Heron

Twat

Generally I find a lot of our "dangerous play" with regards to conceding stems from players being "between the lines". I feel having a designated DM stops that. I also feel that Howe builds "relative risk" into his game on the premises that we are better than the opposition at punishing from said risk. Kinda risk versus opportunity, if you like.

Errrrrr nope. Why?

I feel our midfield is too flat tbf.

We're gonna do them at home in the cup. Mark my word.

Their midfielder scored both their goals? Do you mean our defending or our defence?

What

Was disappointed he got himself booked for what he did. He would have been anyways and probably luckily escaped a red overall after being booked. He's better than that. However, did a good job of stopping Haaland from scoring (as always). This man needs a statue. Geordie personified.

Caused problems again. Just not sure about his antics once again tbh. The whole long, disguised discussions with Guehi. Meanwhile Dan Burn and Haaland probably generated massive mutual respect and neither were interested in what shirts they could swap. I get it. It's my bias. I just cannot shake it.

Good observation. I agree.

Needs to be tougher. Too much fannying on like a daft cunt.

Rigged.

We shall see.

Just beat them. Fuck the title race.

Just been looking there and we played 4 from the bottom section, 4 from the middle and 1 from the top. So decided to keep myself entertained and assign 1 point to section 3, 2 to the middle section (where we are) and 3 points to the top section. In terms of difficulty (based on end group position) English sides have faced; Chelsea 18pts Arsenal 16pts Liverpool 16pts Spurs 16pts Man City 14pts Newcastle 14pts Chelsea faced the most top 8 sides with 2. Liverpool, Man City and Spurs played no top 8 sides. In the middle section Man City played 6 with us and Chelsea playing 3. Bottom section Spurs, Liverpool and us played 4 and Man City played 2. Interestingly, in the group phase only Chelsea and Newcastle finished below teams they'd played - with 2 each. However, by the time we've played Qarabag again we'd have 18pts and be topping that list with Chelsea. Having beat a mid table team twice (hopefully!), and arguably having worked harder to get through than the rest despite not performing best to get through. Worthwhile noting that we haven't spent years upon years building our squad like the other English sides too. As you mentioned we played none of the bottom quarter or so of the group phase though. So, I think I'd finally conclude that we absolutely deserve our place in the last 16 having done well enough to get into a decent playoff position and secure an easier tie in the playoff phase. Despite the fact Man City and us have probably under-performed in the competition ever so slightly. Looking at the games played though it's only really the loss at Marseille that is not really all that good. Had we drawn that we'd have finished above all but one of the teams we played, who finished top 8 and we'd have still finished just outside. Top of the playoff section. The 9th best side. Says it all. Finally - I have no idea why I've bothered my arse doing this explanation. But hey ho. I hope you enjoyed.

If it looks like his last two games or returns to his first 2 months it will go up too...

He effectively was a young kid dropped in during a "no available recognised striking option crisis" though wasn't he? Into a new league in a new country and a new role in a new team. He's scored and assisted once every 3 games. I think that's an alreet return. The price...well that was defined by our desperation and the fact folk know we had plenty money, not on fair market value.

Newcastle unbeaten away in all competitions since February 5th.

But some would tell you Eddie gets his family into cushy roles and we only sign shite as a result...

Maybe for me it's a case of rose tinted glasses as a bright eyed and bushy tailed junior magpie.

Most likely but I think Euro 96 is when I recall everything being purely joyous about the beautiful game. I was around 7 years old fwiw. It became far more business orientated around 2010. Now it feels like we discuss the politics of the game and the rules and tournament changes as much as, if not more than, the game itself.

Probably should have had six tonight but an excellent performance nonetheless. His acceleration really caused them issues. Great penalty taker and seems to be finding a bit more form centrally at present. Fair play. Good to see a bit more joy around him presently too. Looks less laboured. Not convinced he is a CF like.

The issue, as is the case with most rules that have been implemented, and changes to fixtures and tournament formats is that it's all geared towards TV and money, but then perhaps that's also what makes it all the spectacle it is. 1996 was when football probably peaked tbh.

Was a harsh pen for me. Not sure where an individual puts there arm when attempting to slide if not to protect their own body from hitting the floor with greater velocity. In the grand scheme of things it didn't or wouldn't have mattered, but aye...

Should be embarrassed we conceded against that bunch of Sunday League farmers tbh. Enough is enough. Howe Out.