I think he wants a better passer in there than either of those two are and wants a left/right combination. I expect it's currently between McAtee and Schlager to partner Sangare v Leeds. Unlikely to be McAtee at Anfield and may pick Dominguez for his workrate.
Seems like he sees Yates as backup central defender, rather than a CM. Cooper tried him there for a bit before he had a disasterous 20 minutes in a home game (in the championship, I think?) and abandoned the experiment.
He was decent. My observations:
Gibbs-White is head and shoulders above anything else we have now that Anderson has left - a genuinely special talent (which we knew already).
Neco is going to have some fun this season getting further forward, but the demands on the two wing-backs will be intense. Would expect a few fatigue-type injuries to contend with.
Xaver Schlager looks very tidy business on a free transfer.
James McAtee looked really sharp. Playing with the second-half crew, he had the weaker players around him but was quick to the ball and has a lovely range of passing. Really hope he kicks on this season - I actually think he could play in the six role with Sangare or Dominguez alongside him.
We're still far too light up front in terms of a focal-point striker. It's not Taiwo sadly and Jesus is better as a ten. Is Chris Wood fucked again? Hopefully not.
Concern up top seems to be that MGW wants the ball to his feet and Jesus wants to come deep, false 9 style, so we lack options to stretch play. That's what he's looking for Ndoye and Kali to do. That seems to suit Ndoye, if he's adapted to the physical aspects of the league, but a proper number 9 is likely high on the target list.
Given the lack of left-backs/left wing-backs we're being linked to, I wonder if Glasner reckons Netz might be good enough. It was a great ball for the goal last night.
If Syrianos picked him then I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I'm also hoping that Jimmy Sinclair might get some runs on the other side. He looked to have the right stuff.
Striker's my biggest concern by quite a margin, even if Taiwo is back.
I thought Taiwo was fairly poor last night. Some straight forward passes he should have made but he just blundered on.
Don't see the full table prediction on opta yet but they don't have us in the top 10 most likely to qualify for the champions league or the top 7 most likely to get relegated, so I guess we are officially mid-table. Although I'd like it confirmed with a few seasons staying out of trouble - 3 relegation battles out of 4 premier league seasons isn't where we want to be.
theanalyst.com/articles/premier-league-predictions-2026-27-opta-supercomputer
I see Boniface did today what I thought he might do midweek - come off the bench and score a late winner.
I really, really hope Newcastle are shit this season.
B team up first today. Looks like McAtee is starting against Leeds, which seems brave.
Why? Didnt we expect Glasner to develop some players and he likes a conductor in the middle 2.
Slightly disappointing for us!
Leeds have big lads in the centre of midfield, dont they? But I guess if he wants to outplay them...
Not exactly putting on our Sunday Brest.
Behind closed doors game v Cov, yesterday.
Makes Yates absence today interesting.
Did Taiwo play 45 minutes for each side?
Rather expensive but you've got to right.
