HaydnNUFC

El Shaarawy's crossing is pitiful. Set piece and open play. No quality in this, like.

No away fans there? Shan.

I can't see us signing a full on attacking LB akin to Trippier. Don't get me wrong, Burn needs to be upgraded in the summer, but in our 4-3-3 the LB drops alongside the CBs into a 3 to aid in build up whilst the RB (Trippier) bombs forward. I can't see that changing in the short-medium term. Especially next season. Be a more defensively sound LB I think that's brought in, if we bring one in. Know absolutely nowt about that Grimaldo, if he's along those lines then fair. A Burn upgrade, a CM, a RW who can play up front if needed and a young right sided CB is what we need most of all in the summer. I've seen many in the media make comparisons to how we play and how are as a team atm to earlyish Klopp Liverpool, circa 2016-17. They weren't in any European football in 2016-17 and were 2nd at the end of December, but when Mane went to the AFCON in January they won 1 in 7 as he was of similar importance to them as Bruno is to us hence our dip in form in February when he was suspended. He came back and they replicated their early season form and finished 4th. With CL football the following season, they made 4 summer signings; Salah, Robertson, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Solanke. Van Dijk came in in January. An overhaul or padding out of the squad won't happen in the summer but smart business like Liverpool did back then is what'll be required and what I think will happen.

Don't want him sold at all but he's already missed 9 games this season, if he's out for 4-6 weeks that could see him not being available for a total of 17(!) games this season. That's just a joke.

Maybe but that's down to the 'look at the top line/results, fuck the context' method of analysis and punditry that plagues this country. Bruce took over Benitez' team that was playing nice stuff at the back end of 2018-19 and despite losing Rondon and Perez had added £65m worth of talent to it in ASM, Joelinton, Krafth and Willems on loan. Those first 7 games were embarrassing from a tactical perspective and he reverted to using a 5-4-1 after we got annihilated at Leicester which was a lot less nicer on the eye than the 3-4-3 we were using at the back end of 2018-19. That 5-4-1 was reeling from the benefits of Benitez' coaching and from October-December we were picking up results. Then injuries, rushing players back etc saw us bring in 3 loans: Bentaleb, Rose, Lazaro. Bentaleb was atrocious, Rose meh and Lazaro the best of the trio who also got played the least. We limp past two League One teams via replays in the FA Cup before West Brom away which for the first 50 minutes was probably the best we played under Bruce pre COVID. He then intervened with his wank substitutions, conceded twice late on and end up hanging on at the end before having a fucking giggle about it, "this job should come with a health warning", so you fat gormless globule, its your shite game management that sees us hanging on you fucking clueless bastard. The last game pre COVID was the win away at Southampton which practically saw us safe. Post lockdown we were a total shambles, two wins against Sheffield United and Bournemouth aside the rest of that season and the whole of 2020-21 was the most miserable I've been as a Newcastle fan since the second half of 2013-14. Bruce consistently patronised the fans, talked down, embarrassed the club and got away with it due to the lack of crowds. ASM and Willock saved him post March.

Which he will get. He's 4 away as it is.

McFaul had 34.9% win rate from 149 games, Bruce has a 28.9% win rate in 97 games. McFaul also had his best players, Beardsley and then Gascoigne, sold by the board to either build stands or service club debt. With the exception of that being the tragic summer window of 1988-89 which resulted in us finishing bottom. Me fatha thinks that McFaul maybe could've turned that season around had we not sacked him and been flapping for a manager for months as we were traditionally slow starters under him. Suggett was the caretaker during that manager search before we ended up with Jim Smith.

Both Inter and Milan winning their 1st legs, a potential Milan derby CL semi final would be tasty.

He'll find a way.

Can't wait to watch Dan Burn clatter him early doors at the Bernabeu in this competition next season. Be football heritage.

A couple years ago they were plagued with injuries, notably to Van Dijk hence them having to bring in Ozan Kabak on loan and this was 2 years ago before their same players especially in midfield have declined. This season they've won just 3 away games and have lost to Bournemouth, Forest and Wolves. Many think they've been threatening to go on runs for ages; beat Bournemouth 9-0, go on a run of 1 win in 7. Beat Man City, put 7 past Rangers away from home in the CL, lose away to Forest and home to Leeds back to back. Few wins put together post WC, get hammered in consecutive away games at Brentford, Brighton and Wolves. Go on a run of wins and clean sheets including beating Man Utd 7-0 and they're now winless in 4. They've been outrageously inconsistent all season and I don't see that changing. Regardless, if we just look after ourselves and win 6 games we'll be fine.

