Newcastle did not get off to the good start a lot of fans expected and we amazingly lost the first two league games at Fulham 1-0 and at home to Huddersfield 2-1.
At the time new signing Matt Ritchie said it was a blessing in disguise and it seems Matt may have been exactly right with that comment.
Our first points of the season were in the third game when we beat Reading 4-1 at home and including that game we have played a total 13 games since those first two defeats – including two EFL Cup ties and won 11 of them.
Rafa Benitez – Newcastle manager
The two we didn’t win was the 2-0 home defeat by Wolves after we had hammered QPR 6-0 on the road – and then the 1-1 draw at Villa Park when the home side equalized in the 89th minute.
Here are those 13 games.
August
Wed 17 19:45 H Reading 4-1
Sat 20 15:00 A Bristol City 1-0
Tue 23 19:45 H Cheltenham EFL Cup 2-0
Sat 27 17:30 H Brighton 2-0
September
Sat 10 17:30 A Derby County 2-0
Tue 13 19:45 A Queens Park Rangers 6-0
Sat 17 15:00 H Wolves 0-2
Tue 20 19:45 H Wolves EFL Cup 2-0
Sat 24 17:30 A Aston Villa 1-1
Wed 28 19:45 H Norwich City 4-3
October
Sat 01 15:00 A Rotherham 1-0
Sat 15 15:00 H Brentford 3-1
Tue 18 17:45 A Barnsley 2-0
So we had 7 clean sheets in the 13 games and in the six games way from home we conceded just one goal and that cost us the 2 points at Villa Park.
Here’s our full record in those last 13 games that got us all 28 points from the 11 league games.
[table “58” not found /]Just like Rafa took four games to get the team sorted out when he first arrived back in March and then picked up 12 points in the last six Premier League games last season – maybe Rafa took those first two games to get to grips with life in the tough Championship.
And in fact after 13 games played in the league we are now 4 points ahead of Chris Hughton’s Newcastle side back in 2009.
[table “57” not found /]Here are the current league placings.
[table “54” not found /]All we need now is to keep winning.
🙂
Comments welcome.
35 comments so far
MagpieNiff
Oct 19, 2016 at 6:38 PM
Comment #1Ed the way you formatted the away wins and losses are confusing for me to read
if we are away then score should be 0-6 (qpr example)
Jail for Ashley
Oct 19, 2016 at 6:40 PM
Comment #2Haven’t heard those drums for a while 😀
Jail for Ashley
Oct 19, 2016 at 6:42 PM
Comment #3Magpie niff,
What would you do in a circular room if you were told to sit in the corner?
ShirebrookToon
Oct 19, 2016 at 6:43 PM
Comment #4That’s just cruel jail lol
Average_Contents
Oct 19, 2016 at 6:53 PM
Comment #5Sit in the middle
Essex Geordie Bill
Oct 19, 2016 at 6:56 PM
Comment #6Good luck to the Heed tonight, hope they can get through to the 3rd round.
cyprus
Oct 19, 2016 at 6:57 PM
Comment #7Where’s my team? First? Luv it.
On another subject, why did guardiola get rid of Nasri? Bad move. Could be embarrassing at Barca tonight.
ShirebrookToon
Oct 19, 2016 at 6:59 PM
Comment #81 place behind the mackems lol
Ron Knee
Oct 19, 2016 at 7:14 PM
Comment #9Aguero on the bench. What’s that all about?
lukes26
Oct 19, 2016 at 7:21 PM
Comment #10just realized newcastle scored equal number of goals in one game as Sunderland’s scored in their first eight (6 goals)
the scary thing for the mackems is when ive watched them, they seem to be well organized
their players are just not up to epl standards..hard to see things getting better for them anytime soon
welshgeordie9
Oct 19, 2016 at 7:44 PM
Comment #11Hope there’s goals tonight between Barca and Man City.
welshgeordie9
Oct 19, 2016 at 7:47 PM
Comment #12One thing I would like to say about last nights match, we don’t need to rely on just shelvey creating chances for other players we have got Ritchie and with those two we have have got the two best creative players in the championship.
