It’s now three weeks since we last played in the Premier League and had that terrific 3-0 win over Southampton at home.
Newcastle will try to do the same thing against Huddersfield tomorrow who, like the Saints, are a point behind Newcastle before this game.
A win will take us 4 points clear of the Terriers, and that’s what we must do tomorrow afternoon – win the game.
And we don’t think Rafa will make any changes from the side that did so well in our last league game.
Islam Slimani – on the bench tomorrow?
This is the starting eleven we expect against Huddersfield:
Dubravka
Yedlin Lascelles (c) Lejeune Dummett
Ritchie Shelvey Diame Kenedy
Perez Gayle
Joselu is the only player who is injured and not available for tomorrow’s game.
We should also see Islam Slimani on the bench tomorrow, especially since Joselu is not available, and we could see the Algerian make his debut in the second half tomorrow.
Over 80% of fans think we will win this game tomorrow, but it could still be a difficult game against a well organized Terriers side.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
44 comments so far
ToonJovi
Mar 30, 2018 at 7:38 PM
Comment #1Traore looked great tonight for Middlesborough, should deffo reignite interest in the summer if they don’t get promoted! Even if he and Kenedy cost 40 mil they’d scare defenses to death!
The next Mike Williamson
Mar 30, 2018 at 7:56 PM
Comment #2I agree ToonJovi. Get those two and with a good number ten pulling the strings and a striker that can win headers and lay it off we could be pushing towards the top 6. Our defence is quite steady and would concede even less if our attacking players could take the pressure off them.
Jib
Mar 30, 2018 at 8:00 PM
Comment #3blooming heck the unwashed are 1 up !!!!!!!!!
lochinvar
Mar 30, 2018 at 8:08 PM
Comment #4Barnsley throwing away two points late on must have lifted the Mackems , just hope Derby get their act together
Jib
Mar 30, 2018 at 8:13 PM
Comment #5They’ve just flashed a stat up
This season if Derby conceded at home first
they haven’t won a game !!!!!
Jib
Mar 30, 2018 at 8:25 PM
Comment #62 nowt
The Mackems are all over Derby
Jib
Mar 30, 2018 at 8:27 PM
Comment #7! – 2 come on you Rams
Jib
Mar 30, 2018 at 8:28 PM
Comment #81 – 2 even
Jib
Mar 30, 2018 at 8:54 PM
Comment #91 – 3 oh dear
ronaldo aarons
Mar 30, 2018 at 9:15 PM
Comment #10Turkish football reports saying we’re definitely in for ozyakup from besiktas. Personally saw him going to Arsenal with wilshere supposedly on the way out. Came through their youth I think. Might be wrong.
Jail for Ashley
Mar 30, 2018 at 9:29 PM
Comment #11Eh. Wtf???
Jib
Mar 30, 2018 at 9:39 PM
Comment #12Happy Easter from Rafa Benitegg
Jib
Mar 30, 2018 at 9:43 PM
Comment #13He’s already signed a pre window agreement
https://www.haber3.com/spor/futbol/oguzhan-ozyakup-kararini-verdi-sezon-sonu-haberi-4923081
Nostradamus the Geordie
Mar 30, 2018 at 9:43 PM
Comment #14Toon Jovi, Kenedy and Traore would be some kind of magic in our team. We haven’t had a great midfield since, god I could go back to Beardo and Tino, or even Beardo, Wads and Gazza. After that honestly would have to go with Ginola, Batty, Tino and Keith. After that we had a few that could entertain and scare defenders, Solano and Laurent, but for everything needed at our club, please let us get back to the days when clubs used to say, shite we are playing at St James next weekend, we have not had that feeling forever.
Our Toon
Mar 30, 2018 at 9:47 PM
Comment #15Massive game tomorrow, we should get 3 points & that should hopefully get us to safety
Think this opinion will be unpopular but here goes:
As much as I dislike the mackems and always want us to finish above them, I would prefer it if they survived this season. We need to make the north east a hot bed / good region for football clubs like the north west is to attract players to the area. If there’s more than 1 side in top flight football from the north east then it’s better for the reputation and will attract players up here.
Also I would like to see us play 2 derby games a season and hopefully get the back to having the upper hand in those games.
Nostradamus the Geordie
Mar 30, 2018 at 9:50 PM
Comment #16If Ozyakup is also interesting Everton they have one huge feather in the cap that we don’t.
Yes, they have one player we should have signed to tie up this loose ends but MA didn’t think we needed it.
Talk about blinkers on, this is why clubs like Everton kick our ass in the transfer window, they set things up for next season.
ronaldo aarons
Mar 30, 2018 at 10:01 PM
Comment #17Jib
Is that in Turkish? I don’t understand it lol.
