Conjo

"LET'S FUCKING GO MAN COME ON" - Dan Burn We'll smash them.

Could put him in for Schar as well for some extra flair when playing from the back. He's got the height, I'm sure he'd do a good job at center back too.

Pope Trippier-Schar-Botman-Isak Bruno-Amrabat-Joelinton Almiron-Wilson-Diaby

Let's just hope we won't be in a position where I can tell you I told you so, because I definitely would if we were.

Think we'll just have to agree to disagree I'd gladly go down a division just to get rid of Ashley, no matter how rich or poor the new owners were, so my opinion on that would not change. It was and would be impossible to progress under Ashley till the day he dies. Better to take a chance on the unknown.

Disagree with that. There are definitely situations where it's better to have some short term pain for long term gain. Hypothetically, say Howe didn't manage to keep us up last season, but the owners did everything else the same as they have up until now (maybe bar getting Botman & Isak in the summer window as I doubt they would join a championship team). Would you say we were in a better position now for future success, or would you rather still be in the PL under Ashleys stewardship?

Add Souness, Roeder, Kinnear & McClaren to that list. Granted, they weren't hated to the same level as those you mentioned, but they were very much welcomed sackings when they were let go.

Buy low sell high is something most clubs do. Works for some, not for others. Again it comes down to management, scouting, training etc. to make sure you have the best opportunity possible to replace a valuable asset with someone with the potential to be as good or better. You won't achieve that with how Ashley ran the club with basically one scout & Charnley running the show. Look at Benfica, Porto, Brentford, Brighton as successful examples. Difference from them to us under Ashley is that they are willing to spend more than a pack of gum and a few pennies on the back room staff.

Just look at some of the comments to Howe's team selection against Sheffield Wednesday. Guarantee you a sizable portion of our fan base will be calling for him to be sacked if we finish below 6th this season. We also had, counting from Souness until Pardew, 5 managers hounded out and 5 caretakers in a 5 year period as well.

Don't know enough to say who has the best squad, but Burnley looked like the PL team against Bournemouth who played their first team in the FA cup this weekend.

If Ashley had sold us to some chancers, we got relegated twice, then sold again to not so rich but smart custodians then gotten a promotion and seeing the club progressing with a clear plan and ambition, I'd say we would be in a better position now in the Championship compared to being in the PL under Ashley.

He scored a lot of goals on the counter by out pacing opposition defenders in the first 2-3 seasons. Just have a look at "Shola Ameobi - All 72 goals for Newcastle" on youtube. Edit: As I said - maybe not the best comparison But Shola was playing off the shoulder of defenders in the beginning, but later (maybe under Kinnear?) he turned into a more traditional target man.

He's never been a player that relies on strength. Putting on muscle may be a detriment to his best attributes. Maybe not the best example, but look at Shola how he looked and moved in his early 20's. He was quite agile and had decent enough technique to take on and dribble past opposition players. Compare the young Ameobi to his late 20's version when he gained a lot of muscle mass. Looked stiff and slow and rarely tried to dribble with the ball. Was like two different players.

It's so weird to see him play. His pace, first touch, passing and basic technique looks fairly decent. He looks like he should be much better than he is which leads me to believe it's at least partly a mental hurdle he needs to overcome. He should be able to get past a player, but he never tries. He should be able to pass the ball forward, but he always halts play and plays the simple back pass to Botman. He should be able to overlap and get a cross in, but he just jogs up towards the left wing and stands there without trying to make something happen. A move to a championship club is probably the best for all parties. He gets a clean slate and we can look for a new starting LB with Targett/Burn as back-up.

I'm sure Howe would jump at the chance of getting a player recently outed as being lazy both in training and in games.

Then a game or two after Wilson was back, ASM smacks a ball past and between 4 Burnley defenders inside the box to find Wilson who slots it in the back of the net on the first touch.

Just to compare - look at Leicesters team away to Gillingham. Only Tielemans & Ayoze from their 1st team started that match. Howes line-up was perfectly fine. Their performance however was not good enough.

I'll maintain that I think the team that started today is good enough to beat Sheffield Wednesday. It also made sense to rest players ahead of the quarter final against Leicester. Felt like we were in control all game with the exception of an offside goal and one turn that undressed both Anderson and Longstaff. We definitely had the chances to win. Shit to lose ofc, but as per usual it is defcon 1 on here any time things don't go smooth as butter. People should probably think twice before posting on here in the heat of the moment. Comes off as incredibly petulant/childish/entitled.

Forum crashes when Wood skies a 100% chance

Think that's only a you thing. Feeling very comfortable myself watching this.

Frustrating watching Lewis. He looks like he should be much better at carrying the ball up field more often, yet he always stops with the ball, holds it for a second or two before he makes an easy backwards pass to Botman. This is a good chance for him to build some confidence. Hope he takes it.

That's why he keeps mis-placing passes? Should send him on loan to Fleetwood.

fwiw not felt nervous in the slightest. One dodgy pass aside we've been very comfortable and in full control despite Wednesday pressing like mad men. We'll wear them out soon and goals will start rolling in.