Inter Miami CF (And Beyond...)

[danmcconnell1]

When David Beckham joined the LA Galaxy back in 2007, there was a clause inserted into that contract to allow Beckham to purchase an expansion team for $25m upon his retirement from the sport. After much deliberation, this clause became a reality with the inception of Inter Miami CF, or Club Internacional de Futbol Miami to give them their full title.

Established fully in 2018, it was announced that the club would play their home games at the DRV PNK Stadium, built on the site of the former Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

As you can see, the current home of the club is a little way outside of central Miami, therefore the club are in the process of building a new stadium in downtown Miami which will be called the Miami Freedom Park, which should be ready for the beginning of the 2025 MLS season. 

The new stadium will have a capacity of 25000.

The club's first season in MLS was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, therefore it was a very stop start season which resulted in the club finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference table (made up of all clubs in the eastern USA), which in turn meant finishing 19th in the Supporter's Shield (the overall MLS table). The 10th place finish in the Eastern Conference did mean they had qualified for the MLS play-offs, a mini-tournament at the end of the season to find out who wins MLS overall.

The format for the play-offs is pretty simple, there is a play-in round played by the lowest finishers in each of the conferences. We faced Nashville however were beaten soundly 3-0 therefore our participation in these play-offs were over. The eventual 2020 MLS Cup winners were Columbus Crew, who beat Seattle Sounders in the final 3-0.

The 2021 season was much more traditional in terms of games played, however crowds were limited, again due to Covid-19. Inter Miami finished 11th in the Eastern Conference and 20th in the Supporter's Shield in their 2nd full season, therefore didn't qualify for the play-offs this time around. New York City FC won their first MLS Cup title in 2021.

Due to my game beginning in April 2023, the results of the 2022 MLS season were available also. The club finished 8th in the Eastern Conference and 19th in the Supporter's Shield, therefore again missing out on the play-offs. The 2 players pictured above, French World Cup winning midfielder Blaise Matuidi and former Real Madrid, Napoli and Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain both left the club during the 2022 season, therefore there will be a need for one or 2 big names to come into the club this season. Atlanta United were crowned MLS Cup winners in 2022.

As mentioned previously, my game began in April 2023, therefore the club had played a few matches before my arrival.

The side had won just 1 match before I arrived, which came against Minnesota in mid March at home. My first match in charge was away to Vancouver, which we won 2-0 thanks to goals from Robbie Robinson and Corentin Jean. My arrival seemed to coincide with an upturn in form and we've lost just once under my stewardship so far. We followed the first match with a draw at home to Dallas, Ulloa scoring a penalty for us, another win at home again to the newest franchise within the league, St. Louis City, beating them 3-0 as Pizarro, Robinson and Acosta all got on the score sheet.

That was followed by our only defeat since my arrival, another home match, this time against the Houston Dynamo. Alejandro Pozuelo scored our goal in that one. Since then though we've been good and responded brilliantly with a 4-2 win over Columbus Crew, Jean with a hat-rick and Bryce Duke also getting one late on against them. We then drew 2-2 with LAFC, Jean got another 2 for us but a late Gareth Bale penalty rescued a point for the hosts. Again we responded to that disappointment well though by winning our next two, which in turn were our first back to back wins of the season. The first was against Chicago Fire by 3 goals to 1, CB Aime Mabika with a brace and Robinson with the other, which was then followed by our biggest win since my arrival against Charlotte FC as we beat them 5-2 with Mabika getting another one, captain Gregore also scoring while Robinson continued his good goal scoring form with a hat-rick.

All of this means that despite arriving with the club down in 13th in the Eastern Conference, we now sit in 4th after 13 matches. We're also 9th in the Supporter's Shield too, so we're steadily rising up the table. However, the biggest piece of news is still yet to come. 

As mentioned before, after losing the likes of Matuidi and Higuain last season, there was room for a big name in our squad, and arguably, we have the biggest of them all joining in July. The great Lionel Messi is swapping Paris for Miami. He'll join on a Designated Player contract earning £165k per week, a drop in the ocean compared to the wages he was earning at both Barcelona and PSG, however he's made no secret of his desire to one day grace the MLS with his presence. As soon as I arrived and noticed the clause in his PSG contract to extend his deal by a year had not yet been activated, I pounced on his agent, discussed the possibility of signing him which ended positively, then approached the man himself and here we are. The greatest footballer to have ever played the game is joining Inter Miami CF. He's been back to his sparkling best with PSG this season scoring 18 goals in 44 appearances as well as registering 7 assists. However, his biggest achievement was completed earlier this season as he guided his beloved Argentina to the World Cup title back in December 2022 in Qatar. Despite only scoring 2 goals at that World Cup, his presence on the pitch inspired his team mates and it's pretty clear that, after this achievement, he'll go down as the best player of all time. Rather surprisingly he didn't announce his retirement on the international stage following the World Cup triumph, so we'll have to manage his minutes accordingly when he does arrive to ensure he doesn't burn out after no break until the end of this year for him.

Edited December 13, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

May 2023

After a solid start in charge in South Florida, the remainder of May's results are as follows;

We managed another win, this time against Montreal CF with Rob Taylor and Pozuelo both getting on the score sheet in a comfortable win in Canada. Next up was the visit of FC Cincinnati who we thrashed 4-2, Pozuelo, Jean, Pizarro and Lowe all getting one each. Then came just the 2nd defeat since I took over at home to Seattle, we lost 1-0. However we responded well to that setback again and knocked Cincinnati out of the US Cup in the 3rd round, scoring 4 against them again for the 2nd time in the space of 2 weeks, Taylor and Pozuelo both got one each while Robbie Robinson bagged a brace to send us into round 4 where we'll face a local derby against Miami FC next month.

It's getting a lot tighter at the top of the Eastern Conference with us currently occupying the final play off spot down in 7th despite losing just once this month. 6 points separate 2nd placed New York Red Bulls and 10th place Philadelphia Union, so a good run of form, like the one we're currently on, could certainly see us move further up the league in no time, and with just over a month until the arrival of a certain Lionel Messi, hitting form now could certainly boost our morale ahead of his arrival, which we're all very excited about of course. 

[danmcconnell1]

June 2023

We're almost midway through the MLS season and with us in decent form I'm hoping we can continue that going into June.

Whilst the month didn't start great, we ended it superbly. A draw against the New England Revolution got us underway, it finished 2-2 with Pozuelo and Taylor getting our goals. We then lost 2-1 away at Sporting Kansas City, Robinson bagging for us there. After that though was when our luck changed. 6 wins on the bounce followed, beginning with a trip to LA Galaxy where we won 3-1, Pozuelo, Robinson and Azcona with the goals. We then faced local rivals Miami FC back at home in the US Cup 4th round and beat them 1-0, Pozuelo again scored for us, that's 3 in 4 for him now. Pozuelo got another one in our next match against Toronto back in MLS whilst young defender Ian Fray scored his first goal for us as we beat the Canadians 2-0. The US Cup rolled into town as we faced another relatively local side, or at least within the same state, Orlando City up in the state capital. We needed extra time, but managed to pull through with a 3-2 win, Robinson got 1 with Pizarro bagging a brace to send us through to the quarter finals where we'll NASL side Charlotte Independence, who incidentally beat our next opponents Atlanta United in their 4th round tie on penalties.

Speaking of Atlanta, we travelled to Georgia in wonderful form and were confident ahead of our match against the reigning MLS champions and current Eastern Conference and Supporter's Shield leaders. And we had good reason to be confident. We thrashed them 4-0 with Acosta opening the scoring for us before Robbie Robinson scored his 2nd hat-rick of the season to inflict just their 4th defeat of the season. We ended the month with another win, this time at home to the New York Red Bulls, Robinson got himself another 2 as we comfortably beat them 2-0 in Fort Lauderdale.

Again, the Eastern Conference is pretty tight towards the top end of the table, so we currently sit down in 4th despite our brilliant form. We do have a game in hand over both NYCFC and DC United which if we win we'll move up into 3rd ahead of the side from the capital and then just a point behind NYCFC, however we'd still be 8 behind leaders Atlanta if we did win that game in hand. We do of course have Lionel Messi joining us in July, so I'm certainly hopeful that he can provide even more firepower upfront as we look to ensure, at a minimum, a play-off spot this season while hoping to go further into those play-offs than the club has managed to before.

Speaking of Messi, here's how he finished his season at PSG;

51 appearances and 20 goals in his final season in France is certainly not bad for a man who's just turned 36. He also managed 8 assists and 4 MOTM awards too. Obviously, the MLS isn't quite as higher standard as the French Ligue 1, however Messi's undeniable class and talent will hopefully mean he's head and shoulders above anybody else in the league.

[danmcconnell1]

That's it. That's the post.

[danmcconnell1]

July 2023

After the fantastic end to last month, I was certainly hoping we could continue this great form heading into July.

We did make it 7 wins on the bounce with a win against St. Louis City, Robbie Robinson bagging another brace to continue his outstanding form in front of goal. However the next 3 league matches all ended in defeat. We lost away at Charlotte FC 3-2, Acosta and Jean got our goals there, then lost at Soldier Field against the Chicago Fire 2-0. We did manage a win in the US Cup quarter final against Charlotte Independence, beating them 2-0. Pizarro got both of our goals in that one as Lionel Messi made his debut after officially joining the club the day before that match. We then lost away at Austin in Texas too 2-1, Messi getting his first goal for the club in his 2nd appearance but on his MLS debut.

I'd not heard of the Leagues Cup before, despite managing in MLS on previous versions of FM before, so was surprised to see it appear. There are 15 groups of 3 where we face each team once in the group before the knockout stages begin. We faced New England Revolution in our first match and comfortably beat them 3-0 at DRV PNK Stadium, which was officially a neutral venue despite being our home stadium. Pozuelo, Pizarro and Robinson got our goals that day. We then got back to winning ways in the league which was much needed after those 3 defeats as we travelled to Colorado to face the Rapids. We managed to beat them 3-1 with Jean, Messi and Taylor all bagging. The final match of the month was the final Leagues Cup match of the group against Mexican side Queretaro. I didn't know too much about them but after seeing New England had beaten them, I was confident that I would be able to rest a few key names against them and it paid off. We beat them 6-2 in the end with Robinson grabbing 4 goals, while Fray and Ulloa got one each.

