Hello! Just a quick note, I’ve uploaded the NUFC save file for download so you can carry on where I’ve left off. The only way to do it is for me to upload the whole folder, but it is the only saved game. Basically treat it as a new download and follow the instructions on the How To page. The good thing is you can have multiple CM9798 folders and just mount them all on separate drives, I’ve got about 4 on the go, so do enjoy.
Let me know how you get on, there’s £50m in the bank so whether you want to continue my legacy of blooding the youngsters or splashing the cash, the choice is yours. Do tweet me with anything good that happens.
Have a great weekend – see you on Sunday for the Academy
Hello! Here we are then, the final edition of the NUFC “short” story. You get a feel for when a story is no longer interesting, so hopefully I can bow out at a high point. I will however upload the save file so if you really want to continue this save, be my guest. Here we go then, three months to go and four competitions to try and win…starting with the FA Cup.
The last 16 sees us welcome Liverpool to St James’. It’s a tough tie, as you’d expect, but my hero and yours Bjarni the Gud sees us through.
It’s a quarter final clash at home to 1st Division Leicester which is music to my ears.
February continues with the second leg of the league cup. With a 3-0 advantage I can rest a few and settle for a narrow defeat. Needs must.
It’s Spurs in the final at the end of March.
I swear we draw 0-0 with Derby at least once a season. It’s best not to dwell on these things
The excitement continues with a trip to Middlesbrough. These fixtures are coming thick and fast. Andreas Andersson was brilliant last season but he’s been utterly garbage this year, so it’s a relief when he grabs the winner here.
Whether it is fatigue or just not being very good, we’re dull to watch at the moment. The whole team is rotated ahead of a clash with Milan, so Birmingham face our reserves. Disco Des ends their resistance.
Milan then and it seems a little unfair that they’ve added Henry, Zidane and Juninho to the squad. The little Brazilian enjoys his return to the north east before a needless red card opens the door and we jam our foot in it to give us a good lead to take to Italy.
A problem though is that Shearer and Tomasson both pick up cards that mean they will miss the return leg. An FA Cup quarter final against 1st Division Leicester sees both play alongside the B team and a bit of a shambolic display.
The last thing we need is another match but we got the ultimate CM treatment.
Oh what a prize…
The games continue to come thick and fast and West Ham get a clobbering for their troubles. Disco Des though is without a hamstring for 6 weeks.
We have a dress rehearsal for the League Cup final but it’s also a matter of days before the Milan return leg. Once again Shearer and Tomasson do the damage ahead of their watching brief in Milan, whilst young Woody adds the third.
How are we meant to subdue THIS for 90 minutes?
That bench man. Meanwhile…
Our attacking options are stretched. I’m considering recalling Paul Brayson, that’s what it has come to. It’s not pretty but we survive a 1-0 loss. We’re through!
Good on Ajax but…there’s no good draw to be had.
Well at least it isn’t Barcelona.
Weirdos.
The squad is at breaking point but we’re 2-0 up at Southampton inside 10 minutes. But this is the Dell, never a happy hunting ground for us, and even Ian Ashbee scores as Given plays a 4. Woodcock briefly gets us back to 3-3 but it’s a loss.
That leads to the International break and a welcome rest.
Oh ffs.
Still, we’ve got the League Cup final to get to and even if Shearer is slowing down, he’s still the man for the big occasion. Two more goals for the great man and it’s a trophy in the bag.
However, if we’re going to add the Champions League to that bag we’re going to have to find a way past this (over 2 legs)
Andreas Andersson & Woodcock are banned, Disco Des and Bjarni the Gud are injured so it’s Paul Dalglish up front with Al. Urgh.
It’s about as good as you’d expect as we’re 3-0 down inside 21 minutes, and Shaka in net with Given dimissed in the penalty incident. Shearer pulls one back and mercifully it finishes that way. You know, I’ll take that, in the circumstances.
The fixture list is so congested we have a replay with Leicester on the Friday night. The winners will play Sunderland just 2 days later. Who schedules these things? We win despite Graham Fenton trying to ruin things again.
We’re in the middle of 9 matches in 21 days.
Off to Anfield then for the latest installment of Tyne/Wear fun. Shearer settles it. To Wembley!
A pair of wins over struggling side – with a goal and red card for Warren Barton – moves us closer to the league title. We have many games in hand it’s silly. Also, I recalled Paul Brayson.
Once again though I have been able to rest players ahead of the big game. Lazio.
This would be hard enough with Shay in net but with him banned, Hislop needs to be good. We’re 2-0 up in no time but Peacock’s dismissal followed by Boksic getting the vital away goal and our bubble bursts. It’s 2-2 shortly afterwards and we’re done. But a pen from Shearer and sub Woodcock sees us get back to 4-2 and we only need one more for an unlikely comeback. That lasts a minute before Par Andersson shatters us again. Never beaten, Woodcock scores our 5th. There is to be no drama though and we’re out on the damn away goals rule.
Curses. It’ll be Barcelona vs Lazio in the final.
Shearer has 32 this season which is more than any other season, so much for him declining. He has played more games, I suppose.
A disappointing draw with Chelsea follows, but I think the squad is at breaking point. The conditions are also mid 80%s
What won’t help that is this is Easter weekend and a Monday game is not what we need right now.
Still, when life hands you tired lemons, make lemonade.
That moves us closer to the title, with 3rd and 4th already close to being out of the equation and Tottenham emerging as our main rivals having won 4 on the spin.
They close that gap to 3 points with a win over Chelsea. But I’m not worried, Disco Des is back in training!
During the International break, England live the dream by playing Warren Barton and Lee Sharpe as wingbacks in a 7-0 win over Saudi Arabia. Shearer scores twice but I still think Glenn is losing the plot.
