Newcastle United 2019 / 2020

Current Squad
GK's
Martin Dubravka
Karl Darlow
Robbie Elliott

Defenders
Ciaran Clark
Javi Manquillo
Paul Dummett
Jamaal Lascelles
Fabian Schar
DeAndre Yedlin
Federico Fernandez
Florian Lejeune
Jetro Willems
Emil Krafth

Midfielders
Sean Longstaff
Matt Ritchie
Jonjo Shelvey
Isaac Hayden
Miguel Almiron
Rolando Aarons
Jacob Murphy
Ki Seung-Yueng
Henri Saivet
Christian Atsu
Matthew Longstaff

Forwards
Dwight Gayle
Yoshinori Muto
Joelinton
Allan Saint Maximin

John,
Do you think Rafa will have a look at Siem de Jong for that "10" spot that he tried a few in last season..?

Hopefully not. Siem is garbage & injury prone, hence why we loaned him out & why PSV didn't make that loan a permanent deal.

Depressing window so far. Linked with Alphonse Areola from PSG, so a shame if Darlow goes, and not overly convinced with Adama Traore or the awful, Kieran Gibbs. Jacob Murphy has some potential though

We need to start shipping the deadwood ASAP

Theres not a lot to excite that's for sure.

I wouldn't be surprised to see De Jong in that 10 spot though. I just have a feeling.

Just checking into the thread.

Yoan Gouffran to sign with Goztepe on a three year deal

A Turkish side? Ah well. Would you have kept him?

Its really dire the number of signings! And if Gayle gets injured we're goosed up front!

I see they have named a 27 man squad go to Ireland training. A few kids in there aswell Sherry for example who is a full back who showed a lot of potential last season.

I wouldn't of kept him.

He had a decent first half of the season, but faded away in the second with Atsu overtaking him as first choice in the left wing. Ritchie , Atsu , Murphy and Aarons are better options outwide than most teams we'll be competing with.

Manquillio also will be done today/tomorrow

Think at the moment we'll roll out with

Elliott
Yedlin
JL
Leguane
Dummett
Hayden
Shelvey
Ritchie
De Jong
Atsu
Gayle

Rafa has said we need another ball player, hence why SDJ started against Hearts

Pretty awful side, in all honesty. Just about crawled over the line last season, and it hasn't progressed at all really over the summer.

Not sure why Elliott should be no.1. Dummett is awful at left back &  De Jong is a disaster waiting to happen. He wasn't good enough two years ago, and not good enough now. Manquillo is a pretty depressing signing too & doesn't improve the first team whatsoever, other than being versatile in both FB positions. Similar to the Jesus Gamez signing that one.

I'd move Ritchie to the 10 role & unleash the pace of the two wingers. Benitez going to be playing counter anyway. Lascelles was out-performed by Clark last season, so gets my pick. Keeper situation is a mess, and that's Rafa's fault. Should be Darlow, but it won't.

-----------------Gayle---------------
Atsu------------Ritchie------Murphy
---------Shelvey------Hayden-------
?---------Clark-------Lejeune---Yedlin
--------------------?------------------

I'd play Clark but you know as well as i do Jamal will play.

Hey guys - I know you've managed to get Murphy and Manquillo over the line in recent days, but is there any real reason why you've been inactive in the market?

I can see from discussion above that you're not hugely happy - what is happening with Darlow?

Reason for inactivity. Mike Ashley. Seen that Rafa has already stated 'give me what you promised, or I'm off'. Squad looks pretty much identical to last season, so at the minute, I'm expecting a difficult relegation scrap.

Darlow to M'boro will go through, if they offer £8m. Been linked with Adrian of WHU to replace him. Puzzling situation, as every fan I've spoken too, wants Darlow as our no.1. Riza Durmisi of Real Betis, now being linked to replace Dummett at left back.

Lee Charney is meant to be a really poor negotiator too and since hes running our deals that doesn't help.

Do you think Ashley is waiting to see how the first few games of the season go? (ie. if they go badly, he'll throw money late in the window at it - we did something similar in our first year in the PL under Hughton after we lost 5-0 opening day).

