Infinitely Content

Where's Lloyd Kelly?

Lewis Hall playing in a midfield three is a good watch. His passing mid to long range is so assured, it instills the same confidence of Schar and formerly Shelvey in that you know it's going to be pinpoint before the target player even comes into view on the screen.

The trusty Eastern European and Caucasus lads provided the highlights in Romania & Georgia. I thought the tournament started off well for the first round of fixtures and became more and more subdued as it tapered down to the bigger nations in the latter stages. It's probably an indictment on top level football these days for me, fewer and fewer players are worth watching for individual brilliance and it's generally becoming less enjoyable - creating a landscape where a player like Bellingham who in my opinion is largely unspectacular is considered one of the best in the world and wins the biggest prizes.

Bellingham appears to have that rather unsightly trait of making a poor decision or pass and throwing his arms out towards a teammate in displeasure. Ronaldo has the same trait. Anyway, get Gingland match off.

He was very highly regarded before Napoli signed him, I believe he only ended up back in the Georgian league due to the war starting, as prior to it he had already left and began his ascent. I first visited Georgia in 2021 and he had already gained star status there - any conversation with taxi drivers and such about football would invariably end up with them telling me how good he is.

Get gingland ref off

Get gingland game on

Fair, I wasn't aware of any Georgia - Turkey tensions. I've lived in Armenia for a while and spent a lot of time in Georgia too so I'm acutely aware of the history and animosity between Armenia & Turkey but never felt or sensed the same with Georgia. Batumi is an odd and somewhat (for my tastes at least) repellent place mind, a real departure in feel and atmosphere from the rest of the country which is astonishingly beautiful; so I'm not particularly surprised there's a strong outside influence taking hold there.

Have they? Aren't you thinking of Armenia?

I adore England, and I stand by a patriotism that is not founded in the fleeting ideas and beliefs of the time, which is where I often find people go looking for something to be proud of, to identify with. Beliefs which are always synonymous with conflict and the war of ideas, always skimming the surface of the depths of our shared existence. It's no wonder we can't find a enduring symbol to stand by... One must only quiet their mind, shut the screen and take a drive out into the country and cast a restful gaze over these green and pleasant lands, where one can catch a glimpse of something ancient, something timeless that binds our nation together. A connection with our land that inspired our great artists; none more so than William Wordsworth; Milton! thou shouldst be living at this hour: England hath need of thee: she is a fen Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen, Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower, Have forfeited their ancient English dower Of inward happiness. We are selfish men; Oh! raise us up, return to us again; And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power. Thy soul was like a Star, and dwelt apart: Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea: Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free, So didst thou travel on life's common way, In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart The lowliest duties on herself did lay. Wordsworth wrote this in 1802, casting an eye back to an England whose virtues had been lost, a place once of happiness, art, religion & literature now stagnant waters lost to the scourge of modernity. I guess he was right, and we still see people wrestling with what it means to be English, with the prevailing attitude one of a scornful, bitter renunciation.

Yeah excellent point. In a similar vein, it's also the reason why during a difficult run of games when a team's form dips, I feel the tendency supporters have to point blame at the quality of players is often misplaced. Usually the automatic response is to want to rip up squads and declare certain players as not good enough; however there's often much more subtle factors at play, which when addressed can propel the same group of players on an entirely different trajectory. We've seen it ourselves first hand the last three years, yet still after a few bad results you regularly read lists of players in our squad deemed not good enough. I believe players at the top level are generally of a similar technical level other than obvious outliers - it's all of the unquantifables that make the difference.

I’ve watched them play a few times, one of their stand out players Emma Samways, an attacking midfielder is out with an ACL as of only last week. Grace Gillard their CB captain is talented, and they’ve some quality in forward areas too in Sammy Rowland. The issue is I haven’t watched Newcastle often enough to be able to compare quality, however they’re roughly on par with Portsmouth on their day. I’d expect a close contest with Newcastle slight favourites especially with Samways out. Enjoy it OC!

I can certainly understand the frustrations this season, frustrations which I'm sure are shared by Howe himself. It's quite alright to have reservations about certain decisions a manager makes - that will be the case across almost all clubs and their supporters. However what we achieved last season was remarkable given the resources Howe and his team had to work with, and this season some terrible luck and some fine margins have truly been the difference. It has saw a regression in terms of consistency and performance that was likely inevitable anyway given we only lost 5 games last season. It is very difficult as fans not privy to certain information, nor having the football knowledge to truly understand the fine margins in football, but I'm quite sure it's not as simple as Hall over Burn, or Anderson over Longstaff. Those fine margins are sometimes not tactical or personnel based, but hidden factors that are unmeasurable. It's a shame that there's an apparent growing section of our supporters waiting to pounce and call for the head of a man who has achieved so much with this team already and absolutely deserves our unwavering support at least going into next season. Howe has been very sensitive in harnessing the potential power and influence of our home support - he 'gets' what it is to be Newcastle manager, and I find it disappointing and frustrating that some are failing to see that's something worth getting behind (at least for now, given the circumstances).

Azeris won't be happy with BArmenia rescuing it in Karabakh.

