Newcastle United (A) - Sun 21 Aug, 16:30 | Pre-Match Thread

[glyncity]

This could be a long post so I’ll apologise before starting and I’ll not be checking it for typos. I’ve seen a few posts in this thread so have tried to cover points which I’ve picked up on.

As a Newcastle fan, I don't know what to expect from us tomorrow. Trippier and Wilson have hardly played football in 2022 and haven't got match sharpness yet and will only get that through playing football. They'll click at some point in the future, today may be too soon.

I expect that we'll play 4-3-3 but also mix it up a bit when we have to, we’ll probably only start with of the players who started in May when we last played. I don't think we'll win so today is about seeing how far we've come but maybe the third game of the season is too early even for that, it could take 8 or 10 games into the season for us to find that out.

We have a good keeper and a good defence but even our good defence has weaknesses. Burn is solid with his left foot as long as players don't go on his inside as his right foot is for standing on only. He's tall so can get his head on the ball, the only problem is that the ball can go anywhere. Sven Botman has huge potential but he's only played one full game to has a lot to learn. I think we'll see the best of him after the World Cup break as he'll have settled in by then.

Midfield is reasonably strong, not Man City strong but will do well against most teams. Bruno has the potential to be world class and will shine with better players in the team. He was outstanding against Forest but we unfortunately have Almiron feeding off his through balls and Almiron isn't clinical enough. He will run around all day, closing players down and providing an outlet, unfortunately, he'll score 3 or 4 goals a season. Joelinton is excellent in midfield, our most improved player under Howe. He will possibly cover more ground than anybody on the pitch and will never give up. Willock will cover ground and will get stuck in, he can also pop up and get goals but I think he'll be a bit too busy to get forward too much.

My only hope is that we play well and prove that we're making progress, regardless of the result. I think Howe will want the 3 points but it will take a massive performance for that to happen and we don't have the quality for that yet.

Howe is doing a fantastic job, better than any of us could have expected. The reason he's doing well is that he's a good manager and he also loves football. Our best managers have always loved football and aren't worried about the job. Howe probably has 99% of the fans on his side and he's probably as popular as Keegan and Sir Bobby which shows how well he's done. I think he could be with us for a very long time and will surprise a lot of people as he leaves nothing to chance. He's a workaholic who misses nothing and he’ll hopefully get what he deserves, that will take time.

We have a new sleeve sponsor who have paid more for a small square on the sleeve than our main shirt sponsor, the shirt sponsor ends at the end of this season so we will bring in considerably more money going forward which we can then spend on quality players. Ashley has left the club with virtually no commercial income which will change and allow us to spend more that we currently can.

We have a team which can now hold its own in the division without fearing relegation so we no longer need to go out and spend on half of the team so we should be able to put more money into fewer players bringing quality in over quantity. We are probably 3 quality players from being able to say we’ll finish top 6 with any confidence and probably a quality forward from being able to say we’ll finish top 8 with any degree of confidence but that doesn’t mean that either couldn’t happen if everything went our way.

We haven’t spent a fortune yet and that’s because we can’t without boxing ourselves in with FFP. We still have money to spend but we don’t want it to all go in one year when FFP is averaged over three. We need to see how we get on and use transfer windows to make tweaks. We could still bring in a couple of more players in this window, we could also bring in nobody else and wait until the winter window.

It's going to take us years to get into the top 4 s everybody is improving. I think we’re miles away from you, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs, the others not so much and not playing in Europe could give us a little edge on some teams as all of our focus is domestic.

I think the ground will be bouncing tomorrow but could go quiet if our backs are to the wall. We could come at you from the off or we could be a bit more cautious, it’s really hard to tell with it being so early in the season to work out how we’re going to play.

If any of you are coming to the game, you can drink in any pubs, we don’t have away pubs and none are off limits unlike at most grounds. Newcastle has changed over the years for the better and everybody is welcome as long as they behave.

Good luck tomorrow, just not too much of it and I will be delighted if we can get a point from this game as that will show huge progress for us.

Got some really good friends who are Newcastle season ticket holders and go home and away every week , always go for a few beers round Manchester with them when we play you , always great friendly banter with the Mags I meet ...Personally I'd love to see Newcastle competing at the top, like us your fans are long suffering and deserve their time in the sun , so I'll wish you all the best apart from tomorrow , when I hope we stuff you ...btw love the wor flags idea , they put some cracking displays on , apparently I hear they're doing a Miguel Almiron display tomorrow , looking forward to seeing that ..

 

[SWP's back]

Just get the 3 points and not start chasing improving the goal average just yet.

Showing your age there.

 

[SWP's back]

Good team playing good football. I'll take 1-1 right now.

They were smashed in their 0-0 last week mate. Keeper was man of the match. They were awful.

 

[Mick_]

Got some really good friends who are Newcastle season ticket holders and go home and away every week , always go for a few beers round Manchester with them when we play you , always great friendly banter with the Mags I meet ...Personally I'd love to see Newcastle competing at the top, like us your fans are long suffering and deserve their time in the sun , so I'll wish you all the best apart from tomorrow , when I hope we stuff you ...btw love the wor flags idea , they put some cracking displays on , apparently I hear they're doing a Miguel Almiron display tomorrow , looking forward to seeing that ..

They are doing something for Almiron and it has received a mixed reception because some feel that it looks a bit petty. They did something for Saint-Maximin last season when he was going through a tough spell and I think it was appreciated by the player. Wor flags are great, I don't know how they improve on what they've done so far unless they get some drones and use them for a display, maybe that's not legal though.

I expect a really good atmosphere tomorrow although I don't know how long it will last, that will depend on the game and score, that said, we don’t expect anything so a close game will help the noise levels.

