So, our first games back went OK in the Premier League. As for the Champions League...
Premier League
Newcastle 2-0 Nottingham Forest (Dindane, Djalo)
A game that we should always win and we were lucky to start the league off like this. We did win but the young squad struggled to keep possession and primarily, to finish and score the goals we should have scored. It should have finished 6-0 but Djalo, Delf and Guthrie all squandered chances. Dindane was the best player scoring and creating Djalo's goal. But, we need to see dramatic improvements if we want to come anywhere near the top four.
Newcastle 1-0 West Brom (Pacheco)
The team were tired from a game in the Champions League against Sporting and I had no choice to field a team that age was averaged around 20 years old. We dominated for just 15 minutes, at the start of the game, but it was all we needed to win the match. Pacheco was the goalscorer. It was a dream debut for the young lad. West Brom were all over us and should have scored at least four. We got lucky in the end and I was delighted with the youngster's efforts.
Bolton 0-1 Newcastle (Djalo)
I have to say, I thought the team were excellent today. When you come to the Reebok stadium, you can never expect an easy much but we dominated throughout. Djalo scored a goal inside 11 minutes and we never looked back. Bolton's defence were superb but our passing was sublime and Bolton looked completely deflated. We were pressurised at the end but we held on to secure a vital victory.
Newcastle 1-3 Chelsea (Maduro Pen)
This was our first loss of the season and it was an expected one. Chelsea have won the league two times in a row and looked completely unstoppable today. Anelka terrorised us and got a brace in return. Joe Cole also scored and it was a great run from Anelka that supplied the goal. However, our defence played well and Drogba was disappointing. Maduro got a consolation meaning that the were a lot of positives to take away from our first month.
Champions League
I expected nothing from this so weakened side's it was...
Newcastle 1-2 Sporting Lisbon (Delf)
Sporting 2-1 Newcastle (Delf) (Aggregate 4-2 Sporting Lisbon)
Basically, we played poorly in both games and Sporting should have scored many more. Delf scored in both games but he is yet to find the net in the League. Despite losing this, we were expected to make no impact in the competition. We are, however, in the Europa League and I'd love to get past the group stages in that. We gained £2M from this which is a positive to take out of a couple of poor results.
Europa League... The Group.
Legia
Newcastle United
Roma
Zurich
I reckon we could do pretty well in this group. Roma will be the team expected to walk the group but as for Legia and Zurich, we have a great chance. A lot of time and effort will be put into this competition and I want to make a real impact on it. If possible, I'd love to get 13 points out of 18.
Carling Cup
The team we are going to play in the Third Round is newly promoted Cardiff. I will field a weak side so we will struggle with that one. This is a chance for players like Mitrovic, Bostock and Forster to shine.
Player of the Month
A bit of a tough one as no-one has really shone. But this month, the best player has to go to Jose Enrique who has put in some good performances when other's haven't. He really is a vital part of Newcastle United and on his day, in the top few left backs in the league. A superb month from the Spaniard!
Summary
Not the greatest of month's but we are second in the league. We still have that, the Europa League and the Carling Cup to look forward to. The young player's really look like they are coming on. Krul kept three clean sheets in the league which is encouraging and he was only just pipped to Player of the Month. A decent month for us. Long may it continue!