The College Dropout

Cole aye. Milner might have actually won more. But he was the 12th man in most of those sides.

Agreed. And I think that lack of aggression that I see is probably related to that elite-level composure. He's cold-hearted with it.

I don't think he's inconsistent. 25 goals in 50-odd games or so. Whenever he's looked match fit - he'll do the business more often than not. A 1 in 2 striker cannot be described as inconsistent. He lacks a bit of aggression and i think he could go on to be a world-beater with better stamina and strength. But I mean properly world-class and an all-timer in the PL.

Was listening to Wilson’s podcast. He heavily implied he rushed himself back before he was fully fit and has now paid the cost. I think there’s been a culture of that at the club this season. He also spoke about him being out - Alex being overloaded then getting injured himself - so Wilson rushes back and the cycle repeats.

Leadership said we would look to do business at the end of the month. So I’ll wait until the end of the transfer window to talk.

The ultimate context is how the team performs.

270m this season. 177m last season. That’s 447m since the start of last summer. It’s a lot of money. And close to half a billion. It is euros aye. I also think Ange is great. Just above I said the prospect of peak Ange ball is scary. But you have invested a hell of a lot of money in recent seasons. And it’s not mentioned as much as our investment. I like Ange because he believes in ballers but he also likes a vertical quick game. It’s brilliant to watch.

Not much is made of Spurs spending 300m in 1.5 windows. They’ve spent half a billion since the start of last summer. Ange the miracle worker.

A nice thing called squad depth. Ultimate Ange ball will be a thing of absolute beauty.

Darren Eales seems to think qualifying for Europe this season is a reasonable target. No way is it over achieving.

I’d be happy with just plugging that midfield gap mind.

We do but this we don’t have the personnel for atm. If we are going to run around without the ball we can take off Isak if he’s too tired to do it effectively imo.

Your first question is relevant. We have plenty of time and coaching ability to finish strongly this season. His previous success is why he’s not under pressure for his job from the fans. But if we finish 10th Howe will be under tremendous pressure and he might not have another go at it. Weve gone past being happy with mid table and decent cup runs. Eddie has contributed to thatmasovsly.

I’m not a football manager. Do you think every good manager in world football would’ve done exactly as Eddie did last night at half time? At 55 minutes? At 2-2? There’s this idea that there’s nothing Eddie can do tactically or with substitutions in those situations and it makes no sense to me. Considering we didn’t play any football for 45 minutes. Fresh legs that can follow runs and be brave alone would’ve been worth bringing on.

Fundamentally we agree. With easier fixtures and more players back and in good condition we will do much better. Eddie did marvellous last season. But this season has been bad. Injuries have been horrific. It is my opinion Eddie has contributed to this both in terms of team selection and style of play.

Eurgh I miss Joe Willock man.

In euros it’s 460m+ according to transfermarkt. This is on top of a team that finished between 10-13 in the previous 4 PL seasons. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/newcastle-united/alletransfers/verein/762 It’s also 2nd highest net spend in the PL over that period. We have the 7th highest wage bill in the league apparently according to a tweet I saw. I really like Eddie but I’ve been disappointed with how stubborn he has been this season. I fear for him if we don’t qualify for Europe or at least finish 8th. I’m confident we will but less confident with each loss and new injury. Long term he needs to be more adaptable and pragmatic.

At what point do we say - we aren’t learning and why is that ?

Main decision was Foden vs Richarlison (not worked out so far) second decision was play Konsa or bring in Estu for TAA - also not working out so far.

Almost £500m spent in 3.5 windows and 10th in the league = amazing we are even at this stage and position

Any good team finds it easy to find those pockets against us.

Btw I don’t think Eddie really wanted Livra or Hall. Which explains some of the trepidation about playing them. No prof of course. Just my read.

We didn’t know that we needed a first choice LB?

I don’t buy that we’ve been figured out. But if we don’t switch things up - teams will figure it out even with a fully fit squad. We will need a win against a good team away from home at some point this season. And we won’t if we can’t play without the ball.

In the screenshot there’s no pressure on Rodri. You can’t step up unlesss there’s pressure on the ball/man. It’s when we have a mid/low midfield block with delayed press on the ball, it’s extremely easy to find a pass between the lines. For 20 minutes against Fulham at home we went 4231. Isak behind Wilson. This season we’ve fluted with a back 5 a few times.