Newcastle United Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 2022/2023

Duff

Awful performance today. Ref didn't help but defensively we're just as clueless as we were under Bruce. 3 points from Norwich or we're down I reckon.

fitzparker

6 huge points needed in our next 2 games or we are done, Attack is the best form of defence, we need to go all out.

those points will still keep us in the mix coming into the transfer window and lets hope the work is being done now for Jan 1st signings.

Christmas is a though 5 games, you would hope for at least 4-6 points but realistically could be 0. if it is, hello Luton

jimwallace197

Huge game tonight, we need to take the game to them. Howe hasnt had much time but hes done little to nothing so far. Very dissapointed with our setup & performance away to Arsenal. Some ambition tonight

TherapyBoy

toonarmy1

Hopefully the end of Clark

fitzparker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118248596#Comment_118248596

Don't think so, he will be handy enough in the Championship 😔

IAmTitleist

Should never play for the club again.

Fandymo

Richest club in the world should do well against Rotherham, Millwall, Luton etc. next season. Can't see Newcastle turning this around. Getting in Howe is mystifying. Can't see him bringing in any big names that could save Toon from the drop.

jimwallace197

Not impressed with the ownership or Howe so far. I know its early days but there's been an amateur approach to most things so far. Main things I think that should be concerning for fans.

1) Lee Charnley stayed on nearly a month after the new owners took control to help with day to day running of the club. This takeover was 18 months in the making, Stavely knows next to nothing about running a football club. They should have had a chairman/ceo/chief executive ready to hit the ground running when the takeover went through. New owners weren't even registered with the companies house until nearly 5/6 weeks after they took over. WTF?!

2) Laid back approach & complete lack of urgency despite being in a relegation fight. Took nearly 2 weeks to sack Bruce despite their being constant leaks to the press undermining his authority. When they did finally sack him, they didn't have the first clue about who to appoint despite claiming otherwise.

3) Took nearly a month to appoint Howe (a manager we could have had after a couple of days if they knew what they were doing) & then proceeded to claim he was the one they wanted all along despite approaching Emery first for the job & again leaking it to the press. Just bullshit, do they think the fans are stupid or something.

4) There doesn't seem to be any progress being made with regard to getting a proper DOF in despite the January transfer window fast approaching. This will probably be the biggest transfer window for us in years & again they are messing around. The longer they leave it, the less time the DOF has to prepare.

5) Howe has had three games so far. Two at home to recently promoted teams & we've been lucky to come away with two points from them. Arsenal completely outplayed us in the other and we looked extremely similar to how Bruce set us up. I hear all this nonsense about how he's hardworking, in the office early & embracing tech. Who gives a toss about that, I'd rather a manager with know how/a tactical brain, experience & intelligence like Favre/Fonseca rather than a hardworking one who doesnt know what he's doing.

6) Appointing Howe because he interviewed well in the first place. Seriously, they're appointing people to roles as important as this within the club based off good interviews by zoom & some impressive bullshit in their eyes. Favre would have been ideal for the club, he saved Borussia Mönchengladbach from near certain relegation when he took them over a few years ago, has a high standing in the game & would have been able to attract decent players in January. Howe has already relegated one team & hasn't worked since then. Also, in one of his first press conferences, he was already making excuses if we were relegated, great way to inspire the team.

7) Howe despite having all this impressive interview knowledge about the club/team & the systems he wants to play ends up pretty much playing the same team as Bruce with even more disappointing results. I doubt even Bruce would have had such a low return from the last three games. What on earth was he playing at playing Clarke at CB last night with Fernandez on the bench, persisting with Ritchie at left back, starting Darlow over Dubrovka in the Brentford game. For a guy that supposedly studied us, he doesnt seem to have a clue about how we should line up defensively or otherwise. Playing Willock & Shelvey in centre mid. To top it off, Saint Maxim looks a shadow of his former self under him currently.