Speaking of losing the plot, we’re off to Anfield in a vital match. There’s no Stan Collymore but we still lose.
On the same night, Spurs win at Villa. Level on points. Gulp.
It’s Villa for us next and eventually we see them off. Shearer continues to hold things together.
Spurs also win, whilst Tomasson’s season is over. It’s another bank holiday too, so Old Trafford beckons.
Man Utd still have Neil Sullivan in goal and they’ve spent £45k on Alan Fettis to be his backup. Mad really.
Anyway, I mentioned Collymore earlier and here, in the role of old Stan, is Phil Neville. For crying out loud, shove the class of 92 up your arse.
Coventry beat Tottenham. Phew. Two games to go…
It’s the blue side of Manchester for us, just two days later. Spurs host Man Utd – come on Neil, please have learned to catch in the last couple of days.
We do our bit, even old man Barnes scored.
Spurs win 1-0. Sullivan gets man of the match, to be fair.
Last game of the season and we play Arsenal. The irony that Arsenal could win Spurs the league is equalled by Middlesbrough being Tottenham’s opponents. There’s only goal difference separating us.
As it is, Shearer gets his 39th of the season and secures us the title. Spurs can only draw 0-0 which is irrelevant anyway.
The bad news is Shearer will miss the FA Cup final.
In a repeat of the 1998 final, we face Blackburn at Wembley. With Shearer out, Pinas is captain. Don’t ask me how or why but his influence is 20. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Pinas is always a main influence but it’s bold to admit it.
It’s Coming Home.
Lazio won the Champions League, by the way. As we’ve reached the end of our matches let’s just take some stock on how this played out.
The aim of the game was initially to survive without Shearer. We did that, thanks for Andersson, Rush and Bjarni the Gud. We vowed not to buy any players and bring through the youth – Pinas, Gudjonsson, Woodcock and Aaron Hughes all became regulars, whilst Disco Des is always part of the squad and should get England honours.
Pinas is in the Dutch squad for their home Championships, surely he’ll get his first cap soon?
But the real star is of course Shearer.
99 goals for me from the big man. A phenomenal return. Two Premier Leagues, two FA Cups and two League Cups.
England played Watson, Woodcock, Barton and Shearer (Des an unused sub) but they drew 0-0 with China in a warmup. Great. Watson is considered a star player by Hoddle, which just raises further questions. Where’s Eileen?
Pinas makes his Holland debut in the opening game of the tournament, coming on at 3-0 down against France. England lose 3-0 to Portugal, though Shearer does score in a 1-1 draw with Romania. Woodcock then scores the winner against Poland as England sneak through to play Denmark.
A Michael Owen hat-trick sees England through to the semis and a rematch with Portugal. It’s penalties this time and Lee Sharpe is the hero.
In the final, Shearer gives England the lead but they can’t hold on. It is penalties again and everybodu misses…except Andy Marshall and, to finish on an NUFC note, future centre half Franck Dumas scores the winner.
That’s it then, the final mega-update and the end of the save. If you’re interested in carrying on where I left off let me know and I’ll send you the file.
Thanks for putting up with my little project for 12 episodes, I’ll be back soon with another but in the meantime the Academy will continue on a Sunday and we have various guest blogs for you the rest of the week. Bye for now!
Good day! We’re here for the penultimate episode of the NUFC “short” story. We’ve made a riproaring start to life in season 3, the pressure of being champions is being thrived upon rather than being a weight on our shoulders and life is good. So, how far can we go? It’s Liverpool first.
We’re actually unbeaten in all competitions at the moment and although Liverpool won’t just leave us alone we’ll take a point. Nuisances.
We thrashed Dortmund 5-0 earlier in the season but our visit to Germany is a lot less fun. It looks set to be a 0-0 draw but a last minute penalty leads to our first loss of the season. I could see it from here, never a pen.
Anyway, Fulham are bottom of the table. What they need is a Michael Jackson statue. Thankfully they defend like statues and it’s another win.
After an International break where Gudjonsson gets his first goal for Iceland, it’s back to the capital to play Chelsea away. Look, Jesper. Get another hobby. Bjarni the Gud continues his recent run of form and it’s a share of the spoils.
We can secure a place in the last 8 of the Champions League with a win over Brondby. Dortmund have made a proper hash of this group. We win, we’re through, what more can you ask?
We’re just not ruthless anymore. We are denied time and time again by the always annoying Kevin Pressman before known psycho Paolo Di Canio looks to have claimed a point for Sheff Wed. Andreas Andersson, who has been nowhere near as impressive as he was last year, but he climbs off the bench to net a late winner.
The League Cup – always a favourite on the blog – is next. Shearer sticks it to QPR despite Kevin Gallen reducing the arrears. It’s Villa at home in the quarters.
Ironically that’s where we are off now. What a way to suffer your first domestic defeat of the season.
Stan Collymore and a young Alan Lee. That’s a pity but it’s also December, so not a bad time to lose your first domestic game.
As we’re already through I can rest a few for the trip to Bulgaria. The front 4 all score and if nothing else that shows we could survive without Shearer, who is definitely on the decline.
Yay.
That’s a strong last 8. I wouldn’t have wanted to play any of them. On the plus side, Milan have just sold Maldini to Juventus.
That’s future Dave’s problem. Current Dave has to play Man Utd, who we are joint top with at present. It could have been any score but some poor finishing keeps it to 3. Later that night on Match of the Day, Alan Hansen makes the bold claim that you’ll never win anything with Neil Sullivan in net. I think he’s probably right.
