Newcastle United Team Guide in FM2008
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Here you can find various hints and tips when it comes to managing Newcastle United in Football Manager 2008. Ranging from all the basic information about the club, the history of the club, the expectations of the club in both the current season and over the coming years, an overview of the squad and players at your disposal, the best players to buy, the players you should be looking to sell, the best tactics to use, both for attack and defensive and much, much more.
Basically everything you need to know, to aid your career managing Newcastle United in the English Premiership, in FM2008.
Overview
The Ultimate Guide - from the Ultimate Fan. For anyone considering being that mid-table team (though they should really be in Europe) and want to take them to glory, here's the team you want to be. Aiming to make champions out of Newcastle is a distinct possiblity, yet they are still a mid-table side who will give you as much fun in the world in managing them. And there history - a top club without silverware in over 50 years (although I don't know why they don't include the Intertoto cup!) - is surely a motivation and satisfaction to beat. I honestly recommend playing with Newcastle, and that is not because I am a fan, they really are a great challenge. This guide will help you undrstand the team back to front, as if you were a real fan of them that analyses every single detail!
Nation: England
Year Founded: 1892
Status: Professional
Reputation: National
Chairman Status: Loves the Club
Favoured Personnel: Peter Beardsley, Kevin Keegan, Gary Speed, Steve Watson, Jonathon Woodgate
Fierce Rivals: Sunderland
Other Rivals: Middlesbrough
Finances: Rich
Estimated Value: £171 Million
Training Facilities: Top training Facility
Youth Facilities: Good Youth Academy + Youth Academy
Media Prediction: 11th
Average Squad Age: 26
Captain: Michael Owen
Board Start of Season Expectations
Due to their poor history, and especially poor league performances as well since Bobby Robson was taking Newcastle to 4th and 5th position every year, the board expect as little as a mid-table finish. However, if you are a good manager and quite rightly feel that this team can go much further (as you will see by the player reviews, below) then really continental qualification through league finish would be perfect. And if that seems slightly too daunting, at least you can go for a top half finish just to be safe. I have never been sacked, so I don't know how strict they are but looking at real life one slip and you could be out!
The team currently spends around 800k per week on wages. If you chose mid-table, you would get transfer/wage budgets of 30m and 950k respectively. If you choose top half finsih, you get 39.5m and 1.1m respectively. And finally, if you think you are bigger for going straight for Europe, then you will get the full backing of the board with 44m and 1.1m. Surely you can't complain with that much money, can you?
Squad Guide
Goalkeepers
Newcastle have two good keepers in Given and Harper, however both are quite old. Therefore, if you can get a good goalkeeper who is fairly younger but still good currently as well then you can sell Harper. Felipe and Marcelo Grohe are both very good goalkeepers and have low release clauses, and both young yet almost as good as Harper already. Turns out to be a very good player. Tim Krul is also quite good, though not amazing. You should keep him for a while and then see if he turns out good or not - as his PA means he is quite different from game to game.
Defenders
Surely Newcastle, with their poor defence history, must be in need of an all change? Well actually its not so bad and its really more of bad luck, which doesn't come through on the game. Habib Beye and Jose Enrique are both very good defenders. But there's no cover for left back, but right back can be covered by Geremi. But better back-up would be good. Sebastian Larsson is actually a very good, cheap option for right back, and he's also young and versatile which is good too. Left back is more of a problem, but N'Zogbia is there who you can teach left back.
Center back is where the main changes should be, as you currently have Abdoulaye Faye, Cacapa and Steven Taylor. The younger ones are just not good enough to step up to it. Vincent Kompany is a quality buy for very little, as are Ezequiel Garay, Naldo and a little for-the-future Michael Mancienne.
It is highly recommended that you sell off Stephen Carr, Tamas Kadar and David Rozehnal (when he returns from Lazio on loan). Ramage and Edgar aren't good enough, but they can be useful until you buy sufficient back-up for your team. Once that has been done, they can go but otherwise keeping them is the safer option.
