Chicken Dancer

They need to take the gloves off and have a much more hands on approach going forwards. They need to employ a people who know what they’re doing at take control. This should have been the summer we closed gap the gap to the top, on the back of a cup win and CL qualification. Unbelievably, we feel further away on the pitch and a million miles away off the pitch.

Aye even I’m starting to think there’s a pretty decent chance they stay up. Xhaka would be far the best signing they’ve made so far, though. Fair play for having a proper gamble and going for it. There’s still a very weak squad there but 17th would still be a huge success.

It’s a very sunderland signing and a very un-Newcastle signing.

Our summer has been fucking shit but seeing that Man Utd squad makes me feel a little better.

I hate PSR, I love attending football matches. Our loves seem to have flipped.

Where do we reckon he’s from? Ireland or the south?

Can tell what type of bellend he is by that profile on Twitter. Either 14/15 or someone who I’ve been to Anfield more than.

If this isn’t a strong reminder to the club/Howe that we need a Sporting Director as soon as possible. Obviously important they can work with Howe, but equally important Howe can work with them. Absolute farce and hopefully a wake up call. I know the most positive people will spin it a certain way, but the way we’ve operated in last 12 months or so off the pitch has been a mess.

Can't believe what I'm reading here mind Our backups last season were an aging, injured Callum Wilson & a very raw Osula. Turning our noses up at a player who's just scored 19 goals for a midtable side to fill that role is crazy. £50m is also crazy like, but Wissa would be a very useful addition at the right price. It's the type of signing we should be making to make the drop off less noticeable, if it can be done at the right price.

It's over for sure. Not losing sleep over it. Sign a cheaper understudy/option who wants to be here and allocate some of the funds towards paying Isak what he's worth.

£30-£35m it's a no-brainer for me. Anything north of £40m would have me a bit sketchy, £50m (which I suspect would be the price) would be daft. He'd jump at the chance to come here, that's for sure. Champions League football alone, and he'd probably understand he would be an understudy who'll still enjoy plenty minutes.

I'm not even just peddling this because he's going to Liverpool, but the entire thing never really seemed right to me. Sure, I was excited at the prospect of having him AND Isak next season, but they just strike me as being too similar in more or less everything. He certainly seemed different to the Pedro type of player, but happy to stand corrected on that. I confess I've only watched him live 3 or 4 times, so there'll be plenty on here who will tell me it WOULD have worked, but there's no guarantee . Albeit lesser players, but Ba & Cisse never worked and there'll be countless examples at other clubs. I think ultimately we were trying to sign Isak's replacement for a future window before everyone knows we have £150m+, with the intention of 'phasing' him in (he'd still have started loads and loads of games) before becoming the main man eventually - probably next summer. Can't say I'm going to lose too much sleep over it. We're keeping Isak and have a clear intention to spend some decent money on a forward. Happy days.

He should be signing a new deal before we leave Austria. Pay him for what he is - one of the top 3 strikers in world football. Would be a huge statement of intent from us as a club, tie down our crown jewel and pay what other clubs pay.

He had a great season and would be a useful addition, but I'd be reluctant to pay £50m for him which seems to be about the asking price.

Hopefully we go down the Spurs route then. Bat the English clubs away by telling them to relentlessly fuck off before selling him abroad when he gets to 30+. We don't need to sell, we're under no pressure to sell and he's got 3 years left on his deal. Sit him down, tell him we intend to pay you like one of the best strikers in the world for the next 5 years and if you aren't satisfied with our progress in 3/4 years time you're welcome to leave, as long as it suits us financially (and is abroad). Stating the obvious but it would be much less of a kick in the cock seeing him play for Barca/Bayern than it would anybody over here - especially Liverpool or Arsenal.

Imagine we fucked this off, gave Isak a new deal and activated MGW's release clause (legitimately). Save some coin and get a belter player, as well as fucking off Levy, the Greek fella at Forest and Liverpool in the process. A man can dream!

Aye I remember this. He was either ignorant to the rules or just being a prick. He knows as well of all of us that no team will be allowed to upset the apple cart on a consistent basis like in 2004/2008 as the rules are designed to handcuff teams like Newcastle and Villa. The fact we've finished in the Champions League spots 2 out of 3 years is testament to the coach we have. We've spent money but a drop in the ocean compared to these teams when you consider the squads they already had at the point of the takeover. I love the way we've had success over the past few years and wouldn't change a thing, but it would be pretty funny if we could be in for a £100m + player as often as we wanted. Easy to forget these fuckers bid £100m + for Caicedo on Klopp's watch too. Now this summer they can - quite easily without any worry about PSR - buy Wirtz for £100m + and also Isak for £120m + if they wanted. Some ceiling that.

It is rather funny how the Liverpool lot are going on about Isak after whinging like little babies for the past 6 months about TAA. Not them though, course not them. They don't spend money either, remember? This is just the Coutinho money.

On the pitch, no. I quite agree. I fancy us to give nearly anybody a game. On our day we’re nigh on unplayable and a match for anybody, as proved in March. There’ll be some huge clubs in Pot 1 of the CL draw that won’t want to come to St James’, that’s for sure. But off the pitch - despite what many of us may think, they’re a complete different animal to us. They absolutely dwarf us in basically every category and we will likely be vulnerable to the likes of them for a while yet. Who are they vulnerable to? You’d say Real Madrid and you could make an argument for Barcelona, finances aside. Aside from them which team in the world is tempting Liverpool to part with a star? It just won’t happen anytime soon. It’s not a dig at Newcastle - or at least not intended to be - it’s just the way that it is and will be for a while yet. If it was like it was when Mansour bought Man City then it probably wouldn’t be like this right now.

If only it was that easy. Sadly if he's got his heart set on a move - zero evidence of this of course - then it will be hard to lock him down. In the footballing food chain, Liverpool are still miles higher than us and will be for a considerable amount of time. I still think Liverpool had no plans to try for him this summer and still might not. Just trying to seize an opportunity/not miss out on Ekitike.

For those with a lot more knowledge and understanding of this minefield than me - if the unthinkable did happen, what actually would £130m-£150m do from a PSR perspective for the foreseeable? Could we relax for a few year? Off the pitch anyway.

Aye there is also the financial side of things for him to consider. If Liverpool were to sign him as the 3rd most expensive player in history, you can safely assume he'd be being paid well in excess of £250/300k a week. Probably as close to Salah & VVD as it could be. If we are to keep him with an agreement he can leave in a year or two, we'd have to pay him what he considered his value. It would only be fair for him to expect that imo.

Not to be a negative bastard but I do wonder if he will agitate for a move now. I think there's a fairly high chance this has perhaps came from his agent, but obviously could be Liverpool flexing. Signing for the current champions and one of the world's largest clubs will be an attractive proposition for any player, regardless of how class the last few years have been since he joined. I don't think we will sell (now) btw, I just wonder if his head has or will be turned.

I think it's fair to say he has been a very good player for us. Certainly very effective, especially in 22/23 and we definitely looked more balanced with him in the side vs Tonali before Tonali went the deepest of the 3. We've just outgrown him is all. No shame in it at all and I think it's one of the rare occasions in football when the move suits the seller, the buyer and the player themselves.

I'd be happy enough with him or Hackney from Boro. We'd be daft not to tap into the young, English talent in the Championship. There's been some hugely successful transitions in the last 4/5 years with plenty going on to represent the national team. Turning £15m players into £40/£50m players is also a very profitable way to navigate the PSR problem for a club in our position. Also think Miley will get a massive increase in minutes this season. I think he's ready to take a step forward.