McCormick

Obligatory, "can he play CAM?" post.

Ugh. Good signing for them.

Fuck's sake.

Re: Correa- Unfortunately he'll probably also cost around 30 million. Loan deal may be feasible though...

What sort of slow is he? If he's Colback slow where he ends up pulling down players who run past him then it hardly seems worth it. Seems slightly on the slow side for the Portuguese league which, one would assume, is slower than the premier league. Defensively he seems solid enough, and I don't think i really have to say that he'd be a better option in the middle than Colback. FWIW I personally despise the man. He's an ex's "friend" -said ex wouldn't stop gushing about how much of a "great guy"he was- and tbf when I met him he was an absolute gent with abounding charisma, angelic hair and the kindest eyes God ever put in a human skull. So yeah just an absolute tosser, really.

Meh. He's a bit slow for a holding midfielder in this league imo and makes too many errors due, in part, to poor positional awareness. That being said, he's a decent passer of the ball and should theoretically give our attacking players some defensive cover; strong, with a decent engine too. 13 odd million seems a reasonably fair price for him, I would say.

Look at this wrongcunt.

Happy new year, guys

He's honestly the best striker of his type in the Championship imo. Not trying to be a wum but he's better (or should I say more proven) than Mitrovic in the targetman role.

He's actually quite good, best targetman in the division imo. Scored 27 goals the season before last and hit around 10 in a season where he was struggling with injuries. Underwhelming but he'll surely be 3rd choice, won't hamper our other strikers' progress, is an experienced head in the dressing room and will likely score in and around 10-15 goals. I mean it's not exactly exciting but it makes sense for 3.5 million.

Nothing wrong with Murphy; old af but one of the best target-men in the division.

I was a bit harsh on Austria there, to be fair. I'm all in now. "Throw another shrimp on tha barbie!!"

Fucking Austria?? Okay...

okay...

All right, I'm in.

You're in for a treat.

Even though the guy resembles a human-male that's been grafted exclusively out of expensive codpieces, I can't bring myself to hate on that luscious head of hair. Dat sheen, man.

Cattermole is getting brutalized on BBC Live Scores

L'OM fans really dislike him. Personally, I'm really in two minds over this deal. When Cabella was coming to Newcastle, French journalists- while citing his lack of physicality- had nothing but glowing reviews over the attitude and ability of a player who was a key component (often from the bench admittedly) for a title winning side. Their predictions were that, although he might need time to adapt, Newcastle were getting a really good player with a strong appetite for success. Now contrast that to our signing of Thauvin. Although a few years ago he was being touted as the next Ribery, he has regressed massively. Most of the same journalists are ridiculing a deal that sees us (essentially) giving away a more established player as well as overpaying for a massively out of form player who may never live up to his potential. The guy could be a superstar, or he could be a rather expensive foreign flop. I guess this is Newcastle though; bags of potential with excitement, twinned with the specter of disappointment looming. Nervous about the deal but looking forward to seeing if he can realize his potential in a black and white shirt.

He regularly gets out-muscled in Ligue 1 though.

As much as I rate Thauvin, you'd have to say Cabella is the better (well at least more consistent) player at this moment in time. We're taking a big gamble here in my opinion.

Sissoko.

Dat ass.

Not according to most French journalists and French football fans. A quick scan of Twitter confirms that. Most seem to think that he has played poorly recently but he's got HUGE potential and ability that not many others have in France (hence so many comparisons to Ben Arfa). Cabella was never rated that highly. Potential-wise yeah, despite his erratic form last season, most people will say Thauvin has the higher ''ceiling'' as it were. On current ability, I'd put them more or less level; I would disagree that Cabella wasn't highly rated in France but Thauvin seems to have a bigger reputation.

Although I have a lot of time for Thauvin, he's very lightweight, inconsistent and (at best) is as good as Cabella. He also seems to have regressed in the last 2 years when he was being touted as one of the top prospects in France so, as per, it looks like we're gambling on him realizing his potential here.