FM13: Newcastle United - Alan Pardew and The Eight Year Plan.

[Synthespian]

Wow. I'm in late, but what a thread.

[col_nufc1]

I have just finished my first season and it was fantastic, I can't be bothered to do a season review now but will do one at some point tomorrow.

Manchester City have offered me £20m for Captain Colo, thats a lot of money for a 31 year old, what do you think should I accept it ?

[tommonufc]

You've just got to hope that the AI doesn't do what it normally does and neglect youngsters.

They seem to be doing okay, they've the right personalities to be getting on with their development themselves. Not a massive fan on signing youngsters from South America, as you're not allowed to get them until their 18; and usually I'll only be signing 15/16 year olds from England or Europe, so you've missed out on so two or three seasons worth of training.

Wow. I'm in late, but what a thread.

Better late than never

[col_nufc1]

Barcelona have now offered £23.5m for Papiss Demba Cisse another good offer, I think I might sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow.

[tommonufc]

All in all, a good week!

[tommonufc]

Barcelona have now offered £23.5m for Papiss Demba Cisse another good offer, I think I might sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow.

I think that's the going rate within the first couple of seasons. I sold him for near enough that start of second season to Barca - will depend on who else you have to replace Cisse.. I think if you were to have him scoring plenty for two seasons you could get around the "£30M mark.

[JD nawrat]

Take the £23.5M and invest in Stevan Jovetic. You won't regret it

Loading up to play for a bit (just back from work). Working again tomorrow night (and Monday night) so won't get a great deal of playtime in over the next few days unfortunately.

One thing I did notice before i stopped playing before work tonight was that Gael Bigirimana broke his leg at Blackburn and is out for 2-3 months harsh injury. He, Petrov (the regen I've agreed a deal with) and Juan Carlos were/are going to be the future of my midfield. Hopefully it doesn't stall his development too much.

[JD nawrat]

Got a lot of work to do if I hope to retain my Premier League crown.

The League table is quite grim. We're not even doing poorly - in fact we're doing just as good as we were last season at this point, but my god Chelsea and City are just impossible to contend with at the minute. The remaining fixtures don't look good either. Having to travel to City is going to be a huuuuuge game. If we win that we'll probably win the league. I feel that'll be the decider in terms of the title. Only Spurs, City and Arsenal, two of which are at home, are tough fixtures. Already got United, Chelsea and Liverpool out of the way...

Pretty shocking how our defence is performing, too. We were looking at P8, A0. We've conceded 15 in the last 15 which is shocking considering we were 0/8. In fact we had 1/18 in all competitions and we're now at 18/37 which means we've conceded 17 in the last 19. Shocking really. Don't know what's going wrong.

On the brightside, we should probably win the Capital One Cup, we're doing well in the FA Cup (Blackpool put out Man City ahahaha)... Champions League isn't really winnable at this stage but then again I might get a lucky draw/route to the final and win the thing in the end.

And finally, here's Victor Petrov, the regen I've agreed to sign on a free.

2*CA, 5*PA. Excited about him.

EDIT: My god. Just drew 1-1 with Blackpool. They scored their only shot of the game. NILE ****ING RANGER SCORED IT.

Oh yeah, got into the Capital One Cup Final. Drew 1-1 with Liverpool - Haidara being sent off after only 36 minutes made it hard but Quagliarella scored very late on to equalise and put us through. Chantome also just got a red v Reading for violent conduct (same as Haidara). My team is falling apart wtf

It's okay though, I have Stevan Jovetic Losing 0-1 to Reading and now up 3-1, man down and all. Jovetic brace. Love that man.

Wow. 0-1 down, man down v Reading... just got into half-time. 5-1. Jovetic brace and assist, Hernandez goal and assist, Fischer assist and Garmash goal (Federici scored an OG). Just brilliant.

[tommonufc]

Letting Nile Ranger score against you - you need shooting!

[JD nawrat]

I know, right? Was such a dodgy goal too - Andy Little tried to shoot, it bounced off of Streete, off of Mallo, fell to Ranger who hit it through Turnbull's legs... embarrassing. Sammi Ameobi plays for them, too.

I'm gonna play a full strength side in the replay to make sure I **** Ranger and co. for the embarrassment of that tie. I'm at home to Cardiff (still in the Championship) if I beat them so good incentive to win. Worth playing a full strength side really.

[tommonufc]

Champions five games to go..

