Hello and welcome to the Newcastle United live blog for Sunday, January 7.
Newcastle United beat Luton Town 3-1 yesterday to move through to the fourth round of the FA Cup and continue the Magpies' perfect start to 2018.
United are now in the hat for Monday's fourth round draw but for now, manager Rafa Benitez will turn his attention to who he can bring into the club with the January transfer window now open.
The Spaniard wants at least three or four new faces but STILL does not know his transfer budget.
We'll have the latest on the takeover and also all of the January transfer rumours that are starting to stack up.
As ever we want to hear from you, so please send us your thoughts over Facebook at www.facebook.com/chroniclenufc/ or on Twitter at @ChronicleNUFC.
Key Events
Signing off
OK - and on that note, here’s your most-read stories for Sunday.
- Staveley and Ashley playing “cat and mouse”
- Freddie Woodman got his debut - and didn’t disappoint, says Chris Waugh
- Rafa Benitez on the January window - as Kenedy move edges closer
- Rafa still wants a goalkeeper in January
- Premier League free agents list, compiled by Sean McCormick is here
There have also been reports of a loan move knocked back for Diafra Sakho - and interest in Daniel Sturridge. Now we just need some budget clarification and Rafa might be able to make a more decisive move...
Arsenal out of the Cup
So who saw that coming?!
Takeover gossip
Today’s most-read. Takeover talk still cat nip to us all, isn’t it?
Happy birthday Supermac!
Happy birthday Supermac!
Arsenal go behind again
Arsenal struggling again....
Ashley agreed with Benitez on recruitment
A more optimistic take on NUFC recruitment from the Telegraph and Luke Edwards:
Despite still not being told what his transfer budget is, Benitez had a conversation with Newcastle owner Mike Ashley just before Christmas and they both agreed the squad needed to be improved in this window.
Although Benitez is frustrated at not knowing what sort of money he has to spend, he has given managing director Lee Charnley a list of targets and is confident the club will deliver some of them before deadline day.
Most-read: NUFC takeover gossip
It is our most-read of the day.
Arsenal level
...and it’s 1-1 now. Stand down, Cupset fans.
Forest lead Arsenal
Blimey, Cup holders Arsenal in trouble.
NUFC cup gate was impressive
Forgive me for posting one of my own tweets but thought this was pretty impressive:
NUFC linked with Peruvian playing in the Netherlands
A new and left-field name:
Hernandez not enjoyed it at West Ham...
A man who nearly signed for NUFC, according to Alan Shearer....
Adam Armstrong heading to Blackburn
Adam Armstrong to sign for Blackburn this week, reports Coventry Telegraph. Would not be a huge surprise.
Blackburn Rovers are close to completing the loan signing of Newcastle youngster Adam Armstrong.
The former Sky Blues loan star was loaned out by parent club Newcastle United in the summer, with his third loan move of his career taking him to play for newly promoted Bolton Wanderers.
The 20-year-old striker had hoped to rediscover the sort of goal-scoring form which helped him net 20 goals in League One at the Sky Blues back in 2015/16.
Goalless at Wembley
Blimey - been a few upsets this weekend. Now AFC Wimbledon holding Spurs at Wembley...
The importance of the Cup to Newcastle
Enjoyed reading this by Martin Hardy in the Independent on the importance of the Cup to Newcastle.
Benitez knows this season is about staying in a division Newcastle have been relegated from twice in the last nine years, and it has been a football club without a romantic heartbeat for much of that time.
And then, on Saturday afternoon, he picked a team that was potentially two outfield players off his very strongest. The crowd of 47,069 (including 7,500 from Luton) was the largest the stadium had seen for a third round tie since 1968. It was the largest for any FA Cup tie at St James’ since a quarter-final victory over Tottenham in 2005. It reflected the desire and connection still present in the fans. Newcastle won three FA Cup finals in the 1950s, lost one in the 70s and lost another two in the 1990s. Cup football matters in Tyneside.
It is a good piece and reflects why Saturday’s team - and the attitude of the players - was so important.
Rafa on January
Some Rafa quotes on January. Once again stressing how important January is:
I don’t know. We are working hard to be ready, but at the moment, I don’t know. It’s an important month for the club, not just this week.
Full story here.