8) Jamie Rueben, Amanda Stavely, Yasir Al-Rumayyan dont have the first clue about running a football club. Stavely is more famous for brokering deals than anything. They should not be running the club. The PIF need to become more involved & get the finger out. They own 80% of the club, Rumayyan seems to be following Stavely's lead, get someone in there more competent to represent the Saudi's interests, they are the proper owners of the club after all.

Everything is just very underwhelming and clueless. We could have got a far better manager than Howe, appointed a good DOF already with contacts, even had a few signings lined up already. Instead, nothing, just a manager making excuses for when we most likely now will get relegated. & make no mistake about it, relegation would be a disaster

Fattybojangles

Ciaran Clark should be fired into the sun he's useless and Howe absolutely deserves criticism for picking him over Fernandez who was as usual solid as a rock when he came on him and Schar have to start as our CB's 99 international caps between them FFS and we're playing dross like Clark Lascells and Krafth ahead of them??

There are positives though under Bruce and down to 10 we'd have been annihilated we weren't we actually could have won the game barring Pukki's shinned fluke. We need to beat Burnley on Saturday and have right good go off Leicester the following week I still think we can turn it around.

Fattybojangles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118251949#Comment_118251949

These are all teething problems that will be put right by the money at PIF's disposal it will take time they have inherited an absolute mess a shell of a club but they will fix it and in 5 years time we will be competing for CL. Man City Chelsea all had the advantage of being well run clubs with takeovers that occured in the summer we of course don't have that relegation would be a blip and nothing more sure the fans of other clubs will get their giggles out of it but in 5-10 years time they'll all be laughing out the other side of their faces.

jimwallace197

Whats Howe's problem with Fernandez? One of the best players on Tuesday night. Gone back to that liability Lascelles. Better win today

macraignil

Great to see the team finally win a game. Looked a bit scrappy at times but also spent far more time putting pressure on Burnley rather than simply sitting back and defending in a way that caused so many problems earlier in the season. Hopefully it is a sign of more positive results on the way and I think it is good that Howe is talking up the players already at the club. The extra energy being expressed by Howe on the sideline seemed to be reflected in a bit more effort on the pitch. I think Almiron looked very energetic and it would be nice to see a winning side kept together to try continue the positive way of playing that they showed for much of the game. As bad as the season has been so far there is only a six point gap between Newcastle's current points balance and the team in 11th place.

Fattybojangles

It was a deserved win in the end for us I was particularly impressed with how we went after Burnley in the second half and how few, If any chances Burnley had when they were chasing the game apart from the first 20 minutes we were very good. I would still prefer Fernandez over Lascelles but to be fair to Lascelles it was his best game in a while.

We need to have a right go at Leicester next week they are low on confidence were beaten again at the weekend by an average Villa side we really can get something off them.

fitzparker

I said before the game (bar fernandez for Lascelles) it was probably our best starting 11 we could have gone with, if we lost it would have been us done, but a big 3 points which keeps us well in the mix

Turned out to be a good performance with constant pressure put on burnley, TBF its not hard as they aren't a team to run at you for 90 mins but hopefully it sets precedence for the coming games

Joelinton has had bags of energy the past few games and is finally winning some fans over, where as ASM form has dropped a little.

If we continue to press I think we can nick something of Leicester, hopefully a few signings are lined up in Jan and we should be still there.

5 points from the next 5 games is a must.

Fattybojangles

The hated Sports Direct signs are being pulled down this morning.

fitzparker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118276765#Comment_118276765

Great news

Another payout for Ashley no doubt, as I presumed sports direct had a contract of x amount of years for it ( which I'm positive didn't end on a random day in December)

Fattybojangles

Home to Cambridge in FA cup a big chance to at least get to 4th Round.

Fattybojangles

An absolutely disgraceful performance from start to finish against Leicesters reserves.

Duff

Absolutely dire today. Lascelles and Willock need a spell on the sidelines especially. Going to be a grim few weeks with our next games.

