A visit to Turf Moor awaits Eddie Howe’s depleted squad on Saturday afternoon as they continue to defy medical logic as well as ill luck and remain in the fight for a European spot despite the worst run of injury ill luck seen in many a season.
And that ill luck continues following the news that Fabien Schar has joined his fellow defensive partners Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman on the treatment table and is ruled out of the trip to Lancashire.
On the plus side however the Ying to our Yang is the news that that Joelinton, Miggy Almiron and Nick Pope are back in training with the first team and getting closer to at least a place on the bench for our final four games of the season.
Another positive for all is the news that Sandro Tonali will not incur any extension to his ten-month global ban from football as the FA have imposed only a two-month suspended sentence and a £20,000 fine having admitted 55 charges of relating to breaches of the FA betting rules between July and October 2023, including four bets on Newcastle fixtures; all of which were on his side to win. Tonali incidentally featured in three of those four games.
The BBC website reported that the independent regulatory commission were informed that the process has had a "profound effect" on the midfielder and "is something he does not want to experience again".
The independent commission, in summarising the evidence, said the FA contended it was "highly unlikely" that it "would have ever become aware of Tonali’s misconduct but for his admissions".
The written reasons issued on Thursday stated the four Newcastle matches Tonali admitted betting on were:
The player will now be available for selection from the third game of the 2024/25 premier league season onwards and the challenge now will be to get the player ready both mentally and physically and while all indications are that the player is coping well with the former, it may take a while for him to reach peak match fitness; something both the player and Howe will be well aware of.
The return of Tonali to first team action next season will be a welcome boost to Eddie Howe and together with the inevitable quality additions to the first team squad that will come in during the summer everyone will be hoping that the club will be better equipped than ever to compete at the highest level.
It is something of a miracle that Howe takes his team into the final four games of the season sitting in sixth place and very much still in the mix to gain a European spot next season given the injuries that have at times decimated the squad this season.
Howe will once again call upon Emil Krafth to deputise for the injured Fabien Schar in the centre of defence and it is to his credit that Krafth has not let Howe down when called upon since returning from serious injury problems of his own. An injury that kept him out of the squad for 12 months.
With Kieran Trippier and Matt Targett both unavailable for selection Tino Livramento is expected to continue in his favoured right back berth with Lewis Hall again slotting in at left back
Another player who has stepped up following injury is Elliott Anderson, and he too has proved that he can handle it on the premier league stage slotting in alongside Sean Longstaff and Bruno Guimarães on the left side of howe’s preferred midfield trio formation.
And finally upfront Howe has plenty of options in the final third, with Callum Wilson now fit and available for selection, joining Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy, Anthony Gordon, and top scorer Alexander Isak to give Howe some formidable firepower as the chase for maximum points from the final four games commences.
The match Referee is the much-maligned Anthony Taylor. His Assistants are Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn. The Fourth official is Tom Bramall. The VAR is John Brooks and Assistant is Nick Greenhalgh. Best of luck to John and Nick
And a quick reminder to those travelling to Turf Moor. They don’t operate the quickest of turnstiles or security checks so get there early to avoid the inevitable congestion.
And that ill luck continues following the news that Fabien Schar has joined his fellow defensive partners Jamaal Lascelles and Sven Botman on the treatment table and is ruled out of the trip to Lancashire.
On the plus side however the Ying to our Yang is the news that that Joelinton, Miggy Almiron and Nick Pope are back in training with the first team and getting closer to at least a place on the bench for our final four games of the season.
Another positive for all is the news that Sandro Tonali will not incur any extension to his ten-month global ban from football as the FA have imposed only a two-month suspended sentence and a £20,000 fine having admitted 55 charges of relating to breaches of the FA betting rules between July and October 2023, including four bets on Newcastle fixtures; all of which were on his side to win. Tonali incidentally featured in three of those four games.
The BBC website reported that the independent regulatory commission were informed that the process has had a "profound effect" on the midfielder and "is something he does not want to experience again".
The independent commission, in summarising the evidence, said the FA contended it was "highly unlikely" that it "would have ever become aware of Tonali’s misconduct but for his admissions".
The written reasons issued on Thursday stated the four Newcastle matches Tonali admitted betting on were:
- an accumulator involving either Newcastle to beat Brighton on 2 September 2023 or to beat Burnley on 30 September.
- an accumulator including Newcastle to beat Brentford on 16 September.
- a single bet on Newcastle to beat Manchester City on 27 September.
- an accumulator including Newcastle to beat West Ham on 8 October.
The player will now be available for selection from the third game of the 2024/25 premier league season onwards and the challenge now will be to get the player ready both mentally and physically and while all indications are that the player is coping well with the former, it may take a while for him to reach peak match fitness; something both the player and Howe will be well aware of.
The return of Tonali to first team action next season will be a welcome boost to Eddie Howe and together with the inevitable quality additions to the first team squad that will come in during the summer everyone will be hoping that the club will be better equipped than ever to compete at the highest level.
It is something of a miracle that Howe takes his team into the final four games of the season sitting in sixth place and very much still in the mix to gain a European spot next season given the injuries that have at times decimated the squad this season.
Howe will once again call upon Emil Krafth to deputise for the injured Fabien Schar in the centre of defence and it is to his credit that Krafth has not let Howe down when called upon since returning from serious injury problems of his own. An injury that kept him out of the squad for 12 months.
With Kieran Trippier and Matt Targett both unavailable for selection Tino Livramento is expected to continue in his favoured right back berth with Lewis Hall again slotting in at left back
Another player who has stepped up following injury is Elliott Anderson, and he too has proved that he can handle it on the premier league stage slotting in alongside Sean Longstaff and Bruno Guimarães on the left side of howe’s preferred midfield trio formation.
And finally upfront Howe has plenty of options in the final third, with Callum Wilson now fit and available for selection, joining Harvey Barnes, Jacob Murphy, Anthony Gordon, and top scorer Alexander Isak to give Howe some formidable firepower as the chase for maximum points from the final four games commences.
The match Referee is the much-maligned Anthony Taylor. His Assistants are Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn. The Fourth official is Tom Bramall. The VAR is John Brooks and Assistant is Nick Greenhalgh. Best of luck to John and Nick
And a quick reminder to those travelling to Turf Moor. They don’t operate the quickest of turnstiles or security checks so get there early to avoid the inevitable congestion.
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