The Toon- Geordie Style (It's back!)

Saturday 5th January

After our last game against Everton, their gaffer David Moyes and me had become good friends, even telling of our admiration for each other in the press. The biggest news however is that James Milner has been sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £10,000,000. He served us well and I hope he has a great future ahead of him. We still haven't decided on a few bids though, especially Michael Owen's bids. Tottenham recently offered £6,000,000 plus Gareth Bale for him, but A.C still have their £15,000,000 bid registered. Which offer shall I accept? Our Premiership position is still at the top of the table although we now turn our attention to the F.A Cup as we play Coventry City.

Our F.A Cup campaign saw us face Coventry City in the F.A Cup 3rd Round. Coventry were having a fantastic season so far in the Championship as they were 5th and only 3 points off top spot, despite being predicted to come 16th in the league! We were at home and were definitely expected to win this game, even by a comfortable margin. St.James' Park would be the venue for today's match, and we were hoping for lots of goals. The board want us to reach at least the 6th round so that means that we must win up to then to satisfy their needs. Margaritescu is injured and will not play todays match whilst a few players are lacking the fitness to play. Carroll has returned from his loan but as he is cup tied he is definitely not going to play for us in the F.A Cup. Good luck to us. Big decision today will be that Mirel Radoi, the club captain, will not start.

The match started the way my favourite matches always start, by us scoring in the first 10 minutes! From a Taylor clearance, Michael Owen ran straight onto it and dislodged it past the out coming Konstantopoulos, 1-0 up after 6 minutes, the dream start. 2 minutes later and Coventry come close as a 30 yard free kick from Kevin Kyle brushes the outside of the post. Minutes later and Elliot Ward brings down Emre in the box and... penalty! Emre takes it himself... and scores! Right into the bottom right hand corner and that marks a 5 minute double salvo from us. We then get an acute chance to make it 3-0 but we ever so slightly hit it wide as Michael Owen sees his shot go past the wrong side of the post. 3-0! A wonderfully attacking move, as Barton puts a through ball into Martins who brings out the keeper, only to pass to Michael Owen, who finishes the break cleanly and gets his second of the afternoon. Great fast flowing football. Screamer! Belozoglu Emre gets his second of the afternoon after receiving about 10 yards from the box and then hits a powerful shot to the far post, which lobs the keeper and rounds of a beauty of a shot. 4-0 up after only 25 minutes. We could be in for a field day here! 5! By god he's made it 5, and only after 27 minutes too! Another fast attack as Emre takes the ball on himself only to but Martins through, who this time doesn't pass, takes the shot himself, and buries it into the net. 5-0! What a day. Attack, attack, attack. Seems to be today's motive as Martins and Torje are both denied before the break, both making Konstantopoulos make great saves. Coventry looked clueless in the first half though as the referee for today, Ben Jenkins, brings the half to an end. Fantastic!

Not much I can say really apart from wow, we really were THAT good. I can't wait till they come to the Premiership next season(!) Emre and Owen are both playing blinders and I want to get rid of them both... Certainly something to think about. As long as we don't concede two I don't really care much about the second half, as 5-1 or 5-0 will certainly do me. Come on!

10 minutes in and Robbie Simpson scores for Coventry, not the best start I hoped for. Anderson Sliva passed to Robbie Simpson on the edge of the box who turned and side footed his shot past Shay Given in goal. A good finish but I am not conceding anymore! Emre in to Owen, Owen shoots comes to Martins... What a scramble but the main thing is it has ended up in the back of the net! Replays show that it has been awarded.... to Obafemi Martinss, who got the last touch. A scruffy goal, as a number of players all got tangled up and it just trickled across the line. Not the most attractive goal, but a goal nonetheless. Butt and Radoi come on for Beye and Barton as I don't want to concede anymore as Coventry have started regaining their composure and knocking the ball about, generally having more possession. I have also brought Owen off for Viduka. He had a great game today, scoring two and assisting one. Good man. Only one more chance came in the second half as it lacklustered that little bit of spark which was there in the first half as Martins turns on the motor to narrowly miss after a Viduka flick on. The final whistle goes and it is another win for us and a win that see's us progress into the next round of the F.A Cup. Hooray!