Second title in the bag. Title could have been won at Ethiad, but could only manage to take a point from the game. It was then down to Manchester United to take maximum points on the Sunday, in their game in hand against Sunderland before I would face Chelsea the coming Saturday. Man Utd could only take a point from Sunderland, meaning it mathematically impossible for them to reach me. So going into the 34th game of the season, home to Chelsea, I'll be Champions!

Champions League: into the Semi-Finals against last years beaten finalists Benfica. Has been a tougher route to this stage this year, beating off Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, albeit, both very comfortably.

[tommonufc]

Newcastle United: 2014/15 - Premier League Champions.

Transfers: Cash/Claused Free Transfers Loans

Premier League: Results 1

Semi-Finals vs. Benfica -- Winners vs. Manchester City -- Winners vs. Manchester United --

PFA Players Player of the Year 2014/15:

My Player of the Year 2014/15:----My Young Players Player of the Year 2014/15:

Top Goalscorers 2014/15

,

[nufc1]

Hi all, amazing thread as always. Haven't posted on here for a longggg time now. Tommo and JDownie are having brilliant saves!

I'm currently into February in season 2.

Season 1

BPL : 6th position

FA Cup : Winners V Man Utd Scorers Campbell (2), Lallana, Sissoko

Europa Cup : Lost in Playoff (to Anzi!)

Capital One Cup : Lost in 3rd round to Spurs

Transfers In

Adam Lallana

Gary Mackay-Stephen

Transfers Out

Danny Simpson

Mike Williamson

Jonas Gutierrez

James Perch

James Tavernier

Various Loans

Season 2

Currently in 5th place on Feb 1st. Out of the Capital One cup to Hull with the youngsters playing. Still in the other cups.

Transfers In

Andy Carroll

Wilfried Zaha

Transfers Out

Shola Ameobi

Nile Ranger

Steve Harper

Various Loans

Very excited about Wilfried Zaha. Will play back-up to Hatem Ben-Arfa for now but will hopefully push his way into the team up-front. Adam Campbell is developing fantastically. As is Streete, Vuckic, Haidara and Bigirimana. Aidan Grant, Sammy Ameobi, Brandon Miele and Lubomir Satka are all developing too but with much less game time than the others. I realise is have (unintentionally!) only bought British players which is good I suppose. Will post screenshots soon of players. Remie Streete is the stand-out youngster, posting an average rating of 7.53 in 11(3) games in the Premier League and 7.54 in 17(6) games in all competitions. Bigirimana also pops up with goals and assists either playing as a deep lying playmaker or as a box to box midfielder alongside Cabaye.

[YellowLittle]

Right, so second attempt at a Newcastle save.

Firstly the transfers

Signed Fischer and Redmond to bolster up the wings, probably the weakest position in the team to be honest. Decided not to sell Jonas, instead sold Marveaux and Obertan.

The Tactics

I used what Tommo basically recommended, with the wingers acting as inside forwards. When Cisse plays which is majority of the time I put the forward as Deep Lying Forward with Attack mentality.

The Results

I think I should have played more friendlies, probably why the first two results were not the best, but since it's working well. Adam Campbell getting a couple of goals already in the European Cup, both were poachers efforts but it's good confidence for the lad. Will keep you updated but generally I think it's working pretty well, the one problem I still have is getting the best out of Cabaye.

I normally play him in the deep lying midfielder role, but he isn't really hitting good form. Any tips at all?

[tommonufc]

Cabaye isn't a attacking midfielder - don't play him as an AM(A) would be my tip

Why is your midfield made up of Anita, Bigirimana, and Cabaye? The best trio you can have, that will give you the best balance, and get the best from each of those three, will be Tiote, Cabaye, and Sissoko.

You're playing an aggressive style of play, both offensively and defensively, so lots of closing down without the ball. Hate to sound like a broken record regarding Tiote, but this is where he excels - chasing the ball down and giving it to other players. He should be first choice in your midfield when fit.

Cabaye - DLP(S) or DLP(D)

Anita - DLP(D) or DM(S/D)

Tiote - DM(D), A(D), BWM(D)

Sissoko - AM(A), CM(S), B2B

They would be the roles that I'd be playing your midfield players in - ideally you want to have a good balance to a midfield three, so a attacking, supporting and defensive would be ideal.

[nufc1]

Good luck YellowLittle! Decent first few results (Except the loss against the Mackems!). I play Cabaye in the deep-lying playmaker position too, and he performs fantastically for me. Perhaps swap him and Bigirimana as I believe Bigi's slightly higher pace helps him further up the pitch, so play him as the attacking centre midfielder. Or Sissoko is great there too.

