Conjo

He’s trained with them for a week ffs. Unless this is a piss take post. Not saying he will be, but that performance, for a player with such a reputation was awful. If he continues like that, he will be, is all I'm saying.

Havertz looks like an early contender for this years big flop. I take it he's being shoe horned into a position he's not familiar with but still, awful tempo, slow, poor passing and shooting.

Aye, comparing a 28yo international with a 22yo and 20yo still taking their first steps in the game - of course Hendrick looked better. That's the challenge both the Longstaff brother have to contend with - displacing the likes of these senior pros Agreed, and I hope they succeed in doing so. Time is running out for Sean though unless he has the eternal talent syndrome Ameobi had. He turns 23 in a month so it's critical that he manages to force himself into the side this season.

He's also played 30+ matches in the PL the last 4 seasons for a team that has done better than Newcastle, and is a full international. I think it's safe to say he is better than both at the moment, not just based on this 1 game. Longstaffs still has age on their side I guess.

Your avatar needs a fishing rod rather than an ax He's not wrong though, based on last their performances last season. Hendrick played better than Matty vs Man Utd which was the best Longstaff performance last season.

It didn't make things harder for him that he was up against Cresswell who had a shocking (even by his standards) game. One of the few fullbacks (worst starting FB in the league?) we'll come up against that are actually slower than Hendrick. He seems like a decent enough player, more suited centrally. He'll probably be able to keep the ball in the team, but if asked to create anything out wide against better and faster fullbacks he'll struggle massively imo.

Good start. Captained Salah, had Auba and Wilson as well. Werner, Havertz, Justin and three wolves players still to play.

He looked quicker than he did at the end of last season, which was a pleasant surprise. Good debut.

Hard to knock him when he assists and scores, but over the course of a season he won't be much more than your standard Matt Ritchie/Joey Barton type of player. I wouldnt be opposed to him getting the nod central ahead of the players we have at disposal there, but he should never start ahead of a fit Almiron/ASM/Fraser, but clearly will because Bruce.

You can only beat what is in front of you and all that, but West Ham really is the gift that keeps on giving. Oh, and:

You've had since Newcastle signed these players to get over the fact that Bruce will not use the formation or set of players that makes most sense to 99% of people that follows Newcastle and football in general. This was completely predictable and will be what you will have to live with if you watch/follow this team this season. That being said, the opponent is West Ham so there's always the chance of a jammy win or boring draw.

There was talk about it trying to be revived and we would only hear next if it was successful or failed. This is it. I feel like the PL has been trying to save face and Ashley has called them on it. The takeover/fit and proper test process was never formally withdrawn as far as I can remember. Granted, haven't paid much attention to club affairs for a few weeks.

I've never watched much of Bournemouth, but I always had the assumption, probably based on something silly like FM stats, that he was a player that relied a lot on his pace. Got to see a few matches at the end of last season and was surprised how slow he seemed to be. Didn't play particularly well either, although same could be said about their whole team. His injury record is not being questioned due to his last two seasons, but the three seasons prior to that where he missed 10, 18 and 25 matches. He'd still walk into this team though, whether it's on one or two knees.

Aren't they trying to sign the wrong full back, similarly to how they signed the wrong Murphy? Was of the impression that Aarons was the promising full back in their team.

Who tf in that Man Utd team have managed to negotiate a top earner clause? Anyone turning their nose up at the chance of having Messi in their team for a couple of seasons (except if the cost of having him is to ruin the club financially) is crazy.

Scary good signings by Chelsea. Will be fun to watch next season.

Direct quote from Staveley on the day they pulled out of the deal, wasn't it? "They [the Premier League] tried to make the state of Saudi a director. The PIF had agreed to become a director."

In that assumption, how do you explain PL demanding that the KSA should be a named director of the club, if the kingdom owning the club was the thing stopping the proposed owners of getting approved?

