Newcastle United - The Return of the Entertainers

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APRIL


v
Newcastle United 2 (Arp 39, 49)
Chelsea 4 (Pedro 13, 15, Hazard 41pen, 45)

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Schar, Ricca (Dummett), Shelvey, Cuisance (Diame), D'Amico (Murphy), Ayoze Perez, Atsu, Arp

Our title dream seems over as Chelsea go 7pts clear of us. They destroyed us in the 1st half and I can have no complaints. That's 2 successive defeats in the league and 3 games without a win.

--

v
Newcastle United 4 (Diame 33, Murphy 64, Koscielny 65og, D'Amico 82)
Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 13)

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Schar, Tierney, Shelvey (Ki Sung-Yeung), Diame, D'Amico*, Ayoze Perez, Atsu (Murphy), Arp (Muto)

Wonderful!!!!! Tbh Arsenal had 21 shots to our 14 but once we took the lead we battered them and they just caved in and Lascelles even had a goal disallowed. A perfect way to end our poor run of form.

--

v
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Lamela 30, Eriksen 50, Alli 69)
Newcastle United 0

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin, Lejeune, Schar (Maresic), Tierney, Shelvey, Diame, D'Amico (Murphy), Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Kenedy, Muto


Spurs, somehow, are languishing in 10th position but they taught us a lesson here and beat us easily.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Muto 21, Hagen 25og, D'Amico 65)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 (Diogo Jota 32)

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin*, Lejeune (Maresic), Schar, Tierney, Shelvey, Cuisance (Diame), D'Amico, Ayoze Perez, Kenedy (Xadas), Muto


We bounce back with a fairly comfortable victory but Shelvey missed a penalty for us. He has only 1 goal this season which is poor.

--

v
Crystal Palace 1 (Zaha 80)
Newcastle United 7 (D'Amico 2, Muto 21, Ayoze Perez 33, 40, 88, Lascelles 63, Schar 68)

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Schar, Tierney, Shelvey, Cuisance, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez*, Kenedy (Murphy), Muto


Quite simply breathtaking!!! Before the game I was asked about our poor away form but we shut them up here with a ruthless performance as we smashed 7 past Crystal Palace. It was a party atmosphere for us as even our 2 CBs got goals.

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FA Cup Semi-Final
v
Everton 1 (Dubravka 113og)
Newcastle United 3 (Murphy 97, 112, Arp 115)
AET

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Schar, Tierney, Shelvey (Diame), Cuisance, D'Amico (Murphy*), Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Kenedy, Muto (Arp)

Into the final we go!!!! It was a tight game although we had a goal disallowed in the 2nd half but in extra-time our superior fitness told and we brushed Everton aside.


--

v
Newcastle United 1 (Kenedy 75)
Manchester City 1 (Sane 90)

Lineup - Woodman, Yedlin, Lascelles, Schar, Tierney, Shelvey, Cuisance, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Diame), Murphy (Kenedy), Muto

Officially we can still win the title but Sane's last minute equaliser hands the title to Chelsea.

--

SUMMARY

Our title dreams are over as Chelsea have managed to pip us to the title with 2 games remaining. Well I say that - if they lose both of their games and Man Utd win all 3 of theirs then Man Utd win the league and the two teams play each other but its Chelsea's to lose and we are hoping to finish 2nd.

Champions League football has been secured for next season and I have been given a healthy £60m starting budget for transfers. I am hoping to sell at least £30m worth of talent so a big summer is coming up!!!!

We made it to the FA Cup final and will play Man Utd so hopefully we can have our day in the sun and end the near 50 year wait for a trophy. The club is celebrating its 125 year anniversary this season so to win the FA Cup would be fantastic.


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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DEANDRE YEDLIN

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LEAGUE TABLE
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Amazing first season, only going to get better with that £60Million to spend KIU
 
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MAY


v
Burnley 1 (Barnes 55)
Newcastle United 5 (Kenedy 14, Arp 29, 76, 90, D'Amico 71)

Lineup
- Woodman, Yedlin, Lascelles, Maresic, Ricca (Dummett), Shelvey (Diame), Cuisance, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Kenedy, Arp*

I decided to give Arp and Maresic a start here against doomed Burnley and they rewarded me with a fine performance. Arp got his 4th hat-trick of the season as we look to secure 2nd spot. Man Utd lost and are 3pts behind us with 1 game in hand.

--

v
Newcastle United 2 (Arp 19, 67pen)
Huddersfield Town 2 (Depoitre 23, 64)

Lineup
- Woodman, Manquillo, Lejeune, Maresic (Fernandez), Ricca, Diame, Ki Sung-Yeung, Murphy (Toure), Ayoze Perez, Xadas (Muto), Arp

2nd place was secured before the match so I rested my first XI for the cup final apart from Ayoze Perez as he has featured in every league game this season. Fiete Arp has scored 5 goals in 2 games and therefore will start the FA Cup final.

--

FA Cup Final
v
Newcastle United 2 (Arp 33pen, 63)
Manchester United 1 (Pereira 83)

Lineup - Dubravka, Yedlin, Lascelles, Schar, Tierney, Shelvey (Diame), Cuisance, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Kenedy (Atsu), Arp

WE WIN THE FA CUP!!!!

How I don't know as Man Utd outshot us 27 to 5 but we scored through Fiete Arp's penalty before he had a 2nd goal disallowed. We held on to half-time and then Arp struck again to somehow put us 2-0 up. They piled on the pressure and scored late on but we held on to win the cup.


--

SUMMARY

FA Cup winners we be!!!! The final 3 games was all about securing 2nd place in the league and winning the FA Cup. Man Utd failed to win 2 of their last 3 league games so 2nd place was wrapped up as we thumped Burnley and drew with Huddersfield and then we got a smash and grab victory against Man Utd to end our trophy drought.

So the 1st season is over and it has been fantastic. Now I have to overhaul my squad so we can assert our place as a top 4 side and prove that this season isn't a fluke.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FIETE ARP
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Yes mate!!! Well done on getting some silverware. Looking forward to seeing how you spend that wonga ;)
 
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END OF SEASON POST

Season 1 is over and if you offered me a 2nd place finish, win the FA Cup and get to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup at the start of the season I would have snapped your hand off so I am obviously delighted at how the season went. In the league we were top until Christmas but we wobbled slightly just when Chelsea hit their top form and we weren't able to claw them back.

