Santiago Muñez: A Manager's Story

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“Football’s a religion here. London has any number of teams, same as in the Midlands. Manchester, you’ve got two, Liverpool, you’ve got two, Glasgow’s got two. Up here, though, it’s just the Toon.”



Newcastle United are perhaps the perennial sleeping giants of English football. They have spent 85 seasons in the top division in English football. St James’ Park is the 6th largest club stadium in England in addition to being the oldest and largest in the North-East. Despite this, Newcastle have not won the FA Cup since 1955 and the top division title since 1927. The Magpies have enjoyed some special players over the years, such as Peter Beardsley, Paul Gascoigne, Kevin Keegan and not to mention, the greatest goal scorer in Premier League history, Alan Shearer.

Recent years haven’t been kind to Newcastle. Owner, Mike Ashley, has come under strong criticism for his running of the club, with fans feeling he is using the club for personal gain and that he does not care for the club. With Ashley continually breaking promises to Magpies fans, hopes have turned to manager Rafael Benitez to turn Newcastle back into candidates for European football. The Spaniard was appointed Newcastle manager in March 2016 to try and keep them up after an unsuccessful spell with Real Madrid. Unfortunately for Rafa, he couldn’t keep The Magpies up and they were relegated to the Championship. After talks with Mike Ashley, Rafa was convinced to stay in the hope that if he returned the club to the Premier League then he would be financially backed by the owner. Rafa kept true to his word but Mr Ashley didn’t…

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News breaks that after months of back and forth between Rafael Benitez and Mike Ashley, Benitez has decided to hand in his resignation from Newcastle United. In a scathing interview, Benitez criticises the Newcastle owner for his “lack of investment” and “not caring enough about the club or the fans.” This leaves Newcastle in a crisis. With just a few weeks to go until the start of the season, their plans have been thrown out the window with the resignation of their previous saviour. Rumours are circulating of who the next manager will be…


Brendan Rodgers: 3/1

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The former Liverpool manager has been rebuilding his career North of the border and after going through the domestic campaign unbeaten, taking home all three domestic cups, the man from Northern Ireland is in hot in demand. The general consensus amongst Newcastle fans is that Rodgers would be an interesting appointment and would provide entertaining football at St James’ Park. That is if he is willing to swap European football at Celtic Park for a potential relegation dogfight with Newcastle.


David Moyes: 5/1

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The Scotsman’s stock has never been lower after disastrous spells with Sunderland, Real Sociedad and of course, Manchester United. Still a solid, meticulous manager, Moyes feels that he could do a job across the River Tyne and rebuild his career there. Out of all the names mentioned, Moyes is considered to be the safest and most pragmatic option.


Manuel Pellegrini: 15/1

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The Chilean recently was snubbed for the Southampton job and moved to China to collect a hefty pay check. Sources close to Pellegrini say that he is keen for one more project in his managerial career and that Newcastle are an interesting proposition.

Mike Ashley identifies Brendan Rodgers as his primary target. Talks with Celtic begin but the Scottish club refuse to let go of their prized asset. After Rodgers publicly declares in a press conference that he is staying with Celtic, attention turns to David Moyes, but it is not long before the papers get word.



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The Newcastle fans are up in arms. They rally against the board and against the appointment of David Moyes. Local radio station phone ins are filled with angry Newcastle fans, slandering the former Sunderland reject and demanding he is as far away from the club as possible. Word gets to the boardroom and talks with Moyes are put to an end to try and stop further fury from the fans. This puts Newcastle back to square one...



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From Los Angeles to Newcastle

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Over 5,000 miles away, former Newcastle legend Kevin Keegan is spending his summer in the Californian sunshine. After speaking to some of his friends in Los Angeles whom are still involved in football, they all begin to rave about a local amateur manager – Santiago Muñez. Muñez (originally from Mexico) moved to the United States when he was a child and despite his obvious talent, suffered a career-ending injury at just 17, just as college teams came calling.