All of this means that we're still fighting on 4 fronts in total. The Supporter's Shield looks to be a trophy too far for us at this point though with us down in 6th and Atlanta 14 points clear, however an historic treble could well be on the cards if things go our way. We sit 3rd in the Eastern Conference table and are starting to pull away, despite a relatively poor month in terms of league results, so I'm confident we'll secure a play in the play-offs soon. The draw for the Leagues Cup Eastern quarter finals takes place soon and we're also in the semi finals of the US Cup where we'll welcome Seattle Sounders to southern Florida.

We did make another signing this month with Martin Caceres joining the club. The veteran Uruguayan international has a litany of trophies throughout his career, mainly thanks to his time in Italy whilst being part of a dominant Juventus team through the early-mid 2010's. He's obviously not quite the player he once was, however I'm hoping his experience will help us through the latter part of this season and potentially into next as well. He still has good attributes for this level across the board, so I'm pleased with the signing.

[danmcconnell1]

August 2023

With us still fighting on all fronts heading towards the business end of the season, I'm hoping we can again continue our good form and perhaps even lift some silverware this season.

And that's exactly what we did this month, but we'll get onto that shortly.

The month began with a roller coaster of a match up in Orlando against Floridian rivals Orlando City in the Leagues Cup East quarter final, we drew 3-3 after extra time, Robinson with another 2 and Pozuelo getting one for us. We managed to win the penalty shoot out 7-6 with Robinson himself scoring the decisive penalty. We then followed that up with a convincing win in the US Cup semi final against Seattle Sounders at DRV PNK Stadium, winning 4-1 with goals from Messi and a hat-rick for that man in form Robinson which booked our place in the final against Columbus Crew later this month.

We were unfortunately knocked out of the Leagues Cup in the East semi final away at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico against Club America as they beat us 2-1. Robinson opened the scoring for us but we fell to a late goal scored by Vinas for them. Our only match in MLS itself this month was at home against the Portland Timbers and we beat them comfortably 3-0, Robinson again with another hat-rick, his 2nd of the month, got all 3 points for us. 

Then came the US Cup final against the aforementioned Columbus Crew. We were favourites heading into it due to our outstanding form and, frankly, because we have Lionel Messi in our side. And so he proved to be the difference maker. He assisted Alejando Pozuelo's opener before completing the scoring himself to help Inter Miami CF to the first trophy in our history in just our 4th full season within MLS.

We'd had a great run in the cup as well as some thrilling performances so I was ecstatic to win the first trophy of Inter Miami CF's history.

As mentioned previously we'd only played 1 match in the league this month, but we won it to help consolidate our place in the Eastern Conference play-offs. Robinson's goal scoring exploits now make him the outright top goal scorer in MLS so far this season with 18, however he has 32 in all competitions. The 1st overall pick from the 2020 Superdraft has finally shown why he was so sought after at that draft and has fully deserved all of the plaudits coming his way this year.

[danmcconnell1]

September 2023

With the cup triumph still fresh in our minds, we head into September with a spring in our step and hope we can continue our good form as we look to secure a play-off spot and prepare for them too.

We did continue the good form with 3 wins from 4, losing the other one. We began September with a win in Utah against Real Salt Lake, Robinson with a brace there. We then welcomed Nashville to Miami and beat them 2-1, Messi from the penalty spot and Jean scored the other. We then travelled to Cincinnati who were much improved after we put 4 past them twice earlier this season, they beat us 3-1 this time, Jean getting our only goal. The best result of the month came in our penultimate game of the regular season at home to D.C. United, managed by former player Wayne Rooney no less. We beat them 3-0 with Jean scoring 2 more and Pozuelo completing the rout. Jean now has 4 in his last 3 so is hitting form right in time for the play-offs which is good news as it reduces the pressure on Robinson who's without a goal in 3 as things stand. 

The win against Nashville secured our place in this season's play-offs and also Inter Miami's best ever regular season finish, another win would take us to 61 points from the regular season, something we haven't come anywhere near in the past with the previous record being 41 points amassed in both 2021 and 2022. Robinson is still the MLS top scorer adding another 2 to his total this month. He's also entered the race for the best average rating and most MOTM awards too in what's been an outstanding season for the 24 year old.

[danmcconnell1]

October 2023

With just one more regular season match to play, I saw it as an opportunity to give some fringe players a bit of game time ahead of the all important play-offs.

And we were fantastic in that final regular season match away at Toronto. We beat them 3-1 with Jean getting on the score sheet again whilst Messi bagged a brace. This meant we would be facing Orlando City in the Eastern Conference First Round, or the equivalent of a quarter final in the play-offs. We also managed to beat them, mainly thanks to a magical Messi performance. He provided all 3 assists to Corentin Jean's hat-rick whilst also getting on the score sheet himself, he was outstanding as we beat our Floridian rivals for the 3rd time this season under my tenure. That win set up a play-off semi final against 2021 MLS champions NYCFC. We have home advantage in this semi so I'm really hoping we can take advantage of that and progress into the Eastern Conference final, which if we do win will be against Atlanta United as they beat the New York Red Bulls, ending the possibility of an all New York Eastern Conference final.

The win against Toronto secured 2nd place in the Eastern Conference table as well as securing our best ever Supporter's Shield finish of 6th too. The Eastern Conference semi takes place on 1st November so we don't have long to wait for it. 

[DrGoals94]

great updates, Miami buzzing to get rid of Phil Neville it seems

[danmcconnell1]

7 minutes ago, DrGoals94 said:

great updates, Miami buzzing to get rid of Phil Neville it seems

Clearly I'm more of an attractive manager than Neville to Messi   (in footballing terms...)

Edited December 8, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

November 2023

It's play-off time. As mentioned before, we face NYCFC at home in our Eastern Conference semi-final, which if we win we'll face Atlanta United in the Eastern Conference final.

We did manage to win the semi final against NYCFC, quite convincingly in the end 4-1. Pozuelo got things going for us while Jean doubled our lead. Moralez got one back for them but 2 late goals from Jean again and Nungaray secured our Eastern Conference final place.

Unfortunately though, the Eastern Conference final is where our play off campaign came to an end. Atlanta United have been brilliant this season winning the Eastern Conference regular season league table and now go on to face FC Dallas in the MLS Cup final later this month.

Atlanta United ended up winning the MLS Cup for the 2nd time in a row, beating FC Dallas 1-0 in the final.

Edited December 8, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

Update

The board have confirmed the new stadium plans have been approved therefore Inter Miami will be playing in central Miami from what will now be the 2027 season it looks like. Building will begin imminently and be completed hopefully be the end of 2026.

[danmcconnell1]

Off-Season

With our season not finishing the way we would have liked, we enter the off-season with plenty to ponder and decisions to be made as to who stays, who goes and finally who comes in.

The first player out of the club was Felipe Valencia. He joined St. Louis City through the waiver draft after failing to graduate from our B Team despite showing promise in his early days at the club.

Next out was Rodolfo Pizarro, which frees up a Designated Player spot in our squad. He made it clear since the summer that he would not be considering extending his stay here in Florida, so it made sense to let him go at the end of the year. He served the club with distinction in his 4 seasons at the club (one of those was out on loan back at Monterry in Mexico), making 101 league appearances and scoring 15 goals for the club. He's joined Al-Sadd in Qatar.

We completed some trades with other MLS clubs too this off-season, with the likes of Gregore joining Portland Timbers, Victor Ulloa joining Seattle Sounders and Ernest Nungaray, who only joined the club himself in August, joining LA Galaxy. In return for these deals we received General Allocation (GA) money, always useful when buying down salary impacts to help stay under the salary cap, which incidentally has now been increased this season to £91k, and some international player slots. The salary cap increase has also resulted in reserve and senior minimum salary contracts being increased also, just to further add to the confusion that is the MLS salary cap rules.

I like to think I understand the litany of rules within MLS contracts/registrations, however that doesn't make following them easy. As far as I understand, Designated Player contracts to not impact the salary cap, unless the player is signed in the winter, then a small percentage of the players' wage impacts the salary cap, as I think I've just found out with the Designated Player I've signed to replace Pizarro, however we'll get to that shortly. These players are essentially paid far more than the average MLS player to help increase the quality of the league. Senior contracts can vary in salary, however these impact the salary cap, so it's important not to blow the budget on these types of contracts. Then, and I may be wrong here, Reserve and Generation Adidas player contracts do not impact the salary cap, as they're generally younger talents that the MLS want to keep within the league, therefore they're more likely to be registered in a squad if their salary doesn't impact the cap, however, there is a limit on the number of 'off-budget' players you can register, which currently stands at 10, with no more than 6 being 'Reserve' contracts.

So, now that the minefield that are the MLS rules are somewhat out of the way, I'll move onto the new Designated Player.

Aaron Ramsey is a name familiar to football fans worldwide. The Welshman has played at huge European clubs including Juventus and Arsenal, while also pulling on the shirts of Cardiff where he began his career, Nottingham Forest, Rangers and Nice in France. Still only 33, I believe Ramsey can be a real asset in this team and help create goals as well as hopefully bagging a few himself.

Next into the club was Kelyn Rowe, a versatile player who can play at LB, CM as well as anywhere across the attacking midfield positions. He's joined as a free agent on a Senior Minimum Salary deal, meaning his salary doesn't impact the cap. I love these kind of deals, versatile, experienced and no salary cap impact, what's not to love!?

Whilst Robinson isn't a new signing of course, we did tie him down to a new deal to keep him at the club until the end of the 2026 season. Although my coaching team believe his best position is out wide on the left, I wholeheartedly believe he's an out and out striker, and last season proved it. 34 goals in all competitions was more than enough reason to warrant a new deal, however it was slightly disappointing to lose his Generation Adidas status, meaning his contract now classes as Senior, therefore impacting the cap. However, he's only on just shy of £5k per week, so it's a small price to pay both in terms of salary and cap impact. Here's hoping he can rediscover his form from last season as we enter this new one.

It's almost time for the MLS Superdraft now, where MLS clubs pick the best players coming out of the college system that year to join their club's and hopefully move onto becoming the next big thing.

Our first pick was Ricardo, a Brazilian striker out of Little Rock, AR. A pacy striker with very good finishing, passing and technique, I'm very happy with him and hope he can follow in the footsteps of Robinson for us. He has a decent record for Little Rock too, scoring 9 in 19 appearances. 

Ricky Aviza was next in, an attacking midfielder who can absolutely learn off the likes of Ramsey, Pozuelo and Messi in his time with us. He has good attributes for a midfielder like first touch, passing and dribbling, so I'm hoping he can improve other aspects of his game too with us. He was signed from the Boston Bolts, MA. He has a very good scoring rate for a midfielder too, scoring 11 in 33, that's one every 3 games.

