Chicken Dancer

I think you know what I mean. These type of signings are relatively low risk in terms of PSR with a high upside. Obviously for every Eze there could be a Lewis-Potter, but there’s talent in the football league (available for peanuts in relative terms) that we should utilise to either help out on the pitch or to try ‘do a Minteh’ with.

eh who said anything about replacing or making him our starting RW? I assumed he was a striker anyway tbf. Just saying there’s a bunch of talented youngsters playing in the football league that we should utilise the future if we can. They won’t all work out but you’re more or less able to make your money back on the inbetweeners anyway - the Dwight Gayle’s of this world. Villa fans probably thought the same about Rogers in January too, now look. Same with Wharton at Palace.

I'd have taken a punt on him. Might never be good enough for the Premier League but we could have always loaned him out and probably recouped the money for him. Lots of talent in the EFL that we seemingly haven't had the nous to tap yet. Palace are a good example of utilising it.

I think a comfortable 0-2 with a good performance will see us happy enough for 20 minutes.... until we draw Liverpool away in the next round I'd definitely be going as strong as possible though.

Hoping we get a comfortable win tonight. What a mood lifter it would be. Still find it odd to say that when we're sitting with 4/6 points but here we are.

They always seem to get good value on both incomings and outgoings them lot. Though I would say Chiesa is made of glass, £13m is ridiculously cheap in this day and age. Less than Jack Clarke ffs. Even if he scores a few it will end up being extremely good value.

There were many lows, but by far the lowest point of the Ashley era for me. Thanks for ruining my day

I'm all for getting somebody in, but £70m would be an absolute scandal like. It will definitely raise the mood but he best be the second coming of Cannavaro if we pay that. Christ.

If everyone is fit, our XI is really strong, assuming it is the following (Tino/Trippier & a few other positions are up for debate); Pope, Trippier, Schar, Botman, Hall, Tonali, Bruno G, Joelinton, Barnes (?), Isak, Gordon. Then we will have the likes of Wilson, Willock, Longstaff, Burn, Kelly, Tino, Murphy, Almiron on the bench. Before people get started, I'm well aware some of them (Wilson) are made of glass and some aren't 'good enough' for a team challenging for European places but I'd argue they're fine as squad players & fresh legs when we need them later in games. I think Murphy & Almiron generally get the most shit as their attacking play leaves a lot to be desired, but they've been extremely well coached by Howe off the ball and both are crucial to our press. The problem is you never want to stagnate. Appreciate Tonali is basically like a new player, but new players give everybody a boost - coaching staff, players & especially fans. We've had a solid start in terms of results (performances fair enough, but that will change) & the main feeling I get from my mates/online is that of complete negativity - it all boils down to signings. Standing still whilst the competition freshens up will never end well, so some new players were/ARE a necessity. I don't share the view that some have expressed (mainly on Twitter I will add) that Mitchell & Eales are hopeless. People believe that because the Guehi transfer has been very public - if you look at our dealings since October 21 more or less everyone of them has been kept mainly under wraps at least until quite late in the process. It's clear that Palace have leaked it and have probably moved the goalposts along the way. It's going to happen when you deal with certain owners and it's hard to blame them for wanting as much ££ as possible for one of their star players. I'm sure we'd be the same. I do share the view that going into the season without strengthening some obviously weaknesses in our squad would be an utter failure if we're wanting to challenge at the top end of the table again. The international competitions in the summer slowed the market down, and there was probably a bit of a vacuum when Staveley left and Ashworth was on gardening leave. But it's hard to imagine a situation where the club didn't have a list of targets from earlier in 2024 for the summer window and aside from Kelly, not signing anybody would be tragic. We're a Schar injury away from having to play Krafth & Burn as our CBs for the foreseeable future, 2 players who've played the majority of their NUFC career at full-back. Apparently Botman is back in November but it will take some time for him to get match fit. I'd be surprised if we see him kick a ball in 2024. If the club prioritised a CB over a RW then I trust them on that. None of us want Murphy or Almiron to be our starting RW in 2024, but failing to sign a CB when they've taken this route would be terrible and put us in an awful situation if the worst was to happen. Going back to the performances so far this season, it's hard to judge so far. Southampton we started slow and then had Schar sent off early, so it's hard to paint the full picture. I'm pretty sure we'd have figured it out and ended up winning. Bournemouth was a funny one - we started and ended well but bits in between were obviously canny shit. That being said we could have quite easily won the game just as much as we could have lost it. The concerning thing for me is that I thought we'd be back to the 22/23 energy levels and it just looks like it hasn't been there so far. It's a small sample size though and the Southampton game was more of a case of just take the win and move on. But we will see. It goes without saying but the next 5 days will basically set the tone for the season. We're a cup-exit and a poor result against a decent Spurs side away from a really negative few weeks. Let's hope neither happen and Guehi signs - going into the international break will feel mint then. Huge 5 days.