Nice insight, I've a close friend who grew up in Ramsbottom and went to Woodhey High School in the same year as Trippier. As he doesn't follow football much, he wasn't aware of just how far Trippier had gone in the game until tuning into the 2018 world cup out of interest for a cultural event; only to see his old adversary bend one into the top corner. He was delighted for him. Trippier is a gem for Newcastle, irreplaceable really. Bruno is clearly the icon or star of this team, but I believe Trippier will be remembered as the talismanic figure who ushered in the new era should Newcastle go on to further success.

I hope we're looking at Murillo from Forest, he's quality.

I think they ditched the new round crest and reverted back to the old a couple of weeks into the season.

By happenstance, I was at the under-21 tournament in Kutaisi, Georgia in the summer. After an unwelcome confrontation with a rather unpleasant middle aged Chelsea drunk, I settled down to watch the England - Portugal match. Emile Smith-Rowe, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Curtis Jones and Noni Madueke were present that day, however to my eye it was clear that they were two players on the pitch a level above the others, Anthony Gordon and Pedro Neto. I left the ground that evening excited and optimistic about what was to come from Gordon, he seemed to be playing with a maturity and proficiency that I hadn't seen yet for Newcastle or Everton. It's safe to say he's already surpassed any of the high hopes I had; I thought he could be an important player for Newcastle, now I believe he could go on to be one of the best wingers in the Premier League. A huge credit to himself and to our coaching team.

That Longstaff run shall be forever named The Parisian Boulevard.

Offering multiple examples from one match does not justify saying a player is comprehensively not good enough when he's shown very promising qualities in many more matches over the last year or so. I'd certainly favour the larger sample size. To say we aim to be an elite football club and then say he is not at that level is a ridiculous statement. Of course he's not elite, neither are many of our players, but that does not mean they're comprehensively not good enough.

Dear me. I think the onus is on you by way of making such a conclusive statement as this rather than on others to disprove you. Anderson didn't have a great game today, but has more than held his own in numerous games this season and Eddie Howe has been full of praise for him. He came on against PSG just a few days ago and caused them problems with his clearly excellent technical ability. To say he is comprehensively not good enough is madness.

I would be absolutely elated with a win today, perhaps even more so than usual. I think it could hardly be overstated just how impressive it would be for the team to recover and refocus from the euphoria of Wednesday night and go away in the league to an in-form team and win. Where last season there was frequent mention of the team being perhaps distracted by the league cup and our league form suffering as a consequence, a win today would represent yet another shift in this team's mentality and resolve. The kind of mental toughness and resolve that see teams lift major trophies in fact.

I hold Sven Botman in high regard and believe he has the potential to go on and perhaps even surpass Fabian Schar in coming years. However, when I read and hear across football analysis channels and platforms the uniform and often sole praise for Sven Botman in regards to our defensive exploits, I immediately know they haven't truly been watching and they're just repeating what the other platforms and channels' 'experts' are saying. I have seldom known a player so outstanding to go so under the radar as is the case with Fabian Schar. Exceptional footballer.

A different time and a different team, but at the beginning of the 2002-03 season, a season which has many parallels to our current one having finished 4th the prior year, and being presented with a difficult set of opening fixtures; we began with a comprehensive win at home, before failing to win in the next 5 games. Bobby Robson, addressing the team’s form, said: “The fact that we finished 4th the year before meant that we knew we had a good side, it was just getting it together and we needed perhaps a bit more time. So I wasn’t too worried about it, I knew the staff was quality and it would be okay." Recalling that season, and how it unfolded after the difficult start can offer us much reassurance. As fans, myself included, we can sometimes get too enmeshed in over-scrutinising perceived defects in the team’s performances, drawing broad conclusions to what are marginal factors. Despite the fact we’re not being swept away by teams and have been relatively competitive in most of our fixtures, we’re looking for the team’s identity we became so accustomed to last season, and we draw the conclusion that our identity has become entirely dismantled and we’re a long way off from where we should be. Sir Bobby’s quote above calmly suggests that with a good team and good staff, which we all know we currently have, you’re never too far away. It’s the story of Edgar Allan Poe’s Purloined Letter; in that perhaps the solution is not to tear the room apart in search of the answer, but is instead found in the most subtle and unquantifiable of places. A shift from within the team, that we as on-looking fans searching for an answer in all of our analysis can not perceive or understand. For me this is the magic of football, as much as many like to believe, it is not just a scientific game of numbers and tactics, those are the basics which any professional team have in their grasp. The turning of the tide of a team’s fortunes and performance is often found those subtle places, invisible to the eye. I feel confident that many of us will be looking back at the start of this season in a few months time thinking to ourselves "why was I so doubtful of this team?" and “what was I so worried about?”

If there was even the faintest possibility of signing Declan Rice, I'd argue he would be worth the negation of other areas we're looking to strengthen; particularly if it meant not necessarily failing to fulfil those roles, but perhaps bringing in more economical targets. I believe Rice is one of the best in his position in world football, and would certainly match or succeed Bruno as our best player. I also think there's something unique we could offer him that perhaps the likes of Manchester City or Chelsea could not. I think those clubs would buy Rice for a narrow range of specific attributes he possesses and happens to be 'world class' in (which is to say his defensive abilities), however, I believe he contains the potential to be a truly complete midfielder, excelling in all areas of the game and all phases of play in a similar vein to Yaya Toure. I think if he is to leave West Ham, we would be able, potentially uniquely, to offer him the ability and the freedom to express and further develop that part of his game.