Abacus

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).

I must glance at RTG most days. Stopped reading most of the nonsense on there - now it's mainly because there's a daily "football on TV" thread, which is quite handy. Anyway, tonight most are claiming they'll be watching Leeds Vs Stoke, nothing, or Man City tonight, and not us. Whilst I'm sure that's true, just wonder how many pages their inevitable NUFC Vs Dortmund thread clocks up?

So excited and nervous for this one. The whole group felt like a fun adventure before PSG, but now it feels like we have a genuine chance of getting through with a win tonight. Some real jeopardy now. Dortmund will also be thinking they are playing for their CL survival, so expecting this to be edgy.

Is that whole thread really based around someone's experience of trying to hire a rug doctor at Byker Asda?

I wasn't really counting the baggies, may be wrong but it always felt like the real rivalry was between city and villa, with West Brom being as much rivals with Wolves. Probably also biased because one of my housemates at the time was a Bluenose and so when I went to those games it was in their home end. Whereas my villa mate got us tickets at the halfway line where it's not generally as good in any stadium. Like I say, my own thoughts were based on living a while all over the midlands, so could be missing a lot, because it's all based on what I saw and heard personally, rather than due to being from there.

I went to a few Villa games years back. It might have been where I was sitting at villa park, or how the team was at the time, but it was always a bit miserable. Lots of silence and complaining - possibly like we were under Ashley tbf. A fleeting impression from a while ago, but I always preferred going to the Birmingham City games - even though they were pretty poor as a team, I still liked the atmosphere better. Smaller crowds there, but those that went were passionate about it. I got the sense that there was more expectation at Villa and their fans, which might be a wrong impression, but it was mine. I actually think Birmingham is a great city when you get to know it, but it's not 100% a football city. Ask almost anyone in Newcastle on a Monday and they'll know the weekend's result and usually have an opinion on it. Not the same there at all. I'm sure the hardcore fans are just as passionate as any other, but I don't think the city's identity is driven as much by the rhythm of football as it is here. Maybe because it's a two team city, but maybe because it's a much bigger place as well.

Should be another amazing game, though expecting them to be a tough nut to crack after they'll have watched what happened to PSG. Also more than ever really looking forward to Milan at home now, think that atmosphere should be electric too. What a group to be in!

Gordon!

Great interview from Eddie Howe. It's times like this, when things seem to be going wrong, that you realise what someone is made of. So, Howe is going to be a legend here if as he isn't already. Come on Sandro, prove that you're worth that trust.

He wears big shoes on holiday

Presumably, if Milan knew then Tonali did too. Also, given the strictness of Italy's rules on this, it would make him a bit daft. That's all totally hypothetical of course if there's even anything at all behind this, which nobody knows. Think I'll wait till whatever investigation is done and we know what (if anything) has happened. If there's anything serious, I might get so furious I'll knock half a point off my transfer window score so help me.

I'm not totally sure what his role is, maybe he isn't either. Which is not meant as a criticism - I wasn't sure on Gordon's role either at first and now he's got to be one of the first names on the team sheet. Most of the team are pretty versatile. Originally, a few people thought he might be a Longstaff upgrade, but now Longstaff looks to be pretty indispensable too. Anyway, I've seen enough from him to think he's going to be a real player once he has adjusted properly to the league. It's going to be a (good) problem to have once Willock and Joelinton are back and firing on all cylinders too. I couldn't pick our midfield then. Bruno is probably the one essential in terms of creativity, but after that it's hard to pick a team. Unlike a couple of years ago under that total clot when the main issue was who I didn't want to see playing.

What about when they walk in front of the telly when the match is on as well.

That Liverpool defeat is still a kick in the pants. If only we'd won that, as we should have, we'd be up in fourth place now with them down in 7th. Ah well, hopefully we roll them over at Anfield - that's probably now the game I'm most looking forward to.

I'd be tempted to give Livramento the last 30 mins if we're ahead, to save Trippier's legs a bit for PSG

It's hard to draw anything from this, other than the positive of getting competitive minutes into his legs. With a whole makeshift back line, and in a kind of midfield role instead of LB, in a first half where there was no composure from most players, I'm not sure anyone shone. (Saying that, both Dummett and Lascelles put in a shift and Target was OK.) My point being that it's easy to think the players who were subbed were the reason the team weren't performing, but hopefully nobody thinks that, given that in that half almost nobody could keep the ball.

What an amazing game! So good to see us find our way into the game, click properly - love how we didn't ease off and went for the throat, hopefully fills the team with confidence again. Fine Sheffield United were bad, or we made them look worse than they are, because given their past games I was holding out for a gritty 0-1 win, so that was a bit special. Also, a lot of great performances across the park, but really pleased with Gordon and this from a former undecided / doubter. Already looking forward to the next game, and hopefully giving City a proper scare. In fact I actually can't wait for the Liverpool return game and getting revenge in the league either.