The Return of The Entertainers: The Rise of the Geordies

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Newcastledownunder

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BREAKING NEWS:

Alan Pardew today left Newcastle United, citing that he wished to take time out of the game in order to spend more time with his family. Due to the lack of managers that want to work under Mike Ashley, a 25 year old with almost no experience at management of any sort has come in to try and take Newcastle as far as he can.

Cillian Calvert is new to management, and many are saying that Ashley is gambling with Newcastle's future by appointing somebody with such little experience. He conducted his first interview only a few minutes ago.

Reporter: Hello there Cameron, I hope you are settling in well at your new role.

Calvert: Yes, I am, thank you very much. The Chairman has been very positive in attempting to help me settle in.

Reporter: Ahh. Much has been said about how ambitious Mike Ashley is in football, and many are saying he is unwilling to invest large sums of money to Newcastle's cause. Do you feel that your ambitions for this football club are matched by Mike Ashley, or do you foresee you and he clashing heads from time to time?

Calvert: I believe that Mike Ashley wants to take this club as far as is possible, and has gotten a lot of unfair stick for being cautious about a business that he isn't familiar with. He is as ambitious as anyone.

Reporter: In which case, given that he has asked you to qualify for the champions league this season, do you feel that that is fair? Given the spending power and history of clubs such as Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham, not to mention the likes of Chelsea and the Manchester Giants, could that not be seen as too ambitious?

Calvert: We can see ourselves breaking into that top 4 this season, and I was the one who decided that that was a fair target. There's no point in aiming for mediocre, we must aim for the highest possible.

Reporter: Will this prompt a change in the backroom staff, then, in favour of those with more experience in Champions League position?

Calvert: That is certainly possible, however everybody will be staying unless I have decided that they are not good enough, and need to go.

Reporter: Very well. How would you say your management style will be? Hands on, or more reserved.

Calvert: I feel that players will always perform better for managers who they feel close to, and I will be looking to spend a large amount of time with each player, and get to know them well.

Reporter: That's an admirable position. Given how high the expectations are, will you be focusing on the league only, or will you aim to end Newcastle's long run without a cup win?

Calvert: My main focus has to be the league, but I am going to make a personal promise to the newcastle fans that I will guide Newcastle United to a trophy within the next three seasons.

Reporter: If you are aiming to be in the champions league next season, you must be trying to bring in several good players. Any chance we could get a hint as to who you are targeting?

Calvert: I'm not going to be giving that much detail away, however we are looking for additions in almost all departments, to aide with squad size, more than anything. We will be looking to bring in one or two starters though.

Reporter: Yohan Cabaye is widely expected to leave Newcastle before the end of the transfer window. Any comments on this?

Calvert: He will be going nowhere for any less than twenty-five million pounds. If we get offers over that, however, it might be very hard for us to justify turning that much money down.

Reporter: There has been talk that you are targeting Bahia midfielder Adavilson. Is this correct.

Calvert: We would very much like to make him a member of the squad. We believe that there are a lot of great youngsters in Brazil, and we have already spent hours searching through the nation, and we feel there are two or three great youngsters there who we would love to make a member of the team.

Reporter: Could we get the other players names then?

Calvert: It might be ill advised for me to say it blatantly, however we are interested in a youngster from Gremio in particular. I need to go now, we are very busy here, and I have a large amount of work to do.

Reporter: Thank you for your time, should we have another meeting in about a month then?

Calvert: I don't see why not. I guess I'll see you then.

Adavilson is a seventeen year old who, before Newcastle made an offer for, almost nobody had heard of, as he has yet to make an appearance for Bahia's first team. Even so, with Graham Carr having reportedly picked him out, this could be a very good move for them, like Yohan Cabaye was. There are also rumours of Calvert's interest in Nicolas Gaitan and Tom Ince as well. Stay tuned for more.
 
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Adavilson is a regen who I spotted in my customary "Check the youth of the best Brazillian Clubs" start of save. Same with the Gremio youngster, a dude called Marcos Luis.
 
Reporter: Well Cillian, it's been a very busy month for you. Let's have a look at your transfers first.
Reporter: Nine transfers in, nine transfers out. Let's start with the ones who you brought in. Five who many are saying are for the first team, Keisuke Honda, Nicolas Gaitan, Leandro Damiao, Eduardo Salvio and Eder Alvarez Balanta. Is it not risky to not sign a single player who has premier league experience?

Calvert: It could be seen as risky, however I have complete trust in all of these players to adapt well to the English League and show the world why we bought them.

Reporter: A lot of people are suggesting that Keisuke Honda was brought in because of his popularity in Asia more than his ability with a football. Would you care to comment on that?

Calvert: Whoever's been saying that has clearly never seen him play. Honda is the Japanese captain on merit, and we bought him because we felt that the amount we spent on him was worth it given what he could bring to the field. If it helps boost our popularity, it's a helpful side effect, and nothing more.

Reporter: Very well then, was the lack of any European players intentional or accidental? 4 South Americans and an Asian are far from the most local of players.

Calvert: It was a complete accident, we were looking to get the best players we could for the amount of money we had to spend. It was sheer chance that these players are from other continents, and 3 of them have been playing in Europe for the last couple of years anyway.

Reporter: Eduardo Salvio has only been brought in on loan. Will you be hoping to make him a permanent member of your first team squad, or will he return to Benfica when the season is over?

Calvert: We have an agreed price with Benfica, if he performs well, however we may choose to not use it if we feel that money would be better spent elsewhere.

Reporter: Ok then. Somewhat surprisingly, your most expensive signing was also the youngest one for the first team, Eder Alvarez Balanta. A lot of people are saying that this is a very risky deal, especially for the amount of money involved, for a twenty year old center back with very little experience.

Calvert: I have full faith in Eder, and it wasn't exactly just us interested in him! Barcelona had offered the same amount that we had, and it was the promise of more first team football that brought him here instead of to the Catalan Giants.

Reporter: There were a fair few people who were surprised at how little Leandro Damiao cost you, as he has been one of the best Brazilian strikers for a fair few years now. Why do you think International let him go for so little? Could he be losing his touch?

Calvert: What a stupid question, he's pure class. I have no idea what was going through the minds of the management team at International, he's worth at least five times what we paid for him, and he'll be proving it throughout the course of this season.

Reporter: OK, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Nicolas Gaitan is the final new arrival for the first team, does his signing indicate that you are likely to be playing the ball down the flanks to cross it in a lot, or are you going to be trying to change his game a bit?

Calvert: Suggesting that Nicolas is one dimensional is a bit harsh on him, he has my full faith to be able to play in whatever position I think he would work best in. I personally like to see short, quick passing more than crosses from wide, however whatever gets results is fine by me.