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Not letting the injury defeat his love of football, Muñez obtained his coaching badges, earning rave reviews through the process. 15 years on, he is managing local amateur side Los Angeles Wolves F.C and has lead them from relegation candidates, to back-to-back league champions. Keegan goes to look further into Santiago Muñez and is instantly blown away at his passion and understanding of the game. LA Wolves win 3-0 and dominate the match. Keegan decides to go and congratulate Muñez on his sides performance and tells him of his growing reputation. A few days later, after pondering over what he had seen, Keegan phones his good friend and current Head of Youth Development at Newcastle, Joe Joyce, and tells him about this interesting young manager. Keegan asserts that, whilst Mike Ashley will not listen to him, he must interview this bright, up and coming manager for the vacant managerial position. Joyce has great trust in Keegan and speaks to Mike Ashley. The owner reluctantly approves and Santiago Muñez is flown out for an interview with Newcastle United, just 5 days after he is coaching his local amateur side.

Muñez passes the interview with flying colours. The boardroom of directors making the appointment for the next manager are sceptical going into it, but after Muñez explains his philosophies and even begins to give examples of what he would do tactically with the team in order to keep them up this season and then to develop them on afterwards, the board are left very impressed.

The final decision lies with Mike Ashley. It was obvious that Muñez is a bright, intelligent and talented young manager. Ashley knew that for handing him his big break in management, Muñez would be eternally loyal, and would be much easier to deal with than Rafael Benitez when the funds don’t come. However, the cons vastly outweigh the pros for appointing the inexperienced Mexican. How will he handle the English press? The egos? It is one thing being able to explain your philosophies well, but how will he seek to employ them? After a few days deliberation, Ashley makes his decision.


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Santiago Muñez will be Newcastle manager.




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The Squad



With just a few weeks until the start of the season, no transfer budget left over and no top-level experience, many believe Santiago Muñez is a dead man walking from the beginning. The first evaluation that must take place is that of the squad.


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Goalkeepers


Karl Darlow is the standout goalkeeper of an average list. A good shot-stopper with solid distribution, he will likely be the first choice throughout the first season. Rob Elliot and Freddie Woodman are decent backup but will only play in League Cup games or if Darlow gets injured.


Defence

Centre-backs are in my opinion where our best strength in depth is. Chancel Mbemba is the standout option and will be a crucial player for us. His physical attributes make him extremely versatile and he is confident enough in bringing the ball out from the back. I see him as a right sided defender either as part of a back three or right back in a back four. In addition, club-captain Jamaal Lascelles is a very good pure defender, though long-term he lacks technical abilities. Ciaran Clark and Florian Lejeune are both very good players for the level we are at and give us good cover at the back. The issues begin to arise at full back. DeAndre Yedlin, Javi Manquillo and Jesus Gamez all leave a lot to be desired and I would be surprised if any are here next season. Paul Dummett is a supporter of the club and could prove to be an important player for us as I see him as our best full back. Massadio Haidara is reasonable cover, if not uninspiring.


Defensive Midfielders


In the centre of midfield, we have a reasonable selection of different profiles. Mikel Merino is a fantastic player and will be key for us this season. Jonjo Shelvey is of a similar mould so it is possible one might be deployed further forward during the season. Mohamed Diame and Henri Saivet represent good box-to-box players and will give us good energy in the middle of the park. Jack Colback is someone who knows what it means to play for the club, being a local lad, and is a decent all-round player. Isaac Hayden might be useful in big away games as he is our most defensive minded midfield player.


Attacking Midfielders


A lot will be required of our attack minded midfielders this season. Matt Ritchie could be key as he has the technical ability to unravel any defence in the league. Jacob Murphy and Chrstian Atsu provide good pace from wide areas and will allow us to hit teams on the break. Ayoze Perez has the potential to do something special and may be the creative hub we need. Rolando Aarons will probably struggle to feature for the team.


Forwards


Our strikers, the reason why I think a lot will be required offensively from other areas on the pitch. Aleksander Mitrovic fell out of favour under Rafael Benitez, but his aggressive style and strength give a good option for the way I want to play. Joselu, though usually a calamity when it comes to finishing, possesses a decent all-round game and allows for other players to flourish. Dwight Gayle is arguably the most complete of the three options and has solid Premier League experience with Crystal Palace. I don’t see any strikers hitting 15+, but I am hoping that they each can get between 6 and 12.