BArra

painful stuff to watch

jimwallace197

Said it weeks ago, neither Howe or the new owners know what they're doing. That was an absolute pathetic performance. Just because Mr.Howe interviewed well doesnt mean he was suitable for the job. Just look at the job Gerrard is doing at villa already. Thats what you call a new manager bounce. We would have had a great chance at getting him also. Im shamed to say, Bruce would have got more points than Howe over our last 5 games. You can talk **** in interviews all you want & go on about statistics & strategy but Howe has extremely limited experience in the PL, already relegated his last club before he was sacked & is not anywhere near a big enough name for us to attract quality in January.

A shocking appointment when Favre & Fonseca were available by an out of her depth Amanda Stavely who knows as much about football as I do about her **** jimmy choos.

Fattybojangles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118310857#Comment_118310857

Yeah absolutely Howe got all the tactical decisions wrong in this game playing Lascelles over Fernandez playing Willock over Hayden playing ASM on the wing and Joelinton at 10 both should be swapped. The one thing Bruce did right IMO was move ASM to 10 and got the best out of him when he's picking the ball up out wide near half way line he's too easy to double and triple mark which is what any decent team does to him.

We need serious changes soon I would play 4-2-3-1 Dubravka Lewis Schar Fernandez Manquillo Shelvey Hayden Frazer ASM Joelinton and Wilson.

Your point about those running things is correct as well we need a proper DOF and CEO in as soon as. The Saudis won't put up with this sh!t for long.

jimwallace197

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118313424#Comment_118313424

Yah, I felt the whole interview process we had was a bit derogatory too to the better quality managers if im honest. If you're a top manager or on the way to being one, you're not going to bother going through 2 or 3 interviews to see if a club wants you or not. Look at how Villa handled their business, they really wanted Gerrard immediately, made a beeline for him & got him. Now they are reaping the benefits of that & got him in twice as fast as we did with Howe. Thats how you handle things. You dont do your research on the job, you do it before & then go about things in a quiet & efficient manner.

After yesterday, I feel theres never been more chance of us going down now. The players are clearly not responding to Howe already, the team are not being set up properly especially away from home. He's making alot of the same baffling decisions regarding selection, even worse than Bruce at times. In fact, hes making Bruce look good as hard as that is to believe. People can go on about extra sessions on the training pitch & using data analysis but if the players arent buying into it, forget it.

Give the run of fixtures we've had since the new owners have come in, Spurs at home, Palace away, Chelsea at home, Brighton away, Brentford at home, Arsenal away, Norwich at home, , Burnley at home, Leicester away. 7 points from 8 games is absolutely shocking. Only one of those teams is top 4, we were capable of taking something from all the other games. That form is sackable.

If Howe remains at the helm, A DOF & CEO is not appointed in the next week & Stavely is allowed to continue running around like a headless chicken, we are 100% going down. Changes are needed asap, the Saudis need to get the finger out.

fitzparker

Agree with all of it, I get a manager might take time etc but it shouldnt have took so long to eventually get Eddie Howe, that target should have been an overnight job.

Also, not having a DOF ready to go is a disgrace (one should have been lined up months in advance) and not having one by now (2 months later) is amateur stuff, Charnley should have just been kept on until May, especially with the transfer window looming.

The way things are going I don't have hope. It's great Joelinton is in decent form, but id rather have an on form ASM and shite Joelinton than the other way around. ASM needs to play higher.

I dont see any points in next 3 games, If Everton have a new manager.... then make that 4.

Transfer window opens after this, again we should 3 players lined up to come in Jan 1st. but its looking like Jan 31st at this rate!

jimwallace197

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118315403#Comment_118315403

zero players lined up no doubt, it would be consistent with their behavior so far, going to every game but looking like a pack of idiots. If Rafa is fired or looking like he will be, get him in asap. He'd attract a good calibre of player in January, knows how to organise teams defensively & has a strong rapport with the fans already. Rafa is a CL winner, a la liga winner, a Europa cup winner, an FA cup winner. Howe is still too young & inexperienced for a club this size. Its a no brainer.