Reporter: I'm sure that the Newcastle supporters will be glad to hear that. Onto your youth team signings, you made four. Angel Correa, Adavilson, Mandela Egbo and Sergi Samper. What a coup, by the way. One of the products of La Masia, Sergi Samper was thought by many to be in the heart of the Barcelona midfield in a few years, and that he would stay there for years to come. How did you persuade him to leave the Spanish giant to come here?

Calvert: I was honest with him, that he'd get more opportunities at this club than he would Barcelona, allowing him to develop quicker. I believe that in only two or three seasons, he will be one of the best midfielders at this club, because he's got the potential to become the best in his position in the entire world. Expect big things from him.

Reporter: From the most well known of the youth signings to the least well known of them. Mandela Egbo is only 15 years old, what prompted you to buy him?

Calvert: He was spotted by Joe Kinnear, actually, before Graham took a look at him and told us that he felt that Mandela has the potential to be as good as our current first choice right back, Mathieu Debuchy.

Reporter: And now for the South American duo. Angel Correa and Adavilson. Brazilian and Argentinian. They are both natural advanced midfielders, number tens, if you will. Who do you think will end up being the starter for you?

Calvert: Why not both of them? Right now, they can also do a very good job out on the left flank, and we are trying to get them both used to a role slightly further back on the pitch, so I see no reason that they can't both become key members of our first team.

Reporter: Who exactly was the Gremio youngster you mentioned in your last interview then?

Calvert: The youngster from Gremio we were trying to sign was Marcos Luis, but he chose to extend his contract with them instead.

Reporter: OK then, those are the players you signed. Now for the ones who left. Two names immediately stand out, Cheick Tiote and Papiss Cisse. Care to comment?

Calvert: Cheick is very good at what he does, however we felt, after bringing in Keisuke, that keeping a fifth midfielder would have been too much of a drain financially, so we offered him out for ?15 million, and when Atletico Madrid offered that much, we felt it would be unfair to him to turn it down. As for Cisse, we simply felt that the offer was too good for a player who only scored 8 goals last season.

Reporter: Ok then, and what about the other three players who were in and around the first team squad? Jonas Gutierrez, Mike Williamson and Sylvain Marveaux all made a fair number of appearances for Newcastle last season, and many are saying you should have gotten more for them than you did. Why did you choose to get rid of them?

Calvert: I felt that Jonas was no longer of sufficient standard to help this team progress, Mike would have been fifth choice center back and it would have been unfair to him to keep him here, and Sylvain, in my opinion, is no better than Angel Correa, and would have been an unnecessary obstacle in the development of both him and Adavilson.

Reporter: OK then, the other four who left were all on loans. Would you be willing to incorperate them into your plans if they do well for their current clubs?

Calvert: Absolutely, however, once again, it wouldn't have been fair on them to keep them here when they could have been getting regular first team football out on loan.

Reporter: Thank you for your input on signings. Here's another at the new faces.

Keisuke Honda:
View attachment 445320

Nicolas Gaitan:
View attachment 445322

Leandro Damiao:
View attachment 445323

Eduardo Salvio:
View attachment 445318

Eder Alvarez Balanta:
View attachment 445321

Angel Correa:
View attachment 445319

Sergi Samper:
View attachment 445324

Adavilson:
View attachment 445317

Mandela Egbo:
View attachment 445325​

Reporter: Now, let's talk about the preseason eh? Let's have another look at those fixtures.

Reporter: Three wins and four losses, including losses to Livorno, FC Nantes and Carlisle. Not good enough?

Calvert: Absolutely, there was only one fixture I would have accepted losing among that lot, and that was AC Milan. That we lost so many times, to teams that we don't believe are as good as us is unacceptable. We will be looking to make a statement at West Brom tomorrow, make no mistake.

Reporter: After that preseason, do you still believe that you can qualify for the Champions League by the end of this season?

Calvert: I do, we weren't as bad as the results suggest, we were simply not clinical enough when it mattered.

Reporter: OK then, are there any other teams you think will end up with continental football at the end of the season?

Calvert: I believe that Swansea have looked good so far, so if anyone would be my overachievers, it would be them.

Reporter: That's all we've got time for today, I hope that you will enjoy a lot of success at Newcastle.

Calvert: I appreciate it, thank you.






Next update will probably be within 12 hours, will cover up until the end of August. Unlikely to be in another reporter style interview, but if people comment and think it should be formatted the way it is, I'll keep doing it that way.
 
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I'm not sure which of Angel Correa and Adavilson to train as AML and which would to train as MC. My current choice would be in that order, but does anyone disagree?
 
nice story mate!! i'am playing as Newcastle too...i use Tiote as BWM and Cabaye as DLP in the centre...Moussa Sissoko AMC as AP Support..i have signed Honda as well but i play him as DLP, i rotate him with Cabaye.
 
August was not a bad month for me, but it could have been a bad month very easily. Let's start with the last of the transfers. We brought in a central midfielder for loan, 81k per month, to provide both good cover and a good tutor for Sergi Samper.

Javi Garcia:
View attachment 445307​

We're unlikely to keep him beyond January frankly, he's a signing for only the very short term, and after Samper's determination has been raised from 10 to 16, he'll have pretty much served his purpose. Now, onto the fixtures:


Two 1-0 wins in the league, and scraping through on penalties to a team a full division below us, after conceding 4 goals. Let's start with the cup, and despite me saying I'd focus on the league, I would really like to win a cup in my first year.

Blackburn vs Newcastle:
View attachment 445303

RESULT: Blackburn 4 - 4 Newcastle (3-5p)​

I fielded a much weakened team in this match. I lined up as follows:
Tim Krul
Mandela Egbo - Steven Taylor - Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa - Davide Santon
Sergi Samper - Yohan Cabaye
Yoan Gouffran - Adavilson - Sammy Ameobi
Leandro Damiao.

​
I also brought on Adam Campbell for Leandro Damiao, because he picked up a knock, along with Garcia for Samper, and Ben Arfa for Adavilson. How does Garcia repay me? By getting two yellow cards in about 20 minutes, so he gets sent off. We nicked this game, and it could easily have gone the other way. Given it reached penalties, it nearly did. However Adavilson and Sergi Samper both got to play their first games for the club.

West Brom vs Newcastle:
View attachment 445304

RESULT: West Brom 0 - 1 Newcastle​

My team for this match was as follows:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Vurnon Anita
Moussa Sissoko - Keisuke Honda
Yoan Gouffran ----------------------- Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao

​
The subs that were brought on were Yohan Cabaye for Moussa Sissoko, Sammy Ameobi when Gaitan appeared to pick up a knock, and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa for Balanta because I didn't want to risk a sending off. We were rocked by injuries with this one, with Ben Arfa and Salvio out, along with new signings Angel Correa and Adavilson.The first league game of the season for us was very bitty, and a draw or a loss would have been a more fair result, however just before half time, Mathieu Debuchy stepped up from the spot to give us the lead and eventually the win.

