nbthree3

Yeah we can't go 5-4-1 especially if that 1 is Joelinton, he's proven when on his own that nothing happens. Completely isolated as Kanji mentioned. Explains the insistence on having 2 even if the other pairing is Saint who isn't a natural forward but rather a winger. Confuses me why Bruce wants a 5-3-2 when we have wingers and non-natural wingbacks? Just play to our strengths!

As for that, no doesn't matter much I don't think (answering a question if anyone wonders why this is here)

https://tribuna.com/en/news/manutd-2021-09-10-glazers-sell-over-five-million-class-a-shares-what-it-means-for-man-united/ The Glazers family have reportedly sold over five million in class A shares (roughly 14%) at Manchester United to Ariel Investments. These include full voting rights. Glazers own about 120 million Class B shares with full voting rights, 10 votes per share - which is how they control the club. Class A shares, on the other hand, account for one vote per share (1/10th of a Class B share). Thus, the sale hardly gives Ariel Investments power in internal matters. After the share sale, Avram Glazer will not own any Class A shares at the club, reducing his total voting power to 13.39% from 16.85%. Meanwhile, the combined Glazer ownership will fall to 74.9% from 78%.

As Newcastle manager: a 4-1 defeat (Boxing Day 2019) and a 3-1 defeat (February 2021) at Old Trafford

Is the last pic. Don't know how that 15% graphic works but this is far more telling

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/sport/articles-reports/2021/09/09/yougov-direct-premier-league-confidence-arsenal Of the other teams in the league, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City all tie for the highest level of confidence, with 92% of fans for each team being confident in their squads. They are closely followed by 90% of Manchester United fans. Newcastle United fans are the least confident, at just 14%. Only Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce receives less confidence. Just 19% of Newcastle fans interviewed say they have confidence in him, versus 71% who do not. (compared to Arteta at Arsenal) Some 15% of Newcastle fans think the Magpies could bring it back for a win, up from 2% before the season. Hopes have risen among nearly all teams, in fact, even among Arsenal fans. Some 18% now say that Arsenal will win the Premier League this season, up 5pts from 13% in August. (win the league) Newcastle United fans do not hold out high hopes for the 2021/22 season either: 25% fear relegation is likely for the team this year, up from 5% before the season began. Some 60% expect to finish towards the bottom of the table, a figure largely unchanged from pre-season, while the 30% who initially thought a mid-table finish was possible has since dropped to only 10%.

Guess that's all we can say Dated 16th July - its legal form before was "Public Investment Fund"

PIF are listed as a corporation sole on NCUK Investment Ltd now. That's the directly related to Newcastle one https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12415316/filing-history. PAUK and UKSA were talked about here earlier but this is the one with actual links to us. Whether it means anything, we're all as clueless as each other

Would love Bruce to go on Coaches Voice, explain a masterclass he's done here (but I can't think of many!). As for Caldwell leaving, really 3 weeks?

No-one thinks it's him in the replies, is it?

Was answering the "Her recent court case tells us a different story though. She got fuck all." comment

Do you not think the date in the link gives that away

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/26/amanda-staveley-loses-high-court-action-against-barclays Judge David Waksman ruled on Friday that “Barclays was guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation” but that Staveley’s PCP group was not entitled to damages. This was because even if Barclays had been honest, PCP would not have been able to raise enough money to finance the deal, he said. “While PCP has succeeded on liability, it has failed on causation and loss with the result that the overall claim fails,” Waksman said. “I can understand why this outcome will be a serious disappointment to PCP, especially after I have found Barclays to be guilty of serious deceit.” The judge described Staveley as “the driving force of PCP” and a “tough, clever and creative entrepreneur”. He dismissed Barclays claims that she was “guilty of ‘obvious embellishment and invention’.” “I do not accept that as a general characterisation… she was essentially an untruthful or unreliable witness,” Waksman said. “I thought that, for the most part, her evidence was reliable.”

Good read that someone posted a few pages ago in the Rafa(el) thread on GOT https://toffeeanalysis.com/2021/09/02/rafas-everton-first-impressions/

So he is on holiday...

Ashley was even prepared to spend £20m of his own money to secure Joelinton, "it wasn't even between Joelinton or Rondon" - my question is why was he so insistent?

This'll be fun

I'll find what he said when he came https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/mike-ashleys-newcastle-regime-chews-good-people-up-i-wish-steve-bruce-hadnt-joined-52cvsgd5l The people who say that Bruce is not good enough for Newcastle have got it all wrong; he is too good. Way too good for Mike Ashley’s works team. There are two reasons why Bruce, who has signed a three-year contract as head coach, should not be within a million miles of the job at St James’ Park. The first is that if Newcastle had even a modicum of ambition then Rafa Benítez would still be in the role, but after having the wit to appoint a manager who could still see the club in terms of potential and stature, they failed to understand what it entailed. That to improve means investment, imagination, speed of thought. After Benítez, almost any manager would represent a step down, but he was the exception at Newcastle, not the rule. Take the Spaniard out of it and Bruce is following Alan Pardew and Steve McClaren, all English, all experienced, all greeted with bemusement or hostility. In emotional and footballing terms, Benítez held the club together, keeping them in the Premier League and giving supporters a reason to believe. That glue has dissolved. And so the second reason is more personal. Ashley’s Newcastle chews good people up; Benítez, Chris Hughton, Alan Shearer, Kevin Keegan. If anyone thinks it will be different with Bruce . . . well, the past 12 years provide compelling, distressing precedent. At best, the club is unconventional and at worst it is dysfunctional, incapable of putting two good decisions together. Something always lurks around the corner.

We let this man go

If there's any truth in that Craig Hope'll have an article on it soon. He's the one for investigating "negative" things nobody else picks up on

In hindsight a fantastic decision not sticking round for the takeover as that's not happening any time soon!

Think Steve Hastie's meant to be on tomorrow for the next step of the 'hacked account' saga

Nominated for manager of the month

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/09/01/premier-league-snub-government-offer-set-quarantine-camp-st/ English clubs were on Wednesday night in serious danger of being punished by Fifa over the club-versus-country crisis after Mexico, Paraguay and Chile asked it to sanction them for refusing to release players for this month’s World Cup qualifiers. Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Watford and Blackburn Rovers were all facing action for blocking Miguel Almiron (Paraguay), Raul Jimenez (Mexico), Francisco Sierralta and Ben Brereton (both Chile), respectively, from travelling to games in countries on the UK’s coronavirus red list. Unless the four clubs strike a deal with the relevant national associations for their players to remain in the UK, Fifa regulations state they will be banned from fielding them for five days after the current international window. Telegraph Sport can reveal the world governing body has written to each team and the Football Association to inform them of the regulations, which it has no option but to enforce. As of Wednesday night, Fifa had yet to receive a similar requests for sanctions from Brazil over the non-release of Alisson, Fabinho, Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Ederson, Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City), Thiago Silva (Chelsea), Fred (Manchester United), Richarlison (Everton) and Raphinha (Leeds United) for their own qualifiers.