Football Season Guide

Late spring surge of great home form was the main reason why Newcastle survived in their first campaign back in the top flight, but as nothing much has changed in terms of ownership of the club or money available the Magpies seem destined for another very difficult campaign this time around. Coach Benitez is rightfully unhappy with the second summer in a row without money for him to strengthen the squad, but that said the signings of centre-back Shar and of the solid inner midfielder Ki are seen as good captures and both of them are likely to be amongst the regular starters. Dubravka also joined the club permanently after very impressive spring displays in goal, while Kenedy extended his loan for another year and without spending much Benitez practically secured 4 players that are likely to be regulars. Benitez should continue using mainly 4-2-3-1 as a formation, with the gaffer hoping to improve the attacking options of his squad before the transfer window closes. Both Muto and Rondon are interesting strikers that look very likely to join the Magpies soon, which should give an alternative for the ineffective Joselu in the number nine role. Still Newcastle have a small squad and limited options if injuries hit the group, with one piece of bad news already coming in pre-season as the regular centre-back from last year Lejeune sustained a nasty knee injury that is expected to rule him out for the entire campaign. This forced the gaffer to shop a bit desperately for new centre-backs, but at least he managed to sign Schar and Fernandez, which combined with Clark should be enough in the long term. Another worry for the fans and many pundits is that Newcastle open the season with a very difficult schedule in the first three months and if the Magpies find themselves in trouble early on they might struggle to recover after that.