Midfielders
Now this is partly dependent on your tactics (see below) so I can only guide you on each position. If you want a defensive midfielder to hold on infront of the back 4, or you want a defensive player for center midfield, then Joey Barton does that job well. Nicky Butt is a good back-up, but you could sell him and get younger option in players such as Roberto, Rafael Carioca, Pierre Ducasse and James Wesolowski. If you want an attacking center mid, then you have Emre and Geremi although he's not that attacking - you could leave him as a normal center mid. Jorge Valdivia is a good buy, as well as Matias Fernandez, Lulinha and Guilherme.
Wingers are strong, with Damien Duff, Charles N'Zogbia and James Milner. However, that's it so players such as Luka Modric, Renato Augusto and Jefferson Farfan are very good buys. If you can get one of them, you will be pretty much complete as far as wingers go, and you will have nice strong set.
Strikers
Newcastle are loaded with strikers, with Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Alan Smith and Shola Ameobi. Ameobi is a straight sell, and to be honest Viduka and Smith aren't the greatest. However they are still very good and only if you can buy replacements, you should sell them for good money. Guilherme, Vagner Love and Stefan Kiebling are all pretty good, and available at decent prices. You also have Andy Caroll, who although starts not very good quickly improves to a very good player. First-team experience can speed up his improvement a lot as well, but you should only start to use him in the third season.
IMPORTANT: RENEW MARTINS' CONTRACT WITHOUT A RELEASE CLAUSE
Recommended Tactics
Although in real life the team play a 4-3-3 under KK, it seems that it is quite hard to implement that using the position editor. I have never tried it, however you may wish to try it and see what you can make of it. You would require 3 flat strikers, but the middle one less attacking than the other 2, possibly a back arrow so that he drops back a little. The midfield would also be flat, but maybe the two wider ones have arrows going towards AMR/L. Just some ideas, but you would have to try it yourself.
My preferred formation is a 4-4-2. Now the wingers the squad has are very attacking, therefore they should start in AMR/L. The other 2 midfielders can be used in 2 different ways - either a two center mids who will both attack and defend, or a center mid who will attack and a defensive mid who will defend. The choice is up to you, however I would recommend my tactic - S 4-4-2 Invincibles - as that works well for my Newcastle team. I also generally like my full backs to push up, so forward arrows would be good for them.
The team and individual instructions are quite complicated to explain, so check out my tactic. But play wide, and set your target man to Martins and target supply run onto ball as he is super-quick! And make sure your wingers get lots of crosses into the box, as they are crucial for your team. Apart from that, its up to you.
The Ultimate Guide - from the Ultimate Fan. For anyone considering being that mid-table team (though they should really be in Europe) and want to take them to glory, here's the team you want to be. Aiming to make champions out of Newcastle is a distinct possiblity, yet they are still a mid-table side who will give you as much fun in the world in managing them. And there history - a top club without silverware in over 50 years (although I don't know why they don't include the Intertoto cup!) - is surely a motivation and satisfaction to beat. I honestly recommend playing with Newcastle, and that is not because I am a fan, they really are a great challenge. This guide will help you undrstand the team back to front, as if you were a real fan of them that analyses every single detail!
Nation: England
Year Founded: 1892
Status: Professional
Reputation: National
Chairman Status: Loves the Club
Favoured Personnel: Peter Beardsley, Kevin Keegan, Gary Speed, Steve Watson, Jonathon Woodgate
Fierce Rivals: Sunderland
Other Rivals: Middlesbrough
Finances: Rich
Estimated Value: £171 Million
Training Facilities: Top training Facility
Youth Facilities: Good Youth Academy + Youth Academy
Media Prediction: 11th
Average Squad Age: 26
Captain: Michael Owen
Board Start of Season Expectations
Due to their poor history, and especially poor league performances as well since Bobby Robson was taking Newcastle to 4th and 5th position every year, the board expect as little as a mid-table finish. However, if you are a good manager and quite rightly feel that this team can go much further (as you will see by the player reviews, below) then really continental qualification through league finish would be perfect. And if that seems slightly too daunting, at least you can go for a top half finish just to be safe. I have never been sacked, so I don't know how strict they are but looking at real life one slip and you could be out!
The team currently spends around 800k per week on wages. If you chose mid-table, you would get transfer/wage budgets of 30m and 950k respectively. If you choose top half finsih, you get 39.5m and 1.1m respectively. And finally, if you think you are bigger for going straight for Europe, then you will get the full backing of the board with 44m and 1.1m. Surely you can't complain with that much money, can you?