Diaby came through the academy at PSG, he's a Parisian lad, spent 6 years there. Moved to Leverkusen for regular game time.

What a mess that was.

Before Almirón signed, we averaged 1 point per game in 2018-19. After he signed, we averaged 1.61 points per game. His signing changed our form and way of playing that season, so the comment on Almirón is nonsense. I don't understand what Benitez needs to take blame for? Swear when it came to net spend we were in the green under him across his tenure. We'd plug player turnover with short termers like Ki or punts like Schär. Some worked (brilliantly in Schär's case, for £3m it's one of our best ever for value signings we've ever made), some didn't because the wriggle room for error on such a small budget is negligible.

Smith for Leicester feels incredibly underwhelming. His gig at Norwich went atrociously.

Completely forgot about that coefficient lark. Burnley and Wolves are higher than us. Fuck sake.

Have discussed this with those I go to games with in the pub funnily enough. CL groups because of the seeding tend to be 1 very good team, 2 decent teams and 1 whipping boy, ie Bayern, Newcastle, Marseille and Viktoria Plzen. We'd probably be aiming to finish 2nd in that. Maybe get 1 point from Bayern at home, 4 points from Marseille and 6 points from Plzen. If only it was that simple. But ideally you want 3 sides you've got a good chance of beating to get to the knockouts. SJP is going to be mental from matchday 1 of the group stages and even more mental for a 2 legged knockout CL tie. Teams won't relish drawing us imo.

Did a predictor thing of just the top 8, had us finishing 3rd on 75 points, ahead of Man Utd on goal difference, Man Utd 4th also on 75 and Spurs 5th on 69. No idea if too optimistic.

Looking back I absolutely loved Benitez when he was here. Complete antithesis of the 3 years prior to his appointment and the club we had become in that time. He woke up a lot of the fans and probably the wider footballing media that Newcastle United isn't just a basket case also ran that 'can't compete with Swansea and Southampton' that Ashley and Pardew had tried to tell the world, its a club with fantastic potential and he saw that. Hence the tussles with Ashley. (And it attracted Staveley and her husband to the club to the point of trying to buy it for 4 years) If he had been brought in 2 weeks before he was in March 2016 we'd have stayed up, I'm convinced of that, and the following years may well have been so different. I couldn't believe he came here in the first place when he did, we were 19th and certainly going down and his stock then was much higher then than it is now; his two clubs prior to us were Real Madrid and Napoli. Either way he stuck with us after relegation when he needn't have had to, got us up, then kept us up two seasons running. The first half of the Championship season was a godsend for me personally as I was going through a tough time then and looking forward to matches under him was the main thing that got me through it. In the PL results were at times grim and the football labourious but nowhere near the extent that the media made out. That game v Man City in December 2017 attached a stigma to Benitez and us for absolutely ages due to the grief he got from the media. Regardless, he kept us up both seasons and arguably his defensive coaching Bruce reeled the benefits from in his first season pre COVID. Worn off after lockdown though. However, I do feel his stock has fallen quite a way from where it was when we appointed him 7 years ago. That Everton job was a stinker, can't dress it up any other way from what I've read from the likes of Neil and 1878 on here, one of my good mates from uni who's a ST holder there and it'll affect perception of him but he has no one to blame but himself for it, should never have taken that job and should go abroad in Europe for his next job imo. On top of that, as much as I admire and respect the man, I wouldn't want him back here has manager or any other role in any capacity. I wanted a clean break from the Ashley era and that includes him. The calls for him to return post Watford on here were mental at the time and look even more mental now. Regardless, always will appreciate Benitez for what he did here and what he represented but do think his stock has fallen considerably. He's one that wants complete control at clubs and most don't operate like that anymore. He needs to choose his next job carefully and unfortunately I don't think the right one for him is going to turn up in the PL.

Same. This season we've done them 0-3 at their place which they've done at SJP a couple times, and we could potentially be in a scenario in our last home game to beat them to make top 4 which they've been challenging for last few years and relegate them. how the turn tables

Page 855 onwards in this thread will always be a fantastically hilarious read.

Christ. They're finished, like. Had a look at the article on Marsch turning them down: Watched one game and thought 'fuck that'. Their remaining fixtures are awful as well. Genuinely can't see them staying up now, watched like 7 or 8 games of theirs on the bounce before the international break due to Leicester mates of mine and wanting to be clued up and by God, they're absolutely awful.

Their caretaker isn't up to it and Jesse Marsch is turning down the job. Aye, they're going down like.