It’s a little cliché at this time of the year, but there really does seem to be a lot of bugs going around right now.
And it seems Newcastle United’s squad are no exception, with a third player now struggling with illness in the build up to tomorrow’s Champions League clash with Athletic Bilbao.
10 days ago, Sandro Tonali wasn’t well enough to start against Fulham, and was still “at 80%” a few days later against Spurs, said Eddie Howe. Then we saw Kieran Trippier miss out on Sunday’s shocking display at West Ham through illness.
Today, Sky Sports’ Keith Downie has been at the club’s training ground, watching the players build up to our latest Champions League game at St James’ Park, and he’s revealed that Bruno Guimaraes is the latest Mag who is struggling.
Downie reveals that the Brazilian has been doing a recovery session indoors and away from the group, as he too is now suffering with a slight illness. There is, however, some ‘hope’ that he will shrug it off in time for 8pm tomorrow.
With this in mind, I do wonder if there has been a slight bug in the camp? Wishful thinking, but we were THAT bad on Sunday that it makes you think!
Now for the better news, Downie has confirmed that Trippier was back in training today, suggesting he has recovered and could be fit to return to the side at right-back tomorrow night.
Lewis Hall was also involved in the session, building up his fitness after resuming full training last Friday and featuring on the bench at West Ham after a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury.
Alex Murphy was also with the group today, although it is likely that Dan Burn continues at left-back, with Hall more likely to have a cameo appearance after just stepping things up on the training pitch.
🚨 ✔️ Kieran Trippier present at Newcastle group training this morning ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League match against Athletic Club. #NUFC pic.twitter.com/TShvhvc7qO
— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) November 4, 2025
There is a new strain of COVID going around recently. It only impacts Newcastle players currently though there are signs it might be spreading to other teams. Symptoms include:
– Inconsistent performance
– A sense that wins are proof of skill and talent
– A sense that losses are due to the illness or other outside factors
– A complete lack of accountability
The government is working on developing a new version of the vaccine to counter this but progress has been slow. A government spokesman said this was due “to other teams being resilient to the illness, both mentally and physically”.
A random member of the public was quoted as saying “absolute tosh, sounds like an excuse for being s**t to me.”
We’ll bring you more on this story as it develops…
BBCSport(Quote)
There’s a version where a certain mackem keeps making accounts and going on to NUFC sites gloating despite only playing 10 games in the league.
It’s making them delusional to the point they have booked the open top bus for winning the league in October, submitted plans to the council for the upgrade to the so💩 to 70k and local wearyside bookies have already paid out on winning the league as they have already done a Leicester.
Don’t worry though symptoms will fade once the new year arrives as they start to tumble down the league.
Absolutely glorious(Quote)
Class mate. They really never learn do they….although this one is the first I’ve seen that’s mastered the obviously tricky art for our seagull loving friends of using the spell checker!
Signs of evolution in the Neanderthal population, credit where it’s due 😁😁
East Stand(Quote)