Newcastle back in the Premier League - will they stay?

[iNickStuff]

Newcastle United are dominating the Championship and it showed when they beat Watford at Vicarage 3-1 in their last fixture to go five points clear of West Brom and keep themselves away from contenders Nottingham Forest.The likes of Jonas Gutierrez and Andy Carroll are mainstay figures in the starting line-up,as well as Steven and Ryan Taylor and Fabricio Coloccini.

After being relegated last season alongside West Brom and Middlesbrough,the Magpies look like the only side out of those three who are the most comfortable for promotion back to the top flight.Chris Hugton's purchases of Wayne Routledge and Leon Best have bewildered the fans but they are starting to show their better abilities in their recent performances.

In the Premier League Portsmouth are on the verge of relegation and of obscurity following up a winding up order by HM Revenue and Customs,as well as now being the first-ever club in the Premier League to go into administration.Burnley and Hull City make up the bottom three with most of the bottom half in the scrap out of the drop.

But will Newcastle,when they get promoted,be able to hold their own once more?

 

[Jack Fulham]

I think West Brom look pretty comfortable for automatic promotion too but there are six **** teams in PL at the moment and three of them are going down so they will have a really good chance next season.

 

[Dunc]

unless we throw some money at the team, I can see us coming straight back down, our strikeforce isnt prem standard and we need more creativity in midfield and a goal keeper.

 

[iNickStuff]

unless we throw some money at the team, I can see us coming straight back down, our strikeforce isnt prem standard and we need more creativity in midfield and a goal keeper.

Yeah,if only Given stayed then you wouldn't have to worry about it.Harper seems pretty decent though.

 

[CJACKO11]

I believe they will join west brom in being a yo-yo team unless they can get a invester.

 

[Dunc]

Yeah,if only Given stayed then you wouldn't have to worry about it.Harper seems pretty decent though.

I don't think he is prem standard tbh, he is alright tho, he does make some stupid mistakes though sometimes, but so do alot of keepers, it's prob cos we have been used to given, who was amazing, its hard to fill his boots.

We need a goal scorer so bad, we have loads of big men, we need martins back.

 

[MichaelSoulsby]

Newcastle will need to sel up as they will go straight back down if the go up this year. Mike Ashley wont spend much in the summer unless they sell some decent players. They do need a new keeper like ben alnwick or Fulop

 

[iNickStuff]

I don't think he is prem standard tbh, he is alright tho, he does make some stupid mistakes though sometimes, but so do alot of keepers, it's prob cos we have been used to given, who was amazing, its hard to fill his boots.

We need a goal scorer so bad, we have loads of big men, we need martins back.

Definately.Who would you suggest?

Newcastle will need to sel up as they will go straight back down if the go up this year. Mike Ashley wont spend much in the summer unless they sell some decent players. They do need a new keeper like ben alnwick or Fulop

Isn't Fulop a Sunderland goalkeeper? Newcastle and Sunderland are rivals but should Fulop leave then they would have a chance of getting him in.Not sure he would be able to be their first team goalkeeper in that time...

 

[MichaelSoulsby]

Forgot about the rivalry lol

 

[Chris]

Hmm... I don't think we are playing too well at the moment. At times we struggle to finish teams off and rarely dominate possession as we should be doing. I think, if we go up, we will struggle next year though I can see us getting 15th-17th place. I can only hope. Also, you said in the OP that we won 3-1. It was 2-1 actually.

 

[SamScfc]

Coloccini was **** in the prem

 

[Chris]

How many times did you watch him? Yes, he made mistakes, I agree but I have to say he made some great tackles and always worked his **** off no matter the score. This year, he has been brought to life and he and Taylor are the reason we are top of the league. I don't think you can say a player has had a '****' season on a few performances. John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic would all be **** as well.

 

[Billy]

I think people like Coloccini and Jonas have improved in their performances since they were playing in the EPL. I'm sure that is partly because of the drop in the standard of teams, but I also believe they have gotten better overall.

I personally think Newcastle have the means to stay up this time, if they achieve some stability in the club. The reason they dropped like a concrete slab in water last season was because of all the **** off-field which leaked into their performances, at least in my opinion.

Teams like Wolves, Hull, Burnley, Portsmouth, Bolton and lately Sunderland are struggling in the EPL. I imagine the Magpies have a fair shout at sealing survival next season.

 

[iNickStuff]

Hmm... I don't think we are playing too well at the moment. At times we struggle to finish teams off and rarely dominate possession as we should be doing. I think, if we go up, we will struggle next year though I can see us getting 15th-17th place. I can only hope. Also, you said in the OP that we won 3-1. It was 2-1 actually.

Haha,my bad (A)

 

[SamScfc]

How many times did you watch him? Yes, he made mistakes, I agree but I have to say he made some great tackles and always worked his **** off no matter the score. This year, he has been brought to life and he and Taylor are the reason we are top of the league. I don't think you can say a player has had a '****' season on a few performances. John Terry, Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic would all be **** as well.

breath

 

[StuW]

I think Taylor and Coloccini could be a good defensive line next season. Coloccini has took some adapting to the English game, but he looks comfortable now. Back 4 should be good enough, but still need major work doing.
Midfield is poor, apart from Jonas, there isnt any classy forward thinkers, or any gritty defensive players that are Prem quality. Carroll is undoubtedly been brilliant the past month or so, but he is still too young to lead the line in the Premier League. Harper I think is past it, but has been a great servant to the club.
Krul doesnt get enough playing time, so no-one really knows how good(or bad) he really is. Ashley needs to sell the club quickly, so we dont have the same problems hanging over us next season. And we need a big transfer budget, even if we want a mid-table finish, our squad is threadbare. 40m is needed.

 

[Chris]

For me we need this team next season:

GK: New Keeper
RB: New Right back
CB: Coloccini
CB: Taylor
LB: Jose Enrique
RM: New Right midfielder.
CM: New Centre midfielder.
CM: Smith
LM: Jonas
ST: Carroll
ST: Lovenkrands

The problem we have is that Hughton hasn't thought ahead. Hopefully, we should get into the Premier League but how are the likes of Best, Routledge and Williamson going to cope? He hasn't really thought his signings through. Best and Routledge have come on in the Championship but how are they going to compete against Rooney and Valencia against United? They're not is the simple answer.

 

[SamScfc]

For me we need this team next season:

GK: New Keeper
RB: New Right back
CB: Coloccini
CB: Taylor
LB: Jose Enrique
RM: New Right midfielder.
CM: New Centre midfielder.
CM: Smith
LM: Jonas
ST: Carroll
ST: Lovenkrands

You could do with a new striker aswell, none of your strikers are proven in the premiership.

 

[Chris]

I agree Sam. Carroll will come on though I don't expect too many goals. I am not sure how Lovenkrands will progress. We could use a fast striker more than anything to go alongside Carroll. I doubt we will have more than £10M to spend so that could be tough.

 

[MichaelSoulsby]

I could imagine Marlon King or Danny Welbeck at St James Park. Does anybody know if Mike Ashley will change the stadiums name again ?