Kid Icarus

I mean he has no reason to make that tidbit up. However you want to spin it, in your best case scenario - where Man City were apparently always going to step in out of spite instead of just going for him anyway - we still ended up eventually meeting Burnley's valuation much, much later, leaving us now with no time for a replacement and 2 fucking years of groundwork completely wasted.

This is pure trust me bro logic in the face of the reporting on it we actually have from multiple sources. Ornstein, Hope, Edwards, Caulkin and Waugh

Because pre-transfers are a thing. We did it a few times early on under PIF. Also, according to Ornstein if we'd met Burnley's valuation before the CWC instead of fannying aroun lowballing as usual, Man City wouldn't have activated their buy back then - presumably because Ederson wanting away wasn't known then.

Fucking joke innit. Absolute clown show

Absolutely no chance we're one of those clubs

That's a description of where we're at, yeah.

Oh aye, what we need is more things imported from America

Only one that comes close is last summer, which says it all.

Not only that, they kept him despite Arsenal meeting his release clause. Liverpool threatened to sue knowing they'd lose but also knowing that the delay would mean he still wouldn't go there.

Can only go on reports, but they say they didn't activate it last summer and now Ornstein's saying they wouldn't have pre CWC. All of the signs point to us fucking up a tap in twice.

Too low this summer pre CWC. It's last summer it was all done and agreed at £20m.

The burden of evidence is on the method actually being used and it's been a failure for a while now. I'm not saying 'here's the method that will work and here's the evidence that it will work' - partly because there's no evidence for something we haven't once tried - but I am saying 'this method evidently doesn't work, why not try this as an alternative method, or another method again?' Watching us do the same failing method time and again is driving me mental.

According to reports and from Trafford himself we did and according to those same reports Mitchell stopped it.

Your argument doesn't match what I'm saying. I'm not saying don't go for the best, I'm saying don't target 5 (for example) of the best with lowball bids (which they are) when we could target say 3 of the best, pay the asking fee and actually sign them, then get the other 2 in the next cycle. I really don't get how you can watch us try this same method time and again, fail again and again and still think yeah fair enough, bloody PSR!

I know this is a leading question, but as I've said previously we could cut our cloth accordingly, sign fewer players instead of going for lowballing for everyone and coming out with nothing.

Yes they did Ian

The same media figures are just tweeting about it daily with exactly the same statement on a situation that hasn't changed? Highly, highly doubtful when they otherwise don't do that.

It's inexcusable man. Absolute bouquet of nobheads, the lot of them.

I think you'll come around if things carry on like they have for a long while now, but hopefully not. Re stopping us signing him: And the Ornstein tweet above, as usual we try and do things on cheap and finally reach the fee far far too late, there's a pattern.

Or signed him when we had a free run at any point in the last 2 years... I can see you abandoning this hardline perspective in time because it's only getting worse, the club is nowhere near blameless.

Apologies TR

Newcastle's belief in a transfer happening vs the reality is roughly akin to my 3 year old's belief in Santa vs the reality.

The "we sold Cole to Man United and rebuilt" line is such an own goal. We sold him to the Champions who then beat us to the league title twice, went on to win the treble with him in their team, and dominated English football for over a decade ffs.

Not really no

We are the only common denominator in about 10 failed transfers involving us this summer.