plus it will be interesting to see how Joelinton, the great Almiron (sorry Tim Vickery) and Saint-Maximin get on. Obviously by going Newcastle I get to boot Steve Bruce out of the club so that's an added bonus!!!!

The first season will be really fun and interesting. Will Scott Carson get a game for Man City? How will Kean get on at Everton? Are Aston Villa's signings any good? Can Wolves cope with European football? Will Ben Woodburn fire Oxford to the Championship in his loan spell? How will Salford get on in the football league?

Also I usually sign Kieran Tierney as my left back but since he just signed for Arsenal that's a no-go. Football moves on and so must I it seems lol.

So follow along, comment and we shall see how things go!!!

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NEWCASTLE UNITED

Founded - 1892
Nickname - The Magpies
Ground - St. James' Park
Capacity - 52,354

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MAJOR HONOURS

First Division Winners - 1904-05, 1906-07, 1908-09, 1926-27

FA Cup Winners - 1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952, 1955

Charity Shield Winners - 1909

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Winners - 1969


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[brooksey84]

Whatever story you write i enjoy reading it! I like the fact you have followed the transfers and not done any more in the first window.

 

[bnpwp1979]

Look forward to following the adventure.

 

[Klippybo]

Whatever story you write i enjoy reading it! I like the fact you have followed the transfers and not done any more in the first window.

I have signed players. Sorry lol. Although mainly prospects for the future and just one player for the first team. Never thought about leaving it and it is a cracking idea but too late I fear. I suppose other teams have signed players too.

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

So with Rafa gone and Steve Bruce buggering off to write a new crime novel I was given the reigns by want away owner Mike Ashley. I didn't need to assess my squad too much as I know the players so well and tbh if I wasn't a fan some of the players would have been sold (I am looking at you Paul Dummett).

In the end I was quite happy with my first team squad and only really needed to sign a winger and a backup AMC so no major overhaul was needed.

I did make some sweeping changes to my backroom team however. Club icon Les Ferdinand returned to the club to be my director of football at a cost of £1.1m while Phil Cannon joined as my head of youth development and the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Dave Billows, Vic Bertinelli and Ivan Cordoba were some of the other members of staff that I signed up. I kept Steve Bruce's pals - Steve Agnew and Stephen Clemence around for now.

So onto transfers...….

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PLAYERS OUT

For £6m (rising to £7.25m) I let Dwight Gayle go to Lyon. I only play with one striker and he was arguably 4th choice behind Joelinton, Muto and Carroll so I decided to cash in on him.

Henri Saivet joined Shakhtar Donetsk for £3.9m (£5.25m). He was never in my plans and I was happy to let him go and that also was the case for Jack Colback who joined Derby for £1.2m.

Javi Manquillo (£2.1m rising to £2.6m) joined Saint-Etienne as I didn't need 3 right backs while Achraf Lazaar joined Chievo for £1.5m (rising to £1.7m) because I didn't need 3 left backs lol.

Finally Rob Elliot joined Toronto FC for £1.5m which was not bad for a 32y/o 3rd choice keeper.

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PLAYERS IN

Firstly I will tell you on who I missed out on. Lewis Holtby rejected us to join Southampton on a free transfer despite us offering twice as much wages as he ended up getting. He would have been my backup AMC and is valued at £17.5m at Southampton!!

One of my all time favourite Newcastle players - Yohan Cabaye was available on a free and I tried to sign him but he wanted over £100k in wages and I couldn't afford that so he joined Lyon instead. Finally I couldn't get my go to winger Cristian Pavon as he joined LA Galaxy on loan in real life so that was a no go.

But I did bring in these lads...….

VICTOR TSYGANKOV

I needed a winger - didn't matter if it was right or left wing as Saint-Maximin is natural on either side and so it transpired that I bought a RW. I paid Dinamo Kiev £22m to bring him to the club and had to offer him a shitload of bonuses to persuade him to join us but I think he will be a key player for me. I have never managed him before and I look forward to seeing how good he is.

XADAS

My only other signing for the first team squad was Xadas from Braga for £1m plus whatever a third party wanted lol. The 20y/o will be backup for Almiron and will get a few opportunities to shine.

RAKEEM HARPER

On deadline day I brought in Rakeem Harper. I haven't managed him before but he looks like an exciting player. He will be in my U23 squad and is my 5th choice CM.

EMANUEL VIGNATO

The young Italian winger joined from Chievo for £1m. He was a great player in FM18 so it will be interesting to see how good he is in this years game. He will join my U23s as we are so short of young talent who were already at the club with only Sorensen and Toure being any good tbh.

FABIO SILVA

Fabio Silva joined from FC Porto for £1m. The 16y/o is a terrific prospect and I have seen him become a world beater before. He will start with the U18s but I expect him to be fast tracked in the future.

