Mattoon

Why does Sting look like he's possessed by the devil?

Too early for Sissoko allegedly, I think he'll start Gouffran, Diame and Richie behind Gayle today.

We seriously want to offer £10.52 and a lion bar

Busted

Should have for him to do a little leave dance in front of the cameras

JFK, the man is a legend

I said this weeks ago and got ridiculed for it! If you say it in every thread, on every post, people may start to agree with you.

The comment below the article is spot-on: I'm pretty sure even the commentators said that at the time.

It's not like you mention it in every post or anything, on every thread. Fwiw I think Rafa asked for £35m because that's the only price he'd be willing to let him go at, not because that's how much he believes he's worth. Rafa clearly wants to keep him and I trust the guy that trains with him every day and talks to him about his plans over someone pissing themselves on a forum. If Rafa wants to keep him he clearly thinks he can do a job for us and would be committed to do so. As others have said, he'd be one of if not the best player in the league, why would we not want him to stay?

Lets also try get Shola and Obertan back on loans for cover Bit harsh on Gouffran that. I'd certainly give him a chance. He was quite highly rated by most on here at first. He's just not a defensive winger. I'm not saying he's good but certainly worth a shot in the Championship. There seemed to be a point where his aggression in the way he played just went. He stopped trying to drive forward when in possession, when he had looked tricky at first, and stopped making runs into the box, it was like he'd suddenly been told he wasn't allowed to attack anymore.

Can I suggest a Tena Lady?

I don't think there's a Riviere love in, more like an understanding that Gayle is playing 90 minutes ball watching and we need someone to make it stick, we need another dimension up top and there aren't many options right now. If Rafa thinks he's ready for a shot then why not see how it goes? Hook him off if it's not working, but it's not working as it is right now.

Good to see Tiote back if that's accurate, but Gouffran? Not keen on Gouffran but he has to be a better option than Anita on the right Shirley?

we had nolan, the end. pretty sure barton only got 1 that season (free kick i think?) and i'd back diame to outscore both guthrie and raylor, and ritchie to outscore them all. lets not pretend we had plenty of goals from midfield last time, nolan aside, we really didn't. 35 goals from midfield is quite a lot like, Nolan got just under half of those. totally agree on nolan, but ritchie could quite feesibly hit/surpass his figures. the others mentioned, guthrie got 4, barton got 1, raylor got 4. Diame did that on his own for hull last season. they were hardly prolific. On one hand you're saying they weren't prolific, then saying we should ignore the one who was. As a unit they were, it doesn't matter so much where they come from individually, in fact it's better if they all get a few as it means we don't lose out so much when injuries hit. Put it this way, I'll be absolutely fucking astonished if we score 35 goals from midfield this season. I think the argument is that it doesn't matter how few each of them got, it's the fact that they all chipped in. We can't expect one player now to pick up the slack of 3 or 4 other players in a sense of scoring.

At this point in time surely Riv is worth the gamble?

I liked Anita at RB and tbh he seems the safer option than Janmaat right now, but I wouldn't put Janmaat on the wing, I think we've got better options.

I don't think I could ever "like them" but I'd show them a little more respect with a bit of ambition.

Not confident of anything right now, but we need to shut fucking Stam up, the bald, gobby twat.

Watching that just made me a little less intelligent, thanks.

Tiote played well towards the end of last season, the only explanation I can find for him not playing is he's one of the players Rafa intimated about in the supporters meeting. Saivet is just a mystery, how did he ever end up here? Fwiw I'd still give Sissoko a game while he's here, even a not fully focused Sissoko can't be much worse than we're seeing at the moment. I also agree with the mentality, yes confidence will grow with a win but I think mental fortitude is at such a low ebb right now we'd soon collapse if we went a goal down again, we need a good run and soon.

Definitely not just Shelvey to blame but he is an asthmatic 80 year old who doesn't give his all, part of the problem not the solution.

Not to mention no team has gone on the run Rafa had at the end of last season and still been relegated, the guy is a top manager not a miracle worker. Everyone has concerns, when you lose your first two games after relegation you have to have concerns. The difference is most are not pissing their knickers and believing the best manager we've had since Sir Bobby isn't up to the task.

We're just getting a lot of the ball and don't know what to do with it, I think it's obvious to all that we don't have the personel to penetrate a team that sits back on us and until that changes every team in the league is going to play the same way, sit back and wait for a break. We need some teeth and we'll dominate, we're too one dimensional at the moment, Rafa will change that.

Remember last season, it took time for the confidence to come and Benitez mentioned it as an issue after almost every game. We've now got loads of new players, most of which never played regularly in front of fans like ours, and the added dynamic of us being strong favourites for the title. Benitez himself has only been in charge of the club for a dozen competitive games. It's going to take a while to find a rhythm. Benitez will get it right, but he'll need some more options in this squad. Lacking in pace and goals at the moment. Ashley needs to make sure he gets whoever he wants one way or another. It's not like we're short of cash. Agreed, statement required in the next two weeks IMO. Look at Villa's striking options. We need similar. It definitely feels like we've bulked out our squad with squad players for sure we need some real first team options to make a difference. Without the right players were always going to be short in areas and lop-sided. Trouble is this has been a pattern for far too long at NUFC and it needs to change. Just give him the money and let him get on with it!

And some Germans, they're ruthless.