The Newcastle view with NUFCBlog.co.uk

There is never a dull season at St James’ Park, is there? An unwanted manager, a drawn-out takeover saga involving Saudi royalty, a £40 million record signing who has scored two goals – it has been quite the campaign, as NUFCBlog.co.uk tell us ahead of Newcastle United’s visit to Brighton.

The surprising news is that the Toon Army are already safe from relegation. When we spoke to Olly from NUFCBlog.co.uk back in September, he was certain that Newcastle were in for a season of struggle and yet here we are ahead of the penultimate match of the season with both them and Brighton safe.

Steve Bruce has at least done a decent job in steadying the ship on-the-pitch – although there is still unrest on the terraces as Olly explains here.

Off it, Mike Ashley remains at the helm despite the hope that Newcastle could become the richest club in the world. The FA, the Premier League, Amnesty International, broadcast companies – anyone and everyone seems to have stuck their oar in to the murky issues surrounding Saudi Arabia effectively buying the club, leaving Newcastle in limbo.

Olly takes us through that and so much more in one of our most in-depth opposition fan interviews of the season. It’s never boring talking Newcastle!

Newcastle have already secured Premier League safety this season. What have you made of the campaign?
It’s a tough one. On one hand I was convinced we were going to be relegated when Steve Bruce replaced Rafa Benitez, so would have bitten your hand off for Premier League safety this time last year – but on the flip side it’s been a real struggle for most of the season and we’ve rode our luck.

Credit to the team for digging in and grinding out the results, however the football has been hard to watch and we’ve been a one man band at times, with Martin Dubravka often keeping is in games at one end and us being highly reliant on Allan Saint-Maximin’s spark at the other.

From the outside looking in, Bruce appears to have done a really good job with perhaps a weaker squad than Rafa Benitez had. Do Newcastle fans remain suspicious of him or has he won over some of the doubters?
Don’t get me wrong, Bruce has definitely exceeded expectations in that he’s semi-stabilised what looked like a sinking ship and helped us move well clear of safety with games to spare, but I feel many on the outside looking in look at our league position – which isn’t all that flattering despite being clear of the drop – and presume he’s worked wonders.

As I’ve said, he’s proved me wrong in his ability to squeeze out results, motivate players who may have been disillusioned when Rafa left and keep us up, however the football has been atrocious in the main and we’ve rode our luck.

I’m not a huge fan of obsessing over stats alone, but our XG for goals for and goals against would have us relegated. That doesn’t mean we’ve been in the bottom three teams in the league, but it does tell me that what we’re doing isn’t sustainable.

The problem is that it feels like mid-table mediocrity is our ceiling under Bruce – he recently stated that he was “delighted” to be a few points behind Southampton – whereas Rafa would have seen this as a season to kick on and replicate what Sheffield United and Burnley have done had he been backed as well as Bruce has been.

Sometimes fans have been overly critical of Bruce, which is harsh given he’s done the job asked of him in tough circumstances. I think a lot of what I’ve just said perhaps explains why fans don’t want him to remain if ambitious new owners arrive.

He deserves praise for steadying the ship and keeping us afloat, but it feels like we’re a club with a heavy anchor attached to it for as long as Mike Ashley remains with a mediocre manager like Bruce in charge.

We don’t expect too much, but it’s hard to see some people acting like us surviving should be celebrated when 11 of our 13 seasons before Mike Ashley saw us qualify for Europe.

Who have been Newcastle’s star performers this season? Any disappointments?
As for star men there’s only one place to start – Saint-Maximin. In a team that has often lacked goal scorers, spark and invention, he has been a breath of fresh air and without doubt our most exciting and influential player.

His ability to carry the ball at speed and go past players like they’re not even there is up there with the best I’ve ever seen, and the scary thing now for opposition defences is that his final product is improving.

Dubravka has also been a key figure in goal, saving Bruce’s bacon on several occasions this season. His form has dipped since football returned, but he’d be our player of the season if it wasn’t for Saint-Maximin.

Jonjo Shelvey’s been in decent form this season, adding goals and a little bit more consistency to his game, while the hard working Miguel Almiron is now our top scorer – which is nice to see after his worrying goal drought to begin with!

Disappointments? The first name that comes to mind is Joelinton, sadly. The £40m price tag seems unfair as we’ve clearly overpaid and it’s not like he chooses the transfer fee – he’s just burdened by it and has struggled badly.

Not only has he bagged just two league goals all season, he’s not really looked like a striker in terms of his movement or ability to lead the line.

