Could Woodman stake his claim at Bournemouth?

All or nothing for Woodman
All or nothing for Woodman
It’s a simple question really. Should Freddie Woodman be put in goal for the game at Dean Court next next weekend?

Injuries to Rob Elliot, Karl Darlow and a season-ending injury to Tim Krul have brought about this question, which is staggering considering that Woodman is effectively our fourth choice goalkeeping option.

But there is an alternative in the form of an emergency loan which is a rare but not completely unheard of deal. The normal reaction when thinking of an emergency loan is to look at transfer dealings and point the finger at them. While that may be true in a number of positions at United, it would normally be enough to have three goalkeepers with first-team experience on the books. Only at Newcastle do you find those three players injured all at the same time.

I honestly can’t see us delving into the loan market for this one no matter how dire it may look. There has been no update on Elliot yet as the injury is still being assessed and Karl Darlow isn’t far away from returning. With an international break coming up after the Bournemouth match and a two week gap before our next game, it’s likely we’ll have one, if not two, goalkeepers back for the visit of Leicester.

Which I guess makes my title question redundant as it’s now pretty much nailed on that Woodman will be put in goal at Bournemouth.

So then do you alter our game to protect the young goalkeeper as much as possible? If you were the opposition manager you’d want to test an 18-year-old as much as possible so do we shift focus towards protecting him at the expense perhaps of craving out scoring opportunities, which we’re actually quite good at. Not so good at scoring them though…

There’s lots of questions regarding this and I’m sure a lot of it will become clearer as time goes on. Could it be a case of getting through this game and assessing things again in the international break? Could Woodman replicate what our very own Tim Krul did in Palermo all those years ago?

Time will tell…

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

185 thoughts on “Could Woodman stake his claim at Bournemouth?

  1. That’s asking a lot Stuart mate @75. How many of our current squad would stick around if we get relegated? Colo? 😆 Saylor? 😆 Obertan? 😆

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  2. I’m not sure where I would rank us. The table is fairly accurate 😆 I would say but with another 27 matches we might edge up to16th or so.

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  3. Would Ashley actually be secretly happy with a 15th place season? Winning something? Does Mike actually understand what that requires in terms of quality players and management?

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  4. Just curious about what people think. Does Ashley actually understand what is required to win something?

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  5. I don’t actually think we’re as bad as Villa or Sunderland but our record would suggest we are. maybe that’s because we play ‘better football’ whatever that means.

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  6. I wonder what Mike’s acceptability cutoff is now? Would he sack McLaren if we finished 16th or 17th? What about if we were relegated?

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  7. We certainly have some better players than Villa or Sunderland Stuart mate but does that put us in danger of finishing 18th? Bournemouth and Norwich are very poor as well. As many have said it may be a 3 or 4 team race to see who finishes 18th and we may well be in it.

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  8. Yet even Villa are only two goals behind us in the scoring charts and have conceded less than us.

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  9. G2 – Well if we have better players than them teams why are we in the bottom three with 1 win in 10?

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  10. I think Garde will be with Villa at the end of the season whether they go down or not. Give him the 3 1/2 years of his contract and judge him then. Most of Villa’s problems are due to their owner so it’s time for him to commit to a manager.

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  11. Well, it’s very tricky Stuart mate. You should really be asking people like Sharpy. I think we have some decent attacking players but are dismal at the back. That’s what the stats indicate as well (yes, I know toonsy I shouldn’t be saying this). Also we have a very poor owner like Villa and we haven’t spent consistently or wisely over the last 7 or 8 years. I’m sure Ashley is already looking at Wij and drooling. What will he be worth if he has a good season with us? 30M? More? And so easy to replace! We do it all the time. 😆 😆

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  12. G2 – I think I read somewhere we have the 8th biggest wage bill in the league so anything less than that and Ashley won’t be happy you would imagine. Especially based on his ‘pound for pound’ requirements. Although personally I believe PL safety whether 8th or 17th will do him.