Newcastle vs Liverpool:
View attachment 445305

RESULT: Newcastle 1 - 0 Liverpool​

My first team was as follows:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Steven Taylor - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Moussa Sissoko - Keisuke Honda
Eduardo Salvio ​-------------------- Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao

​
A very defensive approach, however I felt that we needed to be, given Liverpool's attacking threat. We scored from a corner, with Balanta getting the necessary touch early in the second half. However, the stats say we deserved to win it, with Liverpool not creating a clear cut chance while we did, along with them only managing one half chance to our 4. Overall, a good solid defensive display by us, however we were lucky to score for the second match in a row.

How did the Capital One cup feel about the way I got through, you may be asking? Well, here's the draw from that round:

Yep. Manchester United. Leeds and Bradford are playing each other, and I'm playing Manchester United. Great.In other news, Ben Arfa is finally back to being ready to play after a slight knock ruled him out of both league games, and meant he couldn't play the full game in the cup either.

I came third in the Premier League Manager of the Month, behind Moyes and Wenger. The player of the month was Robin Van Persie, with 4 goals in 3 games, and the young player of the month was Christian Eriksen, who narrowly beat out Balanta for the award.Here's how the league looks at the moment. Nothing conclusive yet, obviously, as it's only three games in.

View attachment 445308

Player of the Month​
Eder Alvarez Balanta[SCREENSHOT NOT AVALIABLE (started this in November, previous months have no screenshot)]

Solid defensive performances and a goal. Not much competition really.Next update will cover all of September, during which time we get to play Manchester City, Fulham, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Swansea. What fun!
 
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Ramiza said:
nice story mate!! i'am playing as Newcastle too...i use Tiote as BWM and Cabaye as DLP in the centre...Moussa Sissoko AMC as AP Support..i have signed Honda as well but i play him as DLP, i rotate him with Cabaye.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I considered doing that, however I feel that Sissoko would serve me better as a BBM than a AMC, and Cabaye has Abysmal morale, because my asking price for him was 20 million. Here's hoping he pulls his act together within the next month like he did in real life.
 
Newcastledownunder said:
Thanks! I considered doing that, however I feel that Sissoko would serve me better as a BBM than a AMC, and Cabaye has Abysmal morale, because my asking price for him was 20 million. Here's hoping he pulls his act together within the next month like he did in real life.
Click to expand...

i hope too mate...and keep him in your team, there's no need to sell him at least for a couple of seasons!
 
September went about as well as could have been expected. Here's the fixtures.

I remain unbeaten in the league, and we had a spirited performance at Old Trafford, but we couldn't beat them there. Shame, but not unexpected. Here was that match.
View attachment 445292

RESULT: Manchester United 1 - 0 Newcastle​

I played a very withdrawn formation there, a 4-3-1-2. Here was my lineup.
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa - Fabricio Coloccini - Davide Santon
Vurnon Anita - Javi Garcia - Sergi Samper
Angel Correa
Yoan Gouffran - Loic Remy

​
Their goal came from a penalty, which we were stupid enough to give away. I expected this result as soon as it was drawn though, so I'm not too upset. Onto the league.
Our first game in September was away at Manchester City.

View attachment 445293

RESULT: Manchester City 0 - 0 Newcastle​

A boring draw, we were somewhat fortunate that they couldn't break us down, but sometimes you just need that little bit of fortune. That day's starting line up was as follows:

Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Steven Taylor - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Yohan Cabaye - Keisuke Honda
Hatem Ben Arfa --------------------- Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao
​

As the match went on, I introduced Sissoko, Remy and Salvio, all straight swaps, to try and win it, but it was for nothing, and we left the Etihad with a hard earned point.

The second game we played was at home to Fulham.

View attachment 445287

RESULT: Newcastle 4 - 1 Fulham​

A much better performance here, and we were deserved winners. The first team was as such:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Moussa Sissoko
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa --------------------- Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

The first goal came after a good passage of play, and a one two let Debuchy into the box unmarked and he scored his second of the season with a nice finish. The second goal came at the start of the second half, Fulham fell asleep and Ben Arfa punished them. His second goal came from the rebound of a free kick. The other goal was scored by substitute Loic Remy, who had replaced Gaitan as Anita and Yanga-Mbiwa replaced Sissoko and Balanta, as he lead the line on a counter attack, and got his reward for doing so. Fulham got their goal from a corner at the end of the game.
The next league game came away to Arsenal.

View attachment 445288

RESULT: Arsenal 0 - 0 Newcastle​

The line up was quite attacking actually.
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Moussa Sissoko
Eduardo Salvio - Hatem Ben Arfa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao

Leaving the Emirates with a draw was fine by me though, and nothing happened in this game worth mentioning. there was a single half chance for Arsenal, but that was it. Angel Correa also made his first appearance, coming on as a half-time substitute for Ben Arfa, who had picked up a small injury, and taking him off was the right thing to do.

Final game of the month was at home to Swansea.

​
View attachment 445289

RESULT: Newcastle 2 - 0 Swansea
​

Team went like this:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Moussa Sissoko - Keisuke Honda- Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa --------------------- Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

Leandro Damiao finally broke his scoring duck here today, with a strike on the 36th minute. That plus a Michu own goal meant I sent the team out to play slower and safer in the second half, and we saw the game out and put it nicely to bed. A valuable 3 points, and a good performance all round. Hopefully Leandro Damiao is going to go on a red hot scoring streak now, he's been disappointing so far.

The league now looks like this:


It's early days yet, but Manchester United look like they're going to run away with it right now. We're sitting nicely in second, and if the season finished tomorrow I'd be more than happy. Crystal Palace, Sunderland and Cardiff are all in trouble now, along with Hull and Aston Villa. The thing that's pleasing me most is the number of goals we've conceded, it suggests we've got good work going on at the back, which we can build on over the next year or so.

No surprises that David Moyes got the Manager of the Month award, while Koo Ja-Cheol for Stoke grabbed the player of the month. Eder Alvarez Balanta once again misses out on the young player of the month, as that award is grabbed by Eriksen again. In other news, newspapers are starting rumours that Newcastle are disappointed in their new striker, and will be on the lookout for a replacement in January, if they can free up the funds.

Player of the Month​
Eder Alvarez Balanta
[SCREENSHOT NOT AVAILABLE (started player of the month in November, earlier months don't have a screenshot)]

The next update will cover the end of October, with a far nicer fixture list for us, playing Cardiff, Hull and Norwich.
 
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October started poorly, and then got much better by the end of the month. Here's a look at our fixtures.


Cardiff Away. A game I was hopeful of 3 points. Here's the overview.

View attachment 445276

RESULT: Cardiff 0 - 0 Newcastle​

My line up was:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Moussa Sissoko
Eduardo Salvio - Hatem Ben Arfa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao
​

They had a guy sent off in the fifth minute, and they ended up having four clear cut chances! I was infuriated by that performance, our worst performance since the preseason. Nobody even seemed to be trying.