Almost everything went according to plan but the squad needs a major overhaul - especially with European football coming back to St.James Park. I need to bring in more English players for sure and I think that I only have Dummett and Woodman as homegrown players drawn from the club and only Shelvey, Murphy, Lascelles and Hayden have been trained in the country.

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FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
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I cant complain about 2nd place and we pushed Chelsea right til the end. Man City had a shocking season, as did Arsenal and Spurs while Watford and Burnley are surprisingly relegated. The 3 teams coming up? Stoke, WBA and Swansea lol.

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FIRST TEAM SQUAD
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Goalkeepers - Dubravka was first choice and did OK and is attracting interest from Man Utd while Freddie Woodman was my cup keeper and got a load of games including some in the league so he is developing nicely.

Defenders - Kieran Tierney was immense at left back as was DeAndre Yedlin on the other flank. Lascelles and Schar were solid while all the others were average at best. I am looking to offload Lejeune, Manquillo, Fernandez and possibly even Ricca (I have 3 left backs) so expect reinforcements coming in for the defensive positions.

Midfielders - Shelvey was disappointing as he only scored 1 goal and was overshadowed in the second half of the season by Cuisance who really impressed. Diame and Ki Sung-Yeung were average. On the left Kenedy took his time to get going but shone in the 2nd half of the season while Christian Atsu did well at the start. On the right Ritchie was excellent before being sold for big bucks and his replacement, D'Amico, at only 17 really performed considering he was getting thrown in at the deep end. Jacob Murphy did ok too.

Ayoze Perez was probably my player of the season. 23 goals - all in the league - and a very good average rating made him win the English Young Player of the Year award. He was so good that Xadas didn't get so many starts although he did impress when he did play.

Forwards - This was weird. In the 1st half of the season I was rotating, via form, Rondon and Muto. Rondon finished with 13 goals from 12 starts plus sub appearances which is decent while Muto scored 12 in 27 which in comparison isn't great but he was a defensive forward. In the 2nd half of the season I played Fiete Arp a bit more and he was sensational as he netted 24 times to be our top scorer in all comps from just 13 starts and 8 sub appearances!!!!!

My Player of the Year - Ayoze Perez
My Young Player of the Year - Fiete Arp
Disappointment of the Year - Jonjo Shelvey
Donkey of the Year(as in someone who needs to get out of the club as they were so poor) - Florian Lejeune and Federico Fernandez

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SUMMER PLANS

Buy buy buy and sell sell sell!!!!! I have so far arranged to sell 4 players and I have agreed to bring in 1 but that is just the start. Not only do I need first team players but I need to strengthen my reserve side with decent youngsters as there aren't many. I definitely need a new right back to challenge Yedlin, a new centre half, possibly a new cm, a new lw and a new striker!!!!!!

Rondon wont be getting kept on while I will only bring Kenedy back if the price is right. Should be fun!!!!

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OTHER NEWS

I have to mention this. Aberdeen won the SPL somehow!!! I started this save the day before they signed James Wilson in real life so they didn't have him to help them but funnily enough they brought back Kenny McLean to the club and also signed Dylan McGeouch from Sunderland.

Man City sacked Guardiola and replaced him with Antonio Conte.

Regarding Newcastle - it seems that the Asian market is important as both Muto and Ki Sung-Yeung sold a load more shirts compared to some other higher profile players. I wondered if that was a factor in this years game and here is the answer!!!
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PRE-SEASON

Its safe to say that I was busy during the summer as with the week left of the transfer window I spent over £100m on 14 players and recouped over £70m by selling 11 players!!!!

Tbh nothing else was happening apart from me wheeling and dealing so without further ado this is what happened.

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PLAYERS OUT

The biggest fee I received was £15.5m as I got that from Man Utd for Martin Dubravka and from Huddersfield for Dwight Gayle. I was always going to sell Gayle while I was unsure about selling Dubravka but I managed to find a much better replacement for a cheaper fee so I allowed that deal to go through.

Ki Sung-Yeung joined Southampton for £10.25m while other CMs that were sold were Jack Colback to Crystal Palace for £8m, Mohamed Diame to Werder Bremen for an initial £4.1m and Henri Saivet was loaned out to Hull for £1.6m. Colback and Saivet were never going to feature for me while Diame at 31 was always likely to be sold and I felt I could get a better CM than Ki Sung-Yeung so despite the extra merchandising income he would bring I sold him.

There was a host of defenders leaving too!!!! Florian Lejeune joined Eitracht Frankfurt for an initial £5.5m and Federico Fernandez joined Stoke for £6.5m. I had pre-arranged a deal for a CB to come in and I wanted to push Maresic more so I was happy to let those two go. I also sold Federico Ricca to Malaga for an initial £4.1m as I had one left back too many while Javi Manquillo joined Celta Vigo for an initial £2.8m.

Finally I loaned a few players out with the most notable being the aforementioned Saivet and also Luka Adzic who went back to Anorthosis Famagusta.

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PLAYERS IN

Lets go through them by position in the first team. My new keeper is
Geronimo Rulli who I brought in from Real Sociedad for a bargain £11.5m. I had a look at a few other keepers but when I got the asking price for Rulli I had to get the deal done. The Argentina international is a top quality keeper and at 26 can still improve.
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In at right back to compete with DeAndre Yedlin is
Felix Passlack who has joined on loan from Borussia Dortmund. I tried without success to get an optional future fee on the deal but Passlack will certainly push Yedlin all the way as he is a wonderful young talent and a future world class full back.
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I brought in two centre halves. Pre-arranged towards the end of last season was a £23m deal for
Matthijs De Ligt who has joined from Ajax while I paid Sao Paulo £7m for Rodrigo Caio. I have never had De Ligt before but hopefully he will prove to be one of the worlds best CBs and at only 19 he has plenty of room to develop. Rodrigo Caio at 24 has a bit more experience but still has room to develop and at £7m it was a no brainer.
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Now for my two most expensive signings and my two favourite signings and my new central midfield partnership. The first one being
Arthur from Barcelona for a ridiculously cheap £29m!!!! He was listed for loan and I went in for that but thought I would see how much Barcelona would want for him and they quoted me £30m and I couldn't get the deal done quick enough. I had to give him a few bonuses and a hefty signing on fee etc but at £130k a week he didn't totally break the bank.
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His partner in midfield will be
Lorenzo Pellegrini as I met his release clause of £25m to bring him to the club. Like Arthur I have managed him before and he is a world class midfielder. He didn't even appear in my transfer screen but I paid the release clause and he was interested so I made it happen. I had planned to play Shelvey and Cuisance in CM for the upcoming season but they will be back up now but with Arthur and Pellegrini I have certainly brought in a much higher quality of player.
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On the left wing and possibly my biggest transfer for next season is
Moise Kean who I got on loan from Juventus with a £40m future fee. I will pay that fee when I get the money!!!! Kean is a future world class winger and will compete with Atsu for a starting berth this term.
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Two strikers came in. The first one was
Andy Carroll from West Ham for £1m. He was brought in to help with registration rules for European football as he was trained at the club and he will get the odd appearance but essentially he will be backup. The other striker was Willem Geubbels from Monaco for £5m. The 16y/o will develop into a world class forward and will hopefully get a few games this season but I am delighted to get him in so cheaply.
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Finally I brought in a few regens for just under £6m. The Romaniain Stoica was the most expensive at £2.5m but Mikel Santisteban who came in from Athletic Bilbao for £900,000 may prove to be the best.
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So there you have it!!! A total of £107m spent so far and I still have another £10m left in the bank.

