Newcastle United - The Return of the Entertainers

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;G5XCmMPmTUg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5XCmMPmTUg[/video]
Alan Shearer volley v Villa

MAY

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg
​​

v
Newcastle United 8 (Pellegri 5, 64, Althuser 33, 72, De Ligt 55, Kean 57, 88, Ghoulam 78og, Lucas Paqueta 89)
Inter Milan 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Althuser, Havertz (Lucas Paqueta), Kean, Pellegri*

WOW!!!!!

I think its safe to say that we have booked our place in the final!!!! We were excellent here and smashed 8 goals in against a decent Inter side. They had Yedlin playing for them plus their keeper got injured so my old keeper Dani Martin came on.

--

v

​​Burnley 0
Newcastle United 2 (Althuser 56, Wilkinson 74)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez (Faccin), El Khatib, Althuser*, Lucas Paqueta, Sancho (Rashford), Arthur R. (Wilkinson)

Another win. Harrison Wilkinson is the star of my successful U18 side and he got his first goal for the club here.

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v

Inter Milan 5 (Larsen 8, Abel Ruiz 48, 58, 61, 74)
Newcastle United 5 (Alvarez 33, Arthur R. 40, Rashford 62, 76, Oppen 83)
(Agg: 5-13)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles, Maresic, Eduardo, Alvarez, El Khatib (Vazquez), D'Amico (Oppen), Lucas Paqueta, Sancho (Rashford), Arthur R.

With an 8-0 lead going into the 2nd leg I was able to play my backups although the inform Althuser was dropped for Felice D'Amico who finally returned from injury and needed some game time.

--

v
Newcastle United 4 (Havertz 8, Pellegri 9, Rashford 20, 30)
Derby County 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Okoro, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Vazquez, Arthur (Alvarez), D'Amico (Althuser), Havertz, Rashford*, Pellegri

I have played my backups so much recently that most needed a rest for this match!

--

v

​​Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Batshuayi 56)
Newcastle United 1 (Dumont 33og)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles, De Ligt, Eduardo, Alvarez (Vazquez), El Khatib, Althuser, Lucas Paqueta, Rashford (Sancho), Arthur R. (Oppen)

A very boring end of season game but the goal that we scored gives us 135 for the season which is a new record.

--

FA Cup Final
​​v

Liverpool 3 (Woodburn 6, Belotti 14, 38)
Newcastle United 4 (Pellegri 42, 62, Lascelles 43, Van Dijk 60og)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Lascelles, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, El Khatib (Alvarez), D'Amico, Havertz (Althuser), Kean, Pellegri*

WHAT A COMEBACK!!!!

3-0 down after 38min and I was livid and had given up hope of winning it but within 5min and 2 goals later we were back in it. We kept on going strong in the 2nd half, got lucky with an own goal and then Pellegri got his 2nd to win it. Althuser had a late goal disallowed.

--

UEFA Champions League Final
​​

v
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 48, 62)
Manchester City 2 (Mbappe 12, Bailey 63)
(AET - Newcastle United won 2-1 on penalties)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Eandi), Lascelles (Sancho), De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Havertz, Kean, Pellegri*

WE RETAIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE!!!!!!

We rode our luck here tbh as Man City were the better side and they had a late Mbappe goal disallowed but we hung on in there and then in the penalty shoot-out both teams were shocking tbh but they missed 4 penalties which gave us the cup.

--

SUMMARY

This was a very special end to the season. We saw out the league campaign easily enough and ended up breaking the record for goals scored and got a finishing goal difference of +100!!!!!

In the FA Cup we won it after being 3-0 down to somehow clinch it 4-3 in an incredible comeback against Liverpool and then in the Champions League we toppled Man City on penalties to retain the trophy. However earlier in the month the highlight was thrashing Inter Milan 8-0 in the first leg of the semi-final.

Almost a perfect season!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIETRO PELLEGRI
View attachment 35222
​​
​

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON POST

In some ways you could say it was our best season ever as we won 6 trophies which is our best haul and set a record for goals scored in the league (135), however we didn't win the Carabao Cup which is the 4th biggest trophy on offer and we lost once in the league whereas we were unbeaten the season before. I have such high demands!!!!!! Also we only won the league by 12pts compared to the 23pts the season before.

We had a nightmare fixture list at the start of the season and we dropped a few points and at Christmas time we were lying 4th but with games in hand but then we kicked on and tore teams apart. In the league campaign alone we scored 10 past Middlesbrough and Chelsea, 7 past Arsenal and WBA, 6 against Man City and 5 and 4 goal hauls against just about everyone else!!

We beat Man City in the Community Shield but they knocked us out of the Carabao Cup in the quarter-finals but in the FA Cup we knocked out Spurs and Man Utd on the way to the final before we came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 in a thrilling final.

On the continent the Super Cup and World Club Cup were easily won as was in hindsight the Champions League. We stormed our group, thumped Real Madrid, edged out Atletico Madrid before we thrashed Inter Milan 8-0 before drawing 5-5 in a crazy match. In the final we finally got tested by Man City and we edged them out on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Away from the park we got Dinamo Zagreb as a feeder side which is a great affiliate to have and joins the likes of Aberdeen, Heerenveen, Estudiantes (LP), and Mouscron amongst others to have ties with us.

--

FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 35186

--

FIRST TEAM SQUAD
View attachment 35185View attachment 35184

Goalkeepers - Donnarumma as per usual was immense but this season he got injured for a month or so so Martyn Convery got a run in the side and 22 apps in total and he really impressed. He is No 2 choice for England so I have no qualms about putting him in.

Defenders - De Ligt and Upamecano were excellent and even scored a few goals but Upamecano was injury prone which gave club captain Jamaal Lascelles plenty of opportunities which he grabbed with both hands. Maresic did well when called upon but I am thinking a 4th choice CB valued at £40m is a bit needless lol.

Tierney was good on the left and he had Eduardo backing him up who is gathering interest from several clubs while on the right Alexander-Arnold did well after his move from Liverpool but Walter Eandi is continually improving so he may be 1st choice next season.

Midfield - Like most of my first XI - I know what I am going to get from them - and Arthur and Pellegrini didn't disappoint and Pellegrini even added a few more goals to his name. El Khatib has developed nicely and would start for most sides while Alvarez and Vazquez did ok in their first season with us.

On the RW Felice D'Amico was sensational as he got over 20 goals and assists and created over 50 chances which is incredible if you take into account that he missed a large chunk of the season through injury. Louis Althuser deputised for him and was just as good as he also got over 20 goals and assists!!!! Moise Kean had another 20+ goal season on the left wing while Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho deputised well for him.

Kai Havertz - our big summer signing - played well but only scored 9 goals which is pretty shocking. He got plenty of assists and as I say his level of performances was up there but he just didn't score enough. Lucas Paqueta - relegated to 2nd choice - did well enough when called upon but he scored 20 odd goals when he was first pick in recent years.

Forwards - Pietro Pellegri was once again the main man. Over 40 goals, top scorer in the league, won all the European and World individual awards - we have the best striker in the world in our ranks. Arthur R. however may not be that far behind though as he scored nearly 30 times as he exploded into life in the 2nd half of the season. Althuser is really a striker but he played mostly on the wing.

My Player of the Season - Felice D'Amico
My Young Player of the Season - Arthur R.
Must Do Better - Kai Havertz/Jadon Sancho
Donkey of the Year - Xadas

--

PRE-SEASON PLANS

I don't really have any. As ever my main job is to deal with my loan players. Benjamin Schindelholz is a £30m striker, Giovanny Cortes starred on loan at Man Utd, Mauro Sampaio is a wonderkid who is good enough to start but is 3rd choice and I have loads of others who are great but I have to decide whether to loan out or sell or keep.

Incoming will be youngsters I imagine. I would like some more English players in my setup so I will scour the market there.

I am remember going to be taking over a Scottish club remember so will manage their pre-season, go on holiday and come back in January and go on holiday again so I will be busy this pre-season!!!

--

Alex McLeish
1980-93
77 caps, 0 goals
Scotland Manager 2007 & 2018-

SCOTLAND

Friendly

v

​​Scotland 2 (Hornby 10, 18)
Switzerland 4 (Arif Akgun 4, 68, Oberlin 21, Shaqiri 90)

Lineup - Archer, Ralston (Paterson), H.Souttar, Hendry (McKenna), Robertson (Shinnie), McTominay, McGinn (Gauld), Slane (Griffiths), Armstrong (Cummings), Morgan, Hornby

I would normally be ****** off at this result but I put out a backup side as the upcoming game against Poland was more important in my eyes.

--

UEFA European Championships Qualifiers Group E

v

​​Poland 1 (Kapustka 3)
Scotland 1 (Gauld 86)

Lineup - Archer, Paterson (Ralston), McCrorie, McKenna, Tierney, Gauld, McGregor, Slane, Christie, Morgan (Cummings), Griffiths (Hornby)

A good result - especially since Poland lost to Montenegro a few days ago so we are now in pole position to win the group. Slane had a goal disallowed in the 2nd half before Gauld equalised late on.

​

 

[jonysilva17]

END OF SEASON POST

In some ways you could say it was our best season ever as we won 6 trophies which is our best haul and set a record for goals scored in the league (135), however we didn't win the Carabao Cup which is the 4th biggest trophy on offer and we lost once in the league whereas we were unbeaten the season before. I have such high demands!!!!!! Also we only won the league by 12pts compared to the 23pts the season before.

We had a nightmare fixture list at the start of the season and we dropped a few points and at Christmas time we were lying 4th but with games in hand but then we kicked on and tore teams apart. In the league campaign alone we scored 10 past Middlesbrough and Chelsea, 7 past Arsenal and WBA, 6 against Man City and 5 and 4 goal hauls against just about everyone else!!

