Cronky

It was a good feeling on Saturday watching Pep after the game. I think we sometimes get these histrionics from managers of top teams when we beat them. Despite Pep having a greatly superior squad, Eddie got his tactics spot on and gave his team the best possible chance of winning. Pep found that difficult to handle. Despite having twice as much possession and nearly twice as many shots, Man City had fewer shots on target and a lower xG rating. The result was no fluke. Eddie is great and we are very, very lucky to have him.

He seems to have added confidence to his already substantial range of qualities. There were a couple of situations where he looked badly hemmed in near the touchline, but somehow emerged with the ball. I'm so pleased to see this development. On the occasions when I produce my 'all-time favourite' Newcastle XI, I feel a bit embarrassed to pick Alan Kennedy from the 70's. This lad can displace him.

I've just watched the post-match analysis on MOTD. Rob Green was great - let's see more of him. Yet again, Eddie has proved himself to be at least the equal of any manager out there - clever tactics boldly executed. It was a tough game, but his strategy gave us the best possible chance and we came through.

The Scottish Highlands are absolutely beautiful.

We're struggling, but to start on a positive, there are 27 more games to go, we have funds with a transfer window coming up, and Eddie has dug us out of a far worse situation than the one we're in at the moment. I think our difficulties are - 1) Lots of Premiership teams are now able to compete financially with all but the biggest continental clubs. They can build good sides. 2) On top of that, we are playing twice a week against teams who are often only playing once. 3) Our usual midfield three look ineffective when the heavy workload has drained a bit of their energy. 4) Burn, Joelinton and Pope are three players whose positions should be under threat, and I'm not just being wise after the event here. In fairness to Eddie, fitness issues around Ramsey and Hall have inhibited him from making changes in those areas. Ramsdale though is a better all-round keeper than Pope in my opinion, and I think he'll now get his chance. 5) The absence of Wissa has hurt us. The difficulty with using Woltemade as a kind of false No 9 is that we need players with the energy to get beyond him, and we then run up against problems 2 and 3.

I enjoyed the game. Spurs looked a bit shambolic at times, and Man U have some classy players. Did Amorim really need to use up his last sub like that? They were ahead and looking comfortable. There always the risk of going down to 10 men.

Our usual midfield of Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton looked ponderous against West Ham, and there wasn't any improvement last night. The midfield of Tonali, Ramsey and Willock against Spurs looked more energetic. I was a bit surprised that Eddie stuck with the same midfield against Bilbao. I like Ramsey and I'd find room for him, probably at Joelinton's expense, although Bruno also looks like he needs a rest. Maybe we need to call time on our Three Musketeers.

I don't think I've ever felt so disappointed after a 2-0 win. The players weren't linking with any confidence. The one bright spark for me was a very lively and positive contribution from Hall.

It feels like the first half against West Ham revisited. I'd like to see Ramsey on in place of Joelinton, who is starting to look rather clumsy and slow.

I think the reality is that our squad is still quite modest for a Champions League club, and we're over-achieving thanks to the excellent coaching which brings more out of our players than one would expect. The flipside is that unless the team plays at near 100%, we're going to look a bit ordinary. Yesterday, we got an early goal, thought it was going to be easy and became too relaxed. West Ham took control and though we recovered a bit in the second half, we didn't have quite enough to break them down. Woltemarde had a poor game - he played for most of the time on Wednesday so maybe he was a bit spent.

Thank you. I don't often get called a 'lad' these days.

This may or may not entertain, but here goes. It's my birthday today, and one of my presents was a match programme from the first game that I ever attended - Dunfermline v Rangers, April 1966. The occasion was doubly memorable because, thanks to one of my Dad's well-connected work colleagues, my brother and I were taken through the players area by the Dunfermline manager, and deposited right by the place where the players entered the pitch. Playing for Dunfermline that day was a certain Alexander Chapman Ferguson. It was within my power that day to grasp him by the arm and utter the words - 'One day, you will be offered the chance to manage Manchester United. That post is cursed - do not accept it.' Ah, the power of hindsight.

I'm not sure we're that far off, because we have a manager who is worth 15-20 points a season to us. I'm very intrigued to see how the current squad will develop over the course of this season. Once the injury situation improves and the team starts to gel more around Woltemade, I think we'll make real strides. Thereafter a couple of top-class players may be all that's needed.

Normally with this topic, I nominate Rice or Salah, but for a change I'll pitch in Cristiano Ronaldo. A very good player of course, but not the GOAT, as he's sometimes cracked up to be.

Liverpool haven't been quite the same since their defeat at Wembley. Perhaps I'm being fanciful, but Eddie did seem to completely disable their system and morale. I mean it as a compliment to him and our players that I don't think I've ever seen a Liverpool team play so badly, particularly in the first half. I knew a Spurs supporter who was convinced that Eddie was responsible for his club's decline under Postecoglou. According to him, other managers copied Eddie's successful tactics.

This lad is beginning to look effective, somewhat to my surprise.

I watched a bit of Brentford v LIverpool and it was quite strange to see the Scousers being outplayed. Thinking about it, they've brought in five major new signings so there's a lot of settling down to do. It also seems unusual for a club to have a major upheaval after winning the league. I wonder how some players are reacting to having to fight for their place after achieving success the previous season. One or two new faces to keep the momentum going would be more the norm. Isak and Ekitike - is the town big enough for the both of them?

I saw him once in pre-season and he actually looked quite good in centre mid. He was comfortable on the ball and eager to make things happen. I assume there's something missing from his game that's prevented him from making more progress. There again, it's very difficult for a young player to come up through the ranks into the first team of a major Premiership club (and I like to think we're in that category now).

Isak has failed at a big club before, so all sorts of outcomes are possible. It's easier to win a title than it is to defend it, so there's pressure on the team as a whole. There's extra pressure on Isak, because it will look to his new team-mates that he's decided to hitch on to the success that they have created themselves. Nothing wrong with a player doing that, but you then have to really prove your worth.

Yeah, I thought it was the pass of a good player. The pace and direction were spot on, as they needed to be, but most of all he had the imagination to see it.

Sorry to pop up again, but for one reason or another, I haven't watched many England games recently. Unlike many England sides, we really looked like a team, and not a collection of individuals. Anderson has solved that midfield anchor position and a lot stems from that. I think Bellingham and Rice are competing for one position now. I can see why Tuchel isn't keen on Bellingham because a lot of ego goes into his England performances and he tries to win games on his own. Having said that, he's a major talent and I hope that this issue can be sorted. We have two very talented and creative players in Rogers and Eze, but it looks like Tuchel feels he can only play one at a time. I'd like to see him experiment with both and see what happens. If we're going to beat the best sides, I think our performance still needs to go up a notch.

I often feel that I'd like to see more from him. Like this evening, I can't recall him making any particularly noteworthy contribution. Seeing as he's a fixture in the England team, that's disappointing.

Somewhat bittersweet to watch Anderson dominate a midfield like that. I'm not sure exactly what Rice brings to the party. My usual gripe, I know.

Eddie would probably have stood a better chance than anyone, but I doubt whether he'd have taken the risk. Ben Arfa's record of problems with managers and team-mates extends over many years and many different clubs. Nice seems to be an exception, but he was only there a year.

I had to smile at that. In many ways, it epitomises KK's best quality - he was always prepared to have a go at something. No-one's going to tell him what he can or can't do. When he took over our club, he had been out of the game for 8 years. He had no coaching experience or qualifications, as far as I'm aware. That didn't deter him at all. He wanted to do it and he was going to do it.