However we have at least gone about arranging fixtures early this year giving us a structure to pre-season and allowing fans around the world to be able to plan early if they wish to see Newcastle, especially fans in Germany or further afield in New Zealand.
For fans on Tyneside there is just one home pre-season friendly to consider with the most recently announced visit of Real Sociedad taking place on Sunday 10th August. If you fancy an away day before the season then you can always take a trip to Oldham (Tuesday 15th July), Sheffield Wednesday (Wednesday 30th July) or Huddersfield (Tuesday 5th August) but for any of the others you’re going to need a passport at the very least.
That’s because we play two games in New Zealand against Sydney FC and Wellington Phoenix (Tuesday 22nd July and Sunday 26th July respectively) before taking part in a four team tournament in Gelsenkirchen where we’ll play two teams from West ham, Shalke and Malaga on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd August. The full fixture list is as follows.
| Date | Opposition | Kick-off (local time) | Venue |
| Tuesday 15th July | Oldham | 7:30pm | Boundary Park |
| Tuesday 22nd July | Sydney FC | 7:30pm | Forsyth Barr Stadium, Dunedin |
| Sunday 26th July | Wellington Phoenix | 4:30pm | Westpac Stadium, Wellington |
| Wednesday 30th July | Sheffield Wednesday | 7:45pm | Hillsborough |
| Sat 2nd/Sun 3rd August | Schalke/Malaga/West Ham | TBC | VELTINS-Arena, Gelsenkirchen |
| Tuesday 5th August | Huddersfield | 7:45pm | John Smith’s Stadium |
| Sunday 10th August | Real Sociedad | 1:30pm | St James’ Park |
Please note that all kick-off times are local time so whatever times are decided for our two games in Germany just take an hour off and you’ll have the UK kick-off time which is easy enough but for the two games in New Zealand please bear in mind that they are 11 hours ahead of us so kick-off times here in the UK will be 8:30am and 5:30am respectively.
However there is a long way to go until pre-season and there are still many issues to sort out. In terms of United we have a huge strengthening task on our hands which will keep people occupied but on the grander scale there is the World Cup which is now just 19 days away. You can have a World Cup free bet if you fancy it and feel like getting in the mood by clicking on the link.
Keep this safe. Thanks for reading!
Champion – we just need to sign some players to play in the buggers now then!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
SHARPY17
I’ve got to be honest mate, I really don’t know much about those players. I don’t recall ever seeing them play and if I go off what I can find online then Diouf’s stats are very average (and he failed in England already it seems), Rivière hasn’t scored that many in a weak French league and Batshuayi would seem to be a bit of a gamble.
I leave it to wiser people than me who spend time watching these players play for real to judge if they’d fit in.
Quite a lot of fans last summer were gutted we didn’t sign the likes of RvW, Osvaldo, Hooper, Carroll and Pieters…but none of them really pulled up trees did they? The only one I really wish we’d have got was Bony but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
On a positive note…
Wonderful to see this sorted out early on this time. I believe it was a complete mess last season so at least they learned that lesson. Let’s hope that they have also learned a lesson regarding transfers and we get a couple early on so they can take part in pre-season. Obviously some will start late anyway because of the World Cup but would be good to get them signed up.
A playmaker and striker for the first team as priorities first please…thank you. 🙂
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
OH great news,Shola is going helped to make my holiday,Have to have a few extra drinks in this bar 😀 ,canny read Toonsy,but still nowt getting me in the mood yet,going to take a few good signings to help as it looks like the arsehole is keeping his job and jabba is staying putt dam
icedog(Quote)
Yeah Ice , I think a few new signings is the only thing that would be able to lift the mood of the fans. Yeah TDS a playmaker n a striker is what we really need. I think a centre half is a must. As good as Williamson was last season I dont think he is the answer to our defensive woes
Johno(Quote)
JOHNO aye mate and have to be a couple of canny ones too,and yes IMO a centre half is a must,two strikers and a good playmaker at least
icedog(Quote)
We need about 7 in with 4 being first team quality. Will we get that? will we ****.
kIMTOON(Quote)
JOHNO
Depends who stays and who goes to be honest mate. MYM is being linked with a move away, maybe he’s just not cut out for the PL? Doesn’t mean he’s a bad defender, Boumsong looked shocking for us but did pretty well in Italy I believe.
