Interpolic

Barca were away though. Whether to stick or twist at 1-0 was a way bigger dilemma than a lot are giving it credit for like. Before the game I thought a really good result would have been a 2+ goal margin win, we had to still keep going for it within reason imo. Would have been different if away goals were still in play.

He's class. His passing, decision-making and concentration have all improved massively versus his dodgy patches last season. And everyone knows what he gives us off the ball, there can't be a midfielder on the planet who sees him on our teamsheet and doesn't think "ffs".

All the best on your Newcastle debuts, lads

Massive day, massive game. Odds are against us as they were in a certain game in March 2025. There are no guarantees against top opposition like Barca but hopefully we'll show ourselves at our best again and leave no regrets on the pitch. Crowd and team need to be laser focused and feed off each other. Howay the fucking lads.

Different Paulie, Paulo

Re the ticket download issue (my brother is having similar problems). If it was me I'd try switching between WiFi and mobile data too. NUST have also said contact the box office if you can't sort it out (some potential solutions in the comments):

Can't trust a word that cunt says. Might well have been briefed by City in order to help drive the cost down.

It hasn't exactly been plain sailing for Howe in terms of steady additions to the squad - we've not made a major signing in 4 of the last 5 transfer windows and he lost his best player. Meanwhile Arteta is adding expensive players every season on top of a very strong base, paying top end salaries. Look at the 2 squads.

It depends how you frame it tbh, in some ways it is the biggest. We've never been deeper than this in Europe's top competition. Don't have much of an issue with Howe painting it that way.

We don't have to win the CL to make getting as far as possible in it worthwhile. Getting to the quarters/semis/final would be a huge milestone for the club, potentially helping to attract players, sponsors, new fans, whatever. There is also the additional revenue of course. We're clear underdogs against Barca but it's a massive tie for us. I was a bit disappointed going out with a whimper last night but we've been playing every 3 days for month after month after month, something has to give sometimes and unfortunately last night was one of the occasions it did. Just hope we're re-energised for Tuesday

I'm all for signing players from relegated clubs, in our position we need to be opportunistic to get value for money. We did it with Tino and Barnes and they're often the right moves imo. Obviously they need to be the right player with the right mentality, i.e. Not a big reason why that club went down in the first place.

Feel like we've had a few less? 3rd, 6th, 2nd, 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 5th, 5th, 4th, 5th ... is 10 for us (embarrassing I didn't need to google that ) And Spurs probably had a few outside of 2010s. Agree though Ashley almost ruined us at a really bad time and we'd have thrived with even an owner who allowed us to spend our own money.

I assume they feel they need to hand out bonus points in a way that is automated and transparent, so it's based on on-field actions however flawed it might be. The extreme alternative is adding a manual element that is more accommodating of nuance and context, but it's more work and would be labelled bent straight away. The other thing they could do is play with the automated levers a bit, so an extremely heavy penalty for giving away pens, losing games etc. I just accept it as flawed and treat any points as a literal bonus.

I've only just started believing tbh, that gap is now fairly small and the teams behind them are together and playing for their managers. Although looking at form, Forest are LDLLD. Feels like they've been playing better than that. Spurs are of course LLLLL whereas West Ham are WDDLW. It'll probably be quite close but Spurs need a big performance soon to galvanise themselves, otherwise all of their fixtures look precarious.

The 6-0 vs Villa was brilliant as well, for us to smash the club that had laughed at us so soon after bouncing back was immense. Carroll hatrick suggested the emergence of a new Geordie number 9 legend although we all know what happened next.

Not sure it started that way, it's probably become the reason the term has been hung on to in recent years. The origins of the 'big 4' in the 2000s then the 'big 6' in the 2010s was based on league position trends (which obviously affects revenue and vice versa):

Think it undoubtedly would be aye, they are the 5th longest mainstays in the top flight (promoted 1978):

"what a HO-tel"

First time in many of their football following lives they didn't get everything they wanted. Hilarious it still stings.

Common example but Drogba at age 24 had 15 career league goals to his name (3 in the top flight). Moved to Chelsea at 26 after scoring 36 over the next 2 seasons in France. All off wiki so might not be 100% accurate, but he was definitely a late bloomer.

Imagine if this lad ends up being the actual answer up front

Also Haaland went down in a vaguely similar incident last night - no penalty and no booking. The ref has to be completely sure it is a dive surely, especially for a 2nd yellow. Joke decision.

Was there contact? Seems to be almost zero focus on that and from certain angles it appears there was. So potential contact + no appeal + the referee appearing to apply total guesswork as to whether it was a dive or not. Sound.