Here's a few screenshots from season 2

Streete has been fantastic and now starts with MYM.

Campbell is playing in rotation with Cisse. He got 9 goals this season but will score more as he improves

Here's the squad. The defence and midfield have been superb all season.

[YellowLittle]

Cabaye isn't a attacking midfielder - don't play him as an AM(A) would be my tip

Why is your midfield made up of Anita, Bigirimana, and Cabaye? The best trio you can have, that will give you the best balance, and get the best from each of those three, will be Tiote, Cabaye, and Sissoko.

You're playing an aggressive style of play, both offensively and defensively, so lots of closing down without the ball. Hate to sound like a broken record regarding Tiote, but this is where he excels - chasing the ball down and giving it to other players. He should be first choice in your midfield when fit.

Cabaye - DLP(S) or DLP(D)

Anita - DLP(D) or DM(S/D)

Tiote - DM(D), A(D), BWM(D)

Sissoko - AM(A), CM(S), B2B

They would be the roles that I'd be playing your midfield players in - ideally you want to have a good balance to a midfield three, so a attacking, supporting and defensive would be ideal.

Tommo that was the game in the cup against Hearts, Cabaye Tiote and Sissoko are my first choice, but there fitness levels were low going into this game against Hearts, plus I tried Cabaye there to see if he would improve. Cabaye normally plays in the deep lying position, that was just one game.

[tommonufc]

Everyone loves a 6-1 win to kick off a league campaign Played this with a 424 - front two of Destro and Campbell, two wingers of Ben Arfa and El Shaarawy, and a midfield pairing of Jack Wilshere and Paul Pogba - two wing backs getting forward in Santon and Shaw! Poor old Burnley, welcome to the Premier League..

[DandyDon]

Nice one Tommo....Burnley not my fave team at the moment after the damage they inflicted on my squad earlier

[col_nufc1]

Newcastle United Season Review 2012/13.

A fantastic first season for us as win do a treble of the Premier League, Europa League and Capital One Cup

Premier League Table.

Results Part One Results Part Two

In The Cups.

The Squad.

The Youngsters.

Remie Streete

Massadio Haidara

Gael Bigirimana

Nathan Redmond

Mattheus

Leandro Paredes

Will Hughes

Sammy Ameobi

Haris Vuckic

Adam Campbell

Jak Alnwick

Brandon Miele

Zakaria Bakkali

Aidan Grant

[col_nufc1]

Some more of my youngsters.

Alex Kitchen Lubomir Satka Ryan McKinnon Macaulay Gillesphey Kevin Mbabu Esteban Lopez Rolando Aarons Alex Gilliead Tom Heardman

This lad was the only one worth keeping from our youth intake.

Gareth Agnew

[tommonufc]

Fantastic season, treble in the first year, impressive Looks like your going to get Campbell to 201 ahead of me once again!

Where did you get the player faces for the youngsters? In the Megapack updates? ]

[Tellos]

2012-13 - Joined the club 22nd January, League position 17th

January

FA Cup 3rd Round Replay

Newcastle 1-0 Reading

Adam Campbell was given his first start as part of a rigid 4-4-2, partnered up front by Vuckic. Campbell got the only goal of the game midway through the second half, and Shola should have had a second when he came on for Vuckic but was given offside.

This was the first win for the team since Reading were beaten on Boxing Day, a total of 6 games without a win. There were a couple of nervous moments, but overall a decent start to my career.

FA Cup 4th Round

Blackburn 2-4 Newcastle

All the french lads returned from being cup tied (not entirely sure why they were in the first place). Blackburn are top of the Championship, so only the relegation spots are between us and it showed, with the result not as comfortable as it looks. Ben Arfa and Gouffran got two in two minutes before Gouffran added his second just before half time. Blackburn fought back around the hour, getting two in three minutes before Shola confirmed the result before coming off injured but thankfully there was no lasting damage.

Premier League

Swansea 1-2 Newcastle

I played a midfield trio of Anita (dm), Sissoko and Cabaye to give me some protection against Swansea's passing game. They controlled a lot the play but Gouffran got the opening goal on the counter. Not a lot happened until the 68th minute when Campbell came on. He grabbed his first league goal from 6 yards out, and it turned out to be the winner as Routledge pulled one back a couple of minutes later. A good win against a side who started the weekend 4 places above us.

February

Premier League

Newcastle 1-1 Stoke

My first dropped points, We had the majority of posession (61%) but couldn't break Stoke down with their 2 defensive midfielders. They got the lead through a good free kick, and HBA grabbed an equiliser just before the hour and we couldn't add a winner.