Gazza back on Twitter
Good to see Gazza looking well:
Aleksandar Mitrovic's next move
Skybet are running a book on Aleksandar Mitrovic’s next move:
Anderlecht 3/1
West Brom 4/1
Olympiakos 6/1
Stoke 11/1
Watford 12/1
Swansea 14/1
Southampton 16/1
West Ham 16/1
Crystal Palace 25/1
Besiktas 28/1
Leeds 28/1
Leicester 33/1
Middlesbrough 33/1
To Stay at Newcastle (Does not include returning on loan following a permanent deal elsewhere)13/8
To Leave Newcastle 4/9
NUFC have Premier League striker bid knocked back
ICYMI earlier, new reports from the Sun that Newcastle had a loan bid for Diafra Sakho turned down last week.
Newcastle have also asked about taking Sakho on loan as Rafa Benitez wrestles with a limited budget — but the Toon chief has been turned down.
However, Allardyce and Moyes are big pals and could sort out the move between them, with the middle men working on the numbers.
The full piece is here.
Woodman open to going out on loan again
Freddie Woodman says “minutes on the grass” are the most important thing.
Fan gallery
It was cheap so there were thousands there. Did we get a pic of you?
January plans
So United linked with a move for Diafra Sakho at West Ham - a player who probably won’t get pulses racing on Tyneside but who would fit the bill of the kind of target Benitez is looking at in this loan window.
He has some really exciting targets - at least one England international has been discussed - but at the moment with doubts about his budget, he’s looking for players he knows he should be able to afford. Loans may not be as expensive as permanent deals but there’s still substantial fees to pay along with wages and other financial considerations. So someone like Sakho probably comes in the more affordable bracket.
He may not be a big hitter but players like him will offer Benitez another option and that’s what he’ll be looking to do in January: stock up his squad, give himself a chance to play in a different way and hopefully add players with some Premier League experience.
NUFC 'ask about Diafra Sakho'
From the Sun’s Alan Nixon:
Newcastle have also asked about taking Diafra Sakho on loan as Rafa Benitez wrestles with a limited budget — but the Toon chief has been turned down.
He writes that Everton are now looking to strike a deal for the striker. Full story is here.
Murphy on Twitter
And another line from Jacob Murphy’s interview. On Twitter:
I’m on and off Twitter – I delete it, re-download it and delete it again – but the majority are fantastic, they’re really supportive. You get the odd egghead, but then there’s people there to fight your corner and they’re the people I’ve got a lot of love for.
I learned from my experience at Coventry that you shouldn’t read too much into what people say.
Twitter is a dangerous place – you get the good and the bad. But the way I see it is that if you don’t want to see all of the bad, then you can’t take in the good as well. It has to be like that, because you can’t just look through all the good comments and think, ‘yeah, that’s great’ and then when the bad comments come in, it’s like ‘why’s everyone coming at me?’
There’s times I’ll have it, but most of the time I don’t. I flick on and off to see what’s going on. The negativity can eat you up. The way that the brain works is you notice all of the bad comments more than you notice the good comments. Why take in the hate when you don’t need that kind of thing?”
You can read the whole thing here.
Jacob Murphy on how he's turned things around
More from Murphy:
Once I started the games, from the Manchester United game, it took me ten or 15 minutes to settle into the match, but then things were coming off for me and I started finding more confidence. As each game’s gone on and I’ve played more minutes, I’ve relaxed into it.
I like to think I’m a confident boy. But when I was coming on and not doing well, people weren’t really taking to me straight away, it was quite frustrating. It was a bit like, ‘am I ever going to play well?’ But I knew that in time it would come good. All I needed was a run of games to find my feet, and then I’d be cooking on gas.
Jacob Murphy: How I turned it around
Some interesting stuff from Jacob Murphy on how he’s turned things around at NUFC. After a bad start, he’s really improved. This is what he told the club programme:
I was just dying to play. And then when I was coming on, I was putting pressure on myself, trying to do things that I don’t normally do because I was trying to catch the eye, get the fans off their seats and stuff,” he says. “Then I just thought, ‘wait – stick to what you know, and it’ll come good in time’.
Rafa looking for a goalkeeper
Reminder: Rafa still looking for a goalkeeper:
Should the Cup be a priority?
Thoughts, people?
Jacob Murphy's programme interview
Worth a read:
Ayoze Perez's quick start to 2018
Ha ha....