A perfect start to the new season as Eddie Howe’s Mags dominated from first minute to last in a convincing win over Nottingham Forest.
I can’t remember the last time I saw us play with such energy, purpose and ingenuity. We were incredible off the ball and equally good on it, seeing first-time passes, constant movement and relentless pressing all afternoon.
Howe has often asked for more control of games, regularly bemoaning lapses or a lack of possession in some of our tight victories last season. Today, we did EXACTLY what he’s been asking for from the first minute to the last.
Fabian Schar broke the deadlock with a 58th minute thunderbolt and Callum Wilson made the points safe – not that they ever seemed in doubt – with a clever finish, scooping brilliantly over Dean Henderson from Joelinton’s low cross.
With 62% of the ball, 23 shots, 11 corners and efficient defending that saw us concede ZERO shots on target and just one corner, it’s fair to say we dominated. Pope didn’t have a save to make – although he was quick off his line and decent in his distribution – and we could’ve easily scored three or four on another day.
We were so impressive in the first half and did just about everything but the important bit – putting the ball into the back of the net! In terms of our control of the game, decision making on the ball and dominant possession, it was exactly what Eddie Howe would’ve been asking for, we just couldn’t find the finish in what was an otherwise superb start.
They couldn’t cope with our pressing and constantly saw the ball coming straight back at them when they attempted to play out or push up the pitch. Our midfield three were smothering them, moving the back quickly and overloads were created out wide. Trippier and Almiron linked up nicely, Bruno was pulling the strings and so much more and Saint-Maximin was doing everything Howe would’ve asked of him – working hard, releasing the ball at the right time and busting a gut to get into the box when we got into good positions.
I felt sure we’d find a breakthrough if we kept up this level of energy, intensity and quality of approach play and we did so in stunning fashion through Fabian Schar. The Swiss centre-back smashed a ball past Henderson’s near post from range and St James’ Park erupted!
We didn’t back down after that and soon made it 2-0 through Callum Wilson. Our number nine wasn’t actually at his best today, but the quality of his finish highlighted why we miss him so much when he’s injured.
Bruno Guimaraes showed, once again, what a sensational footballer he is. He’s got it all and made Forest midfielder look silly at times, with his genius working perfectly alongside the industry offered by the impressive Joelinton and Joe Willock.
Saint-Maximin deserves real praise for putting in a much improved all-round display, doing all of those little things Eddie Howe has been demanding from him. He worked much harder, released the ball quicker, looked fitter and showed much-improved movement, often arriving into the box to try and score those tap-ins he so rarely does.
Some were shocked to see Botman on the bench, but it’s hard to knock Howe’s decision to ease him in when Schar and Burn were so good again. Schar was classy at both ends, while Burn dealt with just about everything with minimal fuss, showing his underrated turn of speed on a couple of occasions.
Almiron also deserves credit for his part in the win. He linked up beautifully with Trippier at times and was relentless in his pressing, often pinching the ball back in good areas. He probably should have scored, however he created a couple of big chances and, without finding the net, showed more encouraging signs after a prolific pre-season.
Aside from some careless finishing in the final third, it was the perfect team display and the sort of emphatic start to the new season we were all hoping for. Howe-ball was in full flow and St James’ Park in great spirits on a feel-good day on Tyneside.
Next up, Brighton away next weekend!
STARTING XI: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Burn, Targett, Bruno, Willock, Joelinton, Almiron, Wilson, Saint-Maximin.
SUBS: Dubravka, Botman, Lascelles, S Longstaff, Ritchie, Anderson, Fraser, Murphy, Wood.
3rd really good PL performance in a row. This was as good as the Arsenal game and I don’t really think we gave Burnley any hope either.
I reckon the lads now fully understand the Howe way of playing. Everybody was excellent. Bruno was outstanding but you have to give another shout out to Big Joe. I thought there might be a bit of a lull from last season, but he just crushed the Forest midfield and even had some creative moments.
