Newcastle United- The Essential Guide.

[Chris]

Notes: I have lovingly created this guide for you. You do not have to follow it but it is just some advice if you ever need any help or inspiration. I have been a loyal Newcastle United fan for nine years now and have played with them since the last CM game. Good luck with any game you play. Thanks to 'Coach Carter' for the idea.

Goalkeepers
Steven Harper, 34
Tim Krul, 21
Ole Soderberg, 18
Fraser Forster, 21

Not a hard choice considering Steven Harper is the only obvious starter there, however Krul is a fantastic prospect and will provide great backup for Harper and a good choice for cup matches. If needed, Krul can generally be loaned out at the start of the game to earn valuable first team experience and gain some cash for you. Ole Soderberg is OK but can usually be sold to gain better finances. Forster is on loan at Norwich for the first six months so he is unavailable. You may want to buy for this area, however this is not vital.

Left Backs/Wing Backs
Jose Enrique, 23
Tamas Kadar, 19
Darren Lough, 19

A bit of a weak spot for Newcastle. Enrique is a good left back however, if he gets injured, which he often does, then you are stuck. Kadar is a brilliant prospect but is predominantly a Centre Back and doesn't do the job too well. Darren Lough will provide additional cover but really isn't up to the standard of Championship football. You will need to buy for this area.

Right Backs/Wing Backs
Danny Simpson, 22
Ryan Taylor, 24
Steven Taylor, 23

Newcastle have a strong set of Right Backs with Danny Simpson and Ryan Taylor rotating. Ryan Taylor can alternate between right back and right midfield. If backup is needed Steven Taylor can be used, however, is mainly a centre back. No money needs to be spent on this area of the team.

Centre Backs
Fabricio Coloccini, 27
Steven Taylor, 23
Tamas Kadar, 19
Ben Tozer, 19
Callum Morris, 19
Fitz Hall, 28, On loan from Q.P.R.
Mike Williamson, 26

Again, Newcastle have very strong centre backs, with one of the best defences in the league. Taylor and Coloccini are generally the preferred line up, however there are three young prospects if needed. Williamson is great backup too! Hall will provide average cover and I do occasionally terminate his loan as I feel he is not up to Championship football. Morris would not usually be played, only if desperate. No players need to be bought for this position.

Defensive Midfielders
Nicky Butt, 34
Joey Barton, 26

Unless using a 4-5-1 formation, you will not generally need this position. I personally recommend retraining Kevin Nolan to play here as he has low stamina and struggles in other roles. This should take 2 or 3 months to get to an 'accomplished' level, however it may take some time for him to become 'natural' at this role. Nicky Butt is the only natural Defensive Midfielder but Barton can provide adequate cover. You may need to strengthen this part of the squad slightly. This can be done with a loan signing on low wages.

Right Midfielders/Right Wingers
Jonas Gutierrez, 26
Ryan Taylor, 24
Fabrice Pancrate, 29
Kazenga Lua Lua, 18
Wayne Routledge, 24

Another strong side to the Newcastle United squad with excellent wingers such as Taylor and Jonas. Pancrate is an excellent backup player and Geremi can provide solid backup, despite it not being his main position. Newcastle are also lucky to have the young star, Lua Lua who will be good cover for Cup games. No signings needed.

Left Midfielders/Left Wingers
Jonas Gutierrez, 26
Peter Lovenkrands, 29
Kazenga Lua Lua, 18
Shane Ferguson, 17
Wayne Routledge, 24

I highly recommend playing Lovenkrands here as I feel that he does not play well upfront. He bangs in plenty of assists and chips in with the odd goal despite it not being his main position. Lua Lua and Ferguson are not experienced enough to play a full season of Championship football. Though both providing good cover. Signings needed!

Centre Midfielders
Kevin Nolan, 27
Alan Smith, 28
Joey Barton, 26
Danny Guthrie, 22
Nicky Butt, 34

The strongest side to the Newcastle, with some of the best centre midfielders in the league. Nolan, Smith, Barton and Guthrie are all brilliant players for any Championship side and can rotate nicely in a 4-4-2 formation. Butt will provide pretty average backup and will rarely be used. He is probably worth selling or releasing and could be described as dead wood. No signings needed.

