Dr Jinx

Liverpool are going to tear us apart on New Years Day. We’ll be overrun.

We’re so easy to play against at the moment. All an opposing manager had to say to his players is “keep it tight for 40 minutes and they’ll run out of gas” Now I understand the excuses that we have regarding injuries and tired players etc, but for example, Luton away, why couldn’t he have played a bunch of kids. Or in fact, against Liverpool, play the fucking kids.. we’re going to lose anyway. Play the long game. Give our “1st team” a meaningful break. Continuing to play the same line up and expecting something different to happen is not insanity, it’s poor management. My biggest worry is that Eddie Howe is just as burnt out as the players.

The injuries? Yeah sure but what we had yesterday was more than enough to get points. It's not an isolated blip. We’ve had several very under par performances. I’m not wetting the bed just yet but it’s a concern. I really want to see him step it up a few gears and start to assert over his rival managers. I’ve yet to really see that from him.

We were pretty much bullied all over the park yesterday by mediocre players. There’s no way of dressing it up as anything but a massive fuck up in preparation. I noticed Howe at the press conference (on Friday) deflected responsibility for playing not 100% fit players “they’ll play if the medical team says they can” I think for the first time here really he’s in a rut at present, not all his fault and we’ve been fucked over by some awful decisions along the way but you can tell it’s affected the team, he hasn’t been able to pick them up from those disappointments. If he’s good enough he’ll find a way out of it but they were very cheap points to give away yesterday. I think rightly so he’ll be under scrutiny now.

We do need a new striker but where I’m also concerned with is the midfield, we need someone to come in who makes us tick better, Bruno can only do so much. We work too hard to keep hold of the ball.. I suspect that’s a mash up of the way we’re set up to play but also limited by the personnel we have. There isn’t much outright pace in that midfield, if you could give Bruno an extra step he’d be the worlds best midfielder but he’s maxed out. I don’t know if that means we sign an outright dm or if we should go for a playmaker ?‍♂️

What’s he actually done since he came in?

What were the personal reasons he mentioned as to why he had to leave? He’s not really been the same since. Tired yes but something else on his mind too perhaps. That confrontation with the fan was odd as well, he should know better than to engage with idiots. He’s earned any number of chances before we should start calling for him to be dropped. As a club, support for the players should come right the way through from the coaching staff and from the supporters. We need to get behind him.

I feel the club have been overplaying the whole “doing it the right way” and not taking shortcuts like they are financially capable of doing. Its going to be a long process and I wonder if it’s becoming clearer that the gap is even bigger than first thought.. taking longer to catch up and having the knock on effect of causing doubt among key employees. There’s no way the club should be losing someone of that reputation to a rival.

Careful about the use of the word plastic. I’m Irish and I’ve supported Newcastle since 1993/4 It’s been every much a part of my life as being a local would. Now a supporter who just wants to follow a winning team.. yeah thats fair enough.. but not being local doesn’t cover the whole spectrum. Globally Real Madrid and Man Utd are the most (not best) supported clubs in the world and their revenues support this. They are still a huge draw and will continue to be. Whether Dan Ashworth is interested is doubtful, he’s only here a season pretty much. We haven’t really started the build yet.. can’t see why he’d jump before we get to do that.

Fantastic news

If Mehrdad and Amanda retain the same influence, then Eddie Howe will be here for the long term. If PIF get more involved and decide they want “a name” then there could be some changes in the future. I think the effort last season took its toll and there’s definitely been an element of burnout. The people we’ve signed haven’t really challenged the “starting 11” as such. It’s all medium to long term planning which is fine but for January I think we need a spark akin to Bruno arriving. The team really needs a lift.

We totally bossed it and you could tell when the battery was nearing empty.. it invited them on and encouraged them. It was nothing to do with tactics. I’ve no doubt we’re a better side than Milan. But fuck, we need a rest. We need some more players back. For our domestic season this will be a blessing.

So predictable, our midfield look like they’re running through treacle when trying to get back.

We’re blowing out our arses ?

Every time this thread gets bumped I have the hope that he’s met his demise in some bizarre fashion. Remember he tried to launch an NFT about 2 years ago ? what an absolute plonker

When he came in he changed things and based on those changes he turned everything up to 11 last season. We took many teams by surprise and we had a great season. He still deserves our full support. No other team has to work that hard to win games. Everything, the training, the high press, the running distances we put in during games. It’s run the players into the ground. It’s why we have the injuries. Total burn out. He shouldn’t be afraid to look at things and come up with a better style of playing that doesn’t take its toll as much. He’s obviously capable of it, or we hope he is. Like if that’s it, the current tactical plan, if he’s fresh out of ideas after that then he’ll be in bother, but let’s see how it plays out.

It should be 2-2.. we’ve had two massive chances to score

They’ll be sniffing revenge for last season now. Trippier needs to come off.. bring Tino over and give Hall a go.

Not the answer

An omission. But ahead of those? Botman is a better defender imho..

Bruno is our best player by a country mile. Then Trippier (despite tonight) and then Isak, Gordon and Wilson

We’ve had nothing about us tonight. Chances came from their mistakes and we blew it. Really poor how we crumbled. Some games are just like that and you need to be happy to just take the point that’s on offer.. and it was until Trippier entered the twilight zone.

Had a shocking 10 minutes

I don’t dislike them quite as much as Liverpool but it’s hard to find anything to root for with that moany bitch of a manager, and petulant German dipshit playing for them. They are picking up points in a lucky way against shit teams.. I’m fully confident they’ll be dropping points as the season goes on. It’s so tight this year from 7th/8th to 1st.. any team on a run could find themselves in contention.

He’s a solid keeper but am hoping Pope is back asap. He just commands the box better and probably edges it for out and out shot stopper.. Dubravka is far superior with his kicking though.