Boxing Day should be a time for celebration but we’re off to Arsenal. Wenger has got these in a right mess. They’re 16th and field a 36 year old Ian Wright alongside Isiah Rankin up front. Jordi Cruyff and Craig Burley are deemed star players and despite all that they win 3-2. Urgh.
We’re still top, mainly because everybody else is as incompetent as we are. Wrexham are our visitors in the FA Cup and a dour game is settled by Woodcock. On New Year’s Day.
Just two days later it’s the usually fruitless trip to Ewood Park. Petri Jakonen gets man of the match as always but he can’t stop Keith Gillespie – not many can – and it’s 3 welcome points.
Another two days later it’s time to seek revenge against Aston Villa. Both sides are knackered and much rotated but Aaron Hughes scores just after half time to put us in a 2 legged semi final
It’s the revenge cup this year, as it’s Arsenal over 2 legs. Why don’t you try and stop me?
We pipped Leeds to the title on the final day of last season on goal difference only and they’ve got themselves in second place here as Man Utd have fallen off a cliff over Christmas. Aaron Hughes gets his 6th red card of a career that is not even 100 games old yet and it’s backs to the wall, but a flurry just after half time gives us a lead which we just about hold on to. A huge result!
That puts us 3 points clear of Leeds heading to the Wear-Tyne derby. They are 13th and we should really win but form goes out of the window in a derby. Or something. A terrible game comes to life in the final 4 minutes, where we lead for a minute and look set for a point after being pegged back immediately. Then…BJARNI THE GUD
Writing his name into history. What days.
FA Cup 4th round time and we’re off to QPR. We knocked them out of the League Cup so sticking with the theme, they’re out for some form of revenge. They were an awkward opponent then and it’s more of the same here, with Bjarni the Gud showing he is the natural heir to the Shearer throne. Apparently.
It’ll be Liverpool at home in Round 5. That’s…not great. It’s before the Champions League returns though so we’ll hopefully avoid the mega fixture pile up for now.
Coventry are 7th yet park the bus on their visit up north. I suppose it’s their bus they can do what they want with it. They score with their only shot on goal, a Stuart Nethercott header from a corner. We equalise but can’t find a winner. By can’t find I mean there are literally no highlights for the last 25 minutes. Incredible. Consider that bus parked. David Batty gets man of the match.
Grumble. Our lead is cut to 2 points which we’ll come to in a minute. First though, it’s time for the final game of this update and it’s the first leg of the League Cup semi final against Arsenal. I don’t believe in counting your chickens before they’ve hatched but I think we’ve got one foot in the final. Even Shay Given saved a penalty.
So all is well in the City of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Our form has been patchy and the goals have not flowed as they once did but we’re still top, that’s the main thing.
With the second leg, the FA Cup and the Champions League all to come it’s going to be a test of our resources in the closing months of the season. It could end up being a bumper last episode next week…or we could crash out in the next game of every cup. Join me then to find out which it is. Bye for now!
Greetings and welcome back to the Newcastle United “short story”. This was meant to only be a one season thing to see how we did without the injured Shearer but it turns out blooding youngsters and signing nobody is more fun than I imagined. Seeing as we are now Premier League champions, we’ll carry on for a third and final season before moving on with our lives. The only signings I am allowed are re-gens of my players who retire, so with Rush and Pearce hanging up their boots…
Sadly Geoff “Psycho” Mail has damaged his spine so we won’t be able to play him until the new year. Rush Hour II will hopefully get a loan move but I’ll keep him in mind for cup games if I can’t shift him.
The last thing I can afford to do is sell players, let alone to rivals, so bids for Gillespie and Disco Des from the red side of Manchester are knocked back.
They are also sniffing around Steve Watson, along with Liverpool, but they can dream on.
We get to play in the Charity Shield, a fine day in any manager’s life, and despite trailing at half time Shearer sorts them out before Jackie McNamara lashes in our winner.
It’s an inauspicious start to the season though. Blackburn have Petri Jakonen in goal and play everybody behind the ball. We run out of ideas remarkably quickly and 0-0 is about as good as we deserve.
It’s a tough start to our season as we’re off to Leeds, who we only pipped to the title on goal difference. John Hartson gives us that sinking feeling but those old pals Gillespie and Shearer rally to get us all three points. Phew.
Elland Road is looking large. It’s time for our derby next and it’s a bit of a ding dong affair, our two goal lead is immediately halved before we get two more. Even though we concede again it’s a welcome home win.
We’re still not firing on all cylinders as Coventry get the better of us at Highfield Road. We’re awful, but Chris Woodcock climbs off the bench to nick a point. Sign of a good team or the beginning of the end?
Champions League draw could have been a lot worse. Dortmund will be tough but by this stage some of their better players have been poached, I think we’ll get through being very honest.
Middlesbrough are our next visitors and our uncertain start to the season continues. The new craze is for teams to play ultra defensive against us – a compliment, in many ways – but when you can’t find a way past Mark Schwarzer it’s not great.
David Batty departs injured and will miss the England game, but don’t worry…
WHY?
Crikey. We just can’t score. A 2-0 win over Derby is more important than I ever thought imaginable.
Bjarni can start with Shearer going forward, Andersson was immense last season but dreadful so far. Dortmund are smashed to bits.
Before newly promoted Birmingham also taste defeat.
Our new found momentum even sees us win despite playing with 10 men for 55 minutes. Shearer’s back in the goals and Disco Des weighs in too. He’s still waiting that England cap though he has been in several squads.
The goals continue to flow in Denmark, Woodcock getting the nod up front and rewarding me with a quick fire brace. It’s closer than it needs to be but who cares?
