Conjo

Isn't that the way to do it these days unless you're Man City or Chelsea? Sell the stars to improve the team. Same as Tottenham. The way they've gone about it, that Gerrard has retired, the similarities with Newcastle makes me wish they win it but then I start thinking about all the people supporting them that I don't want to give the satisfaction of winning the league. They will no doubt play it off as something unexpected and special that they deserve due to supporting them them through hard times etc Feel a bit sick just thinking about it. If Liverpool could win it through some kind of unethical but legal means that removes the joy of winning the title for all its supporters I'd take that option please.

Thanks for the reminder Southampton is quite rough from my experience. According to Pardew their youth players have an intelligence. “Southampton have a huge catchment area and it’s a different type of catchment area,” said Pardew, whose Newcastle side travel to Southampton sitting just one place above them in the Premier League. “There is a big working-class community, but there are a lot of middle-class kids who have a good education. The players who come out of Southampton are quite intelligent and there might be something in that. We have to put more intelligence into our players. That’s another side of the academy, it’s very important to not just look after the football side of it, but to also bring the right personalities through. “We want them to be level-headed. Look at Bale, Walcott, Lallana, Shaw, they’re all comfortable with the media, they’re all together sort of guys. That’s not down to location, that’s down to education.”

Thanks for the reminder

you should be on motd after reading that and watching it Jesus christ, just watched the goal after reading that. So accurate and funny

As if he knows how to use hot keys Right click copy + right click paste. Submit.

wat...the game was today?

Should have put "based on the games he did play" but that's a whole other discussion I'm not devoting time to so let's just end it on that note

But you were talking about Rafa being lucky, not Longstaff. He can be lucky to get the opportunity without Rafa being lucky that it worked out. If Rafa was lucky then he was lucky in the sense that he kept him from going out on loan and put him in the first team because he saw something in him and then started him when he could have changed formation back to 4231 and brought in Kenedy, Murphy, Muto, or put Ritchie and/or Perez in midfield. Longstaff was lucky to get a chance, and Rafa got lucky that Longstaff turned out to be our best central midfielder. Many talents have emerged due to luck, and many talents have been squandered due to bad luck. If Rafa knew that he was our best midfielder, surely he'd be playing earlier same way as f.ex Almiron went straight into the side when he arrived.

Besides Colback which he fell out with and Saivet that none of our managers have ever rated, what other more experienced central midfielders was he favored ahead of before the Blackburn/Chelsea matches? What makes you assume he would have gotten a chance if all of our central midfielders were fit and not on international duty? As I said a few posts above, Benitez himself said Longstaff was lucky to get a chance due to injuries Go watch his post match interview after the Burnley match.

Maybe I don't understand the point you're trying to make, so apologies up front if that's the case, but: Lascelles - Was a young player that got a chance due to injuries/suspesions similar to Longstaff Dummett - Already a first team player Diame - Bought by Benitez Hayden - Bought by Benitez Perez - Already a first team player Rondon - Loaned by Benitez I fail to see how Benitez has done anything more than getting lucky that Longstaff took his chance when it coincidentally presented itself. I'm not saying Benitez was unaware of Longstaff, as evidenced by him being on the bench for a few matches before he was subbed in at the end of December against Liverpool, but it is clear that he didn't think he was good enough to start, and was prioritized a head of others on the bench as well. I agree that Benitez is a good coach that improves/gets the best out of his players, that's not my point at all and not what I'm contesting.

What other times are you talking about?

Bring back the bed sheets!!

You could argue that actively stopping him going back on loan, in the event that his opportunity didn't come, was also a gamble and it could just as well have been counter productive to his development. Rafa is irreplaceable for us at the moment. Rafa does enough good that deserves praise. He doesn't need credit for stuff that turned out well down to coincidence and a good player.

I don't really understand what he's trying to say. Players and agents are expensive, and we get a lot of guaranteed tv money over the course of a season? Feel like the interview stopped right after the introduction or something Just stating the obvious here.

The odd appearance? He didn't play until 26th of December when he got 17 minutes at the end of a 4-0 trashing by Liverpool where there was 0 risk of putting him in. After that he was out of the squad the next game, and was only put in again because of injuries/internationals not being available. Benitez said after the Burnley match that Longstaff was lucky because he got his chance "sooner rather than later because of injuries". To me that indicates that he was not in the plans to be used until there was nothing left to fight over in the league - which may never have been the case if we were still in a relegation fight. Credit to Longstaff for taking his chance, and credit to Benitez for keeping him in the side when the easy choice many other managers would have made was to give the spot back to more experienced players. To give Benitez credit for giving Longstaff an opportunity however I don't see how you can justify.

But he's blond and has blue eyes

contemplated whether to stop reading when it was suggested Arsenal was preparing a £20m bid. Stopped when it was suggested we would use Ritchie as "bait" in a part exchange deal as if they would be keen to get him back.

He didn't get it bang on because it wasn't planned. Rafa didn't really do anything wrong, but you can't say he did something good either. He didnt have anyone else to throw in so -had- to rely on a youth player. I am very certain that if we had a fringe senior player fit to play he would have gotten the nod over Longstaff at the time. It's not meant as critisism of Rafa as much as it is for player development in general these days. Too much on the line for managers (especially the calulated ones such as Rafa) to gamble on someone unproven.

Underrated goal from those outside of NUFC - you rarely see people talking about it as one of the greatest goals in the PL era. It's good but it's not that good. The turn to get away is superb but after that he's barely challenged and just runs straight up the pitch. Again IT'S A FUCKING GOOD GOAL, not disputing that but to say one of the greatest in the PL era is a bit silly. Agree it probably shouldn't be in contention for greatest in the PL era, but it's a brilliant goal. After the turn he doesn't need to dribble due to the pace he carries the ball with and the perfect weighing of the touch on the ball when he goes past both CBs. Looks so easy but so few players in the world will ever be able to score a goal like it. The goal against Blackburn, the goal on Saturday just shows that he can reproduce those goals out of technique and athleticism. There are better goals in the PL, however as opposed to the HBA goals, anyone can get a lucky strike of the ball to score a better goal and not be able to reproduce something similar ever again.

Could it be the fact that he hasn't ran himself to the ground every day in training and in every match that enables him to still produce goals such as the one he scored on Saturday, at 32 years old, after 15 years of first team, top league football? I don't know much about the body and exercise, but I've always had it in my mind that you've got a certain mileage before you start losing explosiveness in your muscles? See a lot of rapid players whose main attribute was acceleration/pace turn pretty bad after turning 29-30-31 when they don't have that youthful athleticism anymore. Probably more suited for the daft questions thread come to think of it.

Dangit, and here I was looking forward to see what Rafa could have done with a £150m war chest

Correct

343 kg ffs, stop with the silliness UK

Read a rumour today that Newcastle and WBA are discussing a 6 man swap deal. Gayle, Murphy and Hayden for Rondon, Livermore and Gibbs.

I think it's pretty clear from Rafas choices and interviews about Longstaff that if we hadn't had injuries he would still not been given more than a few minutes at the tail end of games where his introduction would have little to no effect on the outcome of the game. Maybe he would get a chance once PL status had been confirmed. It doesn't matter if he rates Longstaff or not as long as he doesn't give him an opportunity. While senior players might appreciate being selected based on seniority, it will be equally frustrating for younger players who see every day in training that they are on par or better than their peers and not get an opportunity. Key is a balance between the two, but in this age of top league football, nurturing unproven talent is a risk the vast majority of managers, Rafa included, are not prepared to take unless it is blatantly obvious that they have a special player on their hands.