Kid Icarus

From a 6? Even then, 2 goals 2 assists IIRC That midfield 3 were excellent from January onwards and we were wondering when Bruno was going to get a look in. Turns out when he did get a look in, it was predominantly over Willock. Suggesting he didn't contribute is just pure fantasy.

Sad to hear you were in a coma from at least January to May 2022. Whatever you think of him, Howe rated him, played him, got a tune out of him, and if Bruno gets injured there's no one to fill in.

Don't be stupid

Nowhere near as much of a disaster as it is without Shelvey. Last year the midfield thrived to the extent that we were wondering when Bruno was going to get a look in. Without Shelvey we literally have no replacement at all.

Whatever you think of them as players I don't think you can consider Shelvey or Wood passengers. You can definitely argue that Wood has been replaced, but Shelvey hasn't and we were looking for a midfielder before we let him go. As things stand we're a midfield injury away from a huge drop off it quality. With Shelvey back fit the drop of was manageable.

If that really is us done, then letting Shelvey go at this stage is seriously playing with fire in terms of targetting top 4 like. I don't think that's an unreasonable review of the situation.

Yet they and Man City love working with Arsenal. Weird.

Hadn't realised KDB was 31 like, time flies. I guess Maddison would be their KDB-lite although at 26 it doesn't give him tons of time to be the main man, if ever.

One of the few occasions Jonathan Pearce was funny "Didier Drogba there. The strength of a bull, the pain threshold of a flea"

He wants to mark his turf out, let them know he's dynamite. And when Longstaff's playing away, he'll piss and shit all night.

Can't we all just...get along?

Aye, I'm hoping for some tasteful back-lit lettering.

When Darren Eales was on Radio Newcastle lots of people mentioned it and he said that's why fan feedback is so important because without it, that would never have occured to him.

Jorghino's exactly what they need imo. He'll kill games dead when he comes on.

Opinions shmopinions, The only correct ranking is this Shearer Cole Ferdinand Wilson Ba But I can accept Ba over Wilson.

I love Wilson and it's normally seen as a bit contentious when I say he's better than Ba, so you're a bigger fan of him than me mate, Ferdinand was next level imo.

To put it another way then: relative to its time, Keegan's team was better than this one. The nearest modern version of that team I've seen compared to that side is the early Klopp Liverpool team. That's what that 96 team would be in the modern era. Or maybe even this season's Arsenal. And you're off your rocker if you don't think the modern incarnation of Ferdinand doesn't get in this team ahead of Wilson.

When it comes to the crunch time of the season and Arsenal's free-flowing football become nervy 1-0 margins, he's the perfect player to bring on and suck all of the life (and fun) out of games.

There are things that humble you as a fan I think. That Keegan side was better than this one and didn't fall apart until February. Squandering a 12 point lead left an indelible mark on most Newcastle fans that went through it. Then there's Athletic Bilbao, Partizan Belgrade, and Sporting Lisbon, where we somehow managed to clinch defeat from the jaws of victory in the most ridiculous and advantageous circumstances. I'm confident we'll go through but it'll take a long time, if ever, before all of that baggage doesn't curb it somewhat.

I don't get what's in it for some of these players signing for Chelsea. Unless they're naive or only interested in the money/contract

How long have you been a Newcastle fan? Genuine question, not a leading one btw. Even in the Keegan years we fucked up situations like this.

I dunno, because it's just your hypothetical mate I'm more in the not making predictions/anything's possible camp re ASM tbh.

Loving the introduction video with Howe talking about the area etc.

You could just be open-minded enough to not think that everything that's already happened means that's how things will always be. ASM might be integrated into the team and be a star, he might be used as an impact sub, he might wither away and end up sold, who knows? Waste of time trying to be a know-it-all after 20 games of an injury-hit season, particularly when that same manager said about 4 hours ago that ASM's 'here to stay, and an integral part of my team'

I'm absolutely convinced that ASM and Isak are going to be the 'unleash the kracken' players in this last half of the season.