TRon

I've watched just about all of them, I missed the Brighton game because I was at a wedding, and the first half of the West Ham game because I was travelling. You might not think there has been holes left by the midfield, but it's been commented on quite a lot by others in the media. Quite a few of our goals conceded this season have been when we've been caught in possession then hit on the counter.

It has been yes, not talking about one or two individual games but over the course of the season. I presume that's why Tonali was moved into that space to plug the gaps as he has good recovery pace.

I think Liverpool fans must dread seeing him in the line up, seems to score against them every time. He's made VVD his bitch you could say.

I don't know if we have the players to break down stubborn defences, but I think we need to make sure in these games we don't go behind through leaving gaping holes in the midfield. Hopefully moving Tonali into the 6 position will help with that in future games. It might not be as sexy as going at teams all guns blazing, but if we can keep it level for an hour, then take the chance when it comes, it's one way of coming away with points against teams with the low block. Just be a bit more patient with the passing and draw them out rather than let them sit back and close all the spaces off.

As long as we get top 4-6 it won't be an issue. It's when we don't qualify for Europe that players heads start to turn. My gut feeling is that the likes of Isak will want CL football, Bruno would probably be ok with Europa or Conference league qualification. It's a big ask considering we can't spend as much as 6 other clubs and year on year the system is rigged so they can pull further ahead.

It's not what we want to read, but it is the bitter reality.

We could do all of that if we were actually allowed to spend our money. If we aren't and are consistently spending less than the cartel clubs then eventually the best players will leave. We have to find some way of increasing our revenues sooner rather than later.

I read it this morning, just confirms our players are far better geared to playing on the counter where they have open space to run into rather than having to actually break defences down. Pressing high without goals to show for it is a dangerous approach.

It's weird because Shay Given mentioned the crowd noise being a big reason for us giving them a hard time, and Slot also mentioned the noisy home crowd. Hard to tell if you are watching on Amazon because it seemed pretty muted on there.

I think Isak does already do the drop deep or move wide stuff though, just he doesn't get the ball as often in some games because our build up is poor around him. I thought Tonali made a massive difference when he was snapping at their players and along with Bruno and Joelinton, we weren't just winning the ball, we were providing early delivery to Isak, be that in advanced positions or deeper.

I think some teams are easier for our style of play as well though. Liverpool come at you so there is more space for our attacking players. Will we be as effective with teams who come and sit back? This is where I would like to see a bit more flexibility in our game plan, maybe don't push forward quite so aggressively when players are just running into a wall of players and losing the ball too easily.

Agree. That's why it's better to look at recurring patterns over a period of games to get an idea if there's an issue. The table tends to tell the real story whatever the ifs and buts over 90 mins.

Bent as fuck. You can't help wondering if PL refs are on a cartel bonus payment plan to give them the game altering decisions. Liverpool get up to 10mins extra if they need a goal, we didn't even get 60 seconds.

Yeah this is why I am still on board hoping he'll finish the season strong. It's like Keegan. You can see the shortcomings in some games, but you fear for what will come after if he's gone. That's why Howe has such a loyal backing, most fans are still enjoying the ride and tbf, that's not often the case as a Newcastle fan.

He's a striker primarily, I do think the onus should be on other players to get the ball in zones where he can be most dangerous. Just because he can do brilliant stuff dropping deeper, doesn't mean that he should be expected to every game. There'll be games where for whatever reason he doesn't see much of the ball, that's when you need the midfielders and wide forwards to get the supply in.

Hopefully if he's pushed further forward he'll be able to make more runs into the box instead of striking them from distance. In his first season he did score a few from inside the box and that's what we need more of.

This is where we claw back those 3 points dropped at home to West Ham. Eddie has to demand no less from his players.

Staveley basically took her instructions from Eddie, at least that's how it seems. That worked well for us early on tbf, but it put us in a load of bother when PSR caught up with us.

Howe has a lot of qualities, he feels like he belongs here, the fans generally love him, and when we get it right, the football is great to watch. But he still looks like a one track manager, we play this way or bust. His formations stay mostly the same, his in game management is often missing, and the set pieces are really poor. At the moment we don't look like a brilliantly managed team, we look more like an inspirational one.

Many of us pointed out in January that he was going to be 34 this summer. We had a decent bid from Bayern and we didn't take it. I was really surprised that we didn't do that deal, even some of the Bayern commentators thought they were crazy trying to sign him. It might have been part of the reason why Staveley and her hubby were moved on, they were not ruthless enough when it came to deals of this sort.

He's a PL footballer who doesn't seem to be wanted by many PL clubs. He's had a few good moments for us, but when he gets played regularly his lack of genuine top class output brings us down. That said, if it wasn't for all this PSR bullshit, he would be a useful squad player. It's a shame that players like this are almost being forced out of their clubs when there is no need from a financial perspective.

Gravenberch was one of those players who I was disappointed we couldn't get, his fee was low and would have been in our price range if Liverpool weren't in there already. Made my night to see Tonali boss him for most of the game.

It's his salary that would be the biggest problem. I think there might well be mid/lower table clubs who would pay the fee, but depends on what we are paying him. Our wage structure is generally higher than most in the lower tier.

Yeah I'm a fan of Willock generally, but we are getting to the stage where every player has to be great in possession, and Willock for all his pace and trickery can be loose with the ball retention.

A huge new stadium would hopefully allow a new younger generation to get into the ground. That's the demographic which made St James a bear pit in the past.