Odear

I enjoyed that. Shite game but if you defend well there’s always a chance of getting something.

I don’t see Lazaro as being that much of an upgrade on Atsu. He’s not going to take the place of Almiron or ASM in any case. But suppose gives a different option from the bench. Bowen would get goals. His movement and reading of the game is superb, everything that Joelinton isn’t. But then at the same time, Dwight Gayle looks lethal in the championship too so it’s a huge risk at that sort of money.

Joelinton brace. And Miggy to seal the win. 3-1

The former Roma captain Francesco Totti left his position within the club’s management on Monday in a move that will increase fan opposition to the team’s American owner, James Pallotta. While he has been a technical director since retiring from playing two years ago, Totti said he was left out of decisions about the hiring and firing of coaches and moves in the player transfer market. “I never had the chance to express myself. They never involved me,” Totti said in a news conference at the Italian Olympic Committee. “The first year that can happen but by the second [year] I understood what they wanted to do … They knew of my desire to offer a lot to this squad but they never wanted it. They kept me out of everything. It’s a day that I hoped never would have come.” “For eight years here, since the Americans came, they’ve done everything they could to sweep us aside,” Totti said. Pallotta runs the club from Boston and has not been to Rome in more than a year, and Totti said that was problematic. “When the boss isn’t around everyone does whatever they feel like,” Totti said. “That’s the case anywhere.” Eh no thanks. Sounds a little familiar ?

Sports Direct logos taken down from the press conference room.

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Almiron was 0 from 27 and now look at him. The lad needs a break, far too much pressure on him to deliver. He’ll come good once he gets a few. But he’s not an out and out goal scorer. He never was.

You realise women like and play football too right? Like you know thats a thing? Or do you just live in a prism of your own self importance and think the world revolves around you? Yeah so let them commentate on their own matches. I’ve noticed many token female pundits on various tv networks over the last year or so. Even the recent Rugby World Cup had at least one on every game. I didn’t find them insightful, all I see is tv networks trying to appear woke. It’s bullshit, if they could do the job as well as men, fair enough I have no problem with them. But that’s not the case, they’re taking the place of someone more qualified because of politics. It’s the whole equality of opportunity vs. Equality of outcome debate. what makes someone qualified? just having played the game at a high level doesn't make someone in the slightest bit qualified to actually analyse and give any kind of insight to a game eg micheal owen robbie savage and countless other former mens players. Whereas any time I've seen alex scott I've liked her as a pundit a lot more than most of the men. To be honest I can’t say I was aware of her. Quick google search, she’s certainly a looker and will take your word for it if she’s an insightful pundit. She’s got the footballing credentials at least. And your question about being qualified. Certainly playing in the top flight helps but also having the intelligence to analyse a game properly. Yes they are few and far between when the likes of Robbie Savage gets regular work. But that also falls into another category where women fall short. Savage in particular has made a career out of being an antagonist. There’s a certain humour to it. He’s willing to take abuse from supporters to keep himself in the limelight. If a woman was getting dogs abuse the way Savage does it would be on newsnight. Where’s the fun in that?

You realise women like and play football too right? Like you know thats a thing? Or do you just live in a prism of your own self importance and think the world revolves around you? Yeah so let them commentate on their own matches. I’ve noticed many token female pundits on various tv networks over the last year or so. Even the recent Rugby World Cup had at least one on every game. I didn’t find them insightful, all I see is tv networks trying to appear woke. It’s bullshit, if they could do the job as well as men, fair enough I have no problem with them. But that’s not the case, they’re taking the place of someone more qualified because of politics. It’s the whole equality of opportunity vs. Equality of outcome debate.

No. They can fuck off and cover hockey or F1 if they want to be in the media. Football is our escape from their shite. Just leave us the fuck alone for a few hours a week.

There’s no sugar coating it anymore. Has to be dropped. His attitude is all wrong. I think Ashley thought or was led to believe he was signing a Richarlison type player who’s value would sky rocket even in a poor side. Maybe there’s a player in there somewhere but we’ll not see it. Rafa would have dropped him already. But Bruce will have to eventually, and this might be the first strain between him and the board as am sure he’s been told to pick him. I’d say the deal was for 40m depending on hitting many targets which haven’t happened so it’ll be about 20-25m fee that’s been spent. Which is still mental given how bad he’s been.

I completely forgot this was on until close until half time. We were 2-0 down. So I left it on through the halftime and saw the goals. Then the players started coming out for the second half. Players taking their place on the bench, Andy Carroll in particular joking and laughing with teammates even though we were two goals down. As soon as Schär went off I muted it and went back to building duplo with the bairn. Much better use of my time. If the players can’t give a fuck why should the supporters.

