[NoSkillz]

Wed. December 29, 2021

Barclays Premier League
Newcastle (6-3-10, 21 points, 13th) vs. Dover (10-5-4, 35 points, 4th)
St. James' Park, Newcastle, UK

Betting Odds: Newcastle: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: 2-1 Dover: 13-8
Past Meetings: 2W 1D 2L

Newcastle are the narrowest of favourites as we begin the second half of the season. We defeated them 2-1 in our season opener at home, needing an extra time goal from Gianluca Bolis to put them away despite dominating. Newcastle are coming off a fine 4-0 home win against Blackburn in their last game so confidence is high. Stanislas Vigneau has 12 goals and is their danger man up front.

We have an FA Cup 3rd round match coming up on the weekend against Middlesbrough so I'll use some of my depth in that game. Today we'll go with the same lineup as the last two games and stick with the counter attack mentality on the road. We need to score the first goal today...

Dover: 4-4-2 Counter
GK - I. Wilke
D - R. Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - A. Bamba, Mancini, N. Cairney, G. Bolis
S - S. Andrea, Z. Bardi
Bench - J. Varga, J. Kuciak, P. Tjiuoro, K. Kalfas, A. Zubizarreta, C. Murray, G. Gesios

Newcastle are in a 4-2-3-1 (4-4-2 DM) formation with Vigneau up front. I concur with my assistant: "we can win today!". I pull aside our strikers and tell them I have faith in their abilities.

4' - We work a quick counter, with Renato Gaucho sending a long ball up the field to Zoltan Bardi. He marches into the box and sends a rocket that is stopped by Jak Alnwick, the Newcastle keeper.

7' - Kind of the opposite thing from recent games, as we're allowing Newcastle to maintain possession but we're operating some quick deadly counters. We steal possession in our end and spring Shanon Andrea up field. He moves through the defence and gets a hard shot off that Alnwick saves. Andrea tries to pounce on the rebound but shoots into the side netting.

10' - Again, we pounce on a Newcastle mistake at midfield and Andrea storms into their territory. Alnwick again makes a brilliant stop and it's behind the goal. We do nothing with the corner.

16' - Now it's Gianluca Bolis making a great half field run through the defence but his shot is weak and easily saved and held by Alnwick.

18' - Arsene Bamba gets a yellow card and my assistant says that he's "persistently fouling". Time to dial it down Arsene...

43' - We have an extended period of possession in their end, with a couple of corners and two free kicks and it culminates in a fierce blast from Neil Cairney from just outside the area that Alnwick brilliantly saves. The rebound comes to Andrea in tight but he's ruled offsides. Alnwick is something else...

45'+1 - We have a throw in at midfield and Loucif throws to Bardi. Ross Barkley misses a tackle on him and that allows Bardi to move up field. He passes to Shanon Andrea in the middle and he immediately sends a through ball to the right side of the penalty area to a streaking Gianluca Bolis. He's on a poor angle but he's in on goal and he drives the ball low into the short side of the net past Alnwick for the dramatic, injury time goal! DOVER GOAL 1-0

HALFTIME - The possession numbers look ugly but the shots definitely tell the tale. Newcastle hold 55% of possession but do nothing with it - we outshoot them 16-5 (7-0 on target), as our counter attack game is working on all cylinders. Yeah, it would be nice to have a couple more goals but at least we got one at the end of the half - we deserved that one. I tell the team I'm pleased.

Newcastle come out in a 4-4-2 diamond formation to start the second half.

48' - Neil Cairney with an ugly foul and he earns the yellow.

56' - Bardi is hurt making a tackle and needs treatment. We're controlling much more of the play in the second half but have had no great chances, just some shots from distance that have been off-target.

60' - We win a free kick and Cairney crosses into the box. Claudio Contreras sends a wicked header at goal but it hits the crossbar, drops down to the goal line and is cleared out. What a header that was!

64' - I take out Bardi and bring in Giorgos Gesios.

69' - Gianluca Bolis with a yellow now.

73' - We have a free kick and send it up to Gesios. He turns on the defender and bolts in with a shot that Alnwick saves.

75' - We hit Newcastle on a counter and Andrea sends in a RIDICULOUS pass to Gesios. He looks offsides but there's no flag up but Alnwick STONES Gesios with a massive save! "How did he miss that", says the announcer! Wow! This goalkeeper is incredible.

82' - Cameron Murray is in for Arsene Bamba.

87' - Wilke is called upon to save a header off a corner but it's weak and right at him. We've limited them to very few chances. We work up field off Wilke's throw and Andrea once again feeds Gesios and from point blank range, he's stymied AGAIN by Alnwick. He's made at least 12 saves I'm guessing by this point. What do we have to do to score?!?!

90'+1 - AGAIN!!! Holy crap. Gesios takes a corner and Claudio Contreras RIPS it on the volley and Alnwick makes the stop. Can we intentionally FOUL goalkeepers? If that kid isn't man of the match, something is wrong...

Man. Good match but I think i need some medicine to calm down.

