LoveItIfWeBeatU

How can NUFC regret it? Merino insisted on the low release clause as a condition of signing. If he'd been a great success another club would have heard about the low release clause (from Merino's agent) and he'd have been away anyway. Merino got a back injury (he described it as the worst injury of his career) and he was then out the side. I'm sure NUFC would have liked to keep him but he wants to be starting games. That isn't necessarily compatible with a newly promoted Premiership club fighting to stay up. He was new to the Premiership and his centre midfield rivals were bang in form. Rafa was the person not picking him. Merino didn't play much for NUFC or Dortmund. He wants to go somewhere he'll be an automatic starter.

One of the conditions of him signing was the inclusion of the low release clause. He did the same at Dortmund. If it's so he can leave to get more game time fair enough, can't blame him.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-44657998

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/newcastle-united-news-transfers-live-14867662

The fact that Porto quible over a £8m fee for Mbemba and Merino insisted on a £10m release clause makes me think there must be a lot of players available for relatively small fees in European leagues. Outside of the big clubs the majority of clubs aren't buying expensive players off each other. I'd have thought with Rafa's contacts he'd be able to source some potential bargains. I'm sure the selling club asks a premium price when a Premiership club comes calling. Player release clauses can be triggered by any club. The more a player costs the more likely they'll be the quality required but there will also be cheaper players who become successful in the Premiership.

Have England had a shot on target (apart from the penalty)?

£0.00 as he was out of contract.

He needs a thesaurus so he can learn some alternative words to "magnificent". http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/magnificent

There's Shearer with his "magnificent" again.

FIFA goal that.

"Magnificent" is his favourite word. He says it all the time during the World Cup coverage.

He's played a full Premiership season in a relegation battle, had maybe a week off with long haul flights, done a month long training camp with South Korea, played at the World Cup then flew straight to Newcastle. He needs more than a weekend off before starting pre season training on Monday with NUFC. Without a rest he'll burn out.

In that interview KI says he's going on holiday now (he was in a training camp for South Korea's World Cup campaign not long after the season finished) and won't be back at NUFC until two weeks before the season starts. Not an ideal situation as far as integrating with the squad and learning the tactics but he needs a rest.

The interviewer on NUFC TV says "You could be the first Korean to play for Newcastle". Does the interviewer think we've got another Korean lined up? KI says he's good at dead ball delivery. Nice to have another option as at the moment it's only Shelvey or Ritchie.

Is he the sort of player who will result in a large number of South Koreans suddenly following NUFC? Potential money spinner.

The not upgrading the training ground facilities is one of the most annoying things. He won't pay the going rate for players. Therefore the youth set up and 'grow your own' becomes even more important yet he won't let the club pay for it out of it's own money. Logic never seems to apply to Mike Ashley's NUFC thinking.

He was never going to go anywhere other than an English speaking country.

Miles better in terms of what though? It's avoiding the entire point of the tournament & taking loads of things for granted. Wrong way to look at it all. What's the entire point of the tournament? Winning it? Surely the easiest route to the final makes the entire point of the tournament more achievable Surely the point is to be able to call yourself the best side in the world? Are you achieving that by being scared of playing half the sides in it & hoping other teams knock them out for you? It's a really embarrassing way of looking at it in my opinion and a bit concerning how many want to win something in that manner. As if anyone English would complain if we won the World Cup without ever playing anyone decent.

It would be classic England to get the 'favourable' route then lose to Colombia.

Why is it good to play Columbia rather than Japan? Is it because of who we'd play if we got past the next round?

Kenedy is as much a NUFC player as Mitro is a Fulham player. At the moment our wingers are Ritchie, Murphy, Atsu and Aarons. Sell Ritchie, maybe buy Kenedy and who is now our first choice right winger?

Ritchie scored more goals than Kenedy from when Kenedy arrived in January. Ritchie is a model pro. £15m isn't even that much these days. NUFC bought him for £12m. Why would he want to go back to the Championship? There's a lot of players I'd sell before Ritchie. I suppose it depends who other clubs are interested in buying.

It does local qualified workers out of a paid job too.