We beat Man City in the Community Shield but they knocked us out of the Carabao Cup in the quarter-finals but in the FA Cup we knocked out Spurs and Man Utd on the way to the final before we came back from 3-0 down to win 4-3 in a thrilling final.

On the continent the Super Cup and World Club Cup were easily won as was in hindsight the Champions League. We stormed our group, thumped Real Madrid, edged out Atletico Madrid before we thrashed Inter Milan 8-0 before drawing 5-5 in a crazy match. In the final we finally got tested by Man City and we edged them out on penalties after a 2-2 draw.

Away from the park we got Dinamo Zagreb as a feeder side which is a great affiliate to have and joins the likes of Aberdeen, Heerenveen, Estudiantes (LP), and Mouscron amongst others to have ties with us.

--

FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 1180708

--

FIRST TEAM SQUAD
View attachment 1180709View attachment 1180710

Goalkeepers - Donnarumma as per usual was immense but this season he got injured for a month or so so Martyn Convery got a run in the side and 22 apps in total and he really impressed. He is No 2 choice for England so I have no qualms about putting him in.

Defenders - De Ligt and Upamecano were excellent and even scored a few goals but Upamecano was injury prone which gave club captain Jamaal Lascelles plenty of opportunities which he grabbed with both hands. Maresic did well when called upon but I am thinking a 4th choice CB valued at £40m is a bit needless lol.

Tierney was good on the left and he had Eduardo backing him up who is gathering interest from several clubs while on the right Alexander-Arnold did well after his move from Liverpool but Walter Eandi is continually improving so he may be 1st choice next season.

Midfield - Like most of my first XI - I know what I am going to get from them - and Arthur and Pellegrini didn't disappoint and Pellegrini even added a few more goals to his name. El Khatib has developed nicely and would start for most sides while Alvarez and Vazquez did ok in their first season with us.

On the RW Felice D'Amico was sensational as he got over 20 goals and assists and created over 50 chances which is incredible if you take into account that he missed a large chunk of the season through injury. Louis Althuser deputised for him and was just as good as he also got over 20 goals and assists!!!! Moise Kean had another 20+ goal season on the left wing while Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho deputised well for him.
Kai Havertz - our big summer signing - played well but only scored 9 goals which is pretty shocking. He got plenty of assists and as I say his level of performances was up there but he just didn't score enough. Lucas Paqueta - relegated to 2nd choice - did well enough when called upon but he scored 20 odd goals when he was first pick in recent years.

Forwards - Pietro Pellegri was once again the main man. Over 40 goals, top scorer in the league, won all the European and World individual awards - we have the best striker in the world in our ranks. Arthur R. however may not be that far behind though as he scored nearly 30 times as he exploded into life in the 2nd half of the season. Althuser is really a striker but he played mostly on the wing.

My Player of the Season - Felice D'Amico
My Young Player of the Season - Arthur R.
Must Do Better - Kai Havertz/Jadon Sancho
Donkey of the Year - Xadas

--

PRE-SEASON PLANS

I don't really have any. As ever my main job is to deal with my loan players. Benjamin Schindelholz is a £30m striker, Giovanny Cortes starred on loan at Man Utd, Mauro Sampaio is a wonderkid who is good enough to start but is 3rd choice and I have loads of others who are great but I have to decide whether to loan out or sell or keep.

Incoming will be youngsters I imagine. I would like some more English players in my setup so I will scour the market there.

I am remember going to be taking over a Scottish club remember so will manage their pre-season, go on holiday and come back in January and go on holiday again so I will be busy this pre-season!!!
​

Amazing season man, congrats! Can you share the save?

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

This pre-season took forever!!! With me taking over a Scottish club I not only had to do my Newcastle stuff but also I had to overhaul another club - more on that later.

I went into the summer not planning on any major changes but in the end I sold over £150m worth of players including 2 players who have been with us for a few years. I made 1 major signing for the first team and in the end spent just over £80m.

In other club news we got Rosenborg as a feeder side and that's about it - all was pretty quiet at Newcastle.

--

PLAYERS OUT

Firstly to the ones that stayed. I rejected several £103m offers from Bayern Munich for Felice D'Amico which he was fine with but Moise Kean is not happy as I rejected a few bids from PSG for him up to £120m. I actually promised to sell him for that but obviously I wasn't going to let him go!!!

The main player leaving is Lucas Paqueta. He joined PSG for an initial £33.5m rising to £48.5m. He made 158 apps for me, scored 82 goals and got 66 assists. He was amazing for us, especially for the first couple of seasons, but with the arrival of Havertz he didn't play so much so when PSG came in with a surprise bid I was happy to accept as I had an eye on someone else...……..

Dario Maresic was also sold. He joined RB Leipzig for an initial £42.5m which could rise to a whopping £61m. Maresic played 122 games and scored 2 goals and was always my 3rd or 4th choice defender so to make a profit which could be up to £58m was too good an opportunity to miss.

Mauro Sampaio has joined Watford for £13.25m. I didn't want to sell him but with Alexander-Arnold and Eandi in front of him it wasn't fair on him to stay in the reserves. He played 46 times for me. Martyn Convery, my excellent backup keeper has also joined Watford on loan - I will explain why later.

I also sold a few reserve players for decent money. Dzerlek joined Swansea for £12.75m, Beck joined AC Milan for £12.25m, Adzic joined Stoke for £8.25m and Jouini joined Wolves for £7.5m.

As for players out on loan I loaned a few players to my feeder side GNK Dinamo while Okoro, Conway, Robson, Evans and Konan for no charge while others also went. For fees Schindelholz joined Stoke for £3m, Cortes joined Juventus for £2.5m while Oppen, Vazquez, Marwood, Wallbridge, Florentin, N'Goran and Gomez have also been loaned out for £1m each.

--

PLAYERS IN

The main signing is Lucas Paqueta's replacement and a serious challenger to Kai Havertz. Henry Addai is a regen I have been keeping an eye on for a couple of years and I signed him from Lyon for £72m. He is almost an identical match with Havertz and I will probably rotate the two based on performances.
View attachment 35141

I also signed two keepers. Joseph Ngassam came in on a pre-contract and I just expected to loan him out and sell him on for a large profit and that is certainly going to happen as he is valued at £32m!!!!! I tried to loan him out to no avail so that is why I had to loan out Convery. Bigger Mayasi came in from West Ham for £4m and looks like a great prospect.
View attachment 35139View attachment 35137

I also signed these 5 regens for a total of £6.5m.
View attachment 35135View attachment 35134View attachment 35133View attachment 35132View attachment 35131

--

SQUAD ANALYSIS

There are some changes and I didn't realise how big a headache I have with a fully fit squad. Eandi has progressed so much that he has replaced Alexander-Arnold at RB. Havertz and Addai will battle for the AMC position and that's it for the starting XI. New signing Kotalik goes into the first team squad as Maresic's replacement while Kouadio who I rejected a £38m bid for in the summer replaces Vazquez in the squad and finally I have promoted young South African striker Tristan Madlala to the first team.

Finally regarding the strength and depth of my squad I could have several unhappy players as when I choose my squad the players who aren't even on the bench are Rashford, Alvarez, Arthur R, Eduardo and Kouadio most notably.

--

DARRAN DONALD TAKES OVER AT ABERDEEN

It comes as no surprise that I have chosen Aberdeen to help push Scotland forward. They are my favourite Scottish side and are one of my feeder sides so it made sense. I inherited a side poor on quality, with next to no money and a major overhaul was required although young Dean Campbell looks a player.

I sold several players, brought in my Scotland striker Fraser Hornby in on loan, plus got Norton and Galvez on loan from Newcastle plus Lewis Gibson from Everton. My other signings were regens or free transfers.

Now with me making the league playable the computer generated some more regens and put them in Scottish sides. Aberdeen got a decent CB but St.Mirren got 3 or 4 magnificent players including a Brazilian striker. With the new regens I have already got a significantly stronger Scotland squad although the regens weren't good enough to make Scotland immediately be world beaters.

As I said before I am only controlling them through the transfer windows and go on holiday for games.

​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;uV9wsuv-80k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV9wsuv-80k[/video]

AUGUST

FA Community Shield
v

​​Manchester City 1 (Dolberg 90)
Newcastle United 6 (Pellegri 14, 20, 21, 54pen, Kean 19, D'Amico 36)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Alexander-Arnold), Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Havertz (Addai), Kean, Pellegri*

Just give us the title now lol. To be 5-0 up at half-time against Man City is ridiculous and shows how far ahead my side is compared to everyone else. Pellegri netting 4 goals in his 1st game of the season is ominous!!!

--

UEFA European Super Cup
v

​​Chelsea 0
Newcastle United 3 (Arthur 9, Havertz 33, Kean 65)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Eduardo, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico (Althuser), Havertz*, Kean, Pellegri (Arthur R.)

We follow up our demolishing of Man City with a comfortable win over Chelsea who couldn't avenge the 10-0 hiding we gave them last season.

--

v

​​Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Batshuayi 63)
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 41, 45pen)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi (Alexander-Arnold), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz, Kean (Arthur R.), Pellegri

We got away with this match as we were poor tbh and Spurs deserved at least a draw. Our strong form in our first 2 matches definitely deserted us.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Addai 72, D'Amico 84, Althuser 87)
Manchester City 2 (Icardi 14, Asensio 90)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Alvarez, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Havertz (Addai), Kean, Pellegri (Althuser)

Once again we get away with it as we weren't at the races here and it was only when I made my triple substitution that we clicked into gear. Addai levelled with his 1st goal for us and then D'Amico and Althuser secured the win and City's reply was all too late.

--

SUMMARY

We had a nightmare fixture list to start the season so I am naturally elated that we managed to win every match and get our hands on 2 trophies to boot!!

