One City, One Club, One Love - A Newcastle United Story

<font color="#000000"><font size="4"><span style="font-family: book antiqua"><font size="5"><strong><u>[video=youtube;TXc1RhWsRkg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXc1RhWsRkg[/video]

NOVEMBER

v
Newcastle United 3 (Dembele 20, 23, 59)
Leicester City 2 (Vardy 48, 51)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin (Lirola), Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey (Wilshere), Merino, Murphy, Lanzini, Atsu (Ayoze Perez), Dembele*

Back to back hat-tricks in the league for Dembele!!

--

UEFA Champions League Group C
v
Borussia Dortmund 1 (Pulisic 84)
Newcastle United 4 (Dembele 58, 60, 69, 83)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Wilshere, Lanzini, Atsu (R.Sessegnon), Dembele*

WOW!!! That's 3 hat-tricks in a row for Dembele and takes his tally of the season up to 19 (22 if you include 3 for Celtic). This win makes us qualify for the next stage too.

--

v
Manchester United 4 (Icardi 2, Pizzi 10, Lindelof 82, Arda Turan 89)
Newcastle United 1 (Lindelof og50)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino (Xadas), Wilshere, Lanzini (Ayoze Perez), Atsu, Dembele (Gayle)

Absolutely dreadful. Our 17 game unbeaten run ends in a horrible fashion here and I am grateful it was only 4 that they scored. Lindelof actually scored another og at 3-1 but it was disallowed.

--

v
Newcastle United 1 (Atsu 45)
Arsenal 1 (Ozil 68pen)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Wilshere, Ritchie (Xadas), Lanzini (Blind), Atsu, Dembele*

It was important not to suffer back to back defeats in the league and we managed to avoid that here. Blind made his comeback from injury but Lanzini picked up a knock and will be out for a few weeks.

--

UEFA Champions League Group C
v
Newcastle United 1 (Xadas 62)
Juventus 1 (Dybala 64pen)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett, Wilshere, Blind (Hayden), Murphy, Ayoze Perez (R.Sessegnon), Xadas, Dembele (Armstrong)

Our performance here was pretty poor but I am not complaining with the result as we manage to draw against Juventus with a weakened side out.

--

SUMMARY

A mixed month. We started on fire as Dembele scored 2 hat-tricks in the first two games however what followed was a harrowing defeat at Old Trafford. After that we battled to two draws against Arsenal and Juventus.

With the games coming thick and fast we are picking up a few injuries and I had to rest Yedlin and Tierney for the last game against Juventus so we will see how the hectic Christmas period brings us.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MOUSSA DEMBELE
​​View attachment 73218

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LEAGUE TABLE
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th


DECEMBER

v
Southampton 1 (Cedric 56)
Newcastle United 1 (Gayle 80)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Wilshere (Blind), Ritchie, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Atsu, Dembele (Gayle)

That's 3 league games without a win but at least we managed to sneak a point.

--

UEFA Champions League Group C
v
​​Villarreal 1 (Jorge 73)
Newcastle United 3 (Murphy 5, Xadas 19pen, 29)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Lejeune, Blind, Dummett, Wilshere (Longstaff), Hayden, Murphy*, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), R.Sessegnon, Gayle (Armstrong)

A nice way to round off the group stage and it could have been better as Lejeune had 2 goals disallowed. We end up top of the group, unbeaten and 2pts clear of Juventus.

--

v
Newcastle United 2 (Dembele 57pen, 62)
Stoke City 0

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin (Lirola), Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey (Blind), Wilshere, Ritchie, Xadas, (Murphy) Atsu, Dembele*

Back to winning ways in the league and Dembele ends his mini goal drought in the league.

--

v
​​Chelsea 2 (Willian 26, Zouma 35)
Newcastle United 1 (Murphy 75)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Mbemba, Lascelles (Blind), Tierney, Shelvey, Wilshere, Ritchie, Lanzini, Atsu (Murphy), Dembele (Gayle)

Another tough match and more dropped points which now means we have only won 1 in the last 5 league games worryingly. Yedlin missed his 1st league game under my charge.

