Newcastle travel to Brentford today after tallying a well-deserved point against league leaders Liverpool on Wednesday. While it’s been a rollercoaster start to the campaign, Newcastle can do themselves a lot of good with a victory over the Bees; a club they’ve had a lot of away success against recently.
This is the team Eddie Howe has selected for today’s clash. It has two changes from the midweek draw with Harvey Barnes and Sean Longstaff in for Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali.
Today's team to take on Brentford. ? pic.twitter.com/DHyS5TJgVP
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) December 7, 2024
Here is the side Bees boss Thomas Frank has named.
? Your Bees to take on Newcastle pic.twitter.com/ZHfqOzjzLb
— Brentford FC (@BrentfordFC) December 7, 2024
A win should see Newcastle comfortably placed in the top ten with a platform to build upon. However, the Brentford will be eager to carve the same path for themselves. A top performance is needed to get Newcastle on track for a push for Europe.
Howay The Lads!
1,067 comments so far
Raj of Hailsley
Dec 8, 2024 at 12:42 PM
Comment #321John J,
There’s a model they use called the Swiss cheese model when one hole in a piece of cheese can’t cause any bother, keep adding holes and eventually they’ll line up leading to an accident. You can’t solely point the finger to Staveley leaving at causing the unsettling time at the club but that event was one of many.
jimiley
Dec 8, 2024 at 12:45 PM
Comment #322It’s time to go. Raj and Mund in tandem. Two too many
Raj of Hailsley
Dec 8, 2024 at 12:48 PM
Comment #323Some people think sacking Howe is the answer. I think backing him is. Hopefully the owners will back him in January.
Solano slice
Dec 8, 2024 at 12:51 PM
Comment #324Backing him is definitely the answer but will it happen I have my doubts about January as it’s notoriously hard to buy at reasonable prices.
IMO if they wait till the summer it will be too late for Howe
Charlie in the Gallowgate
Dec 8, 2024 at 12:52 PM
Comment #325Yes Howe frustrates me with his decisions but I do not want him sacked.
I think we are not a kick in the ass of turning it around – creating chances not taking them seems to be our biggest problem
Please not more Mourhino shite – hate the guy hate his football
Hibbit
Dec 8, 2024 at 12:56 PM
Comment #326Charlie if folk think Mourhino is the answer god help us,
Raj of Hailsley
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:03 PM
Comment #327Hibbit,
There is no magic formula to hiring the next Slot, Spurs with a revenue twice ours have had to go through Nuno who was simply not good enough there, Conte and Mourinho who they hated before settling on this latest clown who has now fallen right out of grace. Spurs and Man U fans before Amorim, would have snapped your hand off for Howe and the star rated Portuguese hasn’t exactly got off to a flyer has he? Oh wait, he’ll be able to sp@nk £200M in the summer without having to worry about selling Fernandes, Mainoo or Diallo.
Raj of Hailsley
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:05 PM
Comment #328Oh, and for the record Slot turned down Spurs before they had to actually pay Celtic for Ange mate!
Essex Geordie Bill
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:07 PM
Comment #329If we have to sell Miley cos of PSR then do not be surprised If Eddie decides to walk.
Essex Geordie Bill
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:08 PM
Comment #330NUFC do not appear to be showing the lasses on the official site!
lesh
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:20 PM
Comment #331Mund
You seem.unable to grasp the fact that a person’s name does not confirm its gender!
lesh
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:23 PM
Comment #332Essex
Failing to sell players who seem surplus yo requirements may not be down to a lack of will but a lack of real buyer interest at the terms required.
Mund
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:27 PM
Comment #333Lesh
So man or woman is abuse ok…?
Now do what you always do and hide behind your rock and never answer the above question.
You’ve shot more abuse to others on here down the years than I’ve ever got close to.
Get a life
magicmac54
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:35 PM
Comment #334Raj Jail@313
100% correct mate, it really was a collective of mishaps that really conspired against us in the last window which clearly did not contribute to us going into the season in a positive frame of mind, i honestly don`t think we can lay the blame at Eddie Howe`s door for all these unforeseen circumstances that conspired against us in the Summer!!
I never comply with blind loyalty, as trust has to be earned, Eddie like all managers has his faults, but for me he still has my trust and loyalty, as i also never agree with knee jerk reactions,
i think he at least deserves the rest of the season to turn the tide.
PS Great to have you back on board young fella.
HWTL
Mund
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:41 PM
Comment #335Magic
You truly are the voice of reason my friend.
I wish there was more of you in the world pal.
Raj of Hailsley
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:46 PM
Comment #336Good afternoon magicmac54,
If Howe had of been backed in the summer I would have been totally onboard with Eales’ unofficial marker of Europe as a minimum, but that challenge became null and void when his claim of a transformative window just didn’t happen. If Howe had of got given the tools for the job in hand I would be asking why we were 12th going in to Christmas, but he wasn’t so I won’t. Any manager replacing him will expect to get backing before agreeing terms (unless we’re taking a blind punt on a total unknown) so why not give those funds to Howe who has already done the business for us.
