St. Maximin

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.

The thick as mince fans and journalists will move on. It’s big news in football today and we’re all horrible people following the takeover remember, so the narrative has turned. I’m sure 10 months ago many of these people were slagging Bruce off also.

I would say ever so slightly in his defence that the fans didn't take to him initially and Rafa would have been a tough act to follow even if Bruce was to conduct himself professionally. The way he left Sheffield Wednesday justifies the animosity though, but funnily enough everyone overlooks that.

So this guy is decent right? Had a quick look at his Wikipedia page and seemed he absolutely smashed it in Ukraine, but given that league is dominated by two teams I'm not sure how impressive that was? Fair play to him though.

I do like Howe but I just can’t look past how bad they are in his last season, especially given how we destroyed them at their place… under Steve Bruce.

I don’t really ‘want’ Howe either but I’m not sure what our best realistic options are. Would definitely take Gerrard. Whatever you think about him, he was a leader and professional that would be very demanding but I feel gain respects of his players. Clearly that’s something we need.

Would Howe improve the defence? They looked shambolic in his last season but maybe that’s harsh given what he achieved before.

Crazy seeing him on TV as I’ve met him a fair few times at uni. He’s a great bloke and one of the funniest people I’ve met. Outstanding from everyone really. Have to credit the Spurs players too.

Not the first time Lascelles has been scrapping with team mates. Bit poor really, along with his general leadership.

Yeah the problem is there are the alternative stats that say Bruce’s Newcastle points tally and positions in the Prem are similar and really that’s all his supporters are going to focus on. It’s clear as day to us he’s destroyed the solid defensive foundation we’ve had and his luck is running out but you can ignore that if you’re not willing to analyse properly/Bruce’s mates/hate the Toon fans.

Ok yeah, presumably “resign now or get the inevitable sack we get a replacement”. Not sure how a Bruce going through the motions is going to be of any use.

I’m confused. Is there something about our contracts? Took us ages to sack McClaren and now Bruce. if it’s to do with a replacement I don’t get that either. They surely want him gone, so it’s not fair on anyone to keep him around. Don’t think he should be treated like that as much as I don’t like him.

Problem is, unless Bruce’s record becomes significantly weaker the Rafa comparisons are ineffective. It’s all fair enough saying look at what he did with a lack of funds, had a vision, engaged with the fans and the city etc. However, it takes too much analysis for the average ignorant fan/pundit to realise that. Or they are just suffering from major confirmation bias post-takeover as we’re all awful people all of a sudden.

It really does embarrass me but I don’t think it’s a strong argument for sportswashing. If your investments can convince a minority of idiots blissfully unaware/disinterested in human rights to wear tea towels, while simultaneously encouraging significantly higher media attention to their abuses, then you need to up your game in your sportswashing attempts.

Good points without doubt, but often he’s picking the stupidest arguments people make online so it’s not hard really. As I’ve said before I’m pretty sceptical ‘sportswashing’ is all it’s made out to be also, but he’s just spoke about it like it’s an objective undeniable fact. Yes the takeover might get a few idiots waving Saudi flags, but the media coverage seems to have raised far more attention here to human rights abuses there, so I’m really not sure how that is effective overall. The ‘whataboutery’ about our government carries some weight also because football (not just us) can’t be accountable to dealing with immoral people if the government we elect in can’t surely. And is MBS even the ‘owner’ or really involved in the club? Does he even have that much influence in PIF? Obviously he’s the chairman but he may not have significant involvement. Seems to have other jobs to do first I’d have thought. Also the stakes in other companies are minimal but often far more money has gone into some of them as a slight counter point, plus they actually own about ten times the amount in Uber that he’s making out.