TRon

Well that's the point, everybody looked bad against Brighton, and Man City before that because they just passed around our press. I'm sure all our midfielders will look a lot better against Brentford, including Longstaff if he plays.

I don't think it's that, people maybe overrate him for the same reason. He definitely gives us more running, but he's also a bit clumsier under pressure, so you gain some and lose some. Anyway the two games where we've struggled for control are out of the way now, so everyone will probably look better against Brentford.

That's pretty much my take on it as well. If you are a Newcastle fan then it's obviously worth a watch, but then I quite like Staveley, Mehrdad and Yasir. If you don't then I don't think you would enjoy it. Agree with the view it wouldn't be that interesting to other fans, it's not like the Spurs one with Mourinho which would probably be more appealing to the neutral. Also I think there was a great story for Newcastle last season, but they could have done a better job of showing that.

Joelinton plays left side, not sure how he would rotate with him in the current formation.

I wouldn't bother watching the rest mate, it's probably not for you.

I get what he's saying though, they are strengthening our rivals by buying all their 30+ year olds for daft fees they'd never get from normal leagues. But obviously they are going to prioritise themselves, we'd do the same.

We thought that about ASM but it didn't quite work out like that. Seems like the scrutiny of daft fees only kicks in when it's Newcastle involved.

He didn't have a horrendous injury record then, would probably have seen more London clubs pitching in for his signature back then. I suppose if he really wanted to be closer to London he could just retire.

Chances will come and go, I agree that it can make a difference if they are taken, but I am looking at the overall pattern of the game. Those chances came in the first 5 minutes, after that we were never at the races. They were far superior in just about every area of the pitch. They pressed better, they passed better and they finished better. If we could have competed in a more even manner I would have said fair enough, you win some you lose some.

Ok let's ignore the goal, fair enough the Brighton coach wasn't arsed at that point. When Brighton had their five best players on the pitch we couldn't get near them, and their aggressive press would still have left room in behind for the counter. Given they passed us off the park over 90 mins I think sitting deeper and hitting on the break would have been a better option.

Might make sense to start Barnes with him. Wilson makes great runs when he sees Barnes flying down the wing, we saw it in the goal vs Villa, and the missed opportunity against Liverpool where Barnes hesitated on crossing.

They'd need to have absolute trust that Murphy could step up and do the job at a moment's notice, because none of those others would be up to it. Unless we are just writing off the games against strikers with pace.

Our goal also came from a long ball which released Wilson early for the counter. I know it's not the way we want to set up, but if we aren't good enough to match Brighton pass for pass, then sometimes you have to look at how to attack other teams's weak areas. If they are pressing aggressively that means there will be space behind.

"Theatre of Dreams". Must be the sex pest version.

I guess I'm having a hard time accepting that we could look so inferior after two years of Howe, whereas they've changed their manager and sold off players, yet still seem to be purring like a Rolls Royce. I will be interested to watch their future results to see if they do that to other teams, but I think they caught us on a bad day which made us less well equipped to deal with them. Joelinton not being fully fit, and Burn deputising for Botman.

My view is that Howe publicly liked Max, but if he really rated him as fit for his system he'd have never let him leave.

It's a bit early to be writing them off don't you think? Barnes has only been used from the bench, and he's scored one already, and the other two could be fantastic for all we know. Howe's a bit cautious with younger players, but I like what I've seen of both Livramento and Hall at their former clubs. I doubt anyone's going to be disappointed when they finally get unleashed.

Seems mad yet someone's actually suggesting we do that here.

Been thinking about watching it back myself tbh, just to pinpoint why our press was so ineffective and also why we kept blundering straight into theirs.

I'd play Wilson purely on the basis he finished well on Saturday and Isak didn't. From what I remember Isak did a number on Brentford coming of the bench last season which had their manager making that weird comment about us bringing on a £63m striker like it was against the law or something.

Pretty sure we signed him because Eddie Howe was really keen on him. We could have bought someone for a different position if we wanted to buy someone as a FFP hack.

Can't say I remember Longstaff playing that role very often, he normally plays the number 8 position where Tonali is currently positioned. Longstaff's got the phsyical attributes required for a number 6, but not sure his distribution would hold up under pressure.

Agonisingly cringe stuff. Can only conclude Dury is a massive cunt.