Here are the Newcastle United morning headlines for Friday, August 7.
Roberts on Magpies exit
Cal Roberts remains in 'shock' at his release from Newcastle United - but admits his Magpies exit may have been the "best thing" for his fledgling career.
The Academy graduate considered quitting football after being let go by his boyhood club following 14 years chasing his black-and-white dream.
Fast forward a year, and the promising 23-year-old has now earned the moniker of the 'Geordie Messi' at Notts County after the best season of his career.
County were beaten by Harrogate Town in the National League promotion final, but Roberts capped off a fine individual campaign with a stunning strike at Wembley.
It's a year the prolific attacker could never have predicted as a free agent last summer, but he believes the challenging campaign might just have been what he needed.
VAR changes
In 2019/20 there was an outcry from supporters and the media for referees to consult the on-field monitors.
However, Mike Riley, leader of the Premier League's PGMOL group, was against the use of the monitors and it wasn't until January, in the FA Cup, that they were first used in England.
Across Europe and in the Champions League the on-field monitors have been used to great effect and referees will now consult the monitors on a more frequent basis for subjective decisions, such as goals, red cards and penalty kicks.
Here's all the changes which will come into affect this coming season.
Comeback spirit
Over the last Premier League season, Newcastle claimed 10 points from losing positions - a total which ranks 12th in the top flight.
Steve Bruce's side twice came back from behind to win, while they claimed a further four draws from losing positions.
They beat Bournemouth 2-1 in November after Harry Wilson had given the Cherries the lead - DeAndre Yedlin and Ciaran Clark scoring - while a month later goals from Jonjo Shelvey and Federico Fernandez earned a win over Southampton following Danny Ings' opener.
United have some way to go to match Wolves' impressive total of 21 points won from losing positions - but they are level with Manchester City and ahead of Chelsea.
One thing Bruce and Co will be looking to rectify is the number of times Newcastle went behind last season - 22 times in their 38 games.
Scholes on Lingard
Jesse Lingard has been linked with a move to Newcastle from Manchester United.
MUFC legend Paul Scholes believes Lingard's time at MUFC is up after the forward was taken off in the Reds' Europe League clash last night.
Speaking to BT SPORT, he said: “Lately, he hasn’t been good enough.
“Tonight was a game where you’d think Jesse had a chance of playing 90 minutes. When Ole took him off after an hour, I though that was a sign Ole is thinking of moving him on.
“I could be totally wrong. But that is the feeling I get. When you’ve got fringe players and they need games, they need 90 minutes. To bring him off after he scored, it was a little sign – and Fred – that he may offload them.”
