ohmelads

I wouldn't be surprised if we're not prepared to take a huge hit on our duds unfortunately. I reckon this is it. We may have to loan them out and offer a wage contribution, which is better than nothing and frees up wages, but the club would probably rather wait until some Championship clubs get desperate before we cut our losses and take the hit. I reckon Rafa is not just fed up with incomings but also the club's slowness to shift players. It would be classic Ashley to wait until deadline day and get some decent deals for them, leaving Rafa no time to invest the proceeds.

9 of the 11 v Spurs was our Championship team. The same team that lost 10 games in the Championship and that most of us agreed back in May would get murdered in the Premier League. 11 v 11 we looked capable of stopping Spurs from scoring, which is a positive and it's something Rafa is very good at, but at some point we are going to have to break teams down and take 3 points. All of our signings look like punts because, with the possible exception of Lejeune, none have impressed consistently at this level at any stage of their careers. That's not to say they are bad punts, but we needed at least a couple of players who've done it consistently at a high level, players who the selling club want to keep or who other clubs are also fighting for. We still need those players.

The cause for concern is the opportunity cost. This is almost certainly THE striker signing - there won't be another. In terms of goals, his CV is no better than Riviere's was when he arrived. I remember hearing a lot of people justifying that one too. Of course we have to get behind him and the reaction of Stoke fans gives us some hope that maybe this is a player who has just been f*cked about and will hit the ground running at a club who give him a chance. You could make that argument for Mitrovic (5 years younger), who has also barely started consecutive games and his manager doesn't seem to rate him. Rafa must see something in Joselu, but he is probably getting desperate now as well. The opportunity cost is a big deal because, like many others, I felt all summer that the striker position was THE most important signing we would make this summer. We went down last time by just a couple of points and wasted big chances in tight games. The mackems had an even worse team but stayed up thanks to Defoe nicking points they scarcely deserved. I look at our forwards and none of them have shown they can do that - with any consistency - at a high level.

Seems to be a common thing that people are towing this line. I'm trying to recall his other incidents, the Lansbury incident, which was absolutely nothing, which was even overturned. Has he ever been sent off before that playing for us ? I can't recall ? The only other incident was the alleged racism, which was dubious at best and certainly not something that would be held up in a court of law. So unless someone can answer my honest question (as I don't really know for sure), then this line that he has previous with us, doesn't really hold a lot of water. Can't recall any reds and I agree about the racism thing, but he often gets involved in needless verbals on the pitch and racked up loads of yellows last season. He clearly has a temper on him and sneaky players like Alli and Lansbury will continue to target him.

It's a two-footed scissor tackle through his standing leg, ending in injury. Getting the ball is only relevant in that it suggests intent not to do harm. I don't think Kane meant to hurt him, it's just a bad tackle. Having said that, getting the ball doesn't make bad tackles OK; how many serious injuries have we seen where someone's won the ball with excessive force and followed through. Is it a red? How refs apply the rules tends to depend on which players and which teams are involved. It makes fans of the top clubs uncomfortable to talk about it, but most other fans seem to agree it goes on. If you're England's golden boy Harry Kane making the challenge on some randomer like Lejeune, a yellow is probably enough and you'll give him the "benefit of the doubt". Gerrard used to get away with all sorts - there are infinite examples of others. If you're a Shelvey or a Mitrovic (picking our players cos it's easier) with a reputation and you're making that challenge on England's Harry Kane, then obviously you're going to walk. It gets more complicated when you add clubs into the equation. If you have a reputation like Nigel De Jong then a two-footed studs up double leg breaker could get you a yellow or red if the ref's in the mood, but if you're playing for Man City, you might even get off without a free kick. Considering the above, we have to accept that yellow is a 'normal' decision here, but you will see reds in other games for similar challenges where circumstances are different. I'm just telling it like it is. For what it's worth, I think that challenge should be a yellow regardless of the player or club. I don't think he meant it and although it's excessive force and clumsy, I've seen far worse. Hope Lejeune is OK - he was having a very solid debut and they hadn't really had a sniff up to that point.

Agree with you on the defence and the striker position. Rafa can organise a defence as we saw today (til Shelvey), but if we can't score goals we'll be another Boro and go down. We need a few signings (left back, centre mid, striker), but a striker who improves the first team has to be top of the list.

Hard to judge us off that game, and we haven't learnt much we didn't already know. We looked OK with 11 and there wasn't much between the teams in spite of their possession. I can't remember any clear cut chances from either side until after the red card. As for the incident, Shelvey's just a tit. We can't defend that. It completely overshadowed Alli's antics which will go ignored now. Alli got tackled and then went to hold his own face as if he'd been hit, then tried to delay the FK. Shelvey's fallen for it and got himself sent off. That's no defence of Shelvey though, he's had enough chances. We needed another creative mid before the game, and this just underlines it. We were well in the game at that point. Positives are Atsu and Merino, and the general performance with XI was decent enough. We'll play weaker teams than Spurs, and won't always have 2 injuries and a red. Our season depends on Ashley and the rest of the transfer window, which we already knew.

