AJ9

I get that people want new - but with Rafa I don't see it as going back per se. Given that he wasn't chased out of town like Bruce, it's more of a picking up where you left of kind of thing. I also think that because he knows the squad, what they can offer, and they will remember what was expected of them, it would take less time to get things organised in terms of the first team. He may not be the right man to take us beyond that, but he can certainly lay the foundations. I would take him back in a heartbeat. The man just got us, and deserves a crack at us with some money.

Could revisit the old positive optimism thread - some great debate in there

Wonder if there's any mileage in having an area acknowledging the thread about people's misgivings/conflict around the ownership and our thoughts on it? Feel like all we have is bad press about Newcastle fans at the moment and there's no balance to this at all.

Aye I know right! Lovely old morally righteous Rangers, a bastion of inclusivity. Never a bad thing associated with that club like.

This is fun...wonder how long Jimbo will hang around

Don't usually look at RTG, but had a little glance at the thread on us. Not sure what the fuck is going on between companies house, getting in touch with the football supporters association, getting the "Rangers Lads" on board, getting legal advice around the piracy issue, and asking amnesty international to give tictactom66 a summary of their objections to the takeover... They is hurting

Happy to contribute an article here and there. As someone who has been away from Newcastle for 17 years, this club and the forum keeps me tied to the city.

Other things people should walk away from for moral reasons: Visiting the United States Taking drugs Using facebook The Catholic Church Islam All religion Betting companies Using fossil fuels in cars Eating meat The list could go on

Quite sure that would have been 3-0 if it was Bruce

We’re so so so bad

The amount of times they’re backing in not attempting to challenge for the ball is insane

Refereeing in this game is scandalous

Lampard is shite, no thanks

I mean, we’re not particularly good at attacking and too often we don’t do it cohesively/as a team so there are huge gaps to exploit. To be honest the whole idea of attack vs defence is a bit of a red herring. Part of the reason our defence is so bad is because we’re so so bad at keeping the ball and putting the opposition under pressure. We begin attacks from our own 18 yard box. We basically don’t function as a unit.

Definitely hard to gauge, but the midfield area is a real concern, as are full backs. I think what I'm trying to say is that for anyone looking in, it looks quite a big risk to take the job on. Obviously, anyone that doesn't fancy it based on that, we wouldn't want anyway, but what I'm trying to say is that the job may not be as appetising as we think.

Well if I'm a manager I'd be having a look at it and thinking the following; 1. Awful culture , divided squad 2. Technically poor players (ASM aside) 3. Relegation battle but extremely demanding role 4. Facilities / set up very poor 5. Huge job On the plus side - Money, and the potential to be a legend... Many won't fancy it

I’d quite like the Gerrard thing just to piss off a load of blue-nosers in my family ?

Agree with most of this (especially the leadership/training angle), but there are also some worries about his time at Rangers. 1. Celtic were worse than shite last season so the league title needs to be seen in that context and 2. He really should have made it a treble as well. Couple of really shit displays in the cup when Celtic were nowhere to be seen. I'd rather someone else, but he's also clearly a lot better than Bruce.

I think Gerrard would be tempted but he does seem to love the job up here. Think he wanted a crack at the CL with Rangers, and that's gone. Whether he fancies another season of the SPL is another thing. From what I've seen of Rangers, they've improved massively under him. I don't think it would be a horrible choice, and they have pulled off some excellent results abroad. He's an extremely demanding coach and you'll see those who aren't pulling their weight sent packing.

Spot on

Annoyed as I am that he’s here, I have come round to thinking that they obviously see the most important figure as a DOF. From there head coach change will happen. So I guess he’s here until a DOF is appointed and a coach is identified. Dicing with the devil somewhat.

A skip full of filthy oil money?

Can’t imagine how few shits I would give about my work if I was told I’m about to leave with an £8m severance, knowing the whole world hates me.

I suppose the other aspect of this is really about whether they give that much of a shit about relegation in the long term. They’ve sat and watched us flirt with it for the past 2 seasons and their commitment to the club has continued. I wonder whether they would rather the structures were in place first, rather than knee jerk.