Time After Tyne

No, Newcastle is not the greatest challenge in Football Manager anymore. Do I care? Also no. NUFC fan IRL, still rocking FM23, wanted a save to while away the evenings with, but one that didn't quite tax the brain in the way trying to turn Peterborough into a global powerhouse does. I just don't have the time or patience for that.

So here I am, neck deep in virtual oil money, managing my beloved Newcastle for a second time in FM23 - I'd won the PL in that save, but sort of lost track of where I was with it, so started over with more of an emphasis on developing homegrown and domestic talent; albeit I am no fool, I'll use the money as well.

Can I establish Premier League and European dominance? The history of moneyed sides in FM suggests that yes, I can; how soon? Too early to tell…

Shall document my adventures here.

Staff thoroughly revamped, with Brian Kidd coming in as my Assistant Manager, and Dennis Bergkamp among the new coaching hires for the senior team, whilst club icon Shay Given joins the U21 coaching team. Coaching Team now among the best in the Premier League, as is my Sports Science department; Recruitment and Physio teams both towards the top end, but not quite strong enough to displace the two Manchester clubs just yet.

On the field, Declan Rice becomes my first signing as Newcastle United manager (£80m, rising to £85m), while Ridle Baku comes in as backup/long term replacement for Kieran Trippier at RB. I also pickup Alex Scott from Bristol City (per OP, would like to develop more homegrown talent this time). After a couple of honking performances my defence early in the campaign, Josip Sutalo arrives on transfer deadline day.

Out go Javi Manquillo, Matt Ritchie, and Paul Dummett on permanent deals, while Ryan Fraser heads up a number of loan departures which I hope will become permanent deals.

Things start well, with a thumping 4-1 at home to Fulham, but we prove inconsistent thereafter - and have struggled away from home in particular. A succession of minor, but important, injuries mean various players miss 10-14 days at a time, disrupting my attempts to bring some cohesion to the group. Despite this, we do pick up some very tidy wins against Man City, and Chelsea at St. James' Park!

Currently 7th in the Premier League, and through to EFL Cup Fourth Round, where we will travel to Ipswich.

After a solid start to the season leading up to the 2022 World Cup break, my Newcastle United side looked to kick on once the domestic schedule resumed in late December.

A straightforward win at Ipswich in the EFL Cup eased us back into things, before earning a hard earned point at Anfield on Boxing Day, followed by a thumping 6-0 win over West Ham at SJP to round out 2022.

January was a little boggy - despite a league win over Aston Villa, and FA Cup victories at Bolton and Brentford (a 5-3 thriller no less!), we were knocked out of the EFL Cup by Chelsea, and dropped league points at Brentford and at home to Brighton. Things began to pickup from here however; winning three out of four PL games in February, four of our five games in March (seeing us through to the FA Cup Semi-Finals as a result) and we're in the mix for both some silverware and a Champions League place.

Unfortunately we lose Alexander Isak to a torn calf muscle - oh dear. Our top scorer hobbled for the rest of the season…

A draw at Chelsea on April 1st kept our noses ahead of the blues and Arsenal in the battle for 3rd and 4th (Man City and Liverpool are way out in front at this point); before we complete a stunning turn around against Arsenal at St. James' Park - coming back from 3-1 down to win 5-3!

A loss at Man City is soon forgotten as we record wins over Everton, Bournemouth, and Southampton, whilst thrashing Fulham in the FA Cup Semi-Final to set ourselves up a good ol' fashioned Final clash with Man City (gulp). On the downside, another serious injury as Miguel Almiron - who's been flippin' brilliant all season - is side-lined for five to eight months with ligament damage.

A 3-3 draw with Spurs, followed by a 0-0 at Leeds, sees us gather the points we need to secure a Champions League spot for the 2023/24 season! Unfortunately we're now without Declan Rice too - out for a month with a groin injury.

The final day of the season is still fun however - Liverpool's slip up at Fulham means they are only one point ahead of City going into the final round of games; whilst the relegation battle also goes to the wire, with Wolves on 28 points and Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, and Southampton all on 31! We thrash Wolves to see them down, while Bournemouth escape the drop thanks to an 88th minute winner from Hamed Traore against Man Utd, sending Southampton and Forest down.

Elsewhere, Barcelona pip Real Madrid to the La Liga title by one goal! Yep, Goal Difference decided the Spanish title, with Barcelona's +43 besting Madrid's +42! In response, Real sack Carlo Ancelotti…

After such final day drama my heart can only take so much more, so when we walk out at Wembley to face Man City on the FA Cup final, I've already dialled 99 and my finger is hovering over the other 9 in case I keel over…

No Isak, no Almiron, no Rice, and City score first; Kyle Walker is somehow allowed to saunter through our box before squaring a pass to Jack Grealish. Arse. Joelinton is then forced off injured. It's not going well, until Joe Willock gallops free to equalise. We're defending like our lives depends on it. We're in this…WE'RE AHEAD! Sven Botman heads home from Kieran Trippier's free kick!!!

