christ

I don’t think we’ll sign anyone. I don’t think it will be a complete disaster if we don’t. If/when Dubs goes that changes the equation slightly, but apart from the obvious problem of backup to Isak (which we’re never solving in this window anyway) there’s not an urgent need for bodies. Areas like right wing and right centre back we’ve found solutions - however temporary they may be - within the existing squad that are working. The club aren’t going to play Russian roulette with PSR again just because people still aren’t comfortable with Jacob Murphy starting every match.

The difference between what Bruno does and what the Arsenal players were doing is that Bruno’s not managed by someone who whinges about the dark arts.

One calendar month ago we were picking the bones out of that Brentford defeat, and it felt like we were sliding towards midtable. If you’d have told me then that we’d be unbeaten come early January I’d have laughed in your face. That we’d have won every single match I’d have had you sectioned. It’s a phenomenal run and all credit to Howe for it. It wasn’t working and he reacted. I had genuine reservations about his ability to get Tonali and Bruno working together in his system, but he’s done it. His management of the squad - particularly when a lot of coaches would’ve rushed Botman back - and his in-game management has been virtually faultless. I absolutely loved his demeanour at full time last night too. No time to get carried away. There’s a long way to go. Well in Eddie.

Eloquent. Doesn’t waffle. Talks sense. Adds insight. He’s going to go from a player I hated to a pundit I quite like.

Theo Walcott is a really, really good pundit.

I don’t even want to think about how different last season could’ve been if he was around.

Having to play three centre halves, none of them right footed, must’ve been giving Howe conniptions.

Having a team full of massive bastards comes in handy when you’re defending with two banks of five.

My MOTM tonight. Man marked Odegaard out of the game for 60 mins and was phenomenal when we dropped into a 5-5-0.

The crest is the least historic thing about the club. We’ve only used the current incarnation since 1988. It desperately needs to be modernised IMO. The old 80s one on the third kit is immeasurably better.

Make the Tyne Deck a reality!

Long held the belief that VAR should only be able to judge incidents in real time rather than in slow mo. Everything looks suspect as fuck when you take it down to an unnatural speed.

He was the same cunt who couldn’t put his whistle to his lips fast enough when we played Liverpool. Spent two minutes of the stoppage time fannying on with pointless VAR checks and waving away appeals but blows up bang on time. Today he’s finding armfuls of additional minutes. Bellend.

We were far from our best in the second half but they created three half chances. We ceded a lot of possession but generally defended really well against one of the better attacking teams in the league. We should’ve put it to bed in the first half mine. 2-1 at HT flattered them massively.