Newcastle United

General

Season Budget - £15.5 million
Wage Budget - £900k
Media Prediction - 11th Position
Board Expectations - Mid table finish.
My Expectations - European Qualification through league finish. (This is what I told my board I was expection to achieve and they seemed happy enough.)

Transfers

In

Jeremy Mathieu - £4.5 million
Mota - £2.4 million
Juan Angel Albin - Loan to Buy (£2.9 million)
Rasmus Elm - £350k
Gary Deegan - £70k
Marc Crosas - £500k
Rodrigo Palacio - £10 million

Out

Geremi - £2.5 million
Damien Duff - Loan with a £200k fee
Alan Smith - £2.5 million
Nile Ranger - Loan
Ben Tozer - Loan
Mark Doninger - Loan
Gary Deegan - Loan
Rasmus Elm - Loan
Andy Carroll - Loan

Formation

4-5-1

Flat Back 4
2 Central Midfielders
3 Attacking Midfielders (Right and Left Wing with one through the middle)
Loan Striker.

I've finished my first season so I won't write all the results. A general overlook though is as follows:

Finished 7th in the league, one place short of my expectations but still better than the media had predicted. However my board are slightly disappointed as I told them to expect more.

(League Stats : Played 38, Won 18, Drew 7, Lost 13, Goals For 55, Goals Against, 49, Goal Difference, 6 Points, 61.

FA Cup I got knocked out in the 4th round, expected to get to the 6th but with Chelsea in my way I knew I wasn't progressing in the competition as they are a far superior side to Newcastle.

League Cup I reached the quater finals as predicted and my board were over the moon at my final standing in this competition.

I seem to have lost the dressing room, I think due to the fact I didn't deliver where I said I would and got everyone's hopes up but i'm hoping that over the pre season the board will allow me to continue with the work I have done and hopefully get my team into Europe.

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Season 2

Happier times at St James Park within the first few weeks of the season. Qualified for The European Cup after all thanks to an extra place being given to an English team. So with European football ahead of me I decided I needed to bring in a couple of players with experience as most of my previous signings had all been youngsters or younger.

General

Transfer Budget - £22.25 million
Wage Budget - £1.1 million
Media Prediction - 7th Position
Board Expectations - Qualify for Europe through league position.
My Exectations - Same as the board.

Transfers

In

Claudio Pizarro - £2.9 million
Gary Caldwell - Free
Juan Angel Albin - £5 million (in his loan terms)
Bosko Jankovic - Free
Mark Van Bommel - Free
Allan McGregor - £12.5 million
David Beckaham - £3 million
Francois Clerc - Loan (Fee £1.4 million)
Sunny - £1.5 million

Out

Xisco - Loan (Fee £925k)
Joey Barton - £3 million
Shola Ameobi - £2.5 million
Ryan Taylor - Loan (Fee £1 million)
Tim Krul - £1.2 million
Tamas Kadar - £600k
Rasmus Elm - £700k

Formation

Changed the formation to a standard 4-4-2 in the hope that with 2 upfront I can score more goals and hopefully push for 6th place or above this season.

Fixtures

With 3 friendlies under my belt (2 win, 1 draw) it was time to get down the the hard graft of the season. With Kosice away for the first European game of the season I felt I had a good chance of getting to the next round.

Kosice 0 - 3 Newcastle United

An excellent cross from David Beckham set up the first goal for Rodrigo Palacio, the other 2 goals coming from Claudio Pizarro and Juan Angel Albin. Excellent start!

Newcastle United 2 -0 Kosice

Another solid performance and confidence is high in the camp. Goals from Juan Angel Albin and Obafemi Martins.

Newcastle United 2 - 0 Lyn (4th round qualifier)

An impressive win at home with both goals coming within the first half hour. Another assist from great assist for Beckham in the 5th minute to set up Martins. Goals from Obafemi Martins and Sunny.

Newcastle United 1 - 1 Wigan

With Wigan scoring in the early stages of the game I was expecting the worse. However in the 2nd half after a stern team talk my team turned it round and drew level. Good game all round for the neuteral fans myself however felt it wasnt good enough, goal from Rodrigo Palacio.