Tottenham were title challengers last year but thankfully aren’t quite as good this year. We’ve hit a groove now and not even Jurgen Klinsmann can stop us
After the International break – no cap for Des, no game time for Barnes – it’s Southampton. They are Shearered and those 0-0s of a month ago are a distant memory.
It’s four more against the Bulgarian champions. Shearer’s recent return is incredible.
The party is somewhat halted at The City Ground. A ridiculously open game sees us have a winner from Woody chalked off but a point is better than a loss. We’re actually unbeaten still.
So after 12 fun filled games we’re top, by a single point. But still too early to get excited.
Man Utd just don’t stop. No.
He sort of underlines his credentials with a pair at first Division Southend in the League Cup. A complete shadow side also sees Rush II score though we’ll be missing Steve Watson for a month. Swings and roundabouts.
We’ll resume battle next week. Thanks for your company.
Hello! Welcome to the end of season 2 of my Newcastle United save, which started as a short story to see how we coped without Shearer but has evolved into so much more. I’m refusing to buy anybody and just blooding the youngsters. It’s lead to us being involved in the title race and the League Cup final whilst still maintaining an interest in the Cup Winners Cup. Let’s dance.
That interest extends to the semi finals, as our 1-0 with at St James’ is followed up by a 2-1 win in the Portugese capital. We are loving life.
Battle of Britian anyone?
The League Cup final brings no actual reward but it’s against first division Wolves and a trophy is a trophy. Yoink.
The fixtures are coming thick and fast but it’s soon time to meet Rangers. Shearer gets us off to the perfect start before his old mate Gary Speed adds a second. Gillespie and Batty depart injured though which stretches our resources somewhat.
The reason we’ve had such a good run recently is our final league fixtures are mostly all pains in the arse. Little rat Kieron Dyer takes a point off us at Pride Park
Whilst lovely Kevin Gallacher does the same at Ewood. Two future Newcastle players doing their bit to mess us around.
It’s a relief to be back on Tyneside but there’s no let up, as Liverpool are in town. Disco Des puts us in front but we are immediately pegged back before Mr Reliable pops up with the winner. A good Easter Monday.
With 5 games to play it’s very tight at the top. We still have to go to Spurs whilst Man Utd are coming up strong on the outside.
4 games in 7 days will decide out season, a pesky International break in between times.
First though it’s Rangers and Shearer continues to annoy the Scottish, scoring twice and missing a pen which he blazed over the bar. Antti Niemi in goal for that one after Goram’s dismissal. Quite the day, really.
It’ll be Lazio in the final
Lazio who have decided they need Roberto Baggio to beef up their attack…
Uh oh.
Off to Spurs then for a huge game. Klinsmann and Les Ferdinand have been great for them but Peacock and Albert cope admirably with them and Andreas Andersson does the rest. Big result!
That International break arrives and wouldn’t you just know it…
That is a pickle. It’s atrociously timed as it accompanies suspensions for Andersson and Tomasson, with Bjarni the Gud already out for the season. So it’s Rushy and Woodcock against Chelsea.
We’re behind, we’re in front, we’re level. 20 mad minutes bring all the goals but a point, in the circumstances, is not a bad result. But we can afford few slip ups at this stage
Three points behind Leeds. Their run in is ok but they finish at Arsenal, for all we have scored more goals we’ve also shipped far more, it’s going to be tight.
A big win at Sheff Wed on bank holiday Monday at least keeps us competitive. Shearer’s early return is nothing less than I expected from the great man.
Hold on, what’s this?
Yes! Thank you Everton. It’s on!
Just two days later the title rollercoaster is back in action. Man Utd are 5th but have oddly sold Peter Schmeichel to Man City and replaced him with Neil Sullivan. That, you would think, can only help us.
Get it up ya
Leeds win 3-0. But that doesn’t matter. We are ahead by 2 goals. Three really because we have scored loads more.
I watch the Arsenal/Leeds game. Leeds win despite Lee Bowyer being Lee Bowyer. That means as long as we beat Coventry, we are the champions.
Coventry set up with a flat back 9. Thankfully Magnus Hedman is injured and it’s old man Ogrizovic in goal.
CHAMPIONS. You can almost imagine the special 40 page pull out in the Chronicle to celebrate such an achievement.
Kevin Keegan would be proud. Who said attacking football wouldn’t pay off?
We’re not done though, it’s off to Amsterdam – not to celebrate, but for the Cup Winners Cup final.
Lazio though, bloody hell. To make matters worse, we don’t have Brian Pinas who is suspended.
No Pinas no party
We are soundly beaten. I can have no complaints, we’ve won the league man!
Shearer finishes top scorer with 30, though Andersson’s 27 is a great effort.
Plenty of assists from the front 2 as well
The average ratings aren’t really that impressive. Rush only played twice, once against Portadown, so you probably can ignore that.
Nooooo/oh well I’ll get his re-gen
The awards and the football journalists of the world have decided Andreas Andersson is the best there is.
So that’s it, season 2 is in the bag. I think I’ll be back with a third season – we have a Champions League to win!
Welcome back! This NUFC save is settling in to it’s Wednesday home quite nicely and the 98/99 season has not failed to disappoint. What started out as the “survive without Shearer” save has become a challenge of blooding youngsters and not buying anbody. It seems to have worked, as an FA Cup win in season one came alongside a 4th placed finish. Can we improve on that? Let’s find out.
We reached January last time out, securing a place in the League Cup semi finals and much less impressively the FA Cup 4th round, but our first game in this update in the Tyne-Wear derby. Well Wear-Tyne now I guess as we’re away. Anyway. We’ve all scored a Pinas own goal in our time but it’s how you react. Speed levels it up and then big Al pops up with a late, late winner to give us a very happy away end.