I'm following other Newcastle united forums and the amount of excuses that are being made for Howe and the new ownership are ridiculous. Just because he speaks well at press conferences ffs. Newcastle fans are our own worst enemy, fair too tolerant of incompetent managers & ownership.

Fattybojangles

Talksport reporting that we are close to signing Kieran Trippier would be a very good signing if we can manage it.

jimwallace197

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118324526#Comment_118324526

That would be an excellent signing and as far as I'm aware, he can play both left & right back, two positions we badly need to strengthen. Finally something to be encouraged about.

Duff

Apparently he's been offered 150k a week and a relegation release clause. Suppose you'd want that to leave Madrid for sunny Tyneside.

fitzparker

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118327161#Comment_118327161

Id take it, even if we only get 2 decent seasons out of him. to be honest they could offer anyone double what our current crop is on once they improve the team. It's not our money so spend away, iv said it before but unless there is a spend cap, we will be the first team to pay 1 million a week.

Regarding team news the hopes of Fernandez ever getting into the team has been dashed, he is out until Jan.

I think he will go full Bruce tonight and do 5 at the back with Hayden in front of them

Fattybojangles

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118329716#Comment_118329716

Yeah it's not our money and we need to spend plenty of it to get out of this mess. I'd go full Bruce tonight to be fair we need to keep the score down for our goal difference.

jimwallace197

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/newcastle-hire-liverpool-coach-leyland-25698687

Another reason to be a bit more optimistic thank god

Fattybojangles

That's a disgrace clear head injury

Fattybojangles

I thought we were much better last night showed some fight some heart set up tactically to frustrate and hit on the counter and considering we were playing 12 men for most of the night I think we did well more of the same on Sunday please.

The refereeing against us last night was bordering on the corrupt a clear as day a penalty on Fraser wiped out when through on goal and the head injury for Hayden for the first goal completely changed the game there is no way on earth we would have been allowed to score with one of theirs flat on the ground from a head injury.

We are far too nice when it comes to this type of thing we should have surrounded Dean after their first bollocked him at half time and at full time again if it was the other way around "nice guy" Klopp would have ate him alive.

Fattybojangles

Nick Hammond ex Reading DOF been hired as a short term recruitment consultant to see us through January again seems a wise move get someone who knows that side of the game in to make decisions.

fitzparker

Decent game, we put up a battle but Liverpool are just miles better. after 25 mins they had 200 passes we had 19.

We frustrated them at times but equally its frustrating to watch, lascelles is crap, Schar doesnt want to be there, Murphy never looks where he is passing it, his 5 yard passes were strange, gave away so many.

Frazer had his best game, Dubravka was decent, Joelinton is a new man

Howe confirmed Lewis hamstring injury is "bad", fingers crossed ASM is ok, id rather he be injected for United then rest for City.

Dean was a cabbage last night, booked us for the same thing they were doing, TAA had a little go at richie but Dean was more focused on Joelinton giving out about it. Regarding the head injury I thought it was Lascelles elbowing him (if we had of cleared our lines it would have been stopped), the Peno is a tough one, especially with VAR to be 100% certain.

DOF is great to have in and he will need to do overtime, but come on... surely someone out there wants a few million a year for an office job, Part-time is a joke at this stage, they have had months to organise it ad get a high caliber in

For me, right back, striker, winger, and as good as Shelvey is picking a pass, the game has changed quickly and he doesnt have the legs so a box to box midfielder is needed (one that can have as much impact as Sissoko when he joined)

You look at Navas, KDB, Bruno, Pulisic

These are lads that get up and down the pitch and can also pick a pass. If you have no pace it means others (hayden,Frazer have to break their backs covering)

TherapyBoy

🤦🏻‍♂️

fitzparker

We were never going to win yesterday unless by miracle but what a gift to City to start the game, either Clarke needs to be sacked this morning or Dubravka gave him a shout.