The highlight was obviously our 6-1 win over Man City in the Community Shield and we then went on to comfortably beat Chelsea to get the European Super Cup but we laboured to victories against Spurs and Man City but at least we won!!!

In the cups we have got Bristol City in the Carabao Cup and in the Champions League we have a tricky group alongside Valencia, Juventus and Legia Warsaw.

As for Darran Donald in Aberdeen - they lie 5th in the league with a game in hand, progressed in the league cup but its in Europe where they excelled as they knocked out Panathinaikos and Club Brugge to reach the Europa League group stage.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIETRO PELLEGRI
View attachment 35049

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 35048
​​
​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;UKI9MbAOsNA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKI9MbAOsNA[/video]
Newcastle 1-0 Juventus - Andy Griffin with the winner lol

SEPTEMBER

v

Derby County 0
Newcastle United 5 (Marsden 6og, D'Amico 11, 60, 90, Pellegri 35)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano (Lascelles), De Ligt, Tierney, Alvarez, Arthur, D'Amico*, Addai, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Althuser)

We put together a more fluid performance here with D'Amico smashing is a hat-trick but special mention goes to Arthur who got 3 assists.

--

v
Newcastle United 5 (D'Amico 9, De Ligt 10, Fry 20og, Kean 49, Pellegri 90pen)
Middlesbrough 1 (Jenner 52)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi (Alexander-Arnold), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico*, Addai (Havertz), Kean, Pellegri

Another 5 goal haul for us. When we were 3up after 20min I was beginning to wonder if we were going to score 10 against Middlesbrough again but it was not to be.

--

UEFA Champions League Group C
​​

v
Newcastle United 4 (Pellegri 50, Kean 59, 61, 90)
Juventus 2 (Jongmans 76, Gallinetta 89)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz (Addai), Kean*, Pellegri

In reality with Donnarumma, Pellegrini, D'Amico, Kean and Pellegri we have Italy's 5 best players and it was Moise Kean who impressed the most as he scored a hat-trick against his old side.

--

v

Southampton 1 (Karamoh 46)
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 8, 10, 36)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt (Lascelles), Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Addai (Havertz), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri*

A decent win as Southampton actually played quite well but Pellegri was ruthless in front of goal and he picked up a hat-trick but he got injured and will be out for a few weeks.

--

Carabao Cup 3rd Round
​​v

Bristol City 0
Newcastle United 3 (Payne 8og, Althuser 40, 56)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alvarez, Lascelles, Kotalik, Eduardo, Kouadio, El Khatib, Althuser*, Rashford (Madlala), Sancho, Arthur R.

Kotalik, Kouadio and Madlala made their debuts here as we easily swotted away the Championship side.

--

v
Newcastle United 4 (Havertz 9, Pellegrini 18, Arthur 30, Arthur R. 49)
Huddersfield Town 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz, Kean*, Arthur R.

We didn't miss Pellegri here as we put 4 past Huddersfield. Moise Kean got 3 assists and was the star of the show.

--

SUMMARY

We kicked into gear this month as we won all of our matches and scored at least 3 goals in every match. The best match was the 4-2 win over Juventus as I wasn't sure how that match was going to go beforehand but we managed to beat them easily enough.

North of the border Aberdeen have been doing ok in the league but in the Europa League where they were drawn against Arsenal, Nantes and Rapid Vienna and they kicked off the group by beating Nantes 3-1. They did however exit the League Cup to Celtic in the quarter-finals.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MOISE KEAN
View attachment 35009
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--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 35010

--

Paul McStay
1983-97
76 caps, 9 goals

SCOTLAND

UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group C

v

​​Scotland (Slane 24, 78, Christie 46)
FYR Macedonia

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque, McCrorie, McKenna, Tierney, Gauld, McGregor (Mallan), Slane, Christie*, Kenneth (Wright), Hornby (Griffiths)

With all the new Scottish players in the game I had to spend a lot of time both picking my squad and team. I gave regens Fitzpatrick, Verlaque and Kenneth their debuts from the start and real players Stevie Mallan and Scott Wright came off the bench for their debuts. Ryan Christie's goal was a screamer as he volleyed in from the edge of the area.

--

UEFA European Championship Qualifying Group C
​​

v

​​Scotland 10 (Slane 5, Hornby 8, 19, 44, Kenneth 9, 58, 80pen, McGregor 45pen, 46, Gilmour 50)
Liechtenstein 0

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, MacDonald, McCrorie, Hendry, Robertson, Gauld (Mallan), McGregor, Slane (Burke), Christie (Gilmour), Kenneth, Hornby*

Regen full back Jimmy MacDonald made his debut here as we humiliate the minnows of Liechtenstein.

​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;S5KafuOcyn4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5KafuOcyn4[/video]

OCTOBER

UEFA Champions League Group C
v

Valencia 3 (Andone 45, De Stefano 61, Arganaraz 64)
Newcastle United 3 (Kean 11, 63, Havertz 90)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Addai (Havertz), Kean*, Arthur R. (Althuser)

Valencia gave us a real test here and they have a decent side including my old players Sukunza and Santisteban. Moise Kean's 2nd goal and 5th of the competition in just 2 games was a screamer.

--

v

Stoke City 1 (Wilson 45)
Newcastle United 2 (Arthur 75pen, Havertz 86)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz*, Kean (Sancho), Althuser (Rashford)

Not our greatest performance but we got the points thanks to 2 late goals.

--

v
Newcastle United 5 (D'Amico 20, 22, 28, 67, Pellegri 69)
Crystal Palace 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico*, Havertz, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri

A dominant performance as Felice D'Amico helped himself to 4 goals.

--

UEFA Champions League Group C
v

Legia Warsaw 1 (Cadiz 63)
Newcastle United 4 (Althuser 20, 36, 86, Addai 39)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Kouadio), El Khatib, Rashford, Addai, Sancho (Madlala), Althuser*

Louis Althuser joins Pellegri, D'Amico and Kean as players who have scored a hat-trick for us this season.

--

v

Liverpool 2 (Woodburn 51, Szoboszlai 84)
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 56, 62)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico (Althuser), Havertz (Addai), Kean, Pellegri*

An entertaining game which I am disappointed not to hold on to take the win as we conceded a late equaliser. This ends our 100% record this season.

--

Carabao Cup 4th Round
v

Hull City 0
Newcastle United 2 (Rashford 54, El Khatib 78)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Kouadio), Lascelles, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez, El Khatib, Rashford, Addai*, Sancho, Madlala

--

SUMMARY

October was packed full of games and some tricky ones at that as we drew away with Valencia and Liverpool which were the 2 toughest matches. We are doing well and sit on top of the league so I cant grumble there.

North of the border there are lots of grumblings as Aberdeen have lost their last 8 games in all competitions and sit 7th in the table!!!! I thought Darran Donald would have done better than that!!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FELICE D'AMICO
View attachment 34957

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34956

--

Tom Boyd
1990-2001
72 caps, 1 goal

SCOTLAND

UEFA European Championships Qualifying Group E

v

​​Montenegro 0
Scotland 1 (Christie 67)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque (MacDonald), McCrorie, McKenna, Tierney*, Gauld, McGregor, Slane, Gilmour (Christie), Kenneth, Hornby (Cummings)

A horrible match which was won by my sub Ryan Christie. We haven't qualified yet but if we avoid defeat against Poland next month we will have.

--

Friendly
​​

v

​​Cyprus 0
Scotland 4 (Hornby 16, Wright 37, 83, Verlaque 59)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick (Kelly), Verlaque, McCrorie (Hendry), McKenna (Connolly), Tierney (Robertson), McGinn (Mallan), McGregor, Slane, Christie (Gilmour), Wright*, Hornby

An easy win. Kelly and Connolly made their debuts here while Mallan missed a penalty.

​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;2vtU4o7dogI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vtU4o7dogI[/video]

NOVEMBER

v
Newcastle United 10 (Kean 9, Arthur 18, Addai 20, 64, Pellegri 23, 53, 76pen, D'Amico 59, 69, 83)
Swansea City 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico*, Addai, Kean, Pellegri

​

A magnificent performance as we score 10 for the 1st time this season. The fact I expect to do so every season is quite galling for the rest of the league.​

--

​

UEFA Champions League Group C​

​​

v
Newcastle United 5 (Rashford 18, 71, Sancho 31pen, 85, Havertz 33)
​

Legia Warsaw 0
​

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Faccin), El Khatib (Kouadio), Rashford*, Havertz, Sancho, Madlala

​

Nice and easy for my backups. Madlala has had 2 starts now and struggled but his stats are so good I still have faith in my young South African wonderkid.​

--

v
Newcastle United 5 (Pellegri 9, 31, 46, 68pen, Upamecano 23)
​

Bournemouth 1 (Onyekuru 51)
​

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Althuser), Addai, Kean, Pellegri*

Pellegri in his last 4 league games has scored 1,2,3 and now 4 goals - any chance of a 5 goal haul against Arsenal next?

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Arthur R. 68, Arthur 80pen, Rashford 90)
​

Arsenal 2 (Jean Carlos 73, Nelson 74)​

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Alvarez), Arthur, D'Amico, Althuser (Rashford), Kean, Pellegri (Arthur R.)

The international break wasn't kind to us as Havertz, Addai and Sancho all got injured but we didn't let that affect our performance as we dominated Arsenal here apart from a crazy 2min spell when they went from 1 down to 2-1 up however we got a soft penalty to equalise and Rashford nodded in the winner in stoppage time to give us the win.

--

​

UEFA Champions League Group C
​

v

Juventus 1 (Dybala 72)
Newcastle United 1 (Arthur R. 45)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Faccin), El Khatib (Kouadio), Althuser, Havertz, Rashford, Arthur R. (Madlala)

Having already qualified I decided to put out my backups and they did ok. Rashford missed a last minute penalty however.