Daniel Hernandez is next in from local club Miami City. He's another attacking midfielder who, despite not quite being on the same level as Aviza previously, certainly has the potential to become a decent player for us. Another player with a decent scoring record from midfield too with 6 in 33 last year.

Our first round pick of this year's Superdraft was Obed Campos out of the Southern California Seahorses. He's a full back who can play either side, so again, his versatility is something I like very much. He's a leader too so I'm hoping he can become a mainstay in the squad in the years to come, whilst learning his trade potentially out on loan in the short term, however, if not then definitely in our B Team for the time being.

So, that's it from the Superdraft this year, I'm very happy with our picks after discussing them at length with my coaching team. There may well be more senior incomings or even outgoings as the season approaches, but for now I'm relatively happy with the way the squad is shaping up ahead of the new MLS season.

[danmcconnell1]

Off-Season Part 2

I did mention there may well be further signings coming in and that's exactly what's happened almost immediately.

Argentinian international Matias Kranevitter has joined the club after being released by Monterrey. Once an FM wonderkid, Kranevitter's career didn't quite hit the heights many thought it would after his move to Atletico Madrid back in 2015 from River Plate. He made just 8 appearances under Simeone as well as spending time out on loan at Sevilla and back at River Plate before joining Zenit in 2017 for £7m. Injuries restricted him to just 29 appearances in 3 seasons in northwest Russia therefore he left to join Mexican side Monterrey. 84 appearances and 2 goals later, he's left them for nothing and joined us in MLS. Another central midfielder was what I wanted after Gregore, Ulloa and Nungaray all left, so to bring in Ramsey, Rowe and now Kranevitter, as well as the extra options we now have following the Superdraft, I feel like we have a much better squad to move forward and hopefully take that next step in winning the MLS Cup this season.

In an absolutely ideal world, I would like another goalkeeper, however we are right on the cusp of the salary cap now, so any more additions would have to be those that didn't impact it, therefore finding a keeper of a quality better than we already have that wouldn't impact the salary cap is highly unlikely this close to the beginning of the new season, so Callendar is first choice currently with dos Santos his backup. 

It's also highly likely that we're going to lose Leandro Gonzalez Pirez. He spent last season on loan at River Plate, however his wages increase our salary cap to £100k if he were to be registered, £9k over the cap, therefore when it comes to the final registration window, he may well be waived if we can't manage to sell him before then.

We completed a trade with Real Salt Lake for Bryce Duke. It see's the Utah based side receive Duke and an international player slot in return for £750k of GA, which boosts our balance after buying down all eligible players salaries in our squad to stay within the cap, so I'm happy with the deal considering the reinforcements we've also bought in in central midfield.

Edited December 8, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

Off-Season Part 3

With the new MLS season fast approaching, let's take a look at the squad as it shapes up ahead of the new campaign.

We've certainly refreshed the squad during the off-season, with plenty of new faces arriving while some left us also. In goal, we have Drake Callender as our number 1, with CJ dos Santos the backup. As mentioned before, Callender is more than adequate, however an upgrade for the right price would certainly be welcome.

We're well covered in defence with Caceres able to play across the back line, Yedlin the first choice RB and Gibbs the same at LB. Rookie Campos can also play either side which is great for us, as well as Noah Allen also being the backup LB. Jean Mota can also play at LB if required, however he's primarily a midfielder. Our CB options are plentiful too, with Lowe, another player than can also play at RB too, Fray, Mabika and Sailor all capable options for us. Gonzalez Pirez was waived in the end as we just couldn't fit his salary within salary cap limits.

In midfield, again Mota is a great option as he's so versatile on the left side and centrally too. Kelyn Rowe is very similar and will provide great backup to Mota in pretty much the same positions. New signings Kranevitter and new DP Ramsey will be the first choice partnership in central midfield from the beginning of the season, however that's always open to change as time goes on. Finland international Robert Taylor is a great option out wide as he can play either side. Alejandro Pozuelo is the 2nd DP in the squad and can play pretty much anywhere on the left side and in central midfield too. Rookies Hernandez and provide cover in the central attacking roles and on the right too in Hernandez's case, so may get some game time as the season goes on. Then there is, of course, the mercurial Lionel Messi. He can play anywhere on the right side of midfield, cutting in on that wand of a left foot, or centrally in a number 10 role or upfront. He's given a free role in my team, essentially he does whatever he likes as he's a match winner and has earned the right.

Finally, upfront, firstly we have Ricardo. Another rookie who was drafted this off-season, he's 3rd choice upfront at the moment, but just like Robinson last season, if he performs well for us, there's no reason why he can't muscle his way into the first team regularly. Corentin Jean ended last season in fantastic form for us with 11 goals in our final 7 matches. His form did dip following the emergence of Robinson midway through the campaign, however he's still a very good option to have who can also play wide on the right too. Finally, it's Robinson. He was outstanding last season with 34 goals in all competitions and will go into the new season as our first choice striker based on his form last time out. I'm hoping he can replicate the goal scoring exploits he managed last time out and hopefully help fire us a couple of steps further this season by helping us win an MLS Cup.

Our pre-season friendlies began perfectly with wins against Minnesota, Atlanta, Chicago and Houston before we beat our own B team too. The final 2 however weren't quite as successful with a heavy defeat away to LAFC and a high scoring draw with Sporting Kansas City, however I'd much rather get these poorer performances out of the way in pre-season than I would save them for the regular season proper.

We begin the new season at home against Columbus who had a quiet season last time out finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference before a trip to LA to face the Galaxy. We then welcome Canadian side Vancouver before 2 away trips up the East coast, firstly against Floridian rivals Orlando City before travelling to the capital Washington D.C. to face D.C. United.

As mentioned before, I would certainly like to improve the goalkeeping situation within our squad, however with so little wiggle room within the salary cap this may not be possible unless some players are waived which I really don't want to do at this stage. If the right GK came along and was a significant upgrade, then it may have to be considered, but at the moment Callender is still number 1. I have noticed a very decent GK has been waived so I'm in the process of claiming him from waivers, whether we get him or not though remains to be seen.

[danmcconnell1]

March 2024

The new season is upon us and I'm hoping that we can go one step further this year and make it further into the play-offs.

Our start has been pretty decent. We scored 4 in both of our opening matches home and away against Columbus and LA Galaxy respectively. Robinson, Pozuelo, debutant Ramsey and then Jean completed the rout against Columbus while a Jean hat-rick and another debut goal, this time for rookie Ricardo off the bench put the cherry on top in LA. We then came back down to earth with a bump though as Vancouver beat us 2-0 at home in a poor performance by us, however we responded well with a victory in Florida's state capital against Orlando City. Messi equalised after an hour with Robinson scoring with 9 minutes left to give us the victory. We ended the month in the capital against Wayne Rooney's D.C. United and came away with a point from there, Jean getting our goal to continue his good goal scoring form from the end of last season into this.

After 5 matches we sit 4th in the Eastern Conference and 6th in the Supporter's Shield. Corentin Jean has been outstanding at the beginning of this new season averaging a goal a game at the minute while Messi has been at his creative best already with 4 assists in 4 appearances. It's been a solid start to the season picking up 10 points from 15 so I'm hoping we can continue the good form, perhaps even better it slightly, and make a push at the top end of both the Eastern Conference and the Supporter's Shield this time around.

[danmcconnell1]

April 2024

After a promising start to the new season, we went into April hoping to continue our good form and pick up more points.

On the whole, it's been a successful month again in terms of results, however some of the matches played, particularly those that ended in draws, were frustrating. We began with a thumping win over Cincinnatti beating them 4-2, Jean with a brace, Mabika and another rookie from the draft this year Aviza all getting on the score sheet. That was followed by an impressive 2-1 win away at NYCFC. Robbie Robinson scored a brace there including a 93rd minute winner to steal all three points for us at the death. We then drew 3-3 away in California against San Jose Earthquakes. We were 2-0 and 3-2 up in this game so it was frustrating to only leave with a point, Robinson got another as did Mabika while Messi got his 2nd of the campaign too. Just 3 days later we travelled to Colorado to face the Rapids and we soundly beaten. The score line flattered us at 3-2 as we were poor and gave away 3 silly goals for the 2nd time in the space of 3 days. Both of our goals were successful penalties scored by Messi. However we did respond with our best result of the month away at Nashville winning 4-1. Mota scored 2 while Messi and Taylor also got on the score sheet, that's Messi's 4th goal in 3 matches. Then came another frustrating draw at home to bottom of the Eastern Conference Chicago Fire, Mabika equalised early in the 2nd half for us as we struggled in front of goal. The final result of the month was another win against the New England Revolution, Pozuelo scoring the only goal 6 minutes before half time to secure the points for us.

We end the month 2nd in the Eastern Conference and 4th in the Supporter's Shield, just 2 points behind leaders of both our Conference and the Shield the Columbus Crew, a side we managed to beat on the opening day.

[danmcconnell1]

Transfer Update

I have thought for a few weeks now that we've been a little short in central midfield so have been looking for a player that wouldn't break the bank but would also improve the squad.

Due to already having the maximum number of international players in our squad, we had to look at American free agents, therefore welcome Emerson Hyndman. The former Fulham, Bournemouth and Atlanta United man joined us on a free (although we did have to trade Seattle's 2025 Superdraft 1st round pick that we had for the rights to sign him) is a player who obviously has pedigree but unfortunately has never quite hit the heights some thought he would when he moved to England at such a young age. He's a tidy midfielder and will certainly bolster our midfield going forward.

Edited December 12, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

May 2024

After a promising start to the new season, all I can really hope for at this point is that we continue to pick up points regularly.

As you can see, I've accidentally played ahead slightly into June, so I'll recap the 2 matches played so far in what will be a busy month. Beginning in May though, we got underway with a thrilling 4-4 draw away at the New York Red Bulls. We were 4-3 down at half time with Pozuelo, Robinson and Messi keeping us within touching distance going into the 2nd half where Messi equalised for us to take a point back down the East coast. We followed that up with another draw, this time a goalless one at home to Austin FC. We then beat state rivals Orlando City at home 3-1, Jean, Ramsey and Robinson getting our goals in a convincing performance. We did however lose our final match this month as we faced the return fixture against the Red Bulls, they beat us 1-0 at DRV PNK Stadium.

