ponsaelius

Aye that's fair enough - Esplanade is still very ropey. And the junction between B&M, South Parade and the stretch of Whitley Road is the worst bit of the town centre for sure. But even there is finally starting to see some positive changes (see my posts above). The council are supposed to be doing a regeneration plan for the town centre this year so you've got to hope they focus on that area as the other side of town doesn't really need any more help. I don't know what can be done but improving public realm, making it a nicer pedestrian crossing and maybe grants for shop fronts would be a start to instigate change.

There's a three bed mid terrace, no garden, recently renovated to a decent spec, just off roughest bit of the high street that has gone on the market last week. On for £375k. Would genuinely have cost half that 5 years ago. It's gone absolutely nuts. I feel for locals who can no longer afford to rent/buy here just as it's turning a corner. Definitely feel like we've de-railed the thread. In other news Tonali's lass was in Leazes Park today - wonder what she thinks of flattening it for a new stadium.

Preach brother! I'm sitting outside having Italian coffee and lunch in probably the ropiest bit of the town right now, with one of the roughest pubs opposite. It's changing all the time. Personally I love that it's not too gentrified (yet). (this is the cafe btw - definitely worth a visit if you haven't been in yet)

Well I live there now and disagree! You'll struggle to find a street in a town of this size that have as many great independent businesses as Park View does. The main centre around Whitley Road is ropey but even so it's not dead. It's just a rough town centre that poor people happen to live near. It has shops and businesses that I use every single day (including a great cinema!). I probably wouldn't say the same if I lived near Tynemouth High St, as lovely as it is for a day/night out. Honestly town centres are struggling all over the country, even in some of the wealthiest areas. Gosforth High St is pottered with empty units at the moment. Not just the economic situation of running small businesses but the extinction of high street uses entirely leaving marquee buildings unused (see all high st banks closing branches). Most places just probably have too many retail/business uses these days as there's only so many coffee shops you can open. The southern end of Whitley Road is obviously the worst bit of the town at the moment (although it's actually finally seeing some life over last 12 months) but I just don't know if the place is big enough to support what is effectively two high streets.

Whey we live pretty much centre of Whitley and love it.

Whitley is Northumberland coastline man. Anyway he'll have plenty time to meet yokels further north, but for now he can settle in and enjoy civilization. Hope he got to meet Jonny Decker.

She's out in Whitley now.

Forest are considering selling their prized asset to another middling PL club because they got themselves into such a hole with FFP last year. Other PL clubs aren't that daft anymore, they know they have to buy young and with cheaper wages, they have a whole world to scout players from. In the past we might have had some luck flogging to Championship clubs. These days we can't even get Champ clubs to take them on loan with us paying most of their wages.

People thinking we will be getting £10-15 million for Lascelles with a year left on his deal are having a bubble. Again I make the point that Coady went for less at the same age despite being a far better player with 10 England caps who's been a 38 game a season player for years. And that was sold to a very narrow market of a promotion chasing Champ club with PL parachute payments. Honestly if we could get these kind of fees for these players they'd already be gone. The market just isn't there. PL clubs are far cuter. We were desperately lucky that there happened to be one exception to that rule in Forest - but even then we only got a nominal transfer fee for Shelvey because of his wages.

We won't get more than £5-10 million for the lot, and that's if we are lucky.

Premier League clubs are not stupid like they used to be. The likes of Brentford and Bournemouth etc might be small clubs but they're ran by serious people, data driven, solid sporting and business models. The days of clubs having no scouting network to speak of and just buying solid aging pros on big salaries to stay up is gone. I just can't see any market for Lascelles in this game. I like him and he's been a good pro for NUFC but he is not a modern PL defender and is a depreciating asset. A comparable player is maybe Conor Coady who Wolves managed to get £7 million for at the same age. But he's a better player, played multiple times for England, played far more football in recent years. And he's been signed by a Championship club looking to recruit for a specific promotion niche. Clubs will still see some value in an experienced solid defender in a dressing room, like Brentford picking up somebody like Ben Mee. But he was a free transfer.

Every club in the land is dealing with FFP and financial controls. Players with potential or age on their side (and low wages) will continue to go for big money, but aging average players on big contracts you will just not be getting fees for anymore. Every single club has to operate in a landscape where players are financial assets to be bought and sold with the future in mind. It's honestly a bloody miracle that we had Forest give us money for Wood and a nominal fee for Shelvey in this market.

It isn't like. Dubravka is an injury prone 34 year old goalie and Lascelles has a year left on his deal. Just because it's what you want it to be doesn't mean that's what it is. If we could get £25 million for those two they'd already be long, long gone. Time and time again it is clear we more or less can't give our fringe players away because they're crap and yet people think it's football manager. If we could sell people like that we wouldn't be considered cashing in on a genuine asset like Maxi.

Plus you're not getting £25 million for that lot

2 zip

Rather than postponing you'd think it would be better to just flip the fixture with the return one.

He had 3 really brilliant years. Best player in the Championship right up to being PL team of the season in 2012. Absolutely imperious at times. However I think it was gradually diminishing returns ever since he put in the transfer request to go home the following season. It was almost weird that he ended up staying another 3.5 years after that. I think his worsening performances and ultimately captaining the team to relegation was a sad way for things to end and overall he ended up having arguably more average/poor seasons than he did good. That said it would have been absolutely fascinating to see him in a proper side like our current one, with a stronger defensive partner and under a manager like Howe.

In fact watching that sky sports video half of them are crackers with his left It's clearly his swinger technique wise but he's definitely very competent with his left which is a massive threat. Totally different to Miggy who won't even use his right at all. Be great if he could mix it up and play both sides, despite all previous evidence saying he's never played on the right.

I thought that about him but if you watch the compilations he's actually scored loads with his left foot considering he's played exclusively on one side. I think he's actually pretty two footed.

Getting a bit tedious this one. Hopefully he's in before we jet off to the US.

Wonder if he and Gordon have been told to be back this day or have voluntarily done so. Very short breaks for the two of them, particularly Gordon.

When we signed Hayden as a Championship player he'd have been on probably 10k a week. A progressive club would have moved him on 3-4 years ago in his mid 20s when he had a market to low Prem/high Champ clubs with an affordable wage bracket. Instead, like with so many other players from that era, they have been kept on because we've refused to invest and improve the side. But we're seeing so clearly now what a false economy this is when you end up with aging average players on big wages. The club being taken over and trying to rapidly progress has only underlined this more starkly.

He has signed a new contract in the PL while he's been here though. At a conservative estimate he's probably still on 30-40k a week. Maybe more. That would put him as one of the highest earners in the Championship. The problem we have is the bottom has fell out financially in the Championship. And even if a club is going to gamble financially to try and go up, at a push they're going to do it for a player who's guarenteed to make a difference at that level, not an injury prone defensive midfielder who played 12 games for Norwich last year. Unfortunately we're going to really struggle to shift any of our deadwood without simply subsidising loans or paying people off.

My dodgy stick has all National League streams like. Not that it matters, I'll be there getting soaked in the uncovered east stand

I mean they wouldn't have their jobs and we wouldn't have this level of investment without PIF in the first place. You can't exactly bite the hand that feeds you. Frustrating reality is we don't really have the profile of player that would be of interest to Saudi clubs - other than maybe ASM or Almiron.