I could read besiktas, ozyakup and Newcastle lol. So I’m assuming it says he’s signing to us?
Nostradamus the Geordie
Mar 30, 2018 at 11:28 PM
Comment #18Ronaldo, here you go Jibs post translated. Captain O?uzhan Özyakup, who had bid with Be?ikta? and was offered to transfer from many clubs at the end of the season, gave his decision.
Oguzhan, who plans to open a new page after the clarification of the transfer issue, even though he is unhappy because he can not play, told the management that he is happy and wants to stay in Be?ikta?.
It is expected that the protocol made with Ozzie will be dumped into official format in the coming period. Despite this, however, proposals coming from British clubs in particular are devastating to young players.
Especially, it is known that Benitez, the teacher of Newcastle United, wants to transfer O?uzhan very much. Cenk Tosun’s team Everton is also among those who want Be?ikta?’s
Nicky the ball tosser
Mar 30, 2018 at 11:31 PM
Comment #19On talent Slimani goes straight in. He is obviously a step up on anything we’ve had this season. Even in his limited opportunities at Leicester he’s looked the goods. But of course Rafa needs to consider Gayle’s psyche. He can’t simply discard him because he may well need him to start if Slimani breaks down again. Gayle is a decent second striker option off the bench, but he’s been something of a problem for us as a lone striker since the day we signed him.
stan anderson
Mar 30, 2018 at 11:45 PM
Comment #20I will be delighted if we get 3 points tomorrow but as a seasoned supporter i expect the worst.Hope not though as we have a real football man in charge of the team .
Ashley OOT
ilovetoon8788
Mar 31, 2018 at 12:52 AM
Comment #213 points today will all but guarantee our survival….
hobobicus
Mar 31, 2018 at 2:25 AM
Comment #22Hey guys! I’m a very infrequent poster (about 5 times in 6 years) but I need some advice / information. Me and 2 of my friends are planning on coming up to watch the west Brom game on the 28th. But I can’t seem to find much useful information on the site for tickets. I so if anyone could help me with the following I’d be eternally grateful
1.Is this match likely to sell out before it’s on public sale and is there any chance I’d be able to get 3 seats together (doesn’t matter where I’m sat)
2.newcastle seems to limit the amount of tickets you can purchase for various matches… Should I be able to buy 3 for this game
3.i can’t seem to find any information on pricing/categories for matches. Roughly how much would it be for ticket.
Any advice would be much appreciated 🙂 been a fan since 96.but only ever been to one home game. I usually end up having to sit with the home fans of Derby or villa watching us play and it’s crushing not being able to celebrate goals 😀
jazzyp
Mar 31, 2018 at 6:41 AM
Comment #23Massive for us today boys and girls. A win pulls us clear of the relegation zone and one foot in the Pl next season.
Palace have a tough one as do Stoke. West Brom are all about gone .Southampton have a hard run in so hopefully lady luck shines through at last this season
Toondog2
Mar 31, 2018 at 7:06 AM
Comment #24Essex
Didn’t spot your post yesterday re 24 hrs to go to KO sorry
How long now ?
It’s been a rediculous wait for our next game, but I expect a fully fit ,rested and supercharged performance from the lads today
HWTL 3 points please and I’ll be ?
Toondog2
Mar 31, 2018 at 7:07 AM
Comment #25Ridiculous even
hibbit
Mar 31, 2018 at 7:29 AM
Comment #263 points today nowt else matters.
good luck toon army
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Mar 31, 2018 at 7:32 AM
Comment #27Jazzyp…have a great drive up north and enjoy the game mate 🙂
jesperfuglsang - capt'n awesome of the lemon crew
Mar 31, 2018 at 7:33 AM
Comment #28“So close, no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters” 🙂
Mag52
Mar 31, 2018 at 7:42 AM
Comment #29Have to agree with Ed’s team for today.
Expecting a draw, hoping for a win.
HWTL – IRWT.
DubaiMicky
Mar 31, 2018 at 7:56 AM
Comment #30Interview with Paul Dummett in the Times today with George Caulkin:-
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dummett-if-youre-from-the-academy-fans-assume-youre-no-good-pn6xv3c85?shareToken=0b85cc9a748545d81505de7ece085beb
Save you from registering it’s below.
It has been a long journey for Paul Dummett, although the distance is short, from Kingston Park to St James’ Park, from doubt to acceptance and, finally, to love.
At a club that dots between extremes, the left back’s reliability is unusual, but in
Newcastle United’s last match his name was sung, a fitting tribute much delayed. “It was weird,” he says. “Normally people shout, ‘Dummett, you’re shite.’ ”
A sturdy defender who relishes defending, Dummett shuns flamboyance. In an era of dashing full backs he does not offer glitter, but solidity is precisely why he is prized so highly by Rafa Benítez and his absence for 136 days this season with a hamstring injury put his worth in context. In the 12 games he has played since returning to the team, Newcastle have lost only to Manchester City and Liverpool.
