The Week For Newcastle United 20

mattlewis89
4 days ago
8 min read

After a troublesome week again on the pitch that saw us relinquish our League cup crown and suffer a home defeat to Brentford, we responded by going to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium and pulling of a rare away win in the league which ultimately put an end to the short Thomas Frank reign at Tottenham.

I’m sure before the match most fans were under no illusions how big a week it was for Eddie Howe and when the line up was released with no Tonali or Lewis Hall and no starting with no recognised striker up front that fear for the result and Eddie Howe’s job would have been even more prominent. Eddie Howe took some gambles with the starting 11 and with pressure ramped up and the sound of some boos ringing out following the Brentford game the 90 minutes took that pressure to an even higher level.

Thankfully this Moment didn't Cost us the game.

However, from the moment we kicked off we played with a positivity that Spurs couldn’t cope with and despite a marginal offside call disallowing a goal from Joe Willock, Malick Thaiw was able to score before half time to give us the half time lead we richly deserved.

Tottenham were able to equalise to give us some nervous moments with the score line at least, but when Jacob Ramsay scored his first goal for the club the positivity returned and we were able to see the game out well to secure the win.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWRtKUUz514

There was a lovely moment at the end of the game where Bruno and Trippier, Captains past and present pushed Eddie towards the away fans to receive the adulation for a job well done, both by him and the team he put out.

Elanga has been improving every game, and he had another bright game yesterday, taking on players, putting decent crosses in and proving a handful for the Spurs defenders that made it on to the pitch. Jacob Ramsay had his best game in a Newcastle shirt by far and hopefully the goal will help him push on for the second half of the season and Finally Joe Willock has justified why we didn’t let him go in January. Yes, he isn’t at the level of a Bruno or a Joelinton, but he had a good game on Tuesday all be it against Poor opposition but can see he is a player who wants to stand up and be counted.

Of course, this is just a one-off game, and we must air on the side of caution. Only twice this season have we managed to win 2 games or more in a row and with the FA Cup on Saturday and a Champions League game to follow this would be a popular time to add a third.

I asked the NFTV Team and some of the NFTV members the same questions this week. I have answered myself as well because if I sit on the fence anymore, I will have to start calling myself Humpty Dumpty.

“Where do you think we will finish in the League and what stage are we getting to in the Champions League?”

Lee

“We’ll get past Asda price 40p Qarabag, then heartbreak will set in and lose marginally at the death to Chelsea/Barcelona. If we do draw Barcelona thousands will travel to Spain for the game. For the League I’m going to say seventh”

Josh

“So I'll start my answer with this. Fun fact for everyone, our next opponent, and this is thanks to my lovely wife of Eastern Europe origins, it is actually pronounced Gah-rah-Bahgh thought I'd throw in that fun fact for anyone who likes fun things with pronunciation and language.

So we play for Qarabag in the next round. I think despite our topsy-turvy form, it would easy for our assumptions that we should be winning this, and I'd echo that sentiment. I think the first leg is really the only chance that Qarabag have to make it interesting. If they did get some sort of lead, especially a lead by multiple goals, then I would have some nerves, but I'll say we'll get through against Qarabag and be comfortable. From there, we either play Barca or Chelsea. I think Chelsea probably would be your instant reaction of being someone who's more gettable. Now, I would assume most people would much rather have us play Barcelona, for the prestige of the fixture. Of course we can beat them, I would fancy our chances more against Chelsea.

I think we need to Prioritise the League, which Leads me on to the other part of your Question.

The League table I think we can salvage a Europa League spot, and I think at this point that needs to be the aim. We can sell that to players that we are still in Europe and other respected teams across Europe have dropped to the Europa League before. I think that would be important from a revenue perspective as well.

I will go with 6^th place in the league and fall in the last 16 against Barcelona but it will be an interesting tie.”

Matt

“I’m strangely optimistic for the champions League. I think we will comfortably beat Qarabag over two legs and then will be about who we get in the last 16. Against Chelsea ,I think we could do a job against them over two legs, even with the second leg away and with Barcelona if we can sneak a win at St James Park and play how we did against PSG then we are more than capable of going through. I’m going to say Quarter Finals of the Champions League and 8^th in the Premier League but that being enough to get us a Europa League or Europa Conference league place.”

Joe

"Two tough questions here Matt.

You have to look at how most of NUFC's seasons in the past and the 2nd half of the season is usually our strongest period, though we are lacking somewhat in the area of points from the first half, based on that and some tough games we have?

I'm going to edge my bets and go for a 7th place finish. Likely missing out on Europe again next season.

