Abacus

It was all much simpler when Jack Walker bought the league title for Blackburn. Point being, that money has always influenced the league. But for every Blackburn, there's a Leeds or Portsmouth. So, I agree that sustainability has to be something that should be a factor in what a club spends and I also agree that I wouldn't want us to just buy the league either. The main thing that's missing is a way to counterbalance the historic advantages of a few big clubs who built their advantages before FFP was a thing. Can't really think what that would be though - salary caps, spending limits etc all have flaws. I'm a bit sick of thinking about it all to be honest. I'm just going to enjoy the football and let our owners and their lawyers worry about it as I'm just enjoying us being competitive and ruffling a few feathers.

Saying that it's a personal matter is only going to cause speculation about that which is likely nobody's business. Would rather they'd just said he'd had a mild illness like a dose of the shits, a paper-cut or tennis elbow.

Everton tried to break into the top 5, and gambled that their spending would get them there. Yes, they spent badly and the gamble didn't work, but the point of FFP was surely originally to stop a situation like Portsmouth - a club going bust and unable to compete, not just wrecking them but also the league itself. It's now been twisted to stop another Chelsea / Man City problem, which is a different issue altogether and should have been stopped at the time. But now the horse has bolted and they're cemented as top clubs based on it. Ironically, those two were also the two least keen on wrecking football in a different way with the ESL, so I don't really hold as much of a grudge against them as I should. It's a right muddle. At least we're trying to do things the right way. But the PL definitely can't be trusted to make the right decisions as they're too in thrall to a few clubs who want to pull up the drawbridge to anyone that wants to compete. It's Villa and Brighton, along with us, that I really want to see smash things up. Big 6 my arse.

Trouble with that is, you'd no doubt get extra punishment for deliberately breaking the rules. And of course there would be new rules introduced the minute we tried it.

Pretty sure it's because they've spent how they have, making too many losses over a consecutive period. That said, they also need to spend a lot on a new stadium and their billionaire owner (who overspent) is selling up to a group who aren't exactly loaded, so might struggle financially in the future. But it's the first one they're in trouble over, not for being in financial trouble.

It annoys me when it keeps being referred to as Newcastle's "controversial goal" against Arsenal. It's not controversial. It was a goal. And it was checked, checked and checked again. The only thing that's controversial about it is that blubbering fool Arteta. Hope they put VAR in his bedroom and Peter Walton rules out all his orgasms.

Spiderman, for one.

Well, Howe has a job on now for sure. But he's defied expectations before. What annoys me is the suggestion that he may be under pressure, mainly from a couple of know-nothing journalists. E.g. Alyson Rudd in the Times (a Liverpool fan who writes some of the most biased anti-NUFC match reports I've read) gleefully suggesting on Monday that this might be the case on the basis of nothing at all. I can't see any groundswell of opinion from actual fans that anyone seriously thinks someone else could do any better, or that he doesn't deserve anything less than our full support not least for his character, attitude and what he's already achieved. Can think of a few fans of other clubs who look at him enviously. He's one of those rare managers where I just think "let him get on with it" and don't worry too much.

Maybe a loan? Wilson is such a good striker in the box that he'll be hard to directly replace, stating the obvious. But Isak seems to fit the system better, so I can't think we'd go for another out and out striker - not many of those about anyway. By January, though, you'd hope both Wilson and Isak might be back, which may take the urgency away. The job until January has to be to somehow not be too far adrift in the league and then see what's possible. I guess it all depends what we're aiming for by then.

I think so as well. Best not come out and talk at the moment because it just brings the whole thing up again and serves as a distraction - plus, some people will still be annoyed with him, so best let the heat die down, keep his head down, train, then clear the decks and let his feet do the talking when he's back.

That needn't be an either / or question tbf.

Hopefully meaning the international weeks, before magically recovering

On the upside, ten Hag lives to fight with his players another day. Looking a bit of a dull relegation scrap this year, though.

I don't think it was a red, but it was certainly borderline and could have been given. But I suppose if VAR also saw it that way, they can't intervene and insist on a yellow. Much as I'm not a big fan Peter Walton in the Times said as much, that the goal was correct by the rules as well and the only thing he couldn't agree with was the Havertz decision. Which is actually what a lot of more sensible commentators are saying now the heat has died down. I do think the ref lost control after the Havertz incident, and so did a lot of our players. It's maybe the only downside of having such togetherness in the group. Watch one of your close-knit team get cleaned out and everyone loses their heads a bit. Bruno seems a leader in that respect so perhaps no surprise he was the one to go most OTT. In most cases, we channelled our anger in the right sort of way after the 3 yellows, which is something Bruno needs to learn, especially when the crowd also becomes a monster because of it. You can tell he feeds off the emotion, which we don't want to lose at the same time.

Agree. Contrast this with Howe - I don't think he's ever put a foot wrong in a post match interview regardless of the results or his own emotions at the time. One earns respect through his conduct, the other becomes a bit of a joke and it will come back to bite Arteta when some decision goes in his favour and he has to eat his words or claim that he hadn't seen something. I think the Havertz thing was already in his favour before we deservedly won it, by the way.

Livraminto

A former Newcastle manager with plenty of experience, who also knows Old Trafford like the back of his ham.

There's only man who can roll up his sleeves, dust himself down and sort out the mess Man U are in now. That's right, it's time to swap the Hag for the Hog.

His PR machine is certainly effective. Whereas when you live it as a fan you'll know it's like being waterboarded. Lost my love of going to the game for a while due to that total idiot. Caused rifts with match-going friends as a result at the time, while he tried to suck the lifeblood out of the club. Still think that's why we all celebrated the takeover so much, it was like being reborn. Now, the chat all round town is about who we play next, tactics, players, what we might be able to hope for - like it always was before and should always have been. I genuinely don't want any football fan to suffer that no matter how desperate things seem. At one point, I'd have taken the club going under just to be able to start again.

Watch him go in and express astonishment at the financial state the club is in. Then state that the club needs to be able to wash its own face, appoint compliant fools as managers and impose a 10 year ambition freeze. What I don't get is that, unlike with us, he's unlikely to find a wealthy buyer to sell to and turn a profit from, nor the profile to advertise and promote his shoddy junk shops.

We could have had a draw, but then again I can't complain at the loss. Well, I can, but don't feel cheated by it. For all the what could have beens (shots off the bar, scuffed chances, missed passes), Dortmund could equally point to Pope keeping us in it two or three times as well. A frustrating game to watch for me after Isak went off. We didn't play badly - pretty well in patches - but as disappointing as it was to lose it's hard to feel robbed.

Sure do have principles on that board. Fairly certain that when we played PSG they didn't watch that game, fantasise about playing them, or want them to win either ... oh.

This is an awkward thread to be in sometimes, a mix of religion, politics, our ownership, football issues etc, so can bring out high emotions. What do they say? Never talk to your friends about religion, politics or money, to which Mark Twain should added "plus, don't mix it with football either, y'all". Which is not to say that's a bad thing at all on here when discussed in the right way. Anyway, glad you're back.

Ffs, I had you faking your own death and everything. On a separate note, anyone want to buy a used canoe? Hartlepool area, collect only.

Been working in town - already great to see loads of Dortmund fans knocking about, going to be a great atmosphere. They seem like a friendly bunch so far, though I'm glad I didn't ask "so, whereabouts in Germany are you from?" as I nearly did. Shame the weather is so crappy, be good if they enjoy the city (aside from the actual game obviously).