Mazzy

Ahh it's good to be back! Aresnal looking decent so far, but for all the chances they haven't scored yet, sounds awfully familiar.

I dare say this lot (the fans) won't have watched much of us in the last half of the season so have no idea what they are in for with Bruno and Joe. They also seem to think O' Brien is already one of the best midfielders in the Prem despite being 23 and spending his entire career so far in Championship and below.

Well, after thinking this morning that we could lose him to England next summer this is a nice surprise. I really hope it's an 8yr deal just for old time sake.

Makes Maddison for £60m seem reasonable.

Can't see Pulisic leaving to come here. He'll still get a decent amount of games at Chelsea and he is the USA teams poster boy, he'll want Champions League football.

Main thing I takeaway from that pre match interview is just the fact that we will be making more signings there's no doubt about that. Howe is clearly pushing for it, the club are pushing for new signings, it will happen but it might take a few weeks and I wouldn't be surprised to see a deadline day deal.

My biggest worry is that England have a piss poor World Cup, Southgate leaves, we have an outstanding season and Howe gets a call from the FA.

Quote from Howe which I would say confirms he'll start against Forrest. Eddie Howe on Sven Botman: "I think he's ready to play. I've seen him during pre-season and what a talent he is. I think he's going to be everything we hoped he would be. He's technically very good, very strong and very good defensively."

Well I'd certainly give a 20yr old striker more than 2 games before fucking him off on loan to 5 different clubs and then not even giving him a chance when he comes back from scoring 8 in 18 and selling him for peanuts. My entire point is there should be a plan in place for the youth players that get pro contracts and the ones we sign with potential (like Toney). But this was the problem for years under Ashley, everyone was winging it and just hoping for miracles. With Howe and Ashworth I'm hoping this stuff no longer happens.

Toney (2) and Mbabu (3) made a combined 5 professional appearances for Newcastle. That isn't a chance in any manner of the word, that's ridiculous quite frankly. And you are right that it was the issue with the managers at the time but it's also an issue with the club as a whole not conducting itself properly.

Yes I intentionally mentioned those two. But you can add Armstrong to that list also, he may have only got 4 Goals/Assists last season but that's only one less than Wood and I know who I would prefer to have playing for us. Also Dan Burn, played in our youth set up and was released. Same goes for Fraser Forster and James Tavernier. 4 more players there who I am in no doubt would've improved any of the squads we have had over the last 10 years. Whether is poor coaching/lack of opportunities or any excuse it can't be allowed to continue. Not when you have Man City and Liverpool selling teenagers who have barely made a league appearance for millions of pounds.

£20m may well get us Maddisons kneecap using Rodgers calculations. Baffles me why people say these things, do they think people will belive them blindly? I certainly don't. Opinions are all well and good but don't pass them off as facts.

Toney and Mbabu also? They are Premier League players There's a history of young players not being given a chance here and then going on to prove us wrong.

So you're saying he's 100% starting unless he's not? That was my point really, if he doesn't start or isn't included I'd say that's a pretty big indication that something will happen soon. Equally if he does start it means very little as he could still be signed for Newcastle in 3 weeks time.

No perhaps it wouldn't. But maybe this is the kind of season to do these things? If we don't manage to bring in anymore attacking players then Anderson is going to be involved a decent amount throughout this calendar year because he'll be one of the few attacking midfield/wide options we have.

Will be interesting to see if he's included in the Leicester squad/team at the weekend. That would add another 100 pages to this thread if he was left out. I don't think he will be but I'm looking forward to finding out nonetheless.

I'd say so, but in reality I think the way the midfield have played has been quite fluid. Alot of players turning up in positions you wouldn't expect because they are pressing all around the pitch. So all 3 rotate to some degree, so in short I'm not sure it matter what position they are on on the team sheet for just how they produce Howes plan. Helps Wilson out as well, even in these pre season games he has become isolated at times.

Other than the fact he's done incredibly well and impressed everyone in pre season, I don't think we can afford to let him go out on loan. That would only leave 7 recognised CM/CAM in the squad. If we are playing with 3 in the middle every week that leaves us quite thin on the ground if 1/2 get injured (like Shelvey is now). Also that's 7 including Matty Longstaff who will almost certainly be going on loan so really its 6.

Not sure that's where he would be played. From what I remember from the friendlies, whenever Anderson or Willock were in the team it meant the other 2 midfielders played more as a pair behind one of them. At least when we had the ball that's how it looked anyway, different when we are defending though perhaps. Bruno Joelinton Anderson

I could see it happening and I think if Howe wants to really put Forrest on the back foot early and give them a shock this would be the way to go. I would say Anderson has done better than Willock in Pre Season but I do think it would be harsh on Longstaff. Other than Bruno he's been our best midfielder in pre season (discounting Joelinton due to his red card).

I'm fairly