TRon

We could rest a good few players and still win out there tbh.

It might just be that he has really enjoyed playing for Newcastle but wouldn't mind doubling his wages at one of the cartel clubs. Probably the case for all our best players tbh.

Maybe. I think the club was in a growth phase regardless of his involvement tbh, but he probably did a lot of unseen work so there is that.

Still not sure where to play him tbh. He's got great feet but not convinced he's a midfielder, so he has to work on his game as a striker for me. I think he can still become a very good striker, but don't see how he will ever fit the way we play unless we switch from a high pressing game to a more measured possession game.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it yet, but Digne was still stood in the penalty area even after the ref blew his whistle for a free kick.

Eales himself seems to have been a poor appointment, and I say that with full admiration for his willingness to work through a terrible illness. Which was daft in itself.

Felt sorry for him yesterday, we weren't getting the ball to him at all in the first half, he was in the box looking for supply but the crosses were poor and he was barely getting a touch. Then he was taken off when they went down to 10 men when you would have expected him to make hay. I'm not saying he's a good player,but we've played shite in general when he's started and I'm not sure it's on him.

I still haven't seen an angle which has convinced me the Willock decision was correct tbh. It looks like the no 37 shirt player's foot is playing him onside.

He's such a good footballer going forward, even for the daft things like picking the ball up and taking throw ins quickly before the opposition has time to regroup. He's going to get done for pace now and then, but he still brings a lot going the other way.

Listened to that podcast Henry Winter did with Christian Purslow who is a former CEO of a few clubs, and who rated Mitchell highly as a DOF. I think he was just the wrong hire for a club our size. His remit was to keep within budget following the close call with PSR which led to Staveley leaving, but he failed to realise we are a big club with big players with big demands. We aren't Brighton. We need a DOF who has the vision of being the best and treats our staff with the respect their position deserves. I include Isak in that, not just the manager.

That was infuriating, but what augurs well for the future was that he dusted himself down, got up and got on with it. He didn't let his head go down like in previous games and he was playing with a smile on his face.

I must admit I've changed my mind on him a couple of times this season. Initially I thought he was fine as a back up, but recently he's been exposed for pace and I thought he was done. But the last couple of games he's used his positioning to negate any physical deficiencies, and his football and leadership have been outstanding. Howe proven right again.

It's arguable that if the law was different then the Newcastle defenders would probably not have pushed out that far. I still think that Arsene Wenger's proposed rule change made the best sense. You'd still get pundits waffling about poor decisions but at least perfectly good goals like Willock's last week wouldn't get ruled out.

Even that was a terrible first touch, he hit it about 20 yards in front of himself, the ball would have got cut off by a Villa player if the keeper hadn't brought him down.

Still find it hard to get over Jamie Reuben travelling cap in hand to Isak's house to try to persuade him to stay. I don't know who makes these decisions in the boardroom but I hope for God's sake it's someone else now.

It might make all the difference to our season tbh. With Bruno and Joelinton missing, between him, Ramsey and Miley, we need these guys to carry the flag for the second half of the season.

Not in this case, it was a British company with a British lass on the phone. It does sound a bit less professional when you can hear the kids in the background. But there are plenty of jobs these days where it is makes no difference if you are at home. I have family who work just about exclusively from home, even when they go into the office they reckon they end up getting less work done because of commute time and interruptions.

Yep that one.

I was pretty angry when Murphy accepted that penalty with no argument recently, and I get the feeling Howe was too. There was definitely a change in attitude with us fighting our corner on those disgraceful decisions instead of putting our heads down and accepting them quietly. My bet is that Howe has made this clear to his players that he won't accept a loser mentality. I don't mind us losing if we go down fighting. This was more like it.

Love that. We need more players with that desire and refusal to accept bullshit.

FUCK ME!!! What a goall!!!!

Elanga ffs.

Devastation for the Nonce Initiative. We scored despite your best efforts.

Fuck yous and up your arses.

With judgment like that I'd be concerned the linesman is a Coote type nonce.