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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…

Speaking to NUFC TV, Paul Dummett has urged Newcastle supporters to turn up for the clash against Manchester United on Sunday.

What did he say?

The Magpies suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat to Leicester last time out in the Premier League, and their home matches at St James’ Park have been characterised by lower than usual attendances.

Watch the video below to see the most insane overhead kick you will see this week…

The departure of Rafa Benitez earlier in the summer added to the resentment being aimed at Mike Ashley, but Dummett has now called on the Magpies faithful to show up on Sunday.

He said: “Hopefully we can get a sold out stadium (against Manchester United) because at the moment we haven’t had the sell-outs that we would like. The more we try and dwell on the fact that we put a bad performance in (at Leicester), it will stick in our heads and the confidence might not be there.

“We need to try to forget about it, to work hard on the training ground and make sure we put it right. We didn’t put the performance in and collapsed, like the manager said, we surrendered. Even when it was 5-0 they [(Newcastle fans) were still singing right throughout, travelling the distance they travelled and the money they would have spent, the performance we put in was not acceptable.”

Slap in the face

Seriously, Paul? As a Geordie boy himself, surely Dummett would be one of the rare few in that Newcastle squad who may be able to empathise with the fans’ anger. He should understand why they haven’t had the sell-outs they “would like”.

Paying good money to watch utter dross against Leicester last week, and then equally seeing that hard-earned cash fill the pockets of a disinterested owner doesn’t exactly fill fans with joy, does it?

Watch Newcastle United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

More and more fans are beginning to appreciate that the best way of sending a message to Ashley is with their money. Not simply giving in, and providing him with more reason to suck some more life out of the club.

For Dummett to then suggest that the players should forget about the humiliation against the Foxes? Newcastle supporters have had to carry that burden and suffering with them all week, and quite frankly, Steve Bruce’s squad should be reminding themselves of that pain every day, not sticking their heads in the sand and pretending it didn’t happen.

It wasn’t simply a case of a bad afternoon at the office that people can just shrug off. It was abject. It was horrible. It was unacceptable. The 28-year-old’s words are a slap in the face for a passionate fan-base desperate for some change.

This week Aston Villa are celebrating the one year anniversary of Dean Smith’s appointment as their manager.

This has led to a lot of reflection on the past 12 months, and eventually, the question was put to the gaffer about which goal was his favourite since taking over.

Watch Aston Villa Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The former Brentford boss had a lot to choose from as the Villans have scored 92 goals in 48 games since his appointment, but in the end, he decided on two strikes that he couldn’t quite choose between.

It should come as no surprise that one of Smith’s favourite goals was Alan Hutton’s incredible solo effort against Birmingham City.

The right-back uncharacteristically went on a marauding run from his own half before slotting past Lee Camp to put Villa 4-2 up against their fiercest rivals.

The other finish that Smith considered was Jack Grealish’s effort against Rotherham.

The Villa captain netted a fantastic strike against the Millers while the Villans were down to ten men, and Smith believes that his goal swung the game in his side’s favour.

Since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in 2016 for a fee in the region of £20m, Ilkay Gundogan has endured a mixed time at Manchester City.

The 28-year-old has shown flashes of the quality he possesses, but has also frustratingly disappointed too. In the shock 2-0 defeat to Wolves in the Premier League, some City fans flooded to Twitter to voice their anger and disappointment with the midfielder’s poor showing.

But the international break appears to have done Gundogan the world of good. The former Dortmund man scored twice and provided a further assist in Germany’s 3-0 win over Estonia on Sunday.

After watching the midfielder’s superb display in EURO 2020 qualifying action, City supporters took to Twitter to share their thoughts about the matter.

Watch Manchester City Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

Many Citizens fans hailed Gundogan for his performance, and one supporter in particular insisted he did a great job in “silencing those haters”.

Some even compared his display to Spain legend Xavi, and felt he is returning to peak form in a timely manner for the side.

Check out some of the reaction of City fans below:

Some Southampton fans have taken to Twitter to reveal their desperation for Moussa Djenepo to return to full fitness.

The £15m summer signing from Standard Liege has enjoyed an eye-catching – but stuttering – start to life on the south coast, making just three Premier League appearances so far.

In those three games however, the 21-year-old has scored two goals – the opener against Brighton and the only goal of the game against Sheffield United, with both of them being excellent strikes.

The latter goal was named as the Premier League Goal of the Month, and it could be argued that his efforts have single-handedly earned the Saints six of their seven points.

Sadly for the 8-cap Mali international, he has been struggling with a muscle problem since hitting the winner against the Blades.

