HaydnNUFC

Doesn't look good on Benitez' part. Two sides and that.

Bid rejected according to MARCA. No idea how reliable.

Aye. He's also had his best games for us in terms of output and actual effect on the games themselves when in the 10, but he's hardly ever been played there. Handful of games when Bruce went to a back 4 between February 2020 and the West Ham draw at home post COVID. If he's not going to play in the 10 I'd rather we just sell him and he's utterly ineffective on the wing, as it pains me to say.

He's an absolute shithouse too which means we have to get him. The balls on him to celebrate in front of Marseille fans after he scored against them with all the crowd trouble going on in France atm is worth top dollar on it's own.

Fuck sake.

Even if we beat Watford, we'll be back in the bottom 3 after Tuesday when Burnley play Watford.

Dubravka Trippier Schar Lascelles Manquillo Shelvey Fraser Longstaff/Willock Joelinton ASM Wood Genuinely don't know who the 3rd CM is gonna be as Longstaff and Willock have been as bad as each other.

It's also worth bearing in mind that after 17 games last season Wood too only had scored 3 goals. He finished the season their top scorer with 12.

Yeah, last season they were 6th after 17 games and just beat Liverpool, they then went on a run of 2 wins in 17, losing 13 of those which included a 9-0 defeat. Same with the season before last too, started with 2 wins from 13, losing 9 of those which also included a 9-0 defeat.

This, from before the Man Utd game, would suggest it is true. Otherwise ASM would have more than 3 assists.

It's an underwhelming signing and I hope that we sign another striker who is younger, pacier than Wood is. However, we were/are so desperate for a striker it's untrue so I'm happy someone is in for what is truly the most important game of the season on Saturday. When you're in the rut that we're in, you tend to need players like a Wood. Or a Kilcline or a ~33 year old Kevin Sheedy whom Keegan brought in when we were in the shit in 1992. We have to however bring another in up front. Here's hoping Ekitike is that one given our supposed interest.

Cunting it up to the big man, gerrin.

2-0, Wood brace.

Daryl Murphy 2.0, here's hoping.

It's an option for Watford I suppose. Can't lie it is underwhelming, but we may get another striker in before the end of the window. Trust in Eddie, I suppose.

Take it this is another Steve Fletcher signing from Howe as he talks about here.

Deary me.

It's all stemmed from circa 2015, certainly from 2015-16 imo; the mess the playing squad is in or has been: - Daddled on appointing a manager when Pardew left, Charnley/Ashley sounds out Steve McClaren who turns us down, they then settle on McClaren to the point of waiting until the end of 2014-15 for him to be available despite managers such as Galtier and Tuchel being linked, the latter later saying he would've been very interested in the job. So we write off the 2nd half of 2014-15 and give it to John Carver, whose incompetence was outrageously to the point of taking us from 9th to almost being relegated on the last day of the season. - McClaren ends up being appointed despite the fact that his Derby side imploded in the 2nd half of the season, going from 1st to 8th. - Decent signings on paper or in theory were made; Wijnaldum, Mbemba, Mitrovic and Thauvin. Once struggling in January we then again made okay signings, Shelvey, Townsend and the infamous Saivet. - McClaren fails, goes on a run of 7 losses in his last 12. We wait too long to sack him, we had a 2 and a half week break in between a 5-1 loss at midtable Chelsea and a double header against Stoke and Bournemouth. - Benitez is appointed and we do improve but far too late. We go down. - We sell £80m worth of players and bring in at-the-time solid upper Championship and lower PL level players for promotion. It works given our form in the first part of 2016-17. - January 2017 was when the Benitez-Ashley relationship started to deteriorate. Benitez wanted Loftus Cheek and Townsend in during this window but we brought in no one. - We limp over the promotion line and win the league due to Brighton's implosion. So for the August 2017 window, we still have all of our promotion team more or less but with added Joselu, Merino, Murphy and Manquillo. - Fast forward to now, the bulk of that promotion side is still stinking up a lot of our 25 man squad space, now all 5 years older and after the objective they were signed for in 2016 was achieved. We need full pelt surgery or just demolition of this squad whatever league we're in when the summer comes. Hopefully its in the Premier League, as there's no guarantees whatsoever down in that other dogshit, sluggish league.

Solanke, despite his form at a lower level, is already tried and tested in the PL and he was shite. This lad may be mint. He may not be. I'd rather take the risk personally.

Does seem like a shithouse from some Ligue 1 highlights. Celebrates goals in front of opposition fans and stuff. Get him signed.

Eh? How?

Trippier was only announced on Friday yet played on the Saturday fwiw. They'd need to have all this sorted by the end of Thursday though for PL registration. Let's #wait but it'll be incredibly disappointing if we have no one sorted out by then. And no, that isn't bedwetting nor is it wanting the owners out or wanting Ashley back before anyone jumps on me.