Premier League

West Ham 1-2 Newcastle

Tiote returned to the line up after coming back from the CoN early, adding a little more bite to the midfield for a tough tie against West Ham who started the day a point and a position below us in 17th. Nothing much happened until nearly half time, when we got a string of corners and finally a little bit of poor marking at a follow up cross allowed Gouffran to head in his 10th goal of the season. Andy Carroll almost pulled one back after the hour but was judged offside. Gutierrez and Marveaux both wasted numerous chances before it looked like West Ham had stolen a point when Carroll equilized in added time. However, we managed to grab a winner thanks to a strike from Sissoko from the edge of the area even deeper into added time. He is indeed magic.

FA Cup 5th Round

Leicester 1-3 Newcastle

Cisse returned to the side as I reverted to 4-4-2 to give Sissoko a break, partnered by Gouffran. Both strikers got on the score sheet in the first 15 minutes to put the pressure on the home side, while we defended resolutely. Tiote added a third just after half time to secure victory, while Nugent got a consolation goal 10 minutes from time. This means that we are into the 6th round, matching the board's expectations. The only blip was Steve Taylor picking up a yellow, which means he will miss the next game against QPR.

Premier League

Newcastle 3-2 QPR

QPR took the lead mid way through the first half, with Granero making the most of a defensive slip up to round Krul and slide home. Cabaye equlised with a deflected free kick 5 minutes before half time. We got another free kick 5 minutes after half time, with Cabaye firing the ball into the box and after a bit of pinball, Sissoko stabbed in off the post from 6 yards. An error from Colo let Zamora pull QPR level just after the hour after Cisse had missed an open goal at the other end. Sissoko gave us the lead again with his second of the game on 75 mins. Ferguson worked his way into the box and drilled low across the 6 yard box and Moussa tapped in easily. After this we proceeded to have a number of good countering oppotunities as QPR pressed for another equiliser but our passing failed us, with us returning the ball to them every time we got some form of break. We held out though, and secured a vital win that shot us 4 places up the table, leapfrogging QPR thanks to goal difference.

So, after just over a month in the job I've moved us up to 12th from 17th with 3 wins and a draw from my 4 league matches, and got us into the FA Cup 6th Round, where we will face league leaders City, so not looking forward to that too much. Other good points are two goals for Campbell and picking up 3rd in the manager of the month for February. First game of March is away at the Stadium of Light, so hopefully thats another 3 points in the bag

[col_nufc1]

Fantastic season, treble in the first year, impressive Looks like your going to get Campbell to 201 ahead of me once again!

Where did you get the player faces for the youngsters? In the Megapack updates? ]

Cheers mate , Ive sold Cisse and brung in Javier Hernandez who will be a brilliant tutor for Campbell and he played in 24 games last season although the vast majority of them were in the complete forward role and not the poacher role he is now going to play. It's 206 that I want him to beat again but that depends on how long I play this save as I normally get bored after about seven seasons at NUFC.

Yeah it's the megapack facepack updates mate, Here.

[tommonufc]

201! Why on earth did I say 201 - of course it's 206 :saywhatnow: That's shameful - forgetting how many goals Shearer scored!

I've downloaded that, got that installed - which updates have you had to install? Torrent was very quick for the 5.0, but gave up on the packs 0.1 through to 0.5 as they were taking so damn long without a torrent.

[col_nufc1]

Fancy forgetting how many goals the legend 'Mr Newcastle' Alan Shearer scored for us , I think the 201 your thinking of is when Shearer broke Jackie Milburn's goalscoring record.

Ive updated the pack upto 5.04, I used the torrents and I think it took about 20 mins for each one to download.

[tommonufc]

Mehhh, records, records - not long handed Ashley Cole his 126th England cap, so there's a record for you!

Will take a look into torrent'ing the updates; but didn't think it was possible.

[Spedding]

just finished 5th season first season to end without a trophy.

finished 4th 3 points behind the top 3.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

squad

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[col_nufc1]

Beating Peter Shilton's England caps.

