Whitley mag

Tyneside is a great place to live particularly the North Side 😉

Need to try and make it physical against Silva and Gundogan tomorrow, give them time and space and they’ll cut us to pieces at the back.

Very much this the fact he sang a song at the Stack and what followed, probably says more about how where all damaged after the Ashley years.

Option 2 could just be a 6k extension of the Gallowgate and like you say costly for minimal financial gain, or it could be a complete Bernabeu style revamp of all 4 stands, if we stay at St James it has to be the latter for me, or think where just settling and certainly not future proofing with state of other stands.

Quite frightening if that lot’s views are taken into account without any wider consultation, in saying that I think it will be lip service and they’ll do what commercially makes sense.

It says the opposite. Clubs expected to be notified of the outcome to the case at their meeting at the Rosewood Hotel in Holborn on Thursday, based on the assumption that the rules allowed it to be shared if both parties agreed. But for now the other 19 clubs remain in the dark, with a relatively straightforward shareholders’ meeting finishing after only two hours.

Hope this originals gear isn’t limited and likely to sell out, might need to be quick off the mark online tomorrow.

I mean if the Chelsea fan says new stadium fair play I’m with her.

I mean you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but don’t think many of them look like they’ve travelled up and down the country through thick and thin.

I think the fact Yasir’s been over twice in the space of a few weeks says everything, the PIF aren’t going anywhere and where not that insignificant to them as some would have us think.

The most interesting part of the Douglas article is the new board member linked to the Reuben’s property portfolio, either Jamie is taking a step back, or they’re getting people in place for the infrastructure projects.

Reuben’s are converting fire station in to 5 star hotel.

I’d say they have no regrets about buying, we were the last real sleeping giant and Bloomberg already valued us at 1 billion. Factor in we’ve still not won anything, my guess is they’re very happy with this long term investment and will in 10 years be hoping our value is circa 3 billion.

I’d be amazed if PIF after all the red tape to buy the club and the undoubted kudos of owning a PL club decided to just settle on being an also ran and leave us with a tarted up 52k SJP. It was always sold as a long term investment and if they want to realise a 2 to 3 billion value it requires significant infrastructure investment. I think we’ll see something next level even if it means staying at SJP and a complete rebuild lifting all the current roofs off.

On paper one defeat looks a massive overreaction if we’d won on Saturday we’d be top of the league, it would have definitely been papering over the cracks though. Midfield is the major issue and was before Tonali was banned last season, nobody knows their position, it’s disjointed and teams can get straight at our back 4 with one pass. The above was an issue for large parts of last season, we now also have our star centre forward isolated and feeding on scraps. The upcoming fixtures will make, or break the season and tell us if where going to be competitive, transfer strategy aside Howe doesn’t know his best 11 at the minute and needs to work it out fast.

It might be a bit nippy down by the river in winter, but if I was an Everton fan I’d be counting the days until we left that shithole.

Income to compete and allowing younger generation a chance to become regular attendees. Its not just capacity though the place is dated and requires huge investment to bring it up to date.

If only I was a Freeman.

It’s hardly befitting of a club with our stated aims of being best in class having about the 10th largest stadium in the PL, I wouldn’t say SJP is currently cutting edge in many areas these days either.

Exactly so if he was fixated on Guehi there was nothing left to spend on a right winger. This is why i think Mitchell has a point about the transfer strategy not being fit for purpose. Mitchell should have kept his trap shut about deals that have gone by and simply said due to PSR we’ll be revising our strategy going forward and widening the net. The narrative that Howe wasn’t backed doesn’t sit right with me unless people were happy for us to have our pants pulled down over Guehi. The most concerning thing is that Mitchell was happy to sanction that huge bid for Elanga if true, he’s no better than what we’ve got and just more of the same. My thoughts currently are that we kept our powder dry and im hoping we are a lot smarter going into January and next summer. Not sure I would have been happy with Howe and Amanda conducting transfers this summer if the list of targets in the press was accurate, a full reset and approach needed to take into account PSR.

We were scouting Ederson from Atalanta heavily I’d presume Ashworth’s plan was to upgrade and bring a better quality player in to make the next step. Joelinton for all his qualities isn’t good technically and I think once his physicality goes he’ll decline quickly, I don’t think not offering Joelinton a new contract was entirely down to PSR, but more evolving and taking us to the next level.

Howe’s undoubtedly part of the problem and it’s due to the fact he’s always had total control on transfers at Bournemouth and since he came here. He’s massively out of his comfort zone since PCP left and his interview in Germany was a misstep, though maybe borne out of the approach Mitchell came in with if you believe rumours. Our current transfer strategy is a mess, your new guy wanted shot of Joelinton instead of giving him a new contract, I think Ashworth was right but Howe had all the power and Amanda granted him his wish. I think a lot of fans think our transfer approach looks to narrow under Howe, the bids for Elanga and Guehi looked desperate and unimaginative. The major problem here is that nobody knows if Mitchell is the right man, he hasn’t stayed anywhere very long and he’s come across a bit arrogant and clumsy in his quotes. Think you’ve got the better man in Ashworth in all honesty, whilst I get the pull of Man United I do worry that the reason he left is because PCP and Howe were just calling all the shots and he was pretty pissed off with the scope of his role to implement things here.

I think everyone would like him to be the manager who breaks this trophy hoodoo. Feels like a big opportunity missed today though, going top even for 24 hours would have just fired this season up after the disappointing summer, the manner in which we played first half with that at stake though doesn’t bode well. The fixtures have been kind which is also a major worry, this week feels massive we must progress in cup and look competitive at home to City next week.

You’re right he was the first one to come out and play power games publicly in Germany.

No patterns of play, reliance on widemen who just constantly come inside, could drive a bus through our midfield, can’t retain the ball, look fragile at the back and no composure in final 3rd. Not sure where he starts to be honest, we just rely on that bit of magic constantly to bail us out, the biggest crime is we’ve got one of the best strikers in the league starved of service and isolated constantly.