As we entered June, we drew 0-0 with Portland but then were beaten soundly 4-0 by Charlotte FC in North Carolina. It's been a tough start to June but with another 6 games to play which includes our participation resuming in the US Cup, a trophy we'll be defending this year, I'm hoping our form can turn around.

As we delve into June, we've dropped down to 6th in the Eastern Conference after a relatively poor run of results. We've also dropped to 9th in the Supporter's Shield as surprise Western Conference leaders Real Salt Lake are taking the MLS by storm at the minute and currently lead both their Conference and the Shield tables. We will face Tormenta FC in the US Cup 4th round, our first match in the competition this season.

On a side note, we will be without both Robert Taylor and Lionel Messi shortly as they've been called up by their respective countries for both the Euros and Copa America. We could be without them both for up to 6 weeks which would be a real blow, however I don't see Finland pulling up too many trees at the Euros so hopefully will be knocked out in the early stages meaning Taylor comes back to us sooner than anticipated. Messi on the other hand takes his World Champions Argentina to the Copa America, so they'll surely begin the tournament as one of the favourites. 

[danmcconnell1]

June 2024 (continued)

May was a bit of a disappointment, therefore we really needed to turn things around in June and after an indifferent start, I really wanted us to push on. Things were about to get a lot more challenging though with both Taylor and Messi going off on international duty.

We'd never have known it at first though. Taylor went off to Germany for the Euros with Finland after the Charlotte debacle, so missed the majority of the remainder of the month. We did have Messi for 2 more matches. We continued with a huge win over Chicago, beating them 6-3 with Yedlin, Rowe, Robinson, Hyndman, Messi and Ricardo all getting on the score sheet for us in an emphatic win. It was followed by a win, our 7th on the bounce in the US Cup which is a new record, against Tormenta FC, Robinson and Mota with the goals to send us into the 5th round where we would face Nashville later this month. We then drew 0-0 with FC Dallas, before beating the Philadelphia Union 1-0 away, Mota scoring again from midfield. We did then lose again though, this time away to St. Louis City before responding well, this time in the cup again at home to Nashville, beating them 2-1 with goals from Rowe and Ricardo to set up a quarter final with LAFC next month. We ended the month in defeat again away to the Houston Dynamo, they beat us 4-2 with Mabika and Ramsey scoring our goals.

A busy month has culminated in us just about holding onto 3rd spot in the Eastern Conference but finding ourselves in 6th in the Supporter's Shield table. Our qualification group for the NACL will be drawn in August, as well as this years Leagues Cup, so there's still plenty of chances for silverware this season. 

[danmcconnell1]

July 2024

After last month's hive of activity in terms of matches with 9 matches played in total, July was somewhat more restrained with just 5, however there were 3 competitions in which we played.

We began with another MLS defeat, that's 3 in a row now, at home to Minnesota, losing by a goal to nil. We did stop the rot though with an important win over LAFC, beating them 3-1 with Ricardo, Fray and Kranevitter all getting on the score sheet. They did beat us 4 days later though, this time in the US Cup quarter final, bringing to an end our defence of the competition and knocking us out. We followed that defeat with another in the league, that's 4 in 5 now, losing 2-0 away to Real Salt Lake in Utah. We did however respond well with a good win in our first Leagues Cup match of the season against Puebla, beating them 2-0 with Messi and Mota scoring for us at the Estadio Cuauhtemoc in Mexico. We were there again just 4 days later to face the New England Revolution, who were in our group last season too, and were 3-1 up with 20 minutes to play and somewhat cruising to victory thanks to goals from Robinson, Mota and an Andrew Ferrell OG, however 3 late goals for New England won the game for them and we were shellshocked.

All in all, it's been a poor month for us, particularly in the league. We've dropped to 7th in the Eastern Conference, the final play off spot, and 11th in the Supporter's Shield. We really need to sort out our league form before it's too late. We face Chivas of Mexico in our Leagues Cup quarter final shortly, before our NACL qualification campaign gets underway, we're in a group with Atlas and Monterrey, both of Mexico, Austin FC and Toronto. The last time we faced Austin it finished goalless so they'll be tough opponent. We haven't faced Toronto yet this season however did do the double over them last time out, so I'm expecting a good result against those. Atlas are somewhat of an unknown quantity to us, however after looking at their side they do have some decent players that include Darlington Nagbe, a player I looked to sign last summer following his release after a stellar season with the Columbus Crew finished 2nd in the MVP rankings, as well as former Norwich man Kenny McLean. Monterrey are another unknown to us, however have the likes of Jesus Gallardo, the Mexican LB not far off a century of caps for his nation, and Rogelio Funes Mori, a rangy striker who's spent time in Europe and can definitely cause us problems.

[DrGoals94]

any chance to see the tactic and starting lineup?

[danmcconnell1]

1 hour ago, DrGoals94 said:

any chance to see the tactic and starting lineup?

Of course;

Not my strongest line up due to injuries etc. currently, however a pretty standard 4-2-3-1. The versatility of Jean and Robinson really helps as they can both play out wide and through the middle, which has given opportunities to rookies Ricardo and Aviza this season. Messi predominantly plays RW but has played a lot through the middle too. My favourite signing so far though has been Kranevitter, he's a real engine in midfield and starts lots of attacks for us.

[danmcconnell1]

August 2024

August will be a month full of cup competitions with the Leagues Cup continuing as well as our NACL qualification campaign getting underway.

We got off to a great start with a win against Chivas in the Leagues Cup West quarter final, beating them 2-0 after goals from Pozuelo and Messi. We then followed that up with a win in the NACL against Atlas too by the same scoreline, Mota and Taylor with the goals there. However we then suffered defeat to San Jose in the Leagues Cup West semi final, losing 3-2. Robinson and Messi got our goals but it wasn't enough as we crashed out. We then managed a highly entertaining draw in our NACL group stage match away to Austin FC, finishing 4-4. Robinson bagged a brace while Pozuelo and Messi also scored to nab a point from the proceedings. Our only MLS encounter this month was away to Toronto, however we lost again in the league, meaning we've now lost 5 of our last 6 league matches. We found ourselves 2-0 down at half time and despite an Ian Fray 2nd half goal, we couldn't find the equaliser to stop the rot.

Again things don't look great in both the Eastern Conference and the Supporter's Shield, with us sitting outside the play-offs down in 9th in the Eastern Conference and not even in the top half of the Shield table. We are however top of our NACL group with 4 points from our first 2 matches. The group resumes in October when we face Monterrey then concludes 3 weeks later away to Toronto. 

Edited December 13, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

September 2024

With our league form falling off a cliff currently, we desperately need to do something to arrest the downslide.

And that's exactly what we did. All 6 matches were in the MLS and we remained unbeaten throughout the month. We began with a 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City with Pozuelo getting the only goal, then followed that with another win against CF Montreal. We beat the Canadian side 3-2 with Jean getting a brace and Rob Taylor scoring a late winner for us. A 3rd win on the spin came against struggling Seattle Sounders as we managed another 1-0 win with Robinson getting the only goal. We then managed a 2-2 draw with D.C. United, Robinson and Pozuelo scored our goals. Robinson then scored a hat-rick as we thrashed St. Louis City 3-0 before rounding off the month with another high scoring match beating Atlanta United 4-1. Robinson managed another brace with Jean and Rowe scoring 2 more late on to seal another victory. 

This almost perfect month has seen us fly up both the Eastern Conference table into 3rd, securing a play-off spot too as well as up into 5th in the Supporter's Shield also. San Jose have already been confirmed Supporter's Shield champions as they're 8 points clear of anybody else, but we can still finish 3rd in that table if we win our final MLS match and other results go our way. Back to the Eastern Conference, we can leapfrog Columbus Crew if we win our final match and they lose due to our superior goal difference.

Robinson was named MLS player of the month after his exploits scoring 7 goals in 6 matches and 1 assist too. His average rating this month was 7.78.

[danmcconnell1]

October 2024

After an outstanding month last time out, the business end of the season has come, domestically at least.

And it's been a good month overall for us. We began with a defeat against Monterrey in the NACL losing 2-0 which wasn't a great start, however our final regular season match in MLS was at home to NYCFC and we drew 1-1 with them, Robinson got our goal that day. We then thrashed the other New York side, the Red Bulls 5-2 in our first play-off match in the Eastern Conference with Taylor, Messi, Mota and Robinson with 2 scoring our goals to send us into the Eastern Conference play-off semi final where we would be facing D.C. United again at home. Before that though, our NACL qualification group concluded with another defeat, this time 1-0 away in Canada against Toronto. We did still progress to the play-offs and will face Cruz Azul next month after facing Charlotte in the Eastern Conference final for a chance to play in the MLS Cup final.

We finished 3rd in the Eastern Conference in the end as well as 5th in the Supporter's Shield table which equalled our best finish in the Shield table. 

[danmcconnell1]

November 2024

The final month of the domestic season is upon us, now it's do or die.

Unfortunately our season crumbled. We lost 3-2 to Charlotte in the Eastern Conference final, Pozuelo and Robinson scored goals for us but it wasn't enough to send us to the MLS Cup final, however it is our best MLS play-off performance in the club's fledgling history, so that's something to be proud of despite the immediate disappointment. We had to get over the heartache quickly as we faced a NACL North American Zone Play-off against Cruz Azul for the right to face Santos Laguna or Portland Timbers in the next playoff, however we were thoroughly beaten 3-0 which could have been 4 had it not been for an offside flag.

Obviously, the end of the season has been a disappointment, however it's been a season of promise overall with some of the drafted players getting minutes and goals under their belts, our senior pros showing why they're still some of the best in the business and our stalwart players also showing why they're so loved.

In goal, Drake Callender was again our number 1 this time around and showed why he's such a good keeper. In 42 appearances, he kept 10 clean sheets for us. C.J. dos Santos did get a run of games midway through the season due to an injury to Callender and made 7 appearances keeping 3 clean sheets for us.

In defence, our go to CB's were Mabika and Sailor. The latter has unfortunately decided to see out his contract with us and move to Denmark in January, something I was disappointed about. However Mabika has stayed on and will be first choice going forward. Fray, Caceres and Lowe were our backup CB's making a number of appearances between them. Yedlin was our first choice RB for this season with backup provided again by Caceres and Lowe as well as the drafted Campos making a few appearances also. At LB, Gibbs was predominantly the first choice however Noah Allen didn't disgrace himself and even became first choice as the season came to a close.

