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Not that I subscribe to this 'we're pua rich lyke' nonsense, but we probably are gonna have to get used to putting the owners wealth into perspective. So for every £1m Abrahamovich can spend, we can spend £32m... So in my eyes (and I could be talking pure shit here like), it's the equivalent of Chelsea buying him for something like £800k. A few million here or there is totally immaterial for us, all that matters is he's good enough to improve us, which he is.

I'm surprised we've not been linked with many natural RW. CM is priority, as is a striker to cover or provide completion for Wilson but a Right winger must surely be an absolute priority when you consider Murphy is our only natural RW.

I've never seen a player do so well in a position and yet never manage to consistently get played in it. Especially infuriating when you consider Joelinton appears to be in the same quandary... spiderman.jpg

Oh I agree there's things to change, what I'm saying is there's been plenty of evidence in the last 5 games of what's working and what isn't. I don't think I saw anything in today's game which taught me anything new that I didn't already know from what I'd seen of the prior 4, so I don't understand what Howe could have spotted today that wasn't already apparent.

What can he have learnt from today that he shouldn't have learnt already?

*Kneejerk reaction* I've made the point previously that Howe does not have the time to learn from mistakes and yet 5 games into his tenureship we still appear to be making the same ones. There's been a couple of clear positives from his time with us that I'd have expected him to have identified and built on as a bare minimum, such as Joelinton being better suited on the flank and Fernández being our best defender and yet he's failed to do so, which to me deserves criticism. Play patterns, formations, defensive solidarity and team selection are all up for debate at this point in time, but when the few points that are obvious to the majority isn't obvious to the man in charge then that's something to be concerned about imo.

I think there's still a part of me that would still have Rafa back because irrespective of what happens at Everton, I feel like I know what I'd get if Rafa took over and would be excited for that, whereas Howe's still an unknown quantity for us. But having said that, I'm genuinely pleased with Howe but I just think I need those 1 or 2 convincing performances that tell me that what he's doing off the pitch is working and he's therefore the right man for the job, so until then I'll keep a healthy scepticism.

ANOUNCE BEOUTQ!

Doesn't get much credit for his hold up play, this lad. Didn't necessarily show it much yesterday but I've noticed his ability to retain possession with his back to the goal is second to none considering he's not traditionally built to do that. Also think he's better suited and more affective as a winger rather than through the centre. He's obviosuly had success through the centre but I'd just love to see him in more 1 on 1 situations and just let him do his thing. His off the ball movement needs to improving (like pthers tbf) as well, could be so much more dangerous if he was willing to make runs through the lines.

Shouldn't be though should he?

What would people's thoughts be in Howe threw Ritchie and Lascelles straight back into the mix?

Keep having to remind myself how the team took time to adapt to Rafa's methods, so trying not to be too critical, but last night's back four should be a massive lesson for him as well as Joelinton bring more suited to the flank. Will be disappointed if that still isn't apparent next game.

9.5. It's not the next game that bothers me, it's the 4 after that which leads into an absolutely critical transfer window. That run just looks impossibly difficult and therefore makes us really unappealing irrespective of cash. 12 points from 19 (if we're lucky) leaves us needing top half form for the remaining 19 games of the season. I just don't see how we can realistically hope to change our form from one that's destined for relegation to the form of a team pushing for Europe.

Really really good tonight. Should never play upfront again, the flanks are where he's best.

First impression is bit disappointed he's going for Joelinton up top again and would have liked to have seen Almiron start. Other than that, happy enough.

I honestly wonder sometimes if I watched the same team that others when it comes to Rafa. Genuinly surprised at how those 3 years are portrayed by some as though we've ever been any better in any other year under Ashley. The most exciting thing Rafa brought to the team was his defensive organisation, I've never seen a better drilled defence in my lifetime as a Newcastle fan and that was refreshing as fuck to see. I just think if you appreciate football, then you appreciate that side of the game just as much as the goals, dribbles and assists and Rafa was a master with that element of the game. By the time he'd left I seem to remember talk of top half/Europe being a possibility with the way we ended his last season. I dunno how anyone saw Rafa's period with us as anything but positive.

Rafa's team have always been strong finishers. Seem to remember us being slow starters too, no way is he done at this level, just takes time for his methods to kick in, plus I'm not surprised his teams struggling without DCL, same was true with us when Rondon was out/not match fit.

12 points from 19 games would put us on what 17th place are on right now... Edit: having said that, I think Leeds fixture list is equally minging tbf

I think we're getting caught up in trying to frame a desperately dire situation into a slightly more optimistic one by saying the next 2 games are critical, when in actual fact every game upto the window opening is especially critical. At this point in time it's not unrealistic to say 6 points from the next 6 games is a best case scenario for us.

Nah, he did what he does best and advanced the ball further up the pitch which didn't happen at any point during the game prior to him coming on, thats a positive for me cos there's something to build on.

I think the point is, he doesn't have the luxury of getting to learn from his mistakes like other new managers do. He needs to get it right, very quickly.

I've genuinly thought the same with the way our fixture list has fallen. I cant possibly think of a worse run to have than ours during the busiest period of the season. We still got it all to come as well. January cant come quick enough imo

There were times where I wasn't sure which way we were attacking such was the frequency we turned back on ourselves. I think Howe got a lot wrong today, really disappointing performance tbh. Only positives were Almirons cameo and Dubravka

Never was one to write off any of our players under the management teams we've had in our past but with Joelinton I gotta put my hand up and say at no point had I ever felt he was good enough until last Saturday. Hope he continues to prove me wrong.

OK, I'll bite. If I'm only bothered about promoted teams in context to how it impacts us at this present moment in time, then why do I care about what they do next season?! Nowt like a bit of stat padding, Fanny. So that's make 5 teams out of 9 who stay up in their 1st season up. Edit: but for the sake of argument, let's ignore all those facts and agree you're right and I'm wrong