The College Dropout

That was the end of Cole as a top player.

After the tragic events I would be surprised if Liverpool willingly sold a striker/attacker.

Leao is too lazy.

Welcome hyem Anthony

They won’t. A lot of it will depend on prize money. Finishing top 8 in the CL and getting to the semis gets you a lot more money than crashing out in the group stage. £1m per win. And bigger money for qualifying for next stages. Similar thing in the PL, 4th to 7th is worth a fair amount in prize money alone. And then there’s gates which might run £500k a game extra for CL and later rounds of domestic cups.

Aye.

I think we need 4, probably want 5.

I'm not arguing it's a bad window. But we have made a slow start - in terms of actual signings. That's after 2 years of no signings. And we've no idea who is doing what behind the scenes and none of them have a track record of getting deals done for Newcastle without Staveley. The frustration is understandable. And the topic change mentally makes us think the deal is stagnating. We should leave the titles as they are once we update them or unless we get definitive changes. Going back ruins everyone's mood.

Had him for weeks in FPL last season. Watched him closely. He was fucking awful. Everything about him. Everton were pretty bad but they did create a few good chances for him. He'd either miss them or be offside.

Yeh I've thought about it. In the last 2 years he's scored 8 goals in open play in 60 matches. He's also underperformed his Xg consistently throughout his career. Bebe was preferred to him by the end of the season. 2 years ago, it was a decent shout. 2 years ago, Callum Wilson was one of the best strikers in the PL. Aye he's a warm body. But I don't think he's any better than playing Gordon upfront personally. Rather give Osula more minutes.

18 months makes it sound like we signed someone useful in January 2024. We've not signed a proper first-team player since August 2023. It's 2 years. That's the source of the frustration

Just TS? I don't believe it. I don't want to believe it.

It’s pretty much 2-years since we signed someone with realistic aspirations to start right? Not counting Kelly or Osula. Or Vlach.

Are we actually linked with him?

Thanks for everything Callum you sexy beast.

Yeh I think we are actually. But we also have the least resources which means we have the least pull. One thing that bothers me a little, is we don't know who is working on these deals and gets budget approval. Before PIF gave the green light to Staveley, it was Staveley, Ashworth, and Nickson who were the delegation that got the job done. I remember when we signed Isak - it was so quick. Got the greenlight to spend more money, went to Sociedad and got the deal done. Also seems like now we have smaller budgets. I remember reading we had overpaid for Tonali & Isak by journalists and the like. And the fees for a few others were largely based on potential. But we paid that little premium to get our men and it's paid off. If we think Elanga is our guy, just get it done man. We seem to be less willing to do that now. Goes back to my old PIF/PSR challenge.

We are 1 injury away from playing a back 5.

As Newcastle fans - I think it’s in our DNA to like the flawed genius type. That’s usually the best type of player we can get. Or a baller with not enough legs to make it to the very top ala Cabaye or Solano. All this super professional, all round great players we have now. It’s a weird experience.

Cant wait to watch Cherki regularly. So interesting how he develops under Pep. And scary.

Yeh over the hill, legs gone central midfielder but still got some magic left in the boots. Latter day Toni Kroos couldn’t run. His entire game was about making the football game as slow as possible and only sped up when he wanted too. That was the measure of the game. If it was fast, Kroos and Real were losing the midfield battle. Lover Tugay. Was a little young to fully appreciate that type of footballer. Not professional/athletic enough 10 is my second favourite. Stephen Ireland to James Rodriguez - I love em.

Kaka lad is very angry recently. It’s Sunday evening and we are posting on a football forum. Let’s enjoy ourselves lads. I love a debate about a random player we’ll not sign. Let’s talk about one and have a little fun.

Yes this is pretty much it. You can see it in how players move or strike a ball. As you say, it’s immediate apparent and obvious and that bit of class.

Nah Anthony Gordon is a really good player. He fails the baller test. And that’s his biggest limitation. Akliouche might be an inferior player. But from his youtube comps and underlying stats - he looks a baller.

I guess it’s pure footballing ability and nothing else. Things like mentality, consistency and athleticism are just as important or more important. The very best players are ballers though. And the most enjoyable to watch.

You do love your Nigerian lads though. He’s not a baller. Think Isak, Bruno, Hall. Players with that extra bit of class on the ball. Touch under pressure, clean ball striking, ability to glide past players, weight of pass, ability to see and pull of the unexpected etc. The Willock - Isak goal against Spurs. The way Isak takes the ball with his left foot in stride, shifts it perfectly to the right in one smooth motion, strikes it clean and hard into the corner. That’s a baller. Pure footballing ability.