Newcastle 0 - 1 Dover
Goals - Gianluca Bolis (8.0)
Assists - Shanon Andrea (6.9)
Man of the Match - Gianluca Bolis
Other Dover Notables - Rayane Hamon (7.4), Claudio Contreras (7.1), Neil Cairney (7.0)
Attendance - 31,173

Man - we DOMINATED that second half but give credit to their kid in goal, who made countless big saves. We hold 53% of overall possession and outshoot them 27-9 (12-1 on target). Jak Alnwick got a 7.9 rating and SHOULD have been man of the match but Bolis takes those honours. A good game and we'll take the three points but it would be nice to cash in on a couple more of those great opportunities!

-- Palermo is in first place in Italian Serie A and their boss, Antonio Conte was at St. James' Park to watch Gianluca Bolis play - he comes out in the press and unequivocally states his desire to bring him to his home country of Italy. I guess I should be expecting an offer soon and Bolis is the type of guy who would pout if I decline but I don't plan on sending him anywhere. Napoli's boss was also in attendance, looking at Bolis, Shanon Andrea and Zoltan Bardi.

-- In other transfer news, Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey wants out and the club offers him to me for £10 million. I counter with £4.5 million (just below his current value) but I doubt they accept. My scout says he'd be extremely interested in joining us but his salary demands would throw everything out of whack at the club and I don't think I'll pursue it much further.

-- Sheffield Wednesday continue to perform well, upsetting Chelsea 2-1. City defeat Middlesbrough and keep on truckin'.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 20 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Manchester City - 48 points (19 games)
2. Manchester United - 41 points
3. Dover - 38 points
4. Liverpool - 38 points
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5. Arsenal - 35 points (19 games)
6. Sheffield Wednesday - 34 points
7. Reading - 34 points (19 games)
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Change Season Expectations

-- We hit January and I'm offered the opportunity to change our expectations for the season. Unlike last year, there isn't currently any additional transfer money but the board will allow me to increase the wage budget by £50K/week if I say we are going for Continental qualification (versus our current goal of a top half finish). While we don't need the money, I'll take it and perhaps edit my budget to allow us to buy a player or two either in the transfer window or later in June. I'm reasonably confident we're on track for at least a Europa League spot next year.


January Update

-- We have five Premier League games this month, with home dates against Wolves, Liverpool and Aston Villa along with road dates in Reading and Southampton. We also have an FA Cup 3rd round match at home later this week against Middlesbrough and if we prevail in that contest, the 4th round game would also be played at the end of the month. So seven possible matches, not including a potential FA Cup replay in the case of a draw.

-- Emmanuel Agbo, Abdallaye Kokaina and Zoltan Bardi, along with U18s Damian Thorne and Pete Smith all get positive training notices while Kostas Kalfas gets a negative report. I have a chat with Kalfas to tell him it's unacceptable.


Yearly Awards

- Man City's Enrique wins European Striker of the Year. He also wins the FIFA Ballon d'Or Award AND World Player of the Year.

-- His teammate Joe Hart wins Goalkeeper of the Year.

-- Read Madrid's Paulo Henrique wins European Midfielder of the Year.

-- Arsenal's Nchimunya Munyao wins defender of the year despite playing a lot as a striker.

-- Man United's Yaya Sanogo wins French Player of the Year.



Premier League Monthly Awards

-- Gylfi Sigurosson from Man City wins Barclays Premier League player of the month honours for December. Our very own Gianluca Bolis comes in third.

-- Steve Pates from Sheffield Wednesday once again wins the Young Player of the Month award. Claudio Contreras comes in second!

-- Carlo Ancelotti needs another trophy cabinet as he once again wins Manager of the Month honours.


Transfer OUT

-- The transfer window reopens and Matthew Thompson makes the previously announced £10,000 move to Burnley in the Championship. We picked up Thompson on a free in July 2015 after he spent two years with Wolves in their youth system and that makes Thompson one of the longest serving players at the club, with six and a half years spent here. He had loan spells at Leyton Orient, Norwich and Preston North End and played 19 scoreless league games for our club, including 14 during our 2017/18 season in the Championship. He was here only for his home-grown status but again, for whatever reason, his 0-21 status for some reason didn't meet the Champions League requirements so he wasn't needed here anymore.

-- At this point, I'm not really looking to add any players to the team. I think we're good enough to achieve our goals but I won't hesitate bringing in a youngster or two for grooming purposes.



January Board Confidence Update

-- The board continue to be delighted with the leadership qualities I'm demonstrating. Our 6-0 win over Arsenal was the main positive and the 3-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday is the big negative.

-- We made a profit of £1.85 million last month.



FA Cup Update

-- It was worth noting that Man City LOST to Everton at City of Manchester Stadium in their 3rd round FA Cup match. That's pretty crazy stuff there - City has dominated so many Cup competitions and here they are one and done.



Next Up

-- We attempt to gain some revenge against Middlesbrough as we enter the FA Cup in the third round at home.