kingxlnc

Perhaps our next signings will all happen two by two

This Wood signing I feel just papers over the cracks I hope journos are barking up the wrong tree with this one Knowing our luck he'll probably end up in the tree-tment room But I'm sure he'll have a blossoming relationship with Will-oak But a blustery one with Gayle Maybe if he scores the winning goal that keeps us up he will strip to his trunks like Laurent Robert I hope we find out if this is happening a-SAP In a nutshell this has been our most exciting window in 14 years but this is the last time we should axe Howe I expect him to have his best goalscoring form in Septimber At least he has a chiselled jaw Ok I'm done

*Gabigol (Barbosa) Batigol was Batistuta and I would have LOVED him here - my favourite striker growing up after Shearer

That Azmoun sounds like the perfect striker to get in if you want urgency. Will cost £5m, proven, multiple league winner albeit in weaker league but will have strong mentality. Clubs are only willing to pay £3m for him as his deal expires in summer - in that case just double it and get him in ASAP as the number 2 solution. Then you can work on a bigger deal in the background too.

Honest question. With Cambridge below Sunderland right now do you think it would be 7 in a row if they met this current lot in current form? I don’t have faith in their ability to grind out any wins right about now.

This is verging on Mike Ashley levels of non-communication now lol ?

Apart from McClaren who I was severely disappointed about, I was very impressed with the Mitrovic, Wijnaldum, Thauvin and Mbemba window. It was a new spine and four of the most highly rated young players in Europe. Carr was also had a lot of credibility in the bank. just goes to show how vital the right manager is.

I remember seeing Andreas Andersson and think it doesn’t get any worse. the likes of facundo feyrrera, slimani and doumbia im willing to give the benefit of the doubt to as they never got a chance in the team or were injured

The ultimate sliding doors moment - what if SBR replaced Keegan? Or what if Keegan left at the end of the season? With Dalglish and Souness' track record I'm glad we missed out on Gerrard as manager - we defo don't need another Liverpool legend with a Scottish connection in the dugout - as promising as they may seem.

There's two models effectively. The Chelsea and Man City model. And everyone else. What those two clubs have done amazingly well is beyond the initial silly investment into the playing staff and getting a brand new team, the next layer was to build not just world class but world leading infrastructure. With Chelsea, their academy and buying all those young players has made them hundreds of millions now - as well as generated top class talent for the first team. With Man City, they've acquired other clubs in a global model, and have created a system/network and a playing style that is repeated from U7's all the way up to the first team. It's so strategic and so well done, very holistic and interconnected. That's what billions spent right can do - as it future-proofs the club and allows them to join the elite for good. Neither clubs are 'traditional' elite like Man U, Liverpool, Bayern etc - but I can't see them falling from grace any time soon due to how solidly they've been set up and this joined up thinking. We now have money beyond both of these clubs. The $64,000 question is whether we have the thinking and the strategy - as that trumps all. Otherwise you end up with what Everton and Man U etc have done with their multi-millions. Buying £40m players who don't fit the team.

I think perhaps the fact that Keegan is a hopeless romantic and wears his heart on his sleeve naturally endears him that much more, than Shearer who is quite a cold logical steely determined personality. For how much Shearer achieved in the game and at Newcastle too definitely makes him a legend, it really can’t be disputed. Keegan marries up superstar status (2 x Ballon Dor) with a down to Earth quality where he is a man of the people no matter their class. Much of that love and understanding of the area developed during his playing spell where as part of his commercial contract he had to speak at working mens clubs around Newcastle, as well as the fact it was his dads club. Shearer is also superstar status who sacrificed but is more aware of it in that sense. The one thing he isn’t is down to Earth, and don’t blame him, who is in this day and age, when you’ve achieved even a quarter of what he has? Even in these motd top 10 podcasts he does it’s become a running joke how much he selects himself in the top 10, no matter the subject. Keegan is the last vestige of a bygone era for one, and his willingness to come to a club at the very bottom and do his part in elevating it to its potential is what people will never forget. Whereas it’s hard to say if Shearer had chosen Man U or gone to Barca etc that he would have come ‘home’ to a struggling NUFC as he was so driven by personal success.