Our midfield was arguably where I was happiest this season. Kranevitter and Mota were the first choice CM's, with Mota having an outstanding season scoring 8 goals and assisting 7 in 45 appearances for us. Kranevitter only scored one but provided 10 assists also. Hyndman joined midway through the campaign and did well too, scoring 1 and assisting 2. Kelyn Rowe did okay too, providing cover in lots of positions in midfield, he scored 3 and assisted 2. Aaron Ramsey was our DP signing last summer and did okay too, scoring 3 goals and making 7 in 42 matches. Rob Taylor was predominantly the backup winger to both Messi and Pozuelo and made 29 appearances in total scoring 4 goals and nabbing 7 assists. Speaking of Pozuelo, he had a good campaign with 8 goals and 9 assists in 36. Moving onto our star man, Lionel Messi made 33 appearances also, scoring 13 goals and assisting a very impressive 20, averaging 7.48 per game. Even at the ripe old age of 37, he's still a cut above the rest in this team. Special mentions to Ricky Aviza and Ricardo, 2 of our drafted players, Aviza got 1 each in terms of goals and assists while Ricardo did well scoring 4 goals and assisting 1 in 30 appearances.

Moving to our strikers, Corentin Jean had another decent campaign scoring 11 goals and creating 2 in 34 matches for us. Our top scorer though was, again, Robbie Robinson. He made 45 appearances for us this time around and scored 25 goals in all competitions, creating another 6. He's arguably one of the best players in the league and consistently punches above his weight considering my coaches belief in his ability. He also averaged 7.1 all season, making him the first choice striker by a mile.

[danmcconnell1]

Update

Fresh from posting the above update, I clicked continue to see the following message appear.

I'm going to attend this and see what happens.

[danmcconnell1]

Update

After much deliberation and multiple job interviews, beginning with Wolves and ranging from Leicester to Newcastle too, it's the latter I have decided to join. I leave sunny Florida to join the north east outfit in England and arguably one of the world's richest clubs.

The club of course play at St. James' Park, right in the middle of the city. The stadium holds 52305 and is one of English football's cauldron's when it's rocking. As you can see, quite a few of my staff have joined me on this venture into English football including my assistant Jason Kreis, Mark Mason and multiple others to bring some familiarity to my new role. Work permits shouldn't be a problem for those who I've asked to join me.

The squad is a big one, with plenty of options available all over the pitch, I couldn't fit in Mehdi Taremi, Alex Isak and Callum Wilson into the screenshot, however none of them are pulling up trees so far this season with just 13 goals between the 3 of them so far, Isak scoring the most with 8. It'll take a little while to sort out the deadwood from the squad, which still remains as a consequence of the takeover back in 2021. How some of these players that were here before the takeover are still here is beyond me. The likes of Hayden and Willock, looking at their attributes and stats in recent seasons are very poor and aren't befitting of a team that should be knocking on the door of the European places as a minimum. 

The club currently sit in 10th place after 14 matches this season, recording 5 wins, 5 draws and 4 defeats. On the face of it, it doesn't look like the team are doing too badly, however expectations are much higher these days in Newcastle, therefore improvement is needed and quickly. I hope I can be the man to bring success to Tyneside.

[DavidBeckham]

I think I have some connections to this thread and I will definitely follow this! KUTGW mate!

[danmcconnell1]

5 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

I think I have some connections to this thread and I will definitely follow this! KUTGW mate!

Cheers, appreciate it!

[danmcconnell1]

November 2024

Only one game this month under my stewardship after joining, it would be great to get off to a good start.

We did exactly that. In the time after the previous manager's departure, the side beat Liverpool last weekend then my first game in charge, in front of a raucous St. James' crowd, was a resounding success. We beat Tottenham 1-0 with Isak getting the only goal in the 51st minute, I was ecstatic with how we defended as Spurs have some fantastic talent in forward areas with the likes of Osihmen, Kane, Son and Kulusevski. Trippier was brilliant against one of his former clubs despite getting booked, his set piece delivery will be vital for us going forward. Ndidi was also a warrior in midfield and played really well. Callum Wilson picked up an injury that'll keep him out for around a month just days after my arrival which has highlighted the need for reinforcements at the top end of the pitch. Fortunately, I should be able to add some players of real quality with a transfer budget of over £90m to spend in January. England of course has far less strict rules regarding squad registration compared to the MLS, so I'm much less restricted in players I can attempt to sign. Due to Brexit however, some players may be out of reach when it comes to work permits, however there will be plenty of top talent available who'll be open to joining a club that is hopefully on the up after many years of mediocrity.

The win against Tottenham saw us move up 1 place into 9th in the Premier League. We're now only 4 points outside the European places, however the fight for the top 7 will be a frantic one. The regular top 6 are all in the battle, as are Leeds United who're surprising many with their form after only just avoiding relegation last season. West Ham are another side surprising many as they sit in 2nd currently. They've managed to hold onto a lot of their top talents including Declan Rice, Gianlucca Scamacca and Jarred Bowen and are reaping the rewards at the moment. There's obviously a very long way to go though and things will absolutely change at both the top and bottom ends of the league, I'm hoping we can build on the 2 good results either side of my arrival though and kick on as we look to qualify for Europe.

[danmcconnell1]

December 2024

After the euphoric start with the win over Tottenham, I was hoping we could go on a run to try and challenge the top 7 as well as pick up some big scalps along the way in what would be a busy December.

Things didn't get off to the best of starts with a 2-1 defeat in my first away match in charge at Burnley. Wout Weghorst scored a brace for the hosts and while Isak got one back with 11 minutes left to make it interesting, the home side held on and we suffered my first defeat in charge in just my 2nd match. We did however respond very well with a goalless draw against league leaders Manchester City. They'd been in very good form both domestically and in Europe so to keep them, and in particular Erling Haaland, out was pleasing. We then travelled down to Watford and picked up the 3 points thanks to a 2-1 win, Isak and Almiron with our goals against the Hornets. Our first back to back wins of my tenure came as we overcame Everton, again away from home at the Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium. Again, Almiron and Isak got our goals literally on Merseyside. The traditional Boxing Day fixture was at home to Chelsea however we couldn't make it 3 wins on the bounce as we fell to the Blues 2-1, Callum Wilson opened the scoring for us but goals from Mount and a Lukaku penalty sealed the points for the visitors. Our final match of the month was away at Nottingham Forest. We thrashed Forest 4-1 with a depleted side, youngster Garang Koul scored a hat-rick on his first Premier League start while Jeremy Marquez opened the scoring in the 6th minute for us. Awoniyi did pull one back for Forest however we held for a big victory. 

These results have seen us end the month another place higher in the league table in 8th. We're just 3 points outside the European places now so I'm certainly hoping we can continue this good form heading into the new year and beyond.

[danmcconnell1]

Early January 2025 Update

With the transfer window now open, we have confirmed some incomings and outgoings following my arrival. Firstly, we'll concentrate on the outgoings.

First out of the door was Erick Sanchez. He made 12 appearances in his 18 months at the club, however only one of those came this season and that was off the bench. He's a decent midfielder but was never going to take us where we want to be. Signed for £1.7m and sold for £2.4m, I'm happy with the £700k profit made on him when he didn't appear to do much.

Isaac Hayden was next out. He'd been a loyal servant to Newcastle in his 9 years at the club, making 162 league appearances and scoring 6 goals in that time. He's a solid defensive midfielder but again, for where we want to be, he's not going to be good enough. Despite his versatility coming in handy (he played RB against Forest last month), we got just shy of £5m from Brentford for him so I'm happy with the deal as was he.

The next player leaving us was Joe Willock. He was a revelation when Steve Bruce signed him on loan back in 2020 when he scored 8 goals in 14 matches, Newcastle then made the deal permanent the following summer for £25m. However since then, he'd scored just 2 goals in exactly 100 appearances for us. Again, another player who just wasn't going to cut he mustard when it came to where we want to be, so he's been moved onto Sassuolo for £10m. He'll actually join them on January 2nd so is still eligible to play in the New Years Day fixture against Wolves.

There are some more potential outgoings being worked on, but we'll now move onto incoming deals that have now been confirmed following the opening of the transfer window.

The first deal we confirmed was to sign Callum Hudson-Odoi from Chelsea for a cut-price £11m which could rise to £13m over the course of his contract. He has never quite hit the heights many thought he would at Chelsea and despite a successful loan spell in Germany with Leverkusen a couple of seasons ago, he's been a bit part player in his 9 years at Chelsea, making a combined 128 appearances and scoring just 9 goals. I'm hoping this move can be a fresh start for him and be a catalyst for him to show what he can really do on a consistent basis.

The next signing needs no introduction. I took a chance on Messi thinking we'd have no chance due to the club not currently being in the Champions League, however I must have left some kind of mark on Lionel following our time together in Miami. I did have to make the promise that the club will reach the Champions League next season, which does give us some time to build the squad not just in this window but in the summer too, so I was appreciative of him being reasonable during the negotiations. He's on a decent contract again, exactly the same as his Inter Miami salary, however I know he'll prove his worth. Similarly to when he joined PSG, his trademark number 10 shirt is already in use, so he'll wear 19, just as he did at Barcelona after he vacated the number 30 shirt there.

There will more than likely be more new arrivals and potentially more outgoings too, in which case I'll cover those in the the full January update.

Edited December 15, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

January 2025

The January transfer window is always a difficult time of year to do business with some players available for cut prices which means more demand, or others available for inflated prices making deals more difficult to confirm, however we did manage to complete quite a bit of incoming and outgoing business to freshen up the squad heading into the second half of the season. Again, we'll concentrate on those who've left the club first before moving onto those who've joined.

Jeremy Marquez left to go back to his native Mexico with Leon. He was signed before I arrived for £3m from Atlas and we sold him for a profitable £4.2m. He made just 21 appearances in his 18 month spell on Tyneside scoring 1 goal.

Ivica Ivusic was another man who left the north east for the sunnier climes of Mexico joining Tigres. The 30 year old Croat was decent back up, however was 3rd choice for us so wasn't going to get much game time and when an offer of £3.6m came in when we signed him for £1.5m, again, the business made sense. He made 5 appearances in his 18 months at Newcastle conceding 3 goals.

