Jonathan Woodgate hopes Newcastle United stay patient with Eddie Howe in their long-term bid to become contenders in the Premier League.
Newcastle have refocused their sights on the top of the table after a lucrative takeover by a consortium backed by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the richest owner in world football.
For now, however, the Magpies are battling relegation under Howe – the first coach appointed by the new owners in November.
Newcastle were winless when Howe took over and have only added two victories since, remaining in the bottom three with relegation a major concern.
But after a January transfer window in which Newcastle were the top spenders across Europe, shelling out in the region of £90million for five players, Woodgate believes they will stay up.
The former Newcastle defender told Stats Perform: "Some of the performances they've produced have been really good – especially at home, they've been decent.
"Okay, away from home, they've had a few difficult results, but they're a good team.
"And you need to give Eddie Howe the time to really implement what he wants to do, because he's a fantastic manager."
That was a sentiment Woodgate repeated when discussing the potential for Newcastle to challenge for the title, as they did during his time at the club between 2003 and 2004.
"You're looking at five years, five to 10 years," Woodgate said. "It depends on which players you can buy, and hopefully they can stay with Eddie Howe, because I know he can build something there.
"We had a fantastic team there. We were young, energetic, good players, English players, who really had that hunger.
"We had great senior players, Gary Speed, Alan Shearer, Shay Given, Steve Harper, at the time, who were really good behind the scenes and good with the young players as well.
"You need the right balance and the right blend to build a team. We had that in that team in the Bobby Robson era."
"Balance" is the key again now, Woodgate says, and he believes Newcastle may have found it in January, signing defenders Kieran Trippier, Matt Targett and Dan Burn, midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and striker Chris Wood.
Himself widely considered Newcastle's best centre-back of the Premier League era, Woodgate sees a player in Burn who has "improved fantastically well". Guimaraes, he suggests, "is a very good signing".
"I think they needed someone else in the middle of that park to really be hard to play against, because at times Newcastle can be easy to play against," the ex-England man added.
"Putting [Guimaraes] in the centre of the pitch, it'll be a lot more difficult now for teams to break them down."
"They've brought in that balance," Woodgate concluded. "They did need two full-backs, they needed a centre-back and they needed a centre-midfielder and centre-forward to help Callum Wilson.
"So, I think it's been a very good window and they haven't overspent. They haven't spent £200m like everyone thought they would, but they've kept it nice."
Flick: Barcelona must 'eliminate mistakes' to claim Champions League win
Barcelona's recent form is a worry for Hansi Flick as they looked to end a two-match winless run against Brest in the Champions League.
Barca went on a remarkable seven-game winning streak through October and early November before stumbling to a 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad and a 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo in LaLiga, with Lamine Yamal absent from both matches.
After losing their opening Champions League match to Monaco, Barcelona have since won three in a row, including a thumping 4-1 win over Bayern Munich.
Flick, who took charge in May, said his young squad need to learn to cope with adversity and that a positive result against Brest would be a good start.
"The important thing is to win and that is our focus for tomorrow's game," Flick told a press conference. "It's about eliminating the mistakes, this is important. We have a lot of things we can do better with the ball and this is the focus.
"We have a young team, the youngest in LaLiga, and it's not always an easy ride... It is important that the players know that they are good, that they have quality and that they have to stick together.
"We want to teach them and I always think positively. It's a young team and during the season it's normal to have times like this. For me, the important thing is to learn from it."
Barcelona will again be without Yamal for their Champions League tie as he continues to recover from an ankle sprain, with the team having lost all three LaLiga games which he has not started this season.
He has been pivotal to the Blaugrana this campaign and is the only player across Europe's big five leagues to complete 25+ dribbles (34), create 25+ chances (26), have 25+ shots (39), score 5+ goals (five) and provide 5+ assists (seven).
"We all know how talented he [Yamal] is and how his quality on the pitch can impact a game," Flick added.
"Lamine has a quality that allows you to have more control of possession but also makes the opponent give us more space.
"I think and hope that this will be the last game he misses because [on Monday] he was looking very good [in training] but we will have to wait. I hope that on Saturday he will be an option... maybe from the bench... but we'll see."
Defender Inigo Martinez backed his teammates to overcome Yamal's absence.
"We know how important Lamine is... he gives us a lot, is a difference maker who pushes the defensive line back, he is aggressive, generates assists and a lot of fear in the opponent," Martinez said.
"He is vital and very important, but that doesn't mean that the next player to come on won't be up to the similar level.