Big reason we went down, though not alone of course. Didn't even stand out in the Championship. Just let him go on a free. Relieved to be honest.

I never follow this line of Ashley vs 'the club'. All of it is his own money. If NUFC loses money, Ashley loses money. The whole lot is his and his alone. And he's lost repeatedly. Even now there is no guarantee that he would get back every penny he's put in, never mind a decent return over 10 years- all very well big TV deals pumping money in, but if it all goes out on players then you are no further forward. You're forgetting the free advertising of Sports Direct, which after all is his main interest and what made him a billionaire. Our stadium is absolutely covered in Sports Direct advertising beamed out to global audiences. Companies pay enormous amounts for that - he pays nothing. To Ashley, 17th place every season would be success because he can break even on the club and expose his brand to global audiences. He runs the club accordingly; it's no coincidence we always have a squad deemed just about good enough to survive. In spite of two relegations, nothing has changed. To him, it isn't worth spending the money required to come 10th or even 5th - yes he could speculate to accumulate (as we wish he would), but why do that when you're breaking even and getting free advertising worth a fortune? Of course he can't come out and say this, but it's pretty obvious by the way the club is run. Our goal is to survive in the Premier League - not consolidate and strengthen but survive. If we find bargains and build a good team, they'll be sold. Some saw the hiring of Rafa as a change in direction, but it's looking more like he sees him as someone who will keep a cheap squad up. The best we can hope for is that Rafa can make us hard to beat and somehow establish us as a solid Prem side until an investor comes in. It'll take a very good offer for Ashley to sell up though. There's a reason he's stayed despite all the sh*t.

All true but we've known this for many years now. Ashley simply sees the club as a medium to advertise his business free on a global stage. When we play Man Utd, Arsenal, or any Premier League club for that matter, it's broadcast around the world. Companies would pay ludicrous amounts to have their brand splashed all over the stadium the way Sports Direct is. Keeping the club in the Premier League at minimal outlay is his only concern.

It's not that people are defaulting to negative in the absence of information. We have 10 years of experience of Mike Ashley. We've endured two relegations, several more relegation battles, and seen Keegan walk under similar circumstances. Past experience tells us to be very suspicious when things go quiet because it usually spells trouble. We also know that it's the middle of July and we have a Championship squad that's 4 weeks away from playing Spurs, so every passing day is another day of pre-season lost for half the first-team players that we hoped (and still hope) to sign. We also know that Mike Ashley simply uses Newcastle as a vehicle for free advertising. His aim is to finish 17th - stay on the Premier League gravy train at minimal cost. If he can do that and break even it's a successful season in his eyes because his Sports Direct brand - which is his main concern - gets global TV exposure for free. Most people figured this out years ago. The arrival of Rafa raised questions and hopes - had the big TV money turned Ashley's head and persuaded him to give things a go? Or does Ashley just see Rafa as someone expendable who will make a cheap squad overperform for a while? You cannot blame people for fearing the latter, given everything Ashley has done over the past 10 years and given that Rafa called the club about the job and not the other way around. That's not bedwetting, that's 10 years of following NUFC under the current owner and considering all the context we know. There's still time to build a PL squad but the signings need to happen now if Rafa's gonna integrate half a new team. Yes, Brighton have done little either and their fans will be worried. As for the rest of the league, they either have a better squad than us, or in Huddersfield's case are giving it a good go.

The current squad would go down or at very least be in a relegation fight and the bookies' odds reflect that. I struggle to think of any of our players who would get in the starting XI for the midtable clubs. We have a Championship squad that just lost 10 games in that division. As for transfers, any time we have to compete with a Stoke or a West Ham or a Swansea for a player, we pull out of the deal. It seems our major business won't get done until later in the window when the teams around us have done theirs, when players start to become surplus at other clubs and we get a free run at them. The two deals we've done were Atsu (loan-to-buy) and Lejeune (release clause). Goes without saying that bringing in half a first-team at the end of pre-season, or after the season has kicked off, means the new signings will arrive with major pressure to hit the ground running.

Navas has experience but honestly he hasn't impressed me at all for Man City. What would concern me is that we haven't had much success with this type of signing over the years - ie players well past their best, coming from a much richer club, who are looking for one last payday. He has a Premier League winner's medal already and you have to wonder what his motivations for coming here would be. On top of all that, he is the type of winger who is reliant on pace, and he's 32 in a few months. Surely there are promising wingers out there, who have already done the business at a decent level, who we can afford?

Traore might be worth a punt at the right price but only as competition and not pinning our hopes on him as a starter. The thing is, if we are keeping Aarons and have Atsu and Ritchie, that only really leaves space for one more. Like Atsu (inconsistent) and Aarons (injury prone), Traore would arrive with major question marks.

christ almighty go on? you've presumably just read a story confirming the difficulties we know we face in the market this summer then followed it up with a just get on with it post right out of the 'just leave now' brexit playbook - STOP MAKING EXCUSES AND LEAVE!! What on earth are you talking about?

christ almighty go on?