That hurdle negotiated, table toppers Leeds visit St James’ Park and this is really where our season can be made or broken. Thankfully, the floppy haired Andersson gets us a vital 3 points and leaves us right in the title mix.
Also in the title mix are Tottenham, Klinsmann and Les Ferdinand proving to be quite the handful. We’ve got them in the 4th round of the FA Cup and we simply can’t handle them. Andersson briefly gives us hope but we don’t deserve anything and we’re out. We won’t be defending our FA Cup.
A reaction is needed and that man Andersson is at it again. We are briefly pegged back by Leicester but old double A gets two and we’re loving life.
That sets us up nicely for the League Cup tie against Liverpool. It’s over two legs and we absolutely take it to Liverpool but can’t score. Dida is in great form. Then he gets sent off for a foul on Gillespie and Shearer does the rest. See you in 10 days for the return.
As it is, we have no game between times due to our FA Cup exit. Liverpool take an early lead to wipe out our advantage but the battery levels it up. McManaman forces extra time which brings no further goals and a passage to the final. It does however cost Alan Shearer a broken jaw. A month without our talisman is a worry.
Wolves in the final. Bit odd.
Life without Shearer begins at home Aston Villa. We look a bit lethargic and barely create anything but Tomasson scores on the stroke of half time and thankfully it’s enough. On we roll…
Bjarni Gudjonsson has been tasked with filling Shearer’s boots, a task he excelled at last season, and he finally gets his reward with the 3rd goal against Everton. 3-0 at half time against a struggling side becomes 3-2 as I withdraw a few players but a wins a win, and what’s more, it puts us top of the table.
That comes about following Leeds taking a 3-0 thrashing off Spurs, who are really in this for the long haul. Bjarni is at it again at the Riverside and despite Andy Cole getting one back, we’re on a great run.
Out of nowhere it’s back to Cup Winners Cup action. Where does the time go? It’s March so the 1st leg of our Quarter Final against Sporting Lisbon shouldn’t be that much of a surprise but with Shearer still absent we can’t really put them away. Tomasson settles it but it is closer than it needed to be.
Back to Thursday-Saturday which is a problem for any squad, so I ring the changes for the visit of Nottingham Forest. We are always in control and despite a mad 4 goals in 3 minutes in the second half it’s three more points. Des Hamilton gets our 5th. Remember the name.
The games are coming thick and fast and Arsenal are nothing but a midtable side this season, so I’m livid we don’t manage to win from a position of being a goal and a man up. David Johnson scores a screamer to equalise.
We’re about to play Bolton at home when another disaster strikes. Who dares to knack his spine?!
Woodcock starts alongside Andersson and it’s a 1-0 thrashing. We’ve done well to negotiate this Shearer-less time with minimal damage so far but if we want to go far in the Cup Winners, we need all the players we can get.
Shearer is approaching fitness but…hang on a minute. Shearer, Batty and…
Disco Des! The man who barely plays for us is in the England squad. What is life?
It’s the Sporting return game next and look who’s back and probably angry.
Drink it in. We lead this five horse race. It’s going to be a tight finish but with the main man back, we might be able to pull this off. Look out for Man Utd though, that game in hand could put them within striking distance.
Don’t forget we have the League Cup final to look forward to. You get no reward for winning it, not even a UEFA Cup place, but a trophy is a trophy.
The youth haven’t had as much chance to develop but they still are. Pinas is now worth £7m, whilst England’s latest call up comes in at £4.3m Aaron Hughes is also making a steady rise, so it’s all going rather swimmingly.
Welcome back! Season 2 of the “no purchase” challenge with Newcastle, where I’m putting an emphasis on bringing youth players through to try and support Shearer and co. After winning the FA Cup in season 1, you would be forgiven for thinking it would be all downhill from there, but surprisingly it’s been above average. That said, it’s barely October, so still plenty of time for disaster to strike.
Derby at home is a nice gentle start.
After we ruthlessly dismantled Portadown in the first round, Dinamo Moscow is an all together tougher draw. The fixture is played on a Thursday with a trip to Old Trafford in the offing two days later, so some squad rotation is needed.
Chris Woodcock is coming on nicely. His late intervention puts us is a strong position ahead of the trip to Moscow.
Old Trafford and I’m getting a little bit sick of Paul Scholes. What a nuisance.
Gudjonsson’s record at Old Trafford is obscene.
The League Cup gives us a tie against Leeds who knocked us out in the semi finals last season. They’re flying high in 2nd with John Hartson doing the business for George Graham, though what “the business” is will later be debated in court.
Bottom line is we thrash the tits off them. Revenge!
Aaron Hughes becomes the latest youngster to make his mark.
Blackburn are also dismantled. We’re cooking on gas at the moment.
Even in Russia when I take another risk by playing a shadow side and Woodcock adds two more. He’s only 18 but he’s already a hated man in Russia.
Who is Chris Woodcock? His stats are sensational, even if he can’t pass or run but my can he head. Also, set pieces? Who is this guy?
There’s an interview with him here but if that’s not your style, here’s a picture of him. The least footballer looking man of all time:
Source: Essentia
So this was an eye opener. Let’s get back to 1998 quickly. It’ll be Sporting Lisbon in the quarter finals but that won’t happen until March.
Anfield is our next reward and bloody hell we’re 2-0 up. Bloody hell it finishes 2-2. Nuisance Paul Ince equalises with the last kick of the game. I would have liked those points.
That seems to mess with us a little bit and after the International break we host top of the table Tottenham. Despite taking an early lead we concede to Gary Mabbutt and Nicola Berti. Incidentally if you are at a loose end find the episode of the Quickly Kevin podcast with James Richardson and just listen to him say Nicola Berti. Sensational.
