Abacus

Got a Newcastle supporting mate who is going with his two daughters, so hope it's a good game, and that the milky bar kid doesn't turn up. "Bother outside the stadium" thread on the way.

Surely the release clause only matters if he actually wants to go. Key thing to him staying is that we stay an ambitious club on the up that equally ambitious players want to come to. May be deluded here, but can't think of more than half a dozen clubs right now that would be both tempting to go to and would also have the money to release him.

"Ah pleaded with them to bring in Choudhury, but the Irish FA said, here's what we've got, get on with it."

A fair point, though obviously the odds aren't always the best guide. I still expect it to be a different game at SJP, and therefore going only by the result, I'd still say we have a slight advantage. We may have lost that on another day, but what I liked was the defensive battling determination in the second half - growing into that game will be a lesson learnt and is a real positive to take. But I'm not denying our attacking side hasn't quite clicked yet. We seem to have a number of players I can't quite see where their natural role is (Tonali, Gordon, Isak, Anderson) - but that worked out pretty well for Joelinton (when fit) in the past. That's a bit of a puzzle for Howe to figure out, though I can't help think that a lot of the pieces are there and when it does we'll be a real danger to most teams.

I didn't like his interview where he seemed to take little responsibility for his own development. Obviously, I don't know the internal politics at Man U so that may be a misreading, I'd just be wary of his character. Edit - I say interview, I meant SM post. Could well be out of context as they often are.

Moshiri seems to have had good intentions (well sort of, trying doesn't equate to being any good), but no idea of how to run a club. 777 are a bit of an unknown quantity, but they've a hell of a lot of work to do at Everton from the squad, to the set up, to the stadium. I'd be a bit fearful of jumping from the frying pan into the fire if I was an Everton fan. I bet it's one thing Klopp doesn't start gurning about. In which case, interesting to see how quickly or not this goes through.

An excellent striker, and seems a good personality to have around the place with bags of confidence. Fingers crossed he can manage his injuries, obviously, but he's so reliable in front of goal and someone Isak can keep learning from, as well as Isak pushing him in return. Very happy with this.

Potentially also Rice as future leadership material. As well as, from those already at the top level Kane and Walker. It should be a pretty good mix. England will qualify anyway at a snooze - it's watching them play the same way at the tournament which is what I'm not looking forward to.

I couldn't see Howe going anywhere near international management for decades - wouldn't suit his personality or desire to be at work developing players 24/7. He's building something here and he's got the tools and support to do it. Such a great ambassador for the club too - I can't think of anyone else better fitted for the Newcastle role, as if that needs to be said.

There's a bit more focus on some of the players later on, like with Longstaff and Wilson, though there's probably not much you don't already know and it feels like a PR piece - which it pretty much always was going to be tbf. I can't think a rival fan would watch it, possibly more from a foreign fans point of view who didn't know much about us before last year. Still, there are a few nice bits to watch if you're an NUFC fan. And the bits on Wor Flags were really interesting and probably were my favourite bits. Don't expect too much and it's OK to watch through, instead of the One Show or whatever. Can't say I'll watch it again, but over a beer it's a nice reminder of the run-in to the end of the season, even if it doesn't quite capture the drama of it all imo, which is a slight missed opportunity.

May well need to be corrected there. I thought Clearlake were asset managers, including substantial PIF assets - so it's not like one owns the other. But yes, it may not be as simple as I thought.

Purely from an NUFC point of view, at least, all the time, they are messing with the concept of 'fair market value' here. Chelsea are obviously not a related party, so they can sign whatever deal they like. Not saying this any sort of plan to do that at all, but with that as precedent, it makes it harder to deny a sponsorship to a club like us, who are actually in the Champions League as being fair market value. (The question of Saudi involvement in the League in the first place and whether that's a good thing is a different one for the other thread, recognising that I can't have my cake and eat it.)

Yeah, as Paullow said, when we were at our worst and it was plain miserable watching us, outside of the main tournaments International football was a bit of a diversion at least, even a friendly or a fairly pointless qualifier. Now I just see it as a bit of a nuisance and can't wait for the 'proper' football to be back.

Looking forward to Southgate leaving now in spite of how far he's got us in various tournaments - it might be different if you felt he was learning and developing, but I don't see it. In terms of who'd take over, the betting odds seem to have Potter as favourite, followed by Howe. And some nonsense about Pep as an option. I can't see Howe doing it, nor Pep. You'd think Potter would actually be a decent choice, despite his time at Chelsea. Not really sure who could have made sense of that club, so it's no stick to beat him with and he's probably worth a go. Have to say though, I've rarely been less interested in international football. It looks as if a few players may think the same way, choosing to sit on big contracts and not play regularly elsewhere - like Phillips or Maguire, which only makes it doubly perplexing that Southgate continues to pick them. You can kind of see Maguire (the old never lets England down etc), but really it sends a bad message imo.

I agree with this - even if he only has 2 more seasons at the very top, he could well be the difference between them finishing in the Champions League and not for at least this season. At which point, that sale price starts to look a bit less appealing.

Fair enough - and as others have said, what Brighton have achieved so far and continue to is fantastic. I'm not quite sure how you've done it given the continual raids on your team, managers and backroom team (errr, sorry). 'Big clubs' have always been a bit of a nonsense to me as an idea. You can argue all day about what that means, and it still doesn't matter a jot. One of my constant annoyances was seeing good players leave for a chance at some self entitled 'big club' and you've had that more than most. Regular European competition for you should hopefully lessen that over time, and I'm all for seeing a changing of the guard at the top end of the PL. There is a fear re plastic fans, that we'll inevitably attract more assuming we continue to grow - I guess that's the price of success, but it's a difficult one to navigate as you can't and shouldn't just pull up the drawbridge. Anyway, hope you have more good days oot enjoying the matches - the fan experience seems to be forgotten a lot when it's that atmosphere is what makes the league what it is.

