Tag: Newcastle United

Brighton teen Evan Ferguson just demolished Newcastle

Ferguson’s hat trick is his latest impressive feat

Enjoy your youth while you’ve got it.

Whether that means living it up without many responsibilities clogging your schedule, or feeling just fine on a diet of pizza and fries, or scoring a hat trick against Newcastle, you only get to be 18 once.

Most of us can recall unstructured summer days hanging out with friends, feeling indestructible as all of the world’s possibilities lie ahead, but that third one is maybe only reserved for Evan Ferguson. The Brighton striker was in unreal form Saturday, striking three times as Roberto De Zerbi’s side rolled past Newcastle 3-1.

Ferguson showed himself to be a hugely promising prospect last season, and the early signs in this new Premier League campaign point to the Republic of Ireland No. 9 doing this sort of thing on a routine basis for years to come. Naturally, the hat trick in particular got the internet talking:

Alexander Isak debased Everton

With defending like this, Everton won’t even be Championship standard next season

With his dazzling and humiliating assist at Goodison Park, Alexander Isak showed Everton exactly where they belong: the Championship.

The Newcastle forward displayed incredible skill to glide past three Everton defenders, who displayed equally incredible ineptitude late in Thursday’s 4-1 win for the Magpies.

Let’s not take away anything from the Swedish international’s run, which was one of the best of the year and ended up giving Jacob Murphy a tap-in.

But this was a laughable effort from an Everton side who now sit in 19th place with just five Premier League games remaining.

Ben Godfrey, Idrissa Gueye and Michael Keane all took turns swiping at Isak the way a cat bats at a ball of yarn.

Keane spins around a couple times before basically giving up, and Godfrey‘s final attempt showed textbook bullfighting technique.

This was the denouement of the game for the Toffees and perhaps the moment relegation moved from a looming threat to more of a likelihood. With defending like this, Everton won’t even be Championship standard next season.

Watch Isak’s run vs Everton

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Tottenham was so bad vs. Newcastle that the interim manager got sacked

Spurs will have their third coach in a month after Cristian Stellini got the axe

Tottenham has pulled the managerial equivalent of substituting a substitute, announcing on Monday that it has sacked interim boss Cristian Stellini only a month after he was appointed to the position.

The precipitating event was Sunday’s humiliating 6-1 defeat to Newcastle — a game that Spurs somehow trailed 5-0 just 21 minutes in.

In a club statement, Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said that result was simply too much to bear.

“Sunday’s performance against Newcastle was wholly unacceptable. It was devastating to see,” Levy said. “We can look at many reasons why it happened and whilst myself, the board, the coaches and players must all take collective responsibility, ultimately the responsibility is mine.

“Cristian will leave his current role along with his coaching staff. Cristian stepped in at a difficult point in our season and I want to thank him for the professional manner in which he and his coaching staff have conducted themselves during such a challenging time. We wish him and his staff well.”

Ryan Mason will take over as Tottenham’s second interim manager in the span of a month, after previous head coach Antonio Conte got himself run out of the gig in the wake of a fiery rant against everything and everyone at the club.

With just six games remaining, Spurs have an uphill battle to finish in the top four. They are currently fifth, trailing six points behind Manchester United, which also has two games in hand.

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Chelsea headlines six-team Premier League Summer Series in USA

The Premier League will hold its first pre-season tournament in the USA this summer

The Premier League will hold its first preseason tournament in the USA this summer, as six teams were confirmed for the nine-game Premier League Summer Series in late July.

Chelsea will headline the event and will be joined by Aston Villa, Brentford, Brighton, Fulham and Newcastle.

Five venues will play host to the games, with Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia hosting the opener on July 22 between Chelsea and Brighton.

Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Exploria Stadium in Orlando, Red Bull Arena in New Jersey and FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland will also host games.

Though Premier League sides have been doing preseason tours of the U.S. for years, this is the first preseason tournament in America involving Premier League sides, mirroring the Premier League Asia Trophy.

“We are delighted to be bringing six clubs to the USA in July for the first-ever Premier League Summer Series,” Premier League CEO Richard Masters said in a statement.

“Our clubs have incredible supporters in the U.S., who passionately follow their teams throughout the season.

“We have seen this dedication first-hand from the tens of thousands who have attended our Mornings Live fan events and are excited to be building on this by bringing live Premier League action to five cities this summer.

“We are currently enjoying one of the most competitive Premier League seasons of all time at both ends of the table and I am sure we will see some thrilling matches during the tournament.”

Premier League Summer Series 2023 schedule (all kick-off times local)

July 22 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Match 1: Chelsea vs. Brighton (7 p.m.)

July 23 – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
Match 2: Fulham vs. Brentford (4 p.m.)
Match 3: Newcastle vs. Aston Villa (7 p.m.)

July 26 – Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
Match 4: Brentford vs. Brighton (5:30 p.m.)
Match 5: Chelsea vs. Newcastle (8:15 p.m.)

July 26 – Exploria Stadium, Orlando
Match 6: Fulham vs. Aston Villa (7 p.m.)

July 28 – Red Bull Arena, New Jersey
Match 7: Brighton vs. Newcastle (7:30 p.m.)

July 30 – FedEx Field, Landover, Maryland
Match 8: Aston Villa vs. Brentford (12:00 p.m.)
Match 9: Chelsea vs. Fulham (2:45 p.m.)

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It turns out the Saudi government may indeed control Newcastle

The Premier League said in 2021 it “received legally binding assurances” the Saudi government wasn’t in control

When Newcastle was taken over by a Saudi Arabia-led group in 2021, the Premier League made it crystal clear: This was not a Saudi government takeover.

In fact, the league said in a statement at the time that it had “received legally binding assurances that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will not control Newcastle United Football Club.”

