Froggy

We are highlighted a lot. We also have two mouthpiece ex-players in Neville and Keane who might be good value but they don't shut up about us. I don't sugarcoat anything though and I'm aware he moans a lot to refs. But I've watched every minute he has played for the last 3 and a half years and am aware of his character. Essential isn't even the word I'd use to describe him, he's beyond that. The heart of absolutely everything we do.

Oh I know I'm not doubting that, I just mean with his own players. He definitely whinges and moans with referees, but most players and call captains do. They're just not as hated as Bruno Fernandes.

Honestly, I think he just has a very punchable face. He's not complaining, he's demanding, he's being a captain, but he just looks like a whingey bastard. He's the most well liked player in our squad. Everyone loves him.

I think anyone who thinks he's not a good captain just doesn't pay attention to the games when he's playing. He dictates everything, he's very vocal, constantly looking around at the space and letting players know when to calm down and when to be more urgent. His workrate is phenomenal as well, and he's everpresent. Delighted with him as captain. I also didn't see anything wrong with his interview. Sky etc. ran with the headline "Bruno Fernandes demands apology!" when he didn't. He just said that he'd be interested to see if Jon Moss apologies to our dressing room the same way he did with Wolves. We were denied a clear penalty and he was frustrated. I didn't hate that. Agree our away record against the top sides is horrible, and if it continues this season then questions need to be asked. It is interesting though that opposition fans look to Bruno as a problem when it's very rarely his fault. People like Rashford and Shaw get away without blame the majority of the time and they're much more of a problem when we're behind. Rashford just stops trying if things aren't going his way. Bruno never stops running.

Massively disagree. It's 38 games. A huge amount of football. Where you finish is where you deserve to be. We won more games than Liverpool and Newcastle and kept more clean sheets than both. That was with Casemiro suspended for large periods and big injuries to the likes of Eriksen and Martinez. Pardew and Bruce no matter their flaws got their squads motivated and playing well enough to finish where they did. Obviously couldn't replicate it.

I never am to be fair, I just bite back and get accused of it. It's funny seeing another fan get torn apart for sharing what is probably a genuine opinion though. That's usually me.

If you're brave enough to share an unpopular or controversial opinion on here and you support a rival club, you'll get called a troll by a select few even if you're being genuine. That being said, there's ways to talk to rival fans, especially on their own turf. It took me about ten years to master. From a relatively neutral perspective though, there is zero pressure on Howe against Liverpool. Newcastle fans are level headed for the most part and understand they are miles ahead in their project. Losing to Liverpool home or away isn't the end of the world for pretty much any club except City.

Aye if Hojlund flops we're in major trouble.

You're never undeserving of your league position. It's 38 games. There are no flukes. I would say we finished third last season because we kept the most clean sheets out of anyone which allowed us win 23 games despite not having a #9 who could score goals. Worth noting we played 24 games outside of the Premier League as well last year, and had a lot of injuries towards the end of the season. To say we were undeserving of third is utter nonsense. Which leads me on to your next point of not adding to the team in any meaningful way... We've replaced Wout Weghorst with Rasmus Hojlund. De Gea was receiving a lot of criticism last season for his ability to play out from the back. We've replaced him with a keeper who has elite distribution. We were light in midfield and signed a midfielder in Mount. Mount hasn't started well, but come on, he's played two games.

Since his debut for Chelsea Mount tops nearly every attacking metric for them mind. Most goals, most assists, most chances created etc. He just had a bad year last year. I'm confident he'll be a good player for us, but there's definitely confusion in our midfield at the minute. It will take a few weeks to sort out by the looks of it.

Yeah Eriksen has been brilliant for us and he was very important to us before your boy Andy Carroll wrecked his ankle. His legs have gone now mind, which is why Ten Hag wanted Mount to give us more energy in midfield, but Eriksen is/was a maestro. An extremely effective deep lying playmaker. He's on 150k a week as well by the way, which I think is perfectly reasonable and will look like a steal if Mount continues this form while sitting on 200k plus bonuses. We all want Eriksen to start at the weekend.

Fernandes has scored more goals than any other midfielder since he joined the league to be fair. Created most chances and big chances etc. last season out of anyone. I'm hoping that's where having an actual striker will come into play. If Hojlund is actually good he'll score a bucket load at us.

I was quite happy with our window to be perfectly honest. The only issue has been Mounts start but I'm not writing the guy off after two games. Rashford has played the first two games through the middle. He's terrible there. It never works. As soon as Hojlund comes into the team Rashford will be out on the left where he is far more effective. He is massively overrated though despite being a very good player. He'll never hit 30 goals again IMO. Only player I'd be taking of us in fantasy is Bruno Fernandes.

If Hojlund doesn't hit the ground running we'll be nowhere near it.

That's Man United and Chelsea written off already. Going to be an interesting season.

Interesting way to look at it. We were coming off the back of the horrible Solskjaer/Rangnick season whereas you had the takeover and an injection of fresh players and a new manager. Very debatable that we were in a much stronger position on the pitch. GD of -20 looks worse than what it was as well. A few really bad days, e.g. shipping 17 goals in 3 games against Brentford, City and Liverpool. We still had the most clean sheets in the league last year which is often forgotten about. We also beat you in a cup final, got to the final of the FA Cup and had a long run in Europe despite an extensive injury list towards the end of the season as well as well as losing Ronaldo mid-season leaving us with no proper #9 for the remainder of the season. Let's not try to downplay any achievements. We both had excellent seasons given the expectations coming in to 22/23.

Eriksen was free and Martinez was brilliant last year. I'm not saying we've had better windows that anybody else, but Ten Hag's signings haven't been poor at all. Antony aside of course.

Malacia - signed as backup full back. Played well majority of the games he's played. Success. Casemiro - remains to be seen if his legs are going this year, but he was most certainly a success based on last year. Martinez - huge success. Eriksen - huge success. Mount, Onana, Hojlund - combined total of 331 minutes so far. Far too early to judge any of these players. Antony - dog water Would say it's harsh to call his transfers poor. 80% hit rate unless you're writing off players after two games.

Just catching up on MotD now as well. Brutal decision.

He's not wrong. Stonewall pen.

Tonali is top quality.

Who was saying Maddison was shite too? Thought he was one of their best players.

Give Mount a bit of time ffs. I'll be in Manchester next week and I'll be looking for Antony. Strong words to be had.

Anyway...