Newcastle United
Newcastle are coming into this season with full of frustration from both their fans and manager Rafa Benitez. After keeping them up last season, Rafa still has been failed by the board as they simply haven’t back him enough in the transfer window and not only that, the players have also been getting frustrated after the disagreement with the owners over their club bonuses from last season as the players have rejected to attend the media due to their frustrations. The state of Newcastle really isn’t good currently and their last two results from pre-season indicate that they are in no position to succeed after losing 4-0 to Braga and losing a home game to Augsburg. One good thing that Newcastle did do in the transfer window is get Kenedy on loan for another season from Chelsea as he was a huge key in saving them from relegation, the other key signings they made was Ki Sung-yueng, Fabian Schar, Yoshinori Muto, Salomon Rondon who they traded Dwight Gayle for and a defender Federico Fernandez. It’s a nothing special transfer window from Newcastle which is why their fans are frustrated as they’ve added just a bunch of okay squad players at best into their side and they let go of their 2nd highest scorer for Salomon Rondon who had a poor season with a relegated West Brom. Only Kenedy really stands out in this window as mentioned. Compare that window to the likes of Everton, Fulham, Wolves and even Palace who added Meyer and you’ll understand why the fans are frustrated after being promised great things at the club by the board. Newcastle were initially expected to be a team that could possibly make a push for europe this season had Rafa been properly backed, however the lack of top signings will probably put them into relegation battle because teams around them simply strengthened more. Rafa will have to work his magic again. Whether they can stay up it’s a question mark because we don’t really know what type of mentality the players are going to show with all of the negative things going on concerning the board members. It’s safe to say that Newcastle are in for a long, possibly toxic season as they will probably be fighting for survival again. Getting off to a good start will be key for them.
Transfers
In – Martin Dubravka, Ki Sung-yueng, Kenedy(Loan), Fabian Schar, Yoshinori Muto, Salomon Rondon(Loan), Federico Fernandez
Out – Massadio Haidara, Stuart Findlay, Mikel Merino, Chancel Mbemba, Matz Sels, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Adam Armstrong, Dwight Gayle(Loan), Ivan Toney
Expecations and Results
Last Year’s Finish – 10th
Target for 2018-19 – Avoid Relegation
Key Players – Jonjo Shelvey, Ayoze Perez, Jamaal Lascelles, Matt Ritchie, Solomon Rondon, Mohamed Diame
Manager – Rafael Benitez
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