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FIRST TEAM

Regarding my first XI we have a new keeper in Rulli, a new CB in De Ligt and my new central midfield pairing in Arthur and Pellegrini while Kean will play a bit on the left wing. Interestingly enough the bookies favourite to be top scorer in the league is Fiete Arp at 3/1 which I was shocked at as I wasn't even sure he would be first choice striker lol.

I think I have a squad capable enough to safely finish in the top four. I actually feel that if I didn't sign a single player for 4 years I would be challenging for Champions League titles by the end of that period with the talented youngsters that I have.

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Some cracking signings there mate, looking forward to seeing how they all settle in
 
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Felice D'Amico in action for Italy


AUGUST

FA Community Shield
v
Newcastle United 2 (Arp 35, D'Amico 90)
Chelsea 0

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles (Rodrigo Caio), De Ligt*, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Atsu (Kean), Arp (Muto)

We kick off the season by winning a trophy but to temper any excitement this was a victory against Chelsea's unwanted players as they played youngsters and players who are transfer listed and on the loan list. Our 2nd goal was a wonderful team move.

--

v
Newcastle United 4 (D'Amico 15, 49, Arp 19, 29)
Huddersfield Town 2 (Sobhi 40, Gayle 63)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles (Rodrigo Caio), De Ligt, Dummett, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Cuisance), Atsu (Kean), Arp*

A decent way to kick off the league campaign with a comfortable victory. D'Amico had a late goal disallowed to deny him his hat-trick while Rulli saved a Huddersfield penalty in the 1st half.

--

v
Chelsea 3 (Morata 17, 74, Hazard 90)
Newcastle United 1 (D'Amico 81)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Cuisance), Atsu (Kean), Muto

Disappointing. We suffered a major blow before the match when Fiete Arp picked up an injury which keeps him out for a month and in the match we just didn't perform. That being said Chelsea weren't that much better but they were far more clinical in front of goal and that proved to be the deciding factor.

--

v
Newcastle United 2 (Atsu 13, Shelvey 63pen)
Everton 1 (Luan 28)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Shelvey), D'Amico, Ayoze Perez, Atsu*, Muto (Carroll)

It was important not to lose here after our defeat to Chelsea plus Everton went into this with a 100% record. Thankfully we were rewarded a dodgy penalty to allow us to win.

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SUMMARY

Not a bad start to the season. We won the Community Shield, thumped Huddersfield, lost to Chelsea and edged out Everton as my new players begin to find their feet. Felice D'Amico and Fiete Arp have started well although Arp is currently injured but I am concerned about the amount of goals we are conceding as 6 in 4 league games is too much. Things will get better though.

The draw for the Champions League was not kind to us. We were the lowest ranked side and have been drawn against Lyon, Napoli and Barcelona. I would love to qualify for the next stage but it is a big ask.

I did make another signing in the transfer window as I brought in another regen from Athletic Bilbao in the shape of goalkeeper Dani Martin for £925,000. I also signed Uruguayan forward Corneiro on a free and have loaned him out. I will sell him on at a profit ASAP.
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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FELICE D'AMICO
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LEAGUE TABLE

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SEPTEMBER

v
Swansea City 3 (Barnes 15, 51, 84pen)
Newcastle United 4 (Atsu 11, 12, 75, Muto 57)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Atsu*, Muto (Kean)

Naturally to win is pleasing, Atsu's performance was pleasing but the 3 goals conceded has now raised my defensive concerns to boiling point. This cant go on but in true Kevin Keegan mid 90s Newcastle style - as long as we score more than the opposition.

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UEFA Champions League Group F
v
Napoli 1 (Insigne 82pen)
Newcastle United 2 (Muto 11, D'Amico 34)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Shelvey), D'Amico*, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Atsu (Kean), Muto

I am so proud of my team that they went into the lions den in Naples and came away with a victory. I am just gutted that we couldn't hold on to the clean sheet.

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v
Newcastle United 2 (Muto 5, Yedlin 89)
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Chadli 90)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin,
Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Murphy), Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Kean, Muto* (Arp)

WHY CANT WE KEEP A CLEAN SHEET????

To be honest this time it is understandable as we were down to 10 men with Lascelles being sent off and with Tierney and Arthur having knocks. Yedlin scored when we were down to 10 men when he tapped in from close range - god knows what he was doing up there in that situation!!!!


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Carabao Cup 3rd Round
v
Newcastle United 4 (Carroll 4, 9, 47, Kean 77)
AFC Wimbledon 1 (Hanson 72)

Lineup - Woodman, Passlack, Rodrigo Caio, Schar (Maresic), Dummett, Shelvey (Stoica), Cuisance (Hayden), Murphy, Xadas, Kean, Carroll*

Andy Carroll makes his first start on his return to the club and bags a hat-trick. Cant even keep a clean sheet here lol.

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v

Arsenal 2 (Carrasco 5, Aubameyang 64)

Newcastle United 4 (Muto 23, 28, Atsu 52, De Ligt 74)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Shelvey), D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Atsu, Muto*

What a win this is. Muto keeps on scoring when he starts so Arp remains on the sidelines and his double here was crucial to our victory. Atsu has also started the season well and is keeping Kean out of the side while it was nice to see De Ligt score his first goal for us.