Playing Hull at home was a game that I demanded the players win, nothing else would do.

View attachment 445275

RESULT: Newcastle 4 - 0 Hull​

Line up was:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Moussa Sissoko
Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao
​

That was far more like it. I brought Angel Correa in instead of Yohan Cabaye when Eduardo Salvio got injured for two weeks because Cabaye had done very little to warrant a starting place, and I felt good about Correa. My decision was justified, as he finished the game with two assists, and he was unlucky not to score. His future is looking bright. The players responded perfectly to the debacle at Cardiff, and a brace from Leandro Damiao meant he had scored 3 goals from 3 games. Much better form than before. The other two goals were a strike from Ben Arfa on the edge of the box, and a tap in from Remy. Balanta picked up a knock, but he was better quickly, which was very good. A very good performance, probably the best performance of the season by us.

Norwich away was a game I had though easy before the match, before I looked at the table and saw that they were only a point away from the top 4. Norwich have been performing very well, and I got slightly nervous about playing them.

View attachment 445274

RESULT: Norwich 2 - 4 Newcastle​

The line up was:

Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Moussa Sissoko
Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao
​

I went for an unchanged 11 from the previous game, seeing how well we had played then, and this game was much harder. Another brace from Damiao might mean that he's finally adapted to the english game, with goals from both of my fullbacks to seal the deal, including an exquisite one from Davide Santon which came second in the goal of the month competition, where he dribbled from 40 yards out, across the penalty area and aroung 4 players before slotting home in the far corner. Correa impressed again, he had a goal disallowed, and played a part in the two goals of Damiao. Shortly after half time, I changed to a 4-5-1, with a counter attacking strategy, and it allowed us to see the game out, although we did have a little scare when they pulled it back to 3-2. A good performance again though. Cabaye is still really unhappy, if he doesn't get better I might ship him out come January, I think I could get on without him, after all.

The manager of the month award went to Pellegrini, I wasn't even in the top 3, but Santon was the player of the month, with Damiao just behind him in second place. Young player of the month was Shaw, nobody from my team made the top 3 though.

Here's how the league stands:

As you can see, we're nicely in second place still, and we've conceded the least in the league. All of this is boding well for the future, and it looks like we'll manage to get Champions League football if we can keep up this form. Also, the board agreed to both expand the stadium and improve the youth facilities this month. Hopefully both of these turn out to be worth it.

Player of the Month
Davide Santon​
[SCREENSHOT NOT AVAILABLE (started player of the month in November, earlier months don't have a screenshot)]

Next update will cover up until the end of November, where we will be playing Sunderland, Aston Villa, Everton and then we travel to Old Trafford to face the Champions in their own back garden.
 
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November was my best month yet, in my opinion. Here's a look at the fixtures.

We started the month at Sunderland. As a Newcastle fan, I'm familiar to the requirements of the derby, here's how it went.

View attachment 445335View attachment 445336

RESULT: Newcastle 3 - 0 Sunderland​

Here was my first team:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Moussa Sissoko
Eduardo Salvio - Angel Correa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

A fantastic result, nothing feels better than beating your rivals by such a scoreline, and the stats show that we deserved our victory as well. Ben Arfa was ill before the game, so he started on the bench. Eder Alvarez Balanta however showed why we bought him, as he netted a brace, the first of which came from a corner, the second came on a counter attack. Sandwiched between them was a goal from a Keisuke Honda free kick. No poor performers today, the only slight negative was my strikers being unable to score here as well.

The next fixture was away to Aston Villa.

View attachment 445332View attachment 445333

RESULT: Aston Villa 1 - 2 Newcastle​

First team:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda
Eduardo Salvio - Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

This was a very risky, attack minded tactic, which I don't think I'll be using again. I decided to use it this time because of how leaky Aston Villa had been, but it barely did anything. Balanta again managed to score, from a corner rebound this time, and while they pulled one back through Christian Benteke, Hatem Ben Arfa sealed the deal with a good finish after rounding the keeper just before the half hour mark.

Next up was a tricky game at home to Everton. I was nervous about this game, because in all of my other saves, Everton are my bogey team, have been since FM11. Here's how it went:

View attachment 445328View attachment 445329

RESULT: Newcastle 3 - 0 Everton​

The first team was as such:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Javi Garcia
Eduardo Salvio - Hatem Ben Arfa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

This was oh, so satisfying. Leandro Damiao started us off just before the half hour mark with a good finish after a good passage of play, Ben Arfa scored a thunderbolt from outside the box just after the start of the second half, and Yohan Cabaye came on and quickly proved an inspired substitution, chasing down the ball after a corner had been cleared and shooting from the corner of the box, nestling into the top corner on the other side of the goal. A shout out is needed for Balanta, who seemed unstoppable at the back, every highlight Everton had, he was the one who stopped the attack.

And then there was just one game left, where I was sure I'd get nothing from. Manchester United, at Old Trafford.

View attachment 445330View attachment 445331

RESULT: Newcastle 2 - 2 Manchester United.​

The first team set out like this:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa - Steven Taylor - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Moussa Sissoko
Eduardo Salvio Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

I dropped Ben Arfa as I was looking for harder working players in this match. It started fairly poorly, Nani grabbed a goal from 18 yards out after less than a quarter of an hour, but we rallied, and after 25 minutes, Leandro popped up at the right place at the right time to give us the equalizer. After an hour, an attack of theirs broke down, and Sissoko played a lovely ball through the center, which Damiao ran onto after skinning Vidic, and just squeezed the ball under the rapidly approaching David De Gea to give us the lead. We dared to dream, but only a few minutes later Valencia scored a goal from a free kick, which leveled the playing field again. As you can see, we probably deserved to lose that game, however Manchester United were not clinical enough, and we managed to hang on for the draw. The gameplan today was all about frustrating them, and it worked a treat, we countered well, and came away from St James with a valuable point, which we were not expecting.

So where does that leave us?


Third place, one point off the leaders, six points above fifth placed Spurs, fewest goals conceded, and the only unbeaten team in the league at the start of December makes me a happy manager. The gap at the bottom is developing, with Sunderland propping up the table. Good to see the game being realistic.

The award for the Premier League Manager of the Month went to Jose Mourinho, who won all of his games, while the player of the month was Frank Lampard. Second place was our young defender Eder Alvarez Balanta, who won the young player of the month instead.

So who was my player of the month?

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Eder Alvarez Balanta
View attachment 445326​

He's probably been our best player this season, and he managed his first individual honour this time, winning the young player of the month, narrowly missing the main award from Frank Lampard, who is the top goalscorer so far this season. He was very good indeed, scoring three times in four matches to go along with a performance worthy of Pique against Everton.