Ralph Hasenhuttl is hoping to have his forward back for the two games against Manchester City at the end of October and the start of November.

Understandably, some Southampton fans on Twitter are beyond desperate for Djenepo’s return, given how crucial he has been to the side this season…

Eden Hazard missed Real Madrid’s disappointing 1-0 defeat to RCD Mallorca on Saturday afternoon due to the birth of his fourth child, but he is now available for the club’s trip to Galatasaray in the Champions League tonight, per Marca.

Los Blancos fell to their first league defeat of the campaign on Saturday and now slip to second in La Liga, behind rivals Barcelona by a point.

Hazard’s career in Spain is yet to take off, with the Belgian finding the net just once so far – in the 4-2 win over Granada prior to the international break – but has been unfortunate with injuries, missing three games at the start of the campaign with a hamstring complaint (via Transfermarkt).

The 28-year-old will be looking to open his account in the Champions League for Real, having featured in both of the club’s European matches against Paris Saint-Germain and Club Brugge to no avail.

Los Blancos are still awaiting their first win in the UCL this term, so they desperately need to register something against Galatasaray – the only other side in the group with just a single point to their name so far.

Zinedine Zidane’s men are currently rock-bottom of Group A but could overtake Gala by defeating them and would move into second place if they did, should Club Brugge get beaten by current leaders PSG in the group’s other fixture.

Having Hazard back will serve as a huge boost to Madrid. The ex-Chelsea playmaker has started slowly at the Bernabeu but did score a goal and register an assist against Granada before the international break, so he will be keen to build on that performance with another solid display in Turkey.

Madrid fans, do you think you’ll beat Galatasaray? Let us know below!

Barcelona had to fight extremely hard to clinch all three points in their mid-week Champions League clash against Slavia Prague.

Their hosts really gave them a run for their money and nearly salvaged a point for their troubles.

But at the end of the night, the Catalans still took an important win, tallying an extremely narrow 2-1 victory.

Watch Spanish Football Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below

The Czechs actually did score twice on the night but unfortunately for them, their second goal ended up rattling the inside of the wrong net, giving Barcelona a chance to secure the triumph.

And while few Blaugrana troops can actually leave Prague with their head held high one of those that surely can is their goalkeeper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The German goalkeeper made a total of eight saves on the night, playing a huge role in them securing all three points.

And it didn’t take long for lots of Barcelona fans to recognise his contribution.

They showered him with praise on Twitter, even calling him the best player in the squad at the moment.

Check out some of their tweets below:

Charlton Athletic moved into eighth in the Championship table on Saturday evening following a 2-2 draw over league leaders West Brom.

Lee Bowyer’s men went behind early on to a Matty Phillips strike, but they found themselves level just after an hour as Macauley Bonne headed home his fourth in as many games.

There was then a moment of controversy as the referee sent off Grady Diangana instead of Nathan Ferguson before he finally corrected his decision, though that didn’t stop the home side thinking they had won the match after substitute Hal Robson-Kanu curled one home nine minutes from time.

The Addicks were gifted a penalty in the 94th minute after Naby Sarr was brought down inside the area, to which Josh Cullen duly stepped up and dispatched to clinch a point at the Hawthorns.

Following the match, goalkeeper Dillon Phillips took to Twitter to share some thoughts on the performance, which has led to several of the Charlton fanbase throwing heaps of praise behind the 24-year-old.

One supporter claimed that an England call up couldn’t be too far away with another expressing similar thoughts by saying Nick Pope’s place is in jeopardy after his shot-stopping performance.

Others labelled him a ‘beast’ and ‘unbelievable’ with one more member of The Valley faithful believing his showing was worthy of the Man of the Match award.

Here’s the best of the reaction:

QPR travel to Elland Road on Saturday to take on Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds, who are currently sat 3rd in the Championship.

Just two points behind the promotion hopefuls however are Mark Warburton’s side, who could potentially break into the automatic promotion places with a win – providing other results go their way, of course.

The R’s could’ve made further inroads at the top of the table if they had been victorious in the west London derby on Monday, although Brentford reigned supreme by three goals to one.

In Leeds’ case, Bielsa oversaw a 0-0 draw against Sheffield Wednesday last time out, so both sides will presumably be looking to get back into winning form.

Let’s take a look at the XI Warburton should put out to give his side a good chance of doing just that…

Against the Bees on Monday night, Warburton opted to start with a back four consisting of 37-year-old Angel Rangel, with Bright Osayi-Samuel and Josh Scowen also part of the XI further forward – Jordan Hugill missed out through suspension.

