Stottie

I think we should just pay 50M and get him in, preferably this week in readiness for Liverpool. It might be an overpay, but chalk it down to a lesson learned in "do not be slow to replace your second striker when the agent of your main striker is a twat" experience. Our bargaining position with Isak is vastly weakened by not having another viable striker. The lack of Wilson 2.0 is just as much the issue as the drama with Isak. We would also be in the same situation had some K League kid or a feisty Celtic bod given a perfectly happy Isak a season ender in a preseason game.

Haven't we bid twice on Wissa? That is way more engagement than Liverpool have had on Isak. We've also not gone and bought Wissa's replacement from under Brentford's noses. So the situations are not the same. There may be somebody out there doing fake NUFC transfer stories for clicks or sly payments from clubs and agents, but they would get at least 100 times as much money doing the same for Liverpool transfer stories. So the reporting about Wissa is likely to have far less "fairy stories to get clicks" about it.

On that showing, I doubt Gyokeres could get into a Tony Pulis Stoke team. Man U's brightest player was Amad, but not much he can do sitting on the bench most of the game.

Just seen the MOTD highlights and if Elanga rolls it across, Gordon scores in the first ten minutes. Gordon had made a run and checked it when Tonali got the ball, so it was a huge effort for him to get up with the play with Elanga. A simple cross and he scores a Jamie Vardy goal, which Isak wouldn't score because he wouldnt be fast enough to get in that position. Instead the narrative becomes "blah blah Newcastle lack a striker blah blah". Its a game of fine margins.

Osula should have come on earlier, especially as Gordon got a second wind after moving to the left.

I've just logged in to say this. It was a very good performance and we would have won with better finishing. Didn't really give them a sniff, despite Villa being at essentially full strength. Next week, we'll have Ramsey and probably Wissa, which will mean two good options off the bench to change things, whether they start or not. Get two strikers in, or Wissa plus an Isak U turn, and things look tasty.

Cross to Gordon for a tap in looked on too.

LIverpool may have taken for granted the willingness of Gakpo, Jota, and Diaz to play when and where they were told to. Same with Elliot who would probably have left another club already. Some players will do it, Trossard etc. but a lot of them won't.

If seven goals are enough, get Nkunku on loan, which an automatic buy clause if he hits double figures.

I posted it earlier but for the three years with Isak, Callum Wilson was equal for xG (i.e. chances created by himself or the team). This is because we're a good team and Isak wasn't doing it all by himself. Wilson also played for England on merit, and was underrated until his body gave up. The "Isak got you champions league and you should be so grateful as to set him free" narrative from Liverpool leaning folks on Twitter is utter bollox. I fully expect Wissa to do at least what a fit Wilson did, which is score goals. What we may miss is the magic that helped Isak score in big games vs. Liverpool, Man City, Arsenal etc. I would expect many other strikers to score goals for us too and its a mystery why Wood was not able to. Maybe he lost some confidence being at a club at with better finishers than him. Or maybe he was just too different to the other two and this prevented us from playing to his strengths. For a big bloke, Wood was not that good in the air.

I reckon our best presser was Miggy, who was relentless, but we've not missed him. I suspect it might be a bigger issue if we changed our third midfielder to a pure AM/#10 (Maddison, Wirtz etc.) type.

How much is this costing Isak and his agent? If we had an offer on the table for 200k a week, and are currently or about to not pay him, or even starting fining him, his current wages, it won't take long until the difference hits seven figures. I know footballers are rich but that will still hurt. He may have been pissed off about not getting a new contract but he is currently setting fire to a lot of money and won't be getting any from Liverpool unless they give us what we want for him.

Kane's release clause in Jan 2026 is 56M quid to English clubs. Its also a nice play to ditch Isak away from the awful divine righters. We could even bench Isak in the CL to stop him being cuptied. And not give him any glory. Could we just loan someone for half a season, I dunno, Nkunku?

Here's some data on PL matches last season. We were strongest either side of half time, which suggests we worked our opponent's out, and weakest from 60 mins onwards, suggesting a problem with legs and a lack of quality on the bench. This should improve with our new signings who add depth.

This may surprise some. Data is for past three seasons. Wilson's numbers get a massive boost from supersub etc performances in 22-23. However, 7000 minutes versus 3000 minutes is a big data sample. Wissa has similar creation numbers, and fewer goals from fewer xG. I'd expect him to hit 15 easily in our team without taking penalties.

Willock will be let go? And maybe Joelinton too before long, if PSR means we must move players on while they have value. Ramsey is a better finisher than Willock, who's been woeful at it since 22-23.

Love the ticker!

Player must make transfer request. We cannot pay him to leave on any discounted fee. There's no need to announce it yet but that's what the policy should be.

Too right! I only mentioned it because PSR says we have to be essentially perfect in the transfer market until we build a stadium full of corporate boxes and named after a hedge fund, and we get x millions overseas buying our shirts and clicking our socials. This places crossfires on every player whose value may be diminishing.

His profile is essentially Willock. Squad player LM/LW. Almost certainly higher ceiling than post-injury Willock. Ramsey would be fine as a squad player. He's not as defensively strong as Joelinton and doesn't seem to be a big door-opener. I'd personally prefer a more 10ish 8. I see Tonali as an 8ish 6, Bruno as a 6ish 8 (both pretty rounded CMs) and Joelinton as a mega disruptive 8 without 6 discipline. I suppose Ramsey would also create an opportunity to cash in on Barnes or Gordon, if there is a desire to do so. I really like HB, but if the Mitchell stuff is to be believed, turning Harvey into $$$ while we can may be a necessary PSR play. The ol' "held onto him too long" we heard about Wilson etc.

I would do this, if Isak hands in a transfer request. If not, its 130M plus every loyalty payment etc. payable to Isak. If the payments are 10M plus, the move will cost him or Liverpool (presumably him, ultimately) most of one season's worth of his new salary.

In the Man U game, our go-ahead goal features Harvey Barnes steaming in to finish a Murphy pullback that would be meat and drink to any center forward. Wilson would anticipate it 10 out of 10 times. Isak can be seen on his heels miles away. When Barnes then scores again from a turnover, Isak makes a run but its half hearted and he doesn't seem that bothered that he didn't get the ball. The same when their keeper hit it at Big Joe and Bruno scored. A hungry Isak would scream for the ball. I remember watching the game and thinking Isak was injured or didn't have Shearer or even Wilson level moocher instincts.

Gordon alone won 6 in 23/24, the most in a season by any player since VAR was introduced. Only one last time though. For some folk, pens won don't count as assists. They do on Transfermarkt but not on other sites.

I don't like Edwards but his wording is probably correct here. "no chance he will be allowed to leave" = We ain't just letting him go on the cheap on his terms with us looking like passive idiots. "Liverpool nowhere near matching" = A price likely exists, but Liverpool nowhere near it. These are not contradictory statements. The message is "pay up or shut up". My guess is that Liverpool come back in big, maybe not big enough, near deadline day. If someone else hasn't done so first.

Yes, provided we get a replacement in first or a window to bid on someone else without the seller knowing Isak had definitely already gone for a fee that high. As for Reddit, NUFC will get 100M more for Isak than Liverpool did for Trent and Konate. That's my kind of "lose-lose" "played it horribly" ineptitude.