The next update will be at the end of December, which is as always a busy month. We play Chelsea, Southampton and Stoke at home, while we travel to London three times to face off against Tottenham, Crystal Palace and West Ham. And I'll be giving another interview at that point, to reflect on the season so far, talk about transfers, targets we've got and any other questions the interviewer would like to ask. So if you have any questions, post them in this thread for them to be included in the interview.
 
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I think its great you bother to post the formation's each match, but could you also include full pictures instead of attachments?
This story gets me hungry to play more, to bad im a bit bussy with xmas and stuff :/
Tumbs up!
 
I don't know how to post full pictures really, but I'll give it a try. Frankly I thought I had been posting full pictures.

EDIT: There we are, that's working now. Oddly enough I just had to do the same thing as last time to get them up.
 
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December... a mixed month indeed. Here's the fixtures:


A loss, a draw and 4 wins isn't bad, but the performances were concerning for me. Most concerning was conceding nine goals in 6 games this month, when in the previous thirteen games we had only conceded 7 goals in the league. The first match of the month was at home to Chelsea, who were hoping to jump above me in the table with a win.

View attachment 445220 View attachment 445201


RESULT: Newcastle 1 - 2 Chelsea​

My first team was as follows:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Eduardo Salvio - Hatem Ben Arfa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao
​

My first league loss of the season, and I can't say I didn't deserve to lose. Nobody performed well for me aside from Santon, and the goal that we pulled back was a fluke. If we had drawn this game, it would have been massively unfair on Chelsea. We took the lead from a scruffy fluke goal, a cross turned shot on a break being missed by Cech, and that sparked them into action, with a volley from William and an insisive finish from Eden Hazard giving them the goals. They left it very late, with their winner coming in the 90th minute, but, given that they had 2 clear cut chances to our 0, and 7 half chances to our 2, it was no less than they actually deserved.

After that loss, we had a tricky tie at Tottenham. This game would have been a 4-3 victory, but I experienced a crash dump as I was leaving the game. So here's how the repeat went.

View attachment 445219 View attachment 445204


RESULT: Tottenham 0 - 1 Newcastle
​

First team:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Steven Taylor - Eder Alvarez Balanta
Vurnon Anita
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa -------------------- Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

After the loss at Chelsea, I decided to go a bit more defensive in this game, hence the introduction of Anita in favour of Salvio. From the kick off, we had the ball, passed it around quite a bit, before it came to Gaitan on the left who skinned Kyle Walker before squeezing his shot in from a tight angle. I felt good about our formation, and left the instructions as they were for another 10 minutes, however after 15 minutes and about seven highlights of Tottenham, including two clear cut chances, I felt we needed to tighten up, drastically. They were pulling us apart at will, and they were as wasteful as they were in the real life fixture against us in this game. So I set our mentality to Counter until the 60 minute mark, when we went defensive, and it seemed to work. A back to the wall win, but a win nonetheless.

We stayed in London for our next fixture, away at Selhurst Park to face a Crystal Palace side in real trouble. I was expecting a fairly routine game. This is how it went:

View attachment 445224 View attachment 445205

RESULT: Crystal Palace 2 - 3 Newcastle​

The first team for the match was this:

Tim Krul
Davide Santon - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Massadio Haidara
Keisuke Honda - Javi Garcia
Eduardo Salvio - Hatem Ben Arfa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao
​

We deserved the win, as the stats show, however I was disappointed to find ourselves go behind twice. They went in from from a corner, with their captain toeing it in from inside the six yard box, before we pegged them back with a very similar move to that at Spurs last time out, with Gaitan leaving their right back for dead before finishing well. We hadn't learnt our lesson though, and after half time, they managed to score another goal, this time from a break that was finished well after a good save from Krul rebounded back to Jon Williams. I brought Remy and Sissoko on for Garcia and Damiao, both of whom had been anonymous that game, with that proving to be a good decision, with Remy slotting home from the edge of the box, and Sissoko scoring from a powerful shot into the top corner giving us the win.

Next up was a home game against Southampton.

View attachment 445223 View attachment 445203

RESULT: Newcastle 2 - 1 Southampton.​

The first team featured a few changes.
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Steven Taylor - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Moussa Sissoko
Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa - Eduardo Salvio
Leandro Damiao​

I decided that I needed to give Balanta a rest, and Gaitan picked up a knock which ruled him out for 10 days, so they went out of the team and in came Correa and Steven Taylor from the usual first team. I also decided to drop Cabaye, as he still wouldn't talk to me, and Moussa Sissoko came in his place, but Sissoko is now injured for 3 months because of a broken ankle. This match went well, we dominated throughout the game, with a powerful strike from Correa, along with a free kick from Ben Arfa meant we tried to see the match out in the second half, playing to a much lower tempo. That could have been costly though, as in the last 10 minutes, Southampton got 2 clear cut chances, along with 2 more half chances, but they only managed to convert one of them, a delightful chip from Lallana. The stats suggest that we were lucky, however we were never in real danger.

Next up we were at home to 6th placed Stoke, in the middle of an injury crisis. Tim Krul got a sports hernia, he'll be out until mid january at best, and Coloccini picked up a cold which ruled him out of the game completely, while Davide Santon dislocated a toe to rule him out of this game. Needless to say, we were a bit short staffed. Here's how it went:

View attachment 445222 View attachment 445200

RESULT: Newcastle 2 - 2 Stoke.​

First team like such:
Rob Elliot
Mathieu Debuchy - Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa - Steven Taylor - Eder Alvarez Balanta
Sergi Samper - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa - Eduardo Salvio
Leandro Damiao​

A draw against the team 6th in the table, missing five first team players? I'll take it happily, although I didn't at the time. It took a last minute equaliser from a volley of Keisuke Honda, along with a casual finish from Loic Remy to counter their two goals from counter attacks. To be honest, it was a boring game.

Our final game of the month, we were back in London, to play West Ham United.

View attachment 445221 View attachment 445202

RESULT: West Ham 2 - 3 Newcastle​

First team:
Rob Elliot
Davide Santon - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Massadio Haidara
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Eduardo Salvio - Adavilson - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

That was close! We came from 2 down, from a 4th minute goal from Diame and a 61st minute penalty from them, but right after they made it 2-0, Gaitan, who seems to love playing in London given that all of his goals have come from here, powered a shot in from 25 yards out. Keisuke Honda dispatched a free kick into the top corner to draw us level, and then, in the 84th minute, Adavilson popped up in the box to win the game. Cabaye missed a penalty for us at the start of the second half, so it was very pleasing to win the match anyway. Here's a screenshot of Adavilson again.


He's developing nicely.

I forgot to take a screenshot of the league table, but we're in third place, 4 point behind Manchester United and Chelsea, and 3 points in front of Manchester City and Spurs. Christian Eriksen won the premier league player of the month award, with Jon Williams grabbing the young player of the month award, with David Moyes once again winning manager of the month. I came third, again.

