nbthree3

But Bruce has done just as well as Rafa So tiring the comparisons, it's season 3 for Bruce in the PL. Very much his team now

https://shop.nufc.co.uk/collections/new-arrivals/products/men-s-player-s-match-day-ss-tee-orange Haven't seen this before, match day shirt

https://statsbomb.com/2021/08/newcastle-united-season-preview-2021-22/ is a good piece focusing on what's changed last season "A run of W2-D0-L8 at the start of 2021 was Newcastle’s worst spell of the season, but it was then followed by their best. From the start of February to the end of the season, Newcastle picked up 20 points, winning five of their last eight to power them up the league table. The team switched shape to either a 4-4-2 diamond or a 4-3-3 and were comparatively more front-footed than earlier in the season. The change seemed to coincide with the arrival of first-team coach Graeme Jones, who you may recognise as a member of Gareth Southgate’s coaching staff during the EURO 2020 tournament this summer. The changes provided Callum Wilson with support up front and allowed Miguel Almirón to have more of an influence on the game, getting on the ball in more central areas. More importantly, it allowed their wide players to thrive and be more direct. Allan Saint-Maximin returned from injury to finish the season up front, alongside Wilson but allowed to roam across the front and dribble or carry the ball over distance. This is apparent when comparing the plots of his carries: in Newcastle’s more reactive system he’d start his carries around the halfway line, thus with more players to beat and more distance to cover. After the system change, he started receiving possession in the channels in the opposition half and was isolating 1v1 vs his defender more often than previously. This is a beneficial situation for any player to work with, let alone an exciting wide player like Saint-Maximin." "It was mostly their attacking metrics that improved. While they became more proactive without the ball than they had been previously, they still ranked as one of the lowest-block teams in the league. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; there are plenty of examples of teams (Wolves in 2019/20 for one) who have played counter-attacking football to great success. However, going on last season, it’s not clear that Newcastle have the capabilities to do that: allowing the opposition to monopolise the ball under little duress moves defenders deeper… and then you have the same issues we saw from August to January. Newcastle need to find ways to better taper off their periods of high pressure with lower block defending."

I wonder what our biggest problem is

Based on historical averages

The club tweeted about him once (pair of eyes emoji) but beyond that I'm not sure

Signing Santiago Munoz... the obvious joke already tires and it's probably a lie

Bruce has played a 3-5-2 since the Brighton game which coincided with our best run of the season, so I assume he's wanting to stick with that formation. ASM was almost always up front alongside a more contemporary forward. Different from 19/20 where it seemed he was more on the wing as you'd expect. https://fbref.com/en/players/2b16cb1a/matchlogs/2020-2021/summary/Allan-Saint-Maximin-Match-Logs Miggy was played in the midfield trio usually during that run mostly. That last game against Fulham it was him and ASM up top https://fbref.com/en/players/862a1c15/matchlogs/2020-2021/summary/Miguel-Almiron-Match-Logs

Jones could do something with a midfield like that, hopefully. As Bruce doesn't do tactics and Jones has "a little input" I see little reason how it could go wrong. Bruce I think still has final say though on teams

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/uefa-plans-salary-cap-and-luxury-tax-for-teams-who-breach-it-5vrwf8cm7 "Under the planned system, clubs in European competition would be limited to spending a fixed percentage of their revenue — possibly 70 per cent — on salaries. Any clubs breaching the cap would have to pay a luxury tax, under which the equivalent or more of any overspend would go into a pot to be redistributed."

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/snap-newcastle-poll-sends-clear-21274450 Results are in Almost 4,000 took our snap poll which revealed relegation worries remain, with fans feeling four new signings are required before the end of the month. Fans still say they aren't convinced by Bruce with 80% still opting for 'Bruce out' but his approval levels have risen by 15% since our bombshell survey in March which revealed 95% wanted him out. So it's 1 in 5; 800 fans surveyed

They're not out yet but I imagine it compares to the 95% that wanted him out in March. So a 95% to 90% out is still change and not much like the tweet suggests... we wait

This one's quite damning isn't it. Raises a question whether owners are expected to invest their own money into the team or keep things sustainable like Ashley's model aims for. Makes it look better for potential investors on the other hand

Their profile pic is a stock image