Stottie

J Lingz! Get him in!

More stats and a heatmap here. https://www.sofascore.com/player/matt-targett/368134 The Crazy Defensive Skills vid on YT has some almost showboat-y flicks and backheels. He's clearly confident on the ball. Some well-timed tackles too that will probably concede a penalty once he's in a black and white shirt. Digne to Villa was Rafa's doing, and maybe he's done us a favour here.

Perhaps Ekitite has been chosen with one eye on being a mercurial ASM-type outball/havoc-wrecker when ASM is not playing. That said, I'd like Lingard too. I've given up on Almiron and haven't seen enough from Fraser. I think Murphy is talented but it sounds like he doesn't listen to instructions.

Dan Dan DAAAN! is the new big man at the back. We don't need two of them, not when we can have a blerk with a twinkle toes sexy dribble who lamps it into the top corner once a season. The obvious captain and first name on the team sheet is Trippier.

As of lunchtime on deadline day, is this what we're looking at? Targett sounds like a pure FB, so assuming 4 at the back. fwiw, our lineup against Man U in the last game before the transfer window is here. https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1549724/Live/England-Premier-League-2021-2022-Newcastle-United-Manchester-United

I guess the thing to do here is watch the Ekitite situation and if the deal can't be done in time, sign the cheque and give Man U what they want for Lingard. We need another striker for options, even if its just Lingard as false nine. That's assuming of course we can't have both.

I still rate Auba, he's just missed a few sitters like that game against us. I think its premature to write him off and would have been up for loaning him, even with the risk of an Adebayor to Man City type result. Good luck to Eriksen, and pleased Ramsey isn't coming here.

If Ekitite is coming, we don't need Lingard to play false nine (cough, cough, if Wood struggles....), so he's reverts to right wing and AM only. Still he's pretty good at them and a big upgrade on Fraser. The West Ham highlights video has some great goals but more importantly shows him carrying the ball forward with ease. That will happen regardless of whether the shots are all going in. I must also admit to having a huge soft spot for Lingard ever since that "Mommy!" video when the West Ham fans were throwing cans at the Man U bus.

Here are his stats. He comes out well in the defensive ones at the bottom. 3141 minutes won't be far off ever present.

With all these signings, Ekitite and Targett just in as accepted, I'm at pretty much zero now. Seventeen games to go, and we need 23 points for 38. W6-D5-L6 would do it. I can't see the others doing that. Last eight fixtures played, NUFC 9 points, Norwich 6, Burnley 5, Watford 1. And we're the one with half a new team. With relatively easy fixtures coming up, the only issue is the new lads gelling quickly to make the most.

10/10 window.

Gerrin!

We give Lingard signing on cash now, and he walks on a near free if we go down would mean more signing on cash in the summer. If he just wants money, he can do an Oscar and go to whatever minor league has the most cash in 2022. Re:Henderson, I wanted a backup keeper but didn't expect it to be Dubs. Presumably we only get Henderson if we promise to start him.

Lingard would have covered wide forward, AM, and false nine, a lot of cover from one player. Lingard, Burn, plus a proper attempt at a(nother) statement signing, at the level of Botman or Carlos, would have made me very happy. A failed attempt would be fine, because I think those two would be enough. Both Lingard and Burn can be bettered at the individual positions of course, but they offered lots of flexibility and cover and are 100% Premier League ready.

Yep, the deal is probably off now. Ferk it, that looks (and sounds) horrific for the lass. Maybe Lingard gets the chance he wanted at Man U now. The good Lord moves in mysterious ways. We still have a couple of days, a list of players, and owners prepared to spend.

Ferk it, just pay it. Give him a two and half year deal. Left back who can cover centrally. That sounds good to me. Our most winnable games are coming straight away, so we want players who can slot straight in. A good points total in February and the resulting confidence/momentum should seeing us through the harder games afterwards.

Germany scored after a keeper's hoof was allowed to bounce against England in the World Cup in South Africa. It wasn't John Terry's finest moment.

Lampard lost to Bruceball two years ago with a midfield trio of Kante, Jorginho and Mount. That game where Hayden scored in the last minute.

If Man U mess him about, Mason Greenwood etc. will be watching.

In terms of effect, I bloody well hope so! What a massive contribution he made to them. In terms of Bruno's current stature and what all the football geeks are saying, Bruno may compare better with City getting Tevez, who they poached from Man U. Bruno is not a striker, but is an established world class player who sounds like he'd walk into pretty much every team in the league. Look at the acrimony from other fans and journos at us getting a player of this stature. This turns the applecart upside down. Tevez, CRonaldo, and Rooney were amazing together at Man U. One of the PLs greatest ever combinations. Once at City, Tevez got them knocking on the Top 4, Silva and Yaya the next season got them in, and then Aguero won them the league. I think Tevez is a bit of a forgotten man in the story.

T Lingard can play false 9, he did for a few games at West Ham, so he'd be two for the price of one in terms of squad numbers. It's unfortunate his deal looks likely to go to the wire, because having a fallback like him would strenghten our position in getting another more established striker in a last minute deal.

Everton did win the old Cup Winners Cup in 1985. As Leffe says, they may have kicked on in the old European Cup when champions but were denied the chance by Heysel.

I'm a brand new fan too. I became one on seeing that quote about Bruno potentially improving five of the top six. This feels like when Citeh went from buying Shay Given, Wayne Bridge, and Gareth Barry to Tevez, Yaya, and David Silva. We've already signed one real deal in Trippier, but this one can't be explained away with "he knows him from Burnley" or "one last payday". This would be us getting to that level in one (January) window.

I still think we'll get him, just not with a 12 million survival bonus. It'll probably go to the wire on deadline day. Strange as it may seem, this could work to our advantage, because if the other players (Bruno etc.) sign before we finalize with Lingard, we can offer all kinds of relegation clauses in the knowledge that they won't be activated.

On the surface, this bid for him sounds low and destined to fail. However, I think the club must know something otherwise they wouldn't have started the negotiation at that price. When we were after their DoF, the word about Brighton was that they were cool about people leaving to further their career. This is unusual, but in an Ideal setup, your system would work so well that everyone in it would be replaceable.