NUFC Has Burning Questions, And We've Got Answers

Somehow, the 2015-16 Premier League season is five days away. And as Newcastle United fans, that means we're filled with our usual wacky combination of excitement, dread, amusement and exasperation.

John Carver is out, Steve McClaren is in, Mike Ashley has splashed some cash and Gabriel Obertan is still on the roster. Look out Southampton!

Ahead of Sunday's big kickoff — and a few days before our highly-anticipated season preview podcast — our IWIWAG team answered a few of the questions surrounding the 2015-16 Magpies.

OK, so ... there is no other place to start a season preview. Are you excited for the new players?
Matt: After the listless displays which characterized the end of the Pardew/Carver era, who wouldn't be excited? NUFC desperately needed a new approach and a less complacent attitude from the top down, and hopefully a suite of players looking to prove themselves on the Premier League stage will provide some sort of spark.

Bob: Yes, but that's not saying much. For my money they could have sold everyone except Colback, Perez, Janmaat and Aarons.

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play?
Phil: Hands down, Aleksandar Mitrovic. The Serbian target man comes to Newcastle with an impressive goal scoring record on the field, paired with a reputation off the field as a character. Newcastle has been a collection of bland, completely uninteresting footballers devoid of charisma and personality (probably intentionally). Mitrovic's back story, highlighted in this excellent piece in True Faith, has me fixated on his every move.

Tom: Chancel Mbemba. Did you see Newcastle's center backs last season? If he comes anywhere close to the Vincent Kompany comparisons, we're all in for a treat.
(Editor's note: Matt and Bob both said Mbemba as well. How did none of us say Gini Wijnaldum?! His name is hard to spell ...)

Do you think Mike Ashley has lived up to his pledge from the Sky Sports interview?
Phil: No. Not even a little. I am overjoyed that the protests at St. James' Park forced the man to speak on the record, regardless of the softball questions. The last two seasons of NUFC soccer have been an affront to competitive sports with the club’s complete and utter lack of effort. The signings are a start, but ask me this question again when Ashley is authorizing signings to push Newcastle from the top 10, to top six, then again to the top four.

Matt: He's exceeded the (extremely low) expectations I had after hearing him make that pledge ... so I suppose that's something. Because there were so many holes in the squad going into the summer, it would have been quite the task to patch them all. If Ashley has one more eight-figure check in him before Sept. 1, he should add another center back instead of trying to pry Charlie Austin away from QPR.

What are your impressions of Steve McClaren so far?
Tom: For a guy who has banned swearing among the players, he sure likes to use the word "damn" in interviews. He's talked a good game so far, but I'll withhold judgment until November.

Matt: It's honestly too difficult for me to draw many firm conclusions based on the preseason friendlies. It is reassuring to see that he and Graham Carr appear to be in sync on the player acquisition side of things. The one improvement I have noticed in preseason is the players seem much more comfortable passing the ball in tight areas, a persistent weakness under Pardew.

Who do you think should be in the starting XI, and how would you line them up?
Phil: Krul; Haidara, Dummett, Mbemba, Janmaat; Aarons, Wijnaldum, Colback, Sissoko; Mitrovic, Perez

I would try a 4-4-2 diamond. Jack Colback at the base, GDub the tip. Aarons left and Sissoko right. Sissoko can help the transition from the defenders to the attackers with his superior dribbling skills and Aarons on the other side can provide crosses for Mitro.

Tom: Krul; Haidara, Coloccini, Mbemba, Janmaat; Colback; Perez, Wijnaldum, de Jong, Sissoko; Mitrovic

I'd start with a 4-1-4-1/4-2-3-1 hybrid, with Gini being the box-to-box central midfielder in front of and alongside Colback. Phil and I both think Dummett is underrated, but he's coming off an injury and won't be ready for the start of the season.

Matt: Krul; Haidara, Coloccini, Mbemba, Janmaat; Wijnaldum, Colback; Aarons, de Jong, Perez; Mitrovic

Moussa Sissoko does not start in my ideal lineup. He'd likely play a lot, though, given the injury histories of Aarons and de Jong. I originally had Mehdi Abeid in this XI instead of Colback. To me, his stellar performances as a holding midfielder last fall should have earned him an opportunity under McClaren. Instead, the new manager hung him out to dry in the reserves before reportedly shipping him to Fortuna Dusseldorf — a worrying sign.