A fantastic first half won the game, quite simply, for us as we took a 5-0 lead at the break. Individually and as a team, our work ethic and our passing play were phenomenal. Owen, Martins and Emre stole the show with everyone else playing their part, but all 3 players scored 2. They all got one assist as well. It was Viduka's first appearance in a while, but we can't really judge him on the 15 minutes he was on, although he was quite poor. Can't wait to see who we have next in the cup.

Everton hammered Weymouth 8-0 away and Fulham hammered Grays 8-0 at home as most Premiership teams won. No Premiership teams out yet although Reading drew at home to Acrrington and a few others drew. Next few game should be easy as we have West Ham(H) in League Cup Semi Final then Wigan(H) and Middlesborough(H) in the Premiership. Should win all 3 games, lets hope I am right. "Not all who wonder are lost" - J.R.R Tolkien.

Newcastle 6 - 1 Coventry
Owen 6,23
Emre 11(pen),25
Martins 27,63

Given - 7
Enrique - 8
Beye - 7(Sub 82)
Faye - 8
Taylor - 8
Barton - 8(Sub 75)
N'Zogbia - 8
Torje - 8
Emre - 9
Owen - 9(Sub 75)
Martins - 9

Harper - Unused Sub
Smith - Unuesd Sub
Radoi(c) - 6(On 82)
Butt - 6(On 75)
Viduka - 6(On 75)

Robbie Simpson was playing? Perhaps they played their reserves as they thought it'd be a walkover Ah well, never mind you Sky Blues! Nothing like this year's real FA Cup, not anywhere near as many shocks.

Excellent 6-1 win!
Good story here Jaz keep it up!

Wednesday 9th January

The press were going crazy about our past win and the situation with Michael Owen. The fans and press were very impressed with our recent from and have been making sure everyone notices, which is good I guess. On the Owen front, we have accepted both Tottenham and A.C Milan's bids and have given Owen the chance on which one he wants to take. Gareth Bale has been reported to be perishing the fact that he may be playing for us soon, and I hope he does. If he does I may sell Jos? Enrique for around ?10,000,000 if I can fetch that much. If not then I don't mind have two word class left backs in my team.

Today's match would be at home to London team, West Ham. Carling Cup Semi Final Leg 1. We were obviously favourites and Middlesborough were favourites in the other game against Sheff United. West Ham have been in poor form recently, only winning one of their last 5 games, and even that was against Scunthorpe. Most of their goals are coming from Dean Ashton(14) but Bellamy(8) and Modric(6) are helping doing their part. Both are expected to start. Bacinovic and Radoi(c) will both start today in defence with Cacapa getting a chance on the bench. Hopefully we can continue our perfect form this season.

The game started as we meant to go on, as we scored a good goal after 16 minutes. Joey Barton getting stuck in and winning the ball from Parker before passing to Belozoglu Emre. Emre then put Obafemi Martins in who hit a shot accross goal and pass Robert Green into the back of the goal. 1-0 and we can't surely score 6 again? Can we? Possession, Possession, Possession. Only ONE more chance until the half time whistle, as we dominate completely the first half. The chance was a well worked move, ending with N'Zogbia being denied by Green's fingertips. Definetly not the most exciting half ever, but still we did what we needed to do and we had got the lead. A one nil lead at that, hopefully we can capitalize on our current match position and get a nice home win, to take through to the second leg as we look to win the cup!

Half time came and I was a little disappointed with them. Barton and Owen had poor halfs, even Torje wasn't at his best. All 3 will probably come off, especially Owen and Barton. As Owen will be going off soon anyway, to Italy or to Tottenham. Hopefully we can get a few more goals in the second half to give us more of a comfortable lead.