--

SUMMARY

This month was kicked off with a stunning 10-0 victory over Swansea and we followed that up with 5 goal hauls against Legia Warsaw and Bournemouth as we really began to hit our stride. Our last 2 games however weren't free flowing as we edged out Arsenal and drew with Juventus. We end the month with a 7pt lead at the top of the league.

In other news Moise Kean signed a new deal and Jamaal Lascelles wants to leave to have a new challenge. North of the border - Aberdeen won 3 or 4 games in a row as they have arrested their slump and hopefully they will find some form. I am going to try my best to strengthen them in January.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIETRO PELLEGRI
View attachment 34935

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34934

--

​

Kenny Miller
2001-13
69 caps, 18 goals​

​

SCOTLAND
​

​

UEFA European Championship Qualifiers Group E​

​​

v

​​​

FYR Macedonia 0​

Scotland 3 (Slane 10, 14, Kenneth 74)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque, McCrorie, McKenna, Tierney, Gauld, McGregor (Mallan), Slane*, Gilmour (Christie), Kenneth, Hornby (Griffiths)

This win secures our qualification for the European Championships. That's our 5th win in a row and all 5 with clean sheets.

--


UEFA European Championship Qualifiers Group E
[/SUP][/SUB]

v

​​Scotland 2 (Griffiths 19, Burke 83)
​​​

Poland 0
​

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, MacDonald, McCrorie, (Connolly) H.Souttar, Robertson, McGinn, McGregor, Burke*, Gilmour (Christie), Wright (Hornby), Griffiths

A fine win to round off our qualifying campaign and considering I didn't have my strongest XI out on the pitch so I am delighted that we won so comfortably.
​

​​​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;_ljPqs87few]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ljPqs87few[/video]

DECEMBER

v

​​Everton 3 (Sandro 3, Richarlison 53, Musonda 73)
Newcastle United 4 (Havertz 6, Pellegrini 21, Rashford 84, Althuser 90)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Althuser), Havertz, Kean (Rashford), Pellegri (Madlala)

This was a thrilling match. We exchanged early goals but we took the lead when Pellegrini lobbed their keeper from 25 yards. They levelled and then went ahead and I was furious but two of my subs, Rashford and Althuser, scored to win us the match at the death.

--

UEFA Champions League Group C

v
Newcastle United 6 (Havertz 1, Madlala 25, 77, Alexander-Arnold 45, Bartra 53og, Althuser 66)
Valencia 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Faccin), El Khatib (Kouadio), Althuser*, Havertz, Rashford, Madlala

A fantastic result as my backups thrash Valencia. Madlala got his first goals for us as did Alexander-Arnold who scored a fantastic solo goal.

--

v

​​Watford 0
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 54, Kean 63, Rashford 85)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico*, Havertz (Rashford), Kean, Pellegri (Arthur R.)

An easy win. Rashford has came off the bench to score in his last 3 league games now.

--

FIFA Club World Cup Semi-Final
​​v

Orlando Pirates 0
Newcastle United 4 (Lascelles 1, Althuser 6, Arthur R. 39, 52)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, De Ligt, Eduardo, Alvarez, El Khatib, Althuser, Havertz, Rashford (Madlala), Arthur R.*

A decent enough win as my backups get us through to the final. Arthur R. scored a beauty and now has 50 goals for us.

--

FIFA Club World Cup Final
​​v

​​Atletico Nacional 0
Newcastle United 6 (D'Amico 21, 86, Pellegri 25, 42, 57, Arthur R. 75)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Alvarez), Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Havertz, Kean (Arthur R.), Pellegri*

I have no idea how we only scored 6 goals here as we had an astonishing 44 attempts at goal here.

--

Carabao Cup Quarter-Final
​​v

Stoke City 4 (Deulofeu 18, Wilson 48, 49, 91)
Newcastle United 4 (Arthur R. 25, 90pen, Rashford 60, Wimmer 105og)
(AET - Newcastle United won 4-2 on penalties)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles (Kotalik), De Ligt, Eduardo (Fajardo), Alvarez, El Khatib (Kouadio), Althuser, Havertz (Bettendorf), Rashford, Arthur R.

Threw but phew!!!! I rested several players here and we just managed to get through but Stoke can count themselves to be very unlucky as we fought back from 3-1 down and 4-3 down in extra-time to win the game on penalties.

--

v

​​Leicester City 1 (Muriel 15)
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 13, Upamecano 78, Althuser 85)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold (Alvarez), Upamecano, Kotalik, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz (Althuser), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri*

Another win but it came at a cost as Moise Kean got injured and is out for 4-5 weeks which of course is our busiest time of the season.

--

v
Newcastle United 7 (Pellegri 12, 26, 48pen, 75, Havertz 46, De Ligt 65, D'Amico 88)
West Bromwich Albion 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz, Sancho (Rashford), Pellegri*

Pietro Pellegri ran the show here as he scored 4 goals and got 2 assists. Havertz had a goal disallowed as bottom side WBA had a bad day at the office.

-

v
Newcastle United 2 (Sancho 33, Althuser 81)
Manchester United 1 (Ndombele 11)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi (Alexander-Arnold), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur*, D'Amico (Althuser), Havertz (Addai), Sancho, Pellegri

This was a tough match but we managed to get the win thanks to Althuser's powerful effort. Henry Addai made his return from injury here.

--

SUMMARY

We end the year in fine fettle. The league title is all but won as we sit top of the table with a game in hand and a whopping 11pt lead. It really is just a matter of time before we win the league and hopefully we can go another league campaign undefeated like we did 2 years ago.

In the Carabao Cup we will play Liverpool in the semis and we will face Huddersfield in the FA Cup. In the Champions League we once again have to get our way past Real Madrid for the 3rd year in a row I think.

Jamaal Lascelles may be sold next month as he has requested a transfer to have a new challenge in his career.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIETRO PELLEGRI
View attachment 34888

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34887
​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;G8tvyI1kvkY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8tvyI1kvkY[/video]

JANUARY

v
Newcastle United 4 (Pellegri 9, 16, 24pen, 87)
Tottenham Hotspur 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano (Kotalik), Lascelles, Eduardo, Alvarez (Faccin), El Khatib, D'Amico (Althuser), Havertz, Rashford, Pellegri*

Pellegri got his 2nd 4 goal haul in 3 league games while Marcus Rashford set him up for 3 of them. To win so convincingly with a weakened side is encouraging.

--

v

​​West Ham United 2 (Camacho 25, 49)
Newcastle United 2 (Arthur 14, 60pen)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Addai, Sancho (Rashford), Arthur R. (Althuser)

West Ham have been the surprise team of the season so far and they did well against us here. This draw ends our 9 game win streak in the league.

--

v
Newcastle United 5 (Pellegrini 16, Sancho 23, 32, Pellegri 27, 45)
Derby County 1 (Pedraglio 61)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Addai (Havertz), Sancho, Pellegri*

When we were 5up at half-time I thought we were going to get to double figures again but we took our foot off the pedal in the 2nd half. Eagle-eyed readers will notice that my former prospect Pedraglio scored against us.

--

FA Cup 3rd Round
​​

v
Newcastle United 3 (Althuser 4, 50, Madlala 88)
Huddersfield Town 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Lascelles, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Kouadio), El Khatib, Althuser*, Addai (Bettendorf), Rashford (Madlala), Arthur R.

Through we go as my backups did a good job. Louis Althuser was the star as he scored 2 goals and showed that he really is good enough to be in the first team.

--

Carabao Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg
​​

v
Newcastle United 5 (Arthur 9, Pellegri 25, 55, Havertz 54, Rashford 69)
Liverpool 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano (Lascelles), De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz, Sancho (Rashford), Pellegri*

A fantastic 5-0 victory which all but assures our place in the final. Liverpool actually played well and definitely didn't deserve to lose by so many if at all!!! Upamecano got injured and is out for 3 months however.

--

v

Manchester City 0
Newcastle United 1 (Althuser 68)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles*, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Althuser), Havertz (Addai), Sancho, Pellegri (Arthur R.)

Lascelles put in a true captains performance here as we get a huge away win with a clean sheet despite constant pressure from Man City.

--

v

Middlesbrough 1 (Schaub 42)
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 4, 85, Althuser 90)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Lascelles (Kotalik), De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico (Althuser), Addai, Sancho (Arthur R.), Pellegri*

Rumours are going round that this could be Lascelles last game for us. If it is it was a good way to go out although the last game would have been more fitting.

--

v

​​Huddersfield Town 0
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 9, 63)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Eduardo, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico (Althuser), Addai, Sancho (Arthur R.), Pellegri*

My new young defender Gallinetta made his debut in this comfortable victory with Pellegri getting another 2 goals.

--

Carabao Cup Semi-Final 2nd Leg
​​v

Liverpool 2 (Belotti 37, Gustavo Scarpa 66)
Newcastle United 4 (Sancho 44, 60, Althuser 53, Arthur R. 58)
(Agg: 2-9)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, Kotalik, Eduardo (Fajardo), Alvarez (Kouadio), El Khatib, Althuser, Addai, Sancho*, Arthur R. (Madlala)

For my backups to win away to Liverpool and score 4 goals is really something. Jadon Sancho was outstanding and with Moise Kean back he needed to put in a big performance.

--

SUMMARY

A lot went on this month both on and off the pitch. Transfers in and out, big games and most importantly I suppose is that we are still unbeaten in all competitions this month.

On the field we dropped points against West Ham in the league but we won all of our other games including a hard fought 1-0 away victory against Man City. In the Carabao Cup we thumped Liverpool home and away to reach the final while in the FA Cup we negotiated our way past Huddersfield easily enough.

