Chicken Dancer

I do think it's probably been as fair as possible, certainly from a selfish perspective as I've had it pretty much confirmed today I've got a ticket. However the only thing I would suggest is a tad unfair is section 6 - I think that should be equal to 5 at the least. A minor issue with what they've done, but they were never able to win.

Sadly not true, as our allocation published won't include the tickets dished out to corporate and hospitality. Probably would have been useful if the club did publish that, in fairness.

I'm now somewhat ridiculously terrified that there's a royal death or horrific weather that leads to the postponement of one of our games The mackems will probably ring a bomb scare to SJP this weekend or something. Not ideal he misses the 3 league games either, mind. Great chance to pick up at least 7 points.

Surely he shouldn't play regardless? I know it's completely different given the hits they take, but read up on Tua Tagovailoa in the NFL. Scary shit.

It does seem incredibly fitting that two local lads sent us to the Semi and Final respectively. You could see Longstaff almost welling up in his post-match interview last night.

It's all they ever say. At the end of the day, the Trust are scared to rock the boat with the club, especially if it doesn't suit the board members. Like you say, WiFi is a higher priority for them. Agree with everything you said - ideally there would be 2 standing/singing sections - SEC & L7 (next to away fans). Would allow the atmosphere to bounce round the ground a bit too. I think we need to stop playing Hey Jude pre-match too, or at least turn it off and let the fans take over. Sounds incredibly cheesy imo and forced. Let the atmosphere build organically for games like last night. Of course, it's basically impossible to create a fantastic atmosphere every games - people just aren't as up for it at 12:30 on a Saturday or 14:00 on a Sunday which I guess is fair enough, but safe standing would definitely improve it.

Was bouncing then when they scored completely flat. Think everyone was nervous, despite the lead. I agree though, no excuse.

Voice has gone, heads gone. We deserve this lads and lasses. All them years. All them protests. All the pain. Take these moments all in with loved ones, special times. This one is for my late brother whose last game at St James was Liverpool in May 19. If only he could see us now. First Wembley appearance of many. Fucking come on.

We've probably brought Gordon forward from the summer imo. Like others have touched on, we're incredibly thin - especially at CM - but we also have the benefit of no European football and no cup football (hopefully after 26th Feb..) with often a week between games. I did think at the start of the window we may have twisted rather than stick, but Gordon immediately improves our options - whether from the bench or starting. Murphy has appeared in every league game I think, so that's an improvement straight away. I understand the worry about Shelvey leaving but he was a high-earner at an age where this is probably his last decent move. He's only played 34 minutes this season so we aren't exactly going to miss him, and Gordon signing means we can push Willock/Joelinton back into midfield if there's an injury. Not ideal but it is what it is. Getting £15m for Wood is just madness, a great deal for us. Isak takes his role in the squad - and more - so we've improved there too. I actually think we're stronger than we were at the start of Jan given who's left given that Isak is now fit and Gordon improves the squad more than 2 aging bit-part players. The one worry I do have is Wilson's injury record. 7/10 for me, moving to a 10 if we get a CM in.

Not sure where else to post, but in the event of qualifying for Europe, squad registration could be tricky (I think...) You can name a 25 man squad, of which 8 must have been trained in the nation for 3 years between 15-21, and 4 who must be trained at the registering club for 3 years between 15-21. I think under-21 players don't need to be registered if they were at the club the previous season - this may be wrong. The 8 will be a doddle but the 4... we have Longstaff, but assuming Dummett is away and Anderson doesn't need to be registered, I'm struggling. You can leave spaces in the squad to make up for not having enough homegrown, but not the best idea. By the way this is purely from Football Manager knowledge and not much else 1. Pope* 2. Karius 3. Gillespie* 4. Trippier* 5. Schar 6. Burn* 7. Botman 8. Lascelles* 9. Targett* 10. Manquillo 11. Bruno 12. Longstaff** 13. Willock* 14. Joelinton 15. Murphy* 16. Gordon* 17. Almiron 18. ASM 19. Isak 20. Wilson* 21. Ashby* 22. Krafth Obviously there will be some of the above leaving (4 right-backs in there...) and signings in the summer, but something I'm sure the club have taken into account. Yes I know I'm well ahead of myself here!

You can get 14/1 on 365 for Southampton to qualify for those who are shitting their pants.

We are going to give someone an almighty dicking soon. The chances we've missed over the last 2 games alone. Either tonight or Saturday we will score at least 3 - preferably both!

Aye, it's the last remaining scar of the Ashley era now that the pigeon is gone. I do hope they can find a way to extend mind. I think 60-65k would be ideal. Didn't somebody post on here that the club had bought Barker and Stonehouse building along from the ground? Anyone any idea why/what came of it?

Was it not a relegation release clause that we triggered? That's the FM in me though, not sure of the facts.

I wish I could remove that feeling that I have before basically every game that we're somehow going to manage to fuck it up. My mind, body and & soul has been ingrained to expect failure for so long that it's finding it hard to get used to the new-Newcastle. although semi-finals are alien to me. Hopefully they become the norm over the next decade. The bookies are never wrong...are they!? Early goal tonight and the fucking roof comes off. Unchanged team is my guess, Isak and Maxi if needed. Howay the Lads! PS - Wilson will score tonight.

Joelinton has also played striker a number of times and is fucking hopeless at it. There’s no way we signed him to play in midfield, Howe said as much in his interview the other day (although he did say he could play as a #9 ) I’ll be shocked if he ever plays in a midfield 3 for us.