Mehdi Taremi was a player I didn't really want to part ways with, however when Real Madrid, Juventus and Porto all came knocking, he set his heart on leaving for one last payday at an elite club, which unfortunately we're not quite yet. He signed for us 2 summers ago for £28m (which will rise to £30.5) from Porto and was sold for an initial £30m to the Spanish giants with another £15m coming in over the next 2 years and with him reaching 33 this summer, I feel this is good business. He had a very fruitful spell in England, making 68 appearances in all competitions scoring 31 goals in his 18 months here, he'll be a miss, however I feel like we have more than adequately replaced him, which I'll get onto shortly.

Argentine Federico Navarro was another player to leave this month for £12m, joining Borussia Dortmund in Germany. He made 29 appearances for Newcastle in his 18 month spell, failing to score. He's a very decent midfielder, however, again, others have come in that eclipse his talent so he was never going to get near the starting 11 regularly so it made sense to cash in. Signed for £6.25m from the Chicago Fire, we've almost doubled our money on him after a less than impressive spell, so again I feel this is good business.

The penultimate first team player to leave us was Matt Targett. He's a solid LB and while he's only left on loan to join AA Gent, I would have preferred a permanent deal if I'm honest. He's a dependable figure however in his 4 year spell at the club he never really held down a first team berth, so we made the decision to sell pretty late in the window to try and raise some more funds. We couldn't get a buyer, however AA Gent have come in and taken him on loan until the end of the season and we'll re-assess then.

Finally, Dan Burn has joined Everton. Initially it's a loan move with the Toffees picking up half of his wages, but he'll move to Merseyside permanently in the summer for an initial fee of £4.4m with an instalment coming 12 months later of another £3m, taking the fee to just shy of £7.5, which for a 33 year old by the time the transfer takes place, again I feel is good business. His versatility will be a miss at the back as he's a good option, however he's never going to be a permanent option for me. 104 appearances and 2 goals for Burn in his 4 years on Tyneside.

Now we move onto the incomings, and I'm very excited about these.

Next through the door was Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Manchester United. At just £13.75m, I feel it's a very fair price for a RB who hasn't quite hit the heights many thought he would ahead of his move to Old Trafford. He'll initially provide backup to Kieran Trippier, however absolutely has the ability to overtake him in the pecking order. He made 122 league appearances for United scoring 2 goals.

This is the signing I'm most excited about. Jude Bellingham has joined from Borussia Dortmund after we activated his release clause which stood at £94m. With the outgoings we had, and the money we made, I feel like this deal could be a game changer for us. Yes, it's a very big fee, however Bellingham has shown during his time in Germany that he can become, and possibly even already is, the best central midfielder in the world. He's had an outstanding start to his Newcastle career too, as you can see, scoring 2 on his debut, which I'll get to shortly. He already has a European title winning pedigree too after Dortmund won the 2024 Europa League, something that I hope will elevate this team onto hopefully a much better finish this season. He is now, pretty obviously, our record signing.

Victor Kristiansen is the next man in, a LB to replace the 2 outgoing, older LB's Targett and Burn. Kristiansen is Danish and joins after we activated his release clause too of £9m from FC Copenhagen. He can become a vital player for us if he carries on developing the way he is. 

The final man in this window was Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich. A very talented central midfielder, Gravenberch was never really given too many opportunities in Bavaria, making just 36 first team appearances in his 2 and a half years there which seems to have halted his progress, however I'm hoping he'll get more first team chances here and go on to become the player he's capable of being. He was available for a very decent price too of just £11.25m, making it a relatively low risk deal if things don't go to plan.

Now we move onto January's results. We began the new year against Wolves, a club I spoke to before joining Newcastle, and we beat the comfortably 3-1. Isak, Taremi and Kim-Min Jae with our goals. We then followed that up with a very impressive 1-1 draw with Manchester City. Isak gave us the lead in the 1st half however City had to rely on an 88th minute Rodri equaliser to nab a point, so I was disappointed not to have come away from the Etihad with a win, however it shows we're making great progress. We then comfortably beat Crewe Alexandra in the FA Cup 3rd round 4-1, with lot of fringe players getting a game with Maxence Lacriox scoring while Callum Wilson helped himself to a hat-rick to send us into round 4 where we'll welcome Leicester. Our only defeat of the month came at home to Everton where Erik Botheim scored 3 minutes before the break to seal the 3 points for them. The last game of the month was also at home, this time against Brighton. It was also our best result too as we beat them 4-2. Bellingham scored less than 90 seconds into his debut and went on to score a brace while Isak and Messi also scored for us, Messi also getting his first in black and white.

This month's results see us drop a place to 9th in the league, however it's a pretty false table currently. We have a game in hand over most of the teams around us while Manchester City have 3 in hand and Arsenal 2, so there will definitely be changes in how this table looks once all of those teams catch up in terms of games played. If we can win our game in hand by 3 or more goals, we would move up to 7th ahead of Leeds on goal difference, so there's an incentive to winning that game, as well as keeping pace with the top 4 too. From ourselves upwards, at this stage, I feel like Champions League qualification is fair game. Isak's goal scoring this month has seen him move into the top 3, sitting in 3rd with 11 league goals now, he has 15 in total.

Edited December 16, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

February 2025

With all of our transfer business done for this season, it's time to see how these new signings can gel into the first team and hopefully improve us as we head toward the business end of the season.

We got off to a great start in February with a 4-0 win over Burnley. Bellingham managed another 2 goals while Isak matched Jude's 2 giving us a comfortable 4-0 win. We followed up that win with another, this time in the FA Cup 4th round against Leicester, Bellingham continuing his fantastic start with us while Isak and Wilson completed the rout to set up a 5th round tie on the south coast against Bournemouth. Unfortunately though, our month was only going downhill from then on. 3 defeats in a row began with the visit to Southampton as we lost 2-1 there, Bednarek with the opener before Joelinton equalised for us, but the winner was scored by Mariano for the Saints. We then were really unlucky to lose at the Emirates against Arsenal 3-2. We led twice in the match thanks to goals from Bellingham and Kim, however a Dominic Calvert-Lewin brace and a 94th minute winner by a player we almost signed in January, Mykhaylo Mudryk, saw Arsenal snatch the points from us. Our misery was compounded at home in our final match of the month against Watford as we fell to the struggling side 2-1. Joao Pedro got both for the visitors early on inside 12 minutes while Bellingham continued his good start for us, halving the deficit just past the half hour mark. We huffed and puffed but couldn't break the Hornets down again and fell for the 3rd match in a row.

Whilst the month has been a damaging one in terms of results, it hasn't affected our league position. We remain in 9th with 9 league games left to play, as well an an FA Cup 5th round tie against Championship side Bournemouth, so there's very real potential for a quarter final place this season in the FA Cup. We really need to arrest this dip in form though as the Champions League places are starting to look out of reach now with an 11 point gap between ourselves and 4th placed West Ham. However, we are just 3 points outside the European places still, so plenty of time to try and pull that gap back, but we do need to start picking up results quickly.

Kieran Trippier has decided to retire at the end of this season. The 34 year old RB has been brilliant since I arrived so I did attempt to talk him out of it and stay on for another season, however his mind was made up and he'll leave us this summer. We'll miss his outstanding set piece delivery going forward, and a RB will be a priority this summer to replace him, either as backup to Wan-Bissaka, or a new starter for next season.

And finally, Jude Bellingham's outstanding performances have earned him the Young Player of the Month award this month. 4 goals in as many appearances this month, as well as 7 goals in 6 since he arrived has seen Bellingham quickly endear himself not only to me, but to our adoring fans too, he's been phenomenal so far.

Edited December 16, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[danmcconnell1]

March 2025

With our form not at it's best and the European places starting to slip away, we need to get back on track and win some games to make sure we can bring European football back to St. James' next season.

We only played 4 matches this month and 2 of those were in the FA Cup due to the international break at the end of March, so I can provide this update a little earlier than usual due to the Premier League now breaking until 4th April. We began March with a 3-1 win after extra time in the FA Cup 5th round away at Bournemouth. Guimaraes gave us the lead after 10 minutes before Sayyadmanesh equalised just 2 minutes later for the Cherries which is how it finished. Ryan Gravenberch then scored his first goal for the club 4 minutes into extra time before Callum Wilson secured our place in the quarter finals with a goal in stoppage time at the end of extra time against his former club and make it 3-1. Our first Premier League match of the month was away to West Ham who're playing very well this season, however we beat them at the London Stadium 2-1. Soucek gave the Hammers the lead but a Lionel Messi brace before half time turned things around and we held on for the 3 points. We then travelled back to the capital 5 days later to face Tottenham for the return fixture of my first match in charge. Unfortunately though we couldn't replicate the result as we fell to a 3-2 defeat. Otavio gave Spurs the lead just before half time after Kristiansen was sent off on the half hour mark for us and that's how it stayed until the final quarter of an hour when the game was turned on its head by Almiron's equaliser. Bentancur and Son then scored in the 86th and 89th minutes respectively before Joelinton got one back for us in stoppage time but it wasn't enough. We ended the month with a convincing win at the City Ground against Nottingham Forest, beating them 4-0 in the FA Cup quarter final. It was the 2nd time we'd put 4 past Forest on their own patch since I'd arrived. Isak and Bellingham both scoring 2 each to send us into the FA Cup semi finals where we've certainly been given a kind draw. We'll face bottom of the Championship Ipswich Town at Wembley. Stranger things have happened and we'll certainly not be taking them for granted, however the other semi see's Arsenal face Leeds, both sides that are above us in the table, so if I could have hand picked our semi final opponents from the final 4, Ipswich would certainly have been the ones I'd have chosen in order to try and get Newcastle to their first FA Cup final since 1999.

We remain in 9th place with just 7 games remaining. We're also still 11 points away from the Champions League places so it doesn't look like we're going to manage that this year, however the Europa League and Europa Conference League are still very real possibilities, not only just in the league but if we won the FA Cup too, but let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

Edited December 16, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[Sahaj Oberoi]

Hey man, really good story so far, keep going.

[danmcconnell1]

14 hours ago, Sahajpal Oberoi said:

Hey man, really good story so far, keep going.

Cheers, appreciate the kind words!

[danmcconnell1]

April 2025

We've reached the business end of the season and whilst we're still a part of the chasing pack in terms of European football, there's still plenty to play for both in the Premier League and the FA Cup.

