LoveItIfWeBeatU

I said sales not transfers. Club interested in buying Sissoko - "We'll give you £25m for him" Tubestationatmidnight - "He's not worth that. I'll sell him to you for £17m. Anymore and I'd feel we were ripping you off. That's my final offer unless you want to put a lower bid in."

So glad Tubes isn't in charge of our sales. Sissoko is obviously going to bitch and whine about wanting to leave. Who cares? He can complain all he wants. NUFC will sell him when they get a fee they agree with. There's no way he'll still be here when the transfer window closes. In the extremely unlikely scenario that he is, it would serve him best to put 100% effort in to secure his move by the January transfer window.

I looked at the bench and didn't see much firepower. We need another big striker. We only have two wingers. Two more would be ideal. Another attacking centre midfielder would be good too. Creativity is a must. Most teams will sit back and we'll have to break them down.

I'd forgotten the refereeing standard in the Championship was even worse than the Premiership. It didn't take long for me to be reminded.

Playing Hayden, Colback and Anita was massive overkill. One defensive midfielder is enough.

The championship is not a higher standard than the Turkish league Outside of the big clubs who play in the Champions League I doubt there's much quality. Does the Turkish league have a higher profile in world football than the Championship? I wouldn't have said so. It's certainly watched by less people.

He's a bit young to go to the Turkish league. Is the Championship of less quality than the Turkish top division? I doubt it. Also, Turkey is a bit volatile at the moment. I'd be surprised if he fancied it.

I wonder what's happening with him? He's not been seen in any training photos and hasn't played any preseason games. He's got 1 year left on his contract after some fool extended his contract another year last Summer. Injured and/or told to find a new club?

I can understand a few of our players taking the 'long' term view (i.e. give it one season and see if we get promoted) rather than Andros Townsend who took the short term view of rushing to get straight back into the Premiership by any means necessary. If things go well for NUFC Townsend may come to regret his decision. A Newcastle United back in the Premiership, managed by Rafa backed by the owner/board has a lot more potential than Crystal Palace.

NUFC won the Steel Park Cup!

I think it will be a case of seeing who is interested and striking a deal that includes an increase on if we go up. A deal probably won't need to be signed until the end of the year or later, so it gives potential sponsors a chance to see if the team are likely to be promoted. I expect NUFC to be working on lining up a new shirt sponsor. I was just saying it's unlikely anything will be finalised until we know what league we'll be in. Aesthetically, my favourite sponsor was the Newcastle Brown Ale blue star. Virgin Money have defected to Man U. http://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/manchester-united-credit-card-savings/ http://www.manutd.com/en/News-And-Features/Club-News/2016/Jul/manchester-united-announces-partnership-with-virgin-money.aspx

I'm a bit concerned that he hasn't scored an open play goal in the preseason games he's played so far. I'm one of the people who hope he comes good but I have big worries about his finishing abilities. Hopefully during his enforced 4 game lay off he works hard on his finishing and movement. It doesn't sound like he played well against Doncaster. http://www.nufc.com/2016-17html/2016-07-20doncaster-a.html

Wonga runs until May. I'd imagine companies will want to know what league we'll be playing in before committing to any shirt sponsor deal. Also, NUFC will be able to ask for more money if we're coming back to the Premiership. No point wondering which company it will be for at least six months.

Could do with Mitro scoring some open play goals in pre season.

With 3 friendlies still to play I'd guess Mitro will play in this one but not in the final two (as he is starting the season with a 4 game ban).

The mackems hire a new manager and still cant help themselves but talk about us and make up weird little stories. Rafa Benitez Honors: - Real Madrid U-19s Spain U-19 League: 1992–93 Spain U-19 Cup: 1990–91, 1992–93 Extremadura Segunda División promotion: 1997–98 Tenerife Segunda División promotion: 2000–01 Valencia La Liga: 2001–02, 2003–04 UEFA Cup: 2003–04 Liverpool FA Cup: 2005–06 FA Community Shield: 2006 UEFA Champions League: 2004–05 UEFA Super Cup: 2005 Inter Milan Supercoppa Italiana: 2010 FIFA Club World Cup: 2010 Chelsea UEFA Europa League: 2012–13 Napoli Coppa Italia: 2013–14 Supercoppa Italiana: 2014 David Moyes Honors: - Football League Second Division: 1999–2000 (Preston North End) 2013 FA Community Shield (Manchester United)

He's still got a home 'derby' as his second game... Sunderland's world doesn't revolve around Middlesbrough.

Moyes is already starting off at a disadvantage to his predecessors. He won't have the opportunity to earn a huge amount of instant goodwill from the Sunderland people by beating a shambolic, disinterested, poorly run Newcastle United.

I'm not bothered how he does at Liverpool. Even if he turns out to be a super star for them and gets sold to Real Madrid for £100m it makes no difference. As soon as we were relegated he was leaving.

If he gave his all for us that should make worrying reading for Liverpool.

It doesn't really make any difference to us how well or not he goes on to play for Liverpool. As soon as we were Relegated we knew he'd be leaving. Maximising the fee for him was the best NUFC could make of the situation.

For some reason his appointment as England manager has Fat Les "Vindaloo" playing in my mind. I suppose its a suitable anthem for him.

I don't think Rafa would be happy with that. Also, it wouldn't fit with the clubs new attitude to fan and local community engagement. Hopefully we'll get promoted back to the premiership and with Rafa in charge and on a wave of positivity the club will be able to secure a good shirt sponsor.

How is it just cover? We only have two specialist centre backs. Which team would willingly go into a 46 game season (excluding cup games) with only two centre backs? We need cover for squad rotation, injuries, loss of form, competition, fatigue prevention, African cup of nations cover for Mbemba and so we don't end up playing people out of position. It is absolutely essential that we get at least one more centre back.