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Newcastle by Numbers

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So, Newcastle finished the season in 12th position in the Premier League table, with 11 wins, 13 draws and 14 draws contributing to a total points haul of 46. Considering Newcastle scored 41 goals at St James’ Park, second only behind Manchester United in terms of home Premier League goals, the Magpies would have expected more than six home wins and 26 points. 20 points from just 15 away goals isn’t a bad return, but what about the other stats you might not know about?

While Cheik Tiote racked up 14 yellow cards and committed with second most fouls with 79, Newcastle were in fact the second most fouled team in the league, with 509 infringements committed against them. A fair number of those must have come in one match as Joey Barton was targeted by the Wolves players at Molineux, but it shows that although Newcastle might get some stick, they give it back as well!

In terms of creativity, Newcastle’s stand out performer was Barton. Joey made five assists from open play over the course of the campaign, more than anyone else in the Premier League. Surely that makes it even more imperative that he’s offered a new deal and not allowed to leave at the end of next season. Jonas Gutierrez was the second most frequent dribbler with 219, but far and away out on top was Charles N’Zogbia. If the Frenchman was to return to Tyneside, the St James’ Park faithful would be able to enjoy plenty of attacking wing play next term.

Then we come to the strikers. Peter Lovenkrands was up there with the most accurate strikers with a shooting accuracy of 60% over the course of the season, but perhaps most importantly, the Dane only netted 6 times in the League. Newcastle’s most frequent scorer and third overall in the Premier League was Leon Best. Best also netted 6 times in the Premier League, scoring a goal once every 125.3 minutes, but will he get an opportunity to lead the line next season or will that challenge be handed to a new signing?

So, there are the statistics, but you can prove anything with stats, right? Overall, the numbers don’t look too bad for Newcastle, but they’ll definitely want more points at St James’ next season and to be more prolific on the road.

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