I think a lot of our defensive problems were down to not retaining possession rather than really poor defenders. One reason I think HBA was dropped. But I’d certainly be happy if we replaced one or two of our centre backs and kept Colo.
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
I am convinced we will play with a much smaller squad next season. Why pay players who never play after all? We could go with a starting 11 and 5 for the bench. So 16 players total. Think of the wage savings for Mike! Get in a good cheap young French striker and possibly a loan of a midfielder from somewhere and we’re set! Release Amalfitano and Obertan. Sell Saylor. Rumour has it Mbiwa can leave in the summer. Sell Benny and Marveaux. Bring in the young Spaniard Perez, the loan MF, and the young French striker and we’ll compete bravely for bottom 6! Beautiful. 😈
GeordieTwo(Quote)
With our modern coaching techniques we should only bring in youngsters. Within 5 or 6 years Pards will have them up to speed and we can try to get back into the Prem. Ashley will be so pleased. Besides, youngsters are cheap! 😈
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I don’t know what’s more depressing, the fact that we don’t appear to be getting any first teamers lined up ( endless rumours accepted) or this bloody awful weather, where’s the sun gone 🙁
kIMTOON(Quote)
I’m a bit concerned about the clearout. Will Mike pay for enough quality players to make a decent squad? It doesn’t sound likely. We’ve turned some good players into dross so we won’t get much for them. What is Marveaux worth now for example? And even Benny? This looks dodgy.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
KIMTOON
I don’t know whether it makes you feel better or worse but the weather darn sarf is no better…
Early days on the first teamers, we all know the club won’t go shouting about transfer it’s trying to line up. Why alert every other club to our plans?
ToonDarnSarf(Quote)
TDS, I live in Bristol, it’s pissing down and gone cold, a bit of a damp squib all round, not unlike our recent transfer dealings 😉
Yeah early days yet as you say, but I find myself saying that the last couple of windows 🙁
kIMTOON(Quote)
G2 I’m not having much luck scouting Indian player’s mate. There’s a striker called Singh that’s cheap. A slight down grade from Xisko but if Mike offers a million rupees his our player next season.
Terry(Quote)
TDS I agree we must defend better as a unit and a big part of that is better ball retention but I feel another centre back is still a must.
Gerdietwo I think yeah we will be looking at a smaller squad pool , which might not be a bad thing. We will have 38 league games and 2 maybe 3 cup ames next season. A pool of 20 senior players should be enough. Maybe then the likes of Campbell Armstrong might be able to get a proper foothold in the squad.
Johno(Quote)
Singh only wants 500 pound a week in wages and a different style of curry every night. Is he to expensive ? Mike thinks he can find someone a lot cheaper!
Terry(Quote)
http://www.utd111.co.uk/blog/2014/05/23/nufc-fans-poll-are-you-renewing-your-season-ticket/
kIMTOON(Quote)
Singh sounds too expensive Terry mate. I have some Burundians lined up who will play for a quarter of that. And Johno, yes I agree. No more than 16 players in the squad. Any more is a waste of wages. No injuries allowed of course. Mike will see to that. With just Willo and Colo as senior CB’s all we need is Good on the bench. Mbiwa gone, Saylor sold. Trim things down I say. Let’s go for a new losing streak to beat the 6 in a row right off the bat next season! Beautiful.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Cant say Ashley isnt ambitions then Geordietwo 😆
Johno(Quote)
http://www.itv.com/sport/football/article/2014-05-23/premier-league-clubs-confirm-released-players/
Shola is gone!
