nufcjmc

I agree to a point, I have no idea about who else is his competition for the no.9 spot in the national side if he ends up being a deeper midfield/ play maker and doesn't add much in the way of goals is he at risk of dropping out of favour internationally? As much as I don't like how negative No Hope is in general he has maintained Big Nick seems the solution to someone else's problem, if we aren't ever going to move away from 4-3-3 and adopt a no.10 he may well fail here longer term (as an out and out no.9) We have however 1. got to do what's best for the club, 2.make do with that we have, 3. try and look for alternatives when the original position wasn't working. Misfiring wingers, general dip in key players form this season and being new to the league and thrown right in the deep end with minimal or next to no training time has also contributed I guess if I am also being cynical if he has a good world cup and we do decide to part ways it will help maintain his value and list of potential suitors. You could make arguments for all of our front 3 being moved on and looked at again out of the 3 we have I actually want him to work the most.

Agreed its a big factor but they also had to navigate a change of manager, a lot of attacking first team changes the noise around will Bruno stay or go etc. They have surpassed there points total from last year already and are back in the mix at the top 6, despite the 1 game a week I still think its a big swing in the right direction within a single windows transfer business. I hope it can be used to give us a little hope that getting it right in the summer can also help us bounce back from a very streaky season for us.

Judging Man U last season I would have said at the start of the season you were out of your mind to want any form of Europe, you just felt so far behind the pack and with alot of "fixing" to do what was it in the end 15th and 40ish points?. Just shows what a good window of investment can do (forgetting us for a min Spurs had a similar season to you last year and have been unable to improve their domestic fortunes with a summer of investment so its not guaranteed). I know your model probably needs Europe every season to make it work but you have to be pushing for Champions League at this point especially as its likely (not sure confirmed yet) that top 5 will get it. I agree with you the top 6 look likely to be the teams that are there at this point just depending on order (still plenty of points to play for though still), I am just hoping this mini run of form can continue now for us and we can get top 7 possibly top 6 if someone messes up.

I think the media haven't helped fuel the narrative of slow to act as well in all this, we have had more than one journo talk about the project at various points in the last 18 months/ 2 years and at times the decision has seemed "imminent" the fact that the club itself in various fan forums and media duties has been talking about it for so long up until very recently with the new executive structure poured cold water on it all being anywhere near close. Previous iterations of the board have said its a tough decision but it seemed that the feasibility study was all that was standing in the way of an informed decision even Craig no Hope talked about rendering being shown to the board last year. Now the club cant win here say something and you have protestors going at you from all angles and it may be years away, say nothing and don't even acknowledge stadium investment or moving is an option you would get constant pieces questioning the ceiling cap on the club due to lack of infrastructure investment. https://www.themag.co.uk/2023/12/newcastle-united-launch-new-stadium-feasibility-study-increased-st-james-park-capacity/ feasibility study launched December 2023. https://www.newcastleunited.com/en/news/stadium-plans-discussed-as-fan-advisory-board-reconvenes - early 2025 was what was mentioned here back in October 2024. The issue is the second you say its a thing in the mind of the public/fans its naturally going to be open to criticism as people have their own views on how long is reasonable to wait, any project is going to take years to implement and right now isn't a PSR restriction so while I appreciate it has to make business sense it will also help the medium/long term aims of the club to do it. I think we all agree our position is unique our ground is in an iconic and great position and we are boxed in with no land to expand into that we own and every move comes with either a challenge to build or a challenge to move to.

Looks like if you look at the arsenal release they also didn't get the track top so I recon it is exclusive retail partner only just not sure if thats short term or forever.

I think its all a priority thats the issue. Another factor is if we are playing in Europe next season any European competition will require a bigger squad and more rotation due to fixture congestion. Should we find ourselves out of Europe I can honestly see the club delaying some of the harder choices for another year. The merits of how right or wrong that would be is very much open to debate, I agree I like our first choice RB/LB I have enjoyed Thiaw in the main this season despite him getting no rest and thrown in the deep end and if Botman can ever stay fit I think our current "best" back four is fine albeit a little immobile. So you would say the next "urgent" position is no1 keeper but again you can make an argument to say none of this can wait the backline is getting too old, too injury prone to gamble on it being ok as is for another 12+ months.

