TRon

The real test will be if forwards bounce off him like ping pong balls.

Put me in the crabs in the barrel bracket. If it's not going to be us, then F them all.

This is the great thing about having a genuine football coach as manager. Yes it's only pre-season, and Miggy might well crawl back into his shell once the season gets underway, BUT he does have all the ingredients to be a very good player, and you have to think if anyone can get him operating at full capacity, it's going to be Howe. There's really no reason why he shouldn't be scoring 7-10 goals a season if he's doing the right things.

This thread is starting to pong a bit. All the rumours are being rehashed, even the ones from Dec 21. Someone break out the Shake n Vac.

Well if they chose the more apt nickname of Sad Bastards, might not have went down so well with the fans.

Is there any reason you are posting articles from last year?

You can't get them all right. This one has to go down as an absolute minger of a deal, but I guess it was desperation time, and the mitigating circumstances were we had no DOF.

Sounds like a leak from Lyon tbh, maybe trying to push the price up.

But like I said, two years. There's a decent player in there somewhere, but he really needs to prove he can stay fit before anything else. Personally I wouldn't want to be relying on it. Get a RW in. Now.

Yeah I think it's a bit difficult to judge a player who is trying to bounce plays off ASM.

I thought him and Bruno were pretty clumsy last night. Hopefully it was just an off day, really no excuse for that sort of recklessness in a friendly.

Ha ha. Ho ho.

Agree with this. He's been at Newcastle for two years now, and even if you discount the long periods out with injuries, he just doesn't look like a serious footballer these days. Even when he's playing he looks like he's just come back from his summer holidays.

A lot of his fans have argued he's being played out of position, and his natural role is as a number 10. It might even be as simple as he's getting to understand how we play now and is growing into being a right sided forward in the way that Howe wants him to play it.

It's weird how he barely figured under Howe last season, and we are talking half a season. Yet this pre-season he has looked head and shoulders our best forward by a mile. He has to start against Forest unless we are making some significant signings in the next few weeks.

Fair play, so was Krafth. Sometimes it's not about the talent, it's about what you are trying to achieve.

Not really understanding the criticism of the ref tbh. Bruno could have been sent off in the first half, and Joelinton's clumsy lunge was absolutely dangerous. Commitment is fine, but this was a friendly, if your studs come into play, your timing has to be 100% accurate.

Couldn't have said it better mate. Looks like he's playing on a hangover every time.

Is this one of those wonderkids we have been quietly signing through Dan Ashworth? He looked fucking amazing.

He was doing well in some phases of the game, but those challenges were diabolical. His mate Bruno wasn't much better in the first half mind.

I feel like we threatened to be, but then didn't follow through.

Our two Brazilians haven't coped well with this game mind. Some absolute shite challenges from Bruno in the first half, then Joelinton in the second.

I'm loving it. That the Benfica crowd have turned up in big numbers is certainly a factor, feels more like a UEFA cup match.

The most annoying thing about that is I wanted to see him take a penalty.

Can't really argue with that, it's an awful challenge.