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SUMMARY

This month was excellent as we won all our games and we scored 4 past Swansea, AFC Wimbledon and even Arsenal away but the highlight possibly was the 2-1 away win over Napoli - or the 4-2 away win over Arsenal lol.

We end the month top of the league which is nice but next month we have a horror run of fixtures...…..

Lyon (H)
Man City (A)
Spurs (H)
Barcelona (H)
Man Utd (A)
Arsenal (H)

God help us!!!!
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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
YOSHINORI MUTO
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LEAGUE TABLE
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OCTOBER

UEFA Champions League Group F
v
Newcastle United 3 (Muto 48, D'Amico 51, Kean 71)
Lyon 2 (Mariano 36, 76)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney (Passlack), Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Atsu (Kean), Muto

We were poor in the first half but after I gave the players a rollocking they bucked up their ideas and managed to bang in 3 goals to give us a vital win. 2 wins out of 2 in the group!

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v
Manchester City 2 (Aguero 40, 50)
Newcastle United 0

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Dummett, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Atsu (Kean), Muto (Arp)

We weren't embarrassed but we weren't at the races at the same time. Man City have signed Bertrand, Icardi, Guerreiro and Varane amongst others so this was as tough as it gets.


--

v
Newcastle United 5 (Arp 18, 78, Arthur 21, D'Amico 38, 42)
Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Dembele 40, Guedes 90)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, D'Amico*, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean, Arp

An amazing performance as I put in Kean and Arp from the start and we played some scintillating stuff although it was D'Amico who excelled as he scored 2 and got 2 assists.

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UEFA Champions League Group F
v
Newcastle United 1 (Xadas 31)
Barcelona 2 (Malcom 2, Suarez 70)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt (Rodrigo Caio), Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Murphy, Xadas, Kean (Atsu), Arp (Muto)

An admirable performance and certainly a match where we deserved at least a draw as we missed some glorious chances. Disappointing but I am proud we played so well against one of the best there is.

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v
Manchester United 2 (Martial 76, Lukaku 85)
Newcastle United 0

Lineup
- Rulli,
Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Dummett, Pellegrini, Arthur (Shelvey), D'Amico, Xadas, Kean (Atsu), Arp (Muto)

I can have no complaints as Man Utd outclassed us and we did well to hold on for as long as we did. Yedlin got sent-off in stoppage time. We have now conceded 18 goals in our 9 league games - atrocious.


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Carabao Cup 4th Round
v
Newcastle United 1 (Xadas 46)
Arsenal 0

Lineup - Woodman, Passlack, Schar, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett, Cuisance (Stoica), Shelvey, Murphy (Aarons), Xadas*, Kean, Muto (Geubbels)

I am delighted with this win as I took a risk and fielded my backups and youngsters while Arsenal put out their strong team. Our goal was a beautiful team move which ended with Xadas firing in from Kean's header back into his path.

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SUMMARY

I don't think you can get a month with tougher fixtures than this but we did well all told. We came back to win against Lyon before Man City defeated us however we bounced back by thrashing Spurs and then we put in a great performance against Barcelona although it did end ultimately in defeat. Man Utd swept us aside easily enough before my backups knocked Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup.

I am happy at where we are in all competitions - 4th in the league having played the top sides early doors, 2nd in our Champions League group (above Barcelona) and in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals where we will play Man City.

I am not happy at all about our defensive record still. Whether its because of my new CB and GK, whether its because Tierney has missed a couple of games I dunno but we are conceding far, far, too many and I am too stubborn to change my attacking formation.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
XADAS

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LEAGUE TABLE

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NOVEMBER

v
Newcastle United 6 (Kean 1, 59, Arp 5, Hoedt 6og, D'Amico 13, Xadas 16)
Southampton 0

Lineup - Rulli, Passlack, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas, Kean*, Arp

The complete team performance. We were outstanding here and blew Southampton away with 5 goals in the opening 16min. They started the game above us but we showed them who was boss and we finally get a clean sheet in the league!!!

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UEFA Champions League Group F
v
Barcelona 3 (Vidal 30, 78, Rakitic 65)
Newcastle United 0

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas, Kean (Atsu), Arp (Muto)

No complaints as Barcelona showed their true class. We didn't do too badly tbh but we drop down to 3rd place.

--

v
West Ham United 3 (Doucoure 24, Pratto 56, Lucas 57)
Newcastle United 5 (Murphy 10, Arp 14pen, 21, Kean 20, 76)

Lineup - Rulli, Passlack, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney (Dummett), Shelvey (Hayden), Arthur, Murphy, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean*, Arp

West Ham came into this game top of the table but once again we were ruthless as at half-time we had scored 4 goals despite only having 5 shots. Arp's 2nd goal was a screamer from the edge of the area. In the 2nd half they pulled it back to within one and our lead was precarious and when Kean had a goal disallowed I was worried but he scored again anyway to seal the win. West Ham were the better team to be fair.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Arthur 57, Muto 73, 86)
Fulham 2 (Vietto 9, 41)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, Murphy, Xadas, Kean (Atsu), Arp (Muto)

What a comeback!!!!! We were awful in the 1st half and couldn't see us getting back level but Arthur pulled a goal back and then we quickly had a goal disallowed as Fulham were rocking and that was when Muto made his mark as he scored twice to win us the game and to complete the comeback.

--

UEFA Champions League Group F
v
Newcastle United 4 (D'Amico 7, Kean 17, 82, Ayoze Perez 55)
Napoli 0

Lineup - Rulli, Passlack, Lascelles, De Ligt, Dummett, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Atsu), Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean*, Arp (Muto)

Wonderful. We thump Napoli here (who have lost all 5 games so far) and that's despite having Xadas and D'Amico going off injured in the 1st 10min.

--

SUMMARY

This month was nearly perfect as we thumped just about everyone we came up against. We smashed 6 past Southampton, 5 past West Ham, 4 past Napoli and scored 3 against Fulham as we came back from 2 down to win. Unfortunately we came up against Barcelona and they showed us how far we have to go to reach the very top level.

We currently sit 2ts clear at the top of the Premier League and are level on points with Lyon in 2nd place in our Champions League group - our final game is away to Lyon.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MOISE KEAN

View attachment 39314

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LEAGUE TABLE

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Kieran Tierney in action for Scotland

DECEMBER

v
Liverpool 4 (Origi 36, Rodri 45, Firmino 72, Belotti 90)
Newcastle United 3 (Kean 26, Murphy 48, Arp 55)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, Murphy, Ayoze Perez (Cuisance), Kean, Arp

Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle. We have been here before. Our defensive frailties cost us dear here as we let 2 leads slip to end up with nothing.