--

Carabao Cup Quarter Final
v
Newcastle United 1 (R.Sessegnon 42)
Stoke City 1 (McGinn og89)
(AET Newcastle United won 4-2 on penalties)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola (Aarons), Blind, Sandberg, Dummett*, Wilshere (McGinn), Hayden, Murphy (Da Silva-Lopes), Xadas, R.Sessegnon, Ayoze Perez (Armstrong)

I took a major risk here by playing my backups as I knew we were the strongest side left in the competition. Their last minute equaliser was a sickener but we edged it on penalties.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Ritchie 45, Lanzini 74, Wilshere 82)
Bournemouth 0

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin (Lirola), Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey (Wilshere), Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini*, Atsu (Murphy), Dembele

That's better! We were pretty convincing here tbh with the only downside being an injury to Yedlin.

--

v
Liverpool 1 (Henderson 29)
Newcastle United 2 (Dembele 10, Lanzini 75)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney (Dummett), Shelvey, Wilshere, Ritchie (Murphy), Lanzini, Atsu (Xadas), Dembele

What a win this is. Like in our cup match they absolutely battered us and deserved to win but somehow we got the goals and somehow kept them out. Lascelles had a goal disallowed mind.

--

v
Newcastle United 5 (Murphy 8, 24, Dembele 30, Ritchie 44, 88)
Hull City 1 (Gray 45)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett, Shelvey, Wilshere (Blind), Ritchie, Lanzini, Murphy*, Dembele

I decided to drop Atsu as Murphy has impressed when coming off the bench recently and he repaid me in full with his goals here. He actually is top of the league in assists and got 1 here too.

--

SUMMARY

This was a tough month. We had so many games and tough ones too. In the league it started patchy but we ended the month with 3 great wins to finish the calendar year in 2nd place - 6pts behind Man Utd with a game in hand.

In the cups we progressed in the Champions League but got a nightmare draw against Atletico Madrid in the next round while in the Carabao Cup Stoke were defeated and we will play Leeds in the semis.

In the FA Cup we have a home tie - against Sunderland!!!!!

Elsewhere in the league West Ham sacked Benitez and appointed Deschamps, WBA sacked Pardew and appointed Carver while Liverpool sacked Mancini and Crystal Palace sacked Hodgson.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JACOB MURPHY
View attachment 73203

--

LEAGUE TABLE
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Could you upload or send me the extracted file I cant get them to upload into the game, the downloads take like three hours each
 
you are absolutely bossing it! Dembele is doing amazing for you didn't think he would be as good. Class story as always.
 
Ashleigh1984 said:
Could you upload or send me the extracted file I cant get them to upload into the game, the downloads take like three hours each
Click to expand...

Try getting them from fm scout. My internet is rubbish but downloaded fine. Might be a smaller file and therefore manageable? I've yet to notice a club without their logo
 
th


JANUARY

v
Newcastle United 3 (Ritchie 26, Dembele 60, 70pen)
Swansea City 0

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Mbemba, Lascelles, Dummett, Shelvey (Wilshere), Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini, Murphy (Atsu), Dembele*

--

v
Burnley 3 (Westwood 48, Hendrick 58, Gudmundsson 76)
Newcastle United 2 (Ritchie 10, Xadas 61)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini (Xadas), Murphy (Atsu), Dembele (Gayle)

This was quite simply not good enough as Burnley brought an end to our 4 game winning streak. They had a player sent-off in injury time.

--

FA Cup 3rd Round
v
Newcastle United 4 (Gayle 7, 55, Murphy 37, 64)
Sunderland 1 (Vaughan 39)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Lejeune (Sandberg), Lascelles, Dummett, Wilshere, Hayden, Murphy, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), R.Sessegnon, Gayle*

The big derby. I decided to go with my backups and they did a great job. Gayle had a late goal disallowed to deny him his hat-trick.

