STM

I think we have identified 5 key positions: GK: Henderson CB: Botman Winger: Diaby LB: Lodi ST: Nunez I can see the first 4 happening, Nunez will be a stretch too far but its nice to see some ambition. I've said all along that I see us signing Toney, and I will stick by that. After these positions, it will be wheeling and dealing time and be very dependent on who leaves and who becomes available. We will probably sign a CM but may well be a loan or someone fairly cheap who gives us something different.

Will defo take in one of them. Probably bilbao with the bairn.

Weird that he would put such big news at the end of an article.

Can someone post the article?

Fairly decent chance that Mehrdad will meet Botmans agent there IMO. Yes they could both be F1 fans but it's also awfully convenient. Although I'm not sure Botmans personal terms will be an issue. We need Lille to stop being cunts.

Be still my beating heart.

Actually, Luke said he was "one to watch", which is journalism at its worst. He likes to make guesses and gets them wrong as often as he gets them right. The ones journalists get wrong, get forgotten very quickly because by that point they have moved on to someone else.

I reckon we have Botman wrapped up. Didn't Staveley name check him in Caulkins piece? First signing IMO.

Can someone post the athletic article?

I suspect Ashworth has been in place since he left Brighton. If Staveley and Mehrdad haven't been in direct contact with him for the last few months, I will be shocked. In reality, it changes very little but I will be nice to have a solid operator actually behind his desk at the club. In terms of transfers, they should always be a collective decision, that's the only way it can ever work.

The window hasn't even opened yet and the cryarsing kids are out in full force.

You are embarrassing yourself. Stop.

Sounds like an exciting target.

Remind me how reliable GFFN is?

This is what I'm here for. I think we might stun a few with our intended targets.

There is no evidence that they are chasing the same targets as us. Digne, yes but as has already been pointed out, Rafa warned us off him. Diego Carlos wasn't even our first choice in January, he was an after thought when Botman became difficult. There's zero evidence to suggest that he was even wanted by us this summer. I'd guess we are looking for someone younger. Who else is there? Kamara we were never in for according to local journalists. That doesn't mean to say we weren't aware of him. Villa are doing some great early business but wait and see who our targets are before getting worried.

Coutinho, Kamara, Carlos, Buendia, Martinez, Cash, Digne is some serious strength in the first team IMO. Right now we are a couple of players behind that with Joelinton, Trippier, Wilson, Bruno and ASM. Significantly better manager though.

Fair play to Villa and @brummie. I have no ill will towards any other PL club who are willing to have some ambition and try to knock down the so called "big six". Villa have a better squad than Arsenal, in my book, or at least comparable. With that comes pressure but in reality, if Gerrard doesn't work, they can always look to someone more proven. Hopefully they won't be the only ones making waves in this transfer window. Brummie what does your starting 11 look like now?

Out of the two, Schar is more capable of playing in a progressive side who like to have possession of the ball. IMO he could seamlessly slip into Man Citys centre back pair (just as an example, I don't think he's better than Laporte or Diaz) and you would barely see a difference in terms of their team performance. Burn is a better penalty box defender, more robust and probably has more pace but he's not as good on the ball as Schar, although he's not terrible either. They are actually ideal for where we are. Burn is about to enter the latter part of his career and will hopefully understand being part of the squad, whilst also playing plenty of games and Schar will be ideal for us to transition out of the stone age and into the digital, so to speak. We will sign a top centre back this summer and all 3 of them will get plenty of games.

I know Neymar is hypothetical bollocks but if we are humouring the idea... The only way it could happen was if PSG were prepared to let him go for free, in order to get his massive wages off the books and we were prepared to take his wages on because there was no transfer fee. From a commercial/promoting the club point of view, it would put us on the map and show everyone that we mean business. My worry is that it would be a Micheal Owen situation. Would he buy into the club? Eddie's training schedules? Would he want to live in the North East? Would he stay fit?

Also, Ratcliffes company INEOS is Mercedes F1 sponsor.

Can I make a more likely suggestion, as to the reason why a private aircraft has gone from Newcastle to Nice? The Monaco F1 GP us on this weekend and our owners have already been seen at the F1 in the past. It's much more likely that they are friends with Ratcliffe and are merely using his jet to get to the race, or something along them lines.

Tell you what though, anyone else watching this and imagining Newcastle winning this in 2 years time? Don't care if its the 3rd European Trophy. Want.

Ashworth is more important than any player we sign. The sooner he arrives, the quicker we can start getting players in.

I look at him as a potential Darren Fletcher type for Man United. He probably not going to start for us regularly but will also probably get 20+ games, even moreso if we have ambitions of Europe. I also think he will get better as he gets older and more experienced. He seems like one of the key characters in the squad now too, which is strange because a year or so ago he seemed like one of the kids. He's had his bumps in the road, let's hope Eddie can keep him on the straight and narrow. I reckon he would be a target for a lot of lower mid table PL clubs, if he were to be available to buy.