--

UEFA Champions League Group F
v
Lyon 1 (Mariano 49)
Newcastle United 0

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Cuisance), Arthur, Murphy (Passlack), Ayoze Perez, Kean (Atsu), Arp

We go out of the Champions League with defeat here which is gutting as Atsu had an equaliser disallowed. I suppose we were never likely to win the Champions League whereas we have a chance to win the Europa League maybe.

--

v
Newcastle United 2 (Kean 14, Muto 87)
Bournemouth 0

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, Rodrigo Caio (Schar), Dummett, Pellegrini, Cuisance (Stoica), Murphy, Ayoze Perez, Kean*, Arp (Muto)

A much needed victory and even more we get a very rare clean sheet.

--

v
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1 (Vargas 76)
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegrini 77, Muto 84)

Lineup - Woodman, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini*, Arthur, Murphy, Ayoze Perez, Kean (Atsu), Arp (Muto)

It took Wolves to take the lead before we woke up in this match and immediately after falling behind Pellegrini smashed in his first goal for us and minutes later supersub Muto snatched the winner.

--

Carabao Cup Quarter-Final
v
Manchester City 1 (Mahrez 62pen)
Newcastle United 1 (Arp 23)
(AET - Newcastle United won 3-1 on penalties)

Lineup - Woodman, Yedlin*, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, Murphy (Passlack), Ayoze Perez (Cuisance), Kean (Atsu), Arp

I am delighted to sneak through here as we are now strong favourites to win the cup as the other 3 remaining teams are Burnley, Huddersfield and Crystal Palace. Freddie Woodman saved two penalties in the shoot-out.

--

v
Leicester City 2 (Knockaert 10, Slimani 87)
Newcastle United 3 (Rodrigo Caio 1, Kean 44, 51)

Lineup - Rulli, Passlack, Lascelles, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett, Pellegrini, Cuisance (Hayden), Murphy (Xadas), Ayoze Perez, Kean, Arp (Muto)

Leicester are struggling this season but they gave a good account of themselves here. Rodrigo Caio got his first goal for us after 30sec and Kean added a double as he continues to impress. Leicester sacked Claude Puel immediately after the game.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Arp 41pen, 44, Murphy 90)
Brighton & Hove Albion 0

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney*, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, D'Amico (Murphy), Xadas, Kean (Atsu), Arp

A rare clean sheet as we beat struggling Brighton. We have won our last 4 league games now as we are hitting top form.

--

v
Stoke City 0
Newcastle United 2 (D'Amico 22, 61)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Dummett, Pellegrini, Arthur (Shelvey), D'Amico*, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean (Atsu), Arp

Back to back clean sheets!!!! Dear me lol.

--

SUMMARY

December was a bad month at the start but it brightened up by the end! At the beginning we threw away 2 leads to lose to Liverpool while we then were knocked out of the Champions League by Lyon. We then however bounced back by winning the next 5 league games and also knocked Man City out of the Carabao Cup on penalties so we are in a good strong position as we are top of the table by 1pt.

I still feel that there is room for improvement though. Xadas and Ayoze Perez haven't really performed in the AMC position and if it wasn't for Kean/Arp/D'Amico we would be struggling. Fiete Arp by the way won the European Golden Boy award while my young Moroccan who is out on loan won the African Young Player of the Year award.

FInally in the cups we have non league Leyton Orient in the FA Cup, Huddersfield in the semis of the Carabao Cup but in the Europa League we have a tricky tie against Borussia Dortmund.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KIERAN TIERNEY

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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 39261

 
Close at the top! Hope you can keep it going and win the title
 
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JANUARY


v
Huddersfield Town 3 (Mounie 25, Sobhi 53, Hogg 76)
Newcastle United 4 (Arp 2, 14, 90, De Ligt 8)

Lineup - Rulli, Passlack, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney (Dummett), Cuisance, Shelvey (Hayden), D'Amico, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean, Arp*

Fiete Arp is the man of the moment as his last minute winner secured the points and his hat-trick as we almost threw away a 3 goal lead. This is the first of 3 meetings with Huddersfield this month.

--

v
Newcastle United 5 (Kean 4, D'Amico 23, Ayoze Perez 43, Atsu 49, Arp 59)
Chelsea 1 (Morata 45)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt*, Tierney, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez, Kean (Atsu), Arp

An amazing performance. We got an early goal and then kept on putting on the pressure on Chelsea. We were 3 up on the verge of half-time and even though they pulled a goal back we scored another 2 in the 2nd half to complete a memorable victory.


--

FA Cup 3rd Round
v

Newcastle United 5 (Shelvey 7, Murphy 10, Lascelles 51, Carroll 68pen, Geubbels 71)
Leyton Orient 0

Lineup - Woodman, Passlack, Lascelles, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett, Cuisance, Shelvey (Hayden), Murphy*, Ayoze Perez (Santisteban), Atsu (Carroll), Geubbels

Everything was good about this from Shelvey's screamer from distance, Lascelles getting a rare goal, Carroll winding back the years with a goal and Geubbels scoring his first for us.

--

Carabao Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
Huddersfield Town 2 (Sobhi 5, 47)
Newcastle United 2 (Kongolo 13og, Atsu 45)

Lineup - Woodman, Passlack, Lascelles, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett, Cuisance (Stoica), Shelvey, Murphy (Carroll), Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Atsu, Geubbels

I took a risk and decided to play my backups and they did ok although I did expect to win. We have a slender advantage for the 2nd leg which crucially will be played at St.James Park.


--

v
Everton 1 (Richarlison 60)
Newcastle United 1 (Kean 90 )

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Shelvey), D'Amico*, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Kean, Arp (Geubbels)

Amazingly this is our first draw in the league this season and it was no more than we deserved as we were the better team throughout so I was delighted when Kean struck in injury time.

--

v
Newcastle United 7 (Gabrielsen 2og, D'Amico 24, 25, Kean 39, De Ligt 53, Carroll 69, Xadas 77)
Swansea City 0

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico*, Xadas, Kean, Arp (Carroll)

We were unbelievable here and thrashed sorry Swansea. The best goal was from De Ligt as he fired home from the edge of the area.