Now for transfers. Apart from a few players returning from loan spells and going out again I sold 2 players for big bucks. Firstly my Colombian centre half who I signed for £900,000 - Jairo Martinez - was sold to Borussia Dortmund for an initial £17.5m which could go up to £24m!!! Not bad for a player who didn't play a single game for me!!!!!

However it is with a heavy heart that my club captain Jamaal Lascelles has left the club. After 288 apps for me and 20 goals he has joined Lyon for an initial £13.5m - rising to £16.75m - which is a steal really but he was wanting a new challenge and I felt he deserved his move.

His replacement is a much better player as I paid Juventus the £50m to bring in 20y/o wonderkid Giacomo Gallinetta to the club. He is a world class CB and he is what we were lacking - an Italian in my first XI - providing you forget about Donnarumma, Pellegrini, D'Amico, Kean and Pellegri lol. I was actually going to bring him in in the summer but the injury of Upamecano made the deal move forward.
View attachment 34788

I also got alerted to a 20y/o Chilean available on a free transfer. I brought him in and he is valued at over £20m!!!! I am only going to sell him on for profit though.
View attachment 34787

As for Aberdeen I managed to bring in Hanus and Okoro from Newcastle on loan, Lewis Morgan - who featured for my Scotland team - for £300,000 but most importantly I managed to get Billy Gilmour and Lewis Hornby to sign on pre-contract deals. They are key players for my Scotland team and it is a major coup that they are coming. On the field there was a resurgence of form, including a 3-1 win over Celtic and they are now 4th.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIETRO PELLEGRI
View attachment 34786

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34785
​​
​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;pDnvF0Jfpt0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDnvF0Jfpt0[/video]

FEBRUARY

FA Cup 4th Round

v
Newcastle United 4 (Sancho 35, Arthur R. 37, 45, 78)
Bournemouth 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, Kotalik, Eduardo (Fajardo), Alvarez(Faccin), El Khatib (Kouadio), Althuser, Addai, Sancho, Arthur R.*

My reserve team is probably good enough in fact it is good enough to challenge everyone else for the title if my first XI disappeared for a year lol so it is no surprise that we won so comfortably here.

--

v
Newcastle United 7 (Pellegri 1, 4, 7, 17, Kean 27, 82, Havertz 58)
Southampton 2 (Karamoh 41, Lemina 45)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi (Alexander-Arnold), Gallinetta, De Ligt (Kotalik), Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz, Kean, Pellegri*

Pietro Pellegri!!! A hat-trick after 7min, 4 after 17min and he even missed a penalty although Kean converted the rebound to score his 2nd on his return to the team. This is the 4th time that Pellegri has scored 4 goals in a match in the league this term.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (D'Amico 12, Pellegri 47, 75)
Stoke City 1 (Imbula 71)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Havertz, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri*

--

v
Newcastle United 2 (D'Amico 41, Althuser 74)
Chelsea 2 (Geraldes 43, Hazard 88)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney, Alvarez (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico*, Havertz (Addai), Kean, Pellegri (Althuser)

Disappointing. Any game at home that we don't win is a poor result - especially when we concede so late on!

--

v

​​Crystal Palace 0
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 58, 63, Arthur 82)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi (Alexander-Arnold), Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney, Alvarez, Arthur*, D'Amico, Havertz (Althuser), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri

Pellegri's goals in his last 11 league games - 4, 0, 4, 2, 0, 2, 2, 4, 2, 0, 2!!!! That's all lol.

--

FA Cup 5th Round
v

​​Manchester United 1 (Gouiri 28)
Newcastle United 1 (Pellegri 20)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney, Alvarez, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico (Althuser), Addai (Havertz), Kean, Pellegri

We probably should have won this match but I suppose I should be happy enough with a replay at home. Addai and D'Amico picked up injuries unfortunately but nothing serious.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
​​

v

Real Madrid 0
Newcastle United 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney, Alvarez, Arthur (El Khatib), Althuser, Havertz (Rashford), Kean, Pellegri (Arthur R.)

Another draw. This certainly leaves us in a precarious position as we don't have an away goal but we have a good record against Real Madrid so I am still confident.

--

SUMMARY

We started this month on fire as we got some big victories but then we started drawing a few games including the big cup games against Man Utd and Real Madrid. Pietro Pellegri keeps on scoring and I am almost running out of room for him in my chart that I do every season lol. He has 52 goals so far but when the title is secure I will be playing my backups as I usually do.

Next month brings the youth intake, the Carabao Cup final plus the 2nd leg against Madrid and the cup replay against Man Utd!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIETRO PELLEGRI
View attachment 34727

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34726
​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;QcyNGDbS7kU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcyNGDbS7kU[/video]

MARCH

Carabao Cup Final
v

​​Manchester City 4 (Icardi 4, Mbappe 8, 80, Bailey 28)
Newcastle United 7 (Havertz 22, Pellegri 49, Arthur 51, 76, Kean 53, Althuser 84, Arthur R. 90)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Alvarez, Arthur*, Althuser, Havertz (Addai), Kean, Pellegri (Arthur R.)

Well this was a boring final!!! I cant praise my players enough tbh as from 3-1 down at half-time we bounced back to win convincingly 7-4. Arthur ran the show in the 2nd half and his free-kick goal was a joy to behold.

--

FA Cup 5th Round Replay
​​

v
Newcastle United 3 (Kean 10, Pellegri 36, 45)
Manchester United 1 (Fernandes 80)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney, Alvarez, Arthur,
Althuser (Sancho), Havertz (Addai), Kean, Pellegri*

Through we go. This game was easier than expected as we blew Man Utd away in the first half. Disappointed not to get a clean sheet but hey ho.

--

v
Newcastle United 4 (Pellegri 44pen, 45, 58, Althuser 83)
Liverpool 1 (Woodburn 2)

Lineup - Ngassam, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur (Alvarez), Althuser, Addai, Kean, Pellegri*

Another hat-trick for Pietro Pellegri as we easily beat Liverpool - he now has 58 goals for the season!!!!

--

v

Swansea City 0
Newcastle United 5 (Pellegri 40, 46, Althuser 53, Kean 56, Arthur 90pen)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur, Althuser, Addai, Kean, Pellegri* (Arthur R.)

A fine win which secures Champions League football. Pellegri moves up to 60 goals for the season but he got injured and will be out for a month.

Our starting transfer budget for next season is going to be £233m!!!

--

v

Bournemouth 1 (Onyekuru 52)
Newcastle United 3 (Kean 44, Arthur 48, El Khatib 78)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold*, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, Althuser, Addai, Kean, Arthur R. (Madlala)

We weren't at our best here as it seemed as though we were missing Pietro Pellegri but we go the job done.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg

v

Newcastle United 3 (Arthur R. 21, 78, D'Amico 60)
Real Madrid 2 (Silva 22, 67)
(Agg: 3-2)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Addai, Kean (Rashford), Arthur R.*

This was a tough match but we played very well and had over 30 shots on goal. D'Amico scored on his return to the club but it was Arthur R. who shone as he scored twice and terrorised the Madrid defence.

--

FA Cup Quarter-Final

v
Newcastle United 1 (Rashford 14)
Fulham 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Kouadio), El Khatib, Althuser*, Addai, Rashford, Madlala (Curran)

I went with my backups here and although we won the performance was very poor. My new regen striker Andrew Curran made his debut at 15y/o here.

--

SUMMARY

March was an excellent month. We kicked it off with a stunning 7-4 win in the Carabao Cup final and followed it up by beating Man Utd in the cup and thumping Liverpool, Swansea and Bournemouth in the league. We then defeated Real Madrid in the Champions League and Fulham in the FA Cup to round off a great month.

What was more impressive is that we did all that despite having key players out injured as Sancho, Pellegri, Upamecano, Pellegrini and D'Amico were all or still are injured during the month.

The youth intake was excellent. We got a striker called Andrew Curran who upon signing a contract is valued at £8m!!!! We also got one or two other decent looking players.
View attachment 34697View attachment 34696View attachment 34695View attachment 34694

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ARTHUR
View attachment 34698

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34699

--

David Weir
1998-2010
69 caps, 1 goal

SCOTLAND

Friendly
​​

v

​​Slovenia 1 (Zahovic 50)
Scotland 2 (Slane 69, Hodge 78)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick (Kelly), Verlaque (MacDonald), McCrorie, McKenna (Connolly), Tierney (Robertson), McGinn, Campbell, Slane*, Gilmour, Kenneth (Fraser), Hornby (Hodge)

Introducing Ian Hodge!!!! The 16y/o Motherwell striker came off the bench to score on his debut here - he is going to join Newcastle in the summer for £8.5m by the way lol. Dean Campbell of Aberdeen also made his debut while Ryan Fraser returned to the squad also.

--

Friendly
​​

v

​​Scotland 0
Austria 0

Lineup - Archer , Verlaque (MacDonald), McCrorie*, McKenna (Hendry), Tierney, Gauld (Campbell), Mallan (Mowatt), Burke, Gilmour (Kenneth), Fraser (Hodge), Hornby
​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;04hGDeosHLA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04hGDeosHLA[/video]

APRIL

v

Arsenal 1 (Lacazette 65pen)
Newcastle United 3 (Kean 6, 34, Arthur R. 36)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Havertz (Addai), Kean*, Arthur R. (Althuser)

CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!

We secure the title with 7 games still to play with this fine victory away to Arsenal. Moise Kean was in fine form until he was forced off with an injury.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
​​

v
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegrini 68, Althuser 76, 86)
Barcelona 1 (Salah 10)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Gallinetta, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico*, Havertz (Addai), Sancho (Rashford), Arthur R. (Althuser)

A 3-1 win over Barcelona is always good but you also have to consider that they are a very old side with 37y/o Suarez, 36y/o Messi and even 31y/o Salah playing for them. We were actually quite poor but came back to life once I made my subs and we kicked on from there. Havertz got injured and is out for a month or so.