Bob: Krul; Haidara, Coloccini, Mbemba, Janmaat; Colback; Aarons, Wijnaldum, de Jong, Perez; Berahino, I mean, Mitrovic

I don't know where to put Sissoko. Could he play left back? 

What is the best case scenario for the season?
Phil: As much as I want Newcastle to aim higher, I think the damage from the last two years has left the club with a whole heck of a lot to fix. I think if the Magpies can end the season in the top 10, that’s a good start for the McClaren-Carr era.

Tom: I can't envision a scenario in which Newcastle finishes higher than seventh, which would be an impressive achievement for McClaren in his first year. I think 10th is the safe bet.

Matt: If McClaren finds a set of players that fit his style, and he gets lucky with injuries and a couple fortuitous bounces, an eighth place finish is certainly within reach. And as we saw last year, the bottom half of the league is absolutely terrible, so 10th should be the club's realistic goal this season.

Bob: New boys work in fast, no losses in the winter window and a healthy Aarons and de Jong. That could bring us as high as a battle for seventh. There's a gap from there up to the traditional big clubs, and Swansea, who look stacked to me.

What are your thoughts heading into the new season? Post a comment or question below, and we'll address them in our season preview podcast, which will be posted online Friday morning.

Comments

[GeordiePat]

Picking a starting team (at least in attack) from the existing squad is difficult enough, before we add in the possibility of another signing. Under Pardew we clinged to a starting 11 by our fingertips and never adapted until it collapsed and he'd/we'd find a couple of scapegoats and go again with a new unmoveable team and system. By all accounts, McClaren is more adaptable and fluid with his team and personnel and we'll see more squad rotation according to the opposition. That said, their are three groups of players: 1) the shoe-ins: Janmaat, Krul, Colback, Mitro, Sissoko, Gino, Colo. 2) new/back from long spells out but looking at starting berths: Mbemba, De Jong, Aarons, Tiote 3) the others. On the basis of pre-season, I'd predict the following team for Southampton:

Krul/
Janmaat/Colo/Taylor/Haidara
Colback/Anita
Sissoko/Wijnaldum/Aarons
Mitrovic

[Deji Balogun]

NUFC seems to have a lot more quality players than thought off,I think most of them lost their self confidence in the second half of last season until the last game of that season no thanks to the coaching crew who couldn't lift the spirit.Who would have thought NUFC could muster the courage to beat West Ham on the last day of the season.Though some few just have to leave cause of the quality of their game players like Williamson first among others doesn't fit into that team then Obertan,Riviere even Goufran should give room to the Young one's coming through Perez,Aarons,Sammy etc.With 2 new good centre backs Ǻn̶̲̥̅̊ԃ probably just add Austin NUFC can hold their own with McClaren steering the ship it should be steady.

[rob]

Interesting no one had Cisse in their XI. Despite the injury history he had one heck of a goal per minute tally last season.

[Dave from Newcastle]

I think a successful season might have nothing to do with the table. I would think our best case is finishing 10-14th, with no relegation drama the last 6-8 weeks of the season, but getting to a semifinal of a Cup - that SHOULD be the biggest change with Pardew gone, McLaren in, and from what Ashley said in the interview. Plus, Newcastle is due for a break in at least one cup draw after playing most of the games on the road the last few seasons.

[M]

I take issue with the characterisation of 'traditional big clubs' - only Liverpool, ManU and Arsenal fit that description. Chelsea and ManC are new-money, relatively recent additions to the elite.
Spurs have been promoted and developed spectacularly from a global commercial perspective and are a great deal 'bigger' than us right now, but let me pose some questions - of NUFC and THFC,
which club has had more top-4 Prem finishes?
which club has the largest single-season Prem points total?
which club has the highest Prem end-of-season placing?
which club has actually challenged for the Prem title (in contention from April on) more often?
which club has played more CL seasons?
which club has played more CL games?
which club has a larger stadium and attendance?
which club has broken the world-record transfer fee?
which club has been in the top 4 in the world in terms of revenue at some point in the last 20 years?

Just in case u dont know ur history... NUFC is the answer to ALL of these questions