Mund
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:53 PM
Comment #337Exactly Raj!
People who want to just blindly go into the unknown and take that risk with a new manager just don’t get it.
Poet Of Prudhoe Park
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:53 PM
Comment #338Crusty eyed kunt your master beats his wife everyday.. well every hour to be exact
Rotonda heights
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:54 PM
Comment #339Backing him. Hmmm. So that 450m spent was scotch mist and not a reason why we nearly crashed psr.
We have Tonali and Barnes worth nearly 100m sat on the bench most games. Howe spent 40m on Barnes when we already had LW’s and badly needed a RW and a RCB. I wouldn’t trust him with any more £.
We had 242m more worth of players v CP and probably more v Brentford.
Giving extended contracts to the 2 slowest CB’s and wanting to keep kt, cw, ma, sl etc is screwing us with psr.
Getting really tired of this Howe is untouchable bs.
With 450m he had a great 18 months and that was it.
Staveley leaving isn’t making us play 433 every match or never playing a 6 to cover our wide open midfield which gets regularly swamped or our best players looking like they don’t want to be here
any more.
We are hopeless on set pieces and can’t keep the bull. If players are not putting it in like they were 2 years ago then that’s on Howe who gets paid the big bucks.
Technically and tactically Howe is not an elite manager and it would probably take losing to Bromley to make people realise that.
Rotonda heights
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:55 PM
Comment #340Ball
Raj of Hailsley
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:57 PM
Comment #341Rotonda,
£450M was spent on a squad that suffered 14 years of neglect under Ashley. Have you even looked how much our competitors have spent in that time.
jane
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:58 PM
Comment #342elite manager is a subjective label like world class. it’s just an opinion.
Mund
Dec 8, 2024 at 1:59 PM
Comment #343Neglected for 14 years which we are still feeling the effect of… Howe’s fault 🙄
Raj of Hailsley
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:00 PM
Comment #344Rotonda,
We’re not an elite club.
terencelim
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:08 PM
Comment #345How crazy some people put the blame on Ashley instead of untouchable EH after 450m was spent and 3 years was given.
Rotonda heights
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:14 PM
Comment #346Mund
But, but you said ashworth wasn’t leaving us and we were bedwetters saying he was. Oh well , do you think it’s time to play with a 6 and a 10 and work on 3rd man running and set pieces?
lochinvar
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:17 PM
Comment #347Miley is not going anywhere.
Time maybe up for Tripper, Miggy, possibly Longstaff although he’s worthy of a squad place.
Daresay there’s a few keepers and a couple of others lurking who need to move on.
Coaches might need a revamp ?
magscar
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:18 PM
Comment #348I think it’s a reasonable assumption as I’ve previously poated that our transfer strategy unravelled in Summer for a variety of reasons
Whilst Eddie would have been party to the identification of targets for months ( that’s how it works) he wouldn’t any longer have been a key negotiator aa Club had necessarily moved on since first window after TO
We had disruption at boardroom level with Ashworth jumping ship then difficulty in replacing him for months
PSR giving us a massive fright and a course correction was necessary
Amanda and Mehrdad left ( I believe it was their regrettable but realistic decision)
Having lost out on our other expected free signing Toisin and desperate for a ball playing CB with pace we were forced to switch to an expensive alternative
That put the necessary (but less so at first ) chase for a RW on hold whilst a CB fee resolved and cost us vital time in hindsight by Palace thinking we would eventually give in
Eddie says in the Jordan (long ) interview that Guehi had not been the only target but it ended that way as window had moved on
Yes the window ended as a fiasco but not necessarily of our making and after a fruitless January 24 window we faced this season without a big new signing- which had been trailed
So OK I’m as frustrated as anyone with our inconsistency especially in a season where because of other clubs failings we are missing a golden opportunity to prosper
Without sales in January I wonder if Eddie can get some players in and if not does he have the answers in that squad?
Eddie isn’t blameless and ultimately may pay the price at the end what will be a pivotal season
I remain of the view that he is not the finished article and has room to improve himself and us but we all know this is a results business
Despite yesterday’s poor performance and result we are currently 7 points off Man City and 4th place have 2 good draws in cups so if we sort out our inconsistent performances the season can be rescued with over half a season to go
Without Eddie coming up with the right formula and/ or January incomings that is unlikely to happen though
As I type this I can’t help but come to the inevitable conclusion that despite failings in 2 successive windows the real culprit and an ongoing one is PSR and the strangle hold it has, does and will continue to impose on us
A new manager could bring some initial and lower level change but breaking into top 6 on a regular basis won’t be done for a few years yet unless and until a truer Sustainablity regime is in place
Mund
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:20 PM
Comment #349It’s crazy how some people can’t fathom how 14 years of neglect has really hampered this club. If not for Eddie Howe we could have been off a lot worse. Could these so called elite managers done the same of what Eddie achieved in this first 8 month?
