St James’ Park – One of Britain’s finest sporting arenas. Newcastle United are inching closer to having a new paymaster as the era of Mike Ashley finally seems set to end on Tyneside. There won’t be much wailing amongst the Magpies support and a teary-eyed farewell seems hugely unlikely. Ashley has long since forfeited the goodwill of Newcastle’s success-starved support.
The departure of Rafa Benitez last summer to be replaced by Steve Bruce was perhaps the final straw. Despite his local links, Bruce wasn’t a popular choice. His links to nearby rivals Sunderland did little for his popularity but more poignantly, Bruce is a typical ‘journeyman’ manager at this stage in his career. (more…)
A new dawn at St James’ Park? The news that Mike Ashley’s time as Newcastle United owner is coming to an end has unsurprisingly gone down extremely well with the fans.
A Saudi Arabian-funded consortium is set to complete a £300 million takeover and will pump in significant resources to try and establish the Magpies as a force in the Premier League.
We take a closer look at four key areas Newcastle’s new owners must address if they are to deliver success to the North East’s biggest club.
Time to say goodbye to Bruce.
Steve Bruce has done a reasonable job as manager in difficult circumstances, but he is not the man to take the club forward. (more…)
Almiron – Still has a lot to do to prove himself. Miguel Almiron’s signing with Newcastle United just over a year ago was textbook Rafael Benitez, the Paraguayan’s transfer wasn’t too dissimilar to the many players Benitez signed at Liverpool, seeking to find a hidden gem while still paying a decent amount for their services. As Newcastle United supporters are gearing up for the club’s FA Cup fifth round match versus West Brom, supporters can click here to get the latest bet bonuses to wager on the Magpies when they meet the Baggies in the cup. (more…)
Joelinton – Only 1 goal in 25 Premier League games Newcastle United have managed to defy trends this season to keep themselves away from trouble at the bottom of the Premier League. Statistically the Magpies have endured an unremarkable campaign, scoring only 24 goals in their 25 matches. Crystal Palace (23) are the only side in the top flight to have found the net on fewer occasions at the time of writing, which could be a cause for concern for Steve Bruce as his team approach the final stretch of the 2019/20 season.
With or without scoring, just getting shots on target has also been the problem; once again, the Magpies are in the bottom three there as well with only 82, only Burnley (80) and Crystal Palace (79) have fewer. (more…)
A perfect debut for Matty Longstaff vs Man Utd. It continues to be a season of ups and downs for Newcastle United as we continue to hover around mid-table. However, in the world of reduced expectations under Mike Ashley, 24 matches with 30 points, along with 4 teams and 7 points between Newcastle United and the relegation places seems like quite a good place to be all things considered. The Magpies find themselves only needing 10 points from their remaining 14 games to reach the 40 points usually seen as ensuring survival in the Premier League, with the potential to do much better and cement another place in mid table.
The team are also 6 points better off than they were at the same point last season, and that under a former Champions League winner in Rafael Benitez, though a very poor start last season was compensated for by a much better finish which saw Newcastle finish one place higher than the 14th place Newcastle United hold at the time of writing this piece. (more…)
