Newcastle United’s Newcastle West Brom Carabao Cup tie at St James’ Park ended 3-2, giving Matthias Jaissle his first competitive victory as head coach, with Harvey Barnes coming off the bench to score the 81st-minute winner, according to Yahoo Sports.
It was a night full of debate before kick-off. Four of the club’s writers had weighed in on what Jaissle should do with his team sheet, and the result vindicated a rotated but ambitious approach. Jaissle made six changes from the XI that earned a 2-2 Premier League draw with Liverpool at the weekend, per Yahoo Sports, threading a path between keeping momentum and getting minutes into legs that needed them.
The Nick Woltemade decision that had everyone talking
Before a ball was kicked, the biggest question in the build-up was what Jaissle would do with Nick Woltemade. The forward had been completely unused against Liverpool, sitting on the bench while Yoane Wissa, Joe Willock and the injured William Osula all saw action. Writer Sean McCormick called it plainly: Woltemade needed to show Jaissle something, and a home cup tie against Championship opposition was the right stage to do it.
Andrew Musgrove captured the dilemma well. A large part of him would not pick Woltemade, but he also noted that if the forward did not start, the writing might be on the wall. The system used against Liverpool, Musgrove argued, would not suit Woltemade either as a striker or as a No 10. It was a genuine selection headache, not a simple rotation call.
Lee Ryder, for his part, was clear: get Woltemade minutes regardless of where he is played. Ross Gregory was more cautious, saying he was not convinced Woltemade suited the system, but acknowledged that Osula’s injury and Wissa’s workload against Liverpool left little choice up top.
Newcastle West Brom Carabao Cup: the case for and against rotation
The broader selection debate split opinion. McCormick made the case for sweeping changes, arguing Newcastle had to get minutes into players who did not start against Liverpool, and would have made nine changes in total. His predicted XI included full debuts for Ewen Jaouen, Leo Shahar, Aladji Bamba and Bazoumana Toure.
Musgrove took the opposite view, arguing momentum matters most when a new manager is still embedding his style. Play as close to the Liverpool XI as fitness allows, he said. Injuries complicated that: William Osula was out, and questions hung over Lewis Miley’s ability to handle three games in a week.
Ryder and Gregory landed somewhere in the middle. Gregory wanted five changes, keeping the defensive shape as intact as possible while introducing Toure and handing Woltemade the centre-forward role by necessity. Ryder went further in handing opportunities to youth, with Sean Neave, Mason Miley, Miodrag Pivas and Dylan Charlton all featuring in his suggested XI.
All four writers agreed on one thing: this competition matters to Newcastle United. The club won the Carabao Cup in 2025 under Eddie Howe after being beaten finalists two years before that. Jaissle, when asked directly about his ambitions in the competition, played it cool and refused to make any rash statements about trophy glory. His team sheet, the writers suggested, might end up being his loudest statement.
The framing around youth was consistent too. Ryder pointed out that Jaissle had already shown he was not afraid to give young players their chance, starting Sean Steur and Lewis Miley against Liverpool being a case in point. Giving more youngsters a run against West Brom would not exactly raise eyebrows.
Barnes’s late intervention sealed it, and now Jaissle’s side know their next opponents. According to The Guardian, Newcastle will face Millwall in the third round of the Carabao Cup.