Apart from the start, we've had an outstanding month. We began away at Old Trafford, losing 3-2 against Manchester United, but we gave them a very good game and made them work for their win. Bruno Fernandes scoring 2 within the opening 11 minutes however Isak and Messi had levelled things up within 21 minutes, so it was a frantic start. Eriksen then scored after 37 minutes and that's how it ended, but it was a brilliant game to watch for the neutral. I thought our league form was going to continue in the same vein as we welcomed league leaders at the time Liverpool to St. James' Park next, however how wrong was I? We thrashed them 5-1 at home despite Mo Salah opening the scoring within the opening 2 minutes. A double for Isak and Hudson-Odoi, his first for the club, Messi and another for Bellingham well and truly put the Reds to the sword. That confidence boosting win was perfect just ahead of an FA Cup semi final which we were already favourites to win. Leeds had beaten Arsenal the day before on semi final weekend after a penalty shoot out, so the incentive to face a side of similar calibre to ours in the final was great. We absolutely demolished Ipswich Town 7-0 at Wembley, showing why we will arguably go into the final as favourites. Hudson-Odoi got another one, Isak bagged a hat-rick while Messi, Bellingham and Lacroix all also got on the score sheet at Wembley, sending us to our first FA Cup final for 26 years. Our final two matches this month were against struggling sides towards the foot of the table. We beat Leicester at home 3-1 with Bellingham, Isak and Messi all scoring, then travelled down to Norwich 3 days later and beat them 3-0, Hudson-Odoi scoring his 3rd goal of the month and Messi scoring a brace of penalties in the 2nd half.

With just 3 Premier League games to go, I think it's safe to say the Champions League is now out of reach. However we are in pole position to try and snatch a Europa League or Europa Conference League place, if not from the league, then perhaps if we won the FA Cup. We have a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final coming up next as we welcome Leeds in the Premier League in our penultimate home match of the season. Isak is now joint 2nd in the goal scoring charts with 17 in the league, 25 overall, while Messi has come into the Premier League and been the best player in the division. His average rating of 7.64 makes him the highest rated player in the league this season.

Jude Bellingham also won his 2nd young player of the month award since joining at the back end of January too. He's scored 2 and assisted 2 in 4 appearances this month, continuing his brilliant start playing just behind the striker in the number 10 position. One final note, Messi and Isak finished 2nd and 3rd in the player of the month award behind Salah, while I finished 2nd behind Guardiola for the manager of the month award.

[danmcconnell1]

May 2025

The final month of the season is where heroes and villains are made. We have a fantastic opportunity to reach the top 6 and to potentially lift silverware for the first time since 1955 as we contest the FA Cup final against Leeds.

We had the perfect end to the season. We got things underway with a win against Leeds at St. James', beating them 2-0 thanks to an own goal by their keeper Brenno and Ryan Gravenberch scoring his first Premier League goal and 2nd since his arrival from Bayern Munich in January. We then followed that up with another win in our final away match of the season on the banks of the Thames against Fulham, winning 1-0 with Wilfred Ndidi scoring the only goal in the first half. Our final Premier League match of the season was back at home against Aston Villa and we finished with a flourish, beating them 5-0 on the final day. Bellingham and Isak got 2 each while Messi scored the other.

The final match of the season overall was of course the FA Cup final at Wembley against Leeds United. We had of course just beaten them in the league earlier this month, however the FA Cup final is a completely different occasion. However, it's an occasion we dealt with best, and managed a solitary goal to nil win over the side from Yorkshire. Alexander Isak's 19th minute goal was the only one of the match and we lifted our first major silverware for 70 years. Since my arrival it's been, on the whole, a positive season and we can be very proud of what we've achieved as a team in such a short space of time.

The FA Cup win of course means we have now confirmed a place in next season's Europa League, despite finishing 7th in the table. It's a very odd season in terms of European qualification in England. The top 3 have qualified for the Champions League, title winners Arsenal, 2nd place Liverpool and 3rd place Chelsea, as well as Southampton who, despite finishing 16th in the Premier League, incredibly won the Europa League, meaning they'll be in the Champions League next season. That meant West Ham, who'd been outstanding all season and finished 4th, drop to the Europa League alongside ourselves, while Manchester City fall into the Europa Conference League. Manchester United, despite finishing 6th, have been denied a spot in Europe due to ours and Southampton's respective cup wins, something I'm sure they'll be disappointed with despite finishing above both of us. Alexander Isak was brilliant for me since I arrived and ended the Premier League season finishing runner up in the Golden Boot race, however was still a whole 12 goals behind the winner Erling Haaland. Bellingham and Messi both dominated matches for us, the former finishing with the highest rating of all in the league, averaging 7.7 per game while Messi was a fraction behind, averaging 7.64.

The squad is a relatively thin one and we've been lucky not to pick up any serious injuries. Isak finished the season with 30 overall, an outstanding total. Bellingham scored 14 in 19 appearances since his arrival, including 5 assists too, which in turn results in a goal involvement per game for Jude. Lionel Messi was also outstanding, scoring 10 and creating 14 goals in 21 appearances, that's more than one goal involvement per match. Special mentions go to Alex Meret who was brilliant in goal and made some vital saves for us, Kieran Tripper who's retiring this summer and lifted the FA Cup in his final appearance as a professional and finally, Bruno Guimaraes who was a warrior in midfield, barely missed a minute after I arrived but for a suspension and was a creative genius in the middle of the park, assisting 5 and getting on the score sheet once himself.

[danmcconnell1]

Pre-Season Update

With last season's successes still fresh in our minds, it's time to cover what business has been done during the summer transfer window so far. We'll begin with the outgoings;

First to leave was backup GK Nick Pope. He didn't make too many appearances for me due to the form of Alex Meret, so it made sense to cash in and try to bring in somebody younger as the number 2. Bournemouth signed him for £7m.

Joelinton was next out, officially on loan for the season at Wolve, however the deal will be made permanent next summer for a fee of £23.5m but the deal will become £36.5m with further instalments. He was a Steve Bruce signing, initially as a striker however never showed the pedigree required to be a striker. Under a resurgent Eddie Howe Newcastle, Joelinton found a new lease of life in midfield. He's not quite hit the mark for me since I arrived though and to recoup most of the fee Newcastle paid for him, I'm happy with the deal.

Matt Targett was the next man out, joining Leeds for £11.5m. He spent the 2nd half of last season playing in Belgium as we looked to sell in January, so we're happy to do the deal for him to leave now.

Maximo Perrone was the final man (so far) out of the club who we don't have a use for going forward. I would have much preferred a permanent deal, however a loan was the best we could do this summer, with Sheffield United taking him. He'll spend the season there as we will now look to try and sell next summer now.

We'll now move onto the incomings this summer.

The first player in this summer was Jordan Henderson. There were some murmurs of discontent with the signing as Jordan's made no secret that he is an avid Sunderland fan, however, his experience and know how could prove vital for us in what we're hoping will be a successful season. He's not going to be the first name on the team sheet every week and I think he knows that, but with a much busier schedule this year with European football to contend with as well as what I hope will be a successful league campaign, experience as well as numbers will prove important. I'm very happy with the signing of Henderson and at just £4.3m from Liverpool he could prove to be a bargain.

One of our bigger signings this summer was Sergino Dest. He's come in from PSG in a deal worth £36m and will be the automatic replacement for the recently retired Kieran Trippier. Dest's delivery from wide positions is pretty good, as is his pace, so if anything he could be seen as somewhat of an upgrade to Trippier, so I'm happy with the deal again. Dest has flitted between some of the big clubs in Europe including Ajax, Barcelona, Milan and as mentioned previously, PSG, so certainly has the pedigree, I'm hoping he's now found a home and can settle in the north east.

The second Henderson to join us this summer was Dean from Manchester United. He'll be our number 2 goalkeeper this season. He's on a very good contract for a number 2, however I will expect that when he's called upon, he'll deliver. I'm yet to decide as to whether to put Henderson in goal in the group stages of the Europa League to give him a chance to prove himself as our continental GK, then keep Meret for the league, there's still plenty of time to make that decision though.

In comes another goalkeeper in Freddie Woodman. He's no stranger to Newcastle after beginning his career here and, if I'm honest, has been brought in not only to be the third choice, but to class as a homegrown player in Europe. As Newcastle are still pretty new to this stage, young and homegrown talent usually don't stay at the club. Obviously I'm hoping this will change in the future, however at the moment we'll struggle to name a 25 man squad in Europe, so Woodman coming in will definitely help us with the European registration rules. At just £4.5m from Preston, it's another deal I'm happy with.

Declan Rice was our second biggest signing of the summer. He needs no introduction after a stellar career at West Ham so far with him not far away from reaching 300 Premier League matches, he'll certainly be a mainstay in our midfield for years to come. West Ham wanted £65m to prise him away while he was more than happy to join an up and coming club, he's another player I'm very excited to work with.

Our biggest signing of the summer was Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig. Signed for an initial £80m which could rise to £90m, it's a lot of money for a defender, however we didn't have to activate his release clause which stood at over £160m at Leipzig, so I was pretty happy with this deal too. He's a versatile player who can play at CB and LB, he'll certainly be a player I'm expecting to help take us to the next level. He's a great defender who I hope can slot right into our back line.

The final man in so far this summer is Mathys Tel, on loan from Bayern Munich. He's a special talent who's been scoring goals at Bayern since he was 17 and whilst he's still just 20 and on the back of a very good season on loan at Stuttgart last time out where he scored 16 league goals in 29 appearances, I'm hopeful he can be a great option up top for us as an alternative to Isak. As mentioned before, we will have a lot more games to play this season so Tel will absolutely get his chances, I just hope he can take them as he did last season in Germany.

There may well be more transfer activity before the window closes with plenty left both in the transfer and wage budgets, however it'll depend on who's available and whether they're available for the right prices.

Moving onto our pre-season record, it was almost perfect. We drew our first game back at home to Brugges, however won all 4 matches of our tour of the USA with wins coming against Hartford, Pitsburgh, the Indy Eleven and Greenville. We did however lose the traditional curtain raiser in England, the Community Shield at Wembley against Arsenal by a goal to nil, Ruben Neves scoring on his Arsenal debut from the penalty spot with just over a quarter of an hour left to play in what was a tight but entertaining game. It would have been nice to lift another trophy of course, however if I'm honest, this isn't the trophy I'm most interested in. This season, it's the Europa League. I really feel we can have a good crack at Europe while attempting to get into the Champions League next season by finishing in the top 4 of the Premier League. We'll see how things go but with this squad of players, I feel this could be the start of something special for Newcastle United.

