steve_69

Rafa also wanted Manquillo and Lejeune...........both are f***ing woeful Take away Torres,Alonso & Reina and he also signed some absolute dross for Liverpool Not like Centre Backs to need time to bed in when moving to not only a new league but new country, but no you write him completely off. Write him off??......hes f***ing terrible man no better than Mike Williamson worse probably. Give me some things that you see in this plank that makes you believe theres a decent player in there See, i've held off replying to any of your posts so far because you're obviously either drunk or on day release, but i've hit my limit. That statement right there is grade A horse-s***. Mike Williamson is one of the worst CB to ever play in the Premier League IMO, Lejeune just needs time to adjust and maybe a bit of protection in front of him. You didn't really answer his question though ! Oh right, sorry. Firstly he's not Mike Williamson, that's the biggest thing he's got going for him. He looks pretty good bringing the ball out of defence, he's not bad in the air, he makes good interceptions and he's not Mike Williamson (did I mention that already?). He has looked s*** positionally at times, he's made a couple of rash challenges and he not exactly lightning quick. The first two of those weaknesses can be improved through coaching. The last one we'll just have to accept but hey, Wes Morgan and Robert Huth won the PL and they're not exactly Usain Bolt. To mask a lack of pace though you need to be good positionally, it's kind of a huge issue if you mark both those things down as major weaknesses. I'm not convinced by him at all yet, not willing to say he's Mike Williamson however just yet, but we have better options in the squad that Rafa should be selecting, while we wait for Lejuene to adapt. Positioning comes through coaching to a large extent. It also comes through communication - funny how Lejeune looked like a much better defender in the game against Arsenal alongside our most vocal player. Get a good, vocal keeper in there as well and he'll be better again. You have to remember this guy has only had what, 10 games in the Premier League?! I'd say CB is arguably the hardest position to adapt to when you join a new league, especially one a frenetic as this one. Plenty of high profile CBs who cost a lot more than Lejeune have taken time to adapt to the Premier League so it's no disgrace. Don't write the guy off yet.

Rafa also wanted Manquillo and Lejeune...........both are f***ing woeful Take away Torres,Alonso & Reina and he also signed some absolute dross for Liverpool Not like Centre Backs to need time to bed in when moving to not only a new league but new country, but no you write him completely off. Write him off??......hes f***ing terrible man no better than Mike Williamson worse probably. Give me some things that you see in this plank that makes you believe theres a decent player in there See, i've held off replying to any of your posts so far because you're obviously either drunk or on day release, but i've hit my limit. That statement right there is grade A horse-s***. Mike Williamson is one of the worst CB to ever play in the Premier League IMO, Lejeune just needs time to adjust and maybe a bit of protection in front of him. You didn't really answer his question though ! Oh right, sorry. Firstly he's not Mike Williamson, that's the biggest thing he's got going for him. He looks pretty good bringing the ball out of defence, he's not bad in the air, he makes good interceptions and he's not Mike Williamson (did I mention that already?). He has looked shit positionally at times, he's made a couple of rash challenges and he not exactly lightning quick. The first two of those weaknesses can be improved through coaching. The last one we'll just have to accept but hey, Wes Morgan and Robert Huth won the PL and they're not exactly Usain Bolt.

Telling racist jokes and talking about women he's been 'hanging out the back of' lately.

Rafa also wanted Manquillo and Lejeune...........both are f***ing woeful Take away Torres,Alonso & Reina and he also signed some absolute dross for Liverpool Not like Centre Backs to need time to bed in when moving to not only a new league but new country, but no you write him completely off. Write him off??......hes f***ing terrible man no better than Mike Williamson worse probably. Give me some things that you see in this plank that makes you believe theres a decent player in there See, i've held off replying to any of your posts so far because you're obviously either drunk or on day release, but i've hit my limit. That statement right there is grade A horse-s***. Mike Williamson is one of the worst CB to ever play in the Premier League IMO, Lejeune just needs time to adjust and maybe a bit of protection in front of him.