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Key Players
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I see him being a vital cog in the machine for this team for years to come. With his dribbling ability, I see him as perfect to perform the “Azpilicueta-role” from a wide centre back, where he creates an overload in the midfield after taking the ball out of defence. Though his physical attributes are perhaps his most impressive attributes, his defensive stats are very good and he could definitely be part of a pairing as well. Possible captain’s material in the making, Chancel Mbemba has a big future at the club.



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The Basque wonderkid is an absolutely outstanding signing from Borussia Dortmund. In any system I deploy, it will be essential to have a midfielder who can guide us through the first and second phase of play and Merino has that talent in abundance. Somewhat similar to Xabi Alonso, he is all but unsellable to me. In the first season, he may be deployed further forward as he represents a bigger goal threat than Jonjo Shelvey, whom can also fill the role of my deepest midfielder.



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My best attack minded player, I need him to be as involved as possible. For this reason, I will predominately be using Ritchie centrally, as our most advanced midfielder (whether that be as a CM in a three, or as an AM with two players sitting). His outstanding technical and mental stats, but slight lack in physical stats instantly reminded me of one player – Kevin De Bruyne. In my system, I want Ritchie to be of the same mould, the midfielder that gives the final pass or scores himself. I need at least 15 goals and assists in the league this season from him.



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The Tactics


The principles of my tactics have always remained the same and will be my objectives for 90% of games:

Numerically outnumber the opposition in midfield.

Press high and intense.

Dominate (55%+) possession.

Be defensively stable (<1 goal per game) without sacrificing attacking integrity.


As manager of a newly promoted team, for the time being I have to accept that these goals will be hard to achieve and I may have to be more pragmatic in my approach. I believe that the set up below allows for us to be an attacking threat whilst being stable at the back. Defensively, going with a back three made a lot of sense seeing as the strength of centre backs we have at the club. As I eluded to previously, Mbemba will be the auxiliary midfielder from the backline and I will look to develop him to play out from the back, but he must also cover the right back slot. Lascelles, whilst a very good defender, may struggle to adapt to this system as it may well require more technical ability than he can deliver. Clark is a very good wide centre back on the left and may need to cover a reasonable amount of ground on the left-hand side. Darlow will be instructed to distribute short and play out from the back.


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Colback provides an interesting tactical dilemma for the opposition. He will fill in at left back when in defence (hence Mbemba pushes to right back) but will act as an extra central midfielder when in possession. Merino will be there as cover for the defence but be given a creative role too, as he will be the player I expect to begin out attacks. Diame will be utilised as the engine due to his physicality. I want him to cover the right half space and the right wing by forming a relationship with the right midfielder where when one is playing centrally, the other goes wide. Matt Ritchie perhaps has the hardest role in the team. He will be expected to play as a roaming 8 (think De Bruyne/David Silva for Man City) covering the horizontal length of the pitch in attacking positions, whilst also being expected to provide a scoring touch.


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Atsu has the most basic role in the team – be a winger and offer width. I want him to hug the touchline and provide space for Ritchie to roam into. Murphy will be our wide goal threat and I want him to come central when in the final third to offer support to the striker. Gayle will be used to cover the other attacking areas of the pitch, chasing the ball down and defending from the front. It will be a demanding role, as I need a striker who is as adept at striker as he is at left wing, right wing or even playing as a 10, as he will be required to do in certain situations.



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So, the tactic in full. Team instructions will be to close down much more, shorter passing, look for the underlap and to play a slightly higher defensive line.


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Pre-Season


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Well...that didn't go to plan.


I took over in late pre-season, after the friendlies against Panathinaikos and FC Midtijylland. My first port of call was to set up the tactic, and due to the asymmetrical nature of it - it was going to be hard for the players to adjust. So my pre-season games were not so much focused on fitness and experimenting with young players as they usually are, but rather, to get the players on board with the system.

