The Week For Newcastle United

Another News filled week for Newcastle United that included cup draws, a performance full of pride even in defeat, a 2-time world cup winner arriving for the lasses and an under 21s lead coach being appointed.

Champions League and League Cup Draw

The biggest event of the week off the pitch was the Champions League draw last night.

We will play Barcelona, Benfica, PSV and Athletic Bilbao at Home and PSG, Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille and Union Saint-Gilloise Away.

As the draw was being done in real time it always looked like a tough set of fixtures and as you can see by the OPTA Analyst image the average rating for the teams we will play back that up. I still believe we can Qualify but it is going to be vitality important that we have a strong showing at home. The League format of the Champions League allows some room for error but if we can get it done at home with 3 wins at least that will give us a strong platform to secure at least a play off place.

I will have a separate article coming out once the fixture order is released, where I will detail more of my opinions on the Champions League draw and how I think that could impact the season.

The League cup draw was also made this week, and we have been drawn at Home to Bradford City. It is a favourable draw, but we cannot take any team for granted and even with an expected Rotation, the players that come in for this game will hopefully grasp this opportunity and give Eddie some selection headaches for the League and Champions League.

The Lasses with a massive signing

Another great Signing for the lasses with winning Experience

The new season for the lasses is edging closer and we have our last friendly away to Bristol City on Sunday, but this week saw the arrival of 2-time world cup winner Morgan Gautrat on loan until December. This is a statement signing for us and even with the short loan and her age the amount of quality and experience she will bring to the squad during the 1^st half of the season will be extremely valuable and I think off the pitch the likes of Elysia Boddy will be able to tap into that knowledge.

Speaking about her move to Newcastle Morgan Said “It's been a warm welcome, and I feel like I've been welcomed with open arms, and people have told me nothing but nice things about the city and the fans. I'm at a point in my career where I want to be a leader and want to be a part of making a mark and a legacy at a place like this at Newcastle to make history."

Becky Langley is obviously pleased with the signing as well "We are absolutely delighted to be adding a player of Morgan's quality and experience to our squad. She has performed at the highest level for her whole career and brings with her a world class mentality having won some of the biggest trophies in the game for both club and country. Morgan is a leader, and she will bring so much on and off the pitch for us. We are excited to start working with her."

The Lasses Under 21s got off to a losing start in their inaugural FA women’s Professional game academy league fixture. The lasses took the lead through Ella Baker but a quick response from Leicester saw them lead 2-1 by the half hour mark and that is how it finished. It was good to see that there were updates on social media about the game to keep up with how we did so thank you to the club for that. My understanding is that the under 21 games will primarily be played behind closed doors which is a shame from an engagement point of view because I believe that there would be a lot of support from the NUW community that would want to support the Lasses U21s in person as well.

As the Lasses U21s become more of an established team within the club I hope that there may be the opportunity to involve them in a double header with the lasses 1^st team so that they can experience the support of the NUW Community on a matchday which in my opinion would be an important part of their development.

New Head coach for the Under 21s

New Under 21s lead Coach Adam Lawrence

After two defeats in two for Newcastle Under 21s it was important to get some stability for the young Magpies and that has come in the form of new Lead Coach Adam Lawrence. He joins from Manchester United where he was in charge of their under 18s side.

Lawrence said: "It's a real privilege to join Newcastle United and to lead the Under-21s squad at such an exciting time for the Academy. I've always believed in creating environments where young players can grow - not just as footballers, but as people - and that is something the Academy does very well. The club has a clear vision for development, and I'm looking forward to working with the staff and players to help each individual take the next step in their journey."

The under 21s travel to Birmingham under 21s on Friday in a 2-o clock kick off and on Tuesday they will be away to Huddersfield Town in the EFL Trophy. For fans looking to watch more of the Under 21s who cannot make it in person I think that the EFL trophy will be available to watch on Sky.

The under 18s have had a far better start to the season winning both of their opening games and sitting 3^rd in the early standings. They followed up their opening day 3-0 win with a 2-0 away to Wolves.

The Under 18s have another away game this weekend against Leeds United Under 18s.

We don’t expect a team that wins, we expect a team that tries

Despite the defeat against Liverpool there seemed to be a lot of positivity that game out of the game on Monday. We were the better side in my opinion, as I felt we were against Villa too and that gives us hope that despite the summer chaos we have reasons to be optimistic past the closing of the transfer window.

Leeds is not a guaranteed 3 points and with injuries and suspensions we will have to keep the same level of performance we did against Liverpool. Osula came on against Liverpool and scored a good goal and I think Leeds will be a good fixture for him to give Eddie Howe some selection thoughts over the international break.

Nick Woltemade is in Newcastle For His Medical

Baring anymore last-minute chaos it looks like Nick Woltemade will be a Newcastle United player in the coming days and we finally would have signed a striker. In my opinion the timing and swiftness of the deal has left the door open for a second striker from the premier league to sign and for Isak to be sold if the right Finances come in and the structure of the deal suits us.  

Regardless of how the transfer window ends I believe that the international break is going to come at a perfect time from a reset point of view. During the international break I expect to see a bit of a communication avalanche from the club about a variety of issues and if Isak is still a Newcastle United player by the time we return against Wolves the fans will deserve clarity and confirmation about exactly what is going to happen between now and January.

Here’s to hoping for more positivity in the coming week.

Howay the Lads and Lasses.

Matt

Fixtures This week

Newcastle United Away to Leeds Premier League Saturday 30^th August

Newcastle United Women Away friendly against Bristol City Sunday 31^st August

Newcastle United Women Under 21s Away PGA under 21s League against Man City Under 21s Wednesday 3rd September

Newcastle United Under 18s Away League game against Leeds Under 18s Saturday 30^th August

Newcastle United Under 21s Away League Game against Birmingham Under 21s Friday 29^th August

Newcastle Under 21s Away EFL Trophy Game against Huddersfield Town Tuesday 2^nd September