What a superb performance!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I seriously dont see anything in this Everton team that will keep them up except the T-Rex Mackem.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Did “JLingz” even touch the ball today? Really earned his 150k for this week!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
lowest rated forest player on 4.27 (BBC)
PremAndUp(Quote)
I agree with all of the positive comments. I thought it was an excellent performance – very commanding, defensively rock solid & a high press that gave them no time on the ball at all.
My comments on the last thread was me being hyper critical or nit picking – however you want to put it.
I’ve already said I’d be happy with a 9th place first – above would be brilliant.
But I think if we want to finish higher than 9th, my nit picking is relevant – not for today obviously, but we need to be better with set pieces & need to be more clinical 🤷🏼♂️.
I also said at the start of today that I hope we turn SJP into a fortress – with performances like that teams will definitely find it difficult to beat us.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Prem – BBC ratings – how can Botman get 7.38 and Burn only get 7.01????.
Firstly Botman played about 5mins, but secondly I thought Burn was outstanding today in the sense he control everything from the back.
I was surprised at how poor Lingard & Johnson were today. Johnson’s just a young lad & maybe the occasion was too big for him.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I also think todays performance was one where those we are chasing would see and think ‘that looked fun’.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: you are arguing with yourself man. Nobody is saying anything to you about nitpicking 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
What I would really like for this year is better results/performances against the top 6. Man City have really had our number for years, but can we maybe just get a draw? Chelsea were not that great against a really bad Everton. I dont think Man U will improve much, so we can beat them. I am a bit worried about Spurs because Conte can play different formations, but he can also throw his toys out of the pram.
How many points did we get against them last year? 1 point against Man U and 3 against Arsenal. That’s out of a possible 36.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I am going to say it again, our set pieces werent bad. Just because we didnt finish them doesnt mean they were bad.
We didnt hit the 1st man at corners.
Our throw ins actually went to our own players.
Hardly any direct free kicks result in goals. Ronaldo went 60 direct free kicks without scoring and he was supposed to be an expert. What you see on highlights are the ones that go in and the hundreds that dont are ignored.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I suspect that we will have many games follow this pattern of parking the bus. We need more guile to unlock them. I note that Bruno’s heat map looks a lot like Maddison’s. I’ll happily settle for a 19 / 20 yr old understudy for Wilson. But who gives way. Little Joe (buy Paqueta) or Miggy (buy Diaby)
PremAndUp(Quote)
Prem: I thought Willock got stuck in and with a little bit more luck could easily have scored. We didnt give Forest’s midfield any time on the ball.
As far as player ratings go. I would have just given them all 9s. I can’t think of a bad performance.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
On management, I also can’t think of a bad thing to say about Eddie Howe. I think he has done brilliant job. I have been harsh on previous managers but will give a summary of what I think now:
Pards – he did OK. But I didnt like his personality and we went on death spirals.
Ugly John Carver – was in over his head but was dealt a bad hand with injuries. At least he didnt get us relegated.
McClaren – I was a bit surprised at how bad he was.
Rafa – Overrated at NUFC. There was an undeserved love fest for him among many NUFC fans. Had time and players to keep us up after Schteve. The one good thing he did was get immediate promotion. His latest jobs have shown he maybe doesnt have it anymore.
Bruce – a cabbage and a very lucky cabbage at that. Made excuses and threw everybody under the bus and was a total snide making nasty remarks about fans and even players. How he was so loved by the pundit class I will never know.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – but then by the same token it’s not a good set piece just coz you beat the first defender.
We had 11 corners and 4 or 5 freekicks today and didn’t have a threatening shot or header on target from any of them.
The top teams employ set piece coaches – the top coaches recognise just how big an opportunity they are.
Yes they were better than a Shelvey or Longstaff set piece – but we have to capitalise & make more of those chances.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: you could be right. But we were so shyte before that I am thinking in relative terms. A throw in to our player and beating the first man at a corner is a massive plus for me after what I have watched for so many years. BDB needs to score a goal though. Clark and Lascelles did FFS.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I think you’re right as well though, I’m arguing with myself a bit.
I think 9th is a decent finish – and performances like today on a fairly regular basis well achieve that I reckon.