As I said earlier its critical but still might have to wait. come the summer: BDB 12 months left Krafth likely gone? Trips likely gone? Targett loan ended and out of contract Lacelles loan ended and out of contract Schar extend or not? Tino going or not? Ramsdale for the love of god please dont make it permanent Even if we extend most of our older players by another year we need already LB competition RB competition RCB cover/competition possibly LCB future planning Ideally pope drops to the bench and we go big on a new no1 but not sure pope will want to drop to the bench and also not sure the club can do all that back 5 business in the summer when most of that work doesnt get offset with any sales to fund it.

For alot of players the "fuck it I will take you all on" massively fails and you look a fool can only remember once it not paying off yesterday he is so good on the ball.

for what we paid and what he has contributed he has been an amazing signing for us however as with some of our other players we have hung on and kicked the can down the road so long that he seems to have regressed so much be it lack of confidence in his own body or just age and injuries taking away that sharpness. Its likely going to cost a significant sum to buy a replacement and even then they are likely to have their own weaknesses we will need to accept/work around unless we hit on lucky. But its getting to the time it needs to happen as he is part of the reason we have become so "leaky" at the back and impacts our ability to combat other teams pressing etc.

Alot of work needed potentially on the back 4 I worry giving Pope that year extension means we try and stick with what we have for another season. Been in need of an upgrade or at the very least competition for 2 years now the club know this in their pursuit of goal keeper targets but may take a back seat is we need 2/4 of the back 4 replacing/adequate cover.

Worried now its a club shop and exclusive retail partner i.e. jdsports item only. Seems strange its not there by now if it was going to be.

Injured himself in training not expected to be for long in the usual howe kiss of death regards time out.

Still cant see the jacket on the adidas site just wondering if its just me or its hidden etc

Be greatful Craig no Hope is off right about now is the time he usually crops up with a delightful mail+ death spiral inspiring piece.

I worry more of the travel, the quick turn around to the next fuxture, the quality of pitch and potential knocks and injuries than I do the opposition. Hope that doesn't come across as arrogance or complacency. This is a great chance to progress and we need a professional performance which I am sure Eddie and the lads will know already.

Over a single leg tie i would strongly disagree looking at our domestic cups where "weaker" opposition can get a result in a one off fixture. However over two legs I am in total agreement they got results in the champions league but still had 6 put passed them by liverpool we shouldn't fear them over two legs.

aye hope its him done but it will all depend on the gaffer, the budget, and who else goes in the summer I can still see us kicking cans down the road on 1 or 2 getting extensions.

definitely seems to pick up a lot more than he used to not sure if that's age, playing so much, his style of play or that he never seems to get anything operated on to "permanently fix"

Pods or kickers surely 🤣

I dont like open cuff joggers if thats what they are still need £200 for the rest though 😭😭

I thought they looked the more dangerous 11 v 11 Rogers in particular finding loads of space. When we got forward like alot of games this season we looked a little toothless barnes well wide, whatever osulas rugby kick was meant to be etc. But in terms of handling pressure and keeping territory I thought it was very even. Much better than the showing we mustered against them only weeks prior.

Assume like the icons range will be £100?

Your talking like we hold all the cards and contracts are always honoured and having plenty of time on them offers the club plenty of protection? If the summer showed us anything is that player power is real and the usual winner. Banking on players being of sound character to not kick up a fuss if we turn down bids is a risky game. Tino may well stay due to his injury history putting people off. But his contract is running down we do need it resolving 1 way or another this summer. Tonali I hope due to essentially a 2030 contract and how we treated him in the ban he would stay another year if a big enough offer doesn't come. Gordon his output last season and this doesn't make me feel he cant be replaced if we got a good fee. However agree about already having plenty of squad work without also replacing players you would ideally want to keep.

Tonali simply for the agent talk in the jan window and tino will have 2 years come the summer if he flatly refuses to renew we may have no choice to protect the asset value. Gordon this last 12 .months hasn't shown enough I don't think for someone to pay big money on so may come down to how he does in the WC and these next few months.

Agreed maybe Brentford to an extent losing all those goals from their side in 1 go. We are already due to the age of certain players going to have plenty of upheaval in terms of players going or dropping to the bench from regular starter. Never going to be an optimal time for both club and player to part ways. However there feels an inevitability about this happening as we try and establish ourselves as regular top 6/Europe every season side. When we do sell we just have to get maximum value on the player as we know we are willing to reinvest it all.