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1 minute ago, Decky said:

Course it is. Joelinton isn’t great up too and it takes him out of our midfield for Longstaff who isn’t good enough. Also puts more pressure onto our defence that has Lascelles in it. Still, hopefully Joe is in the midfield. 

Well, considering how bad Wood has been up top, it's hardly going to be a huge drop off.

We also have a manager that sets the team up far better, and the team is playing with a lot less pressure as well as a ton of confidence.

I'm backing big Joe to get at least one goal today if he starts up top, which I think he will.

2 minutes ago, SUPERTOON said:

As long as it isn’t Joelinton up top we still might win 

I'm going to put some money down on him getting a couple of goals today if he is indeed up top 

Just now, Billy Warthog said:

Think Howe has earned the right to try what he wants at this stage. Talk about it afterwards I guess. 

You would think right?

The guy has got us to 40 points already, and everything he has touched has pretty much turned to gold.

Giving Joeliinton a run out upfront against a porous Norwich defence to try and get him into some goal scoring positions and try and build his confidence in those situations, with nowhere near as much pressure on our games now, is just really clever management IMO. Besides Wood needed a rest too.

Just now, Conjo said:

People saying Howe can finally experiment with the team selection -> Howe experiments with team selection -> Awful decision

 

It's unbelievable man ... just unbelievable  

1 minute ago, Decky said:

Some places reckon Joelinton is going up top, can’t see it but if he is then that’s a dreadful decision to not just start Wood instead of Longstaff. 

A dreadful decision  

Joelinton will be playing upfront.

Howe is probably looking to evaluate him in that position, in a setup that is not ultimate sit back Bruce ball, and with Joelinton now full of confidence. I like it.

It's a no brainer only if the manager wants the deal completed.

People should probably read the article macphisto is referring to in the Athletic.

It says Howe is still evaluating things regarding Targett, and it's not a guaranteed signing as of yet. Apparently in Howe's Bournemouth teams, in his preferred setup, his full backs often had the most touches and he always looked to have two marauding full backs that overlapped his wingers as the wingers are asked to sit more narrow.

If Howe ultimately determines that he'd like a full back that is more attack minded than Targett, then I'd be fine with that. He should be allowed the freedom to build the exact kind of team he wants, and shouldn't be doubted. He'll have the budget to get a high quality player in that position, and the whole pre-season to bed them in, and so I don't anticipate any issues whatever call he does make.

Looks like Dortmund are going to be replacing Haaland with Karim Adeyemi, which I think is absolutely brilliant business for them. Also a great next club for Adeyemi, and the perfect place for him to continue to develop.

1 hour ago, Mazzy said:

The absolute fucking cheek of Bruce if he thinks we would ever entertain the idea of sending him a loan player, ANY loan player no matter arguably the best one we could send out. Ludicrous! 

The man is shameless   

26 minutes ago, LionOfGosforth said:

I'd love to think the likes of Badiashile/Botman, Paqueta/Phillips, Osimhen/Nunez are realistic but I haven't a clue. Quite honestly, whatever the club decides to do, alongside EH's input, and we grow steadily, i'd be thrilled with that.

It's absolutely fantastic having a manager that you can trust to get the most out of players, and continuously improve them. It makes buying players so much less of a risk to some extent. Just knowing that players will be coming in is enough for me, and it will be easy to get behind whatever signings Howe ultimately decides on.

He'd be the absolute worst signing ever 

24 minutes ago, gbandit said:

Yeah, the thing I want more than anything else is a pacy bastard who can finish and terrify defences. Don’t care how much it costs 

40 minutes ago, nufcnick said:

I think Zaha would make a great addition to the squad, he’s actually the most fouled player in the PL so he would be useful when trying to relive pressure 

This Zaha fandom is so bizarre to me

He's probably the most fouled player because everyone knows fouling him gets him rattled and throws him off his game. He'd be an awful signing.

Emmanuel Dennis now has 10 goals and 5 assists in his first premier league season. Only just 24 years old too.

25 minutes ago, David Edgar said:

 

I think this is exactly why he ended up signing for us in the first place.

Yup, along with the defensive work and some discipline issues off the pitch. He was young then though, he's just turned 25 now, and so you'd like to think he can take the next step now and evolve as a player, so let's see. Big pre-season of preparation for him heading into next season.

2 hours ago, TRon said:

 

Honestly I just don't see him ever being that player. He's trying to do it a bit now, but often still holds onto it a fraction too long. It goes against every instinct in his body.

Would definitely be interesting to see what he would look like surrounded by better players, but I think ultimately he'd still want to dribble for the sake of dribbling. It's what he's about.

Yeah, I think with better players around him he'll look even more frustrating, because his penchant for dwelling on the ball too long at the wrong times will be even more glaring. We'll find out soon enough though.

2 hours ago, The Butcher said:

 

What in the strictly come dancing was that?

Love how Kouyate just slowly backs away in confusion  

Nah man, no chance. Zaha is the most insufferable of the lot by a good margin too.  

The vibe at the club is so good right now and the images and noise form the home games is so great that I imagine a lot of potential signings are taking notice. This run Eddie has us on is going to have a big impact on potential signings.

1 minute ago, The Prophet said:

 

 

So it begins.

Yeah, um  ... £200 million please.

3 hours ago, nufcjb said:

I pity him sometimes when he makes himself avaialble with run on the outside but ASM decides to ignore him and then lose possession all together.

Yes, I noticed this too, and I love the fact that he keeps making those runs anyway and never gets annoyed about it. Guy comes across as the ultimate professional. Fit, strong, and all action. Huge fan of this guy. One of my favourites currently.

2 minutes ago, Gallowgate Toon said:

What's wrong with Zaha? I like him as a footballer but he seems incredibly fragile as a person. 

He's a stroppy, sensitive ego maniac, that thinks no one should be allowed to tackle him so he can do as many tricks as possible and saunter his way to goal. Cannot believe there are people on here that would want us to sign him. He has the worst body language and attitude on the pitch in the whole league. He is horrendous. 

56 minutes ago, christ said:

Testify brother.
 

I find him infinitely more loathsome than most of the other PFM chancers that stink up the game, simply because he’s absolutely phoning it in. 
 

It’s one thing being shit, but being shit and lazy - especially when you keep falling arse backwards into plum managerial roles - boils my piss. 

His priority is always to consolidate his position by smoozing up to the owner and laying the blame at the foot of the players and fans as long as he can get away with it, so that he gets as much money out of the job as he can. He is a con man.

3 minutes ago, Klaus said:

They were all desperate for us to still be shite post Bruce

Pretty much. Because we were all so evil for having a go at him, supposedly. Ridiculous stuff.