I too am puzzled why Darlow isn't your #1 - I know he made a horror error at our place last year, but to me he looked a quality GK, who is only going to get better!

He's a good shot stopper, doesn't talk to the back 4 either and Rob does that in abundance.

They should go balls out for Adrian, think he's quality. Really enjoyed his spell with us and think there's got to have been things behind the scenes to get him ousted. One bad spell, that most keepers will have, should not damped how excellent he has been for us. Little bit wild, but I kind of appreciate that in a keeper.

He was brilliant the year we went down.

I see Jacob Murphy is confirmed. At least we are going to have a fairly English lineup if anything

We are looking to stay out of the relegation battle. I think we do have some decent players to do that.
I rate Gayle very highly and actually think if he's given chances he'll score in the prem. Ritchie can play at that level, Shelvey can but needs to curb his discipline, Atsu will be ok, we have strong goalkeepers, Yedin will hopefully be ok, even young Sherry might prove a little gem at full back...etc etc

I'm holding my judgement on De Jong. I'm with John that he wasn't great last time around...however he's a technical player, who just maybe Rafa can work with in the right set up. Only time will tell I guess.

And oh for Mitrovic to be the player we hoped he would. Not sure that'll happen now.

Daryl Murphy off to Forrest confirmed.

Bottom on Xmas day @ 14/1 on Paddy Power, looking more attractive by the day

I see Steve Taylor has joined Peterborough on a 2 year deal.

And it looks like Lyon are Definitely after Mitrovic.

Would you sell him?

For £16m, I would.

Mikel Merino nearly confirmed. Looks a great signing, with bags of potential.

Atsu, Manquillo, Lejeune, Merino & Murphy signed. Need a LB & a striker, and I'd be reasonably happy, given the limitations we face under Ashley.

Latest friendly result - Bradford City 0-4 Newcastle United

Dwight Gayle, Jacob Murphy (2) and Aleksandar Mitrović

I didn't see the game John, and wouldn't judge much on the performance, but how they play in general. I heard young winger Murphy looked pretty good.

Mitrovic scores again.

Im so torn on him. If he can improve his goal rate and continue to work towards being a big old fashioned style English forward like big Duncan etc then I'd keep him.

If Rafa keeps him, then maybe he's thinking the same and seeing results in training. I guess the proof is in the pudding in the prem!

Osmanlıspor look set to sign French striker Emmanuel Riviere + further positive talks with Benfica for midfielder, Andreas Samaris (rumoured fee around £13m)

-------------------GAYLE/MITROVIC -------------------
---AARONS/ATSU-------------------MURPHY/RITCHIE -
----------------------------------------------------------
------MERINO--------SHELVEY-----HAYDEN------------
----------------------------------------------------------
-MANQUILLO---CLARK-------LEJEUNE-------YEDLIN-
----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------DARLOW?-----------------------

Subs - Elliott/Dummett/Lascelles/Mbemba/Diame/De Jong/Perez etc

Quite like the youthful look to the side, full of pace & energy in the final third. Shelvey & Merino providing a technical edge in midfield, along with the energy & work rate of Hayden. Likely to be Manquillo or Dummett at LB, but still a ? over who partners the so-far impressive, Lejeune. Decision between Clark or Lascelles needed to be made. I'd have Darlow as the keeper, but that remains to be seen. Hopefully Rafa puts this mess to bed soon.

I see we have signed young Spanish holding midfielder Merino on a years loan from Dortmund.

John,

Do you think Mitro can continue his pre season scoring form in the prem?

Think Mitrovic will start against Spurs, has 2 in 2 against them.

Reckon we'll roll out with

Elliot
Manquillio , Lejuane , Lascelles , Clark
Hayden , Shelvey
Ritche Perez Murphy
Mitro

That line up doesn't look good enough unfortunately. Unless Benitez pulls off a managerial miracle it seems relegation looms. I just can't understand, with all the money in football at the moment, why can't Newcastle invest to significantly improve the side?