Johno(Quote)
At this moment in time I’m inclined to agree with Supermacs thoughts.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/supermac-sunderland-looking-ahead-more-7162779
kIMTOON(Quote)
I could see us getting as much as 15 M pounds for 4 or 5 of our top, top players. Let’s see: Saylor 3M, Obertan free, Marveaux 2M, Benny 5M….. Wait, that’s only 10M! Ok we’ll just have to lower our ambition for next season then. With Mike spending the 10M plus the 20M from Cabaye we should get 2 decent players to lead us to 16th place. As long as we don’t have any injuries of course. 😯
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Dam it! Singh will be absolutely gutted 🙁
Terry(Quote)
The Super Mac article just tells it like it is. We are a complete, shocking, shambles. Does anyone really believe Pardew and Ashley can fix this mess?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Why do we have to keep releasing so many young players by the way? I thought we were building a world class youth system under Ashley? Surely you can’t release half of the young players each summer and accomplish anything at all? Or has Mike given up on that cunning plan?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Come on everyone, cheer up. I know Shola Ameobi and Dan Gosling have left the club but you have to remember the good times they had here ?
Terry(Quote)
Shola Ameobi the mighty mackem slayer. Same he failed in the last three attempts mind. He was bloody useless 90% of the time this season.
Terry(Quote)
Definitely more than 90% of the time Terry mate. Still it’s a big loss to a side like ours. No healthy senior strikers available. A cheapskate owner. We could have watched Shola fall down and injure himself for a few more seasons if Pardew had been able to have his way. It’s quite sad really. Super Mac knows what he’s talking about.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
We’re building a powerful club to compete for top 10 next season! No really! We have just the owner to do it! He will lead us to…..ummmm well something or other! Now cheer up and spend your money on the club!
GeordieTwo(Quote)
With Remy, De Jong, Shola all gone and Cisse crocked for a good while Supermac is right we need a few decent CF in and then we still have to address the Cabs replacement a decent winger and a cb is needed too. I really don’t see that many arriving and it’s a scary prospect.
kIMTOON(Quote)
😯
Supermac said: However they either fell well short of PL standards or simply couldn’t be motivated by the manager. 😯
wait until Troy sees this, he’ll be fizzing Supermac called his Alan 😛
mark(Quote)
Have we any players left?
Stuart79(Quote)
Nice piece on Shola by Mark Douglas
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/mark-douglas-shola-ameobis-life-7167383
kIMTOON(Quote)
Cheers Shola, all the best kidda.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Farewell then the Mackem Slayer 😎 😀
kIMTOON(Quote)
He’s conned every manager. (Sorry bar KK) for 14 yrs.
Nice bloke. Loyal to the cause.
Not good enough.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Oh and Pardew needs saluting for being the one to get shot. Well done Pards. Master strike. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy – is that a bit of Friday night fishing there mate? 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
I wonder if the Cabella deal is taking its time coz they are working out a deal that would see Mapou return to Montpellier? The President there is still a big fan of his and there have been plenty of rumours that he could leave this summer – just a thought.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Best of luck Shola. Can’t argue with a goal every three starts eh?
Seriously though, it was stupid getting rid of someone that would contently be third fiddle.
What now?
We can’t keep Cisse and his wages unless he’s starting so we need to find two first teamers and one more backup. Fair play if that’s our intention but I can’t see it!
solanostrumpet(Quote)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jACiR7MaJdM
Wow, that intricate passing. We haven’t seen anything like that in a decade 😯
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
KIM nowt wrong with the weather where Ime at mind it has dropped to 26c like,never mind my thoughts are with you in the rain 😆 but at least that big shower has left the toon that must bring a little sunshine to you,I’ll have another drink on the news
icedog(Quote)
Ice , Yep it was time for him to move on I just hope they are certain they can get plenty in or we’re right in the brown stuff. Glad the hols are going well for you.
kIMTOON(Quote)
KIM looks like the bad news is starting as per normal for the toon,the playmaker we reported to be after is going toChelsea,nowt new then 🙁
icedog(Quote)
Excuse me for maybe missing it but has it been confirmed by the club yet that Strolla is away for good ?
