lovejoy

What's he said? He thinks we'll still be in the PL next year. Personally I think he's on crack as we quite clearly won't be. he also said he wants to be here next year and 'for a few years' to be fair.

fairly positive noises from him today about staying on imo.

I'm currently there, last day thank god, and what a horrid place. Pining for Bamburgh, Steel Rigg and Brough law. I love the place. Going back again in October for the 13th time. same, can't get enough of it.

That wasn't due to happen until the end of the season. I realise it isn't a big task (admin wise, to get it done), but it says a lot imo. It says we have a clause that either side can activate. maybe i'm being overly negative.

I agree with this. I think Rafa would fancy it.

That wasn't due to happen until the end of the season. I realise it isn't a big task (admin wise, to get it done), but it says a lot imo.

Has he actually been appointed a director at companies house etc?

let's hope we're all as wrong about him staying as we were about him coming in the first place!

still think the likes of townsend, mitrovic etc will p*ss it down there I'm not sure Townsend will stay tbh. think Townsend is one of the ones who most certainly will tbh, but I guess we'll soon see.

still think the likes of townsend, mitrovic etc will piss it down there

Yep. If we keep a decent core, we'll be straight back up imo.

You would think so but they haven't been down there for a decade, we were there more recently than them! Agree they're better equipped to cope though, at least they have some players with a bit of fight in them. Not sure about Villa, a lot depends on whether their owner is arsed about trying to get back up or just continues to leave them to rot. Honestly think we'll struggle, there won't be any money for new signings so we'll be left to manage with whatever set of misfits and bottlers we have left once those who can get a move have shipped out - we just don't have the character in the squad we had last time. we said when we were going down last time we had no charcters tbh.

Agreed.

I've done it a few times, I have us going down but have Swansea very close to us. They're about 12 points clear of us now, so shows how much I know.

Which one is Wullie? My money is on ryder.

doesn't really say 'the older the better' does it? I read he's going for experience over kids like aarons.

yeah, mbemba won't be here imo.

dear me.

Nope. After 31 games, Leicester were 3 points behind Hull with a game in hand. yeah. this view is often skewed by the dates. After 31 games Leicester had started their revival. If we get out of it, it'll be a monumental escape, bigger than last years. We won't, obviously.

Lovenkrands' and Mitrovic's goal rates are pretty comparable in the Premier League. The former also had a turn of pace and was a neat finisher. Shola would be a better comparison but again, he was a much more accomplished finisher than Mitrovic. He'd score some goals, for sure, but I doubt he'd destroy/blitz it. We're not gonna airkick our way to promotion. Shola's best ever season in the top flight was 9 in 30 and that was at his peak in the mid 2000s. Mitrovic is probably going to beat that in one of the worst seasons we've had in the last 30 years as an under 21 striker. Shola is a woeful comparison surely? agreed, mitro will probably hit double figures this season, in his first season in the league, in a god awful team. the original comment is very harsh/negative, but the lovenkrads/shola comparisons are worse. (Pretty sure shola averaged better than 1 in 2 in the championship as well!)

Doubt it. He hasn't got a clue how to use his strength and has virtually no goalscoring instinct.

think they will if we are in this league, no doubt. he'll have better offers otherwise imo.

That list is wrong. Not all those players are out of contract in the Summer. Use the one on Nufc.com for player contracts. It's not wrong, the nufc.com has question marks as they are not sure. most of that is accurate. Point out who's wrong and I'll find out if I can. didn't sammy sign a 2 year extension? I may be wrong there mind.

does anyone know the headline figures? such as what we get if we go down,cost to run the club, championship income etc? you'd get a far better idea of whether we'll keep rafa (i know, i know) or who we'll replace him with once this is known, because the whole thing will be a cost exercise.

None of those clubs had the same amount of mercenaries as us though. We've been sold to all of them as a stepping stone. Even QPR had the old 'London Airports' excuse. I agree mind, I think we'll see a massive player turnover. Make a list and make the criteria 'out of contract and/or dont give a fuck', you'll be surprised how many there is.