Newcastle United Season Preview: Cabella could be canny but Magpies may still flirt with the drop

Lewis Jones
11 August 2014

Alan Pardew is fighting a losing battle with the Newcastle fans

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Alan Pardew has plenty of bridges to build with the loyal Toon Army. How will his Newcastle side fare this season? Lewis Jones gives us his view....

"Although many of you will be throwing things at the screen in complete disagreement at my next statement, I feel it’s a great trading angle. Newcastle are a superb price around the 11.521/2 mark for relegation from a Cash Out point of view. They lack the consistency to challenge towards the top echelons of the league and will at some stage be flirting with the drop zone."

Last Season

There is never any middle-ground with the Toon Army. It's either rainbows and lollipops or storm clouds and head-butts.

At one stage of the season Newcastle were just three points away from a Champions League place but after a dismal end to the campaign which coincided with the departure of the irreplaceable Yohan Cabaye they found themselves 30 points off fourth place in tenth come the end of the campaign.

Ins and Outs

If Mike Ashley had not dipped his hands into his pockets this summer, then the backlash on Tyneside could have been disastrous.

Thankfully for everyone associated with the club, Newcastle's fine band of scouts, who have tapped up some precocious talents over the last few years, have been busy this summer and their advice has been acted upon by the board, much to the delight of manager Alan Pardew.

The French market has been one of significant interest to Newcastle in recent years and they may have plucked another gem out of the air in Remy Cabella, who has joined from Ligue 1 outfit Montpellier for £12million.

Newcastle lacked creativity towards the end of last season without the influence of Cabaye and Pardew has spent most of his reported budget on the forward thinking midfielder to provide some firepower to an attacking outfit that looked to have lost out on tempting last season's top scorer Loic Remy back to the north-east on a permanent deal from newly-promoted QPR.

In typical Toon-style Cabella has already been handed the nickname of the "new David Ginola" for his sublime close control and ability to beat a man with a trick or two. Certainly, the 14 goals and five assists he racked up last season in France bodes well for his capabilities of handling the Premier League.

Siem de Jong (Ajax), Emmanuel Riviere (Monaco), Daryl Janmaat (Feynoord) and Ayoze Perez (Tenerife) have also been snapped up by Pardew. Of those four, Perez, although only costing £1.5m looks a potentially exciting purchase.

He scored 16 goals in just 30 starts in the second tier of Spanish football last season having only made his debut last August. The Toon fans always appreciate a working-class hero and this guy fits the bill.

The Manager

Pardew has now been in charge of the Toon Army since 2010, making him the sixth longest serving manager in the professional football ladder.

Yet his relationship with his supporters is still is a fractious one. The support he has got from his board is pretty admirable, especially when the world and wife was calling for his head during Newcastle's dismal end to last season and his disgraceful head-butt on David Myler during the game with Hull City that left him footing a £160,000 fine and three game stadium ban.

Tactically, Pardew is very stubborn and because of this Newcastle have the tendency to go on long winning and losing runs in equal measure. But as long as he keeps the Toon's head above the relegation water, then his job will be safe in Ashley's eyes as he's had plenty of excuses to pull to plug on his mammoth contract.

Expectations

Depends who you ask. The fans will want to see their club that has everything in place off the pitch to challenge for top six honours but the board just seem happy with a fruitful league campaign that keep them raking in the Premier League millions.

Best Bet

Tough one. Due to their lack of a proven goalscorer, a top-10 finish looks a tough ask. Laying the 2.26/5 looks one to consider with small stakes.

Value Bet

Although many of you will be throwing things at the screen in complete disagreement at my next statement, I feel it's a great trading angle. Newcastle are a superb price around the 11.521/2 mark for relegation from a Cash Out point of view. They lack the consistency to challenge towards the top echelons of the league and will at some stage be flirting with the drop zone.

They'll trade shorter than 4.03/1 at some point.