Angus is an experienced football journalist at Football FanCast, specialising in Premier League reporting, opinion writing and in-depth football analysis. Since graduating from Southampton Solent University in 2022, he has developed extensive experience covering the English game, producing thousands of articles across a wide range of clubs and competitions.  

Before joining Football FanCast, Angus led VAVEL's Brighton & Hove Albion department, gaining valuable experience in club-specific reporting and editorial leadership. He subsequently joined Football FanCast through Snack Media's academy, now part of Valnet, and has progressed into the publication's Opinions and Features team.
 

As one of Football FanCast's longest-serving writers, Angus has covered numerous major developments across the Premier League, combining breaking news experience with detailed features and considered opinions. His work draws on years of reporting to provide context behind performances, transfer activity and the wider issues shaping English football.

Newcastle United felt they had turned a corner when beating Crystal Palace on the road in the Premier League, but since that weekend win, they have been dealt a sobering reality blow in the Carabao Cup.

The 2025 winners will not charge into the deeper stages of the competition this year, with Everton confident winners at the Hill Dickinson on Thursday evening. Matthias Jaissle has a lot to sort out at the start of a new era.

Jaissle mirrors some of Eddie Howe's principles: aggressiveness, a kind of verticality, togetherness. However, it feels like a pale imitation of the peak Howe days right now, this ersatz era still in its infancy, but lacking the proof of seeds which might grow into something successful at St. James' Park.

The players, to put it simply, aren't performing, with William Osula flattering to deceive up front as Everton advanced in the Carabao Cup.

How William Osula played vs Everton

Toward the end of the 2025/26 campaign, Osula enjoyed a stunning purple patch in the Premier League, discovering an ability to score goals with consistency which had previously eluded him on Tyneside and with Sheffield United before that.

The sample size was small, but Osula finished the league campaign with a 30% conversion rate, having scored seven goals across only eight starts. Six of those goals came across his final nine games.

But injuries have prevented him from building at the start of Jaissle's tenure. Osula is hardly firing on all cylinders, but he does offer an edge that Yoane Wissa has yet to produce on Tyneside, the £55m signing from Brentford having scored twice in the Premier League since the start of last season.

Osula, still has as lot of work to do, but the potential is there. However, he left a lot to be desired against Everton, taking only seven touches. After scoring and looking like his old self against Crystal Palace at the weekend, this was a confusing, anonymous display.

Jaissle has a lot to ponder. It's clear that Newcastle aren't hitting the right notes in attack. 29 shots against Everton and very little to show for it illustrates that.

Newcastle have an instant Osula upgrade

Osula has a part to play over the coming seasons at Newcastle, but if he's not careful, he might be overtaken by a quickly emerging talent from the Toon academy.

Indeed, Vakhtang Salia is starting to come into his own at Newcastle. He made the bench during Newcastle's 2-1 win over Hull City in September, but is still waiting for his senior debut with the Magpies after joining from Dinamo Tbilisi in 2025, when he turned 18.

In the Premier League 2 this season, the teenager has scored twice across three matches. Newcastle U21s are not doing all that well, 27th out of 31 outfits, but this only underlines the skill and potential Salia is developing on Tyneside.

He also ranks among the top 20% of positional peers in the division for chances created, successful crosses and accurate long balls per 90, emphasising a roundedness and skill in linking up play with his teammates that Osula also brings to the table. Osula goes the extra mile, and it helps him cement himself as a Prem-level striker.

Salia is already on Jaissle's radar, and given the plight Newcastle's forward line are suffering through right now, it's hardly out of the question that the four-time Georgia U21 star could become the next big thing on Tyneside.

Salia is dynamic and versatile, fostering a clinical edge in front of goal which could see him skyrocket into contention under Jaissle. The Georgian could feasibly leapfrog in front of Osula, and perhaps Wissa too, with neither frontman catching the eye right now.

It feels like Newcastle executive Ross Wilson might need to dig into the transfer market for new additions once again in 2027, but if Salia continues to make the right improvements over the coming months, the Toon may quickly discover they already have a superstar in attack.