I think Stavely is a canny operator and that PIF will listen to her - after all it's why they were interested in the club, then stuck with the deal to buy us when it ran into major problems, then delegated the running of the club to her. You couldn't buy the club for £350m now, and our profile is exactly what they'd have wanted, so she's more than done her job and can demonstrate that in what's happened. It's only if she loses faith in Howe that he is in any trouble imo and I think that is such a long long way off that it's not worth worrying about.

Bigger team - check Bestest fans - check Hope you win a trophy - check Forgive the cynicism Steven, it's just there's a tinpot club somewhere near the North Sea who routinely post this after every loss from 'an opposition fan' to make themselves feel better. Brighton were the better team for sure, it sounds like a great ground to visit, and the city is a friendly one with loads going on. But, there's no such thing as a 'bigger team', that's all Sky nonsense.

Incidentally, this whole plan B thing. I do think we actually have the tools to play on the counter if needed. Gordon in particular strikes me as that type of player you could release an early ball to, likewise Isak. We don't play that way, but there's nothing to say we can't learn to when the press isn't working. Think this European campaign could be the making of this team being more adaptable - I'm inclined to think of it as an enjoyable ride for us and part of a learning curve for both manager and players. Forget this group of death nonsense - that's hype we don't need.

We outperformed last season and the season before because we were complete underdogs and had that unity and mentality that comes with it. Both avoiding relegation and the top 4 finish were beyond expectations and you could see the togetherness in the squad that came from being written off. This season we're seen as a genuine threat to the top order and even (somewhat ridiculously) in the Champions League. There's a hype about us this year and suddenly that's a different problem to face. So it's not as easy as replacing a few players for better ones and straight away expecting better results, a trap I fell into when thinking about transfer business. Forest beat Chelsea despite yesterday with their togetherness meaning they were more of the sum of their parts. On paper, you'd hardly give them a chance, so Cooper is doing a hell of a job there. I get the sense that Howe's comments about supporting his team were about trying to reinforce that bunker mentality - it's us against the world. It's what all top managers do, the biggest example being Alex Ferguson.

Re the club atmosphere point. I think this a problem for Howe, but not a problem with Howe. Was just reading the match report on Forest Vs Chelsea, a huge underdog performance by Forest built on team unity by Cooper, with a number of bargain recruits and unfancied players all.playing out of their skins. Go back to when Howe took over - a team with a mismatched squad desperately short in key areas and looking like relegation certainties. But he built an incredible unity, with a few key additions, and we defied the odds to sail to safety. Then last season - we all hoped for a top 7 finish at the start of the season, and yet player after player outperformed, not as individuals but as a team, totally against the odds. Remember those intense team huddles before the match, the way every player dived in to help their team-mates, every victory greeted with sheer joy. Roll forward to this year - we're expected to compete at the top end of the table. Everyone sees us as a threat, things like the Amazon puff piece set out our ambitions to compete at the top and expectations have hugely changed, with big new kit sponsors etc. Think about the hype of us being a real danger in the champions league group of death as another example. I read a headline this morning saying "Forest and Brighton humble big spenders Chelsea and Newcastle" - to call us big spenders in the same breath as Chelsea is of course ridiculous, but it again shows how general expectations have changed. More than that I also got caught up in the transfer hype. We just upgrade player X or position Y and hey presto, we'll perform better, when it doesn't always work like that. But my point is, we're not underdogs any more, fighting against the world. It's something Alex Ferguson was always great at, even in their prime they were always fighting against some conspiracy and creating a siege mentality. Thinking back to that post match interview, I wonder if this was what was in Howe's mind about supporting his players. Perhaps he's closing ranks and these games have become a reminder that every point needs to be fought for tooth and nail.

There's nothing defensive in your post there, mate, nor any need to be. Because I completely agree - suspect it was just him straight-batting questions because he doesn't feel any value in a public inquisition, when he's got a group of players that will probably be feeling a bit bruised. He probably will be himself.

I also think you can't take what he said there at 100% face value. To me, he implied we were a bit unlucky with the scoreline, but I don't think that at all. I think we were taken apart. Very soon after, though, as you say he also said it was a time for him to support his players. In other words, he wasn't going to come out and say it was a poor performance in front of the press. He has a history of being economical in interviews with what he really thinks. I suspect behind the scenes he's thinking/saying something a bit different.

Sunderland well on top here and could have had it done and dusted within 20 mins, but not trying to underplay that, Southampton looking a mess so far. They've lost a lot of talent from what was easily the bottom PL side last season, so I guess it'll take them a while to gel. Now is probably a good time to play them. Saying that, just as I type they should have had a penalty and have come to life a bit

And fair enough, I probably over-egged the hanging on part a bit there. I did feel that we'd played ourselves back into the game towards the end even if our efforts were a bit powder - puff in the end. I think most teams go to the Emirates expecting a hiding especially us coming from where we've started from, and I agree that we showed too much respect rather than going for it, certainly in the first half. No question that you deserved to win it. I suppose my point is that this doesn't represent any fundamental problem with Howe, just something to take on the chin and learn from.