Chelsea have sacked Gianluca Vialli and his replace is Roy Hodgson. Shearer piles on the misery.
December arrives and our daily tiny chocolates power us to a mighty 1-0 success against Bristol Rovers in the League Cup. Gudjonsson is once again the brightest of a young team and a win is a win.
The last 8 draw could have been worse. We’ll re-visit this later in the update.
We’re going through a bit of a spell where goals are hard to come by. Kevin Pressman is having the game of his life but the boy Woodcock climbs off the bench to finally down 10 man Wednesday. Hinchcliffe dismissed for terrible banter with Daniel Mann followed by some poor analysis where he somehow claimed Brighton were the better team.
Highfield Road is a much missed stadium, fair to say things haven’t really gone to plan for Coventry since leave it behind. Gillespie and Speed make sure we take 3 points from them in a dress rehearsal for the quarter final.
Southampton away though has always been a disaster. The Dell. I hate the Dell. We’re ahead, we’re behind, we’re level for a minute, we’re grateful to Big Al getting us level late on. It’s 2 points dropped.
That leads us into Christmas where Kestbaia offers to host our Christmas do. Everybody gets the shits – mostly defenders, for some reason, which gives us a selection headache.
Luckily West Ham are the visitors and they are poor at best.
We’ll finish with two cup games. 1999 dawns with a tricky trip to Millwall. Woody thrives in tricky situations.
It’s Spurs away in Round 4 which is a terrible draw for us. Spurs are 2nd and flying so I’m not looking forward to that.
The League Cup quarter final with Coventry ends up being a frustrating affair until Speed finally breaks the deadlock. Darren Peacock looks to have sealed our passage but former Magpie Darren Huckerby makes us sweat.
As ever we get the hardest available draw. We’ll fancy beating anybody over two legs.
Just a sneak peak at how the squad is developing. A lot of the young lads are starting to come to fruition. Pinas is thriving. Hamilton and Watson are wanted by Man Utd and Steve Howey is wanted by Arsenal despite never playing. Albert is interesting Ajax and I have sold Rob Lee to Derby. That man deserves to play.
We’re 7 points off the top but it’s looking like a bit of a 5 horse race.
When we resume next week we face a trip to Sunderland for the derby and then we welcome Leeds to SJP for a match we really need to win. You won’t want to miss that so I’ll see you next Wednesday for more of the same. Bye for now!
In my defence, the vote was pretty close and I really wanted to carry on the NUFC save too. So you’re getting two stories a week from me until there’s an uprising against the quality of the content.
To recap, I started a game as Newcastle and decided not to buy anybody at all, even though Alan Shearer was injured for 7 months. As luck would have it, we did ok then Shearer returned and we did brilliantly. We won the FA Cup, came 4th and lost in the semis of the Champions League and the League Cup. Quit whilst you’re ahead?
Well, maybe. Instead I’ve decided to carry on. I’m not going to buy anybody still, unless anybody in my squad retires, in which case they will be replaced by their own re-gen. I’m looking at you, Rushy.
We re-join the game in August 1998. England finished 3rd in the World Cup, beating Scotland in the 3rd/4th place playoff. Incidentally the World Cup final was almost identical to 1994
Magic. Some good news for me is that by not spending any transfer money, they’ve expanded St James’ Park.
Getting closer to than 52k. In the meantime though, it’s Wembley for the Charity Shield. It’s an opportunity to see how a couple of the youngsters get on, namely Chris Woodcock and two stars of last season, Bjarni Gudjonsson and Brian Pinas.
Probably should have taken this more seriously.
Get used to Scholes scoring past you lads, you’ve got another 10 years of it yet.
What worries me is that most of the goals weren’t even rebounds – this game loves a rebound, but these shots were flying in. Southampton at home is a kind way to start a season, or at least it should be.
What is going on here? Has Shay Given got no hands? He was injured towards the end of last season but this is getting serious now. Off we go to Upton Park for more “ffs”
I enjoyed that 3 minute lead. Man Utd keep bidding £6m for David Batty but that’s not really part of my game plan here. Now he’s injured for two weeks.
Tyne-Wear derby day is bound to be a charged affair, especially after a year without one. The newly promoted mackems keep us out thanks to Lionel Perez until the final minute where Gillespie eventually beats the bedraggled Frenchman and the Geordie public go home happy.
This is a strange season but we’re off to Leeds unbeaten in the league and taking one game at a time.
At least that was the plan…
I don’t know where to start. Is it Shay? Do I need to send for Shaka?
The Cup Winners Cup will be a chance to continue to blood the youngsters. Jimmy Crawford is already 25. Paul Brayson however is not. We’ll have a great time in Northern Ireland.
Shaka is in for the visit of Leicester. We lost this fixture last season and we’re off to a rough start with Fenton scoring after just 2 minutes. I hate Graham Fenton. We equalise but never look likely to win it. Weird stuff going on here, I guess we are in unchartered territory here as I’d normally just spend the pain away.
It’s a month out for Peacock and I’ve also decided to loan out Brayson. He’ll have a great time at Altrincham.
A midweek trip to Everton has disaster written all over it, but I’ve recalled Given hoping that last game will give him a kick up the arse. He’s barely utilised through the whole evening as we go 3-0 ahead before the half hour. Chris Woodcock appears from the bench to get his first goal for the club. I think Woodcock and Pinas make us a very potent force.
Cock Piss Tomasson.