--

Carabao Cup Semi Final 1st Leg
v
Newcastle United 1 (Murphy 20)
Leeds United 0

Lineup - Horn, Lirola (Sandberg), Lejeune, Lascelles, Dummett, Wilshere, Hayden, Murphy, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), R.Sessegnon* (Da Silva-Lopes), Gayle

A poor performance but a good result.

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Murphy 6, Lascelles 45, Dembele 84)
West Ham United 0

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Mbemba, Lascelles*, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie (R.Sessegnon), Lanzini, Murphy, Dembele

West Ham are stranded at the bottom of the table and they were powerless to stop us here.

--

v
Newcastle United 5 (Dembele 5pen, 38, Mbemba 9, Lanzini 37, R.Sessegnon 89)
Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Kane 23, 61)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey (Wilshere), Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini, Atsu (R.Sessegnon), Dembele

Spurs have now lost 5 out of their last 6 so this isn't as big a surprise as you may think at first. They had Aurier sent-off midway through the 3nd half.

--

Carabao Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg
v
Leeds United 2 (Saiz 60, J.Murphy 87)
Newcastle United 3 (Merino 28, Gayle 53, 90)
(Agg: 2-4)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Lejeune, Lascelles, Dummett, Longstaff (Barlaser), Merino, Da Silva-Lopes, Lanzini, R.Sessegnon, Gayle*

Into the final we go where Leicester lie in wait.

--
SUMMARY

What a month this was!!! It was decent on the pitch but off the pitch it was problematic. Firstly on the field we did well as we reached the league cup final, thumped bitter rivals Sunderland in the cup and did well in the league apart from a defeat against Burnley. We are 4th in the table but we have a few games in hand although Man Utd look to have broken away at the top.

Off the field I had decisions to make. First I noticed I was above the limit in the Premier League FFP allowances for wages so I sold a few players but that resulted in seriously depleting my squad. So I decided to take a chance and hope that we get some extra revenue in prize money etc to pass it. I had £50m in my transfer kitty so it seemed pretty ludicrous to me. I don't mind getting a fine but a 5pt deduction would be devastating.

So for players sold I got rid of Daley Blind to PSG for £18.5m, Isaac Hayden to Watford for £5.75m, John McGinn to Barnsley for £2.7m and Rolando Aarons to Preston for £1m as well as a few youngsters for a pittance. Selling Blind was a great piece of business as he was mostly injured and considering I got him for free in the summer it was a no brainer.

Incoming was 5 players on deadline day. The biggest signing was Pietro Pellegri from Genoa for £24m. The 17y/o wonderkid looks as though he will be a star of the future and hopefully I can give him enough game time to develop. Dwight Gayle is probably pushed further down the order tbh.
View attachment 73080

Two more came in for the first team squad. On loan from Juventus was Rolando Mandragola and I also paid Rosenborg £1m for Marius Lundemo.
View attachment 73082View attachment 73081

Finally I bought 2 regens. My director of football arranged the deal to sign Jacob Dodds from Leeds for £1m and I signed Portuguese striker Ailton Tavares from Belenenses for £190,000.
View attachment 73084View attachment 73083

Elsewhere in the league these were the transfers.
View attachment 73079

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MOUSSA DEMBELE
View attachment 73086
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--

LEAGUE TABLE
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Great going so far, really good read, just got FM18 myself, do you find the outgoing transfers are more reasonable in the newer Fm? In fm16 you could struggle to sell a 30million quid player for couple of million and i found it really rare that the ai would offer anything decent even for my best players?
 
Some interesting signings there. You're going fantastically, I thought the infamous second season syndrome may have affected you but clearly not!
 
th


FEBRUARY

FA Cup 4th Round
v
Newcastle United 2 (Ritchie 12, Merino 65)
Stoke City 0

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Lejeune (Mandragora), Lascelles, Dummett, Lundemo, Merino*, Ritchie, Lanzini, Atsu (R.Sessegnon), Pellegri

This win means we have knocked Stoke out of both cup competitions. I gave debuts to Mandragora, Lundemo and Pellegri.

