Newcastle United - Lifting the Fog on the Tyne

The Transfers 'In' Update

During the last season, the club was able to agree pre-contracts with two exciting youngsters, Marius Alexe of Dinamo Bucharest and Andrea Bertolacci of Roma. Alexe is an exciting left-sided winger, while Bertolacci is a central midfielder, who can play any role in the middle of the field it seems.

However, the first signing of the offseason was 16-year old Danish striker Jimmy Larsen, a regen from Lyngby. (I don't have a screenshot for him when we bought him, and think it would be unfair to show his current profile)

Our second signing is the new centre back that we very much required. We were up against Chelsea for the guy's signature, and I was absolutely delighted to agree a fee of just £6.5m for Jan Vertonghen from Ajax. Vertonghen is a very accomplished ball-playing centre back, and is an established Belgian international.


Our third signing is an absolute bargain, £3.5m for young fullback Kyle Walker from Tottenham. I was very surprised Spurs were willing to part company with Walker, as I believe he has potential to be England's starting right fullback for years to come.


The fourth and fifth signings were not big names, but are no less exciting in terms of potential. We wrapped up an £825k deal for young goalkeeper David Stockdale from Fulham, who spent last season on loan at Ipswich, while we also paid £3m for Danish attacking midfielder Bashkim Kadrii signed from OB, who can operate in the middle or on the left.

The sixth big deal of the summer was another bargain. £4.6m for last-season's striker target Kolbeinn Sigthorsson. The Icelandic striker left Ajax after just one season there, and we were able to beat some big names to his signature, including AC Milan. We were also able to bring in Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea for just £3.7m, while we completed our stable of strikers with the £1.3m signing of young Mexican Carlos Fierro from Chivas.


The value had to end some time though, and Blackpool refused to part with exciting young right winger Matt Phillips for anything less than £5.25m. However, with all the great value we had been getting so far, I was willing to pay a bit more for a young English player with good potential.

Our final deal of the offseason saw us secure the services of Dutch winger Royston Drenthe, released by Real Madrid after his contract ended. He spent last season with Everton on loan, and played impressively. I'm hoping he will be a solution to our problem left wing position.

Other Major Transfers

Man City
Marek Hamsik from Napoli - £27.5m
Danny from Zenit - £18.5m
Mauricio Isla from Udinese - £13.75m
Salvatore Bochetti from Rubin Kazan - £11.5
Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid - £10.75

Tottenham Hotspurs
Edinson Cavani from Napoli - £25m
Phil Jagielka from Everton - £11.75m
Douglas Costa from Shakhtar - £9.5m

Chelsea
Ezequiel Lavezzi from Napoli - £20m

Liverpool
Seydou Doumbia from CSKA Moscow - £17.25m
Andriy Yarmolenko from Dynamo Kiev - £11.75m
Pablo Barrera from West Ham - £10.25m

Manchester United
Milan Badelj from Benfica - £18.75m
Christian Fuchs from Schalke - £15.5m
Juan Pablo Carrizo from Lazio - £6.25m

Arsenal
Andre Ayew from Marseille - £11.25m

Pre-Season

Sat, 14.7.2012 15:00 Young Boys H 5 - 0 Xherdan Shaqiri, Kolbeinn Sigþórsson, Christian Eriksen, Elsad Zverotic o.g, Daniel Sturridge.
Mon, 16.7.2012 19:45 Derby A 3 - 0 Sylvain Marveaux, Gabriel Obertan, Yaya Sanogo.
Thu, 19.7.2012 19:45 Gateshead A 3 - 0 Jan Vertonghen, Steven Taylor, Gabriel Obertan.
Sun, 22.7.2012 15:00 Carlisle A 3 - 0 Christian Eriksen, Sammy Ameobi, Mehdi Abeid.
Fri, 27.7.2012 19:45 Bradford A 4 - 0 Christian Eriksen, Carlos Fierro, Royston Drenthe, Erick Torres.
Mon, 6.8.2012 19:45 Barcelona H 1 - 2 Yaya Sanogo.

A very good pre-season, we didn't concede a single goal until we played Barca, and averaged over 3 goals a game. Admittedly, we only really played two 'quality' opponent in Young Boys Berne (who were the side we beat by the largest margin!) and Barcelona, who are probably the best team in the world (and only losing by one goal is pretty good in my book). In the end, we didn't get much time for a pre-season, with Europa League qualifiers starting early in the season.

Season 2 - The Europa Odyssey Begins!

So you may remember that last season, despite coming 7th in the league, we were unexpectedly awarded a place in the Europa league. We had to qualify for the competition proper though, which meant a very early start to our regular season programme, and a very quick pre-season.


3rd Qualifying Round
Thu, 2.8.2012 19:45 Koper A 2 - 1 Yohan Cabaye, Hatem Ben Arfa.
Thu, 9.8.2012 19:45 Koper H 3 - 0 Olivier Giroud(2), Marko Petrovic o.g.