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  13. G2 – Our record says we score barely 1 goal a game and 6 of them were in one game and a freak result so it is even worse! Of defensively were poor – we are seldom anything else.

    Is it a coincidence that the bottom three consists of teams here their owners have basically stopped investing and have stopped having interest in their clubs?

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  14. Maybe he’s referring to his own weight Stuart mate? He wants a manager who weighs the same? More sticky buns with the tea then Steve.

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  15. That sounds spot on to me Stuart @95. An out of touch owner who thinks it’s easy to win something (just promise it in the summer and it will happen, surely?).

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  16. GEORDIETWO
    Sunderland change their manager every year also. Doesn’t seem to be working very well (or cost effective) They beat us in the second game though, that’s all that matters in their sad little inbred world.

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  17. Villa’s worst start for 127 years and they’re only 3 points off us with the same goal difference. Still shocked people seem to be happy with us.

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  18. Good points DJG @99. They have a really poor owner as well. Expecting more miracles from Big Sam is a real risk for me. Defoe actually showed some lovely touches on Sunday before he tired. And that young red headed lad was quite good. But their defense is shocking. Look for changes there in January. Incoming defenders I mean. It’s their only hope.

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  19. Interesting stat I heard Saturday night. Over the last two games we have had 36 attempts on goal without scoring.

    Serious question; is that all down to luck or lack of quality?

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  20. How does an owner who is completely clueless promise anything at all? He’s going to stay until we win something? That would make him the first immortal owner…. Hmmm. Very disturbing thought. 🙁

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  21. Leicester are 3rd after eleven games. They were bottom at this point last season… Top four here we come. 😆

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  22. 36 attempts on goal Stuart. That’s not much! I feel we can easily go beyond 50 attempts without scoring!

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  23. We don’t get many points with McLaren but mind we do pass the ball very cleverly back and forth between defenders to improve our possession and pass completion stats! Beautiful.

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  24. If only our opponents would pull their keeper for an extra attacker Stuart mate. It would be exciting to see us miss!

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  25. Anyway, glad Villa got beat.

    U21’s played and won tonight but we picked up about a dozen injuries. Although not the keeper thank ****!

    6 pointer on Saturday and I will be there to see it.

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  26. Cheer us on to victory Stuart mate. 😀 I hope we get the points. They’re desperately needed.

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  27. Now Aarons out for a ‘number of weeks’ due to yet another injury!

    There’s something intrinsically wrong with the training surely. How is it possible to constantly pick up so many injuries with almost every player?

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  28. Ryder says Aarons is out of contract at the end of the year. Is that the full story? I had seen last time that contracts were discussed that the club had an option for another year. It would be typical Ryder to miss a material fact. At least he went to the reserve game though and is doing part of his job.

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  29. Aaron’s is another player with potential unfortunately made of glass. He will lose his pace quickly with these Injuries and he does not have the stamina to last 90 minutes anyway. Why people were calling for him to be a regular starter in the summer is beyond me. His track record always suggested he would keep breaking down. Shame though. May be worth a new contract but only on our terms and only a couple of years at most in case he keeps getting injured – which he probably will.

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  30. What many miss is the obvious.
    Pardew got slated for playing defensive football. The clever thing about Pardew was, he knew our defence was so poor he could take the risk to leave them exposed.
    We are conceding roughly 2 goals per game now. That is with McClaren playing cautious as well earlier in the season.
    We might look like we are playing better football but we aren’t. As soon as we attack we look exposed. It’s a balance.
    I don’t particular lump all the blame on McClaren, I lump it firmly at Ashleys door. A terribly weak squad and we will be in a relegation battle all season. We are very very poor.

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  31. Aaron’s is far from the saviour. In fact he fades very quickly following one or two sporadic bursts of skill. Get over him.

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  32. Can’t see why anyone would think we can beat Bournemouth away. We haven’t won all season away. 🙄
    Blind faith.

