Eddie Howe will give his press conference ahead of Watford on Friday. It will be interesting to hear the team news with so many players missing over the past few weeks due to injuries and Covid.
Howe, of course, has two new arrivals with Kieran Trippier confirmed last Friday and Chris Wood in the door this morning. Trippier made his debut against Cambridge in the FA Cup last weekend.
Wood trained with the lads today so any ill-effects from the groin injury he suffered in Burnley’s 2-1 FA Cup defeat against Huddersfield appears to be minimal. The striker was replaced at half-time.
Newcastle’s push to land a center-back this week appears to have come up short. There’s no movement on our pursuit of Diego Carlos or Benoit Badiashile. Sevilla are reluctant to sell their defender while Monaco want upwards of £50m for Badiashile.
There has also been no reported progress in talks for Hugo Ekitike. Newcastle were reportedly close to a deal to bring the 19-year-old prodigy to Tyneside. The striker missed Reims’ 0-0 stalemate at Clermont Foot on Sunday due to a red card suspension.
A couple of midfielders have hit the headlines today. The Manchester Evening News is reporting that Donny van de Beek’s representatives have sounded out both Newcastle and Dortmund over their interest in the Dutchman. On Wednesday, Luke Edwards reported that both Van de Beek and former-Magpie Giorginio Wijnaldum have come up in discussions on Tyneside.
At the moment, Manchester United are unwilling to sanction an exit for van de Beek while Wijnaldum has been linked with Arsenal. Both would be excellent loan signings but will probably not move until late in the window, if at all.
On Wednesday, The Mail reported that Newcastle were interested in RB Leipzig’s Amadou Haidara. However, the 23-year-old’s £33m release clause is not active until the summer.
There is another report today that Newcastle may try to land the box to box midfielder in this window. If Newcastle can convince Leipzig to sell the Mali international for a reasonable fee in January, this could be one to watch in the coming weeks.
For many, the focus is narrowing in on the six-pointer against Watford. Newcastle are desperate for three points and could climb out of the bottom three with a victory.

221 comments so far
Munster Mag
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:15 PM
Comment #1First
TTB@W ARMY
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:15 PM
Comment #2Night night
Munster Mag
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:16 PM
Comment #3The Boy Munster….. Class.
The Prince's Mate
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:22 PM
Comment #4Tavares off the pitch….Arsenal must be missing an angel…. coat…ta..
TTB@W ARMY
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:24 PM
Comment #5https://twitter.com/ToonMouthTyne/status/1481737886944931843?s=20
Yes please.
Night night this time.
The Prince's Mate
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:24 PM
Comment #6Pool are playing like a team of frustrated bin dippers
jimiley
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:26 PM
Comment #7Take Salah and mane out bindipper team and they are nowt special.
Arsenal are a good team. Taken game to pool with 10 men.
Just looked at our record against Watford. Scarily bad. I thought it was Liverpool!!
Must win game and we will. Wood brace
jimiley
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:29 PM
Comment #8Bindippers have great forward line, top full backs and the best centre back in world. The rest are average .top keeper as well
The Prince's Mate
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:32 PM
Comment #9Salah claims he’s not’wanting stupid stuff regarding his contract (or words to that effect).If Messi and Ronaldo were making nigh on a mil a week in their prime why shouldn’t he expect to make something close to that?…I don’t like the bindippers but pool’are lost without him
beermonkey
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:33 PM
Comment #10mund
where has talk of a marquee signing come from i see you keep mentioning it
TTB@W ARMY
not so sure i wanna lose almiron
its a shame he never found his scoring boots like he had for his last club but he could prove to be a great squad player for us going forward
jimiley
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:34 PM
Comment #11We have not won at Liverpool since the mid nineties. Next win there will be in three years time when we will not sneak a win but beat them man for man
Adamn_92
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:34 PM
Comment #12Rumours Burnley are after Carroll as a replacement for Wood.
I bloody hope not. You just know somehow it would haunt us with him bagging loads. Mind you, be interesting if it came down to last game of the season and he was asked to play against us!
The Prince's Mate
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:35 PM
Comment #13Don’t like the gooners but Arteta has them playing out their skin…well done
The Prince's Mate
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:36 PM
Comment #14Arsenal v The Alamo….tremendous tv
jimiley
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:38 PM
Comment #15Salad is the best forward in the world. Forward not striker. Complete player. Goal scorer and assists and link play. Take him over Mbappe and Neymar. Messi and Ron are past best
If the bindippers will not pay 400k a week the Sheikh should step in in summer when we stay up
jimiley
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:40 PM
Comment #16That last game is media red herring. It will not matter by then. Watford and Burnley will be down
Mund
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:43 PM
Comment #17beer
Pete Graves mentioned it on the transfer talk podcast. They are looking at a CM for a marquee signing apparently.
Raj of Hailsley
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:46 PM
Comment #18Chris Wood seems the most pleasant of chaps, always had respect for him, despite not knowing I’d seen him at SJP in 2012 until I checked the team sheet when trying to remember that Brazilian LB I couldn’t remember the name of and seeing Wood on the list. Also despite seeing the tw@t 😀 score against us that Friday night, and costing me a grand while doing so 😕 always seemed a good honest pro. Came across really well in that interview and I think he’s going to become a whole lot more appreciated than he was at Burnley!!!