--

v
Newcastle United 1 (Tierney 30)
Manchester City 1 (Aguero 88)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, (Mandragora) Lascelles, Tierney*, Lundemo, Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini, Atsu (R.Sessegnon), Pellegri

I am happy with this point but frustrated that we conceded the equaliser so late. They had an early goal disallowed.

--

v
Newcastle United 2 (Ritchie 45, Dembele 61)
Cardiff City 0

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney*, Lundemo, Merino (Wilshere), Ritchie, Lanzini (Ayoze Perez), Atsu, Dembele

Another sublime performance from Tierney here. I noticed a month or so back that I wasn't playing him in his favoured roll but since I have given him an attack duty he has been immense.

--

v
Crystal Palace 3 (Townsend 13, 45, Zaha 63)
Newcastle United 3 (Atsu 6, Lanzini 22, Merino 87)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey (Wilshere), Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini, Atsu (Xadas), Dembele (Pellegri)

I am naturally disappointed not to win this match but at least we fought back to get a point thanks to Merino's late strike.

--

v
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Brunt 37pen)
Newcastle United 2 (Dembele 28, 45)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba (Mandragora), Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino (Lundemo), Ritchie (Xadas), Lanzini, R.Sessegnon, Dembele*

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg
v
Atletico Madrid 2 (Digne 19, Deulofeu 90)
Newcastle United 1 (Lanzini 4)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey (Xadas), Merino, Ritchie (Wilshere), Lanzini, Murphy, Dembele (Pellegri)

This is heartbreaking. We took an early lead but were quickly pinned back but then they had Gimenez sent-off and it was an even game. With 5min left Lanzini missed a sitter to win it for us and he then got sent-off in the last minute and they scored the winner from the resulting free-kick.

--

FA Cup 5th Round
v
West Bromwich Albion 3 (Rondon 28, Brunt 61, Lejeune og79)
Newcastle United 5 (Pellegri 13, 17, 46, 66, Ayoze Perez 31)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola (Sandberg), Lejeune, Mandragora, Dummett, Wilshere, Lundemo, Xadas (Da Silva-Lopes), Ayoze Perez, Atsu, Pellegri*

What a performance from the wonderkid Pellegri as he struck 4 times to take us through. Ayoze Perez and Atsu got 2 assists each and starred also.

--

v
Preston North End 1 (Aarons 90)
Newcastle United 3 (Murphy 48, 81, Wilshere 90)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles (Lejeune), Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Murphy*, Lanzini (Wilshere), Atsu, Dembele (Pellegri)

The 1st half here was not good enough but in the 2nd we were much better. Typically Rolando Aarons returned to haunt us a bit right at the end.

--

SUMMARY

This month was packed full of games and tough ones at that, especially since we had 5 away games on the trot. There were no real memorable league games but we end the month in 2nd place 6pts behind Man Utd and 3pts clear of Arsenal.

In the cups we narrowly lost the 1st leg of our European Cup tie against Atletico Madrid and in the FA Cup we defeated Stoke before a magnificent individual display from Pellegri knocked out WBA and we will play Man Utd in the next round.

Elsewhere Man City sacked Pep Guardiola!!!
--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
KIERAN TIERNEY
View attachment 73052

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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 73053
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coolmcool said:
Great going so far, really good read, just got FM18 myself, do you find the outgoing transfers are more reasonable in the newer Fm? In fm16 you could struggle to sell a 30million quid player for couple of million and i found it really rare that the ai would offer anything decent even for my best players?
Click to expand...

At the start when I listed them I just said unspecified and you would get offered reduced amounts so I tend to ask for double their value now just to see if there is interest
 
I noticed I can nevever get Demble firing in any game. May be im a Rangers man so it just doesn't work. lol kidding. I find he is either a hit or miss/ great save/story so far/
 
th




MARCH

​


Carabao Cup Final
v
Newcastle United 3 (Lanzini 27, Ritchie 45, Atsu 82)
Leicester City 2 (Gray 65, Vardy 85)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey (Wilshere), Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini, Murphy (Atsu), Dembele (Pellegri)

WE WIN THE CUP!!!! I lead Newcastle to their first major trophy in 48 years as we beat Leicester here. We always were in control tbh and a 2 goal lead at half-time was fully deserved. They upped their game in the 2nd half but we managed to hold on.