    We will roll over with a flat performance. Can’t believe you lot can’t see what’s coming. Mark or mock my words.

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  33. I can only assume the performances are being compared to Carvers horrific tenure. Bearing in mind McClaren has £50m worth extra spent on the squad, I would expect to see an improvement.
    It shows what a good job Pardew did when he was here. And he is an average premier league manager.

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  34. Troy @119 – it’s not blind faith mate, it’s opinion based on opponent for me. If it was Saints or Everton away I’d think we’d probably get beat, but it’s not, it’s Bmouth. That’s no disrespect to them, but they are missing some key players and haven’t started well at all. Blind faith would be saying away wins to Arsenal or City – this one we should absolutely be winning.

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  35. Bournemouth haven’t started very well yet they’re above us in the league.

    Troy, it’s not just this season our away form has been poor. We’ve won only 1 away game all Calendar year! Bournemouth aren’t that bad either. Looked pretty decent against Southampton too. Unless they play no keeper then our scoring exploits could well be under pressure yet again.

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  36. I see the pessimists are piling it on again. We’ve got 5 points from the last 5 games. That includes City and Chelsea and an away derby. Keep that up and we’ll end on 32 points with 2 to go. We’ll stay up!

    It is rubbish though isn’t it.

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  37. Realist I prefer to call it, Georgio. How else do you describe scoring 12 goals in 11 games, conceding 22 in the process, winning 1 in 10 and having won 1 away game this Calender year?

    Please by all means try and put a positive spin on that without coming across as slightly drunk.

    Although I am impressed with the new signings, which actually just makes our start even worse imo.

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  38. Stuart – my last line wasn’t sarcasm. I try to remain positive and I am enjoying the football a bit more. Also impressed with the three new boys but even with a £50m spend, can’t believe we didn’t go for a new CB.
    We’ll be in trouble all season.

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  39. Troy: I haven’t seen enough of Aarons to really judge but if he fades then play him as an impact sub. It is a pity about his fitness problems. Unfortunately, sicknotes usually continue to be sicknotes. Hello Steven Taylor.

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  40. With the talk of goalkeepers and new injuries there hasn’t been any news on Jaanmat. Will he be fit for Saturday?

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  41. Georgio: there were 4 major “new boys”. I think Thauvin, de Jong and Cisse will get more playing time as our injuries begin to mount again.

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  42. Troysta: can you just give it a rest with Pardew. It is almost a year since he chose to leave.

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  43. So farewell Remy Cabella, we hardly knew you. Ed Harrison says his automatic transfer has now been triggered.

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  44. Yes, Eric, he’s played 12 games so transfer will happen.

    Cabella or Thauvin? That’s the question…

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  45. I see Aarons is out with an injury again (foot). Sad to see him injured so often. I was really impressed by his early appearances for us.

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  46. Oh, and another thing. I have an exciting new series of interviews coming up with important club insiders. This is a unique opportunity to get inside the club lads. There will be the usual entertainment between each interview. Very exciting times these.

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  47. And here it is lads! Fresh of the presses. The interview you’ve all been waiting for:
    G2: “Steve please come out from under there. You’ve got to face the media more often mate…..Yes I’ll wait ’til you freshen up. Sort that hair tufty out will you?”
    G2: “Right then Steve, there’s been a lot of talk about our season finally getting under way?”
    Wally: “Erm,. yes G2 that’s correct. We’re just getting out of the starting blocks now. But, we’re very fast once we get going. Blink and you’ll miss us, heh, heh….
    G2: “Very amusing Steve. But seriously how is morale in the squad. Are people upset? Is anyone crying a lot in the dressing room?”
    Wally: “No G2, the dressing room is very calm. We’re getting up for every game, now that we’ve kicked things off so to speak. I’m very excited about the way we’re playing. Certainly we’ve had a few injuries but I’ll never use that as an excuse. Never.”
    G2: “And the 7 points Wally, errr sorry Steve? You’re not concerned about that?”
    Wally: “Absolutely not G2. We’ve plenty of time to make that up. Plenty of time….yes. Did I mention we’ve had a lot of injuries?”
    G2: “Yes, yes you did Steve. Well, I don’t want to keep you too long. You must have a lot of training to do or something. Possibly suggest to Siem he might want to run around a bit in the week as it’s the only exercise he’ll get. Off you go Steve.”