Playoff Round
Thu, 23.8.2012 19:45 FC Vaslui H 3 - 1 George ?tef?nu? o.g, Daniel Sturridge(2).
Wed, 29.8.2012 19:00 FC Vaslui A 1 - 0 Julián Luque.

Group Stage
Thu, 20.9.2012 19:45 Sheriff A 2 - 1 Markus Henriksen, James Tomkins.
Thu, 4.10.2012 19:45 Schalke H 2 - 1 Christian Eriksen, Kolbeinn Sigþórsson.
Thu, 25.10.2012 19:45 Standard H 0 - 0 None
Thu, 8.11.2012 19:45 Standard A 0 - 1 None
Wed, 5.12.2012 19:45 Sheriff H 4 - 1 Kolbeinn Sigþórsson(2), Christian Eriksen, Matt Phillips.
Wed, 19.12.2012 19:45 Schalke A 3 - 1 Xherdan Shaqiri, James Tomkins, Olivier Giroud.

We started our Europa Cup campaign early. As in, when we otherwise would have been playing pre-season friendlies. Its gonna be a loooooong season!

The first game against FC Koper wasn't exactly thrilling in terms of performance, we actually went behind, but pulled back to win 2-1. The home leg was far easier, and I thought we should have won by more than 3. The play-off round against FC Vaslui (yet another team that wears yellow), was easier and we coasted through the home leg 3-1, scored early in the second leg and took our foot off the gas to progress.

In the group stage, we continued our trend of playing against teams that wear yellow by drawing Sheriff. We also drew tough opposition - Schalke from Germany and Standard from Belgium - both organised and hard-working units. We started well, winning our first two fixtures against Sheriff and Schalke to go top of the group. However, with a couple of poorer results against Standard, we were left in third place and in doubt of qualifying. However, with a thrashing of Sheriff, confidence was restored, and if we could get at least a draw off Schalke in Germany, we would go through. Our performance went beyond my expectations, and we outplayed them to win the game 3-1 and progress through the group stage as winners!

Final Group Table

cool results so far

Thank you. The minimum expectation was to reach the group stage, which was pretty easy in the end. The aim I set myself was to qualify from the group, which I thought was achievable. I though Schalke would be the tough nut to crack though, not Standard!
That said, we did actually play OK in both Standard games, just couldn't seem to score.

The short-lived Carling Cup run

http://www.programmemaster.com/football/admin/logos/NEW%20CARLING%20CUP%20BANNER.JPG

3rd Round
Wed, 26.9.2012 19:45 Blackburn H 2 - 0 Daniel Sturridge, Matt Phillips.

4th Round
Wed, 31.10.2012 19:45 Nottm Forest A 3 - 1 Daniel Sturridge, Bashkim Kadrii, James Tomkins.

Quarter Final
Wed, 2.1.2013 19:45 Tottenham A 0 - 1 None

I must say, I was not really going to invest much in the Carling Cup. I know its a chance for silverware, but for me its a chance to see what the younger players can do. They played pretty well this season to be fair, and only came unstuck when they played Spurs in the quarter finals, which was always going to be tough, especially in light of the result of our last game of 2012...!

The even shorter-lived FA Cup run

3rd Round
Sat, 5.1.2013 15:00 Burnley A 0 - 1 None

if you can Demba sign Anderson martins for you defence absolute beast for me hes a hidden gem i found

hi there, i also completed my first season with newcastle, finishing eighth,i mainly in the off season brought in free, experienced players such as seedorf, heinze, van bommel and even joe cole on loan, the only money spent was on moussa sow for 10m, as demba ba was shocking for me. had sturridge on loan the first season but is rejecting me now, must be because i'm not in europe? any advice for a good solid defender, bid 10m for toloi but even that was rejected!

turtleiow - i'll take a look at him, thanks

jonny_boy92 - hmmm, you could try Jan Vertonghen, he has been excellent for me. He might cost a bit though - Ajax wanted £12m for him in my first season but by my second season they were willing to part ways for £6.5m. Also, are you in the off-season or January? I have found that players are generally cheaper in the off-season so you could try to hang on with what you've got until the summer, or maybe try loaning someone? Also, try to filter for players that have one year left on their contract as clubs are more willing to sell them.

Premier League 2012/13 - Part 1

So we come into this season with renewed optimism. We had a disappointing end to last season, and possible Champions League qualification slipped away, while we were massively fortunate to even gain a Europa league spot in the end, after finishing 7th. I think that our aim this season will be the Champions League, and by that I mean 4th place. I think this will still be a tough ask, but with my young team improving, its not impossible.


August
Sat, 18.8.2012 15:00 Blackburn H 2 - 0 Kolbeinn Sigþórsson(2).
Sun, 26.8.2012 13:30 West Brom A 3 - 1 Royston Drenthe, Christian Eriksen, Daniel Sturridge.