Edited December 17, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[DavidBeckham]

Unbelievable signings mate! Interesting to see you bring in two Hendersons together too! Rice, Gvardiol and Tel will form a solid spine for you!

[danmcconnell1]

13 hours ago, DavidBeckham said:

Unbelievable signings mate! Interesting to see you bring in two Hendersons together too! Rice, Gvardiol and Tel will form a solid spine for you!

Cheers, really interesting in Tel long term, seems to be a real talent, appreciate the kind words again!

[danmcconnell1]

August 2025

With the slight disappointment of losing the Community Shield against Arsenal, the Premier League gets underway next and we'll be hoping to get off to a good start. However, we'll begin with the remainder of the transfer business we concluded.

The next man out was Sven Botman who joined Juventus for £35m, the same amount we paid for him back in 2022. He did well for me in the 7 months or so I was in charge however with the signings we've brought in this summer, I felt as though he was someone we could afford to lose.

The final significant outgoing was Miguel Almiron. Again, he did really well for me in my time here, however being the wrong side of 30 and not quite playing as well as I would like, a good offer came in from Al-Ittihad of £15m which I felt was too good to pass up, so he also left.

We now move onto the final incoming players of this summer transfer window.

The next incoming player was veteran striker Ciro Immobile from Lazio. He's been like a fine wine in Rome, getting better and better as the years have gone on. He's scored 202 league goals in 322 matches and leaves Lazio their record goal scorer for a final challenge you would imagine in English football. He's not going to be the first choice striker with Isak in such good form, however he'll certainly get game time again with more games to play this season. He was signed for £8m upfront with the potential to rise to £9.5m.

The final player to join us this summer was Yeremy Pino from Villarreal for a fee of £50m upfront which could rise to £65m. Pino is a sought after talent throughout Europe so to bring him to St. James' Park is somewhat of a coup. He'll certainly get his fair share of game time this season and with whispers of Messi considering his retirement at the end of the season, Pino could be the one to take over the mantel. 

That's exactly what we did. Our first league match was at home against Nottingham Forest and after a few good results following my arrival last season, we carried on that record with a comfortable opening day 3-0 win with Isak bagging a brace and Hudson-Odoi scoring the other. We followed that up, just about, with a 3-2 win against Everton on Merseyside. Messi scored early on before the Toffees took the lead with 2 quickfire goals not long after the hour mark through Edouard and McNeil. We then defied the odds and scored two late goals for ourselves through Gravenberch's equaliser and then soon after Immobile scoring the winner on his debut. We then won again at home against Burnley with Isak, Messi and Todibo all getting the goals. We managed another win, this time in the Carabao Cup 2nd round away at Burton Alboin, Immobile managed a double with Kuol and Isak getting the others to send us into round 3 where we'll face Cheltenham at home next month. Our final match of the month was at Villa Park against Aston Villa. We dropped points for the first time in the league as we could only manage a 1-1 draw, Isak scoring for us and Gusto managing a late equaliser for the hosts.

We end the opening month of the Premier League season in 2nd place. Isak is the joint top scorer with 4 in the league too, however there's still a very long way to go.

Moving onto the Europa League, this is my first experience of what the future of European football looks like as we'll play 8 matches, then I presume there's a knockout stage after that. We'll face Partizan Belgrade, Sparta Prague, Sassuolo, Olympiacos, Bodo/Glimt, Zrinjski and then Ferencvaros and Marseille in the new year. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by danmcconnell1

[Sahaj Oberoi]

The one thing I really love about your save that you are writing about here, is the variety in the type of signings you're making. It's good and refreshing that you're not only sticking to young players and potential wonderkids but you're building the squad based off how players can contribute regardless of age. So I really like that, keep going.

[danmcconnell1]

2 hours ago, Sahajpal Oberoi said:

The one thing I really love about your save that you are writing about here, is the variety in the type of signings you're making. It's good and refreshing that you're not only sticking to young players and potential wonderkids but you're building the squad based off how players can contribute regardless of age. So I really like that, keep going.

Thanks mate, really appreciate the kind words as always. I've always felt that, regardless of age, if a player can still contribute effectively then they should be on the pitch. With some of the signings this summer, the likes of Henderson and Immobile for example, they're players that have been around the block and won major trophies throughout their career. For us to get to the level we want to be at, their experience will be vital in helping the younger lads through to become the world beaters they absolutely can become. A blend of experience and youth, I feel is vital.

Again though, appreciate your kind words so thanks again  

[danmcconnell1]

September 2025

After a positive start to the new season, I was hoping we could continue our unbeaten start as well as getting our Europa League campaign.

We did lose for the first time in the league this season at home to Manchester City, however I feel as though we threw away 3 points here. Ciro Immobile gave us a 2-0 lead after an hour but a Haaland brace and late Ruben Dias winner clawed things back for City as they took the points home. We did however respond brilliantly with a big win in Belgrade against Partizan. Immobile continued his outstanding form with a hat-rick in Serbia while Lacroix and Bellingham also got on the score sheet as we won our first match in the Europa League since the 12/13 season. Our winning form continued as we travelled this time to the Midlands to face Wolves. Immobile scored again while Gravenberch doubled our lead which turned out to be the winning goal as Fabio Silva did get a consolation for hosts however we held on for the win. Another win came next, this time in the Carabao Cup 3rd round at home against Cheltenham Town. A 5-0 thrashing was completed by another Immobile brace, a Bellingham brace too as well as a late Isak penalty to round things off and send us into round 4 where we'll welcome Liverpool next month in what will be a tough game. The final match of the month was back in the Premier League down on the south coast at Brighton. It was another high-scoring game for us as we beat them 4-1, Joel Veltman scored an OG and then Bellingham scored for us a minute later to see us 2-0 up, Mitrovic did halve the deficit for the hosts however another double for Immobile sealed the points for us again.

We remain in 2nd after 7 matches played, just 3 points behind City who beat us earlier in the month. Immobile has had a great start for us scoring 6 league goals already, putting himself 2nd in the race for the Golden Boot already. Messi and Immobile have fantastic average ratings too, Messi averaging 7.88 and Immobile 7.85. Ciro also has 2 MOTM awards in his first month with us too. One piece of bad news though as Declan Rice is already joint top of the bookings chart with 5 in 7 matches.

Speaking of Immobile, he's been named the player of the month. 6 goals in total so far, however his first full month for us has seen him score 5 league goals in 3 matches with 10 goals scored in the month in total. Despite being 35, he's adapted to English football with a breeze and certainly could prove to be an absolute bargain if he carries on banging them in in this fashion.

[danmcconnell1]

October 2025

Just the 2 Premier League matches this month with European and Carabao Cup action to come too, we're hoping to continue our good form.

Our form continued in the best possible way. In all matches this month, we've scored 24 goals and only conceded 1 in 5 matches. We began with a 7-0 drubbing of Sparta Prague in the Europa League, Isak scored 4 while Bellingham, Lacroix and Gravenberch all got on the score sheet too to get the month off to a flyer. We backed that up with another big win, this time at home to newly promoted Blackburn at home in the Premier League, beating them 4-0 thanks to goal from Todibo, Isak, Bellingham and Immobile. Another win came after a 2 week break for internationals away at Elland Road against Leeds, beating them 3-0 with the goals coming from Immobile and Bellingham again whilst Mathys Tel scored his first goal for the club too. Our 2nd Europa League match of the month was at home again, this time against Sassuolo and we managed another very big win, beating them 6-0. Isak managed another hat-rick while Lacroix, Pino and Henderson rounded off the goals, the latter 2 both scoring their first for the club after joining in the summer. We ended the month by progressing in the Carabao Cup against Liverpool at St. James' Park, beating them 4-1 in the 4th round to progress to the quarter finals. Jota gave Liverpool the lead however we fought back brilliantly thanks to a Ciro Immobile hat-rick and Tel getting his 2nd of the month off the bench to send us through. We'll face Burnley in the quarter final.

After only playing 2 league matches this month, we have managed to keep pace with City and remain in 2nd place with a game in hand, just 3 points behind the leaders. Immobile remains 2nd in the scoring charts with 8 league goals already as well, I've been delighted with his start.

The Europa League table looks great for us currently after 3 matches. We've scored 18 goals in 3 matches, conceding just once so far. 

The final piece of news this month is that the board have agreed to expand St. James' Park, taking the total capacity to almost 60000. The work to the stadium should be completed around a month into next season.

[danmcconnell1]

November 2025

October was a perfect month for us with plenty of goals scored and a very good defensive record, so all I can ask for is for the lads to carry on what they've been doing.

It's not quite been as good this month, however there have still been some very good results. We began with an unfortunate 3-2 defeat away at Tottenham, Guimaraes and Bellingham scored our goals however a Son brace and Osimhen winner we fell to a defeat. We responded well in Europe though with a 4-0 win at home to Olympiacos. Messi got 2 while Isak and Hudson-Odoi got our others all before half time. We then followed that up with another win at home this time in the Premier League against Manchester United. Pino got one and Immobile managed 2 and despite Garnacho getting one back for the visitors, we held on for a momentous win over one of our biggest historical rivals. However we couldn't continue the winning form as we lost to West Ham after the international break, Jarred Bowen scoring the winner in the 94th minute despite only 3 minutes being added on which was disappointing. We couldn't have come back better though as we absolutely trounced Bodo/Glimt 9-0 in Norway. Mathys Tel managed to score a double hat-rick, Hudson-Odoi a brace and Messi also added one as we scored our 31st goal in 5 Europa League matches so far this season. We ended the month with another win against one of the big boys at home as we beat Chelsea 2-0, Bellingham and Isak with our goals at home as we ended the month well.

We still sit in 2nd in the Premier League with a game in hand over City at the top which if we win, we'll go 6 points behind the leaders. Immobile still sits in 2nd in the Golden Boot race, however he's joint 2nd now with Evanilson on 10 goals, 9 behind leader Haaland.

The Europa League table looks very healthy after playing 5 matches. Again, 31 goals scored with just the 1 conceded so far, I'm ecstatic with our European form at the moment and feel like we're the favourites to win the competition, which would in turn result in automatic Champions League qualification, regardless of where we finished in the league.

One final piece of news is slightly expected after he didn't renew his contract beyond this season, it's the impending retirement of Lionel Messi. He's 38 now and has won pretty much everything of significance and at least one trophy at all club's he's been at, including Inter Miami when we won the US Cup and here on Tyneside with last season's FA Cup success. What a story it could be if we can help him sign off his playing career with more silverware at the end of this campaign.