Raconteur

We’ve been far from good but cruising. Howay the final day madness

Fab Schar!

Bryan, Cairney, Sessegnon, all good players. Sessegnon would be class. Not that we would stump up the cash for him. An out-of-position Hayden has him in his pocket. Good player, but you’ve got to worry if he’s so easily contained.

You’re probably right, but it’s entirely possible that Ashley genuinely thinks Rafa is going to fold and accept his terms, and is surprised there is an impasse.

Yeah, Stoke needed to be spanked after that. The kind of small time shite the mackems would pull.

Word

They certainly hated Freddy more than they ever did Ashley

Is that net? Because I can totally see sales of £100m and purchases of maybe £60m - and it’s only that high because we’re going to have to replace 6-10 players. Even a bare minimum of departures (Shelvey, Diame, Ki, Rondon, Ayoze, Kenedy) - there’s no replacing them without some *real* expenditure. KI? My mistake - Hayden

Same thing happened when they won the CL in the 90s - established stars like Overmars and kids like Kluivert were hoovered up as the final whistle sounded.

There’s merit to this, but it’s also pretty obvious that Ayoze is Rafa’s favourite player - pretty sure he has the most starts under Rafa, and he changed the way we play more than once to get more out of him. He’s the sort of player managers will love because of his work ethic and team play, and so they will also make accommodations to get the most out of him. I don’t think I’m being too much of a fanboi to suggest that, without a release clause, he could command fees comparable to Felipe Anderson or Richarlison for the right team. I don’t watch either West Ham or Everton closely enough to say for sure, but neither of them have made me wish I had them instead of Ayoze.

Is that net? Because I can totally see sales of £100m and purchases of maybe £60m - and it’s only that high because we’re going to have to replace 6-10 players. Even a bare minimum of departures (Shelvey, Diame, Ki, Rondon, Ayoze, Kenedy) - there’s no replacing them without some *real* expenditure.

Ain't one I really needed to put a safety wink there?!?

Anyone know when the 3rd/4th playoff is? Much better game than the final...

This aged well

On the Juventus books at one stage. Ended up stinking up the A-League for Kevin Muscat's Melbourne Victory. Matched pair.

That is the funniest news I've heard in a long time - I genuinely thought they'd be given at least one window's worth of wiggle room

Good on him - he's in a unique position where he's got nothing to lose and can tell it how it is. He sounds like he'd rather not play football until his contract expires than stay another week in the North East.

I thought I was ready for him to go, but the revelation that he has a buyout clause means he is gone. 25m is beans these days, and we'll struggle to replace him. Of course, it's another nod towards Rafa's departure...

Clearly not - because your “hate” is reasoned, whereas myself and many others are completely irrational in our hatred.

Isn't he linked with much bigger clubs already? Like that time we were linked with Nicolò Zaniolo

You win some, you lose some LOL. My favourite part of this is that Liverpool didn't lose some, they lost one fucking game!

Your Eddie Howe shite is some of the most tedious patter I've seen here in nearly 14 years - but if you transfer that to Brendan Rodgers and go all in on him, I'll clap like a trained seal

In the distance, a faint cry of "Tidy passer though!" is heard somewhere. It might be me you can hear, grinding my teeth. I will not have it that Vernon Anita is anywhere near as bad as Jack Colback.

Yeah, that’s fucking ace

Wasn’t there an article in the Chronic recently about top five targets that included Mooy (plus two players over 28)? I’d love to have an Australian play for the Toon again, but I just don’t see him offering us any more than Ki. I know we need numbers in midfield, but I don’t think he would be a cheap option, contract status notwithstanding. Daniel Arzani from Man Citeh/Celtic is about the only Aussie who wouldn’t look out of place in our squad, and we’ve got Ayoze and Almiron who are both better.