Against Leeds, however, Warburton should drop all three of them and revert back to a five-man backline as he has done on five occasions so far this season.

Why? Well, we outlined that two Leeds players may cause QPR problems this weekend, with one of them being defensive-midfielder Kalvin Phillips.

Warburton should look to make the 23-year-old’s life harder by putting both Eberechi Eze and Ilias Chair on him in the middle of the park, meaning that Phillips will have two problems to think about.

To offset that, a five-man backline with the impressive Ryan Manning at left wing-back , who we previously outlined fits the role like a glove, will provide the width along with Todd Kane at right wing-back.

Dominic Ball – whose work in the middle has previously helped Eze and Chair thrive – should also come back in for his first appearance since the defeat against Cardiff.

Hugill should also be drafted back into the side alongside Wells, as the Bermuda international seemed to struggle up top when on his own against Brentford – the on-loan striker had just 31 touches of the ball, the least of any player on the pitch including the goalkeepers.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Charlton travel across south London to take on Millwall at The Den this Saturday, and Lee Bowyer has a lot to reflect on from the previous performance against Preston.

Some supporters on Twitter were absolutely livid with the Addicks’ display last weekend, with one even stating that it felt like something from the Karl Robinson days.

Things just didn’t click for Athletic on that day, although one man – who should be dropped for the clash against Millwall – perhaps had more of a nightmare than most in the 1-0 defeat

Who was it?

Charlton centre-back Naby Sarr endured a miserable afternoon against Alex Neil’s side, to say the least.

The 26-year-old – who was recently handed his first Senegal call-up – was hauled off at half-time by Bowyer following a torrid 45-minute display in which it felt like he couldn’t do anything right.

Sarr received a yellow card after a loose touch with Daniel Johnson lurking, and also completed just 63% of his 27 passes – the defender also failed to make a single tackle, interception, block or clearance.

However, his Preston disaster-class is not the reason why we think he should be dropped.

What is the reason?

Sarr should be dropped because of his poor aerial ability in comparison to Tom Lockyer and Jason Pearce.

Why might aerial ability come into question against the Lions, you might ask?

Well, Millwall’s Matt Smith – a man who has made 12 appearances this season – is quite simply a monster in the air, and will surely bully any centre-back who can’t assert themselves aerially – the 6 foot 5 30-year-old wins a staggering 9.2 aerial duels per game.

On average, Sarr wins just 1.8 aerial duels per game, which is pretty poor for a man standing at 6 foot 4.

In comparison to his fellow Charlton centre-backs, Pearce wins a much more impressive 4.1 aerial duels, whereas Lockyer wins 3.7.

Both Pearce and Lockyer’s averages still aren’t comparable to Smith’s, although Sarr’s is substantially weaker and should mean Bowyer drops him to the bench for the south London derby this weekend.

This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…

Steve Bruce has continued where Rafael Benitez left off and it is currently producing the desired results for Newcastle.

Since promotion from the Championship in 2017 the Magpies have mostly operated with a defensive approach, and under Benitez they were making steady progress because of it, finishing 13th last year despite scoring only 42 league goals.

The current Newcastle manager has admitted that he had a lot to contend with when he first arrived, and that could be the reason why he has opted for continuing with the system deployed under the Spaniard.

Benitez used a variety of formations during his spell in the north-east but towards the end began to consistently use 5-4-1, and Bruce is working his magic with the same set-up, with just a couple of personnel changes.

Bruce was criticised early on but the more his players are beginning to understand what they want from him, and his counter-attacking style, the better Newcastle are playing.

Improving on Benitez

Bruce’s speciality in management isn’t usually his tactics, but his man-management and how he is able to get players performing to their best level.

His predecessor has been known for the opposite, applying the cold shoulder to his players at Real Madrid previously, and their comparative treatment of Isaac Hayden, who is now becoming key under Bruce, underlines the difference between the two.

With limited resources available it can be argued that Newcastle are in greater need of a manager like Bruce, as someone who can get even poor quality players performing well is something to be cherished.

The Magpies are perhaps more entertaining under the former Aston Villa boss, too, with the capture of Allan Saint-Maximin increasingly looking like an inspired move, as his 3.6 successful dribbles per game attest to.

Bruce has laid the groundwork in terms of organisation and defensive solidity, and now the quality of the squad is beginning to show with five goals in two games, while Fabian Schar also revealed his belief that the team is better this season.

With players such as Schar, Florian Lejeune and Sean Longstaff still to come back from injuries and suspension, things are beginning to look very positive for Newcastle, and if Bruce can continue to make the right selection choices and maintain the players’ confidence, he could prove his doubters wrong.