kingxlnc

Yeah for sure, it's why Keegan, Dalglish, Souness and Gullit all had pretty good pull even in their early years without much proven success as a manager, all were world class well known and well respected players

Viduka when at Leeds had 4 seasons in a row where he had double figures, like Wood - at a much more attacking team. At Boro, injury hit, he scored 7. 16 and 19 goals next 3 seasons. (He was 29 when he went there). So a similar-ish situation. Wood is probably half the player of Viduka but even if he only got even half of that, it is money well spent.

Nketiah could either be Wellbeck (and therefore struggle for goals his whole career) or could be a Sturridge. At this stage it's pretty low risk to test him out.

A £10m loan fee for six months... for Lingard?! I'm sure Chelsea would accept £10m to lend us Lukaku for six months (not that they need the money) - but anyone mid-table who are safe. Abroad - literally take your pick. You could get pretty much anyone's first-choice striker with the exception of the big CL boys - but most would accept the hit for the season for a £10m payout... if it means they get the player back again in the summer. Ridiculous amount of money to pay for a loan... so if we're willing to pay that, get someone world class for it!

Agreed As we've seen before, legs in the middle (e.g. A N'Golo Kante type) is literally the difference between being at the bottom end one season and finishing top the next season. It would transform us more than any other position.

Yeah that's probably about right Ronnie O Sullivan has achieved a lot more whereas Hatem is more of a nearly man

Ben Arfa is the Ronnie O'Sullivan of football Doesn't care about it enough, hardly practices yet is a capable of being world-beater with natural talent alone

Could watch him all day

The team lacks quality, is ageing, has confidence issues and lacks fitness, for sure. But the biggest thing it’s lacked this season, is luck. Finest margins make a huge difference, and the entire narrative would look different. Brentford, Howes first game, buzzing atmosphere then lose him to Covid. Then Darlow mistakes etc. 2 points gone. Countless incorrect VAR calls this season. clark getting sent off against Norwich. There’s been more positive performances than negative ones under Howe. Even under Bruce, Watford away should have been a win. in terms of losses there’s been 10, 4 less than even Villa. The problem is lack of wins, but the draws show we haven’t been getting hammered like previous relegation seasons. the point of this post is that we’ve had a tough old season so far, and we’ve contributed to our own downfall with silly errors, but we’ve also lacked luck. I’d say, we had two more wins instead of the draws we’d not be saying these are dead certs to go down, instead that we’ve got enough quality to get out of it. so perspective is important and I do think we’ve got enough to get out of it, especially with key additions. It’ll go to the wire, though!!

We should get Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal so our strike force is Wood Rowe Wilson ok I’ll get my coat

I don’t like the idea of all these 25m+ signings. The odd 5-10m signing would be most welcome, the likes of Ginter, Sule, Taglifico whos contracts are running out. The squad needs to be padded out with quality all over. We could even tempt them with Demba Ba like release clauses if relegation does happen.

Honestly a six month stint to save us from relegation would be the stuff dreams are made of and would make him an all time legend. Probably my favourite NUFC player of all time, in terms of how much I enjoyed his style of football. He could defo do a job like 34 year old Peter Beardsley did in the early Keegan years, right? Even if as a playmaker number 10 type. Has he even been linked?

Yes good point I had wondered that too, French international and you have to be decent to play for them

I can just see Howe saying to Digne and Botman next year holding three trophies in his hands and saying to them… big mistake

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.