Barnes23

The degree of separation between the actions of a regime and a national football team are vast, the degree of separation between all of that and NUFC as a club and Newcastle as a city is vaster still. Much of the debate surrounding our involvement with SA seem to operate on this assumption of complicity which seems to treat non-equivalent areas of life (sport, business, geopolitics, the internal politics of SA) as commensurable when they really aren't.

Don't have a problem with it personally, hosting an international fixture isn't a big deal.

3 quality players in the right positions and I'll be happy. One of them though IMO really needs to be someone who possesses the creative attributes to break down low block defences

He is similar to Paqueta in that he's an obvious fit, with the potential to elevate or transform the team, that we have ended up missing out on or not going for + have potentially lost out on to a rival team, too. There isn't an abundance of these type of players on the market. Fan disappointment is completely understandable. Exactly how negatively it should be viewed will depend on the business we conduct over the rest of the window.

Looks like it may have somehow fallen through due to personal terms, fuck knows what he was asking for

Continuing this theme: Another Brazilian we were heavily linked with, Angelo Gabriel, looks like he may be signing for Chelsea as well

I'd personally be much more in favour of a RW/AM hybrid like DS than an out-and- out winger. The flexibility of bringing them into the middle against low blocks while playing someone else out wide could be a real difference maker. That said, it's nice to be in a situation where the level of trust and confidence in the club is such that I'll be second guessing myself a little bit if we go down a different route with targets.

Only concern would be the ACL. Very impressive prior to that

He did. Vitor Roque heading to Barca too, and Andrey Santos joined Chelsea in January. I believe the South American links, I think it was a market earmarked early on as one we could exploit, especially for developmental signings. I don't think we were anticipating other clubs to be turning their attentions there at the same time to quite the extent that they have, though, so may have had to recalibrate. I remember when Bruno signed the reports from Brazil were that we were looking to target the market quite aggressively.

Think people are setting themselves up for disappointment if they expect Tonali to come straight into the team. Howe doesn't tend to operate that way from what we've seen so far, and at this point I have no qualms with it tbh

Definitely reads that way, it references the Minteh loan directly after that and suggests it was done "without scouting involved" (assuming that part has been translated accurately)

https://1908.nl/artikelen/hancko-op-de-shortlist-van-newcastle-united Tier 1 for Feyenoord apparently - Hancko is on our shortlist. Enquiries have been made but not entered into formal negotiations yet. Napoli also interested. Also of note "Feyenoord and Newcastle United have been working together since this year, although nothing has been officially communicated about this yet"

Miggy is unambiguously in our top three wide forward options, and is pretty much a perfect fit for our style of play, racking up the most g/a from out wide by some distance last season. That is reason enough to believe he will have an important role to play this year, sentimentality need not factor in.

We should be aiming for another top four (or CL) finish + progress on and off the pitch. Given the open ambition of our owners I'm not sure why anyone would want to look at it any differently to that. As always there will be a lot of factors to consider when evaluating the context of those goals over the course of the season, though.

Pleased for Joselu, I always felt he had specific qualities which were valuable in our setup even though he was quite far from being prolific. Should never have been mentioned in the same breath as someone like Riviere, for example, who was perhaps the most technically inept and least "switched on" striker I've seen play for us.

Potentially reminds me of when Nigel Adkins was sacked, whether it's the right decision or not will all hinge on who the replacement is.

Sorry to see him go on a sentimental level, as much as it felt like an inevitability now. Remember a time when quite a few felt that he was the better prospect of the two brothers. Can't help but wonder to what extent things could have turned out differently for him given different circumstances, thinking of both the managerial situation and the Udinese/Watford interest especially. Glad he's going to be supported through his injury and hope he's able to make a good career for himself

From what I saw Alcaraz actually looked pretty decent up front too, in addition to very much being an all-rounder as a midfielder. Great energy too. Could be a very smart versatility signing

Not sure why it's an absolute necessity for us to make a major sale this summer on FFP grounds. Don't think any of us know the full extent of what will be financially possible and what won't, or the finer details of FFP, but qualifying for the CL will afford us considerable leeway. Especially as we know the intention isn't to overhaul the squad, but bring in quality in a select number of positions. None of the targets I've seen credibly mentioned so far are really out of step in terms of budget or wages.

The problem with that is, at present, Gordon doesn't offer anything close to what ASM can in an attacking sense, and hasn't even been especially diligent in the areas you might expect him to be superior (pressing, positional play)

I don't view it as a goodbye necessarily, but maybe I'm in an overly optimistic mood after the season just gone. Certainly hope he stays.

Think I'm right in saying Livramento can play LB too? Could be a fantastic replacement for Manquillo if so, only concern would be any potential impact of his long-term injury

Would love him here but no chance are they letting him leave tbh