Stottie

Wow what a half. ASM has gone supernova. If that's what it takes, get him to move into a toy shop! I fancied Wilson after the early chances and he didn't disappoint with that one. Cool as fuck. Pope looking like England No. 1. Howay the Lads!

Five teams that finished above us last year, Liverpool, Leicester, Wolves, West Ham and Man U are in the bottom six

Given this big spaff on Casemiro, did Man U not consider Kalvin Phillips? He offers pretty much the same thing for a fraction of the price, is much younger, is league tested, home rule player, .... Phillips himself needs to play to cement an England place, but isn't number one DM at Man City.

Gakpo plays on the left. Are they expecting and going to accept a late bid for Rashford? A top European club? Arsenal? Us? Klopp even? Rashford walks next summer and will cost them 40? 50? million in lost transfer fees. A million quid a game on top of his large wages. Ten Haag has come out with "I want him" type comments, but they are no different to what any manager says about any player, e.g., Eddie Howe about Paul Dummett. Another major player walking away like Pogba, this time a non-scapegoat, prolongs the bad smell. Liverpool bit the bullet and sold Mane with a year left on his contract. That's what sensible clubs do.

The top selling Australian song of all time!

Just to anyone mentioning Casemiro being 30, Thiago was 29 and a half when Liverpool signed him. He's a key player there now.

He will be for sale, just at a stupid price. Either a low stupid price set by a release clause (God forbid!) or a high stupid price set by us. I don't do it often but I fired up that Guardian football podcast thing and on it, that Glendenning idiot said Bruno had been awful this season. That's after two games, one of which Bruno dominated. I wish there was a better non-fascist newspaper to read, I really do.

They had a Gibbs and other players with double-barreled names, so easy to get confused. If you are over 50 like me, you probably still associate double-barrelled names with posh people.

Most pundits see Leicester dropping down the league this year. Their 2022 form is midtable and no better. https://www.transfermarkt.com/premier-league/jahrestabelle/wettbewerb/GB1/saison_id/2022 Leceister may have opened negotiations but that doesn't mean he's going to sign. I wouldn't assume this is over just yet. They may have to fight off interest from another big club.

Last few days of the window left, go in for Rashford. If Man U don't sell, he walks for free in summer 23 like Pogba. Rashford in the PL under OGS - 80 games of minutes, 37 goals, 23 assists. He's not played for England since that penalty shootout, and needs a move badly.

I've said it before, but I fully support the club trying to get to 6th/7th without paying anyone over 150k a week. I do think its possible and a realistic goal for this season. Kicking on from there to get into the CL will need players on higher wages. I see it as inevitable. If things aren't going our way with three days or so left in the window, then yes, throw the wage structure out to get the player(s) we need. However, they have to be worth the potential resentment this is going to create among the squad. The window closes with five games played, and I think it would also be worth revising our targets and goals at that point. If we have eight points or more, with two games against the top two and Brighton and Wolves away out of the way, I think European places this season becomes a genuine possibility.

Transfermarkt has Howe in the PL as P28 W14 D5 L9 F31 A35 47Pts 1.68PPG Add the Brentford 3-3 they have down as "Tindall" P29 W14 D6 L9 F34 A39 Pts 1.655 PPG That's 39 conceded in 29. 1.334 average conceded per game, including games with Clark, Darlow, Ritchie at LB, etc. 1.334 times 38 would 51 against for the season. Given the squad improvements, I think par for the goals against column is 45. If Howe himself has a target, I would expect it to be lower. 45 against is Tottenham/Arsenal level. btw, in recent years, a goal difference of zero is enough for seventh or eighth. Over many teams and many seasons, there is very strong correlation between goal difference and points gained. Howe is only 5 goals off a zero goal difference. For the scale of that achievement, it must be remembered that NUFC conceded 80 goals in 2021, a calendar year record.

Again on the seventh-o-meter, in the past 21 games, we've conceded 20 goals. Or if you prefer 10 goals in that past 19 games against teams not called Man City or Tottenham, the only two teams to score twice in those 21 games. fwiw, 9 clean sheets in 21 games is 42.8%. For us to NOT get seventh, we'll have start conceding more goals. With a lineup including a better midfielder, probably a better keeper, probably a better center half, and probably a better right back. Based on preseason and the two games so far, the team as a whole is moving the ball better and getting 10% or so more possession. In the 2-1 home win against Brighton a few months ago, we only managed 32.4% possession. On Saturday, it was pretty much 50% up to the 70th minute.

After two rounds of games, I think things are looking good for seventh. Leicester and Man U look poor, and we're already four points up on West Ham. We were outplayed by Brighton, but I don't think it was as bad as some posters are making out. They coped with Bruno better than anyone so far, Chelsea and Arsenal included, so I can't see that being a regular occurrence. The second half was bleak with just the Burn header, but we got Wilson in one on one first half and it would have been given had he got the ball in the net. I also expect at least one attacking player to come in.

A fine away point. Not a convincing performance, but I'll take it. Both teams had spells in the first half, but we were poor after the break. The BDB header was our only shot second half.

Probably lucky to not be behind, with one off the line and that Llalana chance, but actually came into it during the half and finished the stronger. Also made two chances for Wilson, which is always good. Caught in possession badly a few times, Bruno and Joelinton not at the pace of the game, but we're still level and it's over to Eddie to solve the puzzle.

I'd have wanted Maddison over Paqueta due to him being league proven, but now Shelvey is out, we need cover for Bruno. Paqueta looks like he could play deeper, in a double pivot at least if not on his own. He has the physicality to do it. Maddison is pure AM. At a push, Paqueta can also play false nine, which is good given our squad lightness up top and appeals to the Cesc fanboy in me.

City might have had a stronger shout if they still had Jesus and Fernandinho. I've read about Fernandinho being the older brother or daddy figure of the Brazilians in the PL, with the Liverpool players and Fred at Man U going to hang out with him. Brazil have a really strong team now, and if Paqueta does move, he's going to have to settle in fast and keep on performing because competition for places is fierce. fwiw, Bernardo Silva is just about the most mobile player in the entire league, so "just cover the same ground as him" could well be a poisoned chalice.

Not buying Cornet, who was cheaper than Ekitike, said to me that we're aiming higher. Cornet was actually good value and made sense as a backup, but we're not looking for a backup. Not with the large number of "not quites" already in our squad.

Unless something goes wrong, I can't see us conceding many goals. The main question is whether we can score enough to turn draws into wins. We managed it last season even without Wilson and Trippier, but there were enough single goal victories in there for it to remain a concern.

I reckon Ekitike money plus overdraft says we get at least one high level attacking player. I've no idea who it'll be.

I'm going to cheat and not click anything till we play Brighton. That should be more indicative than swatting aside Forest. fwiw, if we give him the 3-3 Brentford game when he had Covid (officially? down as Tindall), Eddie Howe's league record is now P28 W14 D5 L9. 50% wins and 1.68 points per game!

Sell them Darlow.

That Kevin Maguire football finances guy said Leicester's wages were at 85% of turnover or whatever that metric is. The level to aim for is below 70%. That 85% is with fans in the stadium. It was higher without them before, as Nucasol says above.

We've dominated possession and got the ball into good areas. Plenty of shots and should really be ahead. We need to get more targets in the box to create bigger chances. Set pieces have also been poor.