--

v
Newcastle United 5 (Althuser 11, Madlala 16, 79, Rashford 63, 66)
Watford 2 (Success 9, Draxler 26)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, Kotalik (Mason), Eduardo, Alvarez (Kouadio), El Khatib (Faccin), Althuser, Addai, Rashford*, Madlala

With the Barcelona game coming up I decided to field my backups and they did well although we were helped when they had a man sent-off moments after levelling the game at 2-2.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg
​​v

Barcelona 1 (Diogo Jota 70)
Newcastle United 1 (Althuser 82)
(Agg: 2-4)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Addai (Althuser), Sancho (Rashford), Pellegri

We welcomed back Upamecano and Pellegri from injury here and we somehow managed to escape with a draw as Barelona pummelled us!!! I was delighted with Althuser's equaliser as it means that we are still unbeaten in all competitions.

--

v

Chelsea 3 (Hazard 57, Staoudian 89, Upamecano 90og)
Newcastle United 5 (Pellegri 20, 27, 90, Althuser 81, 87)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Addai (Althuser), Sancho (Rashford), Pellegri*

A crazy match. We were 4-1 up and cruising and they scored twice in injury time to make it 4-3 but there was still enough time for us to go up the park and score a 5th and for Pellegri to get his hat-trick. Special mention goes to Felice D'Amico though as he assisted all 5 goals!!

--

v
Newcastle United 2 (Arthur R. 80, Wober 90og)
Everton 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Tuck, Gallinetta, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Kouadio), El Khatib (Faccin), Althuser*, Wood, Arthur R., Madlala (Curran)

I rested my first XI and even some of my backups like Sancho and Addai and played a few players from my youth team here. Tuck and Wood made their debuts while Curran also came off the bench to get some minutes. Arthur R. actually missed a penalty a few minutes before he scored the opener.

--

FA Cup Semi-Final
​​v

Manchester City 1 (Bailey 89)
Newcastle United 2 (Althuser 90, D'Amico 90)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico*, Addai (Althuser), Sancho, Pellegri

WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW

Beating Man City to reach the final is one thing but when you are unbeaten all season and go a goal down in the 89th minute and somehow fight back to win in stoppage time is something special.

--

SUMMARY

I thoroughly enjoyed this month. We wrapped up the league title with our win over Arsenal and followed it up with some other good wins most notably against Chelsea away where we won 5-3. In the cups we defeated Barcelona in the quarter-finals and will play Man Utd in the semis while in the FA Cup we somehow managed to beat Man City despite falling behind in the 89th minute. All that is left to do is to win the FA Cup and Champions League and remain unbeaten - easy!!!!

Up north Aberdeen are one of 5 teams that go into the split with a chance of the title and they are also in the Scottish Cup final after defeating Celtic in the semis. If only they hadn't lost 8 in a row earlier in the season.

Finally my Scotland side have been drawn alongside Spain, Romania and Bosnia in the European Championships.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LOUIS ALTHUSER
View attachment 34693

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34692
​​
​

 

[MrTini23]

The invincibles season is on!

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;I8ezngq_5m0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8ezngq_5m0[/video]

MAY

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg
v

Manchester United 1 (Gouiri 45)
Newcastle United 2 (D'Amico 30, Pellegri 50)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, Gallinetta, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico*, Addai (Althuser), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Arthur R.)

A huge win as we go back to St. James' Park with 2 away goals and a slender lead. Hopefully we can defend that easily enough.

--

v

West Bromwich Albion 0
Newcastle United 1 (Madlala 5)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Tuck, Gallinetta, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Faccin), El Khatib (Kouadio), Althuser, Wood, Arthur R., Madlala (Curran)

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg

v
Newcastle United 3 (Umtiti 19og, Pellegri 51pen, Althuser 57)
Manchester United 1 (Roberto Firmino 43)
(Agg: 5-2)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini, Arthur, D'Amico, Addai (Althuser), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri*

Into the final we go. Man Utd never really troubled us in truth.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Althuser 18, 75, 90)
Leicester City 1 (Yuri Alberto 1)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Tuck, Gallinetta, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez, El Khatib, Althuser*, Wood, Sancho (Curran), Arthur R. (Madlala)

The backups came out and got the win thanks to a fine hat-trick from Louis Althuser which brings his tally of goals for the season to 31 - not bad for my backup RW!!

--

v
Newcastle United 4 (Arthur R. 26, 80pen, Gallinetta 31, Althuser 60)
West Ham United 1 (Pavon 8)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Tuck, Gallinetta, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Kouadio), El Khatib, Althuser, Wood (Madlala), Sancho (Curran), Arthur R.*

Nice and easy. Gallinetta got his 1st goal for us while Arthur R. moves up to 19 for the season.

--

v

Manchester United 0
Newcastle United 3 (Pellegri 39, Fosu-Mensah 40og, Althuser 73)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi*, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (El Khatib), Arthur, D'Amico (Althuser), Havertz, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri

I went with my strongest team here as I didn't want to put out my backups and lose our unbeaten run and they didn't let me down as we easily beat Man Utd who had a man sent-off.

--

FA Cup Final

v
Newcastle United 3 (Arthur 23, Di Maio 49og, Sancho 80)
Chelsea 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur*, D'Amico (Althuser), Havertz, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Arthur R.)

A convincing display wins us the FA Cup. Chelsea were never really in it after we took the lead and we strolled to victory. We now only have 1 game against PSG to avoid defeat to go the whole campaign unbeaten. Unfortunately Arthur picked up a knock and will miss the Champions League final.

--

UEFA Champions League Final

v
Newcastle United 4 (Upamecano 1, Kean 29, Pellegri 34, De Ligt 45)
Paris Saint-Germain 2 (Verratti 32, Fleiss 90)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi (Alexander-Arnold), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, El Khatib, D'Amico, Havertz (Addai), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri*

We retain the Champions League here by beating PSG. Individually I thought they would have been better tbh - their defence was world class but going forward there is a lack of world class quality. My two CBs scored which is rare!

--

SUMMARY

We did it!!! An unbeaten season in ALL competitions. This month saw us see out the league campaign with the key match being the away victory against Man Utd on the final day of the season.

The league was playing 2nd fiddle to the cup competitions however and in the FA Cup we were victorious as we beat Chelsea 3-0 on a wonderful day (more on that later) and then in the Champions League we defeated PSG 4-2 to grab another Champions League title.

Now for Aberdeen. They bottled it big time in the league as they failed to win any of the games post split and finished a lowly 5th. However in the Scottish Cup they defeated Rangers 5-3 in the final to get European football for next term.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
PIETRO PELLEGRI
View attachment 34673

​

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON POST

Undefeated!!!!! I think it was 58 wins and 9 draws during the season as we won everything and peculiarly had our best season yet although it didn't feel like it as I thought that we performed better in previous seasons but that is nonsense. We won the title by an astonishing 33pts, we broke the record for goals scored by 3 as we netted 138 times and individually we had Pietro Pellegri who scored 50 league goals despite missing 9 league games!!!!!!

In the cups we won them all. We hit Man City for 6 in the Community Shield, swiped away Chelsea in the European Super Cup and in the Carabao Cup we won that by winning 7-4 against Man City in a crazy final. In the FA Cup we defeated Chelsea 3-0 in the final but it was the semi-final where the biggest moment was played out as we beat Man City (again) 2-1 in normal time despite falling 1-0 down in the 89th minute.

In the Champions League we navigated our group before eliminating Real Madrid and Barcelona before Man Utd were beaten and in the final we scored 4 as we beat PSG to win our 3rd Champions League in a row.

As for Aberdeen they finished a disappointing 5th in the league but in the Europa League they reached the group stage and did ok in the League Cup but it was in the Scottish Cup where they excelled as they beat Rangers 5-3 in the final. As for next season they have a starting budget of £11m and I have already agreed to sign Lewis Hornby (over 40 goals last season), Calum Paterson, Ruben Vinagre and Billy Gilmour for next season so hopefully we can do better.

--

FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34672

--

FIRST TEAM SQUAD
View attachment 34671View attachment 34670

Goalkeepers - As I was only looking to sell on Ngassam it was Donnarumma who played all but one of the games. He will play less next season as Convery will be back and I have already agreed to sell Ngassam.

Defenders - Eandi was excellent at RB as he was first choice for the first time, Tierney was his usual self and Alexander-Arnold and Eduardo deputised very well but it was in the centre where there were changes. The main 2 Upamecano and De Ligt were superb and Lascelles was lurking in the background but in 1 week Upamecano got injured for a few months and Lascelles sought a new challenge so he left so in came £50m wonderkid Giacomo Gallinetta and he was immense as he played for most of the 2nd half of the season.

Midfield - Arthur had a much better season in front of goal as he got into double figures for goals but Pellegrini only got 4. El Khatib and Alvarez did well as backup but it was on the wings where we really had star performers. On the right wing we had D'Amico scoring over 20 goals but his understudy Althuser managed to score over 30 goals which is astonishing and that's before you take into account the assists. On the left Moise Kean only scored 9 league goals but he scored plenty of others in the cups.

In the AMC position I was swapping between Addai and Havertz throughout the season. Addai only scored 4 goals which was poor but he did play well but Havertz got into double figures which is expected and he was the better one of the two.

Forwards - Pietro Pellegri!!!! 67 goals, over 20 assists and man of the match awards - the worlds best player was just immense this year. I truly feel that if he was to play every game in the season he would get 100 goals. Arthur R. scored nearly 20 while Madlala got 5 in his sporadic appearances.

