Two pre-season friendlies in and Newcastle remain unbeaten, with goals from Joselu and Ayoze Perez earning us a 2-2 draw at the KCOM Stadium last night.
It wasn’t pretty for the 2,500 who made the drip down to Hull, but we had to fight for it in the end – and, although he won’t have been all that impressed by what he saw, it was probably the sort of physical workout Benitez is looking for heading into the new season.
It was scrappy and a game where our lack of quality in the final third and our lack of defensive cover was quite noticeable, but with Hull a week ahead of his in terms of fitness (their new Championship season starts a week before ours), it was a handy run out as we look to step up our preparations for Spurs at home in two and a half weeks time.
Tonight's #nufc goals highlights Joselu (1) Perez (1) in the 2-2 draw away to Hull. pic.twitter.com/efgWDx9fvA
— The Magpie Channel (@MagpieChannel) July 24, 2018
Aside from a flurry of goal-bound free-kick’s from Shelvey and Ritchie (the former was our stand-out player) and a well taken one on one finish from Joselu (assisted superbly by Shelvey), there wasn’t a great deal to get too excited about.
That being said, there was still a few positives to take from it:
- Shelvey looks fit and sharp. The work he’s put into to improve his defensive work is also quite clear.
- A nice confidence boost for Joselu. A rare calm finish in front of goal in front of the traveling toon army.
- Victor Fernandez was lively and looks an exciting good player. He’s direct, has quick feet and looks comfortable on the ball. Put in some very dangerous crosses and combined well with Perez
- Ritchie looks up for pre-season
- Ki Sung-Yeung’s delivery from corners could become a real weapon. His whipped ball in was so inviting for our second goal.
- Perez scores again in 2018
- A few good bits of goalkeeping from Woodman. Stopped one-on-one and confident from crosses.
Shelvey free-kick ⚫️⚪️ #nufc pic.twitter.com/DYkdS75c38
— Black&WhiteBarmy (@BlackWhiteBarmy) July 24, 2018
Then for the negatives:
- Lack of quality in final third evident. A striker or two is a must and another attacking midfielder wouldn’t go amiss.
- Too many square pegs in round holes at the back (Roberts at LB in Dummett’s absence, Yarney/Hayden at CB in Lejeune’s absence). Shows just how short we are at the back – but both these points may stengthen Rafa’s cause for new signings?
- Murphy / Aarons struggling to make impact again.
- Another great experience for Longstaff, but he didn’t quite settle into this one like he did vs St Patrick’s. Quite sloppy.
- Yedlin’s positioning worries me. Often relies on his pace and rarely deals with diagonal balls in behind/over his shoulder
- Woodman made a big error on the ball. Looks a top prospect and very capable with his feet, but not the first time he’s nearly dropped a clanger when trying to play out from the back (remember his first senior start vs Luton last season?).
Porto away next on Saturday. Let’s hope we have a few new faces in when we return from Portugal. We need them – both in attack and at the back.
Regarding Hayden, I agree there is more to it. Could it be that his child has an on going problem that he doesn’t wish to disclose ? Not all conditions require ongoing hospital stays but a longish one after delivery and immediate prognosis.
I was in with Lewis for 10 days only but his condition is life changing all the same, just saying like.
Or maybe he’s been a cheat and he is trying to save his marriage and she wants him home ?
Who knows, I have never really thought him integral to the team so a swap for another good player would be beneficial to all.
kimtoon(Quote)
How about throwing in Hayden for Rondon instead of Gayle? Birmingham is an easy drive to London/The South if that is the real reason for Hayden wanting to leave. I would prefer to keep Gayle and have to admit that I am not that bothered about Hayden as long as we get a replacement.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon: it is documented that Hayden was trying to cheat when his girlfriend was pregnant. Someone posted a Daily Star article on here where he had sent a **** pic to some “model” on the internet and she dumped him because he said he wanted rough sex. I think you might have posted it?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We have three strikers. In theory Mitro has the best stats , but they are only a little bit better than Gayle’s, Muto has similar figures to Gayle, whereas Joselu is significantly worse. Rondon is better than him, but his stats are not as good as Gayle’s or Muto’s. King at Bournemouth is worse than Joselu.
A better striker would be Dubbar or Marega, but neither are proven in EPL.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Eric, I don’t recall posting that mate, I don’t read the star as a rule, you sure it was me ?
kimtoon(Quote)
Check out the sky from 20.30 hrs uk time tonight to see a super blood red moon due to lunar eclipse. Should be cool .
kimtoon(Quote)
King worse than Joselu who only scored 4 last season? You sure Prem?
The season before King scored 18 I think but Howe had him playing deeper last term. He didn’t like it at all.
georgio(Quote)
Would be Kim, except heavy rain forecast tonight in the South. Shame because there will not be another blood moon that good for at least 100 years.
