A Summer Slumped in the Depths of Hell

The Chronicle's John Gibson gets this about right:

Let us not pussyfoot around - this has been a summer slumped in the depths of hell.  A close season which has drained all hope and ripped to shreds the dreams of Geordies everywhere. Consider it and weep – an owner Mike Ashley who has, for a dozen years, brought nought but two relegations, a top class manager Rafa Benitez who has left in abject frustration, club top goalscorer Ayoze Perez sold, and his sidekick Salomon Rondon allowed to depart when he was desperate to stay. Has there ever been such a gut wrenching, demoralising summer of discontent?

Gibson then goes on to review summers that might actually have been worse but that does not really concern us here.  Steve Bruce is in as manager, the sale of the club looks pretty much dead in the water and the chaos surrounding the club has meant a slow start to the transfer season.  I don't really care that 1984 might have been worse.

To be fair on one point, the transfer season to date has been basically quiet all around the league.  Sure, Man City got midfielder Rodri and Spurs signed center mid Ndombele.  Harry Maguire may be on his way to Man United for £80 million.  Fabian Delph to Everton I guess is meaningful.

New Newcastle striker? (picture credit - Getty)

To be even fairer, Newcastle looked poised to sign Joe Linton Joelinton, a 22 year old Brazilian striker currently playing for Hoffenheim, as early as today (7/23).  At about £36 million, he would be a record signing for the club.  Reports had him Tyneside on Wednesday, further fueling speculation he'll be aboard soon.  He looks like a reasonable, possibly better, replacement for Perez.  The fact that Ashley is letting Bruce spend this much is encouraging.   All we need now is a playmaker, some help in the midfield and depth for the back line.  Shouldn't take more than three to five additional signings.  Lots of time before transfer deadline of August 8th.  For a smooth functioning franchise like Newcastle, this should be no problem at all.

No, I'm still not bitter...


Embarrassment of Riches

Perusing pre-season results for Newcastle, I have discovered Sean Longstaff has a younger brother Matty who also plays for the Magpies.  In fact, they teamed up in the midfield in a recent 1-0 win over West Ham.    Always good to have an extra Longstaff on the bench.


Union Bounce Back from Stinker in SLC

We actually had advance warning that things might not go well for the Union in Salt Lake City.  BFS Travel Coordinator Jeff K reported that the flight to Utah was delayed and the players did not get in until late.  It's as good an excuse as any.  They were awful.  Zero shots on target.  Can't find any highlights because Jim Curtin had the game films burned, believing that there was nothing they could learn from them.  Part of that is true.  Missing Wagner, Monteiro and Ilsinho didn't exactly help the cause.

Things were better - but not great - back in sweltering Philly on Saturday night against Chicago.  The Fire's attack featured ex-Union players Sapong and Herbers.  Kind of nice to see someone playing with our "cast-offs" instead of the other way around.  Still missing Monteiro but at least Wagner was back.  He was credited with both assists in the 2-0 win.  The first was a simple pass to Fabian on the free kick play that looked right off the training ground.  Fabian blistered a shot from about 25 yards that eluded everyone.  An easy pick for this week's YouTubeableMoment.  His second assist required much more work, as you can see here; yes, a touch lucky but deserved given how Wagner made it happen.  Otherwise not really a great performance but an important home win against a lesser opponent.  Fabian hasn't been consistently good but maybe flashes of brilliance like that goal will be enough.

Atlanta, Red Bulls and NYCFC are creeping closer but the Union still sit top of the table in late July.  At least somebody's summer is going well.


Remember Chester?

Too much other stuff kept me away from Football Manager for an extended period but we are back and it is April 6 on the virtual calendar.  The Board's goals for the team (compete for EPL title, make FA Cup finals and make Champions League semi-finals) have left precious little room for error.  They don't care about the League Cup so of course we won that pretty easily, routing Newcastle 5-0.  This gives us the Football Manager Tiger Slam (explained here) - we are currently EPL, FA Cup and Champions League title holders from last year. 

The challenges have been managing the psychology of the team and physical injuries.  With so many fixtures, I went with a large squad which has two drawbacks - complaints about playing time and difficulty in gelling with so many different line ups.  Our record also makes overconfidence a big problem.  Case in point.  In advance of critical fixtures versus Roma and Liverpool we stumbled through a 0-0 draw with lowly Birmingham.  But four days later we pounded Roma to advance to the Champions League quarters and three days after that we snatched a 1-0 win at Anfield to retake first place in the EPL.  So right now, the quad is still a possibility.


Road Warriors

Two critical away matches for the Union on successive weekends.  This Saturday they travel north to Montreal (8 pm).  On the plus side, Montreal have a US Open Cup match on Wednesday. On the negative side, Wagner will be missing due to accumulation of yellow cards.  At 538, they have Montreal as the favorite.  The following week it's down to DC for a Sunday night match (7:30).  538 likes DC in that one too.   I'd be happy if we could steal a couple of draws.

In case there's no post before then, the MLS All-Stars will take on Atletico Madrid on 7/31 (8 pm FS1).  Might be a fun watch.  Who says we don't cover La Liga?