Speaking a of Europe though champions league?

Honestly, call me crazy, but a i said in a Live with fellow tiktok creator Forde Have Mercy, I seriously believe NUFC have a "dumb luck" chance of making it to the final.

People will shoot me down based on the credit of our squad and consistency this season, yet the champions league, has been a fairly strong campaign overall & we are one of those teams that on the right day, we can beat anyone... could this be the case in the Puskas on may 30th? I personally, don't see why its not possible."

Dale

I think we will finish 7th in the League and reach the Quarter Finals of the Champions League.

NFTV Members

Nigel- “I think we will finish 6th in the league so a Europa league space, which after a mixed season I would be delighted with, I want top 4 but just don't see it happening with the work we've given ourselves to do, as for the champions league I think we'll get to the last 8 but dependant on our route and what way round the legs are then maybe further.”

Jacob- “I think we will finish 8th and get knocked out in the QF (beat Chelsea in the R16). Slowly but surely I think we will now pick up form but it will be too late to qualify for Europa/UCL. I think investments in Ramsay and Wissa will pay more dividends as the season goes on with them having the allowance to gel further. Despite this, still a massive summer ahead.”

The Lasses Back to Winning Ways.

It was another “lovely” away day on the south coast as Newcastle United Women got their first Calendar win of 2026 with a 2-1 over Southampton Women.

Jordon Nobbs scored both goals in the first half, the first after just 15 seconds and added the second with a cool finish just before half time. Southampton are a really good side and even at 2-0 there was never the feeling that we were in control and when Southampton scored late in the second half there was the fear that we could be on the end of the reverse of what we did to Saint’s last year. Thankfully we held onto the win and with dropped points for both Bristol City and Birmingham over the weekend the hope of Promotion is still alive.

On Sunday we host Portsmouth who have dropped to the bottom of the WSL2 and hopefully we can learn from the Ipswich home game and send us into our four-week break on a high and close to the promotion positions.

Back on my Week for Newcastle United 3 Article in September, I had a go at predicting the WSL2 table and although I am not currently right on a single position, but my predictions are there or thereabouts other than one glaring exception.

Team	My Prediction	Current Position
Birmingham	1st	2^nd
C Palace	2nd	4^th
Newcastle	3rd	5^th
Bristol City	4th	3^rd
Southampton	5th	6^th
Nottingham Forest	6th	7^th
Charlton	7th	1^st
Durham	8th	9^th
Sunderland	9th	8^th
Portsmouth	10th	12^th
Sheffield United	11th	10^th
Ipswich Town	12th	11^th

Newcastle United Women unfortunately crashed out of the PGA Plate in the semi-Finals following a 8-0 defeat to Durham Women under 21s.

The Under 21 win a league game

Yes, you read that correctly, Newcastle United under 21s won a league game on Friday night as they ran out victorious in a 4-3 win over Aston Villa under 21s. The young magpies raced into a 3-0 lead in just under 15 minutes with two from Matheos Ferreira and one from Park Seung Soo before Aston Villa pulled 2 back before half time. Ferreira scored his second Penalty to complete the hat trick and Villa responded again with a goal just before the hour but that’s where a scoring stopped.

The Under 21s still sit in 23^rd in Premier League 2 and well adrift of the play off positions but if we can get a win this Friday against Arsenal in Boreham Wood that may bring some belief that we can reach the knockout stage of the league. I will be trying to watch the game on Friday if I am able to so will be interesting to see how we play against Arsenal who sit in 13^th place in Premier League 2.

The bad weather has hampered the U18s fixture list in recent weeks but weather permitting they will be back in league action this Saturday against bottom of the league Stoke City U18s hoping to get the season back on track after dropping to 5^th.

North Shields FA Vase run comes to an end.

North Shields were defeated 2-1 against Coventry United in the FA Vase to bring their run to an end at the last 16 stage.

If you haven’t had a chance to yet go and check Joe’s Vlog about the game. It encapsulates how much it meant to the North Shields Community to be on that run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbg9kehF5Q8

It’s a great video and if you’re a fan of Non-League and Northern League football then always check out both the North Shields and Ryton and Crawcrook videos on the channel as they are a great watch.

Results

Aston Villa U21s 3 Vs Newcastle United U21s 4 (Premier League 2)

Newcastle United 2 Vs Brentford 3 (Premier League)

Southampton Women 1 Vs Newcastle United Women 2 (WSL2)

Tottenham 1 Vs Newcastle United 2 (Premier League)

Durham Women U21s 8 Vs Newcastle United Women U21s 0 (PGA Plate Semi Final)

Fixtures