My Player of the Year - Pietro Pellegri
My Young Player of the Year - Giacomo Gallinetta
Must Do Better - Henry Addai
Donkey of the Year - Aboubakar Kouadio

--


SUMMER THOUGHTS

I don't know really. Not much is needed to be done. I will probably sell a load of reserve players who are out on loan but I don't envisage much changes in the first team squad at all.
​

 

[Klippybo]

SCOTLAND

Friendly

v

Scotland 3 (McCrorie 10, Hornby 18, Slane 24)
Sweden 5 (Brandt 41, Eliasson 70, Guidetti 78pen, Isak 86, 90)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque (MacDonald), McCrorie, McKenna (Hendry), Robertson, Gauld (McGinn), McGregor (McTominay), Slane, Christie (Gilmour), Kenneth (Burke), Hornby

SHOCKING. To be 3-0 up and to lose 5-3 is just not on and it ends our unbeaten run. Tbh I made a raft of substitutions on the hour mark and it was then when things went pear shaped.

--

Friendly

v

Scotland 6 (Slane 3, 60, Hodge 6, 15, Kenneth 17, 20)
Andorra 0

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque, Connolly, McKenna, Tierney, Gauld (Mallan), McGregor, Slane, Christie (Gilmour), Kenneth, Hodge*

This friendly was arranged so we could get a big win heading into the tournament and to boost my players morale and we got just that.

--

SQUAD FOR THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Goalkeepers[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]NAME[/TD]
[TD]POS[/TD]
[TD]AGE[/TD]
[TD]CLUB[/TD]
[TD]VALUE[/TD]
[TD]CAPS[/TD]
[TD]GOALS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jordan ARCHER[/TD]
[TD]GK[/TD]
[TD]31[/TD]
[TD]Cardiff City[/TD]
[TD]£3.3m[/TD]
[TD]52[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Adam FITZPATRICK[/TD]
[TD]GK[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]St.Johnstone[/TD]
[TD]£4.5m[/TD]
[TD]9[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Allan KELLY[/TD]
[TD]GK[/TD]
[TD]28[/TD]
[TD]Celtic[/TD]
[TD]£3m[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Defenders[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]NAME[/TD]
[TD]POS[/TD]
[TD]AGE[/TD]
[TD]CLUB[/TD]
[TD]VALUE[/TD]
[TD]CAPS[/TD]
[TD]GOALS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Dominic CONNOLLY[/TD]
[TD]DC[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]St.Johnsotne[/TD]
[TD]£5.5m[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jack HENDRY[/TD]
[TD]DRC[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]Celtic[/TD]
[TD]£6.25m[/TD]
[TD]28[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Jimmy MACDONALD[/TD]
[TD]DRC[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]St.Mirren[/TD]
[TD]£7.75m[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ross McCRORIE[/TD]
[TD]DC[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]Leicester City[/TD]
[TD]£13.75m[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Scott McKENNA[/TD]
[TD]DC[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Everton[/TD]
[TD]£22m[/TD]
[TD]55[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Scott McTOMINAY[/TD]
[TD]D/MC[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Derby County[/TD]
[TD]£10.75m[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Andrew ROBERTSON[/TD]
[TD]DL[/TD]
[TD]30[/TD]
[TD]Chelsea[/TD]
[TD]£27m[/TD]
[TD]65[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Kieran TIERNEY[/TD]
[TD]DL[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Newcastle United[/TD]
[TD]£49.5m[/TD]
[TD]61[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Aaron VERLAQUE[/TD]
[TD]DR[/TD]
[TD]28[/TD]
[TD]St.Mirren[/TD]
[TD]£10m[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Midfielders[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]NAME[/TD]
[TD]POS[/TD]
[TD]AGE[/TD]
[TD]CLUB[/TD]
[TD]VALUE[/TD]
[TD]CAPS[/TD]
[TD]GOALS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Oliver BURKE[/TD]
[TD]AMRL[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]Hertha Berlin[/TD]
[TD]£4.5m[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ryan CHRISTIE[/TD]
[TD]AMRLC[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]Celtic[/TD]
[TD]£7.25m[/TD]
[TD]33[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ryan GAULD[/TD]
[TD]MC[/TD]
[TD]28[/TD]
[TD]Vitoria Guimaraes[/TD]
[TD]£6.25m[/TD]
[TD]18[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Billy GILMOUR[/TD]
[TD]AMC[/TD]
[TD]22[/TD]
[TD]Aberdeen[/TD]
[TD]£3.4m[/TD]
[TD]12[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Bailey KENNETH[/TD]
[TD]AML[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[TD]Kilmarnock[/TD]
[TD]£3.9m[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Stevie MALLAN[/TD]
[TD]MC[/TD]
[TD]28[/TD]
[TD]Hibernian[/TD]
[TD]£5.5m[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]John McGINN[/TD]
[TD]MC[/TD]
[TD]29[/TD]
[TD]Aston Villa[/TD]
[TD]£6m[/TD]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Callum McGREGOR[/TD]
[TD]MC[/TD]
[TD]30[/TD]
[TD]Celtic[/TD]
[TD]£3.7m[/TD]
[TD]56[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Connor SLANE[/TD]
[TD]AMR[/TD]
[TD]23[/TD]
[TD]Liverpool[/TD]
[TD]£52m[/TD]
[TD]27[/TD]
[TD]14[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Forwards[TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]NAME[/TD]
[TD]POS[/TD]
[TD]AGE[/TD]
[TD]CLUB[/TD]
[TD]VALUE[/TD]
[TD]CAPS[/TD]
[TD]GOALS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ian HODGE[/TD]
[TD]ST[/TD]
[TD]17[/TD]
[TD]Motherwell[/TD]
[TD]£425,000[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Fraser HORNBY[/TD]
[TD]ST[/TD]
[TD]24[/TD]
[TD]Aberdeen[/TD]
[TD]£4.3m[/TD]
[TD]21[/TD]
[TD]10
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]


--

UEFA European Championships Group D

v

Scotland 2 (Hornby 26, Burke 73)
Spain 1 (Soler 45)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque (MacDonald), McCrorie, McKenna, Tierney, Gauld, McGregor, Slane (Burke), Christie (Gilmour), Kenneth, Hornby

Its safe to say I wasn't expecting this result!!!! We somehow managed to beat a very strong Spain side. Hornby headed us in front and when they levelled on the stroke of half-time I thought our chance of winning had gone but we dug our heels in and got a fantastic winner when Kenneth crossed for Burke to tap home at the back post after a fine team move.

--

v

Bosnia & Herzegovina 0
Scotland 3 (Hornby 10, 82, Slane 70)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque, McCrorie (Hendry), McKenna, Robertson, Mallan*, McGinn (McTominay), Slane, Christie (Gilmour), Burke, Hornby

A comfortable win which secures our qualification to the next stage. I will be able to rest my first XI in the next match now which is a bonus.

--

v

Romania 0
Scotland 0

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, MacDonald, Connolly, Hendry, Robertson, McTominay, McGinn, Burke (Christie), Gilmour (McCrorie), Kenneth (McGregor), Hodge

A boring no score draw but I will take that. Jack Hendry got sent-off for us with 5min left to play.

--

UEFA European Championship 2nd Round

v

Scotland 4 (McGregor 33pen, McCrorie 49, Christie 56, Burke 73)
Poland 1 (Linetty 79)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque (MacDonald), McCrorie, McKenna, Tierney, Gauld (McTominay), McGregor, Slane, Christie*, Kenneth (Burke), Hornby

A great win as we reach the quarter-finals. We won and drew with Poland in our qualifying group so I was pretty confident going into this game but I didn't expect to win so handsomely.

--

UEFA European Championship Quarter-Final

v

Austria 1 (Fleiss 42)
Scotland 1 (Burke 90)
(AET - Scotland win 4-2 on penalties)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque, McCrorie, McKenna, Robertson, Gauld (Mallan), McGregor (McGinn), Burke, Gilmour, Kenneth, Hornby (Hodge)

Somehow Scotland are into the semis. Austria battered us in truth and hit the woodwork several times but we managed to level things in injury time and we managed to hold on and take the game to penalties. They missed 2 and we scored 4 so its us who progress.

--

UEFA European Championship Semi-Final

v

Scotland 3 (McGregor 5pen, Christie 17, Gilmour 115)
England 3 (Read 46, Kane 62, 99)
(AET - England win 3-1 on penalties)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Verlaque (MacDonald), McCrorie, Hendry, Tierney, McGinn, McGregor (Mallan), Slane, Christie (Gilmour), Burke, Hornby

Heartbreaking. When we went 2-0 up I was in dreamland and thought about going all defensive but I didn't and England were soon level in the 2nd half. When we fell behind in extra-time I thought it was over as my players were out on their feet but Billy Gilmour scored a screamer to take it to penalties. Despite England missing their 1st penalty and us scoring ours we missed our next 3 and that was the end.
​

 

[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

I had a hectic summer what with the European Championship exploits with Scotland, dealing with my Newcastle squad and almost more importantly sorting out the Aberdeen squad. Scotland were magnificent, as for Newcastle I sold many more players than I thought I would and for crazy prices and up in Scotland I still haven't finished but I think I have done good work and spent a few quid too!!

Not much else to say really so here it goes.

--

PLAYERS OUT

I have recouped so far a stupendous £305m on player sales including a record sale for not only the club but for England. My Colombian winger Giovanny Cortes who spent the last 2 seasons on loan at Man Utd and Juventus joined Bayern Munich for £99m despite never having played a game for us and I brought him in for only £975,000!!!!

The 2nd biggest fee was also on a Colombian as David Salazar joined Real Madrid for an initial £34m rising to £44m. Again he never played for me and I brought him in for £400,000.

These deals keep on going. Benjamin Schindelholz - remember him? He was sold to Benfica for £34m rising to £46.5m but he did play 15 times for me and scored 9 goals.