If it wasn’t for a corrupt league trying to halt the progress of us at every turn we’d have more top players and we would be challenging in the top tier of the league every year however that isn’t the case and we have to sell players to buy players when we have willing owners wanting to spend more. It’s barking mad and not fit for purpose.
Eddie will tell you himself right now it isn’t good enough and he isn’t tying to pretend it is however he has been left high and dry by Eales comments in the summer of a transformative window to the go two windows with no backing. How many of the top clubs has that happened too? Dare say all have recruited in both those windows. This is what Eddie has to compete against and you think he should be what..?
Small World
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:21 PM
Comment #350Small margins. Should we have won yesterday 2-3 or 3-4, both conceivable. We’d be sitting one place and a couple of points off a European spot. Unfortunately that would be a case of papering over the cracks. There are clearly problems with the team at the minute moment. It’s down to EH to get it right. It’s also learly a mentality problem with the players, not an ability one. Our results against “top 6 teams” this year back this up.
I can’t believe this talk of possible relegation, or us being nailed on as a mid table team. EH has the ability to get us into Europe. He’s done it before, he can do it again. It’s quite clear a run of 3 or 4 wins gets us back into contention. Whether or not that is achievable right now is the key question.
It’s a very open season. I note the current 11th , 12th, and 13th place teams with some interest.
Rotonda heights
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:21 PM
Comment #351Wow, mund calling himself a normal supporter.
Well we do need a laugh I suppose.
Funnily enough you only started slagging ashworth off after he left.
magicmac54
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:23 PM
Comment #352Mund & Raj Jail
Good afternoon lads,
I remember Alex Ferguson had been at Man Utd for 4 years and results had been very poor, all the Man Utd fan base were looking Ferguson sacked, all the British media were saying if they lost the FA Cup game at Nottingham Forest in 1990 he was getting the sack, they won that game with Mark Robins scoring, you know the rest of that story lads,
For me Eddie Howe definitely deserves the rest of the season.
On that story about Ferguson, i wish he had been sacked, it might have spared us some grief lads 😀 😀
HWTL
Mund
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:25 PM
Comment #353RH
You’re so full of shit lad. You’ve gone to a new level now. Lost the plot.
You’re just repeating what the eejit said as I never once said he wasn’t leaving us. If me saying I don’t believe anything in the media unless it’s reported by the trust worthy lot and nobody should ever believe either, translates to me saying Ashworth isn’t going then you really are clutching.
Will you ever have a time in your life were you don’t constantly fluff others day in and day out? I hope for your sake you do.
Mund
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:26 PM
Comment #354Funny enough I did only start slagging him off after he left because he was a rat 😆
When the news broke of what he had done I absolutely slagged him off! And so did every other fan knowing what he had done.
Are you ok RH mate?
Mund
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:28 PM
Comment #355RH
Can I just ask what is it with you and your WUM mates who all say we and us when stating an observation or opinion…?
😆 are you that full of yourself you just assume every one agrees with you?
magscar
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:31 PM
Comment #356Whether or not any poster believes Eddie is an Elite manager makes no difference (he’s not but still maybe could be?)
If he goes does anyone realistically think that given the obvious stranglehold that PSR now undoubtedly imposes on us that we could attract a supposed elite manager anyway
Best we can hope for is someone like Eddie who could in time achieve that accolade
With the inherent changes that would flow from a new appointment and no guarantee that he would bring immediate success it’s not a decision which I feel Mitchell/PSR would take lightly
Mund
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:32 PM
Comment #357Magic
Aye mate Fergie was literally on the verge of the sack and as you say mate the rest is history… would definitely of saved us some pain down the years.
Howe needs to be backed in January and then see how the season plays out.
Small World
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:33 PM
Comment #358I’ve always been of the opinion that EH was being tested this season, in as far as being made to get by with a squad that had comparatively failed last year due to injuries. The injury problem has gone to a large extent.
PSR has hobbled us, however that may not be the only factor in not backing EH. Maybe he’s having his mettle tested. In which case, so far he is coming up short right now.
If the club do decide to pull the trigger with him either in Jan or at the end of the season, I don’t expect a long search for a replacement. They’ll have one lined up.
Raj of Hailsley
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:47 PM
Comment #359Good read magscar!
Raj of Hailsley
Dec 8, 2024 at 2:51 PM
Comment #360Small World,
That might sound like a good plot in a footballing comic but the reality is that any footballing person knows that if you don’t add to a squad it risks becoming stale, I’m not sure why anyone would think it a good idea to hamstring the manager just to see how he’d cope, that is no way to run a football club. If we want to talk about Slot at Lpool they’d brought in a whole new MF at a huge cost just a summer before.