Armchair Pundit

Bloody better

Bloody hell, pissed off with how shit we've been for their goals, we're getting away from being able to use injuries, tiredness as excuses, the team need a fucking kick. If the shit from the first half isn't enough of a motivator, I don't know what is. They need to get back to playing for each other, covering each other's positions, we're not the unit we've been.

As if Eddie needs to be sorting this shower of shit out at half-time when he's feeling rough, bloody defense is taking the piss.

What the fucking hell, Luton??? I mean it was bad enough at their place, but jeezo. C'mon Sean, get yourself a hattrick.

I should bloody coco

I'm less concerned with the City's and Chelsea's and more bothered by the Liverpools, Man Utds and Arsenals. In essence the formers just tried to level their own playing fields with the latter, they just got in there and used a method to level that the majority didn't have access to in accelerating their improvement. Even though they're now all as bad as each other, it's the Liverpools, Man Utds and Arsenals who want to kill competition in my eyes, especially the American owned ones who want to make the Prem more like their naff NFL.

Maybe they could have a guarantor setup where, if possible, a club can spend what they like if the full cost of the purchase is up front and fully paid to the end of the contract (or the amount is held in trust). As long as the running of the club itself is covered by commercial income and can't be hit by having to pay for outstanding crazy wages, etc if an owner goes bust. Would that work? I can't see it being any different from any other club from back in the day that had rich owners and did well, other than there being less long term risk. ... of course, I could be over simplifying things and not taking other legalities into account

Looks like a candidate for Police Interceptors

The league isn't anywhere near as interesting and the transfer windows are boring as fuck. Surely the stakeholders who make money from broadcasting and reporting, even the league itself, see how much this FFP bollocks is damaging the product? I bet even Peter Odemwingie hasn't been driving around looking for a new club today!

Wasn't really expecting that result tonight, highlights looked good (sadly missed the game). Feels more like a turning point for the season, so fingers crossed.

I knew I had a soft spot for Peterborough United for a reason: https://www.newcastleworld.com/sport/football/newcastle-united/efl-chairman-calls-for-newcastle-united-exemption-amid-ffp-battle-4497956 Common sense, it seems in short demand everywhere these days.

I love Bruno to bits, but the Mirror reporting that PSG are preparing to buy him off us in the summer for £100m would be too good to turn down I think.

The amount of stories on the news sites being posted with titles like "Newcastle to sign £50m monster", etc, it's laughable, especially when the same news sites were also reporting about out FFP issues days previously.

Will be glad to see the back of the whinging fuck, can't stand him. Be interesting to see who they line up next.

Would miss Miggy's smile and enthusiasm, in terms of effort he's a model pro really isn't he.

I've been seeing fees of around £17m for Miggy being touted, while we paid £21m. At 29 I'd think he's at the back end of his prime for sure, but I still think, with inflation and the fact he's had a couple of good recent seasons, we should be looking at nearer £30m as a fair price.

So, from all the 'dubious' reports floating around we're looking to potentially sell Bruno, Isak, Tripps, Miggy and even big Joe? I know a lot of it is press speculation and outright mischief making, but the whole FFP thing just seems to be making any progression/competition ridiculous (I know cynically speaking, that's the point for the 'selfish six'). I just don't see how a turn over all our best players could possibly be good thing, unless they were sold for silly money - but that seems unlikely with any sale being subject to 'reasonable valuation, no doubt hampered further by the other clubs in the league who don't want us to progress. It's just making the whole game have a sour taste currently.

I don't want to lose Bruno, but if we have to, because of FFP or him becoming disillusioned with the speed of the project, I'd want him to go to PSG, Barca or Real Madrid. If that happened I'd hold no ill feeling towards him. He's goes anywhere in the Prem and I'd question our ownership and Bruno would be dead to me. * For the record, Bruno doesn't come across as the sort of player who'd do the dirty on us, but like others have said, if he wanted to go I'd have to ask whether it's worth keeping someone like that.

Chuff me, it's started already then, headlines like "Jose sacked by Roma adds pressure to Eddie Howe". They can fuck right off with that, Eddie's fine where he is, it's just mischief-making by the media, lazy journos and people wanting to unsettle the project we have going on! On a side note, I reckon Mourinho needs to go somewhere, maybe back to Portugal, and start from the basics of management again, he's just too set in his cycle of singling out a scapegoat player, setting up a siege mentality and complaining about everything that he thinks is an excuse for losing. A stint in international football might help him, but he's just not got the right mindset for league football anymore.

Yeah, remember reading that, the arrogant fucks. To be honest, after the shit Klipperty spouts about us and how Levy deals with transfers, we shouldn't even answer their phone calls.

Carroll I could handle going to the scouse scum because we all knew he wasn't worth anywhere near the money they paid, we all knew he'd have preferred to have stayed with us and it was a bonus when he showed he wasn't as determined to play as well for them as he had for us... and then there was the injuries. With Enrique is was a bit different, he held no liking for us, not the club or the fans, so when he went to them we all thought he was a wanker anyway. But with Bruno, if he went to Liverpuke, it'd be a kick in the teeth to us as fans, he'd have to know that as well and I kind of like to think he just wouldn't do it... at least I hope he wouldn't. If we have to sell him, then it needs to be to PSG or Barca, not another Prem team and especially not the fucking bin dippers. The question is, would it be worth selling him in the long run, to help avoid ffp problems and fund getting someone like Phillips perhaps, along with some reasonably backup in a defender and another striker? I just don't know, Bruno is a rare talent.

Urgh, the idea of this... I think a bit of sick just came back up. I mean, I don't believe for a minute we'd sell Bruno to those scum, but if we did... no, just no. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/bruno-guimaraes-transfer-could-cost-28443589

On reflection, I think Howe is suffering from an exaggerated expectation, based on last year's massive over-achievement. We're little over 2 years into the new ownership, after being massively neglected and poorly staffed and terribly run. Man City won their first trophy three years after they were bought and that was prior to any major hamstringing with FFP. Let's be honest, we're about where we should be, especially considering the huge (and unusual) amount of injuries we've had this season. I know it's easy to get carried away with thinking because of what happened last year we've somehow magically become as good as the top teams in the league, but I'm afraid that's simply not the case, we still have some way to go before we have a consistently winning team in the Prem and become a regular challenger for all trophies, the team is still being built, club itself is still being remolded. We have as good a management team and ownership as we could hope for, we just need to give it time, Rome really wasn't built in a day... or a couple of seasons for that matter. For me, I wouldn't even entertain the idea losing Eddie, we'd just get some journeyman 'big name' manager in who wouldn't actually build a legacy, what would be the point of that? We'd become another chopping and changing team who spends on players who don't care about the club, don't gel, ruins the attitude around the place and still doesn't win anything.

FFP sucks donkey balls, it feels like it strengthens the established 'top six', while hamstringing anyone attempting to break into that world, purely because it didn't start on a level playing field.