Johor DT were a local team during our tour of Singapore. We played a strong team and won 3-0. Nothing to be proud of, but the players showed some of what I want to see this season. The inverted wing back coming inside to form an overload in the middle being the most promising from this game.

The game against RB Leipzig was without doubt our best pre-season performance under me. We matched them in all areas of the pitch, having the same number of shots as them and winning the possession battle - they just had that extra bit of class.

Playing the MLS All-Stars is always going to be a bit of a gimmick, but we did not show up to this game. Clint Dempsey scored in injury time to win the game for them but we were not at the races and the 4-2-3-1 we played against greatly exposed the formations deficiencies.

Yet, without doubt, the worst performance of pre-season...losing to our feeder club, Gateshead. We dominated possession (68%) and had 20 shots to their 4...but that isn't impressive, we should be doing that but we should be winning comfortably.

Raith Rovers gave us a much needed confidence boost going into the start of the new season, where we picked them apart comfortably. Nothing to brag about.


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Beginning of the 2017/2018 season



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Ideally, I would want to have taken 4 points from our 3 Premier League games in August. Home games against West Brom and Bournemouth are huge for us and we have to hit the ground running - with such a poor reputation, a few bad results and I could be out. Tottenham presents our first big test and is almost a free-swing for us. I would like a reasonable run in the EFL Cup and may field a strong team against Sheffield United.

There will be no transfers because I always disable the first window transfer budgets. I have a decision to make tactically - do I believe in my tactic enough to ride it out or do I convert to a more standard formation. The next few games might decide for me...



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August 2017


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"When I go home every night, I can look in the mirror and say I have given 110% for Newcastle United. If people aren't happy with that, I can't give any more."
Alan Shearer


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Absolutely unbelievable. Surely the biggest opening day win for a newly promoted side in Premier League history? We were sensational. I stayed true to the formation that failed in pre-season and we simply blew away West Broms low block. The first goal was superb. Intricate passing around the box allowed for Merino to slip through Ritchie, wide, just inside the box as he smashed it into the near post. Rolando Aarons doubled his career total league goals from this game. Jacob Murphy was absolutely scintillating as well. Outstanding performance from us.



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Oh well, it was nice whilst it lasted. In the pre-match scout report, my data analyst anticipated Spurs would play a 5-2-2-1 with Eriksen and Alli off the striker. I thought I could nullify their threat by having Isaac Hayden man marking Eriksen out the game. Unfortunately, they surprised me and played a 4-2-3-1 and within 15 seconds were 1 up. Our former man Sissoko then scored a tap in as the game was effectively over. Outclassed by a superior side - no real complaints.



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An incredibly frustrating game. We hit the woodwork 5 times in the match - Jonjo Shelvey hitting it 3 times himself. Ideally we would have finished the match inside 90 minutes but it Sheffield United made it difficult. Onto the next round.



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Again, an incredibly frustrating match. Either side could have nicked it, but overall I feel like we deserved the win. A major positive was how well we dominated the ball and we achieved our 3rd clean sheet in 4 games. I feel we lack top quality in the final third and am very much on the lookout for a starting striker. Probably a point gained rather than 2 points lost all in all.


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Summary


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2 wins 1 draw 1 loss 7 goals for 3 goals against


A good month to get our managerial reign started. I was targeting 4 points from the opening 3 league games and we delivered exactly that. Early signs show that the players are buying into my ideas on the pitch but they seem to still be concerned about my lack of pedigree off it. The only way to persuade them round is by winning football matches.


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Above is our best pass map so far in the game against Bournemouth. As you can see, Jack Colback drifts into the left half space, forcing their right midfielder to tuck inside and thus allowing for Rolando Aarons to be 1 v 1 with the right back if we can get him the ball. Matt Ritchie is roaming around the midfield, looking to connect the play in the final third and Mikel Merino is our passing hub in the 2nd phase of play.



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Next month gives us a good opportunity to build already. I don't expect anything away to Liverpool, but Burnley, Brighton and Leicester are 3 winnable games. I would like to come away with 6 points from these games but know that will be difficult.


