Darren: Newcastle Dec-Feb, do I regret losing Wilson? 2017/18

Hey guys and welcome back to the North East. Before I start today’s update, let me mention a leave of absence that is fast approaching. I am due to go on holiday for one week starting Monday afternoon, my wife and I will be taking a well deserved break from England’s depressing summer weather and swapping it for the sunshine of Rhodes in Greece. During this week I won’t be around to post, comment on other writers posts in the forum or main site and won’t receive any emails. This is of course unless I can’t help myself and find an Internet cafe lol :) However, I will be back to post and answer any comments/emails on Thursday the 7th.

OK, with that out of the way let me introduce Newcastle’s form from December to February. During the last post we looked unstoppable and maintained our unbeaten run which had extended past 90 games. I was still in all competitions and held a 7 point lead at the top of the EPL. All sounds good, but I did break the news of some rather important transfer action which included losing my captain Danny Wilson and two talented strikers. These players were all replaced, but I was left to ponder the results of my actions. Today we will see the effect of Wilson’s departure and follow the toon army till the end of February. Lets start the post in a more Worldly competition.

Club World Championship results

The CWC has become a permanent fixture and this is my third consecutive entry. With Europe still streaks ahead of the rest of the world, this competition has failed to offer a real challenge. Therefore I selected a very young 23 man squad and played all my fringe members. This didn’t matter during the semi-final as Newcastle beat Suwon 4-1, left winger Gilson was incredible despite struggling to play in the EPL. I truly believe this is Goetz year to shine, my second best left winger is ahead of Gilson but still not up to Kakuta’s standard. He made a real effort to prove me wrong in the final though, scoring as we beat Boca Jnrs with ease 3-0. Another easy trophy and plenty more to follow I hope.

Before I reveal the EPL results, let me recap the January transfers. We were to lose Danny Wilson after accepting £42 million from Barcelona. My captain and best CB is replaced by £20 million man Varriale of Ascoli. I also sold two wonderkid strikers in Fernando and Sanchez as both hadn’t developed in the areas I anticipated. I used that cash to buy two English players (and no I’m not going crazy just wanted more home grown talent.) They are, 19 year old Tierney for £13.5 mill, he plays upfront and another 19 year old in Andrews for £5.5 mill, he plays midfield. Both were purchased from West Ham. All in all great for my finances as we have spent £42 mill this season but received double that with £82 mill.

Premier League results

Going into December with an unbeaten run, 7 point advantage and game in hand is always great and my form continued with three further wins in December. However, a mini injury crisis and fixture congestion led to Newcastle drawing against Blackpool 1-1. This draw was made worse as we lost the next game 1-0 to Birmingham and guess what…my unbeaten run had stretched to 99 games meaning we needed just one more win/draw to reach 100 but the Midlands side had ruined that perfectly round number. :(

I decided to play Danny Wilson the day before his departure as a farewell match, couldn’t have picked it better been away to Man Utd. We enjoyed a corker as the game finished 3-3, the following match was after all the transfers had been completed and saw Arsenal visit Saint James Park. My new centre back was injured for 6 weeks, so Varriale couldn’t play. But the squad didn’t seem to miss Wilson too much as we won 1-0. My thoughts were confirmed as the squad went on a 9 game winning streak until the end of February.

Premier League table

After a slight blip and losing our unbeaten run Newcastle marched on to 10 straight victories, but how has this effected the league? We are 12 points clear of second and look set for a 7th straight EPL title. Although I’m still a little gutted to see that number 1 under ‘lst’ :(

FA Cup results

This is a competition I take seriously every season and only field fringe players against the weakest of sides. That is why the first two rounds featured Newcastle’s weakest squad. My youngsters dispatched of League Two side Scunthorpe then League One’s Norwich to reach the fifth round. We then drew Everton and the rest goes down in history as Newcastle waltzed to an 8-0 victory. Marcelo Santos gave the best display with 5 goals and I wasn’t even using my best possible starting XI. The sixth round tie is expected to offer more of a challenge against Blackburn Rovers.

Champions League results

With just one game remaining in the group stages, Newcastle were guaranteed top spot and used a weak XI against Austria Wien. Diop, Melo and Santos proved their worth with a 3-1 victory and booked the toon armies place in the First Knockout round.

My first knockout round opponents were French side Marseille, a very good draw and tie I’d expect to win. The first leg couldn’t have gone better, despite an early scare Sanogo bossed his compatriots scoring 4 times to help the toon win 5-1 away from home. I could almost smell the quarter-finals and was equally as impressed with right back Pepe’s performance.

League Cup results

Despite the board righting this competition off as unimportant, my competitive edge drove me forward. After progressing through the first two rounds we then beat Bolton 5-0 to reach the semi-final. Yet another tie against Manchester City and history was about to repeat itself. The first leg finished 3-0 and the second leg was 2-1 equalling an impressive 5-1 aggregate win. The final pitted Newcastle against Chelsea and that was a match I eagerly anticipated.

League Cup final vs Chelsea

Newcastle’s first major cup final of the season has arrived. I decided to record this match from start to finish including my own commentary to explain each move and my thoughts throughout the match. We’ll jump straight in, so click the link below to watch my League Cup final video, its just 10 minutes long.

Video diary — League Cup final vs Chelsea (click here to watch video)

Like I said in the video, this match became a real struggle. Probably the first time I’ve been disappointed despite winning. It just felt like the team didn’t click and this one match has left me concerned for the rest of the season. Lets just hope I’m been a drama queen, but I feel like this match was a turning point for the worse.

Squad stats and finances

Despite Danny Wilson enjoying the sunshine of Barcelona, my squads average ratings didn’t seem to indicate any negative effects. Sanogo has hit 40 goals from 22 starts while Marcelo Santos has bagged 24 goals from 14 starts. I am over the moon with Anconetani, the right winger has managed 31 assists and 9 goals from 26 starts. However, the surprise of my season has been Harry Goetz proving his worth to replace Kakuta on the left wing with 11 goals and 5 assists from 14 starts.

At the end of November my bank balance read £145 million, so after some transfer action which included a profit of £34 million, what did my bank balance read come the end of February…£155 million! It would seem that the signing on and agent fees have cost me yet again, those pesky additions really catch up on you. This led to me worrying about future income, the more I raised the more money my damn shareholders would take and I’d be risking the quality of my squad for no reason. Therefore I’ve taken Johnny’s advice and will try to make as many connections to Asia and America as possible…all with the aim of getting more from merchandise etc.

Well that is all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed the post. It will be a long time before I post again (considering I usually post every three days.) But I will be back on Thursday the 7th. As always I look forward to your comments and hope everyone is OK while I’m away. See you soon guys, and I can genuinely say I’ll miss you all. Thanks!