Victory over Huddersfield Town today would take Newcastle to 35 points, close enough for survival to beckon. This life is all Dummett knows. “You never switch off,” he says. “I’m a fan, all my family and friends are fans, so wherever I go it’s always football. The whole city revolves around how well the team are doing. If the team gets beat, town is quiet; if the team wins, town is busy. I feel it.”
He grew up close to Newcastle’s ground. “It was Kingston Park when I was younger and then we moved to Gosforth when I was 11,” he says. “I still live there now. My first memory is playing football and my first memory as a fan is watching Alan Shearer, my hero as a kid. I had a season ticket with my dad and brother, up in level seven, which was quite a climb. I was in the East Stand for a bit as well.
“I was there when Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer had their fight on the pitch. I remember Sir Bobby Robson’s team. I was ballboy once when Laurent Robert was playing and he hoyed [threw] his gloves to one side and I picked them up. Now I’m playing and other people are watching. It’s strange when you think about it. I’ll carry on doing it for as long as the club want me.”
There have been moments when Dummett, 26, has not felt wanted at all, but he has doubled down on effort, a model of perseverance. He fought for his place, for a career, for football. “When I was six, my dad, Ian, took me to a little soccer school in Ponteland,” he says. “The weather was bad so they did it in the gym. Dad said I was like Bambi on ice. My co-ordination was terrible.
“After training Dad said, ‘Look son, I don’t think football’s for you.’ The week after, he took me to Newcastle Falcons for a bit of rugby but I said, ‘I want to go back to football.’ The next time it was on grass and totally different. Two years later, I joined Newcastle and I’ve been there ever since, apart from loans, but there have been times when I’ve wondered, ‘Am I going to get kept on, am I going to be released?’
“When I was leaving school at 16, not really knowing what was going to happen, dad would ask me, ‘What if you don’t make it? Get some extra education.’ I put it off. He knew how difficult it was to become a player. He runs a plumbing and heating company, so if it hadn’t happened I’d probably be working for the family business, like my mam and brother.
“I’d always tell my dad not to worry. I suppose I just believed the worst wouldn’t happen. It was either confidence or the kind of thing where you think, ‘Ah, it won’t be me, it’ll be someone else.’ I just had the same attitude then that I have now, that I’ll keep trying, keeping working, that I’ll give it my best shot. I always ended up staying.”
The naysayers included Alan Pardew, Newcastle’s former manager. In 2012-13, Dummett had two spells on loan at St Mirren. “When I came back at the end of the season, Pardew told me he was giving me another one-year contract but said, ‘I don’t think you’ve what it takes to play in my team.’
“It was a shock. It was one of those: there you go, another contract, but you’re not good enough. You’ve got no chance, basically.
“My response was to say, ‘It’s up to me to prove you wrong,’ and I think Pardew liked that. I’m naturally fit, but I worked even harder on my fitness and either started or came on for every pre-season game that summer. We played Manchester City in our first Premier League game, Steven Taylor was sent off and I came on. Against Liverpool, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa was sent off, I came on again and scored. The club asked me to sign a new six-year contract straight after that, which was quite a difference. It just shows what can happen. You have to be lucky to get an opportunity, but then you have to take it.”
Pardew provided the motivation and was not too rigid to block Dummett’s path to the team, but he never admitted being wrong. “No,” Dummett says. “He said nothing. When Pardew has been at other clubs there’s been some interest in taking me there, but I don’t know whether that’s always been true and I’ve never spoken to him direct.”
Under Benítez, Dummett has thrived, a mainstay during Newcastle’s promotion season. His improvement has been palpable, and there has been another contract extension. “When we were first linked with the manager, I remember thinking, ‘He’s not going to come here,’ ” Dummett admits. “It was a reminder of how big this club is. We’re lucky to have him. Hopefully we can stay up, he’ll stay and we progress. Because the fans love him so much, it’s made it easier for us. There’s pressure, but it’s a good environment. I wouldn’t say a bad word about him. He’s been nice about me, which is great when he’s achieved so much and worked with so many fantastic players. He always says he wants to strengthen, bring in another left back, I don’t have a problem with that. I want to be pushed.”
There is a stubborn determination that filters across to his international career. There have been two caps for Wales (he qualifies through his grandfather), but none since 2015. “Under Chris Coleman I was going away knowing I wouldn’t be playing,” he says. “You have to be professional, but it was difficult. I wasn’t picked for Euro 2016 but I was taken away for the friendlies and to cover for injuries until a couple of days before. I was gutted.