The Champions League was interesting though, with teams like Arsenal not managing to make it out of the group stages. Here's all of the groups, plus the ties for the last 16.

As for the world awards, the Golden Ball and World Player of the Year awards were identical:


Messi won them both, of course.

The European Golden Boy? Just Christian Eriksen, of course.

View attachment 445207


Player of the Month
Nicolas Gaitan
View attachment 445198​

3 goals in 4 games was enough for me to consider him our best player this month.

Next update will be an interview, and it'll come in no more than 9 hours time, followed quickly by the January update, when we are playing West Brom, Leeds (FA Cup), Manchester City, Liverpool and Fulham, plus of course there's the transfer window to look forward to.
 
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Reporter: Well, I'm here with the Newcastle United boss on the first day of the transfer window, and we're all wondering the same question here, Mr Calvert. Who are you going to try and sign?

Calvert: Hahaha. We've got a few targets in mind, and are choosing our targets based on how much they cost, how much return they will give us in a few years time, and how likely they are to want to play for the shirt. Because of this, we have terminated the loan moves of Javi Garcia and Loic Remy, neither of whom played well enough while they were here for us to justify keeping them on the wage bill. I can't say who just yet, however we're looking at two separate strikers, one of whom would be for the future, the other would become a member of the first team.

Reporter: Does this mean you are losing faith in Leandro Damiao? Some are saying that you should be looking for more from your new Brazilian striker.

Calvert: Leandro has come here from the middle of a season in the Brazilian first division, and been asked to slot straight in the first team week in week out and take the burdens of our entire team to score goals. This is quite unfair on him, and I still have faith that he'll come good for us. He just needs a small rest, along with not so much pressure being placed on him.

Reporter: Very well then. What about outgoing transfers? Will Yohan Cabaye be seeing the last of Newcastle, or will you still try and keep him?

Calvert: I've spoken to Yohan and he and I have both agreed that if we receive an offer of over 25 million pounds, we'll take it, but any offers lower than that we will reject. This suits all of us, and if somebody does come in for him than we wish him well.

Reporter: You haven't terminated Eduardo Salvio's loan yet. Is this because you're looking to buy him, or are you going to let him go back in the summer and try and get somebody else in?

Calvert: We currently don't have the necessary funds to sign him on a permanent basis, however that is one piece of business I would very much like to do before his loan ends, as he has been a very good player for us.

Reporter: OK then. Onto other topics, your team has been performing fantastically in the league this season, with you currently sitting pretty in third place, only two points off of first place. Were you expecting to do this well in your first season?

Calvert: I most certainly was not. We have been doing brilliantly lately, and at the end of the month, myself and Mike Ashley will probably have a sit down and discuss if a title challenge is on the cards here. We have been fortunate with injuries up until now, and if we can keep relatively injury free up until the end of the season, well you never know. Sometimes you just need a little bit of luck in football, and if we can get it we'll have done brilliantly.

Reporter: One thing that could help you a lot is that your two other challengers, Manchester United and Chelsea, are both fighting on multiple fronts, whereas you can concentrate on the league. Do you see this having any sort of effect on you?

Calvert: Yes, because we play both of them very shortly after or before a round of champions league football which they would be more focused on, so we could take advantage of them trying to succeed in Europe's biggest stage.

Reporter: Tottenham are only two point behind you. Do you consider them to be potential title contenders?

Calvert: I've got to be honest, I don't. They have a good talented squad, however it hasn't got the depth required to cope with fighting on as many fronts as they are, given they are in Europe too. They have been in a good run of form lately, however the last few opponents that they have had have all been mid table sides at best, and I don't think that they will end up winning when it really matters.

Reporter: Very well. Your team has one of the best passing completion rates in the premier league, and key players such as Keisuke Honda and Hatem Ben Arfa have been quick to point to you being the reason for this. Why do you place so much emphasis on this style of play?

Calvert: I believe that football clubs owe the fans that come to see them play a good sight. For this reason, I will almost always look to set up my team to play good, quick, possession based football, creating a lot of openings because of how fast the ball is moving from one player to another. I really dislike two styles of football, boring lumps up the park to a target man to hold it up for ten minutes, and the so-called tiki taka, when players just pass it around the halfway line for fifteen minutes. High tempo, attacking football involving a lot of through balls is some of the best things that you can see, and it is the way I try and get my teams playing.

Reporter: Some are saying that this view shows an unwillingness to change. What would you say to that?

Calvert: I'd say that they are looking to wind me up, because they clearly haven't watched us. I am more than happy to change this up, and have commonly this season resorted to playing a more direct style of play, involving old fashioned wingers when our attempts to play through the middle have been thwarted.

Reporter: Mike Ashley has announced that he is searching for a feeder club for you. Was this a united decision, or did one of you have to persuade the other?

Calvert: I had to tell Mike why I wanted a feeder club so badly, and why I thought that we should get one. He is a very reasonable person though, and he could see the benefits of such a deal, so this didn't take very long.

Reporter: Still no new contact for you, entering the last six months of your current one. When do you think contract negotiations will start?

Calvert: I am hopeful that I would be receiving a new contract before the end of February.

Reporter: Ok, well thank you very much for your time, Mr Calvert. That would ought to be enough for us. One final question and then we'll go. Where do you think Newcastle will finish in the league in May?

Calvert: That's a question I'm not sure about the answer of. I think I'll guess second, achieving the title in my first season will probably be far too much of an ask. Back to the negotiation chamber then.

Reporter: Indeed, and we'll be speaking to you again at the end of January to discuss any transfers that you may have brought in, after we have given our audience a chance to pitch in with some questions of their own. Have a good day.

Calvert: You too. Thank you.
 
Reporter: Hello again, Mr Calvert.

Calvert: Hello again.

Reporter: Well, I must admit, I was disappointed in you. Let's have a look at your transfers.

Reporter: Craig Gordon came in as a bit of a stopgap option, given Tim Krul's injury, and will now be focused on a role in management of the under 18s, with the only other transfer of note being Eduardo Vargas coming in from Napoli, while the closest thing to a senior player leaving you came when Monaco bought Gabriel Obertan for the price you had agreed with them in the initial deal. Again, let's start with the incomers.

Craig Gordon
View attachment 445133

Eduardo Vargas
View attachment 445132​

Reporter: Nothing here to really set the world on fire, Vargas looks to be the player who you are looking to to take the majority of the burden off of Leandro Damiao. How much do you expect these two players to contribute to your season?

Calvert: I am hopeful that Vargas manages ten to fifteen goals in the remaining games of this season, however, as you said, Craig Gordon was very much a stopgap signing, and I wouldn't expect him to feature much anymore.

Reporter: As for outgoings, 8 loans away from the club, including two of your summer signings, Sergi Samper and Mandela Egbo. There's nothing really of any note here though, so let's talk about your fixtures in January. How would you say this month went for you?