The second half brought more goals and chances which is what we love to see. A Noble foul on Barton gave us a free kick which Radoi took and it ended up going to Torje on the right hand side who whipped a ball to Owen who finished the chance with a low shot to the near post. A really well worked free-kick resulting in a very good goal. Owen's last game for us and he gets a goal, a nice way to leave I feel. As Dean Ashton comes off for Mota, I feel that they don't really pose much threat as they change into a 4-1-4-1, with Mota going on the left. Yet another great move ends with us wasting the chance as after about 17 passes Torje's cross went straight into Green's hands. Unlucky. Alan Smith and Nicky Butt soon come on as Belozoglu Emre and Gabriel Torje come off. Alan Smith to play a wierd role for him on the right hand side of midfield. Let's hope it pays off. Soon after West Ham get a chance, yes West Ham had a chance. Obviously, being West Ham and all, it hit the side netting but it was a good chance. A Craig Bellamy flick on from a good cross by Mota, are they going to stage a comeback? Surely not. This is put beyond doubt though when Alan Smith gets his head to a N'Zogbia cross, and as it crosses the line St.James' Park erupts! His first goal ever for Newcastle, and even he might be getting sold soon... We still have time for one more chance on the 89th minute as another, yes another, great move ends with N'Zogbia narrowly missing a shot, at least the move was great. Martin Atkinson was amazing and got an 8 rating for his refereeing!

Yet another victory, and yet another good performance. We duly deserved our win and should be happy with our performance, even if it is Owen's last one. He scored 10 league goals in 16 league games which is a fantastic record but the money/Bale we could do with greatly so he has to go. He even got Man of the match! Martins,Torje and the usuals all had great games and even Emre continued his good form. Fantastic news on our side.

Middlesborough beat Sheffield United at home 3-0 in the other game too thanks to a Lee Hendrie sending off. Woods, Baxter and Lucho Gonzalez have all been reported to have been made offers for by us. There may be a hint of truth in all of this... The transfer window is mad and we are getting lots of offers, so I'm sure we will transfer lots of players this month. "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves" - James Barrie

Newcastle 3 - 0 West Ham
Martins 17
Owen 52
Smith 85

Given - 7
Bacinovic - 7
Beye - 8
Faye - 8
Radoi(c) - 8
Barton - 7
N'Zogbia - 8
Torje - 8(Sub 66)
Emre - 8(Sub 66)
Martins - 8
Owen - 8(Sub 75)

Harper - Unused Sub
Smith - 7(On 66)
Butt - 6(On 66)
Cacapa - 6(On 75)
Stancu - Unused Sub

Nice, easy win there Jaz! West Ham aren't a brilliant side, expected at least 6

Update to come tomorow, had not time today as just got in from football not so long ago. We had an away match(we won 2-0).

Thanks for the comment, Craig. :happy

Nice work to win those matches butty! Great work

Saturday 12th January

Games are coming thick and fast as this is our 3rd one in 7 days. Since our last game, super striker Michael Owen got sold to.... Tottenham. The only done deal since our last game so far. We have alot of money to burn now, but not many positions need strengthening as I want our players to come through the youth academy and work their way up so I could save up and improve the Youth Academy. We only have good youth facilities at the moment. I am trying at the moment to buy a few more young players and bring down the average age but I want to focus on the youth facilities + academy at this moment, as I described above.

Today's game was against mid table Wigan Athletic at St.James' Park. Emile Heskey and Omar Bravo were their top goal scorers with 8 and 7 respectively. Last time we played them was near the start of the season where we struggled and only could get one goal in a one goal win thanks to a Geremi free kick. That was at the JJB Stadium though. We were duly expected to deliver a spanking, or demolish them, but I didn't think we would score many more than two as they have been quite sturdy in defence. That was probably due to Johan Djourou being at the club before recently returning to Arsenal. With Taylor sold about a week ago Faye and Beye both start, with Enrique getting another chance at Left Back ahead of Bale. Not many chances to the squad, I just hope we can win. Although I am going to take a risk and start with Viduka...