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September 2017

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"Every defeat is a victory in itself."
Francisco Maturana Garcia


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Utter heartache. In a game we did not deserve anything from, to lose it with the last kick of the ball was probably the worst way to lose it. As the match stats show, we were dominated, scoring from our only shots on target. Philipe Coutinho's goal was worthy of winning any game.


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This defeat was far more worrying than the last. Mitrovic should have earned us a point, but Calvert-Lewin on loan from Everton put Burnley back in front from the kick off after we conceded. Mitrovic had a goal in injury time disallowed for offside, all in all a very poor performance and perhaps cause for concern as Burnley were greatly struggling.


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Routine win against weaker opposition. Good to see Dwight Gayle open his account for the season. The game could have been awkward as Reading played a strikerless 5-4-1...


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Christian Atsu coming up clutch. Even early on in the season, this could be considered a 6-pointer. An even game that we just shaded overall, we must look to build. Brighton's 2 early injuries and resulting substitutions greatly helped us.


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Our away form is already cause for concern. Maybe we are being too cautious? After Mbemba gave us the lead with a bullet header, I felt like we looked good money to see out the game. Unfortunately it wasn't to be as Jamie Vardy's powerful finish and a goalkeeping error by Karl Darlow sunk us.


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Summary

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2 wins 0 draws 3 losses 8 goals for 7 goals against

I would probably take this position come the end of the season. Arsenal, Everton and particularly Spurs are struggling for early season form and check out Crystal Palace and Leicester! It is obvious our home form will be essential in keeping us up. I feel like we can give anyone a game at home, but away from home I feel like every game is a struggle.


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4 winnable games next month. Evertons poor form means I may go for the game more than previously anticipated, plus they have a Europa League game that week so might have a European hangover. Palace and Huddersfield are the big ones though, again, 4 points has to be the bare minimum from those 2 games.


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Love it. That's a weird-as-**** formation, and I'm not too surprised you're struggling away from home since none of your midfielders are especially comfortable in their positions. Still, results so far are pretty decent and it's good to see the Colback experiment is working... definitely keen to see how you get on after January once you've hopefully been able to bring in some players to suit the system.
 
Sammuthegreat said:
Love it. That's a weird-as-**** formation, and I'm not too surprised you're struggling away from home since none of your midfielders are especially comfortable in their positions. Still, results so far are pretty decent and it's good to see the Colback experiment is working... definitely keen to see how you get on after January once you've hopefully been able to bring in some players to suit the system.
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, definitely a weird formation but I enjoy playing a bit differently. I might have to adjust to my players until I can strengthen.
 

October 2017

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"Some people tell me that we professional players are football slaves. Well, if this is slavery, give me a life sentence"
Bobby Charlton

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A good performance against high flying Palace. Their finishing was abysmal, having no shots on target. We could have sneaked the game but all in all we will take a point.


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As I said in the previous post, I felt Everton could be vulnerable due to their European commitments. We put in a very good performance and should have won the game. Christian Atsu breaking past the defence to give us the lead before Davy Klaassen levelled the game.


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We absolutely got away with this one. Peterborough are two leagues below us and we should be running over the top of teams like this. They missed a few big chances to level the game - I cannot say I am impressed with the squad depth present at the club.


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A big win against the side bottom of the league. Joselu scoring and setting up Christian Atsu who continued his rich vein of form. Huddersfield struggled for fitness in the match and we managed to capitalise in the second half. Dummett's red card was a moment of sheer stupidity.


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Summary

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2 wins 2 draws 0 losses 5 goals for 2 goals against



An unbeaten month! Christian Atsu being the star man so far and coming up with some big goals. After our good run of form this month, I decided to ask Mike Ashley for a contract extension and to my surprise he agreed...


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I was delighted to get a 1 year extension to the current deal, but part of me wanted an extra year. Stability is essential here at Newcastle as I have seen enough to convince me that we can push on and become a force with some financial backing.


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A very hard month ahead for us. Two of the traditional big six come to St James Park and we have two notoriously difficult away games to Southampton and Stoke. 4 points has to be the target - we are still thinking about 40 points at this stage.


