The College Dropout

I've said similar before. Saudi launch an invitational, invite Man City, Juventus and 5 Saudi clubs. $100m entrance prize.

I think commercial viability is a bit more complex than what we've said. But the main shirt sponsor seems to be half what the lowest in the top 6 get and 20% above the one below us. I think we should be able to justify a bumper increase. Major 10 games ahead. Our Adidas deal is much closer to the top 6 though.

It’s a major reason I want us to get into the CL, keep our players and sign a couple major players. It shifts the narrative. ATM there’s still a media view of ‘Newcastle can’t spend because of PSR. If they are to get to the top, Eddie, Isak and co. will have moved on as part of the journey.’ Qualify for the CL. We keep our boys. Spend £200m on quality. We become a serious serious outfit. I have no idea if we could do that. But assuming we play 10 CL games minimum, I think that nets £50m in income from TV, prize money and gates alone. Pushes our FFP up. 2 CL campaigns in 3 years and a Cup win. Sela is half the money Spurs get from AIA and less than the rest of the top 6. Why can’t we get deals at the same rate as Spurs? Or 90%? Our recent windows and last seasons performance have had the pundits comfortable again. Especially Carragher and Neville. Cup win, CL and some big signings will put the fear of God into them.

Liverpool will be fine. I reckon Salah signs a 2-3 year deal and they sell him next season to Saudi for £50-100m anyway.

Absolutely smashed.

Lads a cheat code

He doesn't leave this summer imo. Only way he leaves is if he decides he wants to level up - even if it's only 1 level. I don't think anyone in Europe has both the interest and willing to pay the money.

Agreed that the one skill he seems to have is befriending people in the media. Which is why he goes apeshit when the media turn against him. Bruce got an extremely easy ride in the media with us. Funnily enough, neither Rafa nor Howe have invested much energy into that. Both care more about managing players (obviously) and the fans.

No bigger indictment of a coach than what ex-players say. I listened to what Dwight said about Bruce, Pardew, Jones, Howe, Rafa etc. He was candid but tried to be respectful. If a coach doesn't coach, discuss tactics and can barely motivate players... there's not much to say.

Think he's started doing it - especially with Isak. Basically said he gave Isak a rest at Liverpool. Isak needs it. We don't have viable alternatives to our midfielders, so I think signing a new CM is just behind RW, GK, and CB. A 4th CM plays more minutes than a back-up striker imo.

Neither was Hall at 18 really. I think both have tremendously high ceilings.

PL clubs that will have FFP issues I'm guessing: Leicester Chelsea Maybe Forest Dont' see anyone else. §

Think it's a fairly high priority if we finish in the CL. Massive drop off from The Shield to any of their understudies. We need a 4th musketeer to compete with them. RW GK CB CM Fullback ST

MLS is the real deal but Hall is more developed imo. Tuchel is taking a proper 16-month view of the England squad maybe even shorter. Kyle Walker will be 36 at the World Cup. Take him out.

More impressively - he’s found different ways to do it.

I’ve always been impressed with how he has overcome difficult periods. I thought he did well to get 7th last season. Mid season I think he made a lot of mistakes but we ended strongly. This season I had no idea what to expect. Would we challenge with top 5 due to less games? Would we fall away due to squad staleness? I backed Howe to get the full season no matter what but I was deeply concerned after West Ham. I never questioned his job but all the indicators were poor. Then we turned it around. Went on a great run. Most people in football media expected us to fade this season. Few pundits expected us to get Europe at all. Now o would be disappointed with anything less than Europa League.

We wouldn’t be as successful as we’ve been without Saudi ownership. The potential we have now has had a tangible impact on performance and bringing in best of class ppl. And also several of our largest sponsors are Saudi owned.

If the current top 3 (City not Forest) put up the money Isak would go. None of them will imo.

If they have the money I think Liverpool, City & Arsenal could sign him and he would go for football reasons. Being able to stump up the cash for him is a sign of intent but I can only see Liverpool being willing to go there. But as you say, it's a different day and era. The top 6 no longer exist in terms of on-the-pitch success. After Leicester won the PL the top 6 monopolised the CL places for 7-8 years straight. In that period, moving to any of the top 6 clubs was a genuine step up for footballing reasons. We will have a 3rd season in a row where a non-top 6 club will qualify for the CL again. Us doing so for the second time in 3 years. The only PL clubs that are worth moving from us need to be title challengers, the top 3 of the previous 2 seasons.

My guess is that HBA had a poor work ethic in training and in games. And a spikey personality. That’s fine when the team is winning and he’s magic. That’s Eric Cantona. But on a losing team that quickly becomes a massive issue. That side particularly got through on waves of good form where team spirit, last ditch tackles etc. won points. If HBA went on to become Eric Cantona I would say the squad was wrong. But HBA only ever thrived as a big fish in a small pond at a few clubs for a short period. Most times he would fall out with the coach or squad.

I don’t say it half heartedly when I say he was gifted. But he doesn’t last 6 months with Howe. Hatem played more league games for Pardew than any other manager he played for according to his wiki. I can’t look at how Ben Arfa’s career panned out and think Pardew was the core of the problem with Hatem here. By all accounts the squad had soured on HBA by the time he was ostracised. And that was a lenient dressing room considering Pardew himself never fully lost them. Ben Arfa was more talented than Karim Benzema. A talent like that doesn’t end up at Mike Ashley’s Newcastle United without significant character defects.

You think Howe would tolerate Ben Arfa? You think Ben Arfa could tolerate Howe for 3.5 years? Fantastically gifted player that fell out with most of his managers and team mates throughout his career.

Anita Colback Sissoko Jonas Obertan Cisse Williamson Yanga Mbiwa Santon etc. Mediocre. Only players from that era that maybe startfor us now - Remy and Cabaye. Maybe.

I’d like PIF to set up an expensive invitational tournament that we get invited too every season. Bring a red top a long so it’s legal.

Aye people thought managers couldn’t get any worse. So Ashley didn’t bother appointing one. Then appointed a worse one. It was the Pardew era when I finally understood Ashley’s game. Truly honourable men that want to be the best they can be don’t work - they demand too much from Ashley - so they left/got sacked that’s Houghton and Rafa. Overly incompetent leads to relegation like McClaren or Carver. So you want someone that will keep us in the PL more often than not in your Pardews and Bruce. Thats the sweet spot.