The Week for Newcastle United 9

mattlewis89
1 day ago
5 min read

Thank you, Becky Langley,

The 1^st place for me to start is the shocking departure of Becky Langley as manager of Newcastle United women. Regardless of which side (if any) of the argument of whether the decision was right or wrong the overwhelming sense of thanks and gratitude for everything that Becky has done for the club poured out from the Newcastle United women’s community. Becky Langley led the lasses from the 4^th tier to the championship/WSL2 and was in charge as we became the 1^st third tier club to move to a professional model. Thank you, Becky Langley, for everything you have done for the club and for becoming another legend of the journey.

I was shocked by the decision and gutted that Becky is leaving and my initial thought process was

“Why have we done that, what a terrible decision, bit of a bland statement from the club”

But as I tried to take a step back from all of the reading, listening and thinking about it from an emotional side of things, I was able to come to a far more balanced view in my mind. I did a bit of tracking back in my head and thought of the last time I was this gutted about a manager leaving, which was Sir Bobby Robson. The young and stupid part of me back then blamed Graham Souness for it and never gave him a chance and criticised everything he did. I definitely didn't want to get sucked into that rigid mindset again.

I still think Becky had earnt the right to (at the very least) be in charge for the derby games especially against Sunderland at St James Park. Performances were improving after the Sheffield United game and we had rescued some points that had looked gone. The fine margins for the league games are quite clear in hindsight. If Sheff Utd game was a win and Charlton a draw, then we would be sat on 9 points, and I would considered that a very good start to the season. Unfortunately, that’s not how football works and all the if, buts, and maybes can’t change the results. As the saying goes “If wishes were fishes, the world would be an ocean”

Were sat in the bottom three in a season where we were widely expected to be pushing for the top three and the new management team above have obviously made that decision early to give a new manager plenty of time to push for that goal and all we can do as a fanbase is try to trust that decision and hope that this new chapter in the Evolution of Newcastle United Women turns out to be a positive one.

I mention it a lot how proud I am to be part of the NUW community and to completely repeat what I said in my article after the Birmingham game “Of course there will be differences within a fan base. To use a wrestling term there can be different “factions” of supporters that naturally feel comfortable around each other at the games or online, but the most important thing is that we support the lasses evermore and be a driving force of support on and off the pitch. “

I have no doubt the Core fanbase of the lasses will continue to back and support the team and whoever comes in as manager will get full backing from the stands and probably a new song from the ultra-creative South Standers as well. The fans will be there in their numbers In Colchester after the international break and the game at St James Park will be another memorable one cannot wait to be part of that occasion.

As always through every storm and all the lovely day’s

HOWAY THE LASSES!!

How’s your throw Nick Pope?

What a performance it was in the Champions League last night as we beat Benfica 3-0 to take us to six points from nine in the league phase of the champions league.

The score line suggests it was a comfortable night but there were some moments especially in the 1^st half where we had to dig in defensively and Nick Pope had to make some great saves.

Anthony Gordon was immense and was a comfortable man of the match for me. Jacob Murphy gave us a stable feel on the right-hand side and Jacob Ramsey and Lewis Miley both did well alongside Bruno in the middle. Such was the level of our performance we were able to leave Tonali on the bench for the entirety.

Harvey Barnes came on for Jacob Murphy just after the hour and although he is an easy one for me to criticise at times and does frustrate me when he starts, I cannot fault anything he did yesterday. He was clinical and composed for both his goals and has given Eddie a triple threat for the decision for who to play on the right.

The win takes us into the holy grail of the top 8 for the league phase even if it is only for a day but does give us a platform to build on. We play Athletic Bilbao next which is another home game and as I said in my Champions League preview article how I measure my Champions League expectations were always going to be determined by playing ¾ home games in the first half of the league phase.

The key now will be to build some consistency before the next international break. Nothing can be taken for granted but all our fixtures across the competitions are winnable ones.

Sandro OLE OLE OLE

Brilliant News broke this afternoon that Sandro Tonali has signed a contract extension meaning his deal could run until 2030. His contract expiry had been listed as 2028 but It is understood that he met with the club during his ban and extended it a further year as a show of faith following the support the club gave him during his ban.

Howay the Lads and Lasses

Results 15^th – 22^nd October

Wednesday 15^th October

Mansfield 2 Newcastle U21s 2 Newcastle win 5 3 on penalties (EFL Trophy)

2 good results from 2 the cups following on from the win over Boston in the National League cup the week before.

Wednesday 15^th October

Manchester Utd Women U21s 6 Newcastle United U21s women 1

Saturday 18^th October

Sunderland U18s 4 Newcastle U18s 1 (Premier League u18s League)

2 defeats in a row in the league now for the U18s but 10/18 points is still a good result.

Saturday 18^th October

Brighton 2 Newcastle 1 (Premier League)

We continue to struggle on the South Coast and couldn’t return from the international break with a win.

Sunday 19^th October

Newcastle 3 Man City 3 Man City win 7-6 on penalties (Subway should be Greggs League Cup)

Prior to the Becky Langley leaving there was nothing but positivity coming out of this game. The Lasses took one of the elite WSL Sides all the way to penalties, came back from 3-1 down, scored great goals including Lois Joel with another Rocket to follow her goal against Bristol City. Once again, the lasses displayed the never say die attitude that rescued draws against Palace and Bristol City. If we can take that level of performance and positivity from the Man City game into the league, then the league table could potentially be a lot healthier looking come the end of November.

Sunday 19^th October

Newcastle United women Development 21 Newcastle East end FC 0

Tuesday 21^st October

Newcastle U19s 1 Benfica 5 (UFEA Youth League)

Tuesday 21^st October

Newcastle United 3 Benfica 0

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