Squad Guide
Goalkeepers
Newcastle have two good keepers in Given and Harper, however both are quite old. Therefore, if you can get a good goalkeeper who is fairly younger but still good currently as well then you can sell Harper. Felipe and Marcelo Grohe are both very good goalkeepers and have low release clauses, and both young yet almost as good as Harper already. Turns out to be a very good player. Tim Krul is also quite good, though not amazing. You should keep him for a while and then see if he turns out good or not - as his PA means he is quite different from game to game.
Defenders
Surely Newcastle, with their poor defence history, must be in need of an all change? Well actually its not so bad and its really more of bad luck, which doesn't come through on the game. Habib Beye and Jose Enrique are both very good defenders. But there's no cover for left back, but right back can be covered by Geremi. But better back-up would be good. Sebastian Larsson is actually a very good, cheap option for right back, and he's also young and versatile which is good too. Left back is more of a problem, but N'Zogbia is there who you can teach left back.
Center back is where the main changes should be, as you currently have Abdoulaye Faye, Cacapa and Steven Taylor. The younger ones are just not good enough to step up to it. Vincent Kompany is a quality buy for very little, as are Ezequiel Garay, Naldo and a little for-the-future Michael Mancienne.
It is highly recommended that you sell off Stephen Carr, Tamas Kadar and David Rozehnal (when he returns from Lazio on loan). Ramage and Edgar aren't good enough, but they can be useful until you buy sufficient back-up for your team. Once that has been done, they can go but otherwise keeping them is the safer option.
Midfielders
Now this is partly dependent on your tactics (see below) so I can only guide you on each position. If you want a defensive midfielder to hold on infront of the back 4, or you want a defensive player for center midfield, then Joey Barton does that job well. Nicky Butt is a good back-up, but you could sell him and get younger option in players such as Roberto, Rafael Carioca, Pierre Ducasse and James Wesolowski. If you want an attacking center mid, then you have Emre and Geremi although he's not that attacking - you could leave him as a normal center mid. Jorge Valdivia is a good buy, as well as Matias Fernandez, Lulinha and Guilherme.
Wingers are strong, with Damien Duff, Charles N'Zogbia and James Milner. However, that's it so players such as Luka Modric, Renato Augusto and Jefferson Farfan are very good buys. If you can get one of them, you will be pretty much complete as far as wingers go, and you will have nice strong set.
Strikers
Newcastle are loaded with strikers, with Obafemi Martins, Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Alan Smith and Shola Ameobi. Ameobi is a straight sell, and to be honest Viduka and Smith aren't the greatest. However they are still very good and only if you can buy replacements, you should sell them for good money. Guilherme, Vagner Love and Stefan Kiebling are all pretty good, and available at decent prices. You also have Andy Caroll, who although starts not very good quickly improves to a very good player. First-team experience can speed up his improvement a lot as well, but you should only start to use him in the third season.
IMPORTANT: RENEW MARTINS' CONTRACT WITHOUT A RELEASE CLAUSE
Recommended Tactics
Although in real life the team play a 4-3-3 under KK, it seems that it is quite hard to implement that using the position editor. I have never tried it, however you may wish to try it and see what you can make of it. You would require 3 flat strikers, but the middle one less attacking than the other 2, possibly a back arrow so that he drops back a little. The midfield would also be flat, but maybe the two wider ones have arrows going towards AMR/L. Just some ideas, but you would have to try it yourself.
My preferred formation is a 4-4-2. Now the wingers the squad has are very attacking, therefore they should start in AMR/L. The other 2 midfielders can be used in 2 different ways - either a two center mids who will both attack and defend, or a center mid who will attack and a defensive mid who will defend. The choice is up to you, however I would recommend my tactic - S 4-4-2 Invincibles - as that works well for my Newcastle team. I also generally like my full backs to push up, so forward arrows would be good for them.
The team and individual instructions are quite complicated to explain, so check out my tactic. But play wide, and set your target man to Martins and target supply run onto ball as he is super-quick! And make sure your wingers get lots of crosses into the box, as they are crucial for your team. Apart from that, its up to you.
