McCormick

I think needing someone to blame is just a way for some people to cope with disappointment.

Don’t think any of those options Hope mentioned are particularly terrible tbh. All significantly worse than Isak for sure but wtf are people expecting? We’re never going to replace him with anyone of comparable quality; he’s one of if not the best players in his position in the world.

Nice to see it’s not just cartel clubs that can make players go on strike.

Fair, then. Let’s get him in.

Only for him to be banned for life a month later?

We had one by YAR tbf when they first came in “we will be number 1” etc. Listen, I like to rag on PIF a lot but despite being slower than 90’s dial-up internet, they often hire the best-in-class and the final product is usually quite good. We could definitely have worse owners.

If you're convinced a new ground is just around the corner, let me introduce you to a little project called the Kingdom Tower... This was announced almost 20 years ago and it’s still not finished . Might even be another decade before it’s done ffs. So buckle up, folks; it’s PIF we’re dealing with. The masters of grand announcements, vague timelines, and projects that move at the speed of tectonic plates. It’ll get done imo but I wouldn’t expect anything resembling haste.

Reckon it’s mainly because a bunch of our so-called rivals have already spaffed their loads all over the place, leaving us with a clearer shot at some top players. Wouldn’t hold my breath though, our earlier attempts this summer don’t exactly inspire confidence.

One other thing worth noting: if there’s a theory that they were more engaged earlier in the project, the recent dip in marketing activity could lend some weight to that. IMO though, I’d see it more as a result of not having a fully locked-in leadership group at the moment, rather than any massive loss of interest.

It’s not a massive push, like and the cynic in me is thinking it’s more about marketing Sela than NUFC but it’s at least something. They could be doing a lot more though.

It’s pretty well known in Saudi that Newcastle is PIF’s club, and that connection definitely sparks interest among local football fans. That said, for many, we’re more of a “second” or even “third team”; as you’d expect, there’s still a stronger pull toward the bigger, more glamorous European clubs. Like in a lot of places, fans here tend to follow individual stars more than teams, so someone like Isak probably has a higher profile than NUFC as a whole. So I can see why YAR is taking a particular interest in the whole selling him saga. On the marketing front, there have been some visible efforts. I’ve seen digital billboards in major malls highlighting the Sela–Newcastle partnership, and to be fair, Sela have been great at keeping us in the spotlight. Club merch also seems a lot more available than before; whether that’s thanks to our recent success, the adidas deal, or just better distribution, it’s hard to say. That said, there still doesn’t seem to be a focused or long-term strategy in place to really build the NUFC brand across the region. There’s definitely potential there and it has improved, it just hasn’t been fully tapped yet.

Issue is they’re both asking for similar wages which, it seems, we can’t accommodate.

Guehi wouldn’t lift a finger to force a move to us last season, and now we’ve got Isak kicking the door down to leave. Why is it never us on the right end of this shit? Infuriating, man.

Textbook engagement farming. Why not spill in the same post? Fine, I’ll bite like others have, gone where?

Oh I don’t know, maybe because Mitchell was just a walking disaster from the moment he showed up? It’s not like he immediately managed to alienate everyone actually good at the club. But yeah, let’s all play dumb and act like it’s some big mystery why anyone would have an issue with him. I should probably relax tbf ... but you won’t catch me letting any Mitchell sympathy slide.

Not sure we’d have won but it’d lessen the blow substantially if we can get someone of his pedigree. Think he’s overrated personally but there’s no doubting it’d be a coup considering how many “bigger clubs” (in quotations out of spite) were interested in him.

It would make me feel better, for one.

Let’s be honest now, this is a full blown, technicolour shitshow.

ugh. Fuck off. Bit late now you melt, all the top strikers are gone. Ship him off to Hilal.

Liverpool already snapping up Ekitike and then going on to get Isak too would seriously send me over the edge. That’s not just a gut punch; it’s way worse than the worst-case scenario I thought was even possible a few weeks ago.

Ugh. Just pleasse not to Liverpool.

Sesko will want at least 200k a week. We can’t have both him and Isak on our books at the same time.

In case the Wissa deal goes tits up or along with?

If we were signing Lookman for £10m more, I imagine a lot of the skeptics would be far more enthusiastic. The two have very similar profiles, and in my opinion, Wissa is actually the better player and just a year older. I also don’t think there’s a significant gap between him and Mbeumo- a player everyone would have understandably been thrilled about us signing- and he went for twice the price. Yeah, yeah he’s like 3 years younger tbf but still.

Came in and immediately pissed off just about everyone; most notably Eddie. Was arrogant and condescending from day one and achieved nothing for all his bluster.