****** has been pretty prominent in the sky recently.. Its the big redish ‘star’ in the south east sky in early evening.
Shamrock(Quote)
Kimtoon: mustn’t have been you but here is the Hayden article. Don’t blame his girlfriend for not trusting him:
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/614003/Isaac-Hayden-Newcastle-United-midfielder-shocked-hot-model-bed-kinky-text-choking
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Career stats for the two, it’s pretty marginal. King 51 in 242 Josula 49 in 208. However King does have 31 assists to Joselu’s 15
PremAndUp(Quote)
In this hot weather do not directly look at the Sun, nor the mail or the express for that matter. 😆
PremAndUp(Quote)
By comparison Rondon is 120 in 353 not so many assists though.
PremAndUp(Quote)
Sounds like everything will be hunky dorey then. I still have us finishing 16th after a relegation scrap.
Stuart79(Quote)
Yeah, I know Sham, is it normally that prominent or is it to do with our freaky weather conditions that it’s clearer ?
Typical all these clear nights, then when you want one the bloody clouds roll in 👿
kimtoon(Quote)
Blimey Eric, not nice for his mrs to read that if true.
kimtoon(Quote)
Prem: King scores in spurts doesn’t he? He looks great for about 6 games and then turns into late NUFC stage Cisse. I posted earlier the PL top goalscorers and you have the elite like Kane and Salah and the Aguero with 21 and then it falls off to 12-13-14. Even these players cost 30-60 million so we have to look abroad or risk Rondon.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Lucas Moura looked great for Spurs on Wednesday. I don’t know how they got him for only 25 million. And he will probably only be a backup. I think we will see him in our first game.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
No Kim, it depends on the the planets respective orbital paths coming into line and then being at the right angle in the sky.
At the moment ****** is pretty much on the opposite side of Earth to the sun, so it will be lit up. It is also pretty much as close to Earth as you get in terms of orbits ‘passing’ eachother.
Shamrock(Quote)
I see we have just signed a young lad from West Ham today, 18 yr old for the academy… never heard of him, was released by Hammers.
Dubai Toon(Quote)
Sham, ah right, Mars is as close as it gets to earth at the moment too apparently, again to do with it’s orbit.
kimtoon(Quote)
Hmmm, released, what do we see that don’t I wonder ?
kimtoon(Quote)
I am trying to figure out if I am being sexist or not. Barca are being condemned for flying their women’s team in economy and men’s team in business. I don’t see the problem. Haven’t the PC people and papers figured out that football is about money? If you take this argument further then why don’t Sky pay the same amount for women’s football as mens or why wasn’t there a 200 million euro transfer in the women’s game like there was for Neymar.
I can see equal rights/pay/perqs for the same job but this is not the same job.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I played cricket in the London Leagues to a reasonable standard but I did not expect to be paid for it. It is the same game but it is not the same job as a test cricketer. This is why I feel this PC stuff is sometimes BS.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Lee Ryder does Chronical Q & A from Portugal:
Q: When will the Muto deal be finalized and do you think he will link up with the lads in Portugal?
A: Aye, the hotel is canny like. They have this wine from the duaro valley that is nice and of course, the Port. Some nice cheeses to finish off the meal as well.
Q: But what about Muto?
A: bit of turbulence on my flight over to Porto but not a bad flight. Used me airmiles from the Ireland trip to get an upgrade to business and a few glasses of champagne later and I was golden.
Q: Looks like the Ireland pre-season might have been Rolando Aarons’ last horah?
A: Aye, they did a good pint o’ Guinness at that castle place.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Q: what time is training tomorrow and do you expect Schar to feature in the game?
A: training? Erm… I’ve got a Port wine tour scheduled for 10am I will have to see if it clashes.
Q: Didn’t you already have your holiday Lee, when Chris Waugh was writing all of the nonsense that you usually do?
A: Oh, Aye. But this is my pre-season. I have to get ready to bash out those 250 word articles from my bar-stool. This is a warm-up as it were. Not a junket, I am working. Garconete, when you can spare the time can you top up me pint of Duoro?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
? very good Eric ?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Random musings:
We had 3rd lowest possession in the PL league last year (43.5%). I doubt if we will make it up against the top 6 but we have to get nearer 50/50 against the rest.
Rafa is building a fast and skillful squad but we still need an outlet. Rondon, not Joselu? They are all playing the high press and we need to figure out a counter. Spurs, Citeh, Liverpool, Arsenal, now even Chelsea with Sarri. Bournemouth, Huddersfield. We need to figure out how to beat it.
We are also set up now to play the high press if we want to, when the game allows.
We need a goalscoring midfielder.
Arsenal’s Torreira will be the signing of the season and Rooney and Wilshere will be the joint flops of the season.