Gordon most definitely is not a CM, like.

See to me, you deserve as equal a chance to a ST holder who’s attended all of the games. Your effort is equal and cost is equal (if not more on the latter) Loyalty points first (definitely) then members with a league/cup attendance record (90%+) & ST holders in the next lot imo.

correct mate. He can sign for anybody, but then there’s compensation due to the club he’s leaving. Hence why they’re playing him a bit atm - can claim he’s involved in 1st team so more ££ in compensation, which is fair enough. Pretty sure Harvey Elliot went to Liverpool and they had to pay like £10m or something? Not sure if that was an actual transfer though. Compensation for Rigg is likely to be around the £1/2m mark I would guess. Coupled with the fact he’s a massive NUFC fan (his dad especially) I’d be shocked if he didn’t join us in the summer.

Aye - it’s just compensation now, which is partly the reason he’s been in their squads. That way they can claim more through the courts. He is very talented but nowhere near ready for Championship level football. He’s really quite small, but genuinely so, so talented. Rough family (harsh I know) but he’s got his head screwed on for sure. Edit : first part of this is not ITK btw haha, just an educated guess and a sensible thing to do for SAFC.

To be fair they do play some attractive football which is easy on the eye, and they’re doing far better than they probably ever expected. Fair play to them for their transfer policy too - new owners seems to have completely overhauled an aging squad of plodders and replaced them with young, hungry players (granted their stand-out is a loanee). However, the problem with that lot is, in my life (and likely beyond) a good run = we’re the best team about. A shit run = sack the manager. They’re always about 5 games away from a crisis or from definitely going up/getting in Europe/staying up. They have an outside chance of promotion this year, but they’d be better off building for a year or two before going up, as ridiculous as that sounds. Good luck to Stewart as well. Never nice to see an injury like that and it could well have cost him a decent move. Still think one of the relegated teams or a Norwich (or whoever doesn’t go up) would take a punt on him in the summer, but there’s no doubt his value just significantly dropped. Sounds sly but sort of served them wrongns right for wishing an ACL injury on Bruno. Edit: fairly certain young Rigg will sign for us in the summer. Can’t find my post from last year, but I’m fairly familiar with the family. Seems set to go to NUFC but nothing is decided yet. If he’s going to play often it may do the kid well to stay put, imo.

Regardless of what they do for the final, there is always going to be a majority of people pissed off. I can see sense in most things suggested to be honest, but you'd definitely have to give priority to those lads & lasses who have points. The argument about the points system is for another day, and going forward I hope there is something that stops people hoarding and gaining points but never attending away games, but I have no answer on how to police it. But for now, they deserve first dibs on days like this. For what its worth, I think a fair thing to do would be; 1. Points (maybe 20+ or something - that would probably take a big % of available tickets anyways) 2. ST/Members with 3 cup games this season 3. Ballot/General sale I reckon they'll just give it to ST holders only though, which is probably fair enough. (if we get there)

It would be a shame to disband the left side of Willock and Joelinton, but I agree that this is the way to go tomorrow, although I think Wilson will start and Isak will in midweek.

It'll be lush when we have a proper squad and almost 2 XI's. Got to think, we're 3rd top with Murphy and Wood making 19 and 18 appearances in the league this season respectively (granted mostly from the bench). That's why Howe deserves all the credit in the world. Having Wilson to back up Isak or vice versa is a 'champagne problem' to coin an Eales phrase. Soon enough, we will have more or less 2 strong options for most positions. Be mint.

You’re always ridiculously aggressive on this subject for no reason. People are just debating what to do if it becomes a lock out, which is likely. I understand you’re protective and it’s a sensitive subject for you but nobody is saying you should lose your points. When you say you see plenty of youngns at away games - many of them get tickets via means mentioned be other posters - someone with loads of points buys them a ticket to sell on. How do I know this? My mate runs a popular supporters coach that a few people on here would have been on more than once. Times are changing - yes you couldn’t give your ticket away, but do we really want to be in a position where away games become a closed shop? Remember going on your first away with all of your mates when you were a teen. If it remains like it is now it’s ‘who you know’ rather than fair. I use myself as an example. I went to 7 away games last season, probably cost me in total close to £2000 (if not more) when travel/accommodation is factored in. I got 0 in the way of points . I’m fortunate enough to have access to a ticket for most games (including Wembley….if we get there) but the fella(s) I use literally don’t go to any - maybe 1 - away games, but are collecting points every time they get a ticket. The ticket is used at least 19 times a season. You can’t tell me that’s fair? The days of people saying ‘do the hard miles and you’ll get the rewards’ are well and truly over. As @SteVtouched on, Europe should see demand dither a tad for domestic games but I’ll be very shocked if they start reaching 0pts ever again. Then you have kids who’ll have to wait until they’re getting a birthday card from the monarch before they can go to Bournemouth away. I also understand I am a tad bias - I had over 130pts and gave them up. However I knew what I was doing and would do it again. I’ve been to most away grounds I’d want a I go to and it doesn’t really bother me anymore, if truth be told. But my kids should 100% be given the chance we all had in the future. Introduction of gaining points by other means (home/cup tickets + renewal) with a points cap would help, as well as a % for a ballot like others have said. Those lads and lasses with loads of points should never, ever lose them. But that doesn’t mean other people shouldn’t be given the chance to gain them.