PRL

They appear to be persuading themselves that Lampard would be a good appointment and his Chelsea links would do wonders for them. I’m sure they had a loan from Chelsea last season who didn’t have the best of times.

Seems Will Still might be off to Lens instead. Just the 4 months waiting… shame

I think Hall, Livro and Barnes were all opportunistic long term strategy buys last season - opportunities seen as too good to let go by. With Tonali being the ready to go straight into first team signing. I think/hope that’s burned us and this window we are looking more pragmatically at direct first team players with the majority of funds, as I think we are, if current links are correct. Longer term, the first approach will probably be the way to go, we just aren’t at the stage where the first team is good enough yet.

Where this fails is the number of seasons Arsenal had to give Arteta (and very nearly cut him) versus the likely time Maresca will be given. While they may claim this one is for the long term, their fans are severely pissed Poch was binned, and if they have a shit season having once again sold all their homegrowns, the atmosphere there will be absolutely toxic and the loop will play again.

They’ve already signed his replacement by the sounds of things.

If we must go for DCL, I wouldn’t mind some of the cost being offset by a loan of Minteh to them for a year. Wouldn’t want to sell him and don’t think Everton could afford him.

Not happening is it

Man united have set up well, no doubt about it. But the sheer sloppiness and not give a fuck from city, continuing into this half, is fucking tragic

Absolute fucking gobshites

He was miles on mind, lines on pitch showed the lad on far side playing on

City players definitely still hungover from partying by looks of this

Feel a lot better this is City’s last game of the season. Would be more concerned if a CL final next week with potential for Guardiola to save players.

Romano retweeting his story from April about the clause coming into play from next week too. Someone definitely trying to put him in shop window I fear.

Chuffed he’s picking on form, frustrating he’s doing it on the eve of a tournament as opposed to 6 months earlier where they could have got some more game time together.

If luck goes our way with injuries and draws, I don’t think Top 3 and another final is outrageous. Don’t think we will keep up with City and Arse, but wide open below that.

Caicedo and Enzo were too…

Liverpool is a fucking disease. Everyone who goes there (bar very few exceptions) becomes suitably cuntish

At least we will have a lovely apology from Howard Webb coming up. Yay

Firstly, it won’t get scrapped. Secondly, I would be hugely surprised if anyone who goes to games regularly is against it being scrapped. It has single handedly destroyed a huge amount of the unbridled joy and delirium that go into attending football. Ball hits net, glance at ref and linesman, go fucking mental. I don’t care whether it’s the fault of technology or officials. Football without that is materially less fun than it used to be and I want it back. Bad decisions can be rowed about post match if you like, when you’re in the ground it’s rare that you can even see a bad decision at the time. the problem with football is it’s for those watching on telly now, not those in the ground

All that typing, even googling Rita's surname, and it's NE1 I'm going to have lost the crowd with... lesson learned.

Haha, is Roy sad about the use of bowls or overly restrictive postcodes?! It's an outlandish and hypothetical suggestion that wouldn't happen, I know that... I'm just intrigued as to if those who wouldn't want to move would relent if there was mitigating circumstances, whether there's a route to something that could work for most/all.

Would people vote to move ground if it was to 90-100k on the town moor, with the top bowl or both ends (30-40k) distributed to under 40s in NE1 postcodes for £200 a season ticket as priority, before moving to others within an NE1 postcode after, before any general sale if left, with as much as allowed safe standing. The 10-15k hospitality could cover close to SJP revenues, then current season ticket holders could have first dibs to the more premium tickets or those in safe standing and other areas after the above (if over half don't want to be in safe standing, they'll be good with closer to the pitch and seated). By the time this was built, the women's team would be challenging towards the top of the WSL, SJP would become their stadium and they would fill it (we would still be fairly starved of relative success and the fans would pack in for reasonable price to cheer our female galacticos to the title). At the same time we would suddenly have the best stadium in the UK, with the most vibrant atmosphere and some of the best facilities. We could host gigs most weekends (modern stadia with a floor that comes out and covers the pitch), NFL would come to SJP, it would bring huge tourist revenue to the city on non-game weekends as we put on the best and biggest events outside London, and you can catch the train to Newcastle and walk to the game or gig - not spend an age on a sixties era tram waiting for Rita Sullivan to get mown down in front of you... I'm completely accepting this is unrealistic, but if it offered a new generation of fans access for good pricing, an uplift in atmosphere, remaining in city centre and a huge bump in the economy of Newcastle... would people go for it?

But if we are all accepting it's borderline to June 30th, all those players above are passing another year of amortisation, we sell some players for 'pure FFP profit' and we have some new revenues, and then every new signing is Xm/5 year contract, could it not be that we actually are more comfortable than folk think? We'll only know come Sep 1.

And Hall for £28m... And Livro for close to £40m (I think). If we had no major injuries this season, chances are £60-70m would have sat on bench for future. I don't think we bring in anyone other than a RW who goes straight into team. Even the CD will go in and potentially come out once Botman fit.

He’s not as good as those guys with ball at feet, but looks more comfortable than Pope… which feels a low bar to be fair. Honestly I’ve just watched highlights rather than live matches, so this is purely my opinion, don’t watch enough of other leagues to have genuine insight.