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looking forward to following this. good start and love a weird formation (although I'm boringly standard with my own)
 

November 2017

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"The trouble with referees is that they know the rules, but they do not know the game"
Bill Shankly


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Good point. A very defensive, pragmatic performance from us, but we will take a point. Southampton had the better of a very dull game and arguably could have nicked it. I have noticed a lot of teams have 3/4 minor injuries, something we have done well to avoid.


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Absolute sickener. 3-0 down at home to half time to a Theo Walcott hat-trick is possibly my lowest low in FM. We managed to pull it back, to 3-2, Atsu scoring after a Merino missed penalty, but we missed a huge chance to equalise with 2 minutes to go. Very much a game of two halves.


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Aaaaargh. Incredibly frustrating game, I felt we should have won but for our poor finishing - some what of a recurring issue. A few more poor results and we should begin worrying.


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Oh f*** sake. An own goal in the last minute of the game summed up our month. Chelsea are running away with the league again and we put in a very admirable performance, but scoring goals is just not happening at the moment. A real sickener.


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Summary

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0 wins 1 draw 3 losses 2 goals for 5 goals against

Our worst month to date. 3 goalless games and 3 losses is disappointing, even if you're playing 2 of the big 6. Stoke was a very disappointing result given how the whole month went. I may have to be more pragmatic to get us out of trouble for the time being.


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Pochettino has been sacked by Spurs. Though they were struggling greatly this season, surely he deserved more loyalty than this? Jorge Jesus replaces him at White Hart Lane. Pep and Wenger being tipped to follow soon...


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I think think is more bad news than good. Potential takeover at the club and surely I'll be in the firing line? Unproven and probably just about meeting expectations may not be deemed enough for the new owners. Let's pray if Mike Ashley sells they'll not only keep me on, but give me a windfall of cash.


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Very difficult set of games in a key part of the season. Whilst other European leagues are winding down for the Winter break, we have a very difficult run in the league but have to pick up some points. 9 points has to be the bare minimum.


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December 2017

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"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it."
Lou Holtz


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Absolute clutch victory. We went toe-to-toe with a strong West Ham side and just when it looked like we had ground out a draw, Mohamed Diame unleashes a screamer from 25 yards against his former club. A huge release of pressure for us.


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0 points, disappointing result but we played admirably. We dominated the second half and should have got a point in the end. Rolando Aarons had a big game for us, hopefully he can build on it.


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Beaten and dominated by a better side whom played better than us. It could have been worse, we could have been embarrassed. Man City set the bench mark for the standard we hope to reach one day.


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Yes!! Big win for us, Watford are in a similar position to us but we pulled through to get the win. Jacob Murphy bagging a goal and assist for us as we open up a gap to the relegation zone.


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Utterly abysmal performance but I wanted to win the league game against Watford much more. Not a lot to say other than that I wish I had rested more players for this one, with a big away double header coming up.


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What a win! Swansea have struggled massively for goals this season, so I wanted us to take the game to them. Dwight Gayle's late goal broke the deadlock, but Mikel Merino picked up his second yellow immediately after the goal and we parked the bus for the last 10 minutes. Superb character.


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Dwight Gayle again!! The man may have kept me in a job, an even later winner than last game, we undeservedly take all 3 points at The Hawthorns. I am absolutely delighted with the squad.


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Our third clean sheet in a row and we should have won. A very good performance as we took the game to Tottenham, but we lacked that killer instinct to take all 3 points. I would have taken a point before the game though, so have to be happy.


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Summary

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4 wins 1 draw 3 losses 7 goals for 10 goals against


Outstanding month, when I needed the team to pull together for me, they delivered. 4 clean sheets was impressive and now being 12 points clear of the drop zone, I think we can look to push on and finish between 11th and 13th hopefully.


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I can now breathe a sigh of relief. After out takeover, I knew we had to grind out some results and we did just that. I hope to have a long and fruitful relationship with the new chairman and greatly hope he backs us in the transfer market.