Incredibly Leicester sacked Claude Puel immediately after the game!!!

--

v
Newcastle United 0
Everton 0

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin (Lejeune), Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie (Wilshere), Lanzini, Murphy, Dembele (Pellegri)

We must have celebrated the cup victory too much as we weren't at the races here and never threatened. A horrible match and a missed opportunity to catch up with Man Utd. Yedlin got injured and is out for 1 month.

--

v
​​Leicester City 4 (Vardy 24, 90, Mahrez 51, Iheanacho 78)
Newcastle United 5 (Smith og23, Mahrez og41, Xadas 49, Ayoze Perez 60, Armstrong 81)

Lineup - Horn, Sandberg (Lirola), Lejeune, Mandragora, Dummett, Wilshere, Lundemo, Xadas, Ayoze Perez, Atsu (R.Sessegnon), Pellegri (Armstrong)

What a crazy crazy game and one in which we were very fortunate. I decided to rest my team for the upcoming Champions League fixture and forgot that Lanzini was suspended but his replacement Ayoze Perez scored anyway.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
v
Newcastle United 1 (Ritchie 15)
Atletico Madrid 1 (Deulofeu 90)
(Agg: 2-3)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino (Lundemo), Ritchie, Wilshere (Lejeune), Murphy, Dembele (Pellegri)

HEARTBREAKING!!!! We performed so well here. We battered them in the 1st half and missed a few chances after taking the lead but when Lascelles got sent-off near the end of the 1st half it was always going to be a struggle. We battled hard though but yet again Deulofeu struck in injury time to kill off our dreams.

--

v
Newcastle United 0
Manchester United 1 (Mkhitaryan 19)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie (Atsu), Lanzini (Wilshere), Murphy, Dembele (Pellegri)

Another incredibly frustrating and devastating result. We needed to avoid defeat to have any realistic chance of catching Man Utd up in the title race but it wasn't to be. We will just have to gain revenge in the FA Cup.

--

FA Cup Quarter Final
v
Newcastle United 1 (Murphy 2)
Manchester United 3 (Martial 37, 70, Lukaku 90)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola, Lejeune, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie (R.Sessegnon), Lanzini (Wilshere) (Ayoze Perez), Murphy, Dembele

What a sickener. We took an early lead and were looking decent but first Lanzini and then his replacement Wilshere (out for 3 months) got injured and we just struggled from then on. Season over now basically.

--

SUMMARY

How can a month that started off so brilliantly end up with me feeling so disheartened?

We kicked off the month by winning the Carabao Cup in an entertaining final with Leicester which gave me my 1st trophy. That was followed by a disappointing draw with Everton and a crazy 9 goal thriller against Leicester which we just edged.

We then had 3 huge games. 1st we were knocked out of the Champions League thanks to a last minute goal, then we lost at home to Man Utd in both league and cup to basically endour season. The best we can hope for is to secure 2nd place but even that wont be easy as 5 of our remaining 8 games are away from home.

In the youth intake I got 1 really good looking player....
View attachment 73023

Elsewhere in the league Conte is the new Man City manager, Igor Tudor is at Leicester while Crystal Palace and WBA are also looking for managers.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
NOBODY!!!!!

Absolutely nobody stood out. Nobody even won a MoM award!

--

LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 73022

--

th


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LemonyFresh said:
I noticed I can nevever get Demble firing in any game. May be im a Rangers man so it just doesn't work. lol kidding. I find he is either a hit or miss/ great save/story so far/
Click to expand...

