Hanshithispantz

I don’t get how people could have watched us transform over the past year and then write off a hard working 21 year old playing in an awful, relegation threatened side.

His defensive application is incredible like, you’re probably not going to hit the numbers he does, at 21, if you’re a bad egg. I definitely want a more technically elite player added at some point but he’s pretty much a perfect ‘Howe player’. Him and Miggy would have the industrious and direct winger role nailed down for the next few years. Joelinton can go back into the centre for good and we’ll be able to retain the tactical option of just shutting down one (or both) sides of the pitch.

I like Gordon but he’s just worth nowhere close to £50m surely? If you look at what Howe’s done with Miggy though it isn’t hard to see what he could do with Gordon. It’s the most telegraphed move ever but that 1-2 to burn in behind the defence seems to be pretty much un-defendable. He’d offer similar output the other way too.

Howe obviously places a lot of value on players following orders and knowing their role, so I can see why he would be reluctant to lose a player like Wood. He would bring him on to see games out, same with Murphy replacing a tiring Almiron. Shite but he’s had a year or more with them telling them exactly what he wants. Still feel there no chance at all he isn’t fully on board with it though.

You can comment on anything you want, the point is the people who were there have said there was crushing. Not sure why they would lie?

I would be amazed if it was genuinely unexpected Wood was leaving like. I’m surprised he’s went but the club Will obviously have a plan layed out.

It’s a bit far saying we’d be in the championship without Chris Wood like. Howe is great at taking the strengths of players who are willing to work hard and finding a tactical use for them. If we never got Wood I’m pretty confident he would have sussed a new plan out. The route Howe did go down though, Wood was obviously an important part of it.

In fairness to the glory suporters, it’s literally a decision the vast majority make when they’re like 8 or something, it’s not like they’re 26 and going “I’m going to support Man City now”. It’s the unfortunate, often socially debilitating choice they made as a thick, spoiled bairn. People like Hawk are lucky, I’d not bat an eyelid talking to an Everton fan from Brighton but if they turned round and told me they supported Liverpool I’d instantly assume they were a total whopper. It’s completely daft on my part but I suppose there has to be some handicap to supporting a successful club

Ah I forgot I was advocating Rafa for some kind of temporary DoF role Fucking hell.

For his age @HaydnNUFCis a proper NUFC encyclopaedia like. Loves it.

Think he rushed in/didn't track back a couple times in pre-season and people were shocked He was noticeably off the pace like, I cannot remember him putting a foot wrong last season. He was probably our most consistent player along with Big Jer.

Literally the game before Sheff Wed everyone was praising him for his work ethic and Howe for moulding him to the team Would be surprised if either of him or Shelvey weren’t still here after the summer.

I just don’t see how any of this stuff detracts from the entertainment of the game. The psychological battle and the mind games between the keeper and penalty taker just adds another layer to them and amplifies the drama. I think Ramsdale looks like a total whopper doing his Party Boy dance on set pieces but I’ve got no real interest in arguing that he should be stopped from doing it, or that it ruins the spirit of the game or out.

We bid for him without knowing he would come

Hugo Ekitike

Missed that, that’s class like, who did it?

It’s great like, one of my favourite pastimes these days is reading other boards. You can literally say anything, and if it fits a narrative they want they’ll just run away with it. The referees love us, we’re constantly smashing records (by 10 minutes) for time in play, dirty bastards, worst time wasters ever, longball merchants, Howe is the biggest, most smug cunt in the league, luck teams always have an off day against us, ruined the game with our spending, horrible sports washers and the only set of fans who would accept it. I genuinely hope it never ends

Aye that’s because of all the brown envelopes we’ve been sending out. Man Utd on 43 points through yellows alone Not even a red to pad the numbers a bit.

He's in he 98th percentile for tackles in the final third. He's got a very athletic build and doesn't look imposing but his athleticism enables him to win the ball a lot (especially against defenders) without necessarily being a defensive powerhouse.

I do think we’re ready for another evolution of our game (dropping an industrious player for a more technical one) but he’s shown he’ll pretty much never change up a team that is getting results unless it’s forced. He kept us up with ease and has us 3rd doing it this way so it’s hard to ever disagree with his selections. The problem is you can look at one game and think “maxi should have started/Longstaff should be benched” but probably ignore the previous 5-10 games we’ve said the same and gotten great results.

Absolutely disgusting like, one of the worst displays of time wasting I’ve ever seen.

It’s easy to miss when you aren’t looking for it though, so I can accept the decision more so than shit like the Leeds shout where it’s obvious what the VAR are meant to be looking at yet they still fuck up.

Yeah, I missed that at the time but it’s pretty clear even there like.

I still don’t understand Conte’s Spurs like. It reminds me of Ranieri, where a system (Conte’s counter attacking 3-5-2/3-4-3 in this case) is effective and then goes extinct pretty much overnight.

I thought Longstaff was fantasy first half, I never noticed him much in the second but he’s made some fantastic runs lately.