But if we want to finish above that & we genuinely believe we can be a top 6 side on a constant basis, then we can’t just be happy with a good performance – we had 10 shots on target and converted 2 – we can’t be happy with a 1 in 5 conversion rate, we had 23 shots and scored 2. We had 15 set pieces and didn’t test the keeper with 1.
I know it was the first game of the season – and I genuinely think the performance was excellent – but we want better than 9th and we’ve gotta want better 🤷🏼♂️.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – I agree about little Joe too. But I thought Longstaff was poor when he came on – I know it wasn’t for long but you want subs to come on and either improve you or at least maintain levels.
It was the same with Wood. Those 2 came on and we dropped imo.
We need to improve on Miggy too.
We need 3 really imo.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I will say it now with a full week to go but the team selection for next week will be the easiest to predict in the history of team selection. UNCHANGED unless there is a training injury.
No need to rotate this early in the season and no need to put any new signing we may get no matter what the price tag.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Looking forward to Brighton and us taking the game to them. On paper, we have a better team but Potter is a good manager. I always thought that our 9-0-1 setup against Brighton was the epitome of how much of a coward the cabbage was. Even under Bruce, we had a pretty similar group of players to Brighton – a mix of PL talent and Championship level. But we played like we were stranded on a desert island and spelled out HELP in the centre circle with rocks hoping for a passing helicopter.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
A couple of thoughts on our Brazilians:
* will Joelinton get a call up to the national team? It would have been unthinkable before Eddie arrived. Fred plays in his role at the moment. Yes, Fred!!!!
* Do we need a 2nd Man of the Match award from now on? Just hand the first one to Bruno at kick off and have a 2nd place trophy?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Remember when Gazza went to Spurs they promised him they would buy his Mam a house?
How the hell did we get Bruno? Did the Saudis give his Agent 20 Rolexes, 10 Jaguars, 8 Ferraris and a yacht in Monaco?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
When did it become necessary to fill every second with commentary? I watched Everton today and the commentator said that Anthony Gordon’s hairdresser lives in Bootle and is left handed so he wipes his @**** with his right hand. There are just too many ‘facts’ that they feel they need to tell us now.
I think he also said that Dixie Dean was 13 when he first masturbated.
Crude, I know. But you get my point!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Carrying on with Everton. I watched a Youtube video with a match summary for ToffeeTV. They are totally deluded and think Everton should have got something from the game. It should have been 3 nil Chelsea.
Long may this absolute blindness continue as Super-Frank guides them to 19th.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I went to see my first Newcastle game in 1989 – Jim Smith had just been appointed manager & our star player was a Brazilian called Mirandinha.
I’ve been very fortunate to see some fantastic players in a black & white shirt (and some not so good) but I think our current Brazilian is already on of the best I think.
If he plays that well consistently I have major concerns about holding on to him – but I’m going to enjoy watching him for now.
Brilliant player & seems such a humble & decent lad as well – no big time charlie syndrome at all there that I can see.
I’m with Eric – I can’t quite understand how we managed to sign him, but so pleased we did.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Watching Brighton/Man U at 7am. Doing some scouting for next week 🙂
Whatever I just said about handing Bruno MOTM at kickoff, I thought Big Joe was actually MOTM yesterday.
Little Joe was brilliant as well. All he needed was a goal.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I have been wondering if calling Willock “Little Joe” is condescending. Not from me!
We have a bunch of Joes so have to separate them – Janjo, Joelinton, Joe Willock.
I THINK BRIGHTON MIGHT BEAT MAN U.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
McFred are the Man U midfield. We have much better players than that!!!!!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Brighton dont have a good team. They are still matching Man U.
We should beat Brighton.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Loved that performance yesterday. I like the style, intensity and speed with Bruno at the heart of it all. Buy somebody for him to play with!