"Repair job" I think he’s meaning the relationship between the club and supporters more than the team. He’s extremely lucky to have that job but he acknowledges that. Honestly, I hope he can keep doing well for the remainder of the season. I can think of many snake oil merchants who could have gotten the job after Rafa and had us in real trouble at this stage of the season. He was smart enough not to fuck with what worked while still trying to figure out up front. Almiron will hopefully kick on now. Hopefully Carroll can stay fit. Joelinton, well there’s a player in there, somewhere, that’s the biggest challenge in trying to find that perhaps.. and ASM, he needs to be game managed. 75 minutes is about it for him at the pace he goes. Perhaps he shouldn’t start games.. Overall Bruce gets a solid 6/10 for the season so far. Way better than anyone would have expected.

Saw an interesting stat about Manchester United, in the games they’ve had the majority of possession, they’ve only won about 30% of those. They do far better on the counter. I think we will get something from this..

? can anyone who has access to it copy in the article

Well yes, that’s the thing. I don’t think there’s any nufc supporter that doesn’t wish he was still here, but like you said. It’s done with. We’re stuck with a downgrade now but it’s not turning out to be as bad as what people thought so life goes on..

They got nothing but love from the fans from the get go right until the end. Bruce hasn’t. I’m not saying he’s a good manager. His track record suggests otherwise, but also you can only work with that’s in front of you. His career could have gone another way if he’d been more patient but he chose to take jobs at shit clubs. Which eventually ruled him out of any big job by association. And now he’s here. I’m not going to say we’re a big club, we’re certainly not top 6 anymore, maybe not even top 8. But we’ve had nothing but failure as a club for my whole life at least. I hope for more, but I don’t think we’re entitled to it, not anymore. We’re a medium sized club with potential. That’s all. Rafa could have done great things but we all know what happened there. Mike took a 6 million a year gamble on him either keeping us up or getting us back first time of asking and then consolidate. Mission accomplished. Rafa wasn’t needed from that point on. I don’t think even Pardew got the stick Bruce has been given from the start. He clearly doesn’t deserve that. Also the squad Pardew had when we were 5th is light years ahead of the one we have now. So any comparisons to what we’re doing this season is totally unwarranted. Like someone pointed out before, we can’t have it both ways. We lose a match, “oh Bruce is a useless wanker, all his fault..” We win a match “oh he’s just using Rafa’s tactics” Pure negativity

Go on then. What makes him a good manager? Read my post, I’ve never said he was a good manager. I said we’ve had worse which is true. He’s doing a decent job at present with a slightly worse squad than last year and far more injuries. As Rafa would say “those are the facts”. There’s not really much to debate about it. My point is that he will never be accepted even if he does go on to do a better job here than Rafa did. Is that fair?

I think there’s some sort of inferiority complex ingrained in the Geordie mindset. When charmers like Keegan or Rafa roll in, its lapped up. We’ve had worse managers than Bruce. We’ve had better for sure but we have had worse and they’ve never gotten the sort of shit this guy has. Even a cunt like Allardyce got welcomed more than this chap, not at the end but that was his own doing. He was given a fair chance from the start. Bruce hasn’t. He’s exceeded all expectations. But because he’s a local lad he’s judged differently. He’ll never be accepted because the majority of supporters would rather have someone they don’t feel worthy of having.

Severe double standards when it comes to this man v. Rafa. If Rafa was still in charge, everyone tonight would be lauding his tactics and how he masterminded a win against a form team while having a shit squad etc.. Steve Bruce does it.. “oh the keeper had the game of his life”, “just defend and hope for the best” I find him excruciating like I do many of those journeymen managers who seem to specialise in teams that battle relegation year in year out. But let’s face it, he’s doing better than any of us thought. He deserves credit for that. You look at teams like Everton, Arsenal and especially West Ham when we played them, and you see teams who have thrown in the towel for their managers. Players who don’t give a fuck. Don’t want to make any effort while those managers are still there etc. That’s not nufc. Every single player is putting in a shift. Heads haven’t dropped when we’ve lost. We’re now 6 points better off and 3 places higher than we were at this stage last season with a better goal difference of +1 All of this without an actual center forward like we had last season with Rondon..

There’s more to it than just suiting a system. It’s a totally different culture and climate to what he would have had experienced. Germany does get cold too so I know it’s not just that. You’d wonder if he was getting the support from his team mates, language seems to be an issue too. It might just be a case of needing time. If I was picking the team, I’d move Miggy into the middle playing a more traditional no.10 role. All Shelvey or Longstaff would have to do is play straight passes through the middle and let him run at defender. Joelinton out a little wider on the left and ASM pretty much doing what he’s doing now (which is whatever he wants seemingly) and I’d bring Gayle in up front as he can actually score given chances. Someone at the back would have to make way to accommodate an extra forward player

Am done predicting what team will turn up. We’re capable of beating anyone in this league on our day but with a few good results, the attitude shifts and then back down to earth with a bump. We haven’t had a captain in the team for a very long time now who would or could drive the other players on to better things. The manager certainly can’t

Well earned point! Decent game to watch

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