Barnes23

Spurs 3-0 Wolves Palace 2-1 Villa Everton 0-1 Forest Fulham 1-2 Brentford Leicester 2-1 Southampton Bournemouth 0-3 Arsenal Leeds 0-2 Chelsea West Ham 1-1 Brighton Newcastle 0-2 Man City Man Utd 0-3 Liverpool

"And on today's edition of Poetry Please, we have the latest romance poem by Ryan Giggs" T

Wish I had reason to believe Graeme Bailey has any kind of real credibility. Paqueta has been the name on everyone's lips because he really is the standout player in terms of quality that we have been linked with this window.

Loan or permanent? Would much prefer the former as with all the Chelsea links

Don't know why anyone is interested in policing opinions of transfer activity, on either side.

Would be very coincidental if they were. Would be good to see Shola get the boot, at least - it would be a small but nonetheless significant indicator that we are becoming a serious club again.

This one is right down the middle for me. Any comparisons to Chris Wood are daft but suggesting he is as highly regarded as someone like Ekitike also seems to be well wide of the mark.

https://twitter.com/mhardysport/status/1559515960725364742?t=nKjlzWaCyECiHiX6fVzLkw&s=19

There are at least as many doubts surrounding Pulisic as with CHO, injury history being significant worries with both.

Aye, Midds is one of my favourite posters but can't agree on that one. So much of this game is about generating momentum, we should be aiming to go as far as we can as quickly as we can in a way which lines up with the ultimate ambitions of the owners. Slow progress can very quickly turn into stagnation.

Hope not. CHO or Gallagher would be worth a go as loans, not sold on the other links.

He's not, like. Nowhere near Bruno technically, there's a reason Chelsea may be open to letting him go.

Definite no from me. Very possible detriment to the team which comes above all, but also very keen to keep away from the circus mentality that permeates the media and everything that comes with it. I can only imagine Howe would see things in a similar way. Probably in the minority here as well, but personally prefer the mystique of some degree of separation between the fans and the inner workings of the club i.e. not being able to look "behind the scenes" too much.

Aston Villa 2-1 Everton Arsenal 2-1 Leicester Brighton 1-2 Newcastle Man City 3-0 Bournemouth Southampton 2-1 Leeds Wolves 1-1 Fulham Brentford 2-2 Man United Notts Forest 1-2 West Ham Chelsea 1-2 Tottenham Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace

https://www.themag.co.uk/2014/04/said-newcastle-keeper-rob-elliot-walked-club-last-night-spoke/ A few highlights:

Pretty sure the source was @TheGuv on here, who was adamant that none of it was misrepresented and is as reliable as they come from what I remember.

Not sure why anyone would remember him too fondly after his comments re: Ben Arfa, Pardew, the fanbase etc... never mind the fact he was a poor keeper. Most likely got this gig at Gateshead the same way he got a place in our squad - jobs for the boys rather than on merit or ambition.

A quick google search suggests this guy could actually be a reliable source and not a bullshitter/emoji merchant.

Yep. This is why I don't really understand people saying they would be happy with finishing 11th or something this season. It's not just a question of long-term goals - our speed of progression needs to track the stated ambition of the owners and the ambitions of our best players as closely as possible.

We should be looking at around 7th or thereabouts and pushing as close the top six as we possibly can. I'll be somewhat disappointed if we don't achieve that. To me that represents a level and speed of progress which is in line with the ambitions of the project. There's a lot of confounding variables though, not going to view the league table in isolation and arrive at a judgement. I don't think 10th or below is good enough given the form we already showed in the second half of last season. I think a lot of people have internalised the "deluded geordies" criticism to the point they're willing to be satisfied with relative mediocrity, tbh. Understandable given the relief of Ashley's departure and the promise of some kind of normality, but it's not a winning attitude - you have to set high standards and be aggressive if you want to progress. If not, what appears to be progress can turn into stagnation very fast. I think it's safe to say Howe and the players won't be entering this season aiming for tenth.

Crystal Palace 1-2 Arsenal Fulham 0-3 Liverpool Bournemouth 1-2 Aston Villa Leeds 1-1 Wolves Newcastle 2-0 Notts Forest Spurs 3-1 Southampton Everton 0-2 Chelsea Leicester 2-1 Brentford Man United 1-0 Brighton West Ham 0-2 Man City Really cool to see this back

The addition of Almiron post January completely transformed our attacking play in that period. But I would also argue his performances last season under Howe showed continual improvement as he adjusted to a new role within an entirely reconfigured setup within the team. The ultimate judgement on that will come this season but his pre-season form certainly bodes well.

As I said in Almiron's own thread, it's ridiculous to consider two years of Steve Bruce as any kind of context to make a judgement about his ability. Emil Krafth and Joelinton have demonstrated that definitively.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62375853