He started off on fire but has struggled badly for me in the last month maybe two
 
th


APRIL

v
Newcastle United 5 (Pellegri 58, 65, Shelvey 74, Lanzini 83, Atsu 84)
Southampton 4 (Calleri 10, 20, Lopez 57, Redmond 76)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Lundemo, Ritchie, Lanzini*, Murphy (Atsu), Pellegri

UNBELIEVABLE JEFF!!!! 2 down at half-time I was raging and didn't even give a team talk. We then went 3 down but Pellegri who came in for the dropped Dembele struck twice and Shelvey got his 1st of the season to level. We then fell behind again and I was livid but 2 goals in as many minutes gave us an incredible victory.

--

v
Arsenal 3 (Sabitzer 19, Petagna 25, Forsberg 48)
Newcastle United 2 (Lanzini 62, Pellegri 78)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Lejeune, Lascelles (Mandragora), Tierney (Dummett), Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie (Murphy), Lanzini, Atsu, Pellegri

Not good enough as Arsenal dominated. That said we almost got another comeback and we were left to rue Ritchie's 1st half disallowed goal at 1-0.

--

v
Stoke City 1 (Diouf 5)
Newcastle United 4 (Ritchie 40, Dembele 75, 90, Butland og90)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin (Lirola), Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini, Atsu (Murphy), Pellegri (Dembele*)

This scoreline flattered us to be honest and we only really clicked when I put Dembele on. Dropping him from the side obviously was the kick up the backside that he needed!

--

v
Newcastle United 2 (Atsu 27, Merino 86)
Chelsea 1 (Gignac 90)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie (Xadas), Lanzini, Atsu*, Dembele (Pellegri)

A fantastic victory which makes us level with our total points in the league last season and we still have 4 games left to play.

--

v
​​Manchester City 4 (Sanchez 6, 27, Aguero 76pen, Sterling 87)
Newcastle United 1 (Stones og20)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini (Xadas), Atsu, Dembele (Pellegri)

Awful

--

SUMMARY

We were involved in some crazy matches this month. We had an absurd comeback against Southampton in a 5-4 win, put 4 past Stoke and got a great win against Chelsea but on the other hand we suffered defeats to Arsenal and Man City so we are still waiting to see where we will finish up in the league.

That's about it lol.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
MANUEL LANZINI
View attachment 72988

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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 72987
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th


MAY

v
Hull City 1 (Ulloa 57)
Newcastle United 2 (Shelvey 44, Atsu 55)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin (Lirola), Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie*, Lanzini (Xadas), Atsu, Pellegri (Dembele)

Not a vintage performance but a win that relegates Hull and ensures us qualification for next seasons Champions League.

--

v
Newcastle United 2 (Lanzini 37, Atsu 65)
Liverpool 2 (Origi 51, 90)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Mbemba, Lascelles, Tierney, Shelvey (Lundemo), Merino, Ritchie (Xadas), Lanzini, Atsu, Dembele (Pellegri)

2nd place would have been secured had Origi not levelled in the last minute. Very annoying.

--

v
Bournemouth 3 (Wilson 5, Afobe 17, Schrijvers 80)
Newcastle United 2 (Pellegri 18, 87)

Lineup - Horn, Lirola (Da Silva-Lopes), Lejeune, Lascelles (Mandragora), Dummett, Shelvey, Lundemo, Ritchie, Xadas (Ayoze Perez), Atsu, Pellegri*

Fortunately for us Arsenal could only draw so we finish in 2nd place.

--

SUMMARY

The final month of the season was a precession really as we did just enough to finish in 2nd place in the league but a whopping 16pts behind the winners Man Utd.

Not much else really happened apart from me getting notice of my transfer budget for next season after the Hull match - I was given a provisional £71m to spend. As for me failing the FFP in the Premier League - my prize money obliterated it and instead of being £400,000 per week over I ended the season a whopping £1.2m a week UNDER it!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CHRISTIAN ATSU
View attachment 72967

END OF SEASON POST TO FOLLOW
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th


END OF SEASON POST

Season no2 is over and it was a success but it was also tinged with what could have been. In the league we were right up there until just after the transfer window but we were too inconsistent and in the end finished a massive 16pts behind Man Utd.

