oldtype

is it me or.....if he's available for under £5m, why aren't tons of clubs lining up to take a chance on him?! even sunderland? he's such an immense player who just needs a little guidance. The fact that despite his immense talent he's managed to fall out with every single club he's been at so far may have something to do with it.

Post-match dominos has been around for ages. I remember watching pizza get loaded into the buses after we beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They only get it when they win mind, so it doesn't happen that often.

Given our track record with injuries, I don't want any part of him if he's failed a medical.

Cabella > HBA that never plays, so I'm fine with that.

It's better than just selling a player and not replacing him, which is what we've come to expect.

That graph just means that there are both good players that run a lot and good players that run less. Similarly, there are bad players that run a lot and bad players that run less. This is just an eyeball estimation but the predictive value of those lines relative to the scatterplot simply can't be that strong. Tbf I thought it showed that more players that ran less than 120 metre in a min tended to be more productive, but there you go. I mean, the points aren't close enough to the regression line for that information to be significant. The pattern you're looking at is more or less random.

That graph just means that there are both good players that run a lot and good players that run less. Similarly, there are bad players that run a lot and bad players that run less. This is just an eyeball estimation but the predictive value of those lines relative to the scatterplot simply can't be that strong.

Progress?

Personally I'd just sell Cisse to Qatar or something and get another striker in. Don't think the club would be ready to give up on him though.

Riviere (whose name I'll never be able to spell correctly), Cisse, Gouffran, Perez, and Armstrong probably all competing for one striker slot. Unless someone leaves I can't see the club forking over more for a striker.

Think he'll turn out to be quite good. Fast, strong, deceptively good finishing. Maybe not the most intelligent player but adds the physicality that our frontline is so desperately missing. Biggest question is whether he'll be able to make the step up in responsibility given that he's never had to be the "main striker" before.

Yeah, the elite athleticism is what's impressing me so far. Been so long since we've had a striker that isn't small/weak/slow

The stats do tell you that his conversion rate and shot accuracy is surprisingly impressive, on par with the top goalscorers in Europe. He just doesn't score that much because he's on a team where he's not a full-time starter and doesn't get the ball as much when he's on the pitch. It remains questionable of course whether he can maintain that rate over more minutes, but I can see why scouts would be impressed. Also worth noting that his stats have improved every year for the past five.

Interesting that Armstrong is starting for the first team while Campbell is with the U21s

We'd already have Riviere, Cisse, Perez, Gouffran, and Campbell/Armstrong competing for one spot up front. Doubt the club will pay big money for another striker on top of that unless Cisse leaves.

Ashley's a devious bastard, knows exactly when we're about to fall out of love with the club and throws us some carrots to bring us back in.

Appears based on his stats to be an extremely good finisher, just doesn't shoot very often for whatever reason. Converts nearly 20% of all goal-scoring opportunities and over half his shots are on target. Never seen him play, but I'm guessing he may be a player who could blossom when given a larger role in a different tactical system.

At this pace we'll actually spend that 50 mil

I agree but clustered together? I'm looking forward to it, especially as Brazilians don't need a visa (at least for now). I just mean that all the cities and host sites are in Europe, with none in Asia/Siberia (not logistical genius or anything, just the way of things tbf), so the travel will be relatively comparable to Brazil despite Russia being probably more than twice as large. Aye, I think they'll host a great World Cup, don't think Russia would like to embarrass themselves. I mean if our government managed to hide everything for a month why shouldn't they be able to do an even better job? I think the problem with Russia is that like Qatar they won the bid through bribery. I'm just hoping that the World Cup after these two go to sensible choice. I doubt there's been a single World Cup bid in the past two decades that was won without significant amounts of money changing hands.

I agree but clustered together? I'm looking forward to it, especially as Brazilians don't need a visa (at least for now). I just mean that all the cities and host sites are in Europe, with none in Asia/Siberia (not logistical genius or anything, just the way of things tbf), so the travel will be relatively comparable to Brazil despite Russia being probably more than twice as large. Aye, I think they'll host a great World Cup, don't think Russia would like to embarrass themselves. I mean if our government managed to hide everything for a month why shouldn't they be able to do an even better job? WTF, no matches in Vladivostok?

Hey, if you need an international football fix, the Asian cup is only six months away

This was the worst World Cup my nation has experienced in over 15 years. The only scene we got in the World Cup montage was some random lass crying. I'm still absolutely devastated that it's all done. I love sports. I love football. (Even despite Ashley, Pardew and all that bullshit.) I love the World Cup. Long may it continue.

God I'm so sad this is all over

Matchdays towards the end of last season were the pits. Days of dread then 90 minutes of wanting Newcastle to lose. That's why I packed it in. Still feels shite but the thought of watching an Alan Pardew team feels worse. That hasn't changed. First day, I'll be hoping for a City win. I want the best for NUFC and at present that is getting humiliated every game until he's gone. Fair points, 2014 matches have been a struggle. I struggle with wanting us to lose, just because I dread who the replacement would be. Ashley has dug up JFK twice and tried really hard to unleash O'Leary on us. I think we'd have to be relegated for him to be sacked - if there was a guarantee Ashley and Pardew would go then I'd take it, but sadly that is not a guarantee. How are any of those choices worse than Pardew though? I mean he's less obviously embarrassing but as a manager he's the fucking pitts, can't think of anyone worse. So you would take JFK over Pardew? I don't like Pardew, but that is absurd. O'Leary, well, after brummie's review of him I'm pleased we avoided him. The grass isn't always greener but when your grass is covered in shit anyway beggars can't be choosers I suppose. I dont want Kinnear, I just don't understand being scared of any alternatives. Even with Kinnear IMO the only way he's worse is that he's no good at convincing people he isn't shit, which apparently Pardew has a fucking PHD in. Make no mistake 99% of the grass is greener. In many ways that's better though, when Kinnear was boss/associated with the club we were an active joke. At least now we're only a joke to ourselves, everybody else has been blinded by Pardew's bullshit. As you say, seemingly Pardew can convince players he's not a total cunt, something Kinnear would probably struggle in. Jesus, this is grim no matter what way you look at it. Welcome Cabella Much better to have a manager who's unquestionably shit than this fraudster. At least the obviously shit manager gets sacked because everyone sees he's shit. We might look a joke for a bit until he's sacked but I'd take that over the horrendous limbo we're in now. Terrible manager who's enough of a bullshiter to keep a lot of people thinking he isn't terrible, that's as bad as it gets IMO. That guy would have been here for life if he didn't have the heart attack

I think we'll get a striker in but it might not necessarily be someone we're all happy with.