--

v
West Bromwich Albion 2 (Rodriguez 5, Man 68)
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegrini 10, Arthur 23, D'Amico 24)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur*, D'Amico, Xadas (Cuisance), Kean (Atsu), Arp (Ayoze Perez)

My one criticism of my 2 CMs is that they don't score enough but both of them were on the scoresheet here.

--

Carabao Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v
Newcastle United 3 (Geubbels 4, Atsu 39, Ayoze Perez 60)
Huddersfield Town 1 (Depoitr 90)
(Agg: 5-3)

Lineup - Woodman, Passlack, Maresic, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett*, Cuisance (Santisteban), Shelvey (Stoica), Murphy (Aarons), Ayoze Perez, Atsu, Geubbels

We make the final easily enough as my backups complete the job. Paul Dummett was the star of the show surprisingly.

--

SUMMARY


We started 2019 in fine fashion as almost everything went according to plan as we won all our games apart from the 2 that we drew. In the league we have opened up a 3pt gap at the top with a game in hand thanks to some fine performances from the 5-1 victory over Chelsea to the 7-0 win over Swansea.

In the FA Cup we put 5 past Leyton Orient while in the Carabao Cup we knocked out Huddersfield to set up a final with Crystal Palace.

Transfer wise I sold Fabian Schar to Bournemouth for £14.25m. He was blocking Maresic's progress and had hardly played so it was a no brainer. Dortmund kept bidding for Rulli but naturally I wasn't interested - they only offered us £20m anyway.

Incoming I toyed with signing a new AMC and had agreed to sign Lucas Paqueta for £13.25m but I figured that I am doing ok despite my AMCs not starring plus I am still short of that magical £40m that I need to bring in Moise Kean permanently.

I did however bring in a young Serbian for £325,000 from Partizan Belgrade. Armin Djerlek looks a decent player and at the very least we should make a good profit on him.
View attachment 39214

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MATTHIJS DE LIGT
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LEAGUE TABLE

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Moise Kean in action for Italy


FEBRUARY

FA Cup 4th Round
v
Newcastle United 4 (Kean 49, D'Amico 66, Ayoze Perez 86, Murphy 90)
Everton 1 (Sandro 85)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Cuisance), D'Amico*, Ayoze Perez, Kean (Murphy), Arp (Carroll)

Our fine form continues here as we thump Everton although to be fair 2 late goals put an added gloss to the scoreline.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Kean 18, Arp 68, 80)
Arsenal 0

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Murphy), Ayoze Perez, Kean, Arp*

The run continues as we swat aside Arsenal with ease. Lascelles had an early goal disallowed so it could have been more. The race to be our top scorer is really on as Arp is on 19 and D'Amico and Kean is on 18.

--

v
Newcastle United 1 (Kean 31)
Manchester City 1 (Aguero 90)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Cuisance, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Kean, Arp (Carroll)

Gutted. Maybe I should have went more defensive towards the end but with the run of form that we are on I was confident in seeing it out but it was not to be.

--

v
Tottenham Hotspur 3 (Eriksen 32, Llorente 78, 85)
Newcastle United 3 (Kean 20, 73, D'Amico 90)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Shelvey), D'Amico, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Kean*, Arp (Muto)

This was an enthralling match that went one way and then the other. When we went 2-1 up with just over 15min to go I was confident we would hold out but they scored twice and we needed D'Amico to pop up in stoppage time to grab the deserved equaliser.

--

UEFA Europa League 1st Round 1st Leg
v
Borussia Dortmund 2 (Dolberg 78, Hwang Hee-Chan 81)
Newcastle United 4 (D'Amico 21, Pellegrini 22, De Ligt 59, 70)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt*, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez, Kean, Arp (Muto)

If the game had ended at 4-0 I would be saying this is the away performance that you dream of but the 2 late goals conceded leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

--

FA Cup 5th Round
v
Southampton 0
Newcastle United 2 (Kean 27, Muto 90)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Rodrigo Caio (Maresic), De Ligt, Tierney*, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Ayoze Perez, Kean, Arp (Muto)

Decent win. Muto has missed over a month due to the Asian Cup and he managed to get back to the scoresheet here but he may be sacrificed as (1) I need money for Kean and (2) losing a player for that long isn't good (although I always like to promote youngsters so forget about no.2 lol)

--

UEFA Europa League 1st Round 2nd Leg
v
Newcastle United 5 (Rodrigo Caio 3, Xadas 5, Muto 18, Cuisance 61, Carroll 80)
Borussia Dortmund 4 (Dolberg 11, 16, Isak 53, Reus 71pen)
(Agg: 9-6)

Lineup - Woodman, Passlack, Maresic, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett, Cuisance, Shelvey (Hayden), Murphy, Xadas, Atsu (Carroll), Muto

A crazy exciting match as we come out on top in a 9 goal thriller. Felix Passlack, against his parent club, got 2 assists.

--

SUMMARY

Apart from 2 draws in the league where we threw away winning positions, this was a good month as we progressed in the FA Cup and in the Europa League we scored 9 past Dortmund over the 2 legs. However in the league we have dropped down into 2nd position but we still have a game in hand as it is a 2 horse race at the top of the league.

As it stands we are one of 2 teams battling it out for the title, we are overwhelming favourites to win the Carabao Cup, we are in the FA Cup quarters with a decent draw against Stoke and our form makes us fancy our chances in the Europa League.

Youth intake next month!!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MOISE KEAN

View attachment 39139

--

LEAGUE TABLE
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MARCH

Carabao Cup Final
v
Crystal Palace 0
Newcastle United 2 (Kean 42, D'Amico 67)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Rodrigo Caio, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, D'Amico*, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Kean, Arp (Muto)

WE WIN THE CARABAO CUP!!!

This is the first time in our history that we have won the league cup so I am naturally delighted. We were the better team throughout and it was my two young Italian wingers that got the goals. Just a shame that Lascelles was injured. Crystal Palace sacked their manager, Prandelli, after the game.


--

v
Newcastle United 2 (D'Amico 37, 52)
Manchester United 2 (Mandzukic 26, Sanchez 90)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Rodrigo Caio, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Shelvey), D'Amico*, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean, Arp

Oh what could and should have been. With 1min to go D'Amico won a penalty and Arp's kick was saved and they went up the other end to score on the counter attack to salvage a point for them. There was still enough time for Matic to get sent-off too. I am naturally gutted that we didn't win but no ground was lost and we still have a game in hand so I cant complain too much.