Never understood the Nolan love he was a good honest professional and had good leadership skills. That’s it. Nowhere near an icon. Given is an icon. Or Lee. We didn’t really miss him as Cabaye was twice the player. Nolan doesn’t even seem as fond or bothered about Newcastle as someone like Joey Barton or Enrique or Jonas or most from that group of lads that Hughton managed.

Totally agree with that, as I mentioned I was the biggest Shearer fan growing up and still am. I just meant I relate more to/am inspired more by keegan now that I’m older. Both of course are absolute legends.

Yes Shearer did something like that when he first came in. Nothing wrong with enforcing stricter rules per se, especially if the team is lax or has problems on that side, but you're right it's quite entry level stuff. With world class player managers - what tends happens with them is that they initially do pretty well, because their stature is such that their very presence may get an extra 2-3% out of players. Souness, Gullit are good examples here. But when their name and star fades because the younger players don't know them as well - and the actual need to be a good manager comes in to play - they start to struggle and get found out for their limited ability. Even with Gerrard's strong start, it remains to be seen if this lasts long term. (It's said he doesn't do much of the coaching anyway, he's quite hands off in that regard, he's more of a figurehead manager). Zidane is another one who did well in his first stint but when things went wrong in second stint, he didn't really know what to do to fix things. Keegan himself was a world class player - and he didn't have all the tricks in his arsenal needed to be a top top coach - although he had stronger communication, influence and empathy skills than most other players do, which helped him in terms of man management. Yeah that Keegan quote about Ginola was to John Beresford the left back who was constantly exposed. He said 'look, I know you'll have to do some extra work but he could win us the league!' Keegan's honesty is legendary and it's obvious why people would run through brick walls for someone like that.

Shearer was an absolute world class player and great icon of the club. And with him being a pundit, he's a fairly good representative in the media, means the club gets spoken about more than it probably usually would in its current state. But in terms of being in touch with what the people want, he doesn't have a clue. He is a legend for on-the-pitch stuff, but off the pitch his opinion isn't anything overly special that you'd tune in or pay good money for. Whereas with Keegan or even SBR, they brought a different level of depth and you'd read and listen to everything they say as not only is it going to be warm and passionate, it's also going to be pretty spot on and insightful. More than anything it is their values and ethos that represent the club above all else. Shearer was a bloody good player, my hero growing up like many but I don't rate him as highly as the others in adulthood in terms of him 'getting it'. He doesn't inspire me as much as the others in terms of what he has to say or in his actions. For what it's worth - I also think he'd be a PFM type of manager so it's a good thing his management career didn't quite take off.

The irony of all this is that with the amount of signage Ashley had up, it was effectively the Sports Direct stadium in all but name. So I’d say there’s bigger fish to fry, that is prime advertising real estate that can bring in millions and give much needed wriggle room. Would Man City have fallen foul of FFP if they didn’t get that etihad upgrade?

Yeah, same here which is weird as I've never been bothered to do that for God knows how long. Keegan's for me were often full of great soundbites all reflecting the fact he truly knows and loves the area and people, and exuded pure passion and ambition. Made you dare to dream. SBR's were classy and full of wisdom and a bit of humour. Wise sage, with youthful energy, loving every minute of the experience. Made you warm and fuzzy. Benitez were just professional and full of tactical knowledge, you appreciated the depth of knowledge and experience he bought to the table, so you trusted his authority. Made you calm and have faith in him, even if not the club in general (esp in a difficult time). With Howe, they are measured, succinct, fairly warm but at an arm's length, super professional and articulate but the main thing I get from him is that he is someone who is high calibre and classy without going overboard. So whilst he is not as charismatic as say, Keegan (who is?!), he has a way about him that is highly influential and commands respect. What his are doing are actually restoring pride and slowly but surely healing the divide. This is good long term as it allows you to get back to supporting the team knowing you having a dynamic figurehead representing the club instead of cringing at yet further embarrassing anecdotes and lip-licking or downplaying expectations.