The only problem I see is the lack of assists and goals from the wingers. I’d try Willock RW and bring Anderson in as a sort of No 10.
georgio(Quote)
Brighton 1 nil up. They are not that good! Man U are shyte.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Now 2-nil to Brighton. Man U do not have a good team.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
i should start betting!!!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Looks like it is just me again 🙂
You know when the papers do the comparison of teams and who would get into what team. Who would you pick of MUFC and NUFC:
Dalot – Tripps
McGuire – BDB
Bruno – Fred
Big Joe – McTom
Maxi – Rashford
Wilson – Ronaldo is 38 and has not been selected.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’m lurking Eric, watching Manure too. Same old issues for them .
kimtoon(Quote)
ERIC you called it right mate.
does anyone know how long Howe has signed for? the quotes are just long term contract but how long?
icedog(Quote)
KIM now i have your sign in details lol
icedog(Quote)
Eric – regarding your comparison post mate – I have 1 issue with it .. why did you stop there???.
Sharpy17(Quote)
The only way to fix Man Utd is to do what Arsenal did. They need to strip everything back and start again.
Move out players that are making that dressing room toxic – including Ronaldo and start building the team around a core group of players.
Sharpy17(Quote)
West Ham are doing ok against City at the moment. Maybe a good thing that we play city early in the season.
And I’ve got Prem’s details now 😬😳🙄
Gilly Toon(Quote)
All these extra ads, even in the comments now, are doing my fuc.king head in! 😡😡😡
Gilly Toon(Quote)
Now I have Gilly’s details lol, it’s like a swap party without the fun.
Ice, only fair you have mine since I had yours.
Deary me what a c ock up
kimtoon(Quote)
God City are SO dominant against teams aren’t they!!. WH just can’t get on the ball or get going.
But, I don’t think they are playing to Haalands strengths yet & playing them early should help.
They are used to knocking it about and playing keep ball – but Haaland wants it released to him quicker. He’s still a massive threat & it’s still going to be tough to get anything out of them – but to play them before they are in full flow is a bonus I reckon.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Given that McFred is the worst pairing in the league, and Soucek / Rice is supposed to be one of the best who is best overall and how does Bruno / Big Joe feature
PremAndUp(Quote)
Haaland looks a massive handful.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I still think we should be signing Belotti on a free. I know watching YouTube only shows you the good bits – but the way he plays in those clips, his game is so similar to Wilson.
He’s quick, strong and can score a goal.
We could keep a similar shape and style of play whether it was Wilson or Belotti up there.
Sharpy17(Quote)
2 for Haaland now. That second one was easy. 😳😬
Gilly Toon(Quote)
You can come back on here and tell me I am wrong but let me just say that Anthony Gordon is the most overrated player in the history or football.
More than even Jack Wilshere.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And…
Haaland is going for 2nd worst haircut ever after – who was that one from “Flock of Seagulls”?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I take Belotti on a free & loan to buy Reiss Nelson & Maitland Niles from Arsenal.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Of the 2 young English right wingers, I would rather give Reiss Nelson a go over Hudson Odi. I don’t think there is any future where HO becomes a Newcastle player. But I do think Nelson would make the move if the loan went well.
He’s best mates with Willock & he’s probably similar to him in that playing regularly he can show what he’s about. He looks to be a better finisher than our 3 options we currently have.
Loan to buy move is risk free.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I would love Man U to splurge 120 mil on Declan Rice. he isnt going to fix that team and the journos act like he is Franz Beckenbauer. HE AINT NO FRANZ BECKENBAUER! Not even sure he is a Michael Carrick?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Without Bruce in charge, when we played Wham I thought Rice was pretty cr@p.
I am not obsessed 🙂 I just see certain players built up in the press and dont understand. It was Jack Wilshere then Rice and now Anthony Gordon.
Anthony Gordon is a weaselly piece of shyte.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We were linked with Anthony Gordon which is why i am getting annoyed.
But, I suppose we have been linked with everybody 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Most overrated players in Premier League history;
Jack Wilshere
Joe Cole
Michael Carrick
Anthony Gordon
Phil Neville
Declan Rice
Eric Sykes(Quote)
In am not saying they were/are cr@p. I am saying the press elevate average/pretty good to extraordinary a lot of the time. Especially if you play for West Ham or Man U.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Olly, mate. Bruno was probably MOTM yesterday. As I said above, you should probably just hand it to him before a ball is kicked. But, BDB didnt put a foot wrong and Schar scored that goal.
