TRon

Not being a thick cunt or a bell end certainly helps.

Yes he's economical on the ball, I will happily concede that, but he's never going to do the type of pressing off the ball that Willock did which led to the 3rd goal. I guess there is an argument to leave in in his relatively low horsepower role in front of the defence and move Bruno up to do the pressing, but still seems like we are losing some bite in the midfield as a result.

There's no way he'll be starting next season. He was an emergency signing, and in no way will he be good enough beyond the next few months. But if we stay up at least it can be said it was a price worth paying. I'm inclined to agree we could have bought better though. He's struggling to control the ball at present, but tbh he had a decent goal return before this season.

Because he's slow to cover ground. You can see it coming a mile off when he goes thundering in for those diving tackles from yards away. Shelvey's got a lot of quality on the ball, but he's best just screening players when he's defending, he just ends up taking their legs.

Think we'll get at least a point. I like Howe's comment that we would be approaching this game sensibly and with patience, because I think Villa are dangerous opponents, and would love to hit us on the counter. Might be more of a chess match than the game last night, so we need to keep our heads and hopefully take our chances when they come.

Agree, plus he moves the ball really quickly as well. Nothing flash, but just quick one touch passes forward which get the ball up the pitch effectively. He's not going to be overlapping like Trippier does, but that doesn't mean he can't contribute to attacking moves. He was one of the best players on the pitch last night, and not all of that was about defending.

^ That's the match report from the Times in case anyone wants to read it. I love me a Henry Winter write up of a memorable Newcastle match.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kieran-trippier-scores-majestic-free-kick-to-bring-new-hope-for-newcastle-ztrv5b7vc

Think he lacks a bit of pace these days, not sure if he ever had much, and obviously his passing is very basic, but he is a solid enough defender. He's the one you would have seen being replaced long term by Carlos.

Said it on here before, but the one thing I really loved about Ben Arfa was how strong he was on the ball for such a slight fellow. I see a bit of that in Bruno, how he just keeps players off the ball using bodyweight and leverage. Just massively underappreciated due to PFM culture around the club at the time.

Love the fact that he explains so carefully that he's not trying to have a dig at the previous regime but ends up doing it anyway.

Robert's end product was insane from what I can recall. He didn't dribble as much, was a bit more direct, but his left foot was a wand, could cross the ball with real whip, and had a rocket left foot on the shot.

Easy to forget just how productive HBA was at his best, that too in a Pardew side.

It's not. Some people are getting annoyed that he's attracting criticism, but in the end as long as we stay in the Premier, no one will be too bothered. That doesn't mean we can't say there were better options. I can understand why we bought him btw, I thought it was a shrewd signing at the time, Premier experience and a reasonable goals record. I just didn't realise how bad the rest of his game is. I'm still hopeful he'll bag a few goals before the end of the season anyway, but would rather we bought someone who's hold up play was a lot better.

I can understand the thought process, but really think all our midfielders are capable of working box to box bar Shelvey. He was great yesterday for the first 20 mins then he flagged visibly. But will be interesting to watch how the team develops over the next few weeks. The good thing about both Bruno and Joelinton, is their mobility sort of covers for Shelvey's lack of it, so his weakness is not so apparent.

Would agree, as Joelinton also covers back pretty well, but I am happy enough for Shelvey to start instead of Willock for now, but as the season goes on I would expect Willock to take over. You just can't ignore the extra running power and goal threat Willock brings to the table.

While I agree Willock is a great option off the bench, I think it's easy to underestimate the work he does in pressing the opposition even in the first 45 mins when he's not looking so great on the ball. He's not the liability people think he is, and he stretches the opposition with his runs when we have the ball as well.

The talent is undeniable, the guy is a matchwinner, no question about it. But if he can iron out some of those bad plays, what a player he could be. He's still only 24, the guy could be unstoppable if he takes on board some of what the coaches will be telling him.

Loved that interview. The comment about Howe telling him not to worry about the goals, just keep getting in the right places and the goals would come, reminds me a lot of Keegan when he came in after Allardyce was sacked. We were really struggling in the transition and at one point looked in danger, but Keegan said keep passing and don't worry about results, he as manager would take full responsibility for them.

I remember a couple of months ago being really worried we'd be 8-9 points adrift by the time we got to the transfer window, yet after only one match post the window closing we are out of the bottom three. Obviously a long way to go, and we still look a bit light up front, but got to be happy with the direction we are heading. I bet we are odds against going down with the bookies now.

Think that winner's attitude really rubbed off on the rest of the team too, in the end we just wanted it more than Everton. A lot more.

One of those flags with Monty Magpie on it looked like it was covering the whole stand. It was like everyone in that part of the ground was holding it up. Had the hairs standing up on the back of my neck.

He did. And he has a decent international record as well. Agree with what one of the posters said earlier, we'll be looking for better in the summer, we've outgrown him now, but he was a bit unlucky here, could easily have gone on to have a decent NUFC career.

I know it's a bit daft to say it after 5 mins of football, but does anyone else think he's already probably worth twice what we paid for him?