Abacus

A year or so ago Rodgers would have been in genuine contention you'd think. He must be cursing now. They wouldn't want his left leg.

Though you can't blame him for being interested, imo Potter should be very careful to properly understand the conditions he'd be working under before signing up. It seems that Tuchel wasn't given much say in recruitment for one thing - they even weirdly seemed to be considering buying Ronaldo at one point. It's hard to know if the new owners will be as impatient for success as the old one was, but... Potter is already making a great reputation for himself. Go to Chelsea there and make a quick success with that squad and your reputation is made - you're on the elite manager carousel. On the other hand, fail to do enough fast enough and you're gone and likely forever known as a manager that can't do it at the big clubs. Out of all of them, you'd think he'd fit in much better at Man U, Arsenal or Spurs if the opportunity came up and he wanted a bigger stage.

Good shout, that. I reckon Tuchel is on borrowed time.

I can already think of problems with that, now I think of it. Ignore me.

Agree with this. If he hasn't had a clear view of something or just isn't sure about a critical call like a penalty, then he should have the option to decide to look again. I also wonder if there could be some merit in having a cricket style review system instead of a second VAR ref. E.g. by the captain or the manager having a limited number of reviews if they think a decision is wrong at the time, for penalties, red cards etc. Those challenges could be shown on screen in the ground for the crowd, not just have a random "VAR checking possible handball" type message, because at the end of the day it's supposed to be a live spectator sport. That way, VAR doesn't need some incompetent referee second guessing decisions - just a video operator who shows what is asked, for the main ref to decide on.

At least Peter Walton, writing in the Times about the VAR controversies, was on hand to give his view. Having said that they got every other decision wrong over the weekend, here he is on Lee Mason; "To give the referees some credit, I think Newcastle United’s goal against Crystal Palace was justifiably chalked off. Vicente Guaita, the Palace goalkeeper, was fouled by Joe Willock, who was reckless in his contact. The push by Tyrick Mitchell on Willock was not forceful enough to be ruled an offence by VAR." Made a terrible mistake Lee? Peter Walton - Hold my beer.

El Crapico

Be very disappointed if my 80's snooker based chant doesn't catch on; Alexander nuts are we, We're all Isak...loopy! In defence and in attack With a mazy dribble and nice pull-back Alexander nuts are we, We're all Isak... loopy!

Pedro looks a player on tonight's performance. I didn't really notice him last time Watford played, but you can really see him dovetailing well some of our players. He's not really a striker, though imo. Stick him where Willock is, with Bruno and Joe behind, and Isak /ASM/Wilson up front and that's a fearsome lineup.

Watford play Boro on Sky tonight. Be interested to see if he (or Sarr) play, given deadline day looming.

I wonder what happened to this supposed interest from other clubs, who were prepared to match our offer at the last minute? Sounds a bit like gameplaying from Watford that backfired. Still think we could go back for him on deadline day, especially since the deal seemed all but agreed with both club and player before the late messing around.

? I know, I was being a bit tongue in cheek, really. But I don't think it can do much harm to say sorry - I know you want to be Man United's reserve keeper, but you're under contract with us. So, here are your options, on terms that we would accept.

If it's an 'option' to buy for £5m, there's no way they're taking that up for someone of his age in a year's time, so it's worthless. Unless there's a hefty loan fee. If not and if he has to go, must be plenty of Championship teams in need of a keeper, send him there with an actual fee.

Well, he came off holding the back of his thigh, which looked like a hamstring. We seem to have had a few of those now. But fine, he always seems to be hobbling about before leaping about like a gazelle, so it might be nothing. Hopefully just cramp.

Agreed that it was a stupid decision to bring him on against Tranmere, especially if he was carrying a knock after City. We've got plenty of crap players who could have been brought on instead and still have seen the game out, especially given they were determined to kick lumps out of players and that the ref was letting them.

Alternatively, he turns up at big games and before big signings, to be associated with both.

Pretty sure that despite all his other jobs as the head of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund that Yasir just went all mental-balls after Sunday. Saw the Man City game, evaluated the state of the squad, seen Wilson's injury and just yelled "Monkey Spunk! We need a striker!" He'll be keeping an eye on the central midfield conundrum too from now on, and badgering Amanda daily for an understudy to Targett at left back, and a ball-playing defensive midfielder.

Has to be Pochettino, surely?

Yeah, I do agree he did a decent job for us which I'm grateful for, and I didn't mean it as a dig at him. What I mean is that I don't really want an unhappy player in the squad, staying when he doesn't want to. Though, a part of me does feel that if he really thinks he should be No. 1 then he should back himself to prove that. But if he's not that confident and he's still unhappy, then I'd rather he moved on. There will be a few difficult calls like that I'd guess, as the squad improves.

If there's a loan fee, and a buy option, then it basically means Pope has cost us hardly anything. Even if they don't take up the buy option, you'd get at least £5m from someone else for an experienced PL keeper. It's a shame to lose him, but if he's not prepared to fight for his place then he can get gone. We just have to hope that Pope stays fit.

Hopefully we do push on and sign Pedro as well. I think we just have to treat any games we get from Wilson as a bonus, given his record. You just can't build a team around him. I think Wood gets a bit of a raw deal, but either way I suspect he'll mostly be used for cup runs and off the bench. So there is certainly scope for two strikers in case of injury, and especially if one of them actually plays more in a number 10 role. Isak may have all the attributes to succeed, but in some ways Pedro is less of a risk as well, purely due to having some PL experience already.

I hear Everton are interested

I remember it like it was yesterday. I do get the argument that the East End team were a consistent one from 1881 and just moved locations. However, I think that the act of changing the name to bring along the West End fans does in fact mean that is both symbolically and in reality the start of Newcastle United, i.e. a united Newcastle team. But I'd like to hear what Gabby Agbonlahor thinks.

Interesting article in the Times today, about plans to reduce the amount of Uefa TV money automatically going to the 'big' clubs from European TV rights. The plan from 2024 is that a decent chunk of that money (30% of it) is divided up based on a coefficient of performances from teams over the last ten years. The idea being that there is a push by various clubs to reduce that link because it is, of course, unfair to smaller clubs and entrenches the advantages of bigger ones. The example given was that if West Ham qualified for the Champions League this season, they would get £1m from that part of the TV pot. Whereas Man City, for example, would get £26.5m. And when you put it like that, of course it's unfair, and should be changed.

He means he's not sure. And he's certainly a nobody, so he's right twice.