Dummett says that Newcastle must keep Benítez if they are to improve
“I’d be thinking to myself, ‘When am I ever going to get an opportunity?’ I didn’t feel like I had a chance, like I was part of the squad, because I wasn’t involved. I decided to have a break from it, to concentrate on playing for Newcastle. Coleman said that for as long as he was manager he would never pick me for Wales again, but it’s been a different approach from Ryan Giggs and we’ve had a conversation.
“He said that I’d get opportunities to play. No manager can guarantee games and I understand that. I told him that I wouldn’t close the door — it’s a massive honour to play for your country — but if I’d gone with Wales now, got injured and Newcastle went down, I’d have regretted it for ever. My contract is with Newcastle. I want to do the best for Newcastle, make sure we stay up. After that, I can have a rethink.”
That commitment will crystallise Dummett’s relationship with Newcastle’s supporters. He has had to work for it, work for everything. “If the club had bought me for £8 million it might have been different,” he says. “When you’ve come through the academy and cost nothing maybe they assume you’re no good. And if the team is struggling, you’re associated with it more as a local lad.
“Fans like to see attractive football and I’m never going to be taking people on, doing fancy tricks and hitting one in the top corner. I know what I can do and I know what I can’t do. I do what I can as best I can.”
It has been a slow burn, but Dummett is Newcastle’s own and they proclaimed it against Southampton three weeks ago. “I haven’t had that sort of thing before,” he says. “It’s taken a long time. It was strange when I heard it. I was buzzing. I just need to keep putting performances in, so they keep doing it and sing it louder. I’m doing what I’ve always wanted.”
jasper
Mar 31, 2018 at 7:57 AM
Comment #31Hobobicus
Tickets will be on NUFC.co.uk
https://tickets.nufc.co.uk/
WBA not up for sale yet
When they go on sale there is a window in which only members can buy them. Then general sale. But the can in effect sell out before general sale especially for three seats together.
Not sure about the whole price range from Platinum club to the least popular spots, Go look on the site above at the price of tickets for the Everton game (assuming that there are any left). Platinum are circa £52 I think.
I have two memberships which should be good for up to four tickets. Happy to assist, but you will need to ask Ed to send me your e-mail address.
AncientC
Mar 31, 2018 at 8:45 AM
Comment #32Anybody else getting ‘discover Majorca’ adverts on this blog? You go looking for football news and end up reading about deals for nudist colonies, but hey, why not.
AncientC
Mar 31, 2018 at 8:56 AM
Comment #33‘Gareth Bale is edging closer to a Premier League return with Real Madrid keen to sell the 28-year-old Wales forward this summer. (Sky Sports)’
There is only 1 Premier League club that is stupid enough to pay through the nose for a 29 year old (turns 29 in the summer before Jib starts) with back problems, and it isn’t Manchester City. I wouldn’t even want Bale at Newcastle according to what it was would cost per game, or more accurately, what it would cost per goal/assist.
martoon
Mar 31, 2018 at 8:58 AM
Comment #34hobobicus – What Jasper said but get yourself a log in for the tickets on NUFC.co.uk then you can see when they go on sale and buy them. Also I think you can buy a membership quite cheaply which means you can buy tickets earlier and more chance of 3 together. Nufc.com also shows dates when tickets become available.
DubaiMicky
Mar 31, 2018 at 9:00 AM
Comment #35Ancient, you do know how Google Ads (and similar programs) work don’t you?
It looks at your history, emails it sends you, your location, and loads of other stuff it’s pulled from your profiles on the net.
Then targets your likes or perceived likes to your meta profile.
Not saying owt but…..
AncientC
Mar 31, 2018 at 9:03 AM
Comment #36Mickey (“No!” it’s Micky without an ‘e,’ oy vey), yes, I know how advertising works.
martoon
Mar 31, 2018 at 9:07 AM
Comment #37AncientC – The adverts are tailored from your browser history so goodness knows what you’ve been looking at
DubaiMicky
Mar 31, 2018 at 9:10 AM
Comment #38But hey Ancient, just click on it and Ed gets a fraction of a cent (I’m guessing you have been).
AncientC
Mar 31, 2018 at 9:11 AM
Comment #39I reckon my slate is fairly clean if I am getting adverts for holidays to Spain and Spanish Islands. Maybe it’s a warning sign that Ibizatoon is reading but not contributing (which cannot last long).
Jail for Ashley
Mar 31, 2018 at 9:17 AM
Comment #40hobobicus
If you can’t be bothered to faff around on the internet like me you can ring them on SJP Box Office phone: 0844 372 1892*
(7p per minute plus network charge)
* 0044 870 444 1892 from overseas