Tribesman

Bayern Munich would be my pick to win the Champions League this season, they have improved a lot since sacking Kovac. There is a strong possibility that there will be no English teams in the quarter finals of the Champions League.

I might be overreacting here, but I think all matches in Europe should at the very least be played behind closed doors though if it were my choice I would just call off matches altogether. I know clubs will lose out financially especially for lower league clubs, but the public's health should come first. If UEFA and countries football associations refuse then take the decision out of their hands because this is getting far too serious now.

When the first of these takeover stories emerged years ago, I thought that maybe those who said the club need to be in the Premier League for Ashley to ever sell were right. You can call that naïve of me, I don't care really maybe I bought into the idea that Benitez being manager increased the chances of a takeover happening. However after 5 takeover sagas and the dozens of other reportedly interested parties who all coincidently never have the money according to suspicious leaks the club hasn't come close to being sold. I can't buy into the theory that Premier League status is the only chance Ashley will sell, he is just not motivated enough to sell when the Premier League money is rolling in. I'm prepared to roll the dice to see what happens if Newcastle stayed in the Championship for a prolonged period of time and see if it forces Ashley's hand. No guarantees of course, but its the nuclear option and the only option which hasn't been explored yet. Remember the club said it would have been a disaster finacially if Newcastle didn't get promoted the last time, lets see how this disaster scenario would unfold if it reaches that point in a few years time.

Its not a question if the club gets relegated again, its a question of when. Newcastle have reverted back to the past failures before Benitez arrived so its just a matter of time before it blows up in the clubs face again. I don't think it will be easy to get out of the Championship like the previous two times. Everything fell perfectly in place for Benitez and Hughton to get promoted. Lets get one thing straight, Ashley did not spend big to get out of the Championship after relegation, its a complete myth. Another thing to consider is only Newcastle and Burnley have managed to go straight back up after relegation in the last 10 years so its not as simple as throwing money at it as Villa and Stoke have shown. With Hughton, Ashley was lucky he was still on the payroll because nobody wanted to go near the job and Newcastle also managed to retain a strong core of the squad that went down. He managed to unite the dressing and foster a really good team spirit. Ashley didn't spend much at all just some cheap transfers and that's about it. The Championship was fairly weak back then as well so Ashley was fortunate that things worked in Newcastle's favour that not many teams that get relegated get. Benitez was similar to Hughton except the Championship was stronger and there was higher expectation for Newcastle to go straight back up. Again Ashley didn't spend big at all from his own pocket, Newcastle made around £80 million in players and most of it went into buying players. Benitez like Hughton managed to unite a broken club and dressing and create a really strong spirit to propel Newcastle to promotion. Once again everything fell perfectly in place for Newcastle to bounce straight back up. I doubt Ashley will be lucky enough for this to happen a third time. We would probably have struggled similar to Villa if Benitez didn't approach Ashley to give him the job in the first place.

The next thing we'll hear is that they're waiting for PL safety to be guaranteed before definitely 100% buying us for real. Save us, Space Muslims, you're our only hope. I was expecting to see something like this in the Sunday papers, but I imagine it won't be long until it is written.

Lee Ryder for fuck sake. https://twitter.com/shxlveyy/status/1231270189506887683?s=20

I reckon you could have Lewandowski leading the front line and the team would still struggle.

I know its a problem, but I don't think the lack of a quality striker is the overriding problem with this team. We are the joint lowest scorers in the league, but we are also 3rd worst in the league for goals conceded so there are problems in defence as well because we all know Dubravka is kept far too busy every match. Midfield is an issue as well. Offers no protection to the defence and offers no creativity in the final third. There lots of problems with the team the only player holding it together is Dubravka.

Its typical media coverage when it comes to pfms like Bruce. Give them all the credit when things go well. Shift the blame to everyone and everything when things go badly.

Journalists like Mark Douglas can fuck off jumping on the bandwagon when its now convenient for journalists to feed off the negativity for clicks on articles. Fans have been saying for months that performances did not reflect results and it was just a matter of time before the wheels came off yet it was dismissed as being overly negative and not giving Bruce the credit he deserved. The only journalist that comes out with any credit this season is Craig Hope. He had Bruce figured out from the first match this season and didn't spout the Bruce is a "nice guy" line as if it means anything.

I still think Newcastle will scrape survival, but if Bruce is planning on going full Bruce then it could get ugly. Relegation is inevitable anyway in the short term so the sooner it happens the better.

If Bruce is not part of the solution then he is part of the problem.

Whatever he taught the players during his time at the club is now well and truly gone under Bruce.

Newcastle one of the lowest in the league for goals scored - Bruce says team don't need striker. All strikers injured. out of form or just not good enough - Bruce says team don't need striker. He admits Joelinton is not a natural goal scorer - Does he still think the club couldn't find better than what he had at his disposal. But remember he is not a puppet.

I would love to see how many goals Newcastle would concede if Dubravka wasn't playing.

I don't understand why Hayden has been dropped for either Bentaleb or Longstaff.

I reckon Sheffield United will finish 5th this season.

I wouldn't worry about it, Bruce has done his research.

Bruce says Joelinton is tired and struggling with a thigh injury yet still insists on starting him. It might not be effective, but with no strikers he could try Almiron on the left wing, Saint Maximin through the middle and Lazaro where it is supposed to be his favoured position on the right wing.

Spurs won't even finish top 6 without Kane and Son. I don't know why they didn't get a striker even on loan in the January transfer window.

Each to their own then.

The Chronicle and Simon Bird peddling the "better the devil you know" line in regards to Ashley.

Would prefer everything to play for in just one match.

There is that viewpoint, but a lot of matches especially in the last 16 can be as good as done if a team gets a big lead in the first leg. What Liverpool did to Barcelona last season tends to be rare.

Its something I believe should have happened for a while now, but due to its success in the Copa del Rey this season I would like to see 2nd legs binned in the Champions League. Matches would be far better and you are more likely to see more shocks. I would like to see away goals abolished as well. However, if teams that topped their group were given home advantage then perhaps away goals could remain in place to make things more interesting. These changes would never happen because there is too much money involved.