What a fantastic performance from all of the lads. Garth Crooks should have just named our whole team in his team of the week.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I also saw Mitro was in the Crooks team of the week. Whatever you think of the snoopy lookalike (Crooks) you have to agree Mitro was brilliant. WTF was Rafa thinking!?!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Rafa never thought about attack though did he. Clean sheets were more important than goals
PremAndUp(Quote)
Don’t think Rafa was too keen on Mitros temperament tbh, never thought he trusted him or thought he was clever enough. I liked Mitro a lot, he was a bit of a loose cannon but has calmed down a lot. He admitted himself that if not for football he’d probably in jail.
kimtoon(Quote)
I wish we still had Mitro. Wish we still had Toney too!
Gilly Toon(Quote)
According to The Chronic we are still in for Anthony Gordon. I don’t see any there there! He is a nasty little weasel and him and Everton deserve each other. I will get behind him if we sign him though.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Did anybody see the transcript of the Souness and Jordon talksport “discussion” in The Chronic? They were trying to create a controversy over Eddie’s contract extension. It was just garbled rubbish, but I suppose it filled some airtime.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I forgot that we have been linked with Brennan Johnson of Forest. Did anybody even notice he was on the pitch on Saturday?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Watching WBA v Watford and Dennis, Sarr & Pedro all look decent – I reckon any of the 3 would fit well in a Howe team.
Dennis & Sarr both 24 and Pedro only 20 – all 3 would be good investment.
We could probably get 2 of the 3 for the money we are looking to spend on Maddison.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Ryan Giggs doesnt seem like a very nice man.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sarr scored a wonder goal in the first half & then took one of the worst penalties I’ve seen in the second half.
Of the 3 I would take Dennis and/or Pedro if we could get them.
Both can play RF, both can play CF and both can play 2nd striker – so give plenty of options.
Pedro at 20 would be an excellent addition imo.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – Giggs was one of my favourite players in the PL.
But as a human, seems a total **** – bedding his brothers missus & then giving his new missus & her sister a good hiding. Absolute rat!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: I was probably understating how bad Giggs is. I read a Guardian article about the trial he is in now and he is a nasty piece of work. He supposedly head butted his girlfriend and the texts he wrote to her were awful.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Bad news for Jonjo. I have seen him given a lot of stick for his supposed attitude. I have seen him interviewed a couple of times and he comes over very well. Not the arrogant pr!ck some make him out to be. He also says that his wife and kids love Newcastle.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I have gone back and forth on Shelvey and Miggy a few times, mainly because of their stats. But these 2 lads are 100% committed at all times so I think i will lay off and give them my full support from now on.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The issue we’ve got going into the latter stages of this window is made more difficult with the introduction of 5 subs next season I reckon. I don’t think Chelsea for example will be as likely to loan out the likes of Gallagher or RLC as they’ll be seen as players who could be one of those 5 subs now & come on and change a game.
Those players who will be available will be ones the clubs either don’t want, or have to get rid of to balance the books – Watford for example won’t want to get rid of any of their front 3, but will likely have to sell at least 1 to balance their books.
It wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t get anyone til right at the very end of the window now.
Sharpy17(Quote)
What worries me is the likes of Bruno, Tripps and Botman were all sold an ambitious project to sign up to. Sorry but so far we have failed badly in our efforts to land a stand out signing to show them we mean business.
We are making bids but that’s about it then it all goes quiet . I understand we cannot be held to ransom or pay Newcastle tax but we do NEED some stardust if we are to progress. Don’t see us getting higher than 11th /12th tbh and that’s if Wilson stays fit and none of our internationals don’t get crocked at the WC.
Bad news on Jonjo, feel for the lad.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kimtoon: I think we will get Paqueta or Maddison. I have no inside knowledge, it is just my gut feeling.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Paqueta for me. He’s a very good player and it would mean a lot to Bruno. Who I desperately want to keep!
georgio(Quote)
If we can pull off Paqueta and Dieng at any price what a duo that would be!!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)