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  48. When you think about it our squad isn’t that big because we have a lot of super-crocks in it. Not just your normal croc that you see on nature channels but super-crocks:

    Taylor
    Marveaux
    Elliot
    Aarons
    Good
    Obertan
    Haidara
    de Jong
    Dummett

    All of them almost permanently injured, or play 2 or 3 games and then suffer another injury. That is in addition to the “setback in training” patented by Dummett, de Jong and Aarons. The “setback” almost always means another month out at least.

    In addition, we now have Darlow who never even made a save before being injured.

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  49. Eric – But most people realised we had a poor injury record and argued that’s why we needed to do more in the transfer window. Night follows day and Taylor and Aarrons get injured.

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  50. As usual, the club are saying very little about an injury. Aarons’ foot is in a boot and is out for 2 months. That means it is NOT something simple like a sprain. It is either a broken bone or a rupture which as G2 said will be 2-4 months. I broke my thumb once and knew within an hour after an x-ray. I also had an MRI on my back and knew it was a herniated disc within a day. Our Doctors are either incompetent or the club deliberately hides bad news.

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  51. Stuart @138: I knew that as well, I just thought I would do some naming and shaming. Quite a few will be gone in the summer anyway (about time as well).

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  52. The question I have to ask is; Why on earth as absolutely nothing at all changed from last season? New head coach, New assistant coaches, new players, new fitness guru and new head shrink – yet same old ****, **** and more ****!

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  53. G2: the club drip-feed us the news mate. Aarons is typical from last year when he was always 2 weeks away from a comeback and then it turned out he had a “setback”. Now, he had the hamstring which lasted much longer than they said. Was expected back on the bench for Stoke and then the next thing you know he is seen at a reserve game on crutches. It turns out that he was injured in training on Friday. Now, The Chronicle is saying he is out for 2 months but do not know the injury. How can they estimate he will be out for 2 months if they do not know the fkin injury. They do, they just don’t want to tell us. They want to drip feed us the bad news.

    If Elliot cannot play on Saturday it will because he failed a fitness test. What is to stop them bringing in an emergency keeper anyway, just in case? Because they have an MD and medical staff with no clue. And that is not my opinion, it has been demonstrated by us topping the injury league for a long time.

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  54. Eric

    Pardew is very relevant today as he was when he managed here. You drove him out with your abuse and now you are getting what I predicted. You don’t like me bringing it up because you hate being reminded how ridiculous your views were and are.
    😉

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  55. When does drip-feeding bad news turn into Chinese Water Torture? When it comes from the liars at NUFC and The Chronicle.

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  56. Troy: I didn’t drive anybody out. I am here in Chicago and commenting on a blog that I am sure Pardew never even read.

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  57. Troysta: have you got on twitter and instagram to tell Pards how you feel? It is not good to keep all of your emotions bottled up. There have been many, many novels written about unrequited love and they usually don’t have a happy ending. As your therapist, I implore you to tell Alan directly how you feel and not limit yourself to this blog.

    However, I really hope that Alan doesn’t give you the happy ending that I think you are looking for with him 😕

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  58. There’s also snapchat if you want to be a little less discreet with your love letters and photos to Pards. I have never used it, but I think the premise is that you can send very personal messages and they get erased after a certain amount of time so as not to embarrass you in the future. Perfect for you and Pards.

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  59. Personally I think we need to forget about Pardew as we have a coach who’s doing just as poor a job as he did, the only having spent £50m

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