It must be said that he was used completely different at Hoffenheim and that Bruce hasn’t helped his cause, often playing someone who is actually more of a support player in a lone striker role with so little support, but he’s sometimes made controlling a ball look hard, never mind look a goal threat.

I feel for him as he’s had the world on his shoulders and hasn’t been used correctly in a poor team and new league and he’s still young too, but he really has looked unconvincing.

One other disappointment would be Danny Rose. Some feel he’s been ‘steady’ since he signed on loan from Spurs, but to me he looks overweight, unfit and a shadow of his former self.

At the start of lockdown, the Saudi takeover at St James’ Park seemed to dominate the news. It has all gone a little bit quiet since then. What’s the latest?
It’s probably been the most exhausting saga I’ve ever known as a football fan – and, believe me, there’s been plenty of tedious takeover stories at Newcastle since Ashley took over!

Back in April we were told it was imminent and a matter of “when, not if”, yet we’re not into the 17th week of “will it happen, won’t it happen?”

The latest is essentially no one knows what the outcome will be and no one knows when we’ll find out, which is frankly ridiculous now we’re a matter of days away from the transfer window opening.

Fans are in bits, with excitement now being replaced with exhaustion, and the club is in a complete state of limbo, with futures and recruitment plans all put on hold.

It’s such a messy situation that has been dragged out far too long. We’re all praying for good news soon and hope the Premier League can pull their fingers out to give us some clarity ASAP.

I guess this next question very much depends on what happens with the takeover – but where do you think Newcastle need to strengthen in the transfer window?
Whether a takeover happens or not, we desperately need a goalscorer. Joelinton isn’t a striker, Dwight Gayle is in good form now but hadn’t scored before lockdown and Andy Carroll is Andy Carroll. A handful when he’s fit, but he rarely is!

The fact we never signed Salomón Rondon last summer was a travesty, so it’s essential we bring in a player capable of getting into double figures and posing a regular threat like Neal Maupay has done for you this season.

Elsewhere, we could do with stronger options at full-back as we barely even own a recognised left back and could also do with another creative midfielder and winger, with our back up options behind the likes of Almiron and Saint-Maximin being a huge step down.

Last time we met, the sides drew 0-0 at St James’ Park in September. It feels like a lifetime ago now, but what did you make of the game that day?
I remember the 0-0 draw between Newcastle and Brighton well, which is strange for a stalemate. I remember thinking how you played us off the park in terms of possession and control of the game, with that being one of the first times I got to see your new look approach under Graham Potter.

I’ve actually just Googled it now and see you had 74% of the ball but only four shots on target. Not making the most of your dominance obviously held you back that day, but I remember thinking that it was a game between one bright new manager who was keen to give his side real identity and invention, and another new manager who didn’t quite know how to cope with your innovative approach under Potter.

I did not enjoy that day, but have enjoyed some of the football you’ve played this season. There’s obviously work to be done, but Potter seems to have something about him.

Speaking of Brighton manager Potter, what advice would NUFCBlog.co.uk give him for beating Newcastle at the Amex?
We are woefully short on fit centre-backs. Jamaal Lascelles, Fabian Schar, Florian Lejeune and Ciaran Clark are all out for the season, leaving just Federico Fernandez!

Either an under 23 squad player or a full back out of position will have to play in the middle on Monday. So, that’s already an area to expose.

Another area that you could exploit is in our midfield. While it’s key you don’t give Shelvey too much time – he links up brilliantly with the lively Gayle – his midfield partner Nabil Bentaleb can look a real liability on the ball if you close him down in tight areas. He also looks like he’s walking through treacle when players run at him. We miss Isaac Hayden badly in that engine room.

Finally, the biggest challenge for you will be keeping Saint-Maximin quiet. For all our limitations, he can single handedly turn a game on his head and make things happen from nothing.

Finally, what is the NUFCBlog.co.uk prediction for Brighton versus Newcastle please?
We were better in our last game against Spurs and played okay in the main, but it was the third game running where defensive errors cost us badly.

The fact we have one senior centre-back fit coupled with you needing the points more than us leads me to believe you’ll be the more hungry of the two sides and will come away with the win.

I’d like to think we’d take off our flip flops and give the fans a bit of a reaction after three straight defeats, because our season has completely fizzled out following a promising start to the resumption of football, but I just think this game will mean that bit more to you.

Either way, it is nice to talk about footballing matters again after so long without and months of takeover talk taking over!

Thanks to Olly for taking the time to speak to us ahead of Brighton versus Newcastle – you can read his work at the excellent NUFCBlog.co.uk. You can follow NUFCBlog.co.uk on Twitter – although go easy if Brighton do beat Newcastle as it has already been quite a traumatic season at St James’ Park!