We're at a stage where we have to sell before we buy as the squads overcrowded. Rafa can buy who he wants but Ashley won't want unregistered players sitting on 40k a week like Saviet

Crimey wrote:That line up doesn't look good enough unfortunately. Unless Benitez pulls off a managerial miracle it seems relegation looms. I just can't understand, with all the money in football at the moment, why can't Newcastle invest to significantly improve the side?

I'm sure we'll feed back your thoughts to Rafa. You realise that there is still a month of the window to go?

As for investing, we spent heavily in the The Championship, and the prize money is far shorter for winning the Championship. For instance, finishing 18th in the Prem, Newcastle received £70m, you still have to pay wages and invest.

Newcastle received £7m for winning the Championship, that INCLUDES TV money, and then Parachute payments, so we only got £47m in total. We got relegated before the TV money went up. So even bottom sides in the Prem will have received around £100m last season.

When you look at our outgoings, as well as paying off transfers from last season, we've pretty much used all our cash that came in. It's not that we don't want to spend, it's that we can't. People wil, say 'ph, you got £30m for Sissoko', no, Spurs are paying in installments, and like any good business, we aren't spending it till it's in.

We're being cautious, we're not going to do an Everton and blow up transfer fees. I'd imagine we'll get Perez, Samaris and 1 or 2 loans. Plus a few out the door.

The idea is to stay up and then the following season invest.

I think we'll stay up but it won't be spectacular. Be a lot of 1-0 wins where we nick a goal and let Shelvey and Merino drive us into the corners and waste time.

Crimey wrote:That line up doesn't look good enough unfortunately

For what, 17th? I'm assuming that's what you point is?

I'm quietly optimistic about our chances. Think we've learnt some lessons, overhauled the squad of foreign mercenaries & built a young, tight-knit squad, full of energy & untapped potential. Think we've found a few gems this summer in Lejeune & Merino too, and if players like Aarons & Murphy can develop quickly, in an effective system, we could achieve decent success.

I agree with Crimey, for what it's worth. It's definitely a side that will be worried by relegation, and whilst I think Rafa is a better manager as a team not expected to dominate matches, I'm not sure he's got a good enough team to carry out plans yet.

Dolphin Ziggler wrote:I agree with Crimey, for what it's worth. It's definitely a side that will be worried by relegation, and whilst I think Rafa is a better manager as a team not expected to dominate matches, I'm not sure he's got a good enough team to carry out plans yet.

And to think, I praised West Ham.

To me it looks a side that will be ok going forward, but has issues at the back without reinforcements coming in.

I expected more business, to be honest. I'd say ours has only been alright, and it's much better than yours. I think more will happen, Ashley will like the way values drop and more pieces will fall into place.

So did I, but you can blame Everton for that. They've over-inflated prices and we're not going to pay stupid money for players.

Really interesting interview with Rafa on Sky today at the Premier League launch.

Chronicle had the transcript here - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/rafa-benitez-premier-league-launch-13451605

We have signed Kennedy (left wing / left back) from Chelsea on loan for the season.

Bit of a desperation signing, that.

Well he's actually not a bad player...just needs to get his attitude sorted.

Maybe a stint with us will work out well for both parties.

Offensively, as a left wing back, he's a massive upgrade on Dummett. Been pleading for more balance, to equal what Yedlin gives us. Can see the direction Rafa is going, and he's added significant pace throughout the team. Season-long loan is no risk either.

Joselu for £5m?

Cheap deal for Joselu, can't complain. Rafa's pursuit of Wilshere gathering pace, probably accelerated after Shelvey's continued ways.

Ah Shelvey is daft! Personally to me it was nothing, he didn't even stamp he just put his foot on Ali , however he knows that actions like that will get a red card...and Ali made the most of it as well.

Wilshere...im just not sure of at all.

Diego Costa's free.....

Wilshere is a class above anything we have, plus both parties are desperate, so a deal makes sense. Rafa won't really care about his injury record, he just wants numbers & more quality.

A fit and on form Wilshire I agree, but ill hold judgment until A) He's signed and B) we see what he's like.

Atsu looked good on Sunday mind.