Big night for new boys settled by Barnes! - Newcastle 3-2 West Brom

On a night that saw £50m Nico Gonzalez unveiled at St James’ Park, Newcastle United saw off West Brom to set up a Carabao Cup third-round trip to Millwall.

Bazoumana Toure scored on his first competitive start for the club, but it was a Harvey Barnes brace that got us over the line on a night where new signings Amar Dedic and Sean Steur showed both shone.

Jaissle made six changes from Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool, although his back four was unchanged. In came Jaouen, Ramsey, Murphy, Toure, Willock and Woltemade, seeing Hornicek, Miley, Elanga, Barnes, Wissa and Osula drop out the 11.

Osula was out with a foot injury that could sideline the Dane for a few weeks, while Joelinton and Burn remained absent.

10 minutes before kick-off, a certain Spaniard was brought onto the pitch. Fresh from Man City, Nico Gonzalez was given a big Geordie welcome and chants of “Nico, Nico, Nico!”. 

The 24-year-old will bring some class and grit to our engine room and is perhaps Ross Wilson’s most impressive summer move yet. A statement signing and potential £50m bargain in a world where Sandro Tonali costs double!

Toon progress in five-goal cup win

Starting XI: Jaouen - Dedic, Thiaw (c), Botman, Hall - Steur, Ramsey - Murphy, Willock, Toure - Woltemade.

Substitutes: Hornicek, Schar, Bamba, Wissa, Barnes, Elanga, Shahar, Neave, L.Miley.

We made a positive start, passing the ball around nicely and playing with a decent tempo, but went 1-0 down as Price’s free kick curled around the wall and flew past Jaouen.

Sloppiness then crept in and our intensity was lacking, although that drop off was never felt by Dedic. The Bosnian was so direct, full of running and easily our biggest outlet down. He drove us on down the right all night, playing a big hand in our opener as his dangerous cross was tapped in by Toure to make it 1-1.

Jaissle was decisive at the break, taking off Toure for Banes, despite his goal, and it immediately paid off, much like Willock’s impactful introduction last weekend. Barnes looked sharp and made the difference almost instantly, reacting first to make it 2-1 before a clever finish from a lovely Dedic cutback made it 3-2, just four minutes after Price’s penalty at the Leazes.

West Brom barely had a sniff in the second half and made it 2-2 against the run of play, with Jaissle’s decision to bring on Wissa, Elanga and Miley also improving us after a noticeable step up in pressing and energy following a flat-ish first 45.

Dedic outstanding in big night for new boys 

Steur’s weight of pass, reading of the game and eagerness to play forward really stood out. He looks an absolute steal at little over £20m, and Botman delivered another rock-solid display despite such a poor pre-season, but Dedic was the best player on the pitch. 

Two assists, constantly drove us forward, carried the ball at pace, did everything quickly and defended well once again. Outstanding from the £29.5m Bosnian and another potential bargain? 

That's now nine goals in two games to kick off the Jaissle era. Plenty of positives, both individually and collectively, lots to work on, but also a feeling that we'll be boosted massively by Gonzalez's class and control, alongside a much-needed attacker we'll be pushing to sign before next Tuesday's deadline.

Next up, a trip to Spurs on Saturday as Jaissle looks to follow up his first competitive win with three points in the Premier League. 

Keep the faith. HWTL!