Our first chance in the game to go ahead goes begging as Emre hits a curler from the edge of the box but can't give it enough dip for it to nestle into the top of the net. Another close chance 4 minutes later, this time to Wigan. A Jason Koumas corner, flicked on by Emile Heskey ends up brushing the far post and going agonizing wide. A good move comes for us as we start to get into our groove as Emre puts Martins in who has his shot saved well by the keeper, only for Gabriel Torje to come so close minutes after. N'Zogbia and Emre both get chances again but both can't direct their shots towards the goal. 34 minutes gone and we have had 8 shots, with only 2 on target! That isn't the best record ever. Another close shave comes as Martins is denied by a brilliant save by Kirkland. After a series of corners the ball breaks out to Joey Barton who has an effort... whistle straight into the top corner! A brilliant 25 yard shot from Barton has given us the lead with only 2 minute to go before the break. Surely this must be the last chance? Yes it was, as Alan Wiley calls an end to the halfs play.

Half time. 13 shots and only 5 on target, whilst Wigan have only had the one and that nearly went in. Emre has had 5 shots for some reason with both forwards really playing as target men for some reason. Torje, Martins and Emre have all been disappointing as far and really must pick up their game if they want to stay in the squad, especially Emre as he is currently transfer listed. As long as we take our chances in the second half and can keep our defence sturdy, we are sure to win. Come on Newcastle!

On come Alan Smith and Andrei Margaritescu for Torje and Emre as we try and sure up and win the game. "Faye's taking the free kick? What are you doi.... Get in!" As you can tell a beautiful free kick on the edge of the box by Abdoulaye Faye sent us into rapport as we took a 2 goal advantage, a great goal aswell. As we start to play football more confidently and let it flow much quicker, we get a quick fire thrid. Only 3 minutes after Faye's free kick. Mark Viduka the man to take the glory as he side footed an easy chance past the oncoming Chris Kirkland, after a delightful pass from my man Obafemi Martins. Faye and Viduka both scoring their first ever goal for Newcastle, 3 minutes apart. Fantastic! As the time passes and us playing more and more football, and not having as many shots, we calm the game down and play to our own tempo. Soon comes the inclusion of Bogdan Stancu for the unfit Mark Viduka and shortly after sets Alan Smith up for a header after going out wide and whipping a great ball in, unfortunate for us, Smith missed. Last chance of the game, thankfully, went to us as full back José Enrinque whips a ball into the danger area for Smith to get another header in only for this 93rd minute shot to rebound off the bar and go out for a goal kick. Alan Wiley shortly after brings the game to a close, as we come triumphant once again and regain all three points.

An outstanding performance in the second half, and not just because we scored two goals but because we played fantastic football. Faye and N'Zogbia probably were the best players on the pitch today although Paul Sharner played a blinder for Wigan. A very nice comfortable win and if the other results go our way today we can see our position at the top becoming stronger, as is our financial situation.

Unfortunately, Chelsea and Arsenal both won 3-0 and Liverpool and Man United still managed to win. Sunderland lost away to Aston Villa which sees them stay bottom, 5 points off 19th after only 21 games. Martins is still 15 goals ahead and will probably not be caught although on the assist side we have no-one in the top 15, although N'Zogbia sits in 18th. Mirel Radoi now enters the fray for most tackles per game, although in team stats we are still pretty much demolishing everyone. Isn't that fun? "A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read" - Mark Twain.