--

v
Southampton 2 (Gabbiadini 21, 89)
Newcastle United 2 (Arp 67, Arthur 90)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles (Rodrigo Caio), De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas, Kean (Atsu), Arp

That's 4 draws in a row in the league and I fear this run may cost us as Man Utd move 3pts clear although we have the game in hand and the goal difference is equal. It could and should have been worse to be fair as Southampton dominated but Arthur struck in injury time to get us a point.

--

UEFA Europa League 2nd Round 1st Leg
v
Newcastle United 3 (Kean 54, 63, 65)
Everton 1 (Luan 81)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean*, Arp (Muto)

I would like to think that this win should be good enough for us to go through but time will tell. Moise Kean smashed in a hat-trick in 11min to put us in control.

--

v
Newcastle United 6 (Kean 9, 73, 85, Cuisance 83, Arp 90, Ayoze Perez 90)
West Ham United 2 (Pratto 3pen, 49)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Cuisance), Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean*, Arp

We end our run of 4 draws in a row in fine style as we blasted in 5 goals in the final 20min of the match. Cuisance scored one of the best goals I have ever seen as he volleyed in from 25 yards to put us 3-2 up.

--

UEFA Europa League 2nd Round 2nd Leg
v
Everton 1 (Luan 77)
Newcastle United 1 (Murphy 66)
(Agg: 2-4)

Lineup - Woodman, Passlack, Maresic, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett, Cuisance, Shelvey, Murphy, Ayoze Perez, Muto, Carroll (Aarons)

Job done. I put faith in my backups to see us through and they did just that with a professional if uninspiring performance.

--

FA Cup Quarter-Final
v
Stoke City 0
Newcastle United 1 (Muto 70)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles (Rodrigo Caio), De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Murphy), Xadas, Kean, Arp (Muto*)

We huffed and puffed our way to the semis here as Muto came off the bench to put us through.

--

SUMMARY

We are all set for a thrilling end to the season as the business end is upon us. We stumbled a bit in the league but the 6-2 win over West Ham, coupled with Man Utd losing means we are top of the table on goal difference with a game in hand.

In the cups we won the Carabao Cup by beating Crystal Palace while in the FA Cup semis Crystal Palace will be our opponents there too!!!! In the Europa League we dumped out Everton and have PSV Eindhoven in the quarters.

The youth intake was pretty average. We got a not bad keeper (a position we don't need) but nobody to really shout about.

In other news Man City sacked Antonio Conte.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MOISE KEAN
View attachment 38893

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LEAGUE TABLE

View attachment 38892
 
jann-fiete-arp-germany_jjzjj3by44h71bj6no1dnmxd5.jpg

Fiete Arp in action for Germany


APRIL

v
Newcastle United 4 (Kean 12, D'Amico 23, 46, 53)
Liverpool 1 (Keita 29)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles (Maresic), De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Cuisance), Shelvey, D'Amico*, Xadas, Kean, Arp (Geubbels)

What a performance!!!! Kean and D'Amico yet again terrorise our opponents and this time it was D'Amico who scored the hat-trick with his 3rd being the pick of the goals as he smashed in a first time volley.

--

v
Fulham 1 (Vietto 67)
Newcastle United 2 (Kean 32, Arp 39pen)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, Maresic, Dummett, Pellegrini (Cuisance), Arthur, D'Amico (Murphy), Xadas, Kean, Arp (Muto)

Fulham really gave us a tough match here as we were without a few players which naturally affected our performance however we got the all important win.


--

v
Bournemouth 2 (Gray 6, Nuno Santos 60)
Newcastle United 2 (Lascelles 3, Arthur 27)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt (Rodrigo Caio), Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean, Arp (Muto)

Two dropped points but I suppose I can accept a draw. This result means our unbeaten run in the league is now 19 games - half the league season.

--

UEFA Europa League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
v
Newcastle United 3 (De Ligt 15, Xadas 45, 49)
PSV Eindhoven 0

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Cuisance), Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas*, Kean, Arp (Muto)

We absolutely pummelled PSV here as we fired in 29 shots and only let them have 6. I am delighted with the winning margin as it gives me a chance to play my backups in the 2nd leg. Xadas' 2 goals were quality as he fired in 2 long range strikes - one being a free-kick.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Arthur 12, Arp 30, Kean 83)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 0

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles (Rodrigo Caio), De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Cuisance), Arthur, D'Amico (Murphy), Xadas, Kean*, Arp

If we keep winning we will win the league and we keep winning. Man Utd slipped up so we are 1pt clear with a game in hand and we have 5 games to play. We can do this!!!!

--

UEFA Europa League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
v
PSV Eindhoven 3 (Oviedo 6, Romero 37, 55)
Newcastle United 2 (Ayoze Perez 10, Muto 59)
(Agg: 3-5)

Lineup
- Woodman, Passlack, Maresic, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett, Hayden (Xadas), Shelvey, Murphy (Conway), Ayoze Perez, Atsu, Muto (Carroll)

My youngsters and backups did the trick here and see us into the semis. Conway made his debut here - he was part of last seasons youth intake.

--

FA Cup Semi-Final
v
Newcastle United 3 (Arp 20, 48, Atsu 90)
Crystal Palace 1 (Zaha 86)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean (Atsu), Arp*

We reach our 2nd successive FA Cup final by beating Crystal Palace here. Arp was the star of the show as he scored 2 and assisted the other. West Ham beat Man Utd in the other semi so we have a great chance!!

--

SUMMARY


April was a great month as we powered our way through it in both league and cup. The league title is so close as we are 1pt clear with 5 games to go while Man Utd have a game less to play. Whats more - our remaining fixtures are very kind!!!!

In the FA Cup we have reached another final and we will face West Ham but in the Europa League semis we have been drawn against Liverpool. Marseille and Arsenal are in the other semi final.

