christ

To be honest I’m still not sure if Dubs is just benefiting from the fact we’re defending a lot better than we did when he was last asked to deputise. He might still be a liability but we haven’t put him in as many positions where he can prove beyond all doubt he’s shot.

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.

Car starts. It’s a 97 plate Micra. Always touch and go in this sort of weather.

In this weather? Asking for trouble. Hope he’s packed his lip balm.

I see absolutely no difference between Amorim’s dogmatic insistence on 343 and what Ange is doing at Spurs. Or what Russell Martin did at Southampton. When was the meeting where everyone decided that being tactically inflexible was the cool new thing? There’s nowt wrong with having a system you aspire to playing but at some point you’ve got to look at the hand you’ve been dealt and adapt a little. Utter woke nonsense.

He’ll do the hard yards and make sure there’s a body in way against the big teams. If everyone else is doing their job offensively he’s the sort of player who is worth their weight in gold.

Kind of makes me if he was carrying any injury last season because he’s been fantastic when called upon. Couple of instances where his communication is lacking but in every other regard he looks a step above last season.

That first half was men against boys. We should’ve been 4 or 5 nil up really. And it was basically all down to their midfield selection. Boobery that should be a sackable offence from Amorim. I thought we basically controlled the game from 1-0 up and it was only a couple of individual moments of idiocy that almost cost us.

I can’t think of anything more aneurysm inducing than trying to play table football in a moving vehicle.

I was convinced we were going to smash them last year and we were flat as a fart. I’d snap your hand off for a spawny 1-0.

I do think his absence is part of the reason we’ve become a bit more mentally fragile. We don’t have that talker who can keep their head when he’s not playing.