If you didn't know any better, you could be forgiven for thinking we're preparing for the Championship. The club needs to stop making excuses and get their arses in gear. We're playing Premier League teams in a few weeks.

If you offered Ashley 17th place every year for the next ten years, he'd be delighted.

I have a feeling we're bottom feeders in this market and will wait for other clubs to splash the cash so we can take cast-offs. That and we're probably looking to sell before we buy - we have loads of dead wood. I understand we need to take risks on unproven players to try and find a bargain - after all, we need to buy half a team - but we also need to pay up for a couple of players with very strong CVs who will lift us above the teams in the relegation fight. Honestly, how many of our players would get in the first XI at clubs like Stoke, Southampton, West Ham, Crystal Palace? How many of theirs would get in ours? It shows the scale of the problem. If we're gonna be clear of the relegation places and closer to midtable, we need to be more proactive in the market and that means signing at least a couple of players who are proven and in-demand - and they'll cost 20M+. We haven't seen any serious links with those types of players.

He's unreal and so out of touch. This tubby c*** was in the right market at the right time and just happened to be shrewd enough to make billions. Hardly say he was in the right place at the right time. He created the opportunity. That sector had seen nothing like SD before nor since. He blew the competition out of the water with his model. Kids (or rather parents) spend much more on sportswear now as a result of SD than they did before because he's created a value for money offering that just simply wasn't there before. Say what you want about him but you unless you've started a business, grown a business massively, developed a brand, floated a business and then ran a PLC as a majority shareholder (all whilst becoming a billionaire) then you can't call him lucky ffs. You simply do not achieve billionaire status with luck alone. I see your careful choice of words at the end. You're right that you don't achieve billionaire status with luck alone, but you don't achieve it without luck either.

I'm not panicking yet but I'm getting a bit concerned. Rafa was silent in January and is again now in spite of local and national papers suggesting he may walk. Add to that a decade of Mike Ashley and everything he's done and you'd put your money on there being some truth to these stories. It makes no sense comparing our transfer activity to established PL sides who don't need the complete overhaul that we do. This squad lost 10 games in the Championship - it'd get murdered in the Premier League. Rafa built a squad for that division on the understanding he could make widespread changes once promotion was assured. There is a long time left, but he'll want at least some in time to train them up for the Spurs game. We can't afford another slow start, especially with the fixtures getting harder towards Christmas.

Keep in mind we started slowly, losing our first two games.

Honestly I don't see a lot of sense in going after Abraham, unless Rafa sees him as someone who is ready straight away (cos he won't be our player for long) or it's simply to free up money for the defence and midfield. I don't see Chelsea sending him to us as a rotation player when other Prem clubs like Brighton will give him more games. Therefore I think it's quite unlikely we'd loan Abraham and then go and spend big on another more proven striker. It looks a major gamble to me if we're pinning our hopes on a 19 year old with 1 good Championship season to lead the line in the Premier League for us. There are major question marks over our other strikers too.

I think the striker position is the number 1 priority this summer. Not necessarily our weakest position, but the position that makes the biggest difference to struggling teams. You can be crap and get away with it to an extent if you have a quality striker nicking points you don't deserve - just look at the Pardew years, or the mackems with Defoe until this season. With that in mind, I hope we are not putting all our striker eggs in the Abraham basket. I'll admit I'm going off dodgy highlight reels here, but he seems a penalty box predator not too unlike Gayle. The Premier League doesn't present nearly as many gilt-edged chances as the ones I'm seeing from his goals. Rafa knows far more than I do, but I wonder how far down Rafa's list he is, or whether the decision has been made to get bargains where we can to free up funds elsewhere for what is gonna be a major overhaul. We have to take whatever bargains we can get and this lad on loan might just be one. 23 goals in a crap team is bloody impressive. He is worth a punt but is he worth betting all our chips on in terms of strengthening our front line? The Premier League is a major step up.

It's just lazy soundbites from the London press, which is extremely powerful in shaping fans' opinions. The press will strongly defend any English manager because they see it as some sort of national shame that foreign managers have been far more successful in our league, despite the fact it is clearly a global league now. Pardew has a lot of friends in the media - he mustn't be the problem so it must be us. I've met a lot of people who say they didn't know any Newcastle fans but assumed we were all deluded. When I ask what they mean, it usually comes back to the media portrayal and wanting to get Ashley and Pardew (with his 8 year contract) out of the club so we could move on and at least try to compete. Yet if you ask these fans if they'd have Ashley or Pardew anywhere near their club, the answer is always no. Another common thing I hear is about the number of managers we've gone through and that we never seem to be happy. Again, when you remind people: Souness, Roeder, Kinnear, Pardew, Carver etc, they accept they wouldn't want any managing their PL side. Robson, Keegan and Benitez have all been hugely popular here - we're no different to any other set of fans. Pardew got 4 years ffs.