TRon

Decent crack by Gordon that.

Elanga got to score there.

Green kit looks pretty good IMO.

Come on lads, show what we are made of. Fight them all the way!

It is a bit depressing that we are going into a game of such importance with no striker though. These are direct rivals for a CL spot, the result here could have real consequences at the end of the season.

If both teams sit off it will be a cagey game. A draw at their place suits us more than them so I don't mind that.

Makes sense from their POV tbh. I think we should go low block and that will nullify it anyway. Release Elanga and Barnes on the counter.

The goal was a bit lucky, but apparently he played well. I turned the tv off after the goal so can't really say.

How would we even be able to afford Ramos? Won't he be on daft wages at PSG?

Really can't see them feeling like putting in a serious bid after tonight. They might put in a pisstake £112m bid or something just because they know we won't accept it. I think they would probably rather go a different route now, I hate to say it, but Wissa would make more sense.

Maybe there's some way we can put a topic on ignore. Please for the love of God tell me there is!

Not unless Liverpool came up with a decent offer.

Osula not getting the nod ahead of Gordon tomorrow tells you all you need know about his standing at Newcastle as a striker.

We still haven't agreed a fee on Wissa as far as I'm aware. I would imagine personal terms with Wissa are done though.

Didn't realise they had completed the signing of Guessand. I thought he might have been one we could have took a punt on as the Pedro alternative before the Isak saga blew up. I hope he doesn't turn out to be much good.

They might think again about increasing their bid for Isak. They could always leave it until 31st August and see how Ekitike is getting on until then.

Why would we sacrifice our whole season because of how bad it looks to the media? Neither will holding a player to his contract be horrendous for business, we've done nothing wrong. We've tried to buy other strikers, and Liverpool have not made a serious bid to sign Isak.

I haven't actually seen any viable replacements for Isak given our top targets have all gone elsewhere.

Yeah, if I was betting I still think we get him. But it's dragged on for two months, and there are still quite a few things which need to fall in place. Since we sat on the Trafford deal thinking it was in place I don't take these things for granted. Liverpool might decide they need an experienced striker at the last minute for example.

Still plenty of scope for this to go wrong then. Unless we are ready to give them whatever they want in order to get an agreement.

So who would we play as our mainline striker this season?

I'd be very happy to get him in, I think he's an exciting prospect. But for £80m he'd need to be one of the best prospects in the world, and he seems a long way off the Ekitike/Sesko tier. His touch is still a bit iffy for a start.

We aren't getting another midfielder like no matter how much we would like to. It will stretch the remaining budget just to bring in another striker I reckon, unless we sell Isak...and the way Liverpool have moved so far, just don't see how it can happen.

Yep. The fans who think there's no way back, you can understand it, they are fans. As a club with a valuable asset which is very hard to replace, you need to see the bigger picture, and Howe is a step above your usual brain fart manager like Steve Bruce. He is well aware of everything and the impact of what he says.

I think the price is so high because they feel he has a very high ceiling. Not the finished article yet, but could turn into the next Drogba if he develops. But why anyone would pay top whack for him now, I'm not sure. I mean he could just as easily not turn into Drogba and just be a powerful striker who is a bit hit and miss.