TRon

But all their local support has probably thrown their lot in with Liverpool now apart from the diehards. 40 years of domination by one club will do that to a fanbase. That's why they've gone with a smaller stadium, they know it as well.

I think we've lost 3 out of our last 4 in the league so it's not that dramatic. Agree that Forest is a good game to get us back on track though.

I don't think it's a motivation issue, I just think some teams we come up against have the style and a manager clever enough to hurt us if we don't get it right. Playing the high press leaves less margin for error, we just have to make sure we don't take our eye off the ball on Sunday, and we should be ok. You could say we should never take our eye off the ball, but when you are playing the same players week in week out, there is always more chance some of them will go off the boil.

Let's be honest, we all loved reading that Newcastle would be a good option for Mbuemo because we don't have a superstar RW option.

You forgot Ruddy.

Pope is a decent keeper like, might not be elite level, but most Premier clubs would be glad to have him. While I'm sure we'd like a top class keeper who can play the ball out better, I just don't think we'll spend the money it will take. We'll be prioritising other positions. Maybe if we can't land the RW or CB we might use it to buy a keeper instead.

He was the one pushing to go there from the reports a month ago.

I don't think he should be. I reckon we'll only keep them both if we are delaying signing a younger keeper and putting our transfer spend in other areas of the pitch.

It's positive spin bollocks.

The only way to compete on a level playing field with longstanding CL contenders is through owner funding as happened with Chelsea and Man City. We need an injection of cash into the squad for the next few years so that we are qualifying every year, and winning trophies. That will bring the worldwide fan base, and big hitting sponsorships and allow us to keep our best players while replacing those who age out. After that, a new stadium with all the added income that brings will put us into the same earnings category as the big boys. From that point all the FFP/PSR crap won't matter. We'll be in the same boat as the CL clubs.

The cartel clubs understand this very well. That is why the rules have been drawn up in such a way that it's fine for an owner to spend untold billions on new training grounds, stadiums or Mrs Maisy's house down the road which needs new double glazing. But try spending some money on making a title winning squad and the hammer is coming down. The Premier league authorities by their nature have to look after the interests of their biggest paymasters, and that would be the clubs who are already at the top and don't want competitors.

I don't doubt the owner's ambition, I just think the rules they have signed up for are designed to stop them realising them at Newcastle. To become No 1 club in the world, the PL is leaving no avenue except to sell up and buy one of the cartel clubs. So in that respect, more ambition might be a bad thing.

Good to see PSR is working as intended.

I'm sure she did tbh. Newcastle was a very big club being run on a shoestring to give Mike Ashley free brand awareness for SD and profits on top as a bonus. There was always potential to maximise it as an investment, and PIF have realised that in a very short space of time. The question now is how much money they will continue to pump in, and whether that will be considered worthwhile from a ROI perspective. If we can ignore the illegal APT rules for example, we could quickly set up sponsorships to buy 2-3 top class players and a new contract for Isak in the summer. The alternative which we are being nudged towards would be to sell Isak and try and buy a replacement with the proceeds.

He scored two great finishes against us last season, so I don't really buy this he can't finish angle. I think he'll come good, and I agree, a run of games will help.

The Saudis don't strike me as being the type to bother much with due diligence, they probably wanted a club and left it up to Staveley to deliver. But if there really is no way to close the gap using your wealth as an advantage, I can only assume that they will run the club as an investment only, and tbh they can use the PSR/FFP stuff to do that without risking any of their own money. A sort of souped up Mike Ashley plan. If they really want a top club, then they might consider selling us and buying one of the cartel clubs at some point. I don't think this will happen fWIW, but I wouldn't rule it out either. They can probably afford it more readily than anyone else.

Why did the PL rush through amendments to their rules then?

Still think Forest will drop down the table when the pressure mounts, I would hope we can overhaul them. Bournemouth probably not.

I doubt it, even if that's what's happened due to PSR shackles.

That makes perfect sense. Just look at how excited we were during the takeover before the cartel and PL lawyers swung into action. Roadblock after roadblock has brought the PIF juggernaut to a juddering halt and the only chink of light has been awful Man City taking the PL to the courts.

They'll want to win it, they won't be any more desperate than any other player at Newcastle. I think we need to put this idea that they are protecting themselves for a cup final to one side. It's still a month away, no one will even be thinking about that yet.

Man City's victory in the APT case has opened up a chink in the PL's roadblock to stopping us from competing. Before this we actually were prevented by PSR from investing in our squad, but this opens up a very realistic avenue to sink some money into securing our current superstars at least. Those who were insisting we shouldn't support Man City's fight against the cartel were wrong. This is our fight as well.

They are all on long contracts, the ball is in our favour anyway. But nothing has changed, we need to be CL regulars and paying top wages to keep the really top players beyond the next year or two. Might be the rules easing on APT sponsorship will help there.

Agree, we've seen ourselves the issues we have on expanding St James just what a quagmire of legal issues it raises. On the shite location in the middle of nowhere argument, I get that but it could be mitigated somwhat by building a stadium which is a destination in itself, with cafes, shops etc. I remember John Hall first mooted that idea when he was advocating building a complex on the town moor.

That's when you have to learn to win ugly. There's no easy answer, I understand Howe wants to drill a certain way of playing, and I'm on board. But the amount of times it's failed and we've ended up getting well beat is a concern. The proof's in the pudding though, so I guess we'll see how it all shakes out at the end of the season.