Calvert: This was a very good month, as has been recognised by the Manager of the Month award that I received for it. Can we show the fixtures of this month?

Reporter: Absolutely, here they are:


Reporter: We'll start with the bad, eh? The cup match.

Calvert: Oh yes. Leeds. What a nightmare.


Calvert: It was very disappointing to lose 1 - 0 like we did.

Reporter: Your first team was noticeably weaker than usual. It read like this:

Craig Gordon
Vurnon Anita - Steven Taylor - Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa - Massadio Haidara
Javi Garcia - Dan Gosling - Sergi Samper
Angel Correa - Adavilson
Adam Campbell.​

Reporter: I take it you regret underestimating Leeds like you did?

Calvert: I do, and it was this match that convinced me to send Javi Garcia back to Manchester City, he did nothing in this game that would have warranted keeping him. We were let down, and their goal came early on from a rebound off of Steven Taylor that he didn't know anything about. It was very unfair on us, to lose in such a matter, but what can you do?

Reporter: I thought you really wanted to win one of the domestic cups in your first year, because of this, was this not a very hard result to take?

Calvert: It was, however the team and I knew that there was no point dwelling on the result, it had been and gone and we should pick ourselves up and dust ourselves off before taking the positives from the match, the biggest of which being that we can now concentrate fully on the league, whereas all of our competition are fighting on three or four fronts.

Reporter: So, you still believe your team can challenge for the title?

Calvert: I have to, don't I? In football, you can never try and settle, we've got a **** good chance of surprising absolutely everyone this season, and we need to try our best to take it. Certainly it's doable.

Reporter: Very well then, if you say so. Onto the league fixtures. First game of the month was a game at home to West Brom. How confident were you going into the game?

Calvert: We were always very confident, we knew that they were there for the taking.

Reporter: Well, let's have another look at how you did.


Calvert: A very comfortable 2 - 0 victory which could have been 3-0 if Yohan had managed to convert his penalty.

Reporter: A much better first team was played here. I have it here.


Rob Elliot
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Eduardo Salvio - Hatem Ben Arfa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

Calvert: Yes, it was much stronger. We couldn't play Tim Krul here because of his hernia, however Rob almost didn't have to do anything the entire game. We were very solid this game, which was very pleasing considering how many times we conceded in December, and goals from Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye at the start of the second half were enough to claim the victory, and it was fully deserved.

Reporter: Indeed, a routine win. Let's move on then. The next league game was just after the cup loss to Leeds, a home game against Manchester City. Let's have a look at how you did.

Calvert: What a fantastic result this was. If you had offered me a point before the game I would have snatched your hands off, instead we managed to romp City 3 - 0, although as the stats suggest, it could have been much worse.

Reporter: Yes. Your first team was very familiar.


Rob Elliot
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa -Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao

​

Reporter: A swap for Correa in place of Eduardo Salvio, necessary due to the injury he managed to pick up in training, what a fantastic performance by the young man though. He finished the match with two assists, both of whom were for Nicolas Gaitan. Onto him in a minute, Correa has been fantastic when he's played, hasn't he?

Calvert: Angel is showing everyone why I was so keen to bring him here to us in the summer, and given that he's averaged an assist every two games, he's proving worth it.

Reporter: That game looked at the start like it would be you who would receive the hammering, given Jesus Navas's early opener, what did you try to do to get the players performing the way that they did?

Calvert: I didn't actually do anything, the credit for our comeback lies solely on the shoulders of Keisuke Honda and Nicolas Gaitan. A lot of players would have taken what happened hard, but Keisuke took it as a challenge, and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, bringing us level before playing a fantastic ball to Angel to give it to Nicolas, who continued in Keisuke's place by gliding past the Manchester City backline and chipping the ball over the advancing Joe Hart. We killed the game off in the 82nd minute by a second goal from Nicolas, but he and Keisuke were simply untouchable out there today, Nicolas was on skates, and Keisuke gave a performance that Patrick Vieira would have been proud of.

Reporter: How valuable a win could that prove to be?

Calvert: Well, Manchester City were thought of to be one of the main title challengers that season, so that game was a right 6 pointer for us, and the swing went in our direction, while it provided a lot of momentum to counter the negative one from Leeds.

Reporter: Definitely the best result of your month. Now onto your next game, Liverpool away. A very hard game at the best of times, this was probably the best time for you to play there, off of the back of a fantastic result.

Calvert: I enjoyed that game. A good 2 - 1 win for us, although perhaps slightly undeserved.

Reporter: Your first team was like this.
Rob Elliot
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa--------------------------Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao - Eduardo Vargas​

Reporter: You threw your new signing straight into the deep end here, Eduardo Vargas playing in England for the first team at Anfield, in a very attacking formation. Why did you choose to play this way?

Calvert: They had just come off of the back of a 1-1 draw against West Brom, who had operated a similar formation, and I felt we could exploit their offensive nature, especially with our wide players. Suarez opened the scoring from just inside the box before half time, but he would have had 4 more throughout the match had it not been for Fabricio Coloccini. Keisuke Honda managed to pull one back for us from a break that he started and finished, and Eder Alvarez Balanta popped up near post at a corner to head home for the victory.'

Reporter: Well, whatever reason you played that formation, it worked. You mentioned Fabricio Coloccini there, I can tell you that he attempted 18 tackles that game, winning 15 of them, 6 of which were deemed to be key tackles, more than anyone else on your team. Similarly, he won 7 of his 10 attempted header, including one which stopped an almost certain goal, and he managed to make 11 interceptions. One of the best defensive performances of the season. Well, let's move onto the final match of the month, away to Fulham. Here's how you did.


Calvert: A good win here in London, 2 - 1 the final score after two own goals started the match, and as the stats show, we deserved the victory. We left it **** late though.

Reporter: Two noticeable changes to your first team though.


Tim Krul
Davide Santon - Fabricio Coloccini - Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa - Eder Alvarez Balanta
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa -Nicolas Gaitan
Eduardo Vargas
​

Reporter: First of all, you welcomed Tim Krul back to the first team after 6 weeks out, the other big change though was Angel Correa in place of Leandro Damiao. Was that your way of telling Leandro that you had started to lose faith in the striker after his goalless run of 10 games, including Leeds, stretching back to when he managed a brace against Manchester United?

Calvert: I picked the side I had most faith in to win the game, and I felt to do that we needed another man in the middle of the park. I also thought that playing quite as much as he did might be part of the problem for Leandro, so I dropped him. The other chance was Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa coming in for the suspended Debuchy, with a small amount of shuffling needed to accommodate him. Debuchy is out for the next game too, due to getting 10 yellow cards.

Reporter: We could so easily have been talking about a boring draw here, if Hatem Ben Arfa hadn't had a moment of inspiration in the 90th minute, timing his run perfectly before curling the ball around the rushing keeper. Was that a tad too close?

