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Little puff piece for our end of season Australia trip. Decent watch though. The Tottenham game might end up being quite spicy depending on how this season finishes up!

In spite of being very keen to finish as high as possible, this is me too. More interested in performances at the moment - which have definitely turned a big corner. The results will take care of themselves.

Smart move all round. The sun will love his muscles and put £25m extra on his value

To be fair, ASM was being used as a stick to hit the Barnes signing with quite a lot this season after he got injured. But I agree we don't need to dwell on it.

He would be but I imagine this season's injuries have shattered his potential value in a sale. Quite possibly better off hanging onto him therefore. It's been a very bad year for the valuations of most of our squad. Pretty much everyone has gone significantly down except the three players we desperately don't want to lose. Gordon, Isak and Bruno, to be specific. Off the top of my head you could throw in Miley and probably Anderson and Livramento just about.

Sort of pleased with this. Hope he gets all the time and support he needs to be his old self in time for next pre season. He never looked happy with himself on this latest return. Although it was brief, I remember him being much snappier - esp. mentally - when he came back around Man United in the league cup.

Not a fan of our 70s or 80s badges. I don't want to change our current one, but if we did I think I'd rather go for something completely different. Not optimistic about the result, mind.

To be honest it was the fact that they'd messed up the team sheet that gave me hope we were doing something different tactically Probably should've stuck with the usual format if that was the case.

Yes, those are the games I can think of him being bad in, but the rest of the team was also dire - everyone was exhausted - so I think my top 3 remark mostly still applies. It's just it was a team full of 3s and 5s rating-wise

Bruno's my second place. You're right but I'm taking half a mark off as he wasn't so hot at the start of the season before his contract got sorted. Plus he's more established in the team, which I see as a tiebreaker.

Yes 100%. Been up for it game in and out, setting the pace come rain or shine. I can't think of a game where he hasn't been among our top 3 performers.

It already is No, overall I think the rules are a bad thing. There was a natural process underway which just needed to shake out through the system. Sometimes these things take years, but eventually compelling responses evolve. What we have now has just distorted it and entrenched the problems that were thrown up by the game's financial boom. It's quite plausible that without them, due to Man United's prolonged terrible management, your and Everton's roles would've been reversed over the past 5 years. Or Leicester's and their state of the art facilities, that I think I heard they are now needing to sell off. That role reversal would've been a reflection of meritocracy and given other fanbases a bite. Now I think about it, I wonder if FFP actually enabled the Glazers to still be at the club. As things stand the competition is rotting from the inside. It's not fun or attractive. Newcastle isn't prospering because we're well supported. The idea that we might be the ones to break into the system is itself a problem. We'll be managing it by utilising the political tentacles of one of the richest and most influential countries on Earth to game the system and make our finances appear to comply with the ridiculous rules - while unflinchingly absorbing a decade's worth of gigantic losses during the 'patience' period. All with a view to the idea that once you're inside the cartel it's a license to print money. I fully sympathise with any Wolverhampton-type fans being sickened by this - why the hell would they choose to be skittles in the caste system of a bowling game?

Yeah pretty content with that. One proper signing plus wheeling and dealing as outlined by Kaka re: Kelly and Minteh is perfectly acceptable to me and we could have a very good season that way.

He's an odd one as he's an intelligent player who is prone to using his intelligence unintelligently. He second guesses and thinks himself into trouble. But with the right coaching and support he does far more good than bad.

It was very early. We looked up for it from the first whistle, but that moment really brought the feeling that we definitely had a game on. Need to see it again, but from memory it would've been perfect if Isak had stepped off the pace and loitered near the centre spot for a cutback. But they'll work out their patterns of play even better with more time together.

I remember them quoting stats on his first team involvement around this time last season. I think it was something like 11-3-1 at the time. Turns out he's our MVP...

Civilisation is built on dull fucks.

Ironically, the reality is that not everybody knows his name.

Said the other day, it might not be the worst thing for him to join Minteh in Rotterdam, depending on Eddie's assessment.

I was gonna say, he's been pretty mild mannered for the past year or so hasn't he? I don't really pay that much attention to the track record of individual posters though so wasn't going to get involved incase I was misremembering. I think his original point was right though. At times this place often reminds me of:

Maybe, but our squad was unendingly fucked in that period. We came close to losing Gordon to injury a couple of times, which would've been a major predicament. And the main - fair - accusation with Hall is that he lacks defensive nous, not that he doesn't know how to run and put a cross in.

There's no need, everybody already knows his name.

Assuming that's true, you're right, it is interesting that Howe kept putting him in the squad. Makes not giving him more runs out on the left wing to rest Gordon or others during the depths of our winter injury crisis more mysterious, mind. Can't help but think he would've been handy at moments.

I don't know, I think he's benefited from it in a lot of ways. Made him more judicious in what he does. I don't like it when he starts getting daft and lashing out with tackles that would be a 4 game ban if he actually managed to make contact. I'm glad he has permission to get cards again, but I'm hoping he takes something from the experience of this clean run.