It was using the mirror Hotfile.com that it only took about 20 mins, Idon't know were I got the torrents from :o

[tommonufc]

Newcastle United: 2015/16

Tim Krul | Jak Alnwick

Fabricio Coloccini | Steven Taylor | Samuel Umtiti | Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa | Davide Santon | | | | |

| |

| | | | | | | | | |

| | | | | |

| | | | | | |

Out on loan

GK |

DF |

MF | | | | | |

ST

Summer Transfers

Nobody would come in for the first team. I've now built, over the past three seasons, a young squad that is still improving, and one that could go on to win titles for the next six to eight seasons I feel; so unless Lionel Messi comes available, I doubt I'll ever be making a marquee signing again. Emphasis has been put into the youth production, improving facilities since my first day in charge, building a strong team of coaches, and scouts, that can help procure and then train the next generation of Newcastle United.

This year I raided Spain's two giants - Barcelona, and Real Madrid to the tune of £3.75M in compensation fees, and a £2.5M fee for Sergio;

Out going, I tried to move on some of the players making up the reserves that just weren't going to cut it at the club. Each as had time and effort put into developing their potential as players, so I was actually able to recoup a large reward for my investment. Hopefully one of many profitable transfer windows!

[tommonufc]

Beating Peter Shilton's England caps.

It was using the mirror Hotfile.com that it only took about 20 mins, Idon't know were I got the torrents from :o

Ashley Cole now resides on 126 caps, and I think that will be it. Next up will be Rooney in 20 or so games, then that's about it, as I've by and large filled by England side with young Toon players!

Thought it to be a bit fishy - read soon after downloading the 5.0 pack, that you had to individually update 5.0 with the .1, .2 files. Will give it another try, as my attempts at do-it-yourself faces have been pretty shoddy once again.

[DandyDon]

Nice to see this thread so busy lately, deserves it with the initial work Tommo put in

@Tellos

Good job steering the team away from the relegation places so quickly Any chance of pushing for a European spot with a late run?

[tommonufc]

Yes, great to see a busy thread!

We've moved up to third place now Overtaken those glory-hunting Manchester United threaders into 15 pages. Some way of the Liverpool, and Arsenal ones though.. (not that it's a competition )

Anyone passing by, and got any ideas how I can trim my squad down? I'm all ears..

Can't include selling any young, exteremely talented players, and can't include selling off the players I have great emotional attachment too - i.e any of the original players that are still in the side.. so yeah, ideas please..

[Tellos]

@DandyDon - Cheers I had a nice run of matches that weren't too difficult so it was relatively straight forward to pick up points. I've got 7 games to make up 9 points to get 5th. The best chance I have is through the FA Cup, though I have Man Utd in the Semis.

@tommonufc - When my squads get too big I have to resort back to having 2 players for each position of my main formation and then maybe a few youth options. Probably doesn't help much but you have my sympathy I always end up with 6 forwards going for 1-2 striker slots.

[col_nufc1]

I was a bit surprised but Adam Campbell and Gael Bigirimana have both been given there first England caps in August in the second season. It's a lot earlier than normal but hopefully it will help them develop even quicker .

Adam Campbell scores a brace against the Russians in England's 3-1 win in Moscow

[col_nufc1]

That's a canny squad you've got yourself there Tommo, your like me and hoard players for no reason , apart from loaning some more players out you'll just have to sell some players when they become unhappy with a lack of game time.

[DandyDon]

Yes, great to see a busy thread!

We've moved up to third place now Overtaken those glory-hunting Manchester United threaders into 15 pages. Some way of the Liverpool, and Arsenal ones though.. (not that it's a competition )

Anyone passing by, and got any ideas how I can trim my squad down? I'm all ears..

Can't include selling any young, exteremely talented players, and can't include selling off the players I have great emotional attachment too - i.e any of the original players that are still in the side.. so yeah, ideas please..

Get the Asst Manager to ask for a quick word after training...and have the kitman waiting out back with a pistol perhaps?

[tommonufc]

That's a canny squad you've got yourself there Tommo, your like me and hoard players for no reason , apart from loaning some more players out you'll just have to sell some players when they become unhappy with a lack of game time.

I begrudgingly sold Vuckic and Abeid in the summer, thinking that one day I'll get round to giving them a game

Think this will be Coloccini's last season; his contract runs out at end of the year, but is still playing very well - even with the high line and pace/acceleration of 9/8!

Steven Taylor was kicking off last season, about ambitions and all that - didn't play him too much in the run in, but never going to sell him, as he's part of the furniture.

Loads of players are asking for improved contracts, but still have sky high morale due to me winning all the time. I won't give out contracts until last year, otherwise it's just a waste of the cheaper money your keeping the player on.

Barcelona came calling for Destro towards end of transfer window. Had thought of selling him, but wanted more than the £23M they were putting out for. Thing is though, he's a bloody brilliant striker.

