Palestoon

I find it very hard to beleive he downed tools back in March. He was one of the first on the pitch to celebrate when the final whistle blew, and was at the front of all of the joyful scenes that followed. Also didn't notice any of the players giving him the cold shoulder the rest of the season which you would expect if he wasn't trying in training. I think he was injured legitimately. He sat out some games for Sweden as well. One thing that I beleive could have happened, is that he grew frustrated with the fact we had to continually push to play him even though he wasn't healthy, and Howe even alluded to that in a few press conferences towards the back end of the season. Could be one of the reasons he wanted to leave. Felt like he was being mismanaged. All conjecture at this point

Yea, this is still a big question mark. No suprise our useless journos didn't ask him to expand on that. Could it be he was saying that in terms of saying blocking a sale isn't as straightforward as that means Isak just rejoins the group and all is well? Wouldn't make sense for him to reveal the clubs weak position. Would also expect that if that really was the case and theirs something we dont know that hurts our hand, his agent would have the media banging on about it every day. But even the most bullish reports about Isak leaving always caveat it with "IF Newcastle open the door"

Im leaning towards believing all of this is true. Especially following Howe's press conference yesterday. Sounds like the block is coming in from ownership, not Howe, and it's important to note that distinction. It allows Howe to be the peacemaker whenever Isaks head cools. Hence the lack of fines, and open door for reintegration. They're playing a bit of good cop, bad cop right now with Howe and the ownership

I would say price is just one of the variables that are involved in selling a player. -Timing -PSR situation -Market conditions -Buying club -Optics For Example, if Isak told us in May, this is my last season. I'd like to leave. Barcelona told us they'd be willing to match our asking price. We had time to, and managed to get Delap and Ekitike early doors, no drama etc. That would be a completely different scenario to the one were facing now We may recieve 150 mil in both instances, but they are 2 completely different outcomes for the football club on several levels. People say playing tough doesn't mean anything. Look at this board when anyone mentions going after Geuhi again or trying for Eze. First comment is they dont want to deal with that cunt Parrish again. That should be us. It should be absolute hell to take a player off us we dont want to sell.

Its not emotional. It's setting deterrence. It let's teams know you unsettled our players we won't sell to you. It let's players know causing issues won't get you a move. I wouldn't sell him for 150 this summer. Not at this stage of the transfer window. Any "perceived" gain of getting maxim+um value would go right out the window when were forced to replace in just a couple of weeks. Who's going to sell us their top striker a week before the season starts without us getting absolutely rinsed in the process. Force him to stay, send players and clubs a message and sell him for 100 mil next summer worst case scenario. And actually prepare to use the money properly

Strange, what does that even mean?

This is a good point i think alot of people aren't considering. Liverpool have lost 3 forward players in Diaz, Nunez and Jota(RIP) and have only brought in Ekitike. At some point they will need to make a decision whether to pay up now at our asking price, move in another direction, or continue to wait it out and risk getting nothing. Could be why his Agent and Liverpool are making the push now and hoping we buckle

Generally I'd agree with you on the hijacking, and I do think most of our failed business this summer has more to do with us shopping in a higher tier, and the unfortunate coincidence that so many of the "top" clubs were looking at the same positions with money to spend. But the Ekitike one is a bit suspicious imo. We were making progress with Ekitike, then out of the blue, reports come in that Liverpool like Ekitike BUT they like Isak more and were willing to pay 120 mil... I think they definitely tried to use that situation as leverage. We told them to fuck off, and they signed Ekitike who they valued highly anyway and to ensure they ended up with one of their top targets if we didn't sell Isak

Exactly. Again, people are getting caught up in the emotions of the moment. Isak didn't skip the asia tour because he suddenly hates Eddie Howe and all of his friends on the team. It's a desperate move to try and force something. I've said it before, despite what the media will try to convince you, we are in the best position here on paper. Isak is contracted for 3 more seasons. Nothing he can do about that. And liverpool are running out of time to decide whether they should just pay through the roof, or move onto someone else before the window closes. We dont need their money this summer. Not from a cash flow perspective, or from PSR. We have the ability to spend and strengthen the squad (whether we have the staff to do so is another question) And Isak as an asset for us holds his value even if we hold onto him for a year against his will. That's why your seeing this intense pressure in the media and from Isak and his agent. It's them playing the last cards in the deck with time running out. The question is, do we have the will, foresight, and leadership in place to see this out and handle it properly? I doubt it currently

Yea, this is what doesn't make sense to me. I could understand if Isak had a year left on his contract. And we couldn't risk him walking away for free. Or if we were up against PSR, and needed cash money to fill gaps in the squad. But from what we've been lead to beleive, we have room to bring in another striker with or without Isaks departure, and also build on the squad. Isak is also an asset who given his age, position, and consistent record in the league, will basically hold his value barring some catastrophic injury. Theirs zero reason to bend to the pressure outside of the fact that maybe we just can't manage the headache or dont want to. And if that's the case, we need to toughen up, as these kind of high profile sagas are part of life if you want to compete at the highest level

100% I was more responding to the idea that they've lost interest or dont know what to do. Other owners may have a blue print of how they want to operate ie club runs on its own revenue, buy young sell high etc. I think PIF are probably saying, we want to be #1 and will spend whatevers necessary, but they need someone to actually drive that part of it. And they've not done their part putting those people in place. Or atleast replacing them

Insane, so they've basically doubled the asking price they accepted 3 weeks ago from another club

Doesn't necessarily mean they hated each other. Just that their may have been differences in how they wanted to work. Which wouldn't be surprising. Eales/Ashworth/Mitchell are football people that all came from "modern" football set up. Strict Heirarchy, manager coaches, DOF in charge of signings etc. Amanda had zero experience in football, and Eddie worked most of his career at Bournemouth where he wore every hat for them. Its not shocking that they probably wouldnt agree on a lot of things in terms of running the club. Their was way too much smoke for their to have been nothing in it. Were they having dramatic bust ups in the boardroom? probably not, but their are plenty of signs that their was some sort of power struggle playing out behind the scenes.