There we have it then. Last season was considered by most as a bit of a drag (the success of 22/23 obviously came into it), but we had horrific injuries & lost our marquee signing to something which is also ridiculously rare, yet in 14/15 seasons we'd be playing European football this year. I still consider this club bloody cursed mind

Got to remember we were extremely unlucky not to get in Europe last season. I can't be arsed to check, but it must be quite rare for the team 8th or below to win a domestic trophy to get European football. All that whilst we had rotten season in terms of injuries. Agree with the points made though - Howe would be gone with no Europe, but I do think we will finish at least 7th.

I’m not being a bellend here, but how do you know that? They could well have been in conversation with Palace since the Euros for all we know, it just hasn’t been completely played out in public like the Guehi transfer.

Tier1: Pep Tier2: Emery, Arteta Tier3: Howe, ETH, Ange etc Tier 4: Everyone else

As said, he isn't a bad player and I wouldn't say he was too expensive at £40m. I just think with the limited budget we have enforced by the rules the £40m could have been better spent elsewhere. The Gordon point is fair though - I don't think anybody could have predicted what he would become and how important he is for us. I still think spending £80m + in 6 months on 2 players that play the same position is an odd choice. I do think that given the fee paid, there was maybe an idea to fit them both in the team though. How we planned to do that is another question entirely.

100% my thoughts too. I always found it a little odd to be honest. We'd not long spent £40m + on a player who plays in exactly the same position as him. When money is so tight due to these poxy rules, the money could have definitely been spent better elsewhere - the other wing for starters. I know people will say 'we need depth etc', which is true. However it's quite clear that we aren't at the stage yet where we can spend £40m on a squad player - that has became clear. I've nowt against him and I think he's a good player who will get you 10 + over a season (if he's starting). I don't think he's the wrong player for us, just the wrong signing for us *at this moment in time*.

Hopefully a year of learning the lingo and training every day has massively helped, but there's no doubt he will take a while to get up to speed. Almost a year of a relatively short career gone. Better than being injured I suppose. He wasn't exactly great last season, albeit a small sample size. Will put it down to being new to the league etc. From memory, the standouts were Villa, PSG & Liverpool but apart from that he looked pretty average and we improved tenfold with Longstaff back in the team. Fingers crossed he's back with a bit between his teeth. The idea of him, Bruno & Joelinton being able to function as a 3 is class - genuinely has the potential to be one of the best midfields in the league.

I don’t mind him whatsoever and actually think he’s a decent player. Will score a few over a season. The signing and cost of it still makes no sense to me, especially since he’s pretty limited to the left-hand side.

Great win given the circumstances. We didn’t start well so down to 10 I was worried. Belter result and great way to galvanise the squad. Realise I’m gonna come across as a right miserable bastard here so apologies in advance, and maybe it was just from my seat (Gallowgate mid-ish), but thought the atmosphere was dire. Bad enough for the Corner (who don’t stop to be fair to the fuckers) to goad the Gallowgate. Sign of the times I suppose and hate to put a dampener on a great result. On we go!

Am I imagining that the champions used to kick off the season when I was younger?

Quite possibly the worst chant in the history of Newcastle United this. We’ve had some shockers too. Forgot it existed with him being banned. Let’s ban this asap.

Loved that game in 22/23. 0-1 down at HT and never really believed we would lose the game. Comfortable 2-0 in this game I reckon. Similar to Forest at home 2 years ago.

Is it not just a case of our transfers that are played out in public seem like they take a while? Which I imagine is like other teams too - look at Man Utd with De Ligt. Been a couple of weeks since interest was first mooted I think. Isak transfer seemed to happen fast as the news broke shortly before he was our player. For all we know they could have been negotiating with Sociedad for two months just not in the public eye. Keeping a deal hush will be incredibly hard. It will rely on absolutely everybody involved in the deal keeping their mouths shut, including mates & family members of the player/agent involved. This has likely leaked from the Palace side to drum up interest, no?

True I do think centre backs are exempt from the typical ‘bedding in’ process though. Saying that, he didn’t start Botman against Forest.

I’ve a feeling Guehi will be starting this for us tbh.

Still haunts my dreams this cunt.