At the time, that seemed somewhat dubious. After all, the takeover was led by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, chaired by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman.

Now, new court filings have led to even more doubts over how much separation, if any, there is between Newcastle and the government of Saudi Arabia.

The case actually involves LIV Golf, the breakaway competitor to the PGA Tour that is also funded by the PIF. In court filings this week, Newcastle chairman and PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan is described as a “sitting minister of the government,” and described the PIF as “a sovereign instrumentality of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

In the LIV Golf case, lawyers for the PIF were trying to shield Al-Rumayyan from having to face questions. But in looking to protect the Newcastle chairman, they may have exposed the Premier League club to further scrutiny.

“The Premier League will surely need to re-examine the assurances made about the non-involvement of the Saudi authorities in the Newcastle deal,” said Peter Frankental, Amnesty International’s UK economic affairs director in a statement.

“It was always stretching credulity to breaking point to imagine that the Saudi state wasn’t directing the buyout of Newcastle with the ultimate aim of using the club as a component in its wider sportswashing efforts.”

The Premier League and Newcastle have both yet to comment on the latest revelations.

They will both need to do so at some point, because there are lots of receipts.

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Manchester United have themselves a trophy

For the first time since 2017, the Red Devils have won a piece of silverware

For a club like Manchester United, six years is a long time to wait for a trophy.

But after a period of floundering, United finally appears to have put two essential pieces in place: a coach and a midfield anchor. That, along with one of the most in-form players in Europe, has made all the difference.

With Erik ten Hag, Casemiro and Marcus Rashford leading the charge, United easily ended their title drought on Sunday by defeating Newcastle 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley.

Casemiro opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with a header off Luke Shaw’s free kick delivery. Six minutes later, Rashford was on hand to score what appeared to be his 25th goal of a prolific campaign, only for the scoring to eventually be changed to a Sven Botman own goal.

Newcastle would hardly threaten the rest of the way at Wembley, as David de Gea needed to make just two saves all afternoon to notch his 181st clean sheet with Manchester United — breaking Peter Schmeichel’s all-time club record.

In Ten Hag, United appears to finally have their first post-Sir Alex manager worthy of leading the club for the long term. The Dutchman has instilled a clear style of play, a system of discipline and has helped rid the club of some of its bigger distractions.

Sunday marked the end of United’s trophy drought but it may not be the last piece of hardware the club lifts in 2022-23. They’re third in the Premier League table and still alive in the FA Cup and Europa League.

For the first time in a while, there is a real sense of optimism at Old Trafford. Now, about that ownership situation…

Watch Man Utd’s goals vs. Newcastle

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Eddie Howe is mad teams are trying to milk Newcastle for all of its Saudi money

Strange things happen when your team is injected with an unending supply of funds

Newcastle coach Eddie Howe has accused his team’s rivals of artificially inflating the price of their players after the club was frustrated on transfer deadline day.

The Magpies fell short in their pursuit of several targets, including Leeds winger Jack Harrison, Leicester midfielder James Maddison, West Ham defender Harrison Ashby and Arsenal defender Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

To Howe the reason none of those players are with Newcastle is clear: the club’s never-ending supply of Saudi money.

When asked if domestic clubs were making it difficult on his team, Howe told a press conference: “That’s true, I would say so. That was definitely something we felt in the market. Domestic clubs didn’t want to be seen to be helping us. We’ll have to take that, that is part of where we are at the moment.

“We have certainly found there is no one there ready to do us a favor. It’s the narrative regarding us that has changed. If there is anything domestically, teams will put their price up if it is Newcastle. That is the same around the world, that is something we are having to deal with.

“That is why we have walked away from a few deals because I think it is important we are not seen as that club that will pay what is asked. I think it has to be fair.”

Despite the deals that didn’t go through, Newcastle spent a fair amount in its first summer window since being taken over by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia last October.

Newcastle spent around £130 million on players, including £60m on striker Alexander Isak, while they didn’t generate any income on player sales.

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Newcastle obliterate club record in £60m Alexander Isak move

Isak is the one of the most expensive summer additions to the Premier League

Newcastle United added to their attack today, shattering a club record to sign striker Alexander Isak.

Newcastle is said to have spent £60 million to sign the 22-year-old striker from Real Sociedad, breaking the club’s record for a transfer fee by a mere £20 million. The fee is also the fourth-highest fee spent on a player by any club in 2022, only trailing the money behind moves by Aurelién Tchouameni, Darwin Núñez, and Casemiro.

According to data from Transfermarkt, Newcastle has now spent just a hair under $150 million on transfers in this summer window, the fifth-highest total in the Premier League. The club hasn’t sold any players either, so their balance this summer is only lower than Chelsea, who have spent plenty under new owner Todd Boehly, and Nottingham Forest, who have decided to sign everyone that has ever kicked a ball before.

“I’m delighted to have it done. It was a big, big decision for me but it is a decision I am really happy with,” Isak told the Newcastle club site. “It is a great, historical club that I think anyone would like to play for, with amazing fans. They were a big part of why I came here – and also the club’s project, which is one that I really believe in.”

At 6’3″ and having 37 caps for Sweden and 103 appearances in La Liga under his belt at a young age, Isak certainly fits the profile of a modern striker that a club breaks its transfer record to sign. However, Isak is coming off of a 2021-22 season with Real Sociedad in which he scored just six times in 2,157 minutes.

On the other hand, Newcastle probably does need a striker. Callum Wilson, who is currently dealing with a short-term knock, was only available to play 18 games last season, and had just 26 appearances in 2020-21. Chris Wood, meanwhile, has just five goals in 34 appearances over the past two seasons, and Joelinton ended up having to fill in up top numerous times last season.

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