Wouldn't surprise me at all. I think their was a general feeling among some of the board that the Howe Staveley alliance held too much power. Its why I think Ashworth probably left, and why when Eales brought in Mitchell, Howe came out publicly with that power move when the team was in pre-season in I think Germany. I am convinced that If Howe had failed last season, Eales and Mitchell were ready to give him the boot and get someone who would work within their structure. Howe obviously delivered the greatest season arguably in the last 70 years, cementing himself as the most popular man at the club, and that with combination of Eales (sadly) getting ill meant Mitchell knew it was pointless to continue. And now we have the void left that we are currently dealing with.

Anybody who knows PIF and understands how they work will know that this is par for the course. They are not business strategists, they are money men. We dont need them to be involved in the day to day of Newcastle United. We need them to hire someone who will do that, and communicate with them our needs on a regular basis. Its not a coincidence that all of the "behind the scenes" turmoil and upheaval started showing itself when Staveley left. She was the one with PIFs ear, she could drive the project forward, and ask them for what we needed. Seems theirs been a void there since, and its contributed to our lack of urgency, and efficiency. My point is, the Saudi's will continue to put their money in, we need someone at the club to tell them when, where, and why.

Any way you spin it, the clubs handling of this whole saga and the summer in general has been amateur hour. Its so obvious we lack real experience and leadership at the top. It really should have been a straightforward and professional handling of this. If 150 mil is the price we are happy to let him leave on, then communicate that clearly to Liverpool, and tell them not to call back until they have that number. Then we will see IF we can strike a deal this late in the window for a player we deem a worthy replacement. If we cant, sorry, maybe next year. Tell Isak and his agent, we understand he wants to leave, but he has 3 years left on his contract, and in order for us to break it, we need to be adequately paid for it. Let him know the terms we've made clear to Liverpool. Give him 3 options 1. Act like a professional, and if we can make it work, you can leave with dignity 2. Sign a new contract that gives you a pay bump, and us a reasonable clause for him to go next summer (continent preferable) 3. Play on the current contract, or rot in the reserves until the window closes, or until next summer. Then, focus on filling positions of need we ACTUALLY have. Our CBs are 3 mid 30 yr olds, and a guy who hasnt been able to stay healthy for 2 straight years. Our Midfield is 3 fantastic players (one coming off a major injury) and a literal child behind him. nothing else. Its unacceptable for us to go into a champions league campaign with those situations. Instead, we are out here every day looking at a new striker, getting rejected and moving down our list to worse and worse options. We're neglecting other positions of need, embarrassing ourselves in front of the world, Creating uncertainty and discord around our club, and put ourselves in a week bargaining position both with Liverpool, and any club we look to buy a player from. We are behaving as if We're the party in this holding a hot coal, when in reality the other 2 (Isak and Liverpool) are in the weak positions. Time is running out in the window, and Liverpool need to decide if they need to move onto other targets, or wait this out, or just stump up our asking price. Isak is moving towards a situation where he could be stuck at a club where hes burnt bridges in a world cup year. No player wants that. Us on the other hand... are in a great positon. We dont need Isak money this summer to fill out the squad. Player is on a 3 yr contract, and will likely hold value even in the worst case scenario. Why we are acting like the party in distress I cant understand. Genuinely Infuriating.

If they've agreed a deal, with us still having no striker through the door, and currently scraping the bottom of the barrel... would be unacceptable. I doubt that's the case. But they're making it so obvious they're desperate for a replacement, which is virtually the same thing anyway

The thought that we are ignoring actual areas of need, to work the phones feverishly to bring in strikers far down our list, so this cunt and Liverpool get their dream move.... its fucking beyond infuriating. We shouldn't care what his opinion is. We tried to replace him, missed out on our targets. Story is closed for this summer. Honor your contract and we can try again next year. Go get Wissa or Jackson as the Wilson replacement. That should be our official line. We are inviting the chaos onto ourselves with our own behavior. We look so weak and dysfunctional. Genuinely unbelievable after how the season ended.

As much as I agree with the sentiment to fuck him over, we really can't afford to have a poor season. Especially after the catastrophic summer we've had. If a new contract gets him get his shit together and give it 100 percent this season, so be it. Move on in the summer. It doesn't appear were going to replace him with a player anywhere near his quality. Focus needs to be on having our best players on the field this season.

Hope this isn't true. Literally playing into Isak and Liverpools hands. Teams will know we're desperate for a replacement and Liverpool will low ball us. Surely the club know the best thing to do is to force him to train and carry on as usual. Even if the plan is behind close doors to move on from him

I wouldn't read too much into today. Sounds like Eddie hadn't spoken to Alex since the tour. Would probably be awkward for everyone if he just joined right in. Real test will be what happens tomorrow after they've cleared the air. If he trains with the team or still on his own

You would think his agent would be on the phone with Romano and Ornstein about how he "still Only wants Liverpool"

Very suprised we've heard nothing about the "showdown talks" between Isak and Howe/PIF Not from any of the local journos and not from the usual suspects on X

Ornstein saying in that clip that we won't admit it, but we might need to sell Isak to fund A CB and CM... Every report since January has said we have the money to fill those positions without a sale. Bias from the media is crazy

We can hate Romano all we want. And although hes a cunt and mouthpiece for the top clubs, hes also rarely wrong