Who next? Pedro Diaz Leal. My 19y/o Mexican wonderkid who was nowhere near the first team. Brought in for £275,000 he was sold for an initial £31m rising to £48m.

Now for a quick list of sales...….

Joseph Ngassam to Man City £24.5m
Aboubakar Kouadio to Bayer Leverkusen for £20.5m
Lenny Robson to Watford for £12.25m
Adriano Gomez to Galatasaray for £10m
James Jaramillo to Crystal Palace for £9m
Yaya N'Goran to Brighton for £9m
Eric Konan to Inter Milan for £7.75m

I also loaned out a ton of other players for fees and for free.

--

PLAYERS IN

So I recouped £305m and adding to our £200m plus transfer budget I would have been expected to pay big bucks. Instead I only spent just under £50m. I spent £35.5m on Maurice Smit who is a CM and I he just appeared in my scout reports at having a rating of 98. Now he isn't that good yet but I am willing to give him a shot. Hopefully he will prove my scouts and coaches right.
View attachment 34619

Then for £8.5m I brought in Anton Morozov from Spartak Moscow. At only 18y/o I think he could develop into a real player.
View attachment 34618

Next up for fees I brought in Casey Cahill from Barnsley for £3m, Lukas Vana from Sparta Prague (since loaned out to Juventus) for £1.4m and Nikola Milos from Dinamo Zagreb for £350,000.
View attachment 34617View attachment 34616View attachment 34615

Finally I brought in 4 players on free transfers with the sole purpose of selling them ASAP. 3 regens plus Rodrygo from Real Madrid.
View attachment 34614View attachment 34613View attachment 34612View attachment 34611

My deal for Ian Hodge - the player I gave a debut for Scotland at 16y/o will actually join next summer for £8.5m and not this summer as I expected.

--

SQUAD

Martyn Convery returns to the club and is my backup keeper again and he will play games. Maurice Smit will be a backup CM. Other than that it is all the same.

--

ABERDEEN

The bookies rank us as 2nd favourites and with the arranged signings of Lewis Hornby, Ruben Vinagre, Billy Gilmour, Norberto Gois (a Newcastle regen), Calum Paterson and Angel Gomes as well as another regen from Newcastle - Scott O'Ware all on free transfers the squad was looking good.

I then spent £2.8m on Ryan Porteous of Hibs, £950,000 for Kik Pirie of Swansea, £3.5m for Sergey Garchev from Zenit who is a regen RB and £1.7m for Maite Amundsen from Rosenborg.

Added to that was a loan for young Scotsman Scott Guest from Stoke.

Outgoing I sold £9m worth of players but interestingly a player I brought in from Queen's Park for a free last summer will move to Liverpool in a deal worth over £7m and he hasn't played for Aberdeen yet.
​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;-I7sadl3aNM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I7sadl3aNM[/video]

AUGUST

FA Community Shield

v
Newcastle United 4 (Pellegri 11, D'Amico 25, Pellegrini 43, Rashford 61)
Manchester United 1 (Alli 72)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi (Alexander-Arnold), Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini*, Smit (Alvarez), D'Amico, Rashford, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Madlala) (Gallinetta)

Not a bad way to kick off the new season. I was without several players due to the Olympics but that didn't seem to harm us in any way.

--

UEFA European Super Cup
v

AC Milan 1 (Diaz Leal 67)
Newcastle United 4 (D'Amico 10, Rashford 13, Smit 53, 63)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini (Alvarez), Smit*, D'Amico, Rashford, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri

Back to back 4-1 victories. Maurice Smit showed me what he can do as he scored two goals and that is so important as his rating of 98 by the scouts doesn't reflect his stats so he needs to impress and improve. Pedro Diaz Leal scored on his debut for Milan against his old club.

--

v

Arsenal 4 (Rabiot 9, Vietto 44, 86, Arzani 66)
Newcastle United 5 (Rashford 21, Kean 41, 43, 76, Pellegri 53)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano (Gallinetta), De Ligt, Tierney (Eduardo), Pellegrini (Faccin), El Khatib, D'Amico, Rashford, Kean*, Pellegri

A crazy match to kick off the league campaign. Arsenal deserved a draw at least as they played very well but Kean and Pellegri ripped their defence to shreds time and time again.

--

v
Newcadtle United 4 (De Ligt 59, Pellegri 63, D'Amico 65, Sancho 90)
Everton 2 (Lingard 41, 48)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Addai (Havertz), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri

For the best part of an hour we weren't at the races but then we clicked into gear and Everton couldn't handle us and once again we bang in 4 goals.

--

v

Leicester City 0
Newcastle United 2 (Addai 26, D'Amico 76)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Eandi, Upamecano*, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Addai, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Althuser)

A good away win. Addai out us in front with his first of the season and although we didn't go on to score 4 or 5 we were always comfortable and D'Amico sealed the victory towards the end.

--

SUMMARY

We started the season in great form and we are in fine fettle as we won every game which made us claim the two minor trophies of the season. We scored 4 against Man Utd, AC Milan and Everton, 5 against Arsenal and got a good 2-0 away win over Leicester so all is good.

Regarding the transfer window I did sign one more player. Richard Johnson is a 16y/o winger and he was brought in from Birmingham City for £5m.
View attachment 34409

Up at Aberdeen they have made a so-so start to the domestic campaign but they have made it to the Europa League group stage. I have signed more players, including my Scotland winger Bailey Kenneth, for them so hopefully they can mount a championship challenge.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
FELICE D'AMICO
View attachment 34411

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34410
​

 

[Klippybo]

[video=youtube;Wv1QamjBCTM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv1QamjBCTM[/video]

SEPTEMBER

v
Newcastle United 2 (Upamecano 54, Arthur 85pen)
Watford 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano*, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini, Arthur, Althuser, Addai (Havertz), Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Rashford)

Back to back 2-0 victories. The big news going into this game is that Arthur R. got injured playing for Brazil and is out for 6-7 months.

--

UEFA Champions League Group D
​​v

Lyon 2 (Charvet 23, Evangelista 55)
Newcastle United 2 (Havertz 3, Madlala 35)

Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Smit), El Khatib, Althuser, Havertz, Sancho (Rashford), Madlala

My 2nd string did ok here. I would have played my full strength side but the players fitness levels were at the low 90s and with Man Utd away coming up next I decided to ring the changes.

--

v

Manchester United 2 (Gouiri 35, Fosu-Mensah 53)
Newcastle United 1 (De Ligt 45)

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini (Smit), Arthur, D'Amico, Havertz, Kean (Sancho), Pellegri (Althuser)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

After 68 games unbeaten in the league and over 100 games in total we finally lose a match. The result was a tad harsh on us but an error from Upamecano proved to be costly.

--

Carabao Cup 3rd Round
​​

v

Newcastle United 4 (Addai 6, Madlala 17, 19, 45pen)
Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Franks 63, Cash 67)

Lineup - Convery, Alexander-Arnold, Gallinetta, Kotalik, Eduardo, Alvarez (Smit), El Khatib (Morozov), Althuser (Rashford), Addai, Sancho, Madlala*

Sheff Wed is managed by Alan Pardew so it is nice to put one over on him. Madlala was the star as he smashed in a hat-trick - it is imperative that he takes his chance now Arthur R. is out long term.

--

v
Newcastle United 4 (Pellegrini 1, Addai 37, Horvath 86og, Havertz 90)
Crystal Palace 0

Lineup - Donnarumma, Alexander-Arnold, Upamecano, De Ligt, Tierney, Pellegrini*, Arthur (El Khatib), D'Amico, Addai (Havertz), Kean, Pellegri (Althuser)

A convincing victory as we had 30 shots to their 3. Pietro Pellegri hasn't scored in his last 4 league games - what is going on?

--

SUMMARY

This month saw us lose a match!! Terrible lol. To be fair the performances haven't been top notch and Pellegri is struggling for goals after getting 67 goals last term. We were solid against Watford, got a decent draw against Lyon with my backups before losing to Man Utd in a bad day at the office. After that we almost got back to normal by scoring 4 against Sheff Wed and Crystal Palace.

So all is not great really - especially if you figure in the injury to Arthur R. who misses most of the season. Up at Aberdeen they have been awful and have 5pts from 6 games and sit 10th in the table and have been knocked out of the League Cup.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
TRISTAN MADLALA
View attachment 34295

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 34294

--

Christian Dailly
1997-2008
67 caps, 6 goals

SCOTLAND

Friendly
​​

v

Malta 1 (Arab 67)
Scotland 2 (Wright 9, Watt 64)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Herd (Ralston), McCrorie, Connolly (MacDonald), Robertson (Tierney), McTominay*, McGregor (McGinn), Burke, Cummings (Mowatt), Wright, Watt (Slane)

By no means was this my first choice team for Scotland and even with the team I was forced to pick as most of my players were unfit. This was still a poor result though. Shaun Watt scored on his debut for us while Herd also made his international bow.

--

UEFA Nations League Division B Group 1

v

Switzerland 1 (Xhaka 38)
Scotland 2 (Gilmour 11, Watt 29)

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, Ralston, Herd, MacDonald, Tierney (Robertson), Gauld, McGinn (Mallan), Slane, Gilmour (Mowatt), Cummings*, Watt

A fantastic win. Again I couldn't play the team that I wanted to but we did magnificently well to win this match away from home.

--

UEFA Nations League Division B Group 1
​​

v

​​Scotland 3 (McTominay 31, Burke 61, McGregor 66)
Slovakia 0

Lineup - Fitzpatrick, MacDonald, McCrorie (Connolly), McKenna, Tierney*, McTominay, McGregor, Mallan, Burke, Mowatt, Wright

I didn't have a striker fit enough to play here so I played a 4-3-3 formation but the furthest forward 3 were my 2 wingers and my AMC so I had a strikerless formation. Somehow it worked a treat!!!!
​