Calvert: We deserved the victory, but I wasn't pleased we had to wait as long as we did in order to get the win. I've talked to the players and told them I want a more clinical performance next time.

Reporter: Well, let's see where you are in the table then. And what a pleasing sight it must be for you.


Reporter: You're officially in the lead in the title race. You're in first position for the first time this season, do you think you'll keep hold of that spot?

Calvert: I certainly hope so. It would be perfect, wouldn't it?

Reporter: Indeed. Can I ask, who do you think was your best performer overall in the last month?

Calvert: That's a tough one, but my Player of the Month was:

Keisuke Honda
 View attachment 445106​

Calvert: He put in a series of brilliant performances for us, and managed to score twice too. He did really well.

Reporter: Well, I'll let you go now, my congratulations on your award as Premier League Manager of the Month, and tell Eder Alvarez Balanta that I disagreed with the people in charge of the Premier League Young Player of the Month, as I felt he should have won it instead of coming in second behind Jonjo Shelvey. Mind, if Correa had played against Liverpool, he might have won it instead of coming third.

Calvert: I'll pass it on for you. Until next time.
 
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Next update will cover until the end of February, followed quickly by a report on the youth intake.
 
Fantastic February. Have a little look.


Four wins from four, along with two clean sheets, means that we're doing well. Let's take a look in more detail.

Arsenal at home was the most tricky game this month, and it was the first one up.

View attachment 444947View attachment 444943

RESULT: Newcastle 3 - 0 Arsenal​

The first team was as follows:
Tim Krul
Davide Santon - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Massadio Haidara
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao​

Salvio was just coming back from his knock, so Angel Correa kept his place, while Mathieu Debuchy sat out on the stands for the last game of his suspension. We started the game brightly, but we faded away, and after the twenty minute mark, it was almost all Arsenal. I had thought we had managed to hold on and not concede in the first half, going in level at the break, when the young Colombian Eder Alvarez Balanta popped up from a corner for his sixth goal of the season. We went in ahead, despite Arsenal's dominance, and we managed to start the second half much better, scoring from a good passage of play from Angel Correa's finish. Arsenal were wounded, and Yoan Gouffran came off the bench to kill them off, squeezing his shot past the goalkeeper into the goal, in what the game itself didn't even count as a half chance. They continued to come at us, but the intensity was no longer there, and we were able to see the game out for a good win against Arsenal, and one that was wholly undeserved, despite the scoreline.

The next game was against a Welsh side who had last won mid December, in the form of Cardiff, a run of ten games. We were at home, so I was expecting a comfortable win.

View attachment 444950View attachment 444942

RESULT: Newcastle 2 - 1 Cardiff​

The first team was easy to pick for this game.
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa - Nicolas Gaitan
Leandro Damiao

The only change to the first team was Mathieu Debuchy coming back in for Massadio Haidara, allowing Davide Santon back to his natural position. We started very brightly, and scored precisely 7 touches after kick off, with Leandro Damiao shooting first time from Keisuke Honda's first time through ball past the Cardiff backline. We continued our dominance, with Angel Correa scoring ten minutes into the second half, and took our foot off of the pedal. Frankly, I didn't mind conceding, because there was nothing that we did wrong. Toivonen got the ball from the keeper's kick out from our corner, and he chipped Tim Krul, who was off his line, from 40 yards out. It was a world class goal, but even after that, they never looked like getting back into it. A good 3 points especially so given that Manchester United and Chelsea drew against one-another, this game put me 3 points clear of Chelsea, 6 ahead of Manchester United. Bad news though, Nicolas Gaitan got injured with a twisted heel in this game, and I had already used up my three subs, so he continued playing with it for 25 minutes and is now out for 3 weeks.

Next up were the other Welsh team, this time we had to travel to the Liberty Stadium though.

​
View attachment 444948View attachment 444944

RESULT: Swansea 1 - 2 Newcastle

First team read like this:​
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa - Angel Correa - Eduardo Salvio
Leandro Damiao

​

Another world class goal against me, a hopeful punt upfield had Vazquez decide that it would be so nice to chest it into his own path, running full tilt, before firing a left foot volley up into the top right corner of my goal. It won goal of the month, too. Fortunately, by that point we were two goals up, courtesy of a Hatem Ben Arfa tap in and a poacher's effort from Adam Campbell, underneath the advancing keeper. A good win, but disappointing not to keep a clean sheet, we did deserve to.

Final game of the month was away at Hull, who were in thirteenth place on the table.

View attachment 444949View attachment 444941

Result: Hull 0 - 1 Newcastle​

First Team:
Tim Krul
Mathieu Debuchy - Fabricio Coloccini - Eder Alvarez Balanta - Davide Santon
Keisuke Honda - Yohan Cabaye
Hatem Ben Arfa - Adavilson - Eduardo Salvio
Leandro Damiao
​

A dull game that, to be honest, we deserved absolutely nothing from. New boy Eduardo Vargas got his first goal for us two minutes after coming on, turning a defender and striking into the bottom corner, but aside from that one move we didn't really look like we did anything near enough to win that game, even the penalty that we got was a really soft one. Angel Correa was dropped because he had a sprained wrist in training, Adavilson did very little in that game though. Even so, a win is a win, and 12 points from 12 is always good, no matter how you try and look at it.

So where did that leave us on the table?

Top of the league going into March, I really believe that we can win the league this year.

So, from two undeserved wins and two routine ones, who was our best player?

Player of the Month
Eder Alvarez Balanta
View attachment 444946​

Two average performances and two match winning performances made him our player of the month, along with the Premier League Young Player of the Month award, with Angel Correa behind him in second place for that award. The future definitely looks bright.

Next update will be soon, covering the youth update, and any youngsters I've found in other teams youth teams who I'd quite like to sign. After that update will be the general update for March.
 
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Ahh the youth team. I've never liked you. Here was this year's bunch.


Only one actual good prospect here:

Bobby Madison

View attachment 444926​

Great. I wasted that money on Mandela Egbo then, because this dude cost me nothing and is forecast to end up as good as Egbo will.

I spent about 45 minutes trawling through the big name squads in England, (Man U, Man C, Arsenal, Southampton, Crystal Palace) I found one not bad dude. Good name though.

David Davis

View attachment 444924​

So I went abroad, only to a few though, Dortmund, Bayern, PSG and Lille, because Spain and Italy have regens at later dates. I only found one guy, but he looks fantastic.

Florian Walther

View attachment 444927​

Oh this guy looks fantastic. I've put in a bid of 8.5 million for him, and I'm willing to just about double that to get him in. If I get him in, do you think I should retrain him as a striker? He looks like he'd get 30 or more goals a season from there.

Next update covers the end of March, maybe if there's a good italian or spanish regen I'll post them for you, but I'm only likely to check the top 3 clubs in each division for them. Til next time.
 
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