Big Dave(Quote)
Sorry just checked the official website and yeah they have confirmed it 😀
It says he has played 397 scoring 79 is that 1 in 3 ST ?
Big Dave(Quote)
Starts BD 😉 Only 219 according to nufc.com…
solanostrumpet(Quote)
Ice, Yeah mate, ah well lets hope they are keeping our targets under wraps and not just chilling out on Jabbas yatch somewhere . 🙄
kIMTOON(Quote)
ST thats trying to make the stats work in your favour, a bit like KK tries.
I am 99% sure that he hasnt scored even 50 out of them 219 starts im on my phone so I couldnt check but im sure it will be down there some where.
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave
Yep 😆 – it’s nice being on the other side though..
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
🙄 😆 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
ST I seen another cracking stat in his 14 yrs he isn’t a 20 goal a season man more a 5 a season man 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
It’s ridiculous that we have had Shola as a striker for so long. That shows the poor standards we have set. 🙄
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Troy I think it was a case that he was cheap and allready here and was taking up a squad place
Big Dave(Quote)
Five goals a season, Dave?
Five league goals in the last three years more like!
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
ST I was trying to be kind with the stats
Big Dave(Quote)
Nice support of a loyal local footballer guys.. hang ya heads! 😕
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Aussie Loyal ? Its easy to be loyal if no other team wants you, though saying that would he still have been loyal if he didnt fail the medical he had for Stoke ? I think it was
Big Dave(Quote)
AMF he was only loyal because nobody else wanted him even for free,of course he was loyal he was getting good cash in his skyrocket for it,the guy was **** end of,IMO a bit of a crawl-**** how else would he stay at the club Ime glad the guy is gone
icedog(Quote)
Its not Sholas fault (other than said failed medical) that the club kept him on the books.. you cant have a 2 in 1 or even a 3 in 1 striker warming his **** on a bench week after week as they would be kicking up a stink. Shola wouldnt have even been on the bench if it werent for the managers incharge. All the negative posts are coming across as narky!
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
DAVE you know the crack mate,maybe he was good standard for AMF but he is used to a poor standard over there 😆 so he would look good for him
icedog(Quote)
Poor standard of what Ice 😉
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
AMF footy mate,but will say one thing no one will ever be as good as Aussies when it comes to rugby lge,I loved it just wish they would stop changing the bloody names of clubs
icedog(Quote)
Ice your right mate.
Aussie if he was good enough for you thats good your easy pleased.
For me he was **** and actually helped stop younger strikers getting a chance.
Big Dave(Quote)
Ice 😉 mate you have been around enough teams to know you need blokes that can keep their spirits high when they are not getting regular team time! There is nothing worse when you get poisonous negative kunts on the bench! Shola had a lot of faults but his contribution to the “team” cant be faulted! I expect blokes like Troy to totally miss this type of thing because he has never kicked a ball in anger! 😛
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Stop the press!! Big Dave totally agrees with Ice.. 😆 now there is a turn up for the books 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
AMF me and DAVE are nearly always have the same line of thought,maybe because we know what its all about
icedog(Quote)
Im beginning to see that mate! 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Big D@59, a few strikers failed medicals at Stoke over the last few years. They definitely rue the day they failed to sign Shola and Ba 😉
Munich Mag(Quote)
AMF@66 we need blokes on the blog too to keep the spirits high, it’s great having the happy clappy’s as back up 😆
Are you going to watch the toon in NZ ?
Munich Mag(Quote)
Ha ha, you are a half empty beer and I am a half full beer! One day we will meet in the middle! 😉 Unfortunately I will not be going to NZ mate!
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
AMF keep the faith big man.
You’re beer is probably only half full because Richietoon drank the other half 😎
Munich Mag(Quote)
I think i’ll put 100€ on Madrid winning tonight 😎
Munich Mag(Quote)
Richie probably spilt half the beer down his shirt when he missed his mouth with the glass! 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)