I've too many center backs, too many central midfielders

[Tellos]

2012-13

March

Premier League

Sunderland 0-1 Newcastle

A dull first half flashed past, but the second was livened up by a superb individual goal from Tiote. Sunderland's deffenders were dallying on the ball midway inside their half, Tiote charged forward and took out the guy with the ball, winning it and looked up to see Mignolet off his line. Without breaking stride he launched the ball in a nice lob from 25 yards, dropping it over the backpeddling keeper. Sunderland thought they had equilised a couple of minutes later when McClean headed in, only to see the linesman had his flag raised. Not a lot happened after that, other than Colo hitting the post with a header from a corner.

FA Cup 6th Round

Newcastle 2-0 Man City

Things didn't start well, as Sissoko was sent off for "violent conduct" after 28 mins. We had a re-shuffle and managed to hold out till half time. Cisse came off after the hour, and I also brought on Anita to increase stability on the left wing. This turned out quite nicely as on the counter Ben Arfa squared the ball across the 6 yard box and Anita charged in to poke home his first goal for the Toon. He then received Cabayes free kick on the edge of the area and lofted in a cross for Gouffran to head in. Tiote was hacked down and had to be brought off with 5 minutes to play

Thankfully the injuries to Cisse and Tiote weren't too bad, both being out for around a week. Sissoko accepted a 1 week fine for getting sent off so hopefully he won't be doing that again.

Premier League

Newcastle 2-1 West Brom

Injuries and suspensions meant we switched to 4-4-2, with Campbell starting his first league game. Ferguson had a great start, cutting in off the left flank to pass along the 18 yard box to HBA who smashed the ball into the bottom corner with 90 seconds on the clock. HBA almost had a second inside 10 minutes but it was chalked off for a push and Hatem also got a yellow card for his taking advantage of poor defending. Chris Brunt smashed in a leveller for West Brom on 19 minutes, our defense slow to react to the threat on the edge of the area. HBA and Campbell linked up on the edge of the area just after the half hour, with HBA lashing in his second of the game for the second time. Haidara was taken off injured just after the hour, allowing Raylor some rare game time. In the end it was a comforatable enough result, which would have been more comfortable had Ben Foster not been in good form and stopped most of what was thrown at him.

Premier League

Man City 0-0 Newcastle

Debuchy made his first start for me after coming back from injury, and I set up in a 4-4-2 after the 4-4-1 caused City so much trouble in the cup. Absolutely nothing happened in the first half and it showed in the player ratings. Absolutely nothing happened in the second half either, and I was rather happy to take a point for what was a rather poor performance. Looking at the stats after the match Man City mustered 19 shots to our 0. Literally, no shots at all, either on target or off.

April

Premier League

Chelsea 1-3 Newcastle

I moved to a 3 man midfield to help protect against Mata and Hazard, which meant Bigi started due to Sissoko's suspension and Anita's injury. However, the move payed off as Bigi fired home from 20 yards 8 minutes in. Tiote managed to mess up my planning by elbowing Lampard in the face on 23 minutes and getting a straight red. We held out until 55 minutes when Demba Ba decided to show up our defenders and slide past Krul. I brought on Gouffran after an hour to keep things fresh up front, and by 66 minutes he had given us back the lead with a lovely strike to the bottom corner from the edge of the area. Some great backs to the wall defending later and we managed a good counter towards the end, with Gouffran adding his second and securing another victory from a man down.

Tiote picked up a 3 match suspension and Bigi got put out for 2 weeks, so its just as well that Sissoko is coming back from his suspension.

Premier League

Newcastle 2-2 Tottenham

We switched to 4-4-2 again due to a lack of fit central midfielders. We took a commanding advantage into half time, with goals from HBA and Gouffran but unfortunately Spurs pulled it back (they're as close to a bogey team for me as I've found) with Defoe 10 minutes after the break and Adebayor leveling with 12 minutes to play. Thankfully no new injuries before my FA Cup Semi Final with Man Utd.

FA Cup Semi Final

Newcastle 1-0 Man Utd

With Europe looking unlikely through the league this was my best chance of redeeming a season destroyed before I got control. Gouffran was brought down in the area by Vidic and stepped up to take the kick himself, firing easily past de Gea. A bad tempered game followed, with Vidic getting sent off in the end. A strong win we deserved, and we now have a final against Hull City for a return to Europe.