Felice D'Amico and DeAndre Yedlin signed new contracts with us this month which is a boost - especially D'Amico who is still only getting paid just over £50k a week!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ARTHUR
View attachment 38863

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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 38861

 
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MAY

v
Newcastle United 2 (Arp 43, 47pen)
Crystal Palace 0

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Shelvey), Arthur, D'Amico, Xadas, Kean (Atsu), Arp*

We have faced Crystal Palace already in both cup competitions but amazingly this is the first league meeting between us. This win secures Champions League football for next season and my initial transfer budget is £65m - I wonder how I am going to spend £40m of that? lol

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Arp 54pen, 58, 59)
Stoke City 0

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, Rodrigo Caio (Maresic), Tierney, Hayden, Shelvey (Stoica), D'Amico, Xadas, Kean (Atsu), Arp*

We are now 1 win away from the league title with our victory here as Fiete Arp smashed in a hat-trick - he is now on 29 goals in all competitions.

--

UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 1st Leg
v
Liverpool 3 (Lozano 12, Salah 74, Belotti 90)
Newcastle United 2 (D'Amico 50, Hayden 80)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Hayden), D'Amico, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Kean, Arp

Liverpool thrashed us here (31 shots to 9) so I am pretty pleased to only lose by one and have two away goals in our favour. That being said to concede a last minute winner is annoying!!

--

v
Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Tau 40, Propper 53)
Newcastle United 1 (Atsu 72)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin,
Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (Hayden), D'Amico (Atsu), Xadas (Rodrigo Caio), Kean, Arp

If we won this we would secure the title but we just didn't show up. Lascelles got sent-off when he gave away a penalty which was missed fortunately but make no mistake - Brighton deserved to win and our long unbeaten run is over.

--

v
Crystal Palace 2 (Ayew 64, 77)
Newcastle United 6 (Atsu 61, 68, 90, Muto 63, 80, Hayden 90)

Lineup - Rulli, Passlack, Maresic, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett, Shelvey, Arthur (Hayden), Murphy, Ayoze Perez (Xadas), Atsu*, Muto

CHAMPIONS!!!! I was forced to field a backup side due to the sheer amount of games we are playing in such a short space of time but they did a magnificent job here with Atsu and Muto destroying Palace who are now relegated.

--

UEFA Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v
Newcastle United 2 (D'Amico 42, Kean 47)
Liverpool 0
(Agg: 4-3)

Lineup
- Rulli, Yedlin, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Hayden), Arthur, D'Amico*, Xadas (Shelvey), Kean (Atsu), Arp

We reach the final with a very professional performance and in truth Liverpool never bothered us. Moise Kean picked up a knock but he is only out for a few days.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Atsu 31, Muto 45, 53)
Leicester City 3 (Knockaert 44, 89, Pereira 90)

Lineup - Woodman, Passlack, Maresic, Rodrigo Caio, Dummett, Hayden, Shelvey, Murphy, Stoica, Atsu (Robson), Muto (Carroll)

Just as well we won the league last week as we threw away a 2 goal lead in the last 2min!!!

--

FA Cup Final
v
West Ham United 3 (Hernandez 1,6, Pratto 90pen)
Newcastle United 5 (Kean 20, 70, Arthur 58, Arp 66, Xadas 89)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, Rodrigo Caio, Tierney, Pellegrini (Cuisance), Arthur, Murphy (Atsu), Xadas, Kean*, Arp

What a comeback!!!! 2 down after 6min things were not looking good but we played our natural game and once we got a goal back I was fairly confident. Murphy had a goal disallowed but it wasn't costly as we smashed in 4 goals in the 2nd half. D'Amico, inexplicably, is away on international duty.

--

UEFA Europa League Final
v
Newcastle United 3 (Arp 66, Passlack 82, Atsu 84)
Arsenal 1 (Lacazette 14)

Lineup - Rulli, Yedlin (Passlack), Lascelles, De Ligt (Rodrigo Caio), Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Murphy, Xadas, Kean (Atsu*), Arp

WE WIN THE EUROPA LEAGUE!!!!

We fell behind early on here but we dominated the game throughout in truth. Arp equalised and then Passlack scored with a cross before Atsu - who before this month I had planned to sell - finished them off.


--

SUMMARY

What an end to the season. The league title was always in hand but we made a hash of it in the end as Brighton beat us but we got over the line by thrashing Crystal Palace. After the league was done we were on FA Cup duty and despite falling behind 2-0 early on we bounced back by scoring 5 past West Ham to retain the FA Cup and then it was the Europa League final where once again we fell behind but once again we bounced back and won with 2 late goals.

So that's 2 seasons done, 1 league title, 2 FA Cups, 1 Carabao Cup, 1 Europa League and 1 Community Shield. Not bad lol.

Now for pre-season I have to decide who I am going to get rid of and who I am going to bring in. Atsu was a goner before this month but he played his way back into my plans so I need to have a rethink.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CHRISTIAN ATSU
View attachment 38670

 
PRE-SEASON POST

What a season!!!! We won every domestic trophy and added the Europa League to our collection too!!! Our defeat to Lyon in the Champions League groups was the only real low point of the season however it made us drop into the Europa League so it was ok in the end!!!

My young squad excelled. The 3 teens up front in Kean, D'Amico and Arp scored nearly 100 goals between them while Arthur and Pellegrini were solid in midfield. The only negative was that we conceded far too many goals but that started to sort itself out but there is still room for improvement.

Arthur ended up winning all the Player of the Year awards for the Premier League which is some achievement with it being his first season.

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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 38636


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FIRST TEAM SQUAD

View attachment 38629
View attachment 38628

Goalkeepers - Rulli was pretty good and cant really be held responsible for the amount of goals conceded as that was more down to our style of play and our inexperienced, young side. Woodman had a few games but I would have liked to have played him more.

Defence - De Ligt was the standout performer in his first season with us and he got a few goals too which is a boost. Lascelles was ok as was Yedlin and Tierney while Passlack - who I will try and bring in permanently excelled when called upon.

Midfield
- Arthur and Pellegrini starred although I would like them to score more goals. Arthur was the star of English football this season apparently but in truth it was my two Italian wingers who really impressed as Moise Kean scored over 30 goals, D'Amico was just a couple short and then there was Christian Atsu who scored 15 in just 16 starts which was immense.

The main disappointment was my AMCs. Ayoze Perez fell away big style this season and Xadas played well but didn't get enough goals and that position needs sorted.

Forwards - Fiete Arp scored 30 which is acceptable lol while Muto did ok and that leaves Carroll who did a job when called upon but I would like Geubbels to play more next season.

My Player of the Year
- Felice D'Amico
My Young Player of the Year - Felice D'Amico
Most Disappointing Player of the Year - Ayoze Perez
Donkey of the Year - None!!!

 
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