Centre Attacking Midfielders
Joey Barton, 26
Kevin Nolan, 27
Haris Vuckic, 16
Ryan Donaldson, 18

You are only going to play this position if you are playing a 4-4-1-1 so it is not vital but Newcastle having some cracking players and prospects for that position. If you are going to use the 4-4-1-1 formation signings may be needed. I recommend rotating between Nolan and Barton here. You should also train Nolan as an AMC.

Strikers
Shola Ameobi, 27
Andy Carroll, 20
Nile Ranger, 18
Fabrice Pancrate, 29
Peter Lovenkrands, 29
Leon Best, 22
Ryan Donaldson, 18
Haris Vuckic, 16
Wesley Ngo Baheng, 19

At first glance, you may think that no backup would be needed, however you would be wrong. Ameobi can bang in the goals, so can Carroll, but they are not always reliable enough. Best is quite poor at this level and I always loan him out to a feeder club to gain experience. Lovenkrands is good as well, though he sometimes lacks consistency when playing upfront. You also have some great young prospects there and it is not the worst strikeforce in the Championship. Pancrate is also poor up front I recommend you don't play him here. Signings still needed!

Tactics
For tactics I recommend an attacking 4-4-2, 4-4-1-1 or 4-5-1 for home games and defensive ones for away games. All this will be on your backroom advice screen.
Alternatively, you could use these AMAZING tactics: Mr.Hough's Wonder Tactics. Other great tactics to use with Newcastle are JP Woody's Total Football Tactics. There are a lot of good tactics that can be found on the site but I am just recommending the ones that have worked best for me.

Basic Player Roles:


GK: Harper- Goalkeeper- Defend
LB: Enrique- Wing Back- Support
RB: Simpson- Full Back- Support
CB: Coloccini- Central Defender- Defend
CB: Taylor- Central Defender- Defend
AMR: Routledge- Winger- Attack (Hug Touchline)
AML: Jonas- Winger- Attack (Cut Inside)
CM: Smith- Ball Winning Midfielder- Support
CM: Nolan- Box to Box Midfielder/Deep Lying Playmaker- Support/Attack
ST: Lovenkrands- Advanced Forward- Attack
ST: Carroll- Complete Forward/Target Man- Attack

Possible Transfers Out!!!
Tim Krul- Loan
Ole Soderberg
Darren Lough
Nicky Butt
Leon Best
Fitz Hall
Wayne Routledge

Possible Transfers In!!!

Javier Garrido- LB
Lloyd Samuel- LB
Emiliano Insua- LB

Jay-Emmanuel Thomas- DM
Hedwiges Maduro- DM

John Bostock- CM

Yannick Djalo- ST
Yannis Tafer- ST

(This is your choice. I haven't made any signings as I want to try to win the league with the team Newcastle have)

Possible Teams:

GK: Harper

RB: R.Taylor/Simpson
CB: Coloccini/S.Taylor/Williamson/Kadar/Hall/Tozer/Morris
CB: S.Taylor/Coloccini/Kadar/Williamson/Hall/Tozer/Morris
LB: Enrique/Kadar/Lough

RM: Jonas/R.Taylor/Pancrate/Routledge/LuaLua
CM: Nolan/Barton/Guthrie/Smith/Donaldson/Butt
CM: Barton/Nolan/Guthrie/Smith/Donaldson/Butt
LM: Lovenkrands/Jonas/Routledge/LuaLua/Ferguson

ST: Ameobi/Carroll/Lovenkrands/Pancrate/Best/Ranger/Vuckic/Donaldson/Spear
ST: Carroll/Ameobi/Lovenkrands/Ranger/Pancrate/Best/Vuckic/Donaldson/Spear

Other Useful Stuff:

By the way, on the 1st of August or a bit after that, ask your board for money, they will give you around £4,000,000. Another helpful thing I have found is to play lots of friendlies against very small teams. This boosts players morale as it is very low at the start of the season.

I highly recommend using Pompey Dan's Training Schedules which can be found here.

I also love using skin_skin which has a nice touch to it. Good for Newcastle too.

Another very nice skin found by Man V.1: It is Steklo 09.1 Redux. Thanks to KevyMatts for sticking it on the site.

All Newcastle badges, kits, player faces and more, can be found around this download section of the site.

Finally, here is the Newcastle United's fan group. Get chatting and get involved!