As much as the 2 incidents in the pool game were questionable, yesterday was a stone waller, whoever was doing VAR should be relieved of their duties for the rest of the season

In Typical Newcastle style we play decent against the big teams but unfortunately it wont be carried into the games that matter.

Every Newcastle player was slipping at one point. Frazer again with a good game and Joelinton, my word, the chap is a ball playing CM now... who would have thought 😄, although he still needs to get his floppy feet together!

Fattybojangles

We've been given permission by Brighton to speak to their technical director Dan Ashworth over our sporting director vacancy.

jimwallace197

The man united game will be an interesting one. I'm encouraged by their form currently. Thought they were shocking against Norwich & very lucky to win that courtesy of a dubious penalty decision. In saying that, we've been shocking also, either Clarke or Lascalles is likely to play & I see both of them as major weaknesses in our defence. The drop off in form from Lascalles has been particularly alarming, not that he was a top defender in the first place but still, he's extremely poor now & a liability.He's slow, clumsy, severely lacking in confidence & not positionally aware enough. I think being given the captaincy & a big contract not too long ago has affected him. Far too much for what was still a young player at the time.

Overall assessment of Howe so far is not good but not surprising either. I don't know what kind of presentations he was carrying out for the interviews but if anything, I think he's been worse than Bruce. Saint maxim's form has declined massively under him & we look even more vulnerable at the back now than when we did under Bruce. Yes, he's got good performances from Joelinton but he's an extremely limited player anyway & Shelvey to a degree but he's no longer even PL material. We had chances against City but lets be honest, we were always likely to lose that game by a couple of goals. What has he done to justify his job so far, absolutely zero & I was never a huge fan of his anyways.

Some of the players were being linked with, especially Trippier is encouraging but I guess there's a big difference between signing someone & being linked with them. January will be interesting to say the least.

Potentially signing Dan Ashworth as technical director, I dont know, Brighton or their fans dont seem too bothered about losing him, thats a red flag if there ever was one already. He hasnt exactly lit the league up. I dont know if he will even take the job either to be honest, he only answered to Tony Bloom at Brighton, now he would have to deal with Amanda Staveley. the Reuben Brothers, the Saudi Public Investment Fund and ultimately Mohammed Bin Salman to get deals over the line.

It really feels like the new owners are going for bang average recruitment so far, I know we're unlikely to be top 4 in the next 1-2 years but given our resources, we should have been able to do much better than what we've done so far. Favre should have got the managerial position, excellent tactician & experienced in relegation battles, Michael Emenalo should have been appointed DOF, he's got the experience of working at a big club like Chelsea & being involved in high profile transfers of players with excellent ability, his contacts in the game would far outweigh Dan Ashworths anyway. Data analysts & proper scouts should be in place already by now. Keegan & Shearer should be in positions representing the club also, Keegan is a two time Ballon Dor winner & his enthusiasm is infectious for Newcastle, he'd be an incredible asset in getting deals over the line. Shearer is still the highest scorer in the PL's history, still an idol amongst Newcastle fans. Imagine them two meeting you to sell Newcastle, it would be inspiring.

I fear the Saudis are just not anywhere near interested enough in the club enough yet, it feels like Stavely & the Rueben brothers are making the main decisions. To say they are clueless is putting it mildly. I fear for January, from what I've seen so far I think recruitment is going to be relatively poor as to what it could have been. The new decision makers seem to be forgetting, in this & age, you have to be able to sell the club as well, we're not in the 1980s/1990s anymore, they dont strike me as being particularly good at this. Missing out on Unai Emery after leaking to the press that we had him was embarrasing. And although I'm not a huge fan of him, I think he would have been much better than Howe.

January will be a defining moment for our club but to say I'm pessimistic, is an understatement

Fattybojangles

Absolutely gutted after that we played them off the park and were far and away the better team created pretty much all the good chances that is 2 points dropped unfortunately. We looked so much better organised and coached last night than we have in a very long time and Joelinton was immense in CM the best player on the park. The injuries to ASM and Wilson could cost us though.

jimwallace197

Very encouraging performance last night. Really should have beaten what is currently a United team in disarray. But at least the players are fighting & showing a bit of passion now. Big blow losing Wilson for a number of months, thankfully the transfer window is just around the corner.