Premier League

Newcastle 2-0 Liverpool

We reverted to 3 in midfield after Cisse fell ill the day before the game. HBA opened the scoring with a lovely goal from almost the half way line after Reina messed up a clearance 2 minutes in. After that the first half seemed a little dull, with both teams having a couple of chances but neither capitalising. With 20 minutes to play Santon floated a ball into the box for Marveaux who was flattened by Skirtl. HBA stepped up and sent Reina the wrong way. Gouffran had a chance to wrap it up late on but fired straight at Reina.

Premier League

Wigan 0-1 Newcastle

I mixed things up a bit and it took us 72 minutes to break through Wigan's back 6, with Gouffran getting the only goal of the game.

Just the last few games left now, they'll go with my end of season update (not that it's been a particularly long season, starting at the end of January)

The board was obviously pleased with the turn around, as I got offered a deal at £57k/week until 2017, which has been accepted.

[css_matt]

Back to Newcastle. Inspired to start a Newcastle game by one of Cleon's many threads. Going to try develop talent. Not massive purchases.

Transfers In:

Benzia

Romero

Cirigliano

Targets:

Volland

These are the four players I want to base by team and tactics around. Not sure what I am going to go for yet but I am thinking three at the back with Cirigliano infront of them as a DLP

[shoonaldo]

I've been playing as Newcastle since the last update and thought I would share how I've been doing.

In the league we finished 7th, 8th, 4th and 3rd so far. The national Cups have been very disapointing and in europe we reached the Europa League Qtr Final and lost 5:4 to Gladbach in the first season and the Champions League 1st Knockout Round that ended in another defeat to a german team last season. This time losing 4:2 to Bayern.

This is the squad I'll be starting the 5th season with unless something surprising happens. I've selected my preffered first team although some positions going to be heavily rotated.

As you can see I've managed to get Bale but I'm not sure where and how to play him as my tactics are working quite well. It's only the top teams I struggle against although we have improved on that in recent seasons.

[james_wilko]

Just a brief update on season 2 from me.

Had a decent bit of transfer activity, out went Gosling, Perch, Obertan and Shola for a combined total of around 8.5 million. A large number of the young players have went out on loan to get them some decent first team football.

In came Alderweireld, Martins Indi, Jan Wuytens, Mason Bennett, Mikael Landreau, Ante Vukusic & Joe Mason for a combined 24.5 mil. Net spend of 16mil and a much stronger squad for it, so I'm happy with that.

Cisse's became a bench warmer, he'd managed a pathetic 2 goals in his first 10 games so I gave up and gave Campbell a chance. He's now first choice with 9 goals and 5 assists in 18 games. His attributes are on an impressive upward curve and he's now classed as a 'wonderkid'. He's linking up brilliant with Sissoko & HBA. I'm 99% certain that all 5 of his assists have been lay offs for Sissoko to belt home.

As I'm approaching January, I may be tempted to offer Cisse out and see if I can get 20-25mil for him. No point paying him 60k to do f*** all. That money will probably be invested on a senior striker who can tutor Campbell to speed up his development some more. Ideally someone around the 28/29 marker (breaking my rule about signing prospects) who has a couple years of top end performance in him. Have to wait and see what's available.

We're 18 league games into the season and we're sitting pretty at the top of the league, 4 points clear of City. We went out in the 3rd round of the Carling Cup as I played the kids, but we won the European Super Cup against Porto with a comfortable 3-0.

[Welshace]

Have to be ruthless when the game gets to that stage tommo.... squad is just too full of players who are world class or potentially so.

Just have to pick your team and sell the others off.

That midfield is ridiculous.. there is no way you can accommodate them all

[tommonufc]

I know

Fortunately I've had a few injuries, so haven't had too many players wanting game time.

Tried moving on Adam Lallana in the summer, but his wages are proving a massive obstacle - £80K a week.

Chalobah has been anchoring the midfield, and have Umtiti fully trained positionally there now, so will move on Tiote.

Bigirimana will probably be sold once he's back from loan, likewise with Williams and Parades.

That would leave me with Cabaye/Pogba, Wilshere/Hughes, Sissoko, JWP, Chaobah, McEachran. Long term goal was to win the CL with a fully home-grown XI, so reluctant to move on any of the potentially world class English players.

[Tellos]

Chalobah has been anchoring the midfield, and have Umtiti fully trained positionally there now, so will move on Tiote.

I thought that was heresy

[tommonufc]

A sad, sad day. At least he'll be going to a good home..