There were some highlights naturally. We had 2 incredible comebacks against Everton and Southampton and we got another big home win against Spurs. Goals were not a problem as we were the leagues top scorers with 90 goals but conceding 50 is an issue.

In the cups we did very well. We were victorious in the Carabao Cup which was our first major trophy since 1969. Our highlight in the run was a 2-1 away victory against Liverpool where we got battered but somehow edged through. In the FA Cup we got to the quarter finals before Man Utd chucked us out and in the Champions League we had a nightmare group in which we somehow managed to top by being unbeaten but 2 last minute goals in either leg knocked us out at the hands of Atletico Madrid.

--

FINAL LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 72923

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FIRST TEAM SQUAD
View attachment 72922View attachment 72921

As ever there are some standouts. Most performed admirably. Dembele was immense especially the first half of the season but he dwindled towards the end. Jacob Murphy had a great season while my full backs did well too. Shelvey was probably the main disappointment. His average rating was decent but only 2 goals is poor.

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END OF SEASON AWARDS
View attachment 72920View attachment 72918

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TRANSFER WINDOW HOPES

We aren't that far away I don't think. Personally if we can add 1 or 2 genuine world class players then we will be boosted. Probably in the wings and CB is where it is needed most.


​
 
th


PRE-SEASON

This pre-season was always going to be important as my aim was to buy the quality required to take us up a level. On the whole I think I did a bit of that but the transfer market went absolutely crazy so god knows lol - more on that later.

The summer was mainly all about buying players and upgrading my staff. I had over £100m to spend and on my current game day (day of the Charity Shield) I am left with just over £30m so I have been busy.....

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PLAYERS OUT

There were 3 main departures. Firstly Dwight Gayle, who won the European Golden Boot 2 seasons ago, was sold to West Ham for £15m despite scoring 31 goals in 47 matches for me. With Dembele and Pellegri in front of him he was too big an asset to have sitting in the stands.

Ayoze Perez was sold to Huddersfield for £5m and Florian Lejeune left to go to Everton for £3.6m - neither will be missed overly. 2 reserve players were sold also. Leonardo Da Silva-Lopes went to Hull for £1.1m and Dan Barlaser went to Peterborough for £575,000. Other than that it was just loans.

Arsenal tried to sign Timo Horn but only offered me £15m for him which was a joke. In the end they signed Kepa Arrizabalaga for about that.

TOTAL INCOME - £25.5m

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PLAYERS IN

I more than doubled my transfer record to bring in my main signing. £55m was spent on Youri Tielemans of Monaco. Youri at 22 is top notch and has room to develop into a truly world class player. I could have got Leandro Paredes and Ross Barkley for £30m each but I decided to pay a bit extra for a bit more extra quality.
View attachment 72804

I strengthened the defence by signing 2 new centre halves. Tin Jedvaj came in from Atalanta for £14.25m and Jorge Mere came in from Koln for £13.25m. Jedvaj will be first choice I think and Mere will be back up but they are a significant step up from what I had last season for sure.
View attachment 72803View attachment 72802

I signed 2 players who I loaned out to Nimes because they didn't get work permits. Benjamin Rollheiser is an Argentinian striker who I signed from River Plate for £3.7m and also I signed a Turkish keeper on a free. Unfortunately Rollheiser promptly went and broke his leg so will be out for 4-5 months.
View attachment 72801View attachment 72800

Finally I signed 3 regens for a total of £2m.........
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TOTAL SPEND - £88m

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REMEMBER HIM????

Last season I brought in a regen striker from Mali called Issiaka Soumare for just over £100k. He scored 12 goals over there and did average but when he came back for pre-season training after the African Cup of Nations I had another look at him and he has developed greatly! He has 11 goals in 11 games for his country, is valued at £7m and looks a great prospect and is my new 3rd choice striker!!
View attachment 72796

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SQUAD

Changes afoot in the first team with 2 new defenders and a midfield maestro coming in. My main dilemma is who to partner Tielemans in midfield with and who to give the nod up front too - Pellegri or Dembele.

