January Update!

Hello dear reader! It’s been quite some time since I’ve written, with no good excuse to give you. To be honest, I think the reason I’m writing today is that I have come down with Covid-19 again, and without the ability to leave this room I’m in, there’s not much else I can do! So I thought I’d spend some time to check in again, provide an update on some of my thoughts regarding Newcastle, so that we have a more enlightened view than Jeff’s on this website.

Eddie Howe

Eddie Howe gets the first slot in my update, because honestly, this all comes down to him. The players added (which will get to) have been immense, and are key to our 3rd place status, but Eddie came in on day one and completely changed the attitude of the team from top to bottom. Steve Bruce was a bad tactical manager, but was also a bad leader of training. Eddie instilled a rigor that the team badly needed, and it’s one of the things we’re lauded for now that we’re flying. On top of that, he’s remained calm in all of this turbulence. He’s a calming figure on the sidelines, and indeed the training ground, and that’s needed for these young boys who keep hearing how they’re the “bad guys” of the league now. They have come together around Eddie, and are a family, who are able to keep the positive vibes going when there are so many detractors around the league. Tactically, he knows what he wants to do, he is creative in how he gets it (see Joelinton for example) and once he finds the formula, he doesn’t change it. His formation has ALWAYS been the same since day one, and his lineups are following suit – even if a good player comes back from injury and a less prolific player has taken his place to great effect, he will not bring the original player back unless there’s a reason to do so. See Alan St. Maximin for this example. Alan is a difference maker on the pitch, but if the team has broken records for longest unbeaten streak, why change that? To be honest, it’s not gone over well with Alan, and I think we’ll see some anger out of him – but from Eddie’s perspective, it’s all about the team, not one player. And if ASM can’t understand that this winning team is greater than him individually, he can move on.

The Players

To go through every player will take days, so I’ll quickly highlight a few.

Miggy Almiron – the obvious place to start. He’s been Eddie Howe’s biggest victory, and has proven that even players at the highest level NEED TO BE COACHED. I’ve said this for years, and I always pointed to Mourinho’s time at Manchester United as proof. If a manager can’t coach and improve players, the team will languish and go backwards. Eddie has shown that he can take a player like Almiron, tweak his runs, tweak his shooting in training, and unleash a monster. We’ve all always loved Miggy, and his resurgence (not even bringing Jack Grealish into this) has been probably the thing that’s brought the biggest smile to my face all season.

Sven Botman – In all of the new signings we’ve brought on, Sven probably gets the least discussion. But I think he’s quietly proven himself to be the most important signing so far for the new regime. Our defensive record is the best in the league, and we’ve always had a problem finding a center back pairing that’s consistent. Sven is strong, capable, easy with the ball, and just always puts in a shift when needed. He’s the rock of our defense – almost robotic in his consistency – and our defense has been the reason why we haven’t lost games. I’ve never seen this many clean sheets from NUFC, and Sven is a huge reason why.

Bruno Guimaraes – Another new signing – this one who gets ALL the headlines – and usually its justified. Again, Bruno isn’t flashy, he doesn’t crave attention, he just goes about his business and improves the team game in and game out. He has the ability to transition his game from defensive to attacking, he tends to quietly slip around the middle of the pitch and distribute quickly and effectively (the quickness is something we’ve been missing for a long time). But I’ve been most impressed with his desire to defend – he has this habit of celebrating after a big tackle, and is ALWAYS back whentheother team is pressing – something you’ve not seen from Newcastle central midfielders in a while.

Nick Pope – Nick Pope. Of Burger King Twitter fame. Just look into it. This guy’s a legend.

There are stories and chapters to be written for every one of the players who contribute on this team, and hopefully I’ll go into them more in the coming weeks and months – but I have Covid and my fingers are tired.

The Team

So, you add the management and the players together, and you get THE TEAM. The season actually started pretty slow, where after an easy win over Nottingham Forest, we couldn’t lodge another victory all through August and September. A horrible refereeing display at Liverpool saw us lose our first match, and besides that it was just a bunch of hard-fought draws. But then October happened. 6 games, 5 wins and a draw, 16 goals for and 3 against. I don’t think we’ve ever had a better October, and this catapulted us into the top 4. November kept on going, with 7 points out of a possible 9, and now, 3 matches after the World Cup break, we still haven’t lost. We need to start scoring goals again after a couple 0-0 draws, but all is well, and our defense is IMMENSE. We’ve played the Top 7 teams and have only lost 1 match. What’s funny is that when you’re 3rd in the league, you look at matches like Aston Villa and Crystal Palace, and you think they look easy. So we have to now take our good start, and not get cocky and restful, and win the matches we should win. I think we’re also quite thin on our bench, which is noticeable when guys like Jacob Murphy come on in matches – he’s a great, industrious player whom everyone likes, but there’s ZERO finish on his balls, and he just isn’t as good as a top-3 side needs him to be – especially if we get a couple injuries in the 2nd half of the season, and he starts more regularly. So, I think that we need to strengthen in January, or we’ll drop down to 5th or 6th or 7th – which wouldn’t be bad, honestly! We’re all dreaming of a quick return to the Champion’s League now that we’re in 3rd, but I don’t think any of us would have demanded that at the start of the season.

SOOOOO….we go into the business end of the season with some SERIOUS potential, and excitement. I’m having more fun watching this team than at any time over my 20 years of following the Toon, and I can’t get enough.

Howay the Lads, and let’s beat Sheffield Wednesday today, and get serious about a Cup run!