Fenham to Chalfont
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:47 PM
Comment #19Apologies for the repost as I called away whilst typing and lost me way lol…
Evening all,
Bit if a catch up that was on the blog and some good criac amongst it all.
Agbonlahor haha what a clown, making a fool of himself yet again. What is it with some of these so called pundits? Nothing but trolls, how can we take them seriously. You can put bugger lugs in that category also…Gary linekar. Jealousy pure and simple sad fookers.
I read a poster wanting us to sign Defoe lol. Nah thanks let the mackems have him.
Nice to see the teams are flying out to KSA after the Leeds game. Nice PR and access to some of the most state of the art training facilities in tbe world. The lads who’ve been here for a while won’t know what’s hit them. They’ll probably start jumping in the wheelie bins and realise it’s full of rubbish as that’s the bins real purpose lol seriously though We should hopefully have another 4-5 players in by then too. So a great chance to team bond out there and get to know each other. Great move it is
?
Really looking forward to the Watford game now. I think we will get straight into them right from the off. Wood is the missing link up front IMO, Watford won’t enjoy marking him as he’ll be up for this more than ever before. He will want to prove himself and will be on another level, a huge threat which we’ve not had since Ferguson. HWTL!
beermonkey
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:50 PM
Comment #20mund
interesting
could it be someone like van de beek while manure may not wanna deal with us they have alot of saudi sponsorship
and it wont be a loan player a loan player is not a marquee signing
onmeedsun
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:53 PM
Comment #21We have a long history of toon supporting Geordies scoring against us at critical times. Teaurt (how the eff do you spell his name!), Fenton, so please not Carroll.
JP...from The Rock
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:55 PM
Comment #22I realy hope they don’t see an aging and injury prone Ramsey as our marquee signing! He might be good as a loan signing though but that’s all.
beermonkey
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:55 PM
Comment #23jail
i have a feeling woods is gonna do well for us we create alot more than burnley
our problem is getting in the net
jimiley
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:57 PM
Comment #24I hope Arsenal beat bindippers. They win too much. And that 4. 3 rankles like hell. But bindippers did great business getting 150 million for Coutinho and invested it brilliantly. Same with Villa and grealish. He is never worth 100 million. Maybe 40. Cannot go outside the fullback as insufficient pace and always cuts inside. Well he might go outside Richie.
check the toastie
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:57 PM
Comment #25I think Ramsey will end up here. Lets face it, hes some upgrade for Sean Longstaff. Need legs in behind him though. Jonjo is paddling again needs replacing sharpish
Munster Mag
Jan 13, 2022 at 9:59 PM
Comment #26Oh dear, I saw Tuert score that goal, and obviously Fenton.
jimiley
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:00 PM
Comment #27The toon seems to be everybody’s fall guy. When the commentator says somebody has not scored for 5 years that’s the kiss of death for us,
Hopefully the times are a changing
Raj of Hailsley
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:01 PM
Comment #28For anyone that doesn’t know or isn’t a regular on the blog. I put £100 on Dwight Gayle becoming top scorer in the Championship, that was before his brace against Reading(which I missed) 10/1. It was footin quids in until he got injured at Brentford (which I was at. Daryl Murphy excellent Rafa signing 😀 ) then that bloody Chris Wood just kept knocking them in 27 and Dwight 21 unless anyone has a more correct figure 😀
beermonkey
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:11 PM
Comment #29jail
see if you can meet him after the game sat maybe he will give you your stake back
i bet he he is feeling a bit flush at the mo
ToonDarnSarf
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:12 PM
Comment #30Hands down the most ludicrous goal against us from a player who previously played for us was Lua-Lua. 10 points to the first person who remembers why…
beermonkey
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:16 PM
Comment #31toondarn
younger or elder
The mighty wyn
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:16 PM
Comment #32Cos lua lua was on loan from us
ToonDarnSarf
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:19 PM
Comment #33The mighty wyn – 10 points! Just the most ridiculous loan, when the player was still eligible to play against us and actually scored! I wonder how many times that ever happened. I think the PL changed the rules some time after that and players are not allowed to play against their parent team.
onmeedsun
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:19 PM
Comment #34TDS
Wasn’t he on loan at Brighton. Was it a cup game so allowed to play against us.
onmeedsun
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:19 PM
Comment #35WYN
Too quick for me!
DaraghL
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:19 PM
Comment #36Looks like you’ve logged off but on the off chance enjoy the match Magic. Only made it over for the Burnley game so far this year. Hopefully you bring the luck of the Irish this time ha!
NY Mag
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:20 PM
Comment #37Magic,
safe travels tomorrow mate and have a magic weekend!!!
Lascelles sells sea shells by the sea shore
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:21 PM
Comment #38He was on loan at Portsmouth and eligible to play against us in the league… You know I think that’s the only time I think anything like that has ever happened… Had to be us… It was the Ashley era wasn’t it?
DaraghL
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:22 PM
Comment #39I remember watching that game in Madrid. Always thought Kazenga would be a starter for us too which rubbed it in. Could have sworn it was a cup game. Brighton really have been a bogey team for us.
Lascelles sells sea shells by the sea shore
Jan 13, 2022 at 10:22 PM
Comment #40They changed the rules the following season meaning loans couldn’t play against parent clubs by default