oldtype

I feel.... Confused.

WTF this is real then?

Maybe we should have seen this coming, given that they had a very similar transition in terms of player recruitment. ("we'll only buy cheap young players we can turn a profit on" -> PANIC PANIC SPEND SPEND) It's a good sign no doubt, but the change in philosophy only matters if the right people are put in place at the boardroom and in recruiting. Otherwise we've just gone from a club that doesn't spend money stupidly to a club that spends money stupidly.

I'm going to be the first person to call the "we tried" tomorrow after talks break down Wouldn't expect any less from you mate I was about to post "fuck off" but then realized that I 100% deserve whatever reputation I have as the board's worst pessimist.

I'm going to be the first person to call the "we tried" tomorrow after talks break down

http://i.imgur.com/36uHESG.gif That thing where he flicks his hands in perfect sync with the broadcast CGI has to be the best Rafa gif.

Seriously, I saw "The Sun/Daily Mail" on the latest post preview slot and immediately assumed something to the effect of "Sun/Daily Mail: Steve McClaren set to stay on as NUFC manager until end of season." WTF.

This can't possibly be real.

Sure we've always more points at this stage before though haven't we? not many but definitely more, the way we're going more than 1-2 wins would be a massive surprise. Yeah but I figure he just refuses on principle to work with anyone he either doesn't know personally or hasn't vetted extensively. That would explain the extreme reluctance to sack managers, the hostility towards managers he didn't appoint (Allardyce, Hughton), and the ridiculous amount of time it takes us to actually appoint anyone. McClaren is someone who's clearly been vetted by the club for a very long time so they will be highly reluctant to sack him, probably even if it means relegation.

Ashley has never sacked a manager for poor results. That's not about to change now

By the standards of modern-day NUFC strikers, a shot on target is like a hat trick.

Please be relegated. The existence of this husk is embarrassing and ruins my memories of the time when I supported Newcastle United.

Only so much a lawyer can do when it's this bad

I miss Pardew and his clockwork left back subs.

Our defending

Just think, this what be what our opponents feel every week

West Brom's defending

Doumbia's never going to play for us is he?

"So important.. hydration" staggering insights coming from the commentary team here

So obviously going to give them a late equalizer. From Berahino.

Played his last game for us

Nah it is. Season over

If we're not giving Shelvy the ball why is he even out there.

When we press the panic button, we PRESS THE PANIC BUTTON

On its current trajectory, MLS will be on par quality-wise with the PL in 20 years. Easy. Playoffs, mascots, hokey logos and team names n' all. And NFL's gonna have a permanent team in London within the next few years. We're coming. You taking the piss with the first paragraph? As someone who follows both the PL and MLS intently, nope. It's fact. You need loads of domestic players of decent quality to have a good domestic league. You'll also have to change the rules on only allowing teams to have 3 designated players. Also the draft system will have to move into academies for different teams rather than drafts which would be a big change in America I would imagine. That's without even getting into loads of other stuff like trying to coax ambitious European players in their prime into moving to America Ah yes, like the whopping 35% domestic talent in the Premier League, known for their fantastic escapades and world cup wins for their national team. You can't just buy hundreds of quality players in one season, you need a decent American player base. Let's say someone like Wijnaldum, gets approached to play for New York City, he's not going to go there if he looks at the rest of the squad and they're all shite. What you have to do is to get loads of good or at least decent American players there first and then foreign players might go. For example, I wasn't alive at the time but I've heard of guys like Ossie Ardiles going to Spurs back years ago when that wasn't the norm in England. Would be have stayed there if there wasn't English players like Glenn Hoddle there at the same time with similar quality? They're clearly improving though. I have no issues with thinking the US will be a powerhouse within football by 2035. The quality of the homegrown MLS players have increased massively in just the past five years. Aye well you'd know more than me about the quality of MLS but they still have a long way to go judging by how Robbie Keane seems to take the piss over there. 20 years isn't that long though to go from a poor league to a very good one but I guess we'll see in time who is correct As recently as fifteen years ago we weren't even sure if MLS would stay in business, never mind become what it is today. I wouldn't be surprised to see the likes of MLS and maybe even the Chinese Superleague be at the level of some of the second-tier European leagues in the very near future. Things change slowly, but still faster than we think.