Minhosa

Speaks highly of Charnley FWIW.

Loved his quote on 'hope........' that would make a good banner if abbrieviated.

I think if you gave me the choice I'd genuinely take Gayle. Agree - I fancy Gayle to outscore him this season.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Even if you allow for the likes of Sissoko, Tiote etc going the initial indication of NUFC wanting a 'two team' squad, both capable of winning the league, looks pretty accurate.

Saw a bit of him last season. Don't think he'd be suited to English football.

I'd say a creative CM and a LB are our top priorities imho.

Wonder if he's the John Stones replacement?

I really don't think a one season stint in the Championship would affect his international hopes at all.

Yep. Looks a clusterfuck of an appointment at first glance.

Brighton fan I know who goes to every game absolutely loves this bloke. Hope we pinch him.

Yup, season in the Championship *could* be the making of the soft cunt .

I'd like to see Thauvin given a run this season.

Is this chap any good then? I saw him quite a bit last season (watching for in-play betting purposes) and he really stood out to me at times. Scored a cracking goal for them in a drubbing of someone (maybe Braga) and looked the part in terms of athleticism, drive and could spot a pass.

Is that twitter parody account still going?

He's potentially an upgrade imho. If all goes well for Moyes then he has a higher glass ceiling than Allardyce but there's a slightly bigger chance him taking them down imho. I just couldn't see them getting relegated under FS at any point whereas I don't think it's unthinkable for them now. That said, I think this coming season would be the riskiest for them given he's had no pre-season, won't get many (any?) of the signings he wants and won't know his squad that well. If he manages to do a decent job this season then he'd be a very steady appointment imho. No way I'd have been 100% happy with him at our place though and, of the two, I'm delighted we've got Rafa.

As it stands, this is the side I think Rafa will opt for, not necessarily what I think is the strongest: Sels Janmaat Hanley Lascelles Gamez Ritchie Tiote Shelvey Perez Gayle Mitro On game one, I think he might start Aarons in place of Mitro from the above team and swap him and Perez. CM looks desperate.

Love the fact we're prioristing good characters. Something the club has lacked since our last promotion.

Listening to Radio 5 Live first thing this morning and they wheel out Custis the Sun Sports Reporter to comment on this cunts appointment. Quite unbelievable hoop licking. Like, beyond ridiculous, how much credit he was giving him. The tabloids are going to be very pro. Can only hope he gets off to a losing start and they all slowly turn.

Is the app out yet?

Agree. We'll get one in, no question.

Nothing that has happened since (and including for that matter) Rafa's appointment has been in tune. As nervous as I am to draw the conclusion, it looks like Ashley has finally given up the control and abandoned his model/vision/whatever the fuck it was. I really hope you're right.

Pretty sure he'll have specified it has to exist. Maybe. Why bother though? Good craic innit. Well he's a renowned manager and football expert, why wouldn't he have a website? He has his own stuff to say that doesn't need to be through any particular club. Just because our last two managers didn't know what the internet was. Genuine question, do other top managers have them? And, if so, do they still use them when they're employed by a club? http://www.carloancelotti.it/en/ http://antonioconteofficial.it http://sackpardew.com :lol: Brilliant.

Pretty sure he'll have specified it has to exist. Maybe. Why bother though? Good craic innit. Well he's a renowned manager and football expert, why wouldn't he have a website? He has his own stuff to say that doesn't need to be through any particular club. Just because our last two managers didn't know what the internet was. Genuine question, do other top managers have them? And, if so, do they still use them when they're employed by a club? Of all of things with this club and THIS is the thing you have an issue with? Wow. What are you talking about 'issue'? I don't get it particularly. I'm hardly standing outside the stadium with a 'Rafa Out' banner. Also find it weird that Ashleys regime has been notoriously jittery with regard to press and the messages coming out from the club being joined up, Mirror relationship etc, that they're seemingly so cool with this. It was one of the first things that I thought would go if I'm honest. I think I said that at the time of his appointment too. It doesn't really chime with the previous views. I'm not that arsed what he does on his website frankly, just find it a bit peculiar. It's obviously Rafa the Brand - what's so strange about that, Minhosa? It's normal business in contemporary football world. I'm not saying it isn't. What I was asking was whether most top managers have them and whether they tended to use them whilst employed at clubs? It was a genuine question, it's not something I've ever paid any attention to. I was also making the point that it's the only time during the Ashley reign that we've had messages coming out from two sources about the club as he's been notoriously nervy around PR and he's always had that reputation in business of being mistrusting of the media. I think from a fans perspective, it's got to be a big positive overall as we're at least getting some noise from a respected member of the club. It's not a criticism at all, it's just an observation that it's a marked change of approach in an area that's clearly close to Ashleys heart.