PELAYO MORILLA

Morilla joined from Sporting Gijon for £875,000. He was immense in my Athletic Bilbao save and if he turns out to be half as good as he was there then I will be happy.

MARKO BULAT

I never sign players without a face lol but Bulat impressed me so much in my Aberdeen save where I signed him and despite not playing him and loaning him out twice he was attracting interest from PSG for over £10m. I signed him here for £160,000

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FIRST TEAM

My starting XI looks like this.....

GK - Dubravka
RB - Yedlin
CB - Lascelles
CB - Schar
LB - Willems
CM - Longstaff
CM - Shelvey
AMR - Tsygankov
AMC - Almiron
AML - Saint-Maximin
ST - Joelinton

Which means my backup XI will be Darlow, Krafth, Lejeune, Clark, Dummett, Ki, Hayden, Ritchie, Xadas, Atsu, Muto with Carroll and Fernandez looking as though they might struggle to get game time.

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ELSEWHERE

Andrea Belotti signing for Spurs for much cheapness was a real surprise. Les Ferdinand recommended him to me but I needed to spend my money elsewhere. Manchester United signed Marchisio on a free transfer while Daniel Sturridge rocked up at Everton on a free.

Mario Balotelli signed for AC Milan.
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[Klippybo]

AUGUST

v
Newcastle United 2 (Tsygankov 16, Almiron 35)
Burnley 1 (Gudmundsson 59)

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Schar, Willems (Dummett), Longstaff, Shelvey, Tsygankov, Almiron*, Saint-Maximin (Ritchie), Joelinton (Muto)

An opening day victory of sorts (it was played on a Monday night) but it wasn't very convincing although it was nice to see Tsygankov getting a debut goal. Willems and Joelinton were very poor.

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v
​​Watford 2 (Doucoure 16, Deeney 25pen)
Newcastle United 4 (Shelvey 40, Joelinton 50, 90, Almiron 72)

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Schar (Clark), Willems (Dummett), Longstaff, Shelvey, Tsygankov, Almiron, Saint-Maximin (Ritchie), Joelinton*

A fantastic comeback victory as we come from 2-0 down to win 4-2. Fabian Schar actually missed an early penalty before we fell 2-0 behind but fortunately it didn't prove to be costly. Almiron's goal was funny as he headed in from 20 yards even though it bobbled a few times in between players.

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v
Newcastle United 4 (Almiron 10, Joelinton 23, Shelvey 77, Saint-Maximin 90)
Leicester City 1 (Ndidi 75)

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Schar, Willems, Longstaff (Ki Sung-Yeung), Shelvey, Tsygankov (Ritchie), Almiron, Saint-Maximin, Joelinton

Leicester have had an atrocious start to the season - they lost 7-1 to Bournemouth on the opening day - and we piled on the misery here with a comfortable win.

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Carabao Cup 2nd Round
v
Newcastle United 2 (Atsu 16, Carroll 22)
Wycombe Wanderers 2 (Parker 28, Wheeler 59)
(AET Newcastle United win 4-3 on penalties)

Lineup - Dubravka,Krafth, Fernandez, Clark, Dummett, Hayden, Ki Sung-Yeung, Ritchie (Aarons), Xadas, Atsu (Muto), Carroll (Silva)

Andy Carroll made his return here while young Fabio Silva made his debut alongside his fellow Portuguese team mate Xadas but we struggled to overcome Wycombe and had to rely on a penalty shoot-out after we gave up a 2 goal lead.

(Originally I won this game 1-0 through a Ki Sung-Yeung goal but apparently I shut down my laptop without saving it after I originally posted the update on the site.)

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SUMMARY

We have started this season in fine form as we are level top of the league with 3 wins out of 3 and also progressed in the Carabao Cup by beating Wycombe. Miguel Almiron has been sensational and after a poor debut Joelinton looks like a top notch player too.

In the 3rd round of the Carabao Cup we have been drawn at home to Sheffield United.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MIGUEL ALMIRON

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PREMIER DIVISION

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[Brane_Orsou]

Always enjoy your stories mate and look forward to watching you end our trophy drought

 

[HugoCaldeira1234]

Bournemouth At 1st
Holy Tacos

 

[Klippybo]

**** OFF!!!!!!

I dont know if it was because my laptop had a huge update - started at 11pm ended at 2.45am (was dozing on the sofa waiting for it to be completed as didn't want to leave it on all night) but my save wouldnt load. There is something up. The joint save with Stonecold didnt work as he couldnt join after a while for some reason and now this! So infuriating. ******* livid I am.

Had another idea in mind so will go for that for now although it will be hugely different