With my £30m left I may just save it til January.

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MISSED TARGETS

Tried to get Lewis Cook and was quoted £209m!!!!! Thought I had Harry Maguire for £30m and then Chelsea pinched him. I originally tried to sign Dayot Upemecano but Monaco (fuelled by the £55m I gave them) signed him for nearly £80m!!! Also I had been tracking a regen Greek defender who I was unsure of and tried to get a couple of times for about £2.5m when he was worth £300k but that was rejected - Man City are about to sign him for a deal up to £25m!!!

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OTHER TRANSFERS IN THE LEAGUE

Man Utd who last season won the league by 16pts, the FA Cup and the Champions League were obviously struggling and spent almost £200m on Isco, Kane and Hamsik!!! Man City signed 2 good young (non regen) USA players who aren't regens that I wish I had spotted annoyingly.
View attachment 72781

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AIM FOR THE SEASON

Now I won my first trophy I expect one every year. Simples.

​
 
th


AUGUST

FA Community Shield
v
Newcastle United 4 (Murphy 35, Dembele 37, 50, 77)
Manchester United 0

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin (Mbemba), Jedvaj, Lascelles, Tierney, Tielemans, Merino, Ritchie (Xadas), Lanzini, Murphy, Dembele*

WOW!!!! Tbh although we were great we were helped by the fact that Ander Herrera got sent-off early doors and the fact that they played a weakened side. Dembele also missed a penalty but I suppose his hat-trick is good enough to give him the nod ahead of Pellegri lol.

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v
Newcastle United 5 (Dembele 5, 13, 85, Murphy 32, Lascelles 78)
Cardiff City 1 (Ighalo 7)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Jedvaj, Lascelles, Tierney, Tielemans, Merino (Wilshere), Ritchie (Xadas), Lanzini, Murphy, Dembele*

2 games played this season and 2 hat-tricks for Dembele. Not bad!!!

--

v
West Bromwich Albion 0
Newcastle United 1 (Lanzini 26)

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Jedvaj, Lascelles, Tierney, Tielemans, Merino, Ritchie (Wilshere), Lanzini*, Murphy (Xadas), Dembele (Pellegri)

--

v
Newcastle United 3 (Ritchie 32pen, Pellegri 52, Xadas 80)
Huddersfield Town 0

Lineup - Horn, Yedlin, Jedvaj (Mere), Lascelles*, Tierney, Tielemans (Shelvey), Merino, Ritchie, Lanzini, Murphy (Xadas), Pellegri

--

SUMMARY

A great start to the season and much needed too (as I will show in a minute!) as we opened the season by winning the curtain raiser that is the Community Shield by beating Man Utd's reserve side (none of their signings played) 4-0 and then going on to win our first 3 league games fairly comfortably.

The cup draws were made and in the Carabao Cup we will begin our defence with a home tie against Rochdale. In the Champions League we were again seeded 4th and I didn't think it was possible but we got a group much, much, much, much, much harder than last time.........

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50058.png


Don't need to say who is who there lol. If we can somehow finish 3rd I will be happy. Now what it does do is give me 2 months of the most horrendous fixtures. I looked at a 4-5 matches in the league that I had in a row after a kind start and thought that will be tough now my fixture list is this from the end of Sept to the beginning of Nov.......

Arsenal (a)
AC Milan (h)
Man City (a)
Spurs (h)
Real Madrid (h)
Man Utd (a)
Liverpool (h)
Real Madrid (a)

Now for the end of the transfer window. I brought in a young Colombian regen and sent him off to Nimes to get a work permit. Elsewhere Marco Asensio went to Chelsea, Lucas Moura went to Wolves for £21m (I got quoted £35m) and that was about it.
View attachment 72674

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
JAMAAL LASCELLES
View attachment 72676

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LEAGUE TABLE
View attachment 72675
​
 
Loving the story, so easy to follow!

Could I ask how you upload pictures as mine don't seem to be working vi the attach link area
 
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