bobbydazzla

It was my pleasure.

Aye, agree with that. I try and focus on what Howe definitely has some level of control over. The tactics, selection, mentality, subs etc etc. Personally I don’t criticise him for the signings, because most of the commentary about who was signed and why is just speculation. So I don’t know what role he actually played in the recruitment. But the way the team performs on the pitch is largely down to him. So how shite / good we’ve been is what I’ll judge him on.

@Coffee_Johnny Stats are good. I like stats. Especially ones that aren’t predictive. But this is very important:

I said the stats were useful. I also said wider context was useful.

Paul McCartney is one of the greatest and most popular songwriters the worlds ever known. The man has genius level songwriting talent. When’s the last time he wrote a decent song ? The man who was at the heart of some of the greatest, most influential and most popular music ever recorded, also wrote and recorded the fucking Frog Chorus. Past success is not always an indicator of future success. At some point most people with talent experience decline and never get back to their best. That’s just life.

Thats exactly why I said stats only tell part of the story. They’re interesting but need to be taken in context with other factors, such as my opinions I’ve expressed about what I see with my own eyes. Do those stats take into account we broke the world transfer record when Keegan was in charge and we had ambitions to win the league, but Rafa was shopping in the whoopsie aisle at a club that only had one ambition and that was to not get relegated ? Interested to know who I should blame for the shite we’re being served up on the pitch week after week after week if I’m not blaming the manager ?

Statistics only tell part of the story. They’re useful to compare and contrast but don’t take into account what we’re seeing with our own eyes and the circumstances the club was in when each manager was in charge. Context is important when looking at numbers. We’re turgid, stale, easy to score against, shit in front of goal, we stick with the same flawed tactics week after week after week, drop points from winning / drawing positions more than any other side in the league, we’ve got a prevailing attitude of defeatism and concede more late goals than any other NUFC side I’ve ever watched. We have players we’ve spent millions of billions on who are being played out of position or not played at all and too many players in the side are on the decline or at the end of their careers but still starting games because the manager feels he can trust them.

I was on the border where the standing corner becomes the seated Gallowgate and the couple of standing spots next to me were empty. I got my ticket on Friday night and those spots weren’t available to buy so they either went up for sale y’day and didn’t sell, or the people just didn’t turn up.

Decider for what ? World Championship for Chicken Dipper Scranning ?

Aye, one thing that rarely gets considered is that Eddie might be fucking sick of NUFC and looking for a way out. And there’ll be millions of quids at stake if he’s fired rather than walks.

Unusually for me I needed a piss at 35 mins so nipped down to the bogs, the amount of blokes stood by the bar scranning chicken dippers and watching it on the tellies took my breath away

We don’t know if he can do it but we also don’t know he can’t do it. Might ditch Eddie and wake up next to a stinker. Might ditch Eddie and get a proper glamma thing.

Plays like he’s on loan from MK Dons

Was in the corner and it was lacking the usual volume. Dread to think what the rest of the ground was like

I would have been as good as Pele and Maradona’s lovechild but Broomley First School U9’s collectively fell off a cliff in the spring of 1987

Watched him during the half time subs sesh and I don’t think I saw any of our players look him in the eye Pure bad vibes

That was fucking tragic. Not just the result. Everything about that was rancid. Off the back of a battering at Barca and 2 x identikit losses one of which was the derby. Genuinely struggling to see how he turns this round. Feels like the end of the Howe era to me.

Fortunately I’m not planning to watch any of the World Cup apart from when I’m in Amsterdam and the Netherlands play Sweden because the amount of unbelievably beautiful women of both nations who are gathered round tellies in bars to watch that game will be a sight to behold.

Talking about needing attacking swagger is good, I like that. But he also needs to sort out the slapstick clown defending and the gaping holes in midfield.

You sound like a Chair or CEO who's about to offer Steve Bruce a contract.

Always interesting to get an outsiders perspective and a lot of what you say feels like astute observations. The point about Le Bris is interesting, if it wasn’t for the fact he’s managing those hillbillies down the road then based on what he’s done this season I’m sure a few would be mentioning his name alongside other PL names that consistently get suggested like Iraola, Silva etc And before anyone piles in, I’m not saying we should go for Le Bris or he’s better than Howe, am just saying that he’s doing a decent job for them and may well be on the radar of bigger clubs but he’ll not be on our radar, for the glaringly obvious reason. Nothing more than that.