FM 2011 Futures — A plea to Newcastle’s Mike Ashley

Newcastle owner, Mike Ashley’s long term plan and transfer policy have been well documented. His vision for the toon army is that of youth and building for the future. As a lifelong Newcastle United fanatic, I can really get on board with his vision. However, Ashley is disliked around Saint James Park for a reason, and that reason is undelivered promises and a lack of ambition. Today I am making a plea to Mr Ashley, invest the cash from Andy Carroll’s sale back into the club. Don’t gamble it away, or leave it some where for safe keeping. You made these plans for the future so stick by them. This post will remind you of the players to look out for, but also illustrate why Newcastle are in need of fresh new talent.

Football Manager has become a popular tool for many Premier League clubs. It was reported that during 2008, Everton FC signed a deal with Sports Interactive. This allowed them to use FM’s database for scouting potential transfer targets and swatting up on the next opponent. With Football Managers growing reputation as a scouting tool, I intend to show a glimmer of Newcastle’s future. Hopefully this may convince a certain someone to dig out the wallet! ;)

Newcastle United’s best young prospects

Below is a shortlist of the top 10 Newcastle players under the age of 21. The ‘cur A’ category stands for current ability, while the ‘pot A’ category stands for potential ability. I had one of Everton’s scouting staff provide a report on all 10 players. The star ratings below are his results based on the current Everton squad in patch 11.3.0. Therefore, three stars probably suggests reasonable potential, but four or five stars would suggest enough potential to be a leading star in the Premier League. Anyone with less than three stars should probably give up the dream.

According to FM Everton scout, Tony Fawthrop, Newcastle have just seven youngsters who may make it in the Premier League. Now, anyone who plays FM knows this is a big maybe. Below I want to look at the better players in more detail.

Haris Vuckic (Attacking midfielder/Striker)

This 17 year old joined Newcastle from Slovenian side NK Domzale during 2009. The fee was never disclosed but reported as substantial for the players age. The Slovenian is blessed with raw talent. His main strengths come in pure physicality. Haris is fairly tall, but still enjoys pace, acceleration and good agility. While most of the technical attributes are low, he does have good general technique. According to my scouts report, Vuckic has the potential to play as well as Tim Cahill and become a leading Premier League star.

Nile Ranger (Striker)

The 19 year old left Southampton’s youth system during 2008 to join Newcastle’s academy. Having played well for the England under 19’s, Ranger spends most of his time of the Newcastle bench, but makes an impact when called upon. The player is represented well on Football Manager, amazing pace, strength, agility and decent determination. But lacking some what in every other area. According to the scouts report, Ranger has enough potential to become a leading Premier League star. However, it takes a lot for him to ever reach this status.

Dan Gosling (Central midfielder)

Signed from Everton only last season, Dan Gosling entered Saint James Park on a controversial Bosman ruling. While the 20 year has spent most of his time at Newcastle injured, the toon army still have high hopes and rightfully so. Gosling has a real Football brain, as well as reasonable passing ability and pace. The scouts report indicates Gosling could be a good player in the Premier League, but injuries are a worry.

Tamas Kadar (Central defender)

The Hungarian centre back signed for Newcastle during 2008. After a promising start, Kadar’s progress was halted by a broken leg in 2009. Since then Tamas went out on loan to Huddersfield and has featured on the Newcastle bench during 2010/11. The 20 year old is talented and enjoys good pace as well as great mental attributes. His heading and marking are an area of weakness, but my scouts report suggests these can improve. Fawthrop suggests Kadar could progress towards the same level as Heitinga of Everton. The centre back is also tipped as having the potential to become a good Premier League player.

Shane Ferguson (Right winger)

Born in Derry, Ferguson has been capped at many levels with the Northern Ireland youth teams. He signed for Newcastle’s youth academy during 2007 from Derry City and has progressed from there. The 19 year old has recently played a few games for Newcastle and is fast becoming a regular on the bench. While fellow reserve team mate, LuaLua is seen to have more potential in the eyes of Football Manager, Ferguson has progressed much faster in real life since the 2011 release of the game. The winger has great pace, backed up by decent dribbling and crossing attributes. Shane is also versatile, he can adapt to any position on the left. My scouts report shows Ferguson with the potential to become a good Premier League player.

Newcastle’s future through the eyes of Football Manager

Now we have seen the top prospects, its time to see the future of Newcastle United through the eyes of Football Manager. I am currently in the year 2019 on one of my games. After researching the club, the future isn’t filled with glory and silverware, far from it in fact. The toon army seemed to flirt with relegation every single season bar one from 2010-2019. Mike Ashley’s long term plan fails miserably as the club becomes stale. As a matter of fact, none of Newcastle’s current under 21’s break into the first team, and most leave the club for a lower level of football. Below I have listed the top youngsters and where they are in 2019. Vuckic now plays for a respectful side in Besiktas and Kadar is doing OK in Germany with Frankfurt. However, the rest of Newcastle’s talent have failed to reach their potential. The most shocking demise is Shane Ferguson’s, dropping all the way down to League Two.

Conclusion

The current set of youngsters at Newcastle enjoy a few promising prospects. However, most won’t make the step up and become pivotal parts of the starting XI. A few promising prospects just isn’t enough. As a fan I am excited to see my club planning for the future, but the future doesn’t currently reside in the reserves or under 19’s. Football Manager predicts Mike Ashley will use £20 million of the Andy Carroll profits for transfers. I sincerely hope this is the minimum, as Newcastle must invest in some quality youth. From the clubs current top talent, we have only paid a transfer fee for one or two of them. If that doesn’t change, Mr Ashley’s long term plan will collapse…so Mr Ashley, please pull out your wallet and invest in the future of my football club.

Thanks for reading

Darren Smith