International break now and Andy Griffin damages his spine playing for England Under 21s. That’s a shame, as he would have played the CWC games. This is rough too:
He’s got 7 in 7 this season so will be missed for the next few, especially as it’s Arsenal at home next. Gillespie has been nursing sore ribs for a long time and is still not back, so it’s Des Hamilton in the AMRC role with Bjarni the Gud partnering Andersson. Aaron Hughes is wanted by Arsenal so he’s starting. That backfires as he is sent off shortly after half time but we hang tough and Bjarni heads a last gasp winner. What is life?
That puts us third and sends us to Northern Ireland in good spirits. It’s a very experimental side but it’s what we’ve committed to here and Idiot Enterprises and it’s over 2 legs afterall. Shearer will be back for the return leg so he can run wild if needs be. Also, and I don’t know why I feel the need to justify this so much, we play Thursday-Saturday and it’s a big ask.
26 shots later…
Poor Shay. Just can’t catch a break. The young lads did well though, and the potent duo got on the scoresheet again. I’ll look forward to the return leg.
Just two days later then and it’s Villa away. Shearer announces he is fit to the surprise of everybody, and with Gillespie back there’s only Peacock missing. I’ll stick with Aaron Hughes, his Arsenal red card dismissed as an unlucky blemish.
Maybe he’s just a clumsy oaf? Barnesy bends in a free kick which helps establish a 3-0 lead but it’s a nervy last 35 minutes and an even nervier last 10. Aaron Hughes making Darren Peacock seem competent is a new low.
A midweek Tyne-Tees derby will please both fans and police alike but it’s 2nd vs 4th so a bigger game than usual.
Rubbish. Incidentally it’s Tottenham who top the pile.
Another newly promoted side next as we make the trip to Nottingham. The Aaron Hughes experiment is over for now, with Peacock back in the mix.
Bring back Aaron Hughes. We’re 2-0 down and a mess but Shearer gets us back into it and then covnerts a pen after a deliberate handball sees Centurioni sent off. We push for a winner but sub Woodcock elbows Scot Gemmill in the face in injury time. I must stop feeding these youths raw meat.
Portadown arrive at St James’ Park and looking them in the eyes, they don’t believe they can overturn a 4-1 deficit here. Even Shay fancies a clean sheet here.
Hurrah. I put Shearer on at half time just to be a tosser. Woodcock’s 3rd goal is ruled out for offside but he’s making good progress. It’s Dinamo Moscow in round 2 which will be a lot tougher.
Final game of this update and we’re off to Bolton. Let me tell you about Bolton. They are bottom of the table and have lost 10 out of 10. They regard Paul Telfer as a star player.
Make that 11 out of 11. I’m quite happy with third but our goals against column is disgusting.
Man Utd are struggling for goals but opted to sign Scott Booth for £3.7m. That will not help but it’s not Shearer so I’m fine with it.
That’s about all I’ve got for you in this update but I’ll be back same time next Wednesday with more from NE1. Toodles!
We arrive at the final part of our journey. A short story has a quick ending, but will it be a good one? With two semi finals to look forward to against Liverpool and Monaco respectively and a top 6 place to secure, Newcastle have a surprising amount of things to play for at the business end of the season. Big Al is back and in the goals and the injury crisis is easing, so the days of fielding Brian Pinas are mostly behind us. With that, let’s get back to it.
Monaco will be a tough opponent but first we’ve got to play the Monaco of the midlands, as everybody calls them. After the indignity of conceding to Gary Breen we briefly level things up…but former Mag Darren Huckerby scores twice and that’s the ideal preparation.
Off to the rather more glamorous surrounds of Monaco then as we go looking for revenge for our UEFA Cup exit last season. Monaco are really quite good. Ludovic Giuly gives them an early lead before he and Shearer swap goals. If it finishes 2-1 I’ll be happy, but Giuly completes his hat-trick 17 minutes from time and I’m not sure we’ll come back from that.
Pick yourselves up lads, we’re off to Old Trafford. Not to face Man Utd, for once, but instead it’s the neutral venue for Liverpool in the FA Cup semi final. I can’t imagine Old Trafford ever being a neutral venue for Liverpool but whatever. Robbie Fowler breaks Shay Given’s jaw in the first 5 minutes but Shaka comes on and is surprisingly competent, whilst Shearer is unplayable. A hat-trick later and a Keith Gillespie goal means we run out 4-0 winners. We’re going to Wembley!
The fixture list is taking the mick a bit. Easter weekend sees us travel to Highbury for our annual thrashing.
Shay’s out for the season, and I fear we will miss him. Here’s that fixture pile up I mentioned. Our league position is going to be 4th, 5th or 6th, none of which I care about, so I’ve made the decision to sack off the Liverpool home game. We need to be rested for Monaco.
With that in mind, this is the team I’ve selected. To be fair, they’ve all played at International level with the exception of Pinas, Hamilton and Hislop, who all have Under 21 caps at this stage.
Bjarni Gudjonsson will probably win the Ballon D’Or. This result should not happen.
It means the first team have had extra rest ahead of the visit of Monaco. A 2-0 win will see us advance, but if Monaco score twice we need 5. Tomasson gives us the lead and everything is good but Ikpeba equalises on the stroke of half time. With no margin for error, Japhet N’Doram eliminates us on 56 minutes. We show some late fight, with Pinas getting his first professional goal before Shearer puts us ahead on the night. It’s not enough, but what a run we’ve had.
It’s Juventus in the final, which we probably wouldn’t have won – though I do have Andy Griffin…
Off to Leicester then and another chance for Shearer to kick Neil Lennon in the head make friends with Neil Lennon. A ding dong battle ends in a draw when Rush climbs off the bench to equalise. He’s been more useful than I could have imagined.
Another pointless International break allows teams to prepare for World Cup 98, but the return to club action sees us put Wimbledon to the sword. We’re a fun side.
