Stottie

A transfer window where we sell a Burnley striker and Man U loan in the lad who was his last minute replacement and was no better. Delicious!

Thanks but bugger, I wasted time setting up an Excel file to calculate this. My Excel says 18 clean sheets in those 38 games by the way. Everton 35 pts from last 40 games. W Ham 37 from 37 is also relegation form for basically an entire season. Fwiw, in those 38 games, Chris Wood has 35 appearances. 1766 minutes, so nearly 20x90 minutes. 4 goals, 2 of them penalties.

If there is actual reported interest in a player, does that mean they pass the "not lazy and not an arsehole" test? We must have talked to their agent, presumably in a "this is what we want and expect" way. Our transfer people are not tyre kickers looking to fill the rumour pages with pretend stories of Ashley signing someone to tell season tickets.

Fbref actually has a mistake and the real number is 50%, which is still very high, as in Mbappe/Haaland level. 58% would be no. 1 in Europe Harry Kane is 42% since 2016. My other Isak observation would be he seems to be very good at losing his marker, or "moving into space" or "exploiting the half spaces" or whatever you want to call it.

My point is not berate Man U but to berate the opinion that Man U have positioned themselves to definitely do it but NUFC somehow have not and cannot. We've had better form for longer and are far less reliant on one player (Rashford). Man U look in an especially strong position because of Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea's struggles, but those struggles help NUFC in exactly the same way. For skeptical Toon fans incapable of forgetting Steve Bruce and the like, our form is now P38 W22 D10 L6 F58 A31 GD+27 Pts 76 18 clean sheets in there. 10 of the goals conceded were in two second half collapses last season. Only one home defeat, which featured Dubs, Krafth, Shelvey and ASM as a central striker.

Apologies if Giggs, but a fbref reckons Isak's career shot-on-target percentage is 58%. This is extremely high. 40% or so is typical. His goals per shot or per shot on target are not especially high, so it's better to say that he regularly works the keeper rather than is clinical. This is something our coaches will probably work on, making him aim for the corners more.

I thought it was but I was watching a very dodgy stream without all the angles they have. Once I saw a decent definition slo-mo, it was clearly not a pen. The Dan Burn one was a "seen em given", but Mitro or whoever it was does throw himself to the ground.

Man U strike me as over-reliant on single goal wins from Rashford. A ridiculous slice of refereeing also just helped them. If they are seen as automatic Top 4, much of that is the failings of Spurs, Liverpool etc., which would also apply to our Top 4 bid. I don't see Man U playing football that is more meritworthy than ours.

32 points off remaining 19 games now to get to 70 points. We have 38 off the first 19 games, with almost all remaining hard fixtures at SJP. 32 points is 9 wins 5 draws and 4 defeats. Or 8 wins 8 draws and 3 defeats. With Liverpool struggling, 70 probably does it. Tottenham only got 71 last year.

Wow, mental game! Mitro joining Carroll and Chopra in the ex Toon striker not only completely effing up a sitter, but doing so in a manner that suggests a mental block in scoring against us. Thanks big man! Redemption for Wilson, who was poor but played a vital role in the goal. Trippier and Longstaff too, who were also involved. Trippier's worst game for us? It looked a clear pen to me. On the whole, we did create chances, so I suppose it was deserved, John Terryesque shocking pen miss or not. Lets just celebrate the win, the three points, and not dwell on the particulars. If there is a queue of ambulances outside the RVI, give em an apologetic bow and get Bruno on the X ray machine pronto. I hope its not too serious.

Fulham have been canny. Willian looks like his old self. We've created chances like the Leeds game, no massive complaints, but really need to convert one. Maxi on for Bruno. Hope his ankle is not too bad. Go Maxi!

Another notch up on the love for Eddie Howe for this. It would have been very easy to bow to "seen to be doing the right thing" pressure over JL7. Howe's job is to win football matches, not a popularity contest on social media.

One game in and Felix is already banging on the gate to the Chelsea graveyard of strikers. For all the talk of Broja, Gallagher, and Pusilic, I wouldn't mind Ziyech myself.

I don't see an 8 as a need. We have Willock and big Joe, Bruno can do it and seemingly wants to do it, and we could even drop Almiron in there too in a crisis. Tielemans as a Longstaff upgrade and kind of Bruno cover makes more sense for the way we play. The winger cover Tifo lists is so weak that that has to be a priority. Who plays if Almiron gets injured? With Wood misfiring, the dream is a forward who can play anywhere in the front three. We'll be aiming to go deep in multiple competitions next season, so we need depth. Schar will need replacing in a season or two, but Tifo's video also didn't mention us relying on Trippier as a playmaker. This is a much bigger age-based vulnerability going forward.

This is undeniable, but I wonder what percentage of footballers actually are arseholes who won't play for the team. I'd imagine it is more uncommon than the average fan suspects. I think most of them would be weeded out long before they got anywhere near a Premier League team. You only ever reach that level through loads of improvement and by absorbing ever increasing amounts of tactics. A short (or worse) injury for Joelinton and a "seen em given" straight red for Bruno makes us lightweight in midfield for three games. We're unlikely to go a whole season without a red card. Especially if we get more Leeds home type exercises in frustration. That's my main concern.

That volleyed pass to Joelinton was gorgeous. A thing of real beauty. Opened them right up and ended up on a plate for a goal, only to be hoofed into the stand.

Full credit to Sheff Wed for putting the ball in our net. We gave it a go, but not to be. Some resolute defending from them, more credit for that, but also some godawful finishing from our players who aren't good enough for where we are now. Slight echoes of Cambridge, so Eddie hasn't quite slain all our demons. Hands up everyone who wants to see the back of Maxi now.

What a fucking donkey

Fantastic advert for VAR this!

Need to win a pen.

I'm not in the North East but am coming off Covid, so am well ready to believe stories about others being ill. Dubravka has been welcomed back and thrown him straight back in the team despite half the fanbase writing him off as being a petulant wanker and/or afraid of competition. This suggests Howe and his staff are more pragmatic than we fans are.

I think he's noticably changed in the last four-five cameos he's had, and seems to be constantly looking to pass it. For that reason, I am hesitant to believe any "oh he's just a selfish bastard who won't buy into Howe ball" type stories people come up with. His appearances on the pitch make it look like he's buying into it. I suspect the main injury he's had this season was caused by him running back 80 yards for that disallowed Wolves goal where play should have stopped with the blatant push. Running back the length of the pitch is also "buying into it". I would also expect Howe to have the personal skills to explain to ASM why he wasn't first sub on at Arsenal, a game where we were clearly set up not to lose. ASM may not be part of the system Howe ultimately wants to impose, but for the time being, I still think he has a big role to play.

I think we'll sign a center mid as cover/rotation. I see it as a need.

We're playing 4-3-3 with four fit midfielders and about to sell Joelinton, the one who also covers LW, aye, what complete bollocks! With Shelvey out long term and Anderson (not Top 4 PL ready) going out on loan, and us challenging on three fronts, we need to buy a mid with some urgency. Tielemans would do, but the time to sign him is Jan 31 when the price hits rock bottom. We do have some leverage in Dubs, who Leicester need.

We chalk up 3 xG against Leeds, fail to score, and our fans bemoan our squads' limitations. Arsenal's team chalks up barely 1.1 xG against us, fail to score, and their fans claim it must be a refereeing conspiracy or they were somehow robbed. Create more chances you stupid fuckers!