Howe's international break; assessing Newcastle's season so far
The September international break is an absurdity; great to see that (after George's comments on a recent PotT) the authorities are doing away with it (definitely related).
But, the October break has a different feel. We're almost quarter of the way through the season... the Champions League campaign has started, and Newcastle players are dropping like flies.
It's not the same as our last European adventure, though. Eddie Howe's squad is a little deeper, giving us a bit more flexibility and, unlike the start of the season, we have a striker. So, what do we make of the season so far? Let's find out.
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Matchday PotT: Forest (h), Bruno and Nick deliver "huge" win
Plenty of intriguing angles going into Newcastle United v Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon. Both teams played in Europe in midweek, Ange Postecoglu under pressure just three weeks into his new job, and the home attack struggling to spark…
…Not that Nick Woltemade’s stats would fit that particular narrative. A penalty saw the German forward score in each of his first three home games for Newcastle, becoming just the third man to do so after Alan Shearer and Les Ferdinand. It was Bruno who broke the deadlock with a curled effort after good work from Dan Burn, and a 2-0 win rounded off a great week for the lads.
...A better result for The Lasses™, too, although they left it very late indeed at Crystal Palace. Trailing 2-0 with ten minutes of normal time; Oona Sevenius opened her Newcastle account before Morgan Gautrat's Olimpico hit the net eight minutes into injury time!
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A fools' paradise? Woltemade and the wingers are Union-busters
Newcastle United haven't scored many goals so far this season, especially away from home, but on Wednesday night they put four past Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise and with relative ease.
Nick Woltemade has been the source of some "salty" comments from Bayern-related figures over the last few days, but he opened the scoring with a deft flick which he definitely meant. Anthony Gordon scored two penalties and sub Harvey Barnes completed the rout, while Elanga was a threat all evening.
In terms of The Lasses, it's been a tough start to the season and they travel to Palace on Sunday to face last season's WSL basement club. The Lads, meanwhile, face Forest who have a familiar figure running the show in midfield.
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PotT joins Supporting Cast
Hate the ads? We have a solution for you.
PotT has joined Supporting Cast which means you can pay a small fee to listen without any adverts. There's also a second tier of subscription which will have additional episodes; there's already a matchday episode with George from Brussels. Joy!
Go to podonthetyne.supportingcast.fm/ to find out more and subscribe.
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Matchday PotT: Arsenal (h)... a tale of three headers
Heartbreak at St James's as Mikel Arteta's Gunners laid siege to Newcastle's wall of giant defenders and were able to break them down twice to take all three points back to North London.
Chances were few and far between for the home side but Nick Woltemade did make the most of a corner he had earned and kept up his 100% record of headed-league-goals-at-SJP.
George and Chris convened outside the Strawberry to reflect on all that, some controversial decisions, and another defeat for The Lasses (TM) who are hopefully emerging from their own teething problems.
UK