"Anyone who jumps in at Barcelona needs to be capable of playing at the highest level. The day that Lamine doesn't play, and we win, this chat that we can't win without him will vanish. We have enough [in the] squad to win every game."
Guardiola demands commitment from Man City players after losing run
Pep Guardiola says Manchester City players have to be completely committed to the club's cause as they look to end their poor run against Feyenoord.
City's losing streak stretched to five matches when Tottenham stunned the Premier League champions with a 4-0 win at the Etihad on Saturday, marking the first time Guardiola has lost five games in a row in his managerial career.
It is also the first time the club have lost five consecutive matches in all competitions since April 2006. In fact, City are the first reigning top-flight champions to lose five games in a row in all competitions since Chelsea in March 1956.
Their campaign has been hindered by a rash of injuries, with Ballon d'Or winner Rodri, Ruben Dias, Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and Oscar Bobb among those currently on the sidelines.
Guardiola, who signed a two-year contract extension at City last week, has led them to 18 major trophies, including six Premier League titles and a Champions League crown, and urged the team to stick to their philosophy.
"Look at where we've come from. It's so difficult to defend the success we have had, that's why I'm so relaxed. That is why I want the commitment, the commitment, the commitment and the commitment," Guardiola told reporters on Monday.
"Just being ourselves isn't enough, we have to show commitment every day.
"Just because this team won a lot, a lot, a lot for many, many, many years. I think in the situation, we have to go direct to our principles, change less more than ever.
"We create a lot of chances. We're not winning the duels. We have to run backwards because our first centre-backs are not there. Rodri is not there.
"We normally play four central defenders, but we have injuries, we had to play [Ilkay] Gundogan, our best attacking midfielder, as a defensive midfielder because of injuries ... What do we have to do? Insist. If not Tuesday, next Sunday. If not, the next game. We keep trying."
City are currently eight points adrift of leaders Liverpool, who they face on Sunday, in the Premier League, and Guardiola said his side were not, at present, ready to win the league but stressed that this phase will pass.
"We need to win one game. I want the players to perform well. In certain departments, we need more focus. It will pass. It's going to rain tomorrow, life goes on," he added.
City are 10th in the 36-team Champions League table with seven points from four games, two points off the automatic qualification places. Feyenoord are a point behind in 21st.
After drawing their opener in the competition, Guardiola's side recorded big wins over Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague before falling to Sporting CP in their most recent outing.
Asked how he planned to turn City's form around, the Spaniard said: "Prepare for the next game, try to beat them, which is Feyenoord. I don't know any other way.
"It's the same as winning seven games in a row? What should I change? Impossible. The players have played a lot of minutes, we have players who are injured. It's unusual."
Hayes has 'smile' back after stress made her feel 'unwell' at Chelsea
Emma Hayes revealed she feels refreshed as the United States head coach after stress at the end of her time at Chelsea made her feel "unwell".
Hayes was in charge of the Blues for 12 years, during which she won seven Women's Super League titles, including each of the last five between 2019-20 and 2023-24.
Overall, she oversaw 345 games in all competitions, winning 244 of those (70.72%-win rate).
The 48-year-old left Chelsea at the end of last season, pulling off a stunning comeback in the WSL title race to beat Manchester City to the title on goal difference, and took over as the USA women's head coach in May.
She led the team to Olympic gold in her first tournament, going unbeaten on their tournament run in Paris.
Asked about the perks of international football compared to a domestic level, Hayes admitted the latter had taken its toll on her.
"I don't have to sacrifice the things that made me healthy. I didn't feel healthy at the end, I actually felt unwell at the end of my time at Chelsea," she said in a press conference.
"It wasn't pressure, it was the stress and toll it took on me and doing that during menopause was even harder.
"To get on top of all of those things, I've got my mojo back and my smile and enjoyment back, which I didn't realise I had lost."
The USA will face England at Wembley on Saturday, and Hayes will face off against some of her former players, with Millie Bright, Hannah Hampton and Aggie Beever-Jones in the Lionesses squad.
Hayes, though, is determined to keep her unbeaten start as USA head coach intact against her home nation.
"I'm looking forward to seeing Sarina [Wiegman]," she said. "Of course, I need to go through a weird moment when the national anthems are being played.
"I'll hum along to it [God Save the King] being the English person I am, but also the same for the US one because I love it, I love both anthems.
"Beyond that weird moment and coming up against players I've gone to war with, it's business come kick-off. I hope it's an entertaining game and a sell-out."
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