Given how badly we were hit by the injuries to Atsu and Dummett, signing someone who can cover them both is a very welcome body. I'd have preferred Shaw but he seems to be getting more game time at ManUre now and he'll probably have better options

We didn't really get a decent look at it because we were up against such a strong opponent. Yedlin is ideal for a wing back because of his pace and movement but we're a bit lopsided so hopefully Kennedy comes in and solves that problem

So is he a winger or a left back? I wouldn't have minded this going through in the summer, just not convinced he's going to be what we need in a relegation battle. Same goes for Ings who is the other realistic possible signing mentioned. I think he's predominantly a winger but has played at left-back/wing-back. I assume that's where Rafa is looking to use him. The Ings link makes me a bit uneasy as well. He was a decent goalscorer before his injuries but he's a bit of an unknown quantity now. Seems like a risky move when we need someone proven and ready to hit the ground running

Buying backup for our problem left-back position. Also gives us a more attacking option if we want to play 5 at the back. Seems pretty sensible to me. Save our money for the main problem areas - goalscoring and creativity.

Wow, that didn't go down well. It was a joke but clearly a poorly executed one

Had an argument at a local Non League game with another Newcastle fan last week because he wants Rafa sacked. I asked who he would like to see replace him and he replied with Tony Pulis. There are people like this out there. All human life is out there. The more ‘spthecial’ opinions usually get diluted amongst the relatively sensible majority. Unless you only take your litmus test from a small pond with an unusual number of LOFs (Loud Opinionated Fuckwits). You mean like Talksport?

Absolutely right! The media would love nothing more than to have us discussing Rafa's departure, but other than a few mongs no one seems to be biting

There is the small matter of Luiz being loads better than either of them. I've never really rated him as a defender but he's definitely improved under Conte. I guess Rafa knows him and trusts him from their time together, which seems to be the main thing with him, and the reason Mbemba and Mitro don't play.

Bilbao can suck a dick! I wouldn't take any pleasure in seeing him play for a club of their lowly stature

2-3 key loan signings would be a great way to start the window, would also suggest to others thinking of joining we actually mean business and not just survive. You've also got to think of the motivations of the players themselves - they'll no doubt get plenty of playing time because we're crap but they won't want to risk dropping into the Championship so loan moves will probably be preferable.

It might not be too far from the truth. As Rafa has said himself, he’s working on two different lists - one if we don’t get taken over, one if we do.

He really should. He said himself that he wasn't giving Rafa enough money in that awful Sky interview so he fucking knows he's responsible for this predicament. Fucking Jabba the Cunt!

At a Christmas function?

Can't say i'm too surprised. Always seems like a horrible little bastard!

Or four fifths of a Merino. (Glass half full)

Spot on. He'll no doubt think promotion is very easy as well, based on the last two times. I don’t think he’s got the stomach for another relegation, personally. He was squirming when he spoke about it with his mate on Sky. Needs to stop being such a massive cunt in that case, and pretty quickly.

Come on man, Jonas Olsson and Nathan Dyer? Yeah, to be fair I had a bit of a mental block when I was thinking about Swansea. I knew they had someone quite dangerous but I couldn’t recall. Turns out it was Abraham, as pointed out by someone on here. Although to be fair, I do rate Olsonn. It’s not Jonas though

Look at how many players Stoke have who can turn a game. They won’t go down. A change of manager will see them climb the table.

For the first time I’m genuinely pessimistic about our chances of staying up. Looking at the teams in the PL yesterday, all of them with the exception of us and possibly Swansea and Brighton have players capable of changing a game or unlocking a defence. West Brom - Rondon West Ham - Arnautovic, Lanzini Palace - Zaha, Townsend Huddersfield -Mooy, Ince, Mounie Even Swansea have Bony, Routledge, Dyer, Olsson. Without significant top quality reinforcements we’re going down with a whimper. Nailed on! We’re relying on Perez, Diame, Joselu, Gayle, Ritchie to turn PL games and they’re all Championship players

Even if PCP do fund £30-40m worth of transfers there's still a very real chance we'll go down and it's purely down to Ashley's woeful mismanaging of the club, again. He has made us a risky investment and he deserves to be penalised for that. PCP are holding the cards in this negotiation (if Ashley wants to sell). They can back out and come back in for us in the summer - £300m without a relegation clause if we're still in the PL, £200m or less if we're in the Championship. Ashley either takes his biggest gamble yet and refuses to spend, or the fat mess puts his hand in his pocket and lets Rafa drag us out of this situation. Whatever happens, the closer we get to the transfer window the stronger PCP's hand becomes.

I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but I'd love us to sign Wilshere, either on loan or permanently. He'd improve our midfield no end. I doubt he'd come this far North unless it was a loan deal and i'm not sure if he'd pass Rafa's personality and temperament checks, but beggars can't be choosers in our situation.