Away Toon

We have been a counter attacking team for so long that none of the players we have are comfortable in possession and have no idea how to pass and move into space and build pressure. They are so used to all being behind the ball in our own half waiting to pounce and launch the ball into space and hare after it like rabbits that the way Howe wants to play is completely foreign to them. ASM is at his best when we win possession and there is space for him to run into, Almiron too, slowly making our way upfield against 11 men lined up in defensive banks doesn't suit the players we have. Howe hasn't so far found the balance between the way he wants to play and the way our players are capable of playing. Rafa knew the players limitations which is why he wasn't interested in us having the ball except when we could win in it transition and counter.

I was pretty sure Howe was the wrong manager for us when he was appointed and obviously nothing that he has done so far will be changing my mind or anybody else's who had doubts. Today is a disaster from a confidence point of view and Howe should have seen enough of us so far to know we were likely to under perform and possibly lose. So don't pick what you think is your strongest team and absolutely do not let Trippier be a part of this shit show until Watford. How the fuck will we know what Anderson and White are capable of if they literally never play? Fortunately Watford got thumped as well though they did play Leicester and put out a much weaker team. If this is not worse than under Bruce it's certainly no better. Wrong man at the wrong time for what we are trying to achieve.

becoming.....

At the moment it would be the same as the old poll except Wilson's fucked.

All this speculation on players that most of us have never heard of and certainly never seen play, is all great and good and amusing, however the reality is if we don't sign a fuck load of players who can hit the ground running, we are going to get relegated however bad the other three clubs are that we are in a mini league with. Three days and counting.

The question to ask is which of our current players would score 20 goals in the Championship? Wilson if he stayed fit and that's it. We should have signed him already what do we have to lose? He couldn't produce less goals and assists than Almiron, Joe, Murphy, Fraser, Gayle and maybe ASM if he tried.

Newcastle have contacted Arsenal with a proposal to loan unsettled Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, 32, for the rest of the season. (Sunday Mirror) The Magpies have been quoted more than £50m for Benfica and Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez, 22. (The I) Newcastle officials are hopeful that a deal for Atletico Madrid and England full-back Kieran Trippier, 31, will be completed in the next few days. (Luke Edwards on Twitter)

Don't think we'll be buying or loaning Ake.

Anybody who doesn't think we need to upgrade Dubravka knows fuck all about football and especially goalkeepers.

There is a certain inevitability about what is going to happen next.

We know we need 2 or 3 goals to win a game, miss your chances and we die. I'll take a draw.

There is a good player in Longstaff somewhere lets hope Howe can find the key to unlock it

Small margins, Wilson getting offside in the first half when we should have scored and ASM just now missing a fairly easy chance. We need another and ideally 3 goals to see this out, MU cant be this shit for the rest of the game surely.

Watching Wilson potentially injured every match shows how desperate we are to get the best back up or upgrade possible now.

Let the tonking begin.

Newcastle face competition from Manchester United and Tottenham in the race to sign England defender Kieran Trippier, 31, from Atletico Madrid. (90min) Tottenham, Newcastle, West Ham and Rangers are battling it out to sign West Brom and England goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, 28. (Teamtalk) Newcastle have joined Brighton in the race to sign Tottenham and Wales defender Joe Rodon, 24. (Times - subscription required)

It's a pretty low bar to say that Joe is our best midfielder, maybe he is, but the standard is so low it doesn't mean anything. Our current defense and midfield would have us in the shit in the Championship. Joe was bought for a lot of money as a striker or an auxiliary striker, his record is terrible. He's the worst value for money signing we have probably ever made with Almiron probably second.

How are we going to persuade someone like Trippier to sign? Lots of loot and a long contract for starters. But Trippier is too good and too old to spend a season and maybe longer in the Championship, so what then? If we are relegated let him walk on a free or a minimal fee? Any reasonably good still ambitious player is not going to join us now unless we give them a way out if we get relegated. Good Championship players like the Chilean from Blackburn and the boy from Forest we are linked with might be the only way for us to go. If they are good enough now they might keep us up, if not they help us build back up next season.

That would mean playing 3 CB's and we don't even have 3 fit ones never mind that they are all shit. Almiron is a shit none creating none scoring player like Joe, playing them in completely different positions because they are so shit in the actual ones they should be played in is not going to help.

team chemistry, what the fuck are you talking about?

Zero end product since he arrived here, but as he runs around a lot and is constantly played out of position (?) people seem to think he's not a problem.

He's definitely one of our more talented players although that bar is very low. But he's never really going to be a defensive player and as an attacker we've had plenty of time to see how little of a goal threat he is. Not sure where that leaves him. Hopefully sold and out of the team along with 99% of the rest of the squad.

Looked like he got caught in possession quite a lot and gave the ball away frequently. The stats will back it up I'm sure. Anyhow he's not mobile or aggressive enough to be a defensive midfielder in case people are thinking that's what we should do with him.

While Eddie fiddles NUFC burns.

Should be. He won't change the way he plays and it's not working.