Newcastle 3 - 0 Wigan
Barton 42
Faye 64
Viduka 67

Given - 7
Enrique - 7
Beye - 8
Faye - 8
Radoi(c) - 7
Barton - 8
N'Zogbia - 8
Torje - 7(Sub 61)
Emre - 6(Sub 61)
Viduka - 8(Sub 80)
Martins - 8

Harper - Unused Sub
Smith - 7(On 61)
Margaritescu - 7(On 61)
Bale - Unused Sub
Stancu - 7(On 80)

Round The Grounds
Arsenal 3 - 0 Fulham
Aston Villa 3 - 0 Sunderland
Chelsea 3 - 0 Birmingham
Bolton 1 - 1 Reading
Derby 1 - 2 Everton
Liverpool 2 - 0 Middlesborough
Man Utd 4 - 1 West Ham
Newcastle 3 - 0 Wigan
Portsmouth 1 - 1 Man City

Another easy win! how on earth can you do it? I always finish 8th in the prem with Newcastle and no better.
Anyway I think you may have made a mistake of selling Michael Owen to Tottenham. If he was doing the business for you then why did you sell him?

This story is awesome. I'm loving it.

What game are you playing it on?

thesweepmaster said:

Another easy win! how on earth can you do it? I always finish 8th in the prem with Newcastle and no better.
Anyway I think you may have made a mistake of selling Michael Owen to Tottenham. If he was doing the business for you then why did you sell him?

Click to expand...

Thanks, they have surprised me too. I sold Owen as all of his stats were decreasing and the offer was too good.

Feelin Blue? said:

What game are you playing it on?

Click to expand...

Football manager and thanks for the posts, guys.

You have written that your last 2 games have been 3-0 wins over West Ham. The 2nd one should be Wigan.

Thanks for spotting that out, Lee. The goalscorers were also wrong...

Next update will hopefully come later today in which we have Middlesborough at home in the Premiership. Any predictions?

Getting a bit slack there Jaz

Saturday 19th January

Finally we get the break we deserved. One week since our last game, but in the Premiership there were 6 games on Wednesday. Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool all drew 1-1 in an away match. Arsenal drew away at Aston Villa, Fulham held Man Utd at Craven Cottage, Liverpool couldn't get an extra goal away at West Ham and Chelsea struggled against rivals Tottenham. This could give us a real chance in winning the Premier League title this season! On the transfer front, we have offered Anthony Vanden Borre a contract after having a ?6,500,000 offer accepted. We have also offered a contract to Arturo Vidal, unfortunately we had to offer ?7,500,000 for his services. Our ?5,000,000 offer for Woods has been accepted so he is currently thinking about our contract that we put forward too. Geremi has been the only player to leave St.James' in the last week as he went to Portsmouth for ?3,500,000. If we get Woods, Vanden Borre and Vidal that we set us back ?19,000,000. Worth it though.

Today saw us play local rivals Middlesbrough, in which we usually get the better of them. They sit only a few points above the relegation zone is 16th place and have had a lacklustered season so far. They just cannot score the goals as they have scored the joint least goals in the league, only 17 in 21 games! Sanli Tuncay has been their man this season with 10 goals, over half of their accumulated total thus far. Last time we played Middlesborough away at the Riverside, it ended 2-0 to us. That was only the 3rd game off the season, and Obafemi Martins kick started his season with two in that game. Their only real good buy so far has been goalkeeper Oswaldo S?nchez, who has shown some glimpses of brilliance, and if Middlesbrough go down then I am sure another Premiership middle table team will pick him up. African Cup of Nation hits us as Beye, Faye and Martins all go. Sarghi and Butt both come in for surprise starts, Sarghi's only second start for us. Shola Ameobi comes onto the bench for the first time, as I look to bring in another striker. Let's hope they don't cause an upset and that we continue our fantastic streak.