There’s still time for yet another game with Man Utd, our 5th meeting of the season, and that pesky Paul Scholes means it’s a poor day for us. We should probably get used to that.
The league season is coming to a close with that FA Cup final date with Blackburn now creeping into focus. Southampton are despatched, which is a bigger result than you realise. We used to struggle at The Dell.
Relegation threatened Barnsley take the lead against us but Shearer scores twice to give us another away win and seals us 4th spot. It gets us nothing extra but it’s nice to be able to say.
Goals 29 and 30 follow for Shearer in the final game. He’s some boy.
The main thing I can take from this season is that we are the top scorers in the league, doing Kevin proud and banishing the turgidness that would eventually cost Kenny Dalglish his job.
To lead the team out in front of the pretend famous arch is obviously a great honour. We’ve had a tremendous season but to end the trophy drought of 29 years (add on another 20 now ffs) would be a fitting way to end this save. Colin Hendry gets sent off after just 4 minutes and Andreas Andersson scores the winner. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Woo and yay though. Nobody can say we didn’t deserve it having knocked out Chelsea, Man Utd and Liverpool in consecutive rounds.
The players have had a decent time. Shearer is wanted by Man Utd, as is Gillespie, but tough. They’ve both been great.
An array of statistics for those of you that are interested
Andreas Andersson was involved in 48 goals. Good grief. Shearer returned on December 6th and netted 30 times in 36 games. He’s quite good.
Only 3 man of the matches seems quite stupid. He finished top scorer for the whole of England.
This was good fun, your interaction on Twitter has been phenomenal and warms my bitter old heart. Hopefully it has helped fill the close season gap. My next short story will be along soon before we head back to Belgium for the Waregem save. See you again soon!
Welcome back! This 5 part series has reached the penultimate episode as I set out to prove if it was possible for Newcastle to succeed despite Alan Shearer’s lengthy injury at the start of the 97/98 season. So far it has gone quite well. We made it out of the Champions League group and we’re in the top 6. We’re also still in both cups. That’s a good effort.
Here’s a reminder of the table before we move on
Struggling Crystal Palace are our first opponents of the update and Andreas Andersson is like a man possessed. Maybe it’s because his hair is modelled on Steve Parish but either way, we’re 3-0 up after 25 minutes. It’s actually 4-2 at half time in a crazy game but it’s a win and our good times roll on.
I mentioned in the intro we are still in both cups so our 4th round FA Cup tie with Barnsley is overshadowed by a 2 legged semi-final with Leeds in the League Cup. Regardless, Shearer sees off Barnsley and we’ll face Chelsea in round 5.
White Hart Lane means we will renew acquaintances with Sir Lesley Ferdinand, but Darren Peacock ensures he leaves on a stretcher. Klinsmann scores and Shearer equalises. It’s a good result with the semi final looming.
Leeds have a very strong defence as you may have noticed in the earlier league table. Shearer gives us the lead and all is going well until Peacock gets injured, possibly a result of karma for seeing off Big Les. Anyway, I’ve used both outfield subs so Shaka Hislop sidles on and Warren Barton goes to centre back – Shaka slots in up front sfter a re-shuffle. It’s probably unrelated but Hartson goes on to equalise. Boo.
Still, a 2nd leg at home should see us through. But Nigel Martyn is a nuisance. He saves everything we throw at him whilst Leeds score from a set piece thanks for David Lee, just signed from Chelsea. For goodness sake. Semi-final heartbreak.
On the plus side, we smashed Chelsea 4-0 in the FA Cup to make the quarters. Shearer’s really quite good you know.
We become rather adept at scoring 4, as Everton are put to the sword. Even one might have done against Leeds but we’ll look forwards rather than backwards.
Four again! The only surprise is that Shearer doesn’t get any of them. We survive a bit of a fightback but Staunton’s red card makes it an easier finish than we might expect.
As the calendar turns to March that means the Champions League is back. It is still remarkable that we are in it and I have to say Porto is probably the best draw we could get. A 2-0 lead is comfortable but 2-1 is less easy and leaves us vulnerable in Portugal.
The big games are coming thick and fast. Man Utd away in the FA Cup quarters is as tough as it gets, the champions elect will be heavy favourites. But they don’t have Bjarni Gudjonsson. The young Icelandic forward has had to take a backseat recently but he’s thrust in here for the banned Andersson and he gets the decisive goal. Wow. Semi finals again!
Of all the teams to get, Liverpool were the ones to avoid. That’ll be tough.
Our league form has been good but I think it’s a game of one too many as Chelsea come to town. Zola gives them an early lead and although Andersson does equalise, it’s backs to the wall for the remainder and I’m happy to escape with a point.
Three days later it’s Bolton. I have one eye on the 2nd leg of the Porto game but we just about get the job done. A wins a win.
With 9 games to go we’re in 4th, still, but a mile from 3rd and in a bit of danger from the chasing pack.
It’s a good season though, with an FA Cup semi final to come and hopefully a Champions League semi too. We have that slender 2-1 advantage but that means a 1-0 loss would send us out. We need to score. Luckily, we lead 1-0 early on and we relax, but Porto keep us honest with an equaliser on the night before half time. Shearer gets our 2nd away goal only for it to be cancelled out a minute later. Porto need 2 to qualify and thankfulyl can only manage 1. We’re through!
They broke John Barnes’ nose. Who would you want out of this lot?
No easy draw there. Monaco will be very tough indeed.
Monaco of course knocked Newcastle out of the UEFA Cup quarter finals the previous season. Revenge?
That seems unlikely. But we’ve surprised a few this season so let’s just see how it goes. See you for the finale!
