steve_69

£20m would get us a striker who can get 7 or 8 goals till the end of the season, right? It might even get us a decent loan striker (Ings for example) and a proper #10. For some reason, backed up by nothing other than assumptions, I feel like it would be easier to sign a striker on loan than a #10. Unless we can persuade Fat Sam to loan us Barkley for the rest of the season...

Not having any lefties on the left has crippled us going forward. Lost count, before Aarons came on, of how many good crossing opportunities were passed up because the winger/full-back had no confidence to play it in. I wouldn’t mind giving Hadaria another shot at left back now he’s fit, he certainly use to get forward and can cross a ball,still only 24 but maybe Rafa doesn’t rate him which is fair enough I can't even remember what he's like as a player, it's been that fucking long

:lol: Get the popcorn in lads, this is going to be glorious!

Fuck, that brings back memories. Those were some seriously dark times. I just hope he fails at everything for the rest of his life. Not just football, everything

At least Rafa has recognised the problem with Manquillo. He's seen how poor he has been in recent weeks and he's taken action. Mbemba isn't a left-back but he's a lot more solid as a defender than Manquillo so i'd prefer to see him stay there until Dummett is fit.

I have to admit, i've been part of the problem in the past - writing off managers before they've even started and going over board with criticism. I exclude Pardew from this because that prick deserved everything he got. However, I've genuinely found myself disgusted by some of the comments directed at Rafa on this forum over the past couple of weeks. Maybe it's my age Some people seem to be forgetting what this man has done for our club and how lucky we are to have him. This isn't some inexperienced manager who's had one or two good seasons elsewhere, this is one of the best managers in world football, who chose to stay with us despite being treated like shit by our arsehole owner. Someone said yesterday that Rafa isn't infallible but to be honest, he pretty much is. He's been there, seen it, done it many times over and knows football better than any of us. If he says Joselu is a better option for his system than Mitro that's fine by me. It's frustrating because I want to see Mitro given a run but from some of the comments on here, anyone would think it's going to be a case of Mitro coming in and instantly scoring bags full of goals. Football doesn't work like that. Maybe Rafa appreciates the defensive work-rate of Joselu over Mitro and feels we'll ship more goals with Mitro in the team. Whatever it is, we just need to trust the man because more than any manager we've had in recent years, he knows what the fuck he's doing. Thanks again to Ashley, we have a very weak squad - weak in terms of depth and ability. Despite that we're two wins away from our half season target of 20 points and we've done it with injuries to 4 key first team players. Give the man a fucking cigar!

Merino has given the ball away a few times. It’s all his fault - he’s shit, we should sell him. Actually no, release him, save some wages.

He’s not infallible, man. He’s got to accept at least some responsibility. No he’s not infallible but he’s about as f***ing close as you get. Name one other manager you think would’ve got us to 14 points with this squad? Pardew and McLaren had infinitely better players at their disposals and they did f*** all. We have a Championship squad and a world class manager. Hopefully between the two of them we can stay up.

Are people seriously getting on Rafa’s back?! I can hardly believe what I’m fucking reading. Do you realise how lucky we are that he put up with being consistently fucked over by Ashley to stay and try to keep us up with a piss weak Championship squad?! Get a fucking grip of yourselves.

5 loses in a row. Rafa = Pardew levels of incompetence. You’re a dickhead pal

Not a single bit of criticism can be levelled st Rafa for our work in the transfer market. He was fucked over time after time. He had a keeper and a striker tied up and they were both vetoed by Ashley’s croney. I’ve no doubt there were others we don’t know about as well. We waited to see if anyone would buy our shit so we had more money for a striker and when no bids materialised we went for a cheap option with Premier League experience. At the time Mitro wasn’t trusted and Gayle was injured so we needed someone. How anyone can even suggest that one of the league’s most professional managers didn’t have a plan b or c is fucking baffling.

He's probably just as frustrated as we are. The longer this drags on the less likely he is to get the funds he needs in January and the more likely it is that he'll have to leave and find another job, something we know he doesn't want to do. He doesn't have anything to lose at this stage, might as well throw a few thinly veiled insults at the fat cunt.

Marveaux in this squad would improve us immeasurably

The difference being Rafa is having a go at the club, Pardew was sticking up for it. Its completely different, and comes from a man that actually knows what hes talking about. Don't really care tbh, i don't want to hear excuses regardless of what the reasons are. It's bullshit at the end of the day, we all know Ashley is a c*** of the highest order so what point are you making. Also you know damn well if anyone else said that they'd get lambasted, regardless if they are having a go at the club or not. What has he said there that is wrong? I think the suggestion that the excuses Rafa is giving are bullshit. Maybe that's not what he meant but if it is, he needs his head checking

The difference being Rafa is having a go at the club, Pardew was sticking up for it. Its completely different, and comes from a man that actually knows what hes talking about. Don't really care tbh, i don't want to hear excuses regardless of what the reasons are. It's bullshit at the end of the day, we all know Ashley is a c*** of the highest order so what point are you making. Also you know damn well if anyone else said that they'd get lambasted, regardless if they are having a go at the club or not. The reason we lambasted other managers was because they were actually making EXCUSES to mask their own shitness. Rafa is just saying what we all already know - not excuses but reasons, legitimate reasons. I don't really see what's wrong with that? For a few weeks we were punching above our weight because of Rafa's world class managerial ability and now we're performing at our actual level.

Damning, that like. Poor Joselu though I still think he's holding back a bit. Swap 'couldn't' for 'wouldn't' and you have the truth but he's still being a bit diplomatic

What a load of shit!

He definitely seems to be giving less of a shit. I guess for him though, it could be a case of i'll either have new employers or i'll leave so fuck him either way.

Based on what exactly?

http://www.sportbible.com/football/news-transfers-luke-shaw-set-for-newcastle-united-loan-move-20171127 Almost certainly bullshit given the source

Why would he walk though? If he has dialogue with PCP in the background and they reassure him they'll be back in for the club in the summer, I don't see why he'd walk. It would also make sense for the buyer to know what division we'll be playing in. Right now there's an urgency to get it done quickly so they can give Rafa the funds he needs to ensure we're a PL team next season. If it is isn't going to happen though they can just sit tight.

She's put in an awful lot of work to walk away now. Plus, if she's hell bent on buying a football club as an investment, we're the most attractive option out there by a country mile. What I could see happening is that if she doesn't have an offer accepted soon she'll back away and wait until the end of the season. She can then see if we're still a Premier League club or not.

Mitro has done more in 10 minutes than Joselu has done in the last 5 games.

I hate to criticise Rafa because I love the guy but he’s fucked this. I doubt we could’ve won it but to just accept it and do nothing is poor management.

Depends on the takeover really. If we've got significant funds then we could get someone in their prime otherwise we'll probably be trying to get Sibierski or Kuqi's number. Let's say we get taken over and can go out and splash £20-30m on a striker and number 10 who do we consider realistic options at that price range. Bas Dost has been mentioned in relation to us loads of times. Might not be a bad option but would probably cost more that the £30m on his own.