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A reasonable month ahead for us. Targeting 2 wins in the Burnley and Brighton games. January signals the start of the transfer window too and I will be looking to bring in 1 or 2 new faces to the team. Big month ahead.

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It's all happening in your first 5 months, had a good start a sticky spell, a new owner, then another good month. You've had injuries and also seen a shock sacking.

Enjoying the story though, KIU
 

January 2018

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"In football, the worst blindness is only seeing the ball"
Nelson Falcão Rodrigues


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After the highs of the end of last month, high flying Bournemouth bring us back to reality with a Benik Afobe double. They had that slight bit of extra quality and are proving to be a very strong side on my save. The game was awkward being just 2 days after our game against Spurs, but no complaints can be made.


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Good, steady start to our FA Cup campaign. A good draw at home to a mid table League One team let us get a confidence boost ahead of our league campaign. Defence was very solid and Joselu is having a better season than I had anticipated.


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Very frustrating game. Strongly felt like we deserved 3 points from this one. Burnley's goal was our only lapse in concentration all match but they made us pay for it. 2 points dropped.


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A sickener. Bobby Firmino was simply unplayable, our defence couldn't handle the Brazilian dropping deep between the lines. On changing to a 4-3-3 we were much improved. Matt Ritchie is on a very good run of goalscoring form.


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Ritchie continues his run, scoring in the last 4 games! Dwight Gayle saves our blushes, we were very poor and Ipswich probably deserved to win. Changes are needed I think.


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Big win. Matt Ritchie is in outstanding form of late, I identified him as our clutch player and he is doing just that as our top scorer thus far. Flanagan's sending off allowed us to close the game out and we deservedly won the game. Good end to a testing month.


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Summary

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2 wins 2 draws 2 losses 10 goals for 10 goals against


11 points clear of the relegation zone, we look to have all but sealed Premier League football for another season. It seems like Everton, Burnley and us are all going to be competing for the upper half of the bottom half. At this stage, the prize money between positions matters to the club.


Oh and there were some signings...


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Delighted with both of these. Although we weren't struggling in the league, I felt like we needed an injection of some quality into the squad. The squad has quite a few very "meh" players and I did not want to sign players just for the sake of some new names. Fabian Delph is a player I have targeted since day one. He is ideal to play as an inverted wing back in my system and gives us the option of a more defensive oriented midfielder. He will be the joint highest earner at the club but I like him a lot and think it is a very good signing for Newcastle United.

Jesus Vallejo joins from Real Madrid on a loan until the end of the season. I see him as the ideal central centre back in the side with his excellent ball playing abilities and high decision making and anticipation, he can cover the other defenders. There is no option to buy as I doubt he would even have any interest and Real Madrid wanted a ridiculous sum. Hoping he makes an instant impact.

We came close to a few more players joining, notably Gino Wijnaldum rejoining the club. We had a bid of £8.25 million accepted but he had no interest in coming back to St James' Park.


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I forgot to screenshot this at this point in the game and therefore I'm sure you can guess the outcome of the Ipswich FA Cup replay. 4 away games will be tough but the pressure is near enough off, we can play with a little more freedom now. Hopefully Delph and Vallejo can make an impact.


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Loving following this mate.... It seems whenever a big team comes to your ground, a 3-2 loss is usually on the cards! Gutted as its not easy to score 2 in these games against the big sides! Will you be looking to invest in the defence at the end of the season if you stay up (which is looking likely at the moment)?
 
BallyC7 said:
Loving following this mate.... It seems whenever a big team comes to your ground, a 3-2 loss is usually on the cards! Gutted as its not easy to score 2 in these games against the big sides! Will you be looking to invest in the defence at the end of the season if you stay up (which is looking likely at the moment)?
Click to expand...

I know mate. I feel like we either can show no attacking intent and get a 0-0, or go for the game and we score but lose! For sure I am looking at bringing some new defenders in, but as I said before - only if they're right. Ideally I want to replace Darlow, bring in a centre back and a conventional left back to rotate with Delph.
 
Another good "chapter". I think Delph will be a great buy and that £8.5m fee will seem like nothing once he gets a run of games under his belt.
 
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