TheInfiniteOdyssey

De Bruyne must have got the same barber as Prince Charming from Shrek

Gordon looks so fatigued, can’t believe he hasn’t been subbed out.

Our own worst enemy this season, backs against the ball, chasing the game relentlessly, yet our ball retention and possession is just absolutely horrible.

That pocket of space between the middle of midfield and defense has been an issue all season. These are a world class team, but we need to be learning our lessons on managing it.

Burn you donkey

Totally lost our discipline, captain needs to rally the troops here.

Could get quite bad this.

We absolutely have to bring a central midfielder in this window.

Wonder if there’ll be some kind of internal inquest about the scale of injuries we’ve experienced this season, as well as the delayed recovery times. As an external observer, and someone with no medical qualifications whatsoever admittedly, it’s nonetheless been grating to read contradictory public statements from Howe watering down the seriousness of injuries and then a player having a seemingly endless string of setbacks. Does FFP extend to staff recruitment? If not, don’t really see the excuse for not putting into place a world-class supporting structure - physios, recruitment, scouting etc, given the resources PIF have.

I’d be hopeful of trying to shift Wilson to somewhere like the Saudi league.

Solanke makes sense as a Wilson replacement imo. Wilson has been a brilliant player for us but think it’s time in the summer to let him go for the right price, perhaps around £20m or so. If Solanke did sign, I’d still want anothher quality player who can function in that role.

It is what it is. Nobody wants us to sell Bruno. His technical ability and control in the midfield would be sorely missed. However he has a release clause, one that is high enough that only the top clubs could afford. There’s very little we can do to prevent him leaving if one of those clubs chooses to trigger his clause. It’s just the reality of football. The key will be how funds are reinvested into the squad.

Have to agree with others about our lack of viable options when it comes to player sales. There’s just no buyers for players like Hendrick and Hayden. I don’t think Southampton will be bothered about making Fraser’s move permanent either at this stage. Manquillo has seemingly been injured all season, would he even pass a medical if he was to move this window? Only players outside the first-team we could get a fee for would be Krafth and Lascelles. I’d be reluctant to let either leave, unless the fee made sense, like with Wood for instance.

I think the Sunderland connection is a bit overblown in reality. Yes he’d get absolute pelters from them lot, but it’s completely inconsequential in the wider context. If he came in, performed well and made notable contributions, I don’t think he’d have a particularly rough time from our fans. I don’t see a move happening though.

The Athletic speculatively linking us to Henderson this morning.

Think Phillips gets done this week and that’s all we’ll do this window.

Nailed on we get these twats next round

Superb, vital win today. Been dreading this game for weeks and I wonder if the creeping shadow of it was impacting the wider club and personnel. Brilliant feeling to have this game now out the way. Hopefully this can be the result that reinvigorates our season. At the very least, it makes the atmosphere a bit more relaxed as more players return from injury.

It’s just the reality of it though. His representatives and our board negotiated a release clause into his new contract. That indicates an implicit understanding that he will be allowed to move on if the clause is met, and it also protects the club by putting us in a strong position to extract an appropriately large fee for him. Every club sells players, it’s how it works. I don’t see why we’d be a special case in this regard. Other posters have pointed out how the likes of Spurs and Villa have done this over the years to good effect. Ashworth has been on record on numerous occasions talking about the importance of trading players and what it means for FFP. I’m not manifesting anything, it’s just a discussion, but if you think we’re not going to be tested for players like Bruno, particularly when we’re not in contention to win trophies or even qualify for elite European competitions, you’re going to be in for a shock. Newcastle are never going to be in a position to stop a player wanting to leave for the biggest clubs in the world. You can argue if PSG are in that bracket or not, but we’re not immune from our best players being sold (albeit on our terms and at the right price). Personally, I think we make one high-profile sale in the summer window and I think that player will be Bruno.

PSG are one of the likeliest teams to pay his full release clause. They probably have the means to pay a lot of his clause up-front. We don’t strengthen a domestic team. Even if we’re a million miles from the likes of Man City or Liverpool, I’d rather not see him play against us a minimum of two times a season.

It would definitely sour my opinion on the management and players. The gulf in quality between the sides should be shown on the pitch. If it doesn’t (and not due to a bad refereeing decision), it would suggest to me that the players couldn’t handle the occasion. Generally, it would also add to my feeling that there’s something fundamentally wrong in our tactics and approach.

Be surprised if he leaves this month but definitely away in the summer. PSG would be a good destination for all parties.

He’s not going to continue through the season if we keep losing every week. Our form can’t continue like this forever, what’s the board’s threshold for withstanding losses in a row? If we lose all matches in the Luton (H), Forest (A) and Bournemouth (H), (on top of expected losses against City and Villa), he’ll most likely be gone.

Howe has to sort out some of our underlying tactical issues mind, primarily in organisation and shape. All season long, I’ve felt our midfield has been so easy to bypass with a simple ball through.

It’s not just the one game is it though? It’s our form.