Honestly think Howe is potentially a Nagelsmann in the making. In Germany, he would have got a shot at one of the bigger clubs sooner, that's for sure. This is the equivalent of taking over a Schalke and restoring them to their glory years. I definitely think he has the potential to do it - as long as it's a semi-fair fight (and the other PL clubs don't change the goalposts).

With the next game it will really feel like the end of the Mike Ashley era and the start of the new one more than ever. Especially if the DoF comes in, Charnley is terminated and Sports Direct signage comes down in these next two weeks. The most apt Wor 'flag' that would be perfect to signal the new era, given the backers, is "Surely after hardship, comes ease." The Holy Qur'an 94:5 Would really echo the sentiments of the fans as we leave a painful wretched time in the past and head towards a bright new future (insha'allah)

That’s dumb. What if your starting centre back gets injured?

Can't help thinking Fonseca would be a Keegan-esque appointment in that what the club needs is a galvanising figure to inject that spark of life into this almost dead club, he has charisma, confidence and plays attacking football with a clear philosophy. I think too many are swayed by the relegation battle aspect and even Emery was prioritised for his pragmatic abilities to manage a defence. But being able to attack doesn't mean not being able to defend. It's not a binary thing. So Fonseca over Howe for me, especially because by all accounts he interviewed well too.

Infrastructure is so important. Conte on day one at Spurs said Im so impressed with the facilities here, I can't wait to.start work and it's made me even more determined to deliver world class results on the pitch to match the world class facilities they have off the pitch. When someone who's been at many of the top clubs says that you know they will bring their a game and want to actually work all hours obsessively to get to success.

The irony is the current version of Saudi are not all too friendly or approving of the Taliban or Afghanistan Seems even the European centre of learning can be wrong from time to time

A good way of tracking all this accounting for inflation is to look at the price of gold historically versus today. 234M in 2007 is equivalent to 387,359 gold oz. In 2021, 305M is equivalent to 241,337 gold oz. That means, it has lost 146,021 gold oz of value over that period. 1 oz is approx £1300 today. You do the math. That’s another £190M on top. The club should have gone for closer to 500m to be a like for like in terms of the club value at the time he bought it. Or, for arguments sake let’s forget the 100m in loans, and we go with the original £134m he paid, versus the £305m it sold for. Using the same calculation it shows that he made a profit of 19,516 oz, or £25M. He bought the club at an amazing time, the time the iPhone came out and the era of apps, streaming, broadband and immense demand for broadcasting rights, literally a license to print money, especially with fans as passionate as Newcastle’s . So after all that, his best case scenario is that he made £25 million profit on a PL club, 14years later at a time of immense riches, and that is also by luck of selling it to the richest owners where money is no object. So please, no one should ever think the guy is a good business man. Don’t get me started on his ethics and Sports Direct controversies…

He bought it without due dilligence, ended up having to put an extra £100m into the club to start with. HiS era coincided with the golden age of the Premier League in terms of investments and profile. Newcastle already had a decent profile, it wasn’t like he was buying Bournemouth or Huddersfield. NUFC could have been sold for a billion had he not mismanaged it to kingdom come. He lost the club over a decade worth of commercial revenue by having his toxic sports direct continually benefit from sponsorship for FREE. Damningly the commercial revenue of the club went DOWN during his time, I don’t even know how that was possible. It was ahead of Tottenham before he took over. He continued to antagonise the chief customers and make the same mistakes over and over. He didn’t put the right management and executive team in place to take care and grow his investment. He got relegated twice all with a club that had been constantly in Europe before he arrived. Nothing about anything he did screams good business man to me. People are short sighted and think oh but he ran the club at a profit. If you’re looking to exit, and get the maximum amount back from your investment you want to add as much value as possible, yet he chose to take value continually. Here’s the real numbers, he bought the club for £134m, put an extra £100m in to it in interest free loans. That’s 234m. 14 years later all you get is £300m for one of the UK’s most historic institutions? £70m is all he’s gained in terms of resale value? That’s probably all inflation anyway, in 2007 pricing and therefore he has probably lost money on everything.