It is not all doom and gloom.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And … they did a Q and A with Chris Waugh the other day:
Q: Well Chris, you say last year’s NET spend was 46 million when everybody else says it was about 20 million. How did you arrive at that figure?
A: I was watching Countdown the other day and they gave the numbers 101, 4, 8, 11, 7, and 22.
Sooo, if you multiply, 101 by 22 and divide by 8, and square the reciprocal of 11, you get 4 to the power of 7. And, that comes to 46 million or exactly what Mike Ashley’s official media partner and PR man Keith Bishop told me he spent, NET.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Joe Bryan limps off injured after good tackle on Defoe in Bristol City Friendly v B/MOUTH
Oh well, couldn’t afford him anyhow 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
Looks like WH are going for Marega. ****
PremAndUp(Quote)
I wouldn’t worry that much. They have Wilshere.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stories today that Leicester want Lascelles for £35 million if Maguire goes… well if Maguire is worth £80 million then Lascelles must be £50-60 million… ?????? but they can do one, unless the fat man wants to make a profit… ….
Oh, wait…
Dubai Toon(Quote)
Palace buying Ings for £20m.
Stuart79(Quote)
Dubai, I’ve had a sneaky feeling we will lose Lascelles all window, hope I’m wrong as that would be it for Rafa I think.
kimtoon(Quote)
The Maguire and lascelles replacement is lazy journalism though, I see him going to a bigger club than that .
kimtoon(Quote)
Mark DouglasVerified account @MsiDouglas · 18h18 hours ago
More
Also: no-one is talking about how this is the last summer window with free movement between the UK and EU countries. Brexit could have a huge impact, couldn’t it?
Never mind food, stockpile European players.
Well, actually, I mentioned it the other day, so there 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
Mark DouglasVerified account @MsiDouglas · 18h18 hours ago
More
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-12/premier-league-fights-to-retain-playing-talent-after-brexit …
Worth a read. PL say Kante and Mahrez wouldn’t have got work permits in post-Brexit world.
kimtoon(Quote)
Mark Douglas Retweeted
MARCAVerified account @marca · 13h13 hours ago
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Newcastle se levanta en favor de Benítez: “Si él se va, nosotros nos vamos”
Newcastle stands up in favor of Benítez: “If he leaves, we’ll leave”
kimtoon(Quote)
I think Bristol City want £6million up front for a Championship defender.
Given Newcastle have just paid £3million for a World Cup defender I think you can see how they value players. The Mitro outgoing deal could unlock a couple of other deals for sure.
lee ryder.
Dear god
kimtoon(Quote)
Good, he won’t stay fit for long.
kimtoon(Quote)
using a smart TV are there any apps tat will allow me to watch tonight’s game?
PremAndUp(Quote)
Prem – you can pay to watch through NUFCTV. About a fiver for all the friendlies.
georgio(Quote)
Thanks
PremAndUp(Quote)
Prem, someone nearly always you tubes it as well if you are happy to wait a bit.
Save a fiver, get on the jabba bus . 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
https://ibb.co/fa3fJo
https://ibb.co/ffDKB8
Apparently in Newcastle this morning
kimtoon(Quote)
I wonder if there will be a nod to Sir Bobby at todays game v Porto, it will be 9 years on Tuesday that we lost sir bobby, rip. Given his connection to both clubs you would think something may happen.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – love the SD shop sign. He deserves everything he doesn’t get!
georgio(Quote)
Love it Kim, especially the one over the bridge – too true.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Kim – from what I’ve read there will be, I think it was planned as well – not just a fortune coincidence – kudos to the club if that’s true.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I think if we can get this Mitrovic sale sorted it will see Rondon and Bryan come in – that would be an excellent return imo.
It would still leave him wanting/needed that attacking midfielder/no.10 – and I’ve not seen us linked with any of those yet.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Just hope it don’t backfire mate and cause his shiteness to hoy his toys out the pram and hold back on more transfers. 🙄 he’s petty enough .
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy, I don’t really want Mitro going to Fulham, would be the pits if his goals assure their safety and we went down.
kimtoon(Quote)
So Maguire touted at £80m !!!!
**** me footballs gone mad, never ever worth that and if he is then Lascelles is worth as much #bornleader
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim we need to be doing these banners at every SD store where we play on match days. Every home game get to Northumberland Street with the banners too. Rangers fans showed the way.
Stuart79(Quote)
The whole football world has gone totally mad Kim…. it’s just not sustainable… 5 years ago a player like Maguire would’ve been around £9-10 million tops. ?
Dubai Toon(Quote)
Dubai, you are spot on and I alluded to it being unsustainable in a post a couple of days back. Add brexit into the mix and things could go in a very strange direction imo.