 

[Mick_]

They were smashed in their 0-0 last week mate. Keeper was man of the match. They were awful.

Last week was the second game of the season and played in approximately 30C heat, tomorrow will be close to 10C cooler and we're playing at home and a week fitter. You'll win, I doubt that it will be a cricket score but you never know.

 

[andyhinch]

Last week was the second game of the season and played in approximately 30C heat, tomorrow will be close to 10C cooler and we're playing at home and a week fitter. You'll win, I doubt that it will be a cricket score but you never know.

It was our second game also 30c+ heat just saying :-) nice and sunny this morning looking forward to today.

 

[Rhapsody in Blue]

This could be a long post so I’ll apologise before starting and I’ll not be checking it for typos. I’ve seen a few posts in this thread so have tried to cover points which I’ve picked up on.

As a Newcastle fan, I don't know what to expect from us tomorrow. Trippier and Wilson have hardly played football in 2022 and haven't got match sharpness yet and will only get that through playing football. They'll click at some point in the future, today may be too soon.

I expect that we'll play 4-3-3 but also mix it up a bit when we have to, we’ll probably only start with of the players who started in May when we last played. I don't think we'll win so today is about seeing how far we've come but maybe the third game of the season is too early even for that, it could take 8 or 10 games into the season for us to find that out.

We have a good keeper and a good defence but even our good defence has weaknesses. Burn is solid with his left foot as long as players don't go on his inside as his right foot is for standing on only. He's tall so can get his head on the ball, the only problem is that the ball can go anywhere. Sven Botman has huge potential but he's only played one full game to has a lot to learn. I think we'll see the best of him after the World Cup break as he'll have settled in by then.

Midfield is reasonably strong, not Man City strong but will do well against most teams. Bruno has the potential to be world class and will shine with better players in the team. He was outstanding against Forest but we unfortunately have Almiron feeding off his through balls and Almiron isn't clinical enough. He will run around all day, closing players down and providing an outlet, unfortunately, he'll score 3 or 4 goals a season. Joelinton is excellent in midfield, our most improved player under Howe. He will possibly cover more ground than anybody on the pitch and will never give up. Willock will cover ground and will get stuck in, he can also pop up and get goals but I think he'll be a bit too busy to get forward too much.

My only hope is that we play well and prove that we're making progress, regardless of the result. I think Howe will want the 3 points but it will take a massive performance for that to happen and we don't have the quality for that yet.

Howe is doing a fantastic job, better than any of us could have expected. The reason he's doing well is that he's a good manager and he also loves football. Our best managers have always loved football and aren't worried about the job. Howe probably has 99% of the fans on his side and he's probably as popular as Keegan and Sir Bobby which shows how well he's done. I think he could be with us for a very long time and will surprise a lot of people as he leaves nothing to chance. He's a workaholic who misses nothing and he’ll hopefully get what he deserves, that will take time.

We have a new sleeve sponsor who have paid more for a small square on the sleeve than our main shirt sponsor, the shirt sponsor ends at the end of this season so we will bring in considerably more money going forward which we can then spend on quality players. Ashley has left the club with virtually no commercial income which will change and allow us to spend more that we currently can.

We have a team which can now hold its own in the division without fearing relegation so we no longer need to go out and spend on half of the team so we should be able to put more money into fewer players bringing quality in over quantity. We are probably 3 quality players from being able to say we’ll finish top 6 with any confidence and probably a quality forward from being able to say we’ll finish top 8 with any degree of confidence but that doesn’t mean that either couldn’t happen if everything went our way.

We haven’t spent a fortune yet and that’s because we can’t without boxing ourselves in with FFP. We still have money to spend but we don’t want it to all go in one year when FFP is averaged over three. We need to see how we get on and use transfer windows to make tweaks. We could still bring in a couple of more players in this window, we could also bring in nobody else and wait until the winter window.

It's going to take us years to get into the top 4 s everybody is improving. I think we’re miles away from you, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs, the others not so much and not playing in Europe could give us a little edge on some teams as all of our focus is domestic.

I think the ground will be bouncing tomorrow but could go quiet if our backs are to the wall. We could come at you from the off or we could be a bit more cautious, it’s really hard to tell with it being so early in the season to work out how we’re going to play.

If any of you are coming to the game, you can drink in any pubs, we don’t have away pubs and none are off limits unlike at most grounds. Newcastle has changed over the years for the better and everybody is welcome as long as they behave.

Good luck tomorrow, just not too much of it and I will be delighted if we can get a point from this game as that will show huge progress for us.

Great post mate, thanks for sharing. Can’t wait til you constantly push one more of the red shirts out from the top four (but not us from 1st :P) Really looking forward to today’s game, have all the possibilities to become a good one.

 

[Indaparkside]

Leaving now come on city
safe journey everyone

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Newcastle have a good manager now and showed in the last six months of last season they’re a decent outfit. They’re realistically as good as West Ham so it’ll again be a tough away fixture.

We’ve played our first two games in very hot weather so far and it’s suited our passing game in what ended up as easy wins. But today it’s much cooler and the game will be much faster and therefore more difficult.

I think whoever wins in the Rodri v Joelinton dominance in midfield will influence the outcome of the game. He’s become their most important player since moving into midfield so if Rodri can come out on top in the control of the midfield, we’ll keep the ball better and stop them being as dangerous going forward and be able to play our game going forward.

I’d like to see a really mobile and goal minded front three of Foden-Haaland-Alvarez today. Not sure we will but I think they’d cause Newcastle the most problems.

 

[samuelyeboah]

good morning! we get to watch our beloved city today, what a wonderful day!