Haha! What a joke of a team. We have capitalized on a very early start and have taken the lead after only 29 seconds! Torje with a run down the wing before crossing to the front post, where Stancu took a touch and then dislodged a quite easy finish. Fantastic start! Middlesbrough then miss a sitter after 14 minutes, as a through ball by Cattermole gets to Sanli Tuncay, who somehow can't put the ball into the back off the net despite Shay Given standing next to a post. Haha! 4 minutes later and Alan Smith comes close with a header from a N'Zogbia cross but his header goes narrowly wide. What a finish! Alan Smith this time finishing a shot without even looking at the goal, as Sarghi puts a long ball in and from near the edge of the box Alan Smith headers it without looking at the goal and lobs the keeper! Great goal. As the half dies down and we start creating a few too many fouls, I give new instructions to the team and to tell them to just keep possession and don't concede a goal just before half. 15 minutes later and the referee blows his whistle. 2-0 up at half time without conceding a goal and I am very happy with my new formation.

Well I must say that 3 players are just head and shoulders above the rest at the moment in the match. Stancu, Torje and Smith are all linking well together and are creating more and more chances to put us ahead in the match. Emre's tackling is impressive as well but as long as we can keep this up, even if we only win 2-0, then it will be a massive win for the boys and surely the fans.

Smith... what a save! A turn on the edge of the box by Alan Smith was met with a powerful shot which seemed to be heading into the top corner, only to be denied by a brilliant right handed dive by Oswaldo S?nchez in goal. Not that is a team goal! A free kick taken by Emre was headed away by Boateng before Sarghi passed to Emre out wide, who knocked it into N'Zogbia. Who then passed to Stancu who layed off Emre just inside the box who hit a powerful low shot to the far post, which hit the inside of the post and went in. A fantastic team effort! Nice to see us get our 3rd goal with only the 15 minutes left, surely they cannot mount a comeback? Straight after scoring his goal, Belozoglu Emre comes off for Margaritescu as we look to concede no goals, and to keep the score at 3-0. GOAL! Well that came quickly, if you blinked you would of probably missed it. A quick ball in by N'Zogbia found the head of Alan Smith, who directed his header towards the goal, and lucky enough for us it nestled in the back of the net! Smith's second of the match! Viduka and Ameobi come on for Torje and Stancu, as we can definitely see the end of the tunnel. The only chance left in the second half fell to Viduka who snatched at his shot as it went just wide. Overall a great performance, and another ground breaking win...

Smith got man of the match! Who'd have thought it? A fantastic match in all, with Bale still not getting his first game off the season unfortunately. Radoi actually had quite a poor game but still managed to play well enough not to concede a goal. Another keeper may have to be bought soon as I want back up for Shay Given or even a new Number 1 as Steve Harper can't make the jump up and will hopefully be sold soon enough if we can find a replacement.

Service is resumed as the top 4 all losing, with 5th losing to 3rd. Arsenal managed to beat Sunderland(Somehow...) 4-0 and Chelsea beat Man City at home 1-0. The red side of Manchester won 2-0 at home to Aston Villa whilst the Liverpoolians both won against weaker opposition. I am hoping to make some more transfers before our next cup tie against West Ham, such as Anthony Vanden Borre and Michael Woods, but we will see. "Where there is love there is life." - Mahatma Gandhi

Newcastle 4 - 0 Middlesbrough
Stancu 1
Smith 27,86
Emre 77

Given - 7
Enrique - 8
Sarghi - 8
Cacapa - 8
Radoi(c) - 7
Butt - 7
N'Zogbia - 8
Torje - 8(Sub 86)
Emre - 8(Sub 77)
Stancu - 8(Sub 86)
Smith - 9

Harper - Unused Sub
Viduka - 6(On 86)
Margaritescu - 6(On 77)
Bale - Unused Sub
Ameobi - 6(On 86)

Round The Grounds
Arsenal 4 - 0 Sunderland
Birmingham 2 - 1 Tottenham
Blackburn 2 - 3 Everton
Bolton 1 - 1 West Ham
Chelsea 1 - 0 Man City
Derby 4 - 3 Reading
Liverpool 3 - 0 Fulham
Man Utd 2 - 0 Aston Villa
Newcastle 4 - 0 Middlesbrough
Portsmouth 2 - 1 Wigan