In a recent game, I won the league with 120 points and I found that this team worked best for me:

Harper (Harper mainly but Krul was good for Carling Cup, FA Cup and smaller teams.)
Simpson (He always shines for me and can score as may as 5 goals a season.)
Coloccini (Solid and has a great head of the ball. A must have in the First Team.)
S.Taylor (One of the best players. He scored 10 goals in the season.)
Enrique (Get's plenty of assists and the odd goal too. Highest average rating!)
Maduro (Signed for £2M and was rock solid at DM. A must buy and got 8 goals too.)
Guthrie (One of the strongest players who get's plenty of great goals and assists.)
Smith/Barton (Both are good but Barton is my first choice. Scores lots and assists loads too.)
Djalo (47 goals in 46 games. 'Nuff said!)
Carroll (Scored about 20 goals and got 22 assists.)
Lovenkrands (Scored about 15 but got around 25 assists!)

*I sold Jonas and Ryan Taylor for a combined fee of £4.7M.

Results after following this guide:



Thanks for reading and Good luck!
Chris

Can I say a big Thank-you to: Coach Carter, Man V.1, all the posters, and everyone who has given this thread support!

Now Updated for 10.3 Patch!!!

[Jack Fulham]

Very good and in depth mate

[Chris]

Cheers, yours was great to...

[Max]

Very good guide

[Hezho]

Reading your guide and starting a new game with Newcastle, cheers mate.

[Chris]

Nice to see, thanks for the feedback.

[Coach Carter]

Was thinking of doing a Newcastle game soon.

So i will read this when doing it

[Chris]

Cheers. It is fun doing a Newcastle game and really gets interesting when you get promoted. There are high expectations.

[Hezho]

Toonfan how do you sell Geremi and Peter Lovenkrands?
No one seems to buy him, maybe because of the wage?

[Chris]

It is hard to sell them straight away. Try in January.

[Max]

I'm suprised to see no Macheda on that transfers in list, I've heard he's been immense for many people in the Championship, inlcuding in DMF's Newcastle story

[Chris]

I apologise, I'll add him in now.

[Max]

I apologise, I'll add him in now.

Originally Posted by toonfan3

Lol no need to apologise mate It's your guide, I'm just an innocent bystander

[Englez]

Try playing Alan Smith as a striker banged in 30 goals for me! Brilliant with Carroll being the target man!

[SunderlandDanny1973]

Black & White Shite!!! Only messing mate good guide people find it useful

[Chris]

Cheers Englez and Danny.

[cashinginnn]

I'm now in my fourth season as the toon and came up through the play offs in my first season, and got to the FA Cup final, but lost against Arsenal, in my second season i finished 14th in the prem, did average, but last season i finished 4th which is siiick. Also lost to Arsenal in the FA cup final.

I reccomend buying Artem Mileyski. I got him just before my second season and did incredibly upfront. Also, Van Der Vaart joined after my first season who is insane.
I've just signed Denilson, Macheda, Wishere and a few others who shoud hopefully help me win this prem title this season.

[azabh50]

Brilliant guide mate

[Chris]

Thanks for all the support. Good to hear cashinginnn.

[Frutty]

Awesome guide mate, keep up the good work!

[Chris]

Same for your Villa guide mate!

[Dominic]

Macheda and other young premiership players do not want to join Newcastle on loan. Any tips to make the players want to join me?

Edit: I am using version 10.1.0

[Chris]

What is the date in game? Because Macheda, Insua, Plessis, Merida and Wilshere should all want to join in the summer.

[Dominic]

I'm still in my first season, at the beginning of the season around August (I tried a month earlier and they would not join).

[Chris]

That is strange because I have never had a problem with this before... The only thing I can suggest is offer them 3 month loans. It may not work though.

[Dominic]

I've been trying season long loans, did you get them for the full season or just half?

[StuW]

Nicely done, really helpful. Newcastle will be a popular choice on FM10, due to the fact they have everything in place.

Guide is helpful, as Newcastle can be tricky to manage.

[Chris]

Yeah, they are tougher than people think. Thanks for your support.

[StuW]

Dont forget Stephen Appiah, a useful CM, available on a free.

[josevangall]

fantastic guide in deceber with my newcastle team top of the league and 2 points clear ! I stuckby lovenkrands and am now regretting it heavily!!! got vieri on a free and healey on loan , both lighting up the league with the explosive ameobi