[DandyDon]

Rather as I expected the physical battering we got in the game against Burnley cost us in our next match. Took the patched up squad to Valencia for the away leg of our Champions League knockout round and ended up losing 2-0 to go out 2-1 on aggregate. Santon's injury really cost us the most, with both Valencia goals scored from attacks coming down his flank (my fault for not having invested in a really decent back up for him). Adam Campbell had a poor game by his recent standards as well, missing 3 very good chances to grab us the vital away goal before Valencia opened the scoring.

We now face a real make or break period in defending the league title with 3 big games close together. Arsenal away, Liverpool at home and then Man Utd away one after another with Utd currently three points ahead. Thankfully Santon might be back for 2 of those, though Willian and Brabec are definitely out for the season.

[james_wilko]

Cisse has been sold, moving to Porto for 25mil. Happy with that, out of the Premier League and unlikely to face him in future European competitions.

Disappointed we lost 4mil of that to Freiburg, but 21mil extra in the bank is very nice.

Eduardo, formerly of Arsenal, has been signed for 925k to tutor Campbell. Gouffran is on his way out after one whinge too many.

[Tellos]

2012-13

May

Premier League

Newcastle 2-0 Southampton

A rare crisis in defense saw both Taylor and Colo out injured, meaning Willamson made his first appearance of the season alongside MYM. It took us half an hour to muster a decent chance, but when we did, some clever play on the edge of the box allowed Cisse to play in Sissoko to lash in for the lead. Sissoko got his second of the game soon after, arriving late into the box to slide in a deep cross from Simpson. With 12 minutes to play a long ball from Santon found Jonas in the box, and the master of drawing the foul managed it again, winning a penalty as Boruc brought him down. Sissoko ignored protocol in search of his hat trick, and in doing so blasted the ball straight at Boruc letting the Saints off the hook a little.

Premier League

Newcastle 2-0 Reading

Debucy, Ferguson and Gouffran came in for Simpson, Marveaux and the mis-firing Cisse. Gouffran helped us get the lead, squaring for HBA to tap in at the back post. The second came late on with Marveaux slotting in from the edge of the area.

We didn't look to play particularly well, but I'm not complaining too much after another clean sheet and 60% posession.

FA Cup Final

Newcastle 1-0 Hull City

A whole host of changes for the final, with only MYM, Sissoko and Gouffran staying, though Gouffran did shift to the right wing to let Campbell in up front. Marveaux scored his second goal in as many games just before the half hour, cutting along the line of the box and firing into the top corner. That was pretty much the only action of the game, the defences doing their jobs well with only 3 shots on target between both teams the entire match.

Still, it's a trophy, and a decent performace from the lads who I sent out, including a medal for Harper before he leaves on a free in the summer.

Premier League

Norwich City 1-2 Newcastle

Almost complete change again from the Cup Final, and Norwich had to win to have any chance of staying up (that and needing a 9 goal turn around with West Ham). A non-existant first half almost turned into a non-existant second, but Cisse and Gouffran combined on the edge of the area 7 minutes into it, confusing the keeper sufficiently for Gouffran to pass into the bottom corner. A second followed shortly after, this time Gouffran heading in HBA's near post cross. Surman lashed in from a corner with 6 minutes to play to ruin Krul's clean sheet.

Season Review to follow shortly.

[Tellos]

Season Round up 12/13

When I joined the club, we were in 17th place with only 6 wins from 24 matches. From my 14 league games in charge we gained 36 points - 11 wins and 3 draws, taking us up to 6th in the table.

We also won the FA Cup, securing Europa League Football for next season, as we were knocked out before I could experience it. The Capital One Cup was another tournament that we went out of at first time of asking.

On the whole, I was quite pleased with how the squad performed. Could have done with a few more goals from Cisse, but Gouffran picked up the slack nicely and was probably my player of the season.

Top Goalscorers

Yoan Gouffran - 19 from 22(12)

Papiss Cisse - 15 from 41(1)

Hatem Ben Arfa - 13 from 50

Top Assists

Yohan Cabaye - 14 from 48

Hatem Ben Arfa - 13 from 50

Fabricio Coloccini - 6 from 49

Transfer Plans

I had been planning to let Simpson leave on a free, but after Raylor came to me asking to leave I decided to offer Simpson a new deal, partially because he had played ok this season, and partly due to needing British players for Europe. Raylor and Perch both want out and have been told they can go, with Obertan, Gosling and Shola probably joining them. Marveaux might be off as well, despite his decent end to the season. Will also clean out the reserves of any who are just filling wages and spots that could be taken by u18s with better potential.

Summer shopping list looks something like this:

left midfielder

right winger

Consistent striker

AMC backup for Sissoko