STM

I'll be honest, I feel like the word "utilised" is doing alot of heavy lifting. I don't think Longstaff can be utilised for anything anymore. His head has completely checked out. He feels under appreciated and its time he moved on. We could be playing a league 2 side and I wouldn't have any confidence in Longstaff. I just can't face another year of: Longstaff gets caught in possession/gives the ball away, the crowd groans, then Longstaff gives it that lost puppy dog look. I like the lad, I love that he's from Newcastle but for the love of God let him go.

Yep. They speculate like everyone else. Unless they say something non-vague like "Newcastle have bid for/spoken to", it's all just guesswork.

Feels strange that any journalist would speculate as to how much we will spend when the club can't possibly know which targets they are going to sign or how much they will cost. For example signing Mbuemo for 65m would limit us slightly more, on the next signing, than spending 50m on Dibling would. I'd like to think we have enough to go and sign two quality players without having to start counting the pennies and beyond that we can start getting creative with player sales or even finding potential loan deals like we did with Hall.

Shay is Ornstein level as far as I'm concerned.

Putting my captain positive head on.... perhaps this is one of Eddie's targets after all. Has anyone local mentioned this guy because by now they would have been calls in to find out what's going on?

As soon as "house hunting" is mentioned, I call bullshit. A modern footballer isn't looking for houses prior to signing, not like back in the day. You sign for a club and someone else does all that stuff for the player afterwards. Alot of players stay in a hotel for the first few weeks regardless. Besides which, he can look for houses all he wants, with the solicitors in this country he'd be lucky to get the keys before the end of his six year deal.

Do i keep doing it? I know its not spelled like that too.

Id be happy with either. Mbuemo would be more exciting for the here and now.

There's no way Mbuemo is going for 60m, 70 will be closer. Also I think Southampton could be knocked down on 55. For such a young kid you'd make it heavily incentivised with add ons... appearances, goals, cup wins, CL qualifications etc. Remember when we paid 45 for Gordon we thought we'd be absolutely done on price, Dibling has a much higher ceiling because of his technical abilities.

It's got us written all over it. Newcastle have been looking at him for years and if that's Nicksons doing, there's a fair chance we will be after him. If I'm honest, he's not the finished product I'd like for that position but his potential is massive.

Peak age? We've got 2 CBs who have just been in their prime at the 33 year old mark, we've got Trippier who's what? 34? Jacob Murphy has just put in the best season of his career... he's 30 year old. Sorry to be bold, but it's utter rubbish. Both Mbeumo and Guehi could play for this club for 10 years... bollocks to sell on value. They'd take us to a new level where we'd not just be fighting for CL spots but would be a mainstay in that competition. Let's earn our revenue from success on the pitch, rather than signing players we intend on selling in a couple of years time. I don't want potential quality from abroad for 20m to be our standard signing , I want ACTUAL quality from wherever it may come from, be it abroad or domestic. No transfer can ever be a guarantee but I want as sure a thing as possible. The day we start acting like a Brighton is the day I worry.

NGL, signing Mbeumo early doors would chill me the fuck out for the rest of window.

Perhaps they've done the right thing and despite their differences, Mitchell has agreed to stay until the end of the PSR deadline to get some business done. Ultimately Mitchell still has vast experience at negotiations and working with agents etc. Even if they are not his players, he might be professional enough to actually do his job for a month.

Aye your right noone wanted them players.

I'm kind of pleased that he was on something. Makes it make more sense. It also explains why his car was likely getting attacked in the first place... if they knew he was off his nut.

Couldn't you say that about absolutely any player though? "We won't sign x player because x club can offer more money." It just seems like an overly negative statement to make. I mean sure we might lose out to these players, in the same we were never signing Tonali, Isak or Bruno. We are an incredibly attractive club. There's a limit to what we can afford/attract but that's the same for alot of clubs including a certain London Club who think they can have our star striker.

Every club makes recruitment errors and we will too. I hope we have as many recruitment failures as Liverpool and City.

Also fair play to them coming together and deciding that the chemistry isn't right. Could have easily been a messy fall out but the messaging was good and Mitchell has left in the right way. It also suggests that there will be transfer movement very quickly.

Exactly, it's about a compromise and shared vision. Noone has to agree fully. Just enough so that they can work together. There's no evidence that Howe can't work with someone, he's worked with Staveley and Nickson, who will have had their own ideas or constraints. Mitchell had a model which clearly wasn't compatible with Howe.

Leads transfers is not the same as choosing transfers. If anyone here thinks that Pep and Klopp had players landed on their lap that they didn't want well...

Jurgen Klopp and Pep weren't told by someone else who they were signing, or at the very least were a huge part in their recruitment process. The two most successful clubs in the last 10 years in this country. It's absolute bollocks that we require some suit to pick players for a manager or indeed pick a manager for the club. It's quite clear that Howe and Mitchell weren't aligned, therefore it's right that Mitchell went. There's very few circumstances where Eddie Howe should have to leave. He is Newcastle. He should have whatever power he wishes. He's earned that right. Trippier Bruno Burn Targett Wood Pope Botman Isak Gordon Tonali Barnes Tino Hall Osula Kelly Greek fella (forced on him) I won't include a few keepers who were on the fringes but at my reckoning that's one hell of a hit rate and even the couple of failures (Wood, Kelly), weve managed to regain money. If this is the level of transfer we've got to look forward to and probably better, then I say Howe and Nickson are the best bet for the future. I'm more than happy for the club to have a director of some sort but not if they are going to get in the way of the most important man at the club.

Great news. More power to Eddie Howe is fantastic. Gutted for the lads who just wanted cheap forrins though.

I want the shittest sides and easiest fixtures please. We can beat the big boys in the knockout rounds.

Someone might want to have a word with Callum if he thinks he's going to be anyway near the world cup squad like. He will be lucky if he's at a PL side next season. My guess is that he ends up at: Everton, Burnley, Leeds, West Ham... if he's very lucky someone like Forest might see him as a cheap option from the bench for a season.

Makes totally sense to me that we've basically put a contract on the table that we think he's worth. He's been given the Dummett/Richie deal. Be part of the wider group and be a leader in the background, with the odd cameo. Some love getting their knickers in a twist over nowt. This has absolutely nothing to do with potential incomings.