2-1 up at half time, we fight, we claw, we hold the line, fatigue is setting in, we're so close, two minutes of injury time…oh no; Jamal Lewis - the only non-City or Liverpool player to make the Premier League Team of the Year - scuffs a 92nd minute clearance, it falls straight to Lutsharel Geertruida, the kitchen sink carrying right back, who throws everything his has behind his shot…and he scores. The virtual last kick of regular time and it's an equaliser. My heart sinks. We regroup, we struggle on, but our depleted bench has little to offer. We keep grinding our way through the time, only for Julian Alvares to nip in front of an exhausted Botman in the 115th minutes.

The dream is over. 

Forgot to add my January 2023 transfer ins and outs.

Sold Martin Dubravka, and Jacob Murphy (neither seeing much playing time, and neither had a long term future at the club for me), while Jamaal Lascelles decided he wanted to pursue a different challenge, so shipped him off to Burnley.

Experienced CB Stefan de Vrij came in to bolster the backline, while Matheus Franca and Agustin Giay were both purchased and then loaned out - Giay staying at San Lorenzo, and Franca to Tigres. They're signings for the future, so may as well get them decent game time elsewhere for now.  

Geordie born and bred calling in. Made me laugh Lascelles wants a new challenge to goes to Burnley.

Yeah; he was playing ok for me - but he was definitely second choice RCB, and expendable long term, so when he came to me it was an easy decision to sell! Especially when it enabled me to bring in de Vrij, a much better CB.

Summer 2023

After qualifying for the Champions League, the Board hand me a healthy £100m+ transfer budget; Southampton's relegation opens up Tino Livramento's relegation clause, so I spend £29m to bring him to Tyneside with a view to making him one of my long term options at RB - he also helps contribute towards my aim of trying to use more home grown players.

With that in mind, and after much to-ing and fro-ing about how to tweak things, I bite the bullet and trigger Jude Bellingham's release clause too - £93m straight out the door; but I've picked up a quality English player, so I'm happy.

I also bring Bobby Clark back from Liverpool (future HGC I hope), and Fraser Forster from Spurs to be my backup GK, mainly because he holds HGC status for Champions League purposes. 

When Dan Burn decides he wants to move on, to try a new challenge, I strike a deal to ship him out to Crystal Palace, before circling back to Selhurst Park to sign Marc Guehi as his replacement - although this deal carries some future instalments and clauses, where Bellingham and Livramento were straight payments, so although they've hammered the bank balance in the short term, they don't carry any future fees.

The Board inform me that we've received a large cash injection via a ‘European telecommunications company’ - given the deal is worth £76m, I decide it must be Vodafone, and use it as an opportunity to dick around with some kit design ideas (especially as Newcastle are due to move to Adidas as supplier anyway):

Third jersey probably needs work…anyway; several staff members retire, including my Ass Man Brian Kidd (replaced with Steve Holland), but these positions are filled and my backroom remains healthy looking. 

2023/24 Season

Things get off to a good start thanks to a 3-1 win at newly promoted (local rivals) Middlesbrough, before we beat Man City 2-0 at St. James' Park.

Unfortunately we then collapse at Anfield, losing 3-0, shit the bed at home to Chelsea (1-0 loss), before losing 3-0 at West Ham. Several players are ranked below 6.5 in terms of recent form, and we just generally do not seem to be clicking. At least it's the international break, and I can go and have a little cry before our next game at home to Aston Villa.

Into the Unknown
 

Following a frustrating start to the season, things very much felt like 'that difficult second album' for my Newcastle United team. While we managed to secure a 1-0 win against Aston Villa, our Champions League campaign got off to a bad start when we lost at Juventus, before being unceremoniously dumped out of the EFL Cup by Manchester United a week later. A loss at Tottenham, followed by a home draw with Lyon in the CL left us in a precarious position at both home and abroad; thankfully an upturn in fortunes came at the end of October, with Callum Wilson scoring twice to help is beat Barcelona at St. James' Park, before we thump Fulham 4-0 to finish the month.
 

November is equally kind to us, we pick up Premier League wins at Leicester, and against Bournemouth, as well as wins away at Barcelona (3-1!) and Lyon (5-2!) to see us through to the knockout stages. Our reward for navigating our way out of a tough group? A Last-16 tie with Real Madrid...

A surprise loss at Brentford is followed by an 11-game unbeaten run in the league however - enough to propel us up to 2nd in the table by the end of January, with a 1-0 win at the Etihad a nice way to end the month.

Transfer wise, Stefan de Vrij wasn't happy with his playing time, so I loan him back to Inter, and put together a 'loan with obligation to buy' deal for Belgian CB Zeno Debast. Also manage to slap together a package to bring Arda Guler to Tyneside - albeit I agree to loan him back to Fenerbache for the rest of this season, as he'll get more playing time there in the short term.

February starts with an FA Cup win at fierce rivals Sunderland - art imitating life in that regard - with a trip to Middlesbrough next on the card league wise.