Good start to the season for us, new signing Sigthorsson settling in immediately with a brace against Blackburn, while Drenthe and Sturridge also score their first goals for the club in a win over West Brom.

September
Sun, 2.9.2012 13:30 Sunderland H 5 - 2 Steven Taylor, Christian Eriksen(2), Xherdan Shaqiri, Kolbeinn Sigþórsson.
Sat, 15.9.2012 15:00 Tottenham A 1 - 0 Hatem Ben Arfa.
Sun, 23.9.2012 13:30 Norwich H 2 - 1 Xherdan Shaqiri(2).
Sun, 30.9.2012 16:00 Chelsea A 0 - 2 None

The good start continues, with a 5-2 thrashing of the Mackems in front of a packed out St James' Park. Local lad Steven Taylor revels in scoring the opener, but the real hero of the piece is Christian Eriksen, who grabs a double and sets up new-boy Kolbeinn Sigthorsson for the fifth, after he came on to replace Olivier Giroud. With confidence at a high, we travel to White Hart Lane knowing we have a tough time ahead of us. Tottenham batter us, but we grab a classic away win, with Hatem Ben Arfa scoring a late goal on the counter attack to give us all 3 points. We put in a solid but uninspiring performance against Norwich, but two moments of brilliance from Xherdan Shaqiri meant we came away with a win. Our first defeat of the season came away at Stamford Bridge, although I thought we played OK. Chelsea new boy Ezequiel Lavezzi was key for the West Londoners, and made life difficult for Davide Santon throughout.

October
Sun, 7.10.2012 15:00 Everton H 2 - 0 Hatem Ben Arfa, Xherdan Shaqiri.
Sat, 20.10.2012 15:00 Birmingham A 1 - 1 Christian Eriksen.
Sun, 28.10.2012 13:30 Bolton A 3 - 0 Kolbeinn Sigþórsson, Xherdan Shaqiri, Yohan Cabaye.

Back to winning ways in October, and Xherdan Shaqiri appears to have found his scoring boots, netting twice in wins over Everton and Bolton, which sandwiched an away draw against newly promoted Birmingham.

November
Sat, 3.11.2012 17:30 Man Utd H 3 - 3 Kolbeinn Sigþórsson(2), Christian Eriksen.
Tue, 13.11.2012 19:45 Burnley A 1 - 2 Xherdan Shaqiri.
Sat, 24.11.2012 15:00 Arsenal A 0 - 2 None
Wed, 28.11.2012 19:45 Wolves H 1 - 0 Christian Eriksen.

Disappointing November for us. It started well with a 3-3 draw with Manchester United, Sigthorsson scoring two brilliant goals to haul us back into the game from 3-0 down, with Eriksen scoring the equaliser. However, the effort in that game seemed to drain us, and we lost our next two, and scraped a 1-0 win over Everton.

December
Sat, 1.12.2012 15:00 Reading H 3 - 1 Daniel Sturridge(2), Steven Taylor.
Sun, 9.12.2012 13:30 Stoke A 1 - 0 Kolbeinn Sigþórsson.
Sat, 15.12.2012 15:00 Fulham H 2 - 0 Yaya Sanogo(2).
Sat, 22.12.2012 15:00 Aston Villa H 4 - 1 Xherdan Shaqiri(3), Cheick Tioté.
Wed, 26.12.2012 19:45 Liverpool A 2 - 1 James Tomkins, Haris Vuckic.
Sat, 29.12.2012 15:00 Man City A 0 - 6 None

Back on course in December. A busy month, with 5 wins out of 6, but boy was that 6 a big one. We went to Eastlands with confidence high, Shaqiri was just one game removed from scoring a hattrick against Villa, and we'd played well during the month, giving our supporters a happy Christmas. However, we never showed up to play, and City were ruthless, crushing us 6-0.

so i have been away on a long stag weekend with my friends, hence no updates since last Wednesday. I will do an update later today at some point, in case you guys are missing me

#43095 DEMBA! : so i have been away on a long stag weekend with my friends, hence no updates since last Wednesday. I will do an update later today at some point, in case you guys are missing me

What do you mean by being way !? You better not do that again and you play that game !
Good report

#43100 Shameless : #43095 DEMBA! :
so i have been away on a long stag weekend with my friends, hence no updates since last Wednesday. I will do an update later today at some point, in case you guys are missing me
What do you mean by being way !? You better not do that again and you play that game !

Good report

i know, i feel ashamed, i had plenty of spare time, i should have brought my laptop
don't worry guys, we'll get the rest of Season 2 and the start of 3 tonight, I promise!

The Europa Odyssey - Part 2: The Knockout Rounds

Following the Group Stages, we received a relatively tough draw against Girondins de Bordeaux of France. They're not the force they used to be, however, with star man Yoann Gourcuff having joined Lyon, so I felt this would always be a close tie.

Europa League Knockout Round 1
Europa League Knockout Round 2
Europa League Quarter Finals
Europa League Semi Finals
Europa League Final