St. Maximin

Great man-manager also.

Do some people just look taller/smaller for various reasons or are the stats just a bit off? For example I always thought Mitro doesn’t look tall but apparently he’s 6ft2, whereas Sean Longstaff always looks gangly but is 5ft11 apparently? ?

Nah he’s had a few assists, but has been largely turd. Good to know that he, Joelinton and Shelvey actually have footballing ability though. Crazy what some proper coaching and fitness can do…

When Bruce was on TV enjoying the cricket in Dubai I am pretty sure he would have been there regardless of whether he was still manager. It was an international break after all...

He’s definitely not merely a ‘Championship striker’. In fact that’s a pretty flawed description as I’m not sure how many Prem goals you have to score to qualify as PL irrespective of team. There aren’t many top 10 strikers that hit double figures. What I do feel is apparent is he needs to be the main man. He showed in previous Prem seasons he doesn’t have a bad record as the main striker and obviously he’s prolific for country. His bad form for us was when he was second fiddle to Gayle. I’d kind of still want him back but he definitely shouldn’t be ahead of Wilson.

With the takeover, definitely. More due to Ashley going. It's not made me think the Saudi state are all great lads now or that they really wanted my approval.

Good post, thanks for clarifying. When it comes to 'doubt' I would say I doubt the intentions and outcomes of these investments are for a change of reputation on a large scale. The use of Saudi flags in the ground on Twitter, whoppers dressing up in tea towels and the fans defending KSA I find not only embarrassing but distasteful. However, for sportswashing to have major concerns (that I imagine AI and the media have written about), there needs to be a change of reputation on a much bigger scale, perhaps with a notable proportion of the UK's football fanbase fightong the Saudis' corner, but really I am only seeing this from a small minority of Newcastle fans. The takeoover has been used to turn a lot of other fans against us really so from a sportswashing perspective I don't feel too concerned.

Wasn’t aimed at anything you said mate but there’s this underlying assumption by people arguing their sportswashing concerns that Arabs are trying to please us with their calculated methods of investing in sport. The article I posted I think is decent, from someone who knows a thing or two about KSA and PIF. By all means they want to engage with the west but it’s a business move as they attempt to diversify and grow their economy. The cynical idea they are trying to draw attention away from human rights abuses I feel lacks evidence and even if they are, then it’s not very effective for the reasons I gave. It’s interesting you say that when KSA has changed a lot of its laws. If that continues over 10 years then maybe you are right but I’m not sure how much that has to do with sportswashing. Also the Russia and Qatar world cups were awarded over 10 years ago, but especially for the latter, they have merely put human rights issue to the forefront of a lot of fans’ minds when chances are they never thought about them before.

Ok then I’ll enjoy seeing the Saudis become heroes over the next few years and all of a sudden their human rights abuses will be magically forgotten about, as all the journalists writing about them will join our side too. After all, Arabs just want to please us westerners.

I do. If that’s sportswashing then it’s pretty pathetic really. If they want to buy a club to change their reputation and that’s the kind of success they get, then they haven’t achieved much and neither is that a reason for the likes of Amnesty International to start ranting away about the concept. I cynically think just don’t think certain countries are fit to own clubs or host sporting events and need to use some concept to make their concerns seem less controversial. What I’m waiting to see is attention being directed away from human rights abuses, when by and large the opposite seems to have happened. Funny how all the journalists commenting on sportswashing seem to ironically be contributing to the opposite effect. And it’s pretty insulting to the intelligence of both the Saudis and the UK public to think the human rights abuses will just magically become unheard of or even ignored. This guy gets it. https://www.themag.co.uk/2021/10/sportswashing-is-a-term-that-explains-little-and-obscures-everything-newcastle-united-takeover/

Yeah I agree there, though as I’ve said before I still don’t really see the evidence of this sportswashing aside from a few idiots wearing tea towels and waving Saudi flags. The negative attitudes seem to outweigh this significantly. I just find the sportswashing view has been used to describe this takeover as an unquestionable fact from the media, but if that’s what they’re trying then they need to up their game.

You know Rafa is no longer our manager right? And he’s also a human and like all other managers, will make mistakes from time to time? Just don’t get the obsession now, on a forum where Everton fans are often weirdly called “scouse mackems” but people also (rightly) complain about lazy generalising of fanbases.

Geordies calling anyone with a southeastern accent a cockney

I’m not sure what Rafa has done recently to say he’s above the likes of Moyes, Rodgers, Howe etc. He’s up there in people’s top 5 because of his historical achievements imo. But then again it’s just so hard to compare different managers and clubs. Agree it’s a pretty phenomenal standard of managers - teams also.

I don’t see how it’s underwhelming really. We are deep into a relegation battle and are hardly going to expect the most successful managers to leave their teams in Europe for us at the time being. We can easily point out limitations in other managers based on their track record. I don’t know much about Fonseca but his most successful work coming in Ukraine hardly excites me tbh.

All well and good commenting on his poor last season and shoddy transfer but you can’t overlook the previous 11 years he had there. Find it odd people say they “don’t rate” Howe - granted we haven’t seen enough of him at different top flight clubs, but the development of Bournemouth under him was frankly ridiculous. Ultimately many of the best managers often leave after a bad spell having taken the club as far as possible, but you can’t really judge them on their last spell.

Toonai Emery.

Not sure I’m really feeling the desire to get Rafa back. Pretty hard to deny he did an excellent job with a mostly poor set of players and funds available, but so do many other less successful managers. I don’t see a lot from his track record post-Liverpool to say he can bring long-term success or that he’s a “world class manager” that I often hear, but on the other hand you could likely say that about the other options and he’d certainly have a ‘project’. Saying that he’s a pragmatic man who did his job very well and then understandably moved on and so should we. He can be a legend without ruining his reputation as people have said.

Maybe you’ve seen me play there mate when I lived in Newcastle. Many good memories of that ground! It’s definitely my favourite sport overall. But admittedly so many things to hate about it also, as someone who plays lots

If we’re annoyed at people generalising our fan base then it’s a bit silly to make generalised comments about another club’s fan base also, no? I think we need to move on and not feel so precious about the man. He’s not ours anymore and moved on himself a while ago. I think you shouldn’t always go to such lengths to defend the guy also. They conceded five at home to Watford with some horrific defending, so by the very nature of his role he needs to take account in the same way he’s getting praise for their wins. Yes it’s just one result and he should be judged over time, but he has his limitations and things don’t always work out for him. His most recent club being a pretty good example.

Cracking Shelvey tribute from Pogba.

We will probably get stick after that result for our Rafa obsession but tbh I get that. He has to take responsibility when you concede 5 at home to Watford. That’s pretty embarrassing. I’m more concerned with the refusal of our fans to give Rafa justified criticism than their justified criticism of Bruce.

Going against the grain but Rafa proving he’s not a miracle worker after all. We do need to move on.

On what minute will the #Clap4Steve be?

So many heartfelt tributes to the man yesterday. RIP Steve. He will be sorely missed (by the other 19 Premier League clubs). He’s in a better place now. A whole £8m richer.