Paully

I'm sure he didn't learn English which peed off Rafa as he wasn't understanding his instructions?

Yep, no Rafa = no takeover - 100%! I'm extremely happy with Howe but Rafa must be gutted he took that Everton job on (especially after their reaction just before he was confirmed) what with the takeover happening just a few months later!

https://theathletic.com/3611055/2022/09/22/goalkeeper-super-agent-richard-lee/ When former Watford and England goalkeeper Ben Foster decided to retire this month, he got a phone call. Newcastle United wanted to sign him. The person on the other end of the phone was Richard Lee, described by Foster on his YouTube channel as a “super goalkeeper agent” (as well as being Foster’s former No 2 at Vicarage Road). Speaking to The Athletic, Lee explains his role in the game: “It’s basically a big jigsaw, where you have to fit the pieces together — or a game of chess where you have to be three or four moves ahead. “I’ve got Google alerts set up on over 300 goalkeepers in the UK and around the world. I check every match, half-time and full-time, for any keeper substitutions. “I’m in contact with every single goalkeeper coach to understand their needs and keep spreadsheets so that I know where the gaps are — and where they may appear.” So when Newcastle were in need in the early weeks of the new season, Lee was prepared. “I got a bit of intel that Karl Darlow (Newcastle’s backup goalkeeper) had gone down,” he says, “and straight away my mind went to Ben, and I found out he was on their contingency list if anything went wrong.” Lee called Foster, who was a free agent and 39 years old, after his Watford contract expired at the end of last season. “I asked if he’d be up for Newcastle and his response was, ‘Yes, that sounds very interesting’.” Some admin needed sorting quickly: “Ben wasn’t under contract with me. It was more based on us being friends and keeping an eye out for him, which he wanted me to do. I’d always been very respectful of his previous agent so never trod on toes there. “I got Ben to send me a message saying that I was, in fact, acting on his behalf, which I screenshot and sent through to Dan Ashworth (Newcastle’s sporting director) as, often, players with no official agent have all sorts of people claiming to represent them. “(Ashworth) was in a meeting with the manager (Eddie Howe), discussing the situation, and he said he would call me back. He also called Ben, who he knew from (their time together at) West Brom, to say that he was going to progress with the conversation.” Negotiations began. “Dan made his initial offer and then Ben was telling me where he was at,” Lee says. “Dan was very good, being creative and also reasonable because I knew the role they wanted Ben to do. “The figures were starting to get crazy. Ben was in another category to the other goalkeepers they were looking at, so he had a lot of power due to his Premier League experience. On every phone call, Dan and I would try different methods to bump up the money to get it closer, because Ben wouldn’t budge. “Just to complicate matters, I’d just arrived in Dublin for a client meeting and I was intending to stay at the airport for six or seven hours and then fly back out that day. Not only did I have to be upfront about the fact that the planned meeting was going to be interrupted with these negotiations but there was no (phone) reception in the airport, so I had to keep walking down the road to get a signal. “Dan came back and said they’d hit the number and let’s do it. That’s when I called to break the news to Ben. I didn’t think there was any issue, but there was a weird feeling when he said, ‘Give me half an hour’. Because he had said if I get to that number he would say yes.” Newcastle had significantly improved their salary offer and made it a season-long deal rather than just a short-term one until January. “That was when I got the call (from Foster) to say, ‘Rich, I’m not sure’. We had a few more calls and shared a few messages in which it sounded like he was coming round to it, but then I got the final call and I knew at that point it was a no. He’d asked for that figure almost not wanting them to get there, and the moment they accepted it that provided clarity in his mind that he was done.” Instead of signing to continue his playing career, Foster retired. Newcastle ended up signing Loris Karius, the former Liverpool keeper who was also available on a free, until January. “Naturally there’s disappointment because he would have been perfect for the role,” Lee says. “As an agent, you get a real buzz when things like this come together. It may sound silly but I was imagining being on that journey to Newcastle, knowing you’ve done a significant deal for a player — these are your magic moments. So it was a feeling of deflation after an exciting, adrenaline-fuelled day.” Not that he was annoyed with his long-time friend.

Rail strike Rail maintenance Brighton vs Palace was called off due to a rail strike just alone…..

Aye, he turned down Leicester when he was here so can see him going there mind

Mental this!

love listening to him!

I had actually forgot about these quotes - absolute wanker! Steve Bruce was on the warpath. “It is absolutely the biggest pile of shite I have ever heard,” the Newcastle United head coach said, adding a coating of characteristic indiscretion. It was January 2021 and his team were in the midst of a winless run which eventually stretched to 11 matches and Tyneside was bubbling with rumour; that Bruce had three games to save his job, that Eddie Howe was among the candidates to replace him. Bruce lasered in on one publication. “I give respect,” he said. “When I see polls, the next manager and the fella from Bournemouth, I find it disrespectful, I have to tell you. Your paper was gunning for a manager that got a team relegated last year.” The reality of Mike Ashley’s ownership and its glass ceiling was hitting home. “Am I alone with the managers at Newcastle over the last 15 years? Hasn’t every manager been in exactly the same situation?” Bruce asked.

https://theathletic.com/3596963/2022/09/16/eddie-howe-bournemouth-newcastle-coach-evolution/

I just wish the owners had of binned him as soon as they took over! I think with the bad press the takeover received and with it being his 1000th match in charge, they decided to let him take the Spurs match as a smart PR move as they'd have been hammered by his wanker mates in the media! Arteta would have been up in arms that "one of the most important managers that England has had in the last 100 years" () wasn't allowed to take his 1000th match! Some of my red and white mates are desperate for him to still be in charge when they play them so they can hammer him! Mr Popular, eh?

Someone on WBA Twitter just posted his managerial stats and even by his own poor standards we are the recipients of his worst managerial performances. appointment (Feb 3): ? 26 league games ? 31 points ✅ 7 wins ? 10 draws ❌ 9 losses ? 1 win in 9 league games this season. ? Only 5 Championship sides have fewer points than #wba in this period.

Pure poetry - a simply marvellous breakfast read

Aye, he's a cracking lad Dan Neil and his flick, movement and cross was superb for it

https://theathletic.com/3593973/2022/09/15/newcastle-badge-history-seahorses/

You reap what you sow - another nice pay-off incoming for this tosser! Joke!