The Eagles welcome Newcastle United to Selhurst Park this weekend for a fixture that is always a finely poised affair.
Ahead of the game, we caught up with our good friend Jake Jackman about the season so far, thoughts on the game and much more.
TEB – Are you happy with the summer transfer business by Newcastle? Were there any areas not strengthened that should have been?
JJ – Not at all. We didn’t make any additions to the first team, despite the long protracted saga over Marc Guehi. Lloyd Kelly has proven that he is nothing more than a squad player, while Will Osula is raw and not yet ready yet. The losses of Yamuna Minteh and Elliot Anderson probably mean we ended the summer in a worse position with both CB and RW the two positions we were left needing reinforcements.
TEB – From a neutral perspective, it has been a mixed start to the season for Newcastle. What are your thoughts on results as we enter the Christmas period?
JJ – Mixed is right. We started the season getting good results but playing poorly. We then started to play well without getting the results. It felt like we turned a corner with three wins in a row against Chelsea in the cup, Arsenal and Forest, but the loss to West Ham brought us crashing back to earth. Like most of the league, we are consistently inconsistent.
TEB – Are you happy with Eddie Howe in charge and is he the man to take your club forward?
JJ – Yes to the first question. Unsure on the latter. He has a lot of questions to answer this season. If he doesn’t win a trophy or qualify for Europe, he won’t be our manager next season. For me, I think he’s been great and he continues to get a lot out of certain players, but there are clear limitations to his coaching. He needs to show he can reach the next level.
TEB – Your opinions of the much debated VAR?
JJ – I’m fine with VAR. The experience is awful in the stadium and I wish they were more transparent with the communications, but it’s here to stay.
TEB – Expectations for this season?
JJ – Despite the loss to West Ham, we are in an okay position in the league. The next few weeks will be when those in Europe start to struggle due to the build up of matches. Hopefully we can take advantage. Our season is on a knife edge right now. It could go either way. I’ve been hopeful of a cup since the summer so I’ll stick to that here and say we lift one but finish around 11th-13th in the league as a result. We’d all take that though.
TEB – What can we expect from Newcastle in terms of style of play?
JJ – Difficult to say. When we are at our best, we are aggressive without the ball and excellent in transitions. I doubt the game this weekend will allow us to play that way though with Palace likely to sit off us. That’s not a criticism, as we’ve shown an inability to play against deep blocks. Oliver Glasner will have seen that and you have the players to cause us damage when you win the ball back.
TEB – If you could sign one current player from Palace, who would it be?
JJ – Marc Guehi. Need I say more? It would be nice to sign him purely so we never need to read another tabloid story about it!
TEB – Favourite away day in the Premier League?
JJ – Fulham. Everyone loves a trip along the river, especially in the summer.
TEB – Predictions for the game including final score?
JJ – 2-1 to us. After having issues away from home, we’ve managed to turn a corner. The win at Forest was excellent and I can see us having enough about our game to win. You guys seem to be struggling to find fluency, while our recent performances have been trending in the right way. Even against West Ham, we really should have scored before half time to get back level. If we did manage to get one, we’d probably have won. I can’t not predict us to win.