At the moment a player outside of Europe has to have international caps to get a work permit, if the same rules get applied to European players then there will no longer be cheap foreign imports. It will be the cream of the PL buying up internationals from Europe and that will be the death nail to smaller less rich clubs in the PL.
The upside to it is that clubs will HAVE to start bringing through English players from their academies which in turn will lead them, should they make the grade, to command top prices.
This is why we really should be upgrading our youth academy and training facilities to attract top talent and it’s shockingly short sighted by Ashley that this is not being addressed.
I really do believe Brexit will have a massive impact on football and the Premier league are also worried about it too.
kimtoon(Quote)
The alternative is that Ashley will have to start paying top £’s for European international footballers in order to sustain our PL status and I’m pretty sure that’s not on his list of to do’s.
He may well decide it’s the right time to bail should these changes come to pass, Brexit could be the Toons saviour . 😆
kimtoon(Quote)
No way Rafa allows it at the moment. Legeune is injured already. If Lascelles is sold, too much change for central defending. We will definitely pay on the pitch.
funrafa(Quote)
Exactly mate, which is why I think it would be the end for Rafa. Trouble is the club own him not Rafa and if Ash see’s a fat profit I think he could well cash in. 🙁
kimtoon(Quote)
Really! I always under estimate him!
funrafa(Quote)
https://twitter.com/worflags/status/1022769247695642624
kimtoon(Quote)
How did McGuire get to 80 million? It started at 50 million 2 weeks ago then suddenly The Mail upped it to 65 last week, now 80!!!! He had 2 good games at the World Cup and one was against a team more famous for a canal and hats than football.
Remember there were questions about whether Cahill or McGuire would start.
My guess is that if your 1st name is Harry from now on you start the bidding at 100 million.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Jamaal ‘Harry’ Lascelles
PremAndUp(Quote)
Mitro flying back to UK,toon game is on Portugal tv sport tv 1
icedog(Quote)
I still don’t get Ashley. Why persist with this buy only players with sell on value. If you let Rafa buy a soon-to-be 29 year old Rondon and a couple of others it virtually guarantees you Premier league football and keeps Rafa happy. The TV money alone is about 100 million A YEAR more than the Championship so you really have to find 3 Andy Carroll’s A YEAR to match that. It makes no sense.
And every manager buys duds occasionally and lets players go that turn into stars (Hello Jose, de Bruyne, Lukaku). But watching Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres in his prime would make up for any of the duds.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Maybe we can get a Porto player or 2? There is a story that Man U played Sporting Lisbon in a friendly when Ronaldo was 18 and Lord Ferg asked the players on the plane back if he should buy Christiano. He bought him for like 12 million (a lot for a teenager back then) the next week.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
How do you get a job at The Chronicle anyway? Certainly not for writing skills. Lee Ryder has written the same article in every issue for 20 years and just inserted different names. Waugh cannot even do simple maths.
I have to admit I quite like Gibson because he has his own way of doing things, his own way of saying things, sort of old school. And he really does seem to have a joy of covering NUFC. And he had contacts back in the day. Maybe it is me being nostalgic and harking back to times of less corporatism.
Then we have SuperMac and Mick “Legend” Quinn. I am in awe of how they manage to sneak in a reference to their own playing days in every Chronicle article.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Yes, that was a good goal from Ayoze there. And that reminds me of how I scored a hattrick on my debut for NUFC. One of them was also with my foot. Left foot, if I remember correctly. And if Perez scores another he will be 2/3rds of the way to the hattrick that I scored on my debut. And if he scores a header he will be all the way there to the hattrick I scored on my debut.
How about you Mick?
I scored 4 once for NUFC so Ayoze has a long way to go.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Porto much better team 1st half ,Murphy been ****
Icedog(Quote)
Eric I’ve been saying all along I want Marega
PremAndUp(Quote)
Prem: I don’t see much Portuguese football. Mainly PL and La Liga. Some Bundesliga and that Yank Pulisic is a great player and whoever gets him will he happy. I would spend the 60 mil on him before McGuire (I know, different positions).
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Didn’t know he played for Porto.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Clicked on the wrong post. Was replying to Prem.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
So, The Chronic need a chaperone for Ryder in Porto. Stuart (Monkey’s heed) Raynor had to get Lee back from the pub at 3am I’m guessing.
“You seem to have an issue with Chronicle journalists Eric?”
Too, right! They are **** at their jobs and why do they need to send Raynor when all it will do is double the amount of **** they write.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Rafa has done wonders with our defenders . Under pressure for the whole game. Amazed that we kept a clean sheet . Lascelles and Dubravka were magnificent.
On the downside , Joselu , Perez and Murphy were absolutely hopeless. All three should not be in the first team , even doubt that they should be in a premiership team.
sidekick(Quote)