Agreed, and Ake was a loan the first season as opposed to the others mentioned. Would be interesting to see what he can do with a team of better players than he had at disposal at b'mouth.

We are nailed on for relegation He may have had more opportunity to play in the PL next season, but playing for this rudderless lot doesn't exactly put you in the shop window by making you look a good player, unless you're a player of great physical and technical ability.

How did Abramovich and Qatar manage to buy Chelsea and Man City if the elite clubs have done this since the leagues inception? Clearly that was not in Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool and our (or anyone else in the PL at the time) interest back then. I get your point, and agree it smells like corruption for the sake of them maintaining their own status but it clearly hasn't been like this all the time. A bit more on topic, I won't be watching any games of any kind of medium next season. Whenever I'm back in Newcastle on business travel and it falls close to a weekend or so I'll try to catch a game with Gateshead or Blyth instead. It's so sad. I love Newcastle and the people living there. Going to football was always the primary objective but a big bonus was the nice athmosphere in the city, the shops, resturants so I'll definitely visit as much as I can but that will probably be less than before when I can't justify travelling to matches. What I was really alluding to was the fact that the Premier League was set up to protect the interests of those clubs in that elite group. While some clubs will move into and out of the group, the bigger players - such as Liverpool, Man Utd and Arsenal - were pretty much guaranteed to always be in it and therefore were able to take ever increasing shares of the revenues, so further cementing their place year after year. Years later and the whole financial balance in English football is completely out of kilter. The idea that we're now in a situation where, if you're relegated from the Premier League you're given three years worth of financial support, which gives you an unfair advantage over the other teams in the lower divisions, is anathema to me. And the fact that clubs like Bury can go out of business, while the Premier League is awash with money, is a travesty. I don't know if I'm making sense. I'm just angry at everything and particularly the whole idea of the Premier League today. It just feels like the whole set-up is inherently designed to protect the "big clubs" and that this is just another step to ensure that there are ever fewer and fewer challengers. I have similar feelings about FFP and, for me, it was little surprise to see Liverpool and Tottenham come out in support of it recently, following the outcome of Man City's appeal. You make perfect sense.

How did Abramovich and Qatar manage to buy Chelsea and Man City if the elite clubs have done this since the leagues inception? Clearly that was not in Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool and our (or anyone else in the PL at the time) interest back then. I get your point, and agree it smells like corruption for the sake of them maintaining their own status but it clearly hasn't been like this all the time. A bit more on topic, I won't be watching any games of any kind of medium next season. Whenever I'm back in Newcastle on business travel and it falls close to a weekend or so I'll try to catch a game with Gateshead or Blyth instead. It's so sad. I love Newcastle and the people living there. Going to football was always the primary objective but a big bonus was the nice athmosphere in the city, the shops, resturants so I'll definitely visit as much as I can but that will probably be less than before when I can't justify travelling to matches.

Interestingly, if Ashley put the club in to administration, resulting in a points deduction - we might be relegated (but we'd need an 11+ point deduction). If we were relegated as a result of that deduction, the NUFC takeover would no longer be subjected to the O&D Test, as the sale would be under the jurisdiction of the EFL and not the Premier League. I'd accept this option in a heartbeat - a season in the Championship to get rid of Ashley and have PIF owning us, how quickly do you need your arm back after I snap it off? Would go on to next season now. Maybe we can offer to swap places with Bournemouth or Watford? I don't think we are obliged to play in the PL. PIF could easily have bought the club despite whatever conclusion the PL reached and played in whatever league Newcastle would be sent to as a consequence of not being approved by the PL. It is the buyers that wanted a condition in the purchase that it is only subject to PL approval which is fair enough.

Who do you mean by "they've"? Assuming for some reason you are blaming PIF - If you were part of an investment fund, who's main objective is to create value, would you set aside several hundred million pounds for an unlimited time in the hope that you would get approval to buy a football club at "some point, or maybe not at all", or would you want eventually suggest maybe the money is better to be spent elsewhere?