sixx

Fredericks is fucking shite. Such a shame ASM isn’t out there tormenting him.

A defining feature of a good manager is the ability to make seemingly mediocre players play at their highest potential of ability. We saw it regularly with Benítez and so so often with SAF. Looking back he somehow managed to win the league routinely at a canter with players like O'Shea, Fortune, Cleverley and Anderson often playing key roles. Has to be handed to Howe, this transformation is amazing and is a testament to his ability.

Leaving aside me being a fan and speaking as an urban planner and a non Newcastle resident - SJP is unique in most every sense. I can’t belive this is even being discussed. It’s a defining monument for the city itself and the club. How it’s weaved into the fabric of the city and rests so beautifully on a hilltop visible from everywhere - from the outside looking in, this is almost unbeatable. It really gives a sense of what NUFC means to the community and the city in general. It should be a core tenet of the club and the city moving forward.

Would like Bruno to start this. We need confidence on the ball when Trippier's out. Most of ours are quite scared of receiving the ball under pressure.

1. CB. Hopefully Botman can become a kind of a legacy player like Kompany at City. 2. ST. Schick looks good. Can't say about other options. 3. RW. Ismaila Sarr or Raphinha. I like Fraser but I'd like him more as a back up player. 4. LB. Get Targett in. This would be a great window for me. Other additions absolutely welcome like another CB or a defensive midfielder but not critical.

Very solid. Probably gives ASM a better platform for him to do his sorcery. Even chipped in with a good cross. Shame it went to the smallest man in the PL.

Can't believe we've managed to sign him. Brings absolutely everything to the fold we needed - leadership, set pieces, crossing, tackling and just lifts everyone around him to another level. You can really see how the other players look up to him and try to find him whenever. Like he relishes having the ball under pressure. Boy did we need that. And it seems Bruno brings similar elements to the fold. We've had too many players scared of having the ball under pressure. Massive big dick energy.

I’m not sure if we’ve had a player of Trippier’s quality in 15+ years. He’s like a safe box, his teammates try to find him where- and whenever because they know the ball is in good custody with him.

Joelinton you donkey

Hope the girl gets all the support and protection she can get. Truly awful.

Dan Burn and Eddie Nketiah are very much Bournemouth type signings. Not very inspiring but will probably do a job.

If Burnely wind up with Origi and we with Wood we'll have an egg on our face. If Origi becomes available we should be all over that.

Just looked through who Everton have signed the last few seasons. Dear me. Looks like they spent almost 100 million on Iwobi, Walcott and Gbamin (who?). You can't really fault them for trying. They've also had two managers recently in the world class bracket but fuck me their recruitment is abysmal. Really seems they have a preference in buying from other PL clubs.

Couldn't care less about him if Bruno arrives. Would have preferred van de Beek put he seems shy of a challenge. Not what we need.

Would he be better suited to partnering Lascelles or Schar?

Let's not assume it's entirely impossible to bring in players in January. We bought six players January 2013. We need options, just bodies in, someone to take a chance on. Even if they aren't walking straight into the XI we need competition and cover for nearly all positions.

We seem absolutely hell bent on getting this guy.

I’d like Alli but he works best in a bit of a free role behind the striker. Not sure we can tactically afford that with ASM already having a free role. Spurs fans generally seem puzzled as to what happened to him but it seems mostly mental. Maybe a change of environment could do him good. I’d absolutely trust Howe to rediscover him. Our owners seem really intent not coming across as they can be held to a ransom in the transfer market. Seems like they’re overthinking things a bit much.

Sit down man, Wood literally set a record in winning aerial duels. He’ll be useful until Wilson’s back.

Always had a soft spot for him. Looked really good at cb under Rafa for a while and was uncannily fast over long distance. Guess it’s over for him now.

I'd be inclined to put him in a back three along with Schar and Lascelles. Trippier and Ritchie (meh) as wing backs. A new midfielder behind Shelvey and Joelinton. Saint-Maximin in a free role and Wood (meh) up top.

This is looking very rough. The owners have to get used to the pace. Took far too long in sacking Bruce, far too long in hiring a replacement and should have had more lined up before the transfer window opened. I'm fairly sure this means we're down. Spurs hired Conte literally the day after sacking Nuno and we don't seem to be able to compete with Villa for players. It's massively frustrating.

At this level and given the predicament we're in it's all about putting very average players to good use and acknowledge their limitations. We saw it so clearly with Benítez. All of a sudden players like Dummett, Lascelles, Dúbravka or Hayden executed their roles quite impressively. They clearly had extremely detailed instructions on how to react on and off the ball, almost as if they had been given a script of the game beforehand. Given what Howe has achieved with an absolute toilet of players in the past I'm quite confident he can do exactly that. Think we most desperatly need full backs in the next window but a centre back or a centre midfielder wouldn't hurt. We really need to build a spine to this squad as soon as possible.

Probably zero chance of a manager like Rodgers coming in at this point. Why would he or Poch or even Potter for that matter leave an exciting project for a relegation scrap? Rangnick as a manager would be perfect, perhaps then as a DoF later on. Very experienced, great tactician, not shy of a challenge and has considerable experience of building clubs with newfound money from the bottom up. If he's interested we'd be bonkers not pursuing him. Conte would probably be my first choice though. This is exciting. I am currently feeling excitement towards NUFC. What the fuck.

If Southgate doesn’t show up in Qatar playing front foot positive football with all this attacking talent then he really deserves criticism. He has already tried the cautious approach and it cost him. I also think it’s quite underplayed how inexperienced most of your players are. Mount, Mings and Sancho have done 2 seasons of proper football. Kalvin has 1 season of top tier football under his belt as have Bellingham and Saka. Even Grealish pretty much has only 2 proper seasons under his belt.