If we keep up those level of performances, we're going in the right direction.

jimwallace197

Looks like Trippier is a done deal, Botman bid rejected, if we can get him soon though, thats a very good start to this transfer window. Need at least 3-4 more players on top of that now Wilson is out for a couple of months. Would like another central defender, defensive midfielder, striker to replace Wilson & a attacking midfielder.

Fattybojangles

https://twitter.com/SkySports_Keith/status/1478721656021528578?t=PzgSFUGzG3NpsPszs3CdUA&s=19

First proper England International we've signed since Owen hopefully works out better 😄🤣. A great signing a champions level player coming to little old Newcastle a great statement of intent hopefully followed by a few more and we can kick on stay up this season and then start to shove it in a lot of faces next season and beyond.

jimwallace197

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118421176#Comment_118421176

Yah, im very happy with him considering the predicament were in. Experienced international, impressed at Athletico too, definitely the calibre of player we need to stay up. Hopefully we can kick on & get a proper centre back now aswell, that will dramatically improve our back-line.

fitzparker

Great signing, and an even better price, 12 million and 100k a week is smashing for an international, I also think the contract 2.5 years( which we should still get decent performances out of him) is great business.

For the first 3 or 4 years age shouldn't matter, if we want the best players at 30,31,32 we should go an get it until we are a stable PL club.

although he has been decent under Howe, Shelvey still isn't mobile enough, with Trippier on set pieces we can now drop Shelvey and play a midfielder (or buy one) who gets up and down more as the support in attack is what we are lacking

alot more still to do, 3 or 4 is definitely needed.

The league at the minute doesn't look great, a draw would have been more ideal in the Leeds v Burnley game, id like a few more teams dragged into it.

we have 6 games before we play Chelsea which are all winnable if we perform as we have the past few games, but consistency is key. I think at least 10 points from these is needed ( that is a minimum). The FA cup can wait another year, but a second string should beat Cambridge anyway.

Hopefully another 1 or 2 signings in before Watford (which is a 6 pointer), a win will take us out of the bottom 3 a loss makes the uphill battle even tougher

jimwallace197

Apparently had a bid for Diego Carlos turned down today from Sevilla, bidding 25m for him & they're looking for 35m. Would be an excellent signing, Id prefer him to Botman to be honest, he's part of a Sevilla side currently second in the table, they've also conceded by far the least amount of goals so far in La Liga, only 13, he's represented Brazil on a number of occasions, he's coming into his prime unlike Botman who may take a few years. Would be a great signing & exactly what we need in the centre of defence now, hopefully Trippier coming from Spain also could help him settle.

jimwallace197

https://twitter.com/JacobsBen/status/1479455489708773380?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1479455489708773380%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewcastle-online.org%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcontroller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FJacobsBen%2Fstatus%2F1479455489708773380%3Ft%3D4h2fA0zw_aSLezkxNbvhkw26s%3D19

Liking a tweet which shows him in our shirt, I doubt Lille will like that. I think our chances of signing him have gone up tenfold now. If we get this deal over the line early next week, thats two new defenders by the 10th, good progress. Well on target to make another three more, defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder & striker. Id be delighted with that transfer window & we seem to be going after good quality signings at reasonable prices. I've been very critical of the new regime so far but they're starting this transfer window in the right manner.

Great this weekend is an FA cup one, gives us some extra time to get more players in. Such a shame Wilson is injured & Dennis isnt going to the Afcon for Watford, otherwise we'd be looking good on the 15th of Jan against them, talk about a huge game. Here's hoping we sign Vlahovic before then😂.

Fattybojangles

Pathetic gutless cowardly embarrassing disgraceful disgusting humiliating a day of shame .

Fattybojangles