Jib
Oct 19, 2016 at 7:54 PM
Comment #13I’m a Lilywhites fan tonight
Do Huddersfield and I’ll be well happy
welshgeordie9
Oct 19, 2016 at 7:59 PM
Comment #141-0 to Preston, good start.
mattyNUFC
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:09 PM
Comment #15Preston and BCFC are both definitely on the up.
havent seen either play but they seem to both be playing well. hope we’re up to it with preston back to back next week
mattyNUFC
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:15 PM
Comment #16i’m sure our quality will show, however
but i still think they’ll be tricky tests coming up. Blackburn finally got a win, Ipswich and Cardiff are both Jekyll and Hyde teams, and i think leeds and forest will both be good tests.
loving this feel-good factor. i’ll take a 1-0 win for the rest of the season, but really hope we can start to play consistently in both halves. will be great for confidence if we manage promotion
MadisonToon
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:27 PM
Comment #17matty
A big thing we need to do is also finish off teams. We’ve only demolished QPR but we have had long strecthes in many games where we could have pushed our 1-goal advantage to 3 or 4 and we don’t take them, leaving the other team to hang around and make the end of the game tense. If we can figure out how to be lethal in those periods of games we will outscore any team in this league easily.
Average_Contents
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:35 PM
Comment #182-0 Preston now lol.
Blackley will not, I repeat, will not be happy.
I can feel the steam from here 🙂
Average_Contents
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:44 PM
Comment #19It’s not going to be 3-4 nil scorelines every week though is it because let’s face it, we’d be getting into ‘cheating at football manager’ territory with all the best player’s and winning the league with a +100 goal difference therefore qualification into the champions league,a record points total and an F.A cup win all in your first season.
What’s wrong with a gritty 0-1 or 0-2 away from home on a cold Tuesday night in Barnsley. A game where we looked in control for the majority.
Unrealistic at best. 13 year old mentality at worst.
No offence.
Munster Mag
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:45 PM
Comment #20Jail, haven’t been able to log in much. Hope all well with you. Yes, no complaints, but I do think the team is capable of more attacking performances and more goals. We have spent a lot, bought top ranked players for this league but the two holding midfieldsers is conservative. But, although u wont believe me, I’m delighted overall.
MadisonToon
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:52 PM
Comment #21I don’t think we’ll go FM2016/17 on the league, but I think missing opportunities to put games away will catch up to us in the long run – Rafa has said as much. I’m happy with 1-goal margins every game because 3 points are 3 points, but your luck will run out if you live on 1-0 victories (see Leicester City this year).
Toon Tang
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:56 PM
Comment #22Preston 3-0
That should knock the stuffing out of their Udders
clinath@ed
Oct 19, 2016 at 8:59 PM
Comment #23Got these lot twice next week….don’t want them too confidant.
Ron Knee
Oct 19, 2016 at 9:00 PM
Comment #24Red card for Bravo!
Average_Contents
Oct 19, 2016 at 9:01 PM
Comment #25Yeah, calm down now Preston you greedy barstewards.
ShirebrookToon
Oct 19, 2016 at 9:04 PM
Comment #26Keep goin Preston. Nacker ya selves out lol
Jail for Ashley
Oct 19, 2016 at 9:16 PM
Comment #27So Huddersfield have lost twice since the manager said being in the PL was unrealistic, proper Phil Brown or Moyes moment that like.
Ron Knee
Oct 19, 2016 at 9:17 PM
Comment #28Another one for Messi!
Jail for Ashley
Oct 19, 2016 at 9:18 PM
Comment #29Madison,
We are well on course to beat Readings record.
Munster,
I’m well thanks, tragic news on that coach that mind.
Novocastrian66
Oct 19, 2016 at 9:20 PM
Comment #30Shelvey is one yellow card away from a ban. As I think he won’t play against PNE in the cup he could get a “free” booking on Saturday.
Ron Knee
Oct 19, 2016 at 9:23 PM
Comment #3137th Barcelona hat-trick for Messi. Not bad!
Ron Knee
Oct 19, 2016 at 9:34 PM
Comment #32Penalty saved!
Jimmy……Jimmy……Jimmy Smith
Oct 19, 2016 at 10:32 PM
Comment #33We’re top, where we should be, but we aren’t flying. A four out of five proposition match to match, which is the percentage place to be, but still with two under firing positions, at 10 and left back even at this level.
Top ten in the EPL? I think we are 3 to 4 regulars away from that, but that is of course well within our grasp.
Average_Contents
Oct 19, 2016 at 11:19 PM
Comment #34Sorry madisontoon, that did sound bad.
Spotlight Kid
Oct 19, 2016 at 11:43 PM
Comment #35Lies, damned lies and statistics, Ed. You can read nowt into 13 games without a far more balanced underlying form offset. And BTW why were my regular stat updates on Rafa v Hoots blocked yesterday? Just wait until the winter hits, and those cold wet away pitches take their toll with injuries and results. This is going to be much closer than the current table suggests. “Many a slip etc…..”