Shak

I think a moody Isak for a season and then selling him when we have a new SD and a new list of targets might be the way to go. I think if we’d landed Sesko, Isak would have been shipped out by now. But with Pedro, Ekitike and Sesko all gone elsewhere maybe we don’t just settle for someone who was way down our list.

On the face of it, reducing the number of teams in the league and having fewer fixtures is something I would be OK with. You just know though that it would come alongside some other bullshit that would mean there wouldn't actually be fewer games, we’d have a few rounds of games at neutral venues overseas and the European competitions would be expanded to have more games.

Bury him, Kanj.

Aye he wouldn't play Saturday presumably but I also wonder if Villa maybe don’t want a player who has been part of their preparations all week to go to the club that Villa have been preparing to play. I doubt he’d be able to tell Eddie anything massively consequential but I’m sure they have the odd little plan here and there that they wouldn’t want us to know.

Didn’t Liverpool want Gordon last summer after we actively explored selling him to them? Seems it upset him a bit but there was nothing even approaching the sort of carry on we’ve seen from Isak from Gordon last year, when he probably had far more cause to be upset.

I suspect we won’t get him in time for the game this weekend but if we sign him by this time next week I’d expect he’ll start against Liverpool. Eddie tends to bed players in slowly but that’s because there are usually established starters in the position and the new guy has to earn it. We currently look set to start Gordon CF, we will want him back out wide as soon as possible.

The absolute best thing for his development would be him going on a season long loan where he’d start every game. We sign an inexpensive, experienced solid CM to be backup to Tonali and Bruno. Miley having a full season of starting every week allows him to develop into a much better player and extremely valuable asset for us. Of course, this would put NUFC’s very existence at risk so I’m glad that PSR makes it incredibly impractical to do all of that and protects us as a club.

It will be interesting to see what type of midfielder they bring in if there is another one. Between Joelinton and Ramsey you’d think that’s the LCM role kind of covered. So that leaves us with Bruno, Tonali and Miley for the other two spots. I still don’t know where they see Miley’s best spot long term, I personally feel he could be an excellent Tonali understudy as the base of a midfield but I can see the argument for him playing further up too. The other midfielder being a more advanced creative type might point to Miley being seen as the Sandro backup.

Aye he’s always shite when he plays up front is the issue though.

I wonder if Andy Howe maybe was trying too hard to seem tough in negotiations as he was afraid of being taken advantage of and just massively overdid it

I’m gonna do the guillotine too tbf.

I don’t necessarily disagree really, obviously he is on borrowed time here and I do think there’s a lot to be said for just getting rid and moving on. That said, there are some arguments for digging our heels in and keeping him another year IMO. First off, we have clearly missed out on the strikers at the top of our list this summer. We will probably get Wissa or someone of that level, a solid PL player who will do a good job this year when called upon. However, we will want to use a large chunk of the Isak money on a player we think can get to a similar level to him. Missing out on Pedro, Ekitike and Sesko means we’re left with the next tier of options, players like Jackson who come with some real concerns or players like Aghehowa who might be a bit too raw to feel good about spending that much money on. There’s plenty to be said for waiting a year when we will have had our new SD in place for a season to identify the right targets and make the deal happen. It also sends a pretty clear message to the likes of Tonali, Livramento and Hall, players who may end up in a similar situation in a couple of years with the truly elite clubs coming for them. Letting Isak go after the way he has carried on tells them if they really want a move, they should do the same thing. We’ve seen how this has derailed our season preparation, we don’t want to go through this again. Send a clear message that if you want to leave, this is not the way to go about it. There’s also PSR to think about. We still have our healthy 23/24 figure that will factor into next summer’s calculations. We likely aren’t in the worst spot in terms of PSR, even with some hefty spending this summer. However, if we push the Isak sale until after the end of June next year, it will be part of the calculation all the way up until summer 2029, which will allow us to have breathing room for an extra year compared to if we sell this summer. It probably won’t be harmonious, but if he’s still here come September 2nd he will eventually be back in the fold and will be a really useful player for us in a season where we are in the CL and want to solidify ourselves as a regular force in Europe. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a horrible cunt for how he has gone on. However, I do think there’s a lot to be said for playing hardball here.

Isn’t the point to give himself a way back in if he doesn’t get his move? Much harder to walk back quotes that he has made directly than to come out and say “a lot of things that have been said in the media aren’t true and that after reflection I’m looking forward to another great season with Newcastle…” blah blah blah. Fairly sure his agent has told him to keep his head down, say nothing and he’ll get him the move. Where it will get interesting for Isak is if he fails to deliver on that promise. I do suspect Isak’s arse will be getting twitchy. Public opinion does seem to be turning against him, his current teammates all seem to hate him now and his club is doing a pretty convincing stare down and may end up keeping him. I hope he’s deeply unhappy and lonely.

I just flat out don't believe the story that he said he wanted out two weeks before the end of the season. It seems to have magically appeared now right as things are starting to look bad for him, seems a very desperate attempt to justify acting like a complete cunt.

I think as much as anything we need to hold firm here to make sure other players don’t go about trying to force a move in the same way. The likes of Tino and Tonali we might see the absolute top clubs come prowling for in the coming years. We need to make it very clear that going down a path like the one Isak is choosing is not smart.

The absolute head on him

A certified ballbag.

We’re wasting their time? Didn’t they tap up our player and send us a lowball offer?

Alan Pardew laying into Alexander Isak and me nodding along and thinking he’s spot on. March Shak didn't see this one coming.

It’s surely one or the other? Having two strikers that will both be gone for the AFCON would be really stupid.

I’d prefer Jackson to Wissa. Obviously much would depend on the price tag but in a vacuum the younger player is preferable. At this point it’s unlikely either is going to feature much against Villa so Jackson being suspended doesn’t really matter too much. Jackson would totally elbow someone in that Liverpool game though

It’s infuriating to me that we haven’t even been sniffing, seemingly

Still think there’s a decent chance he plays for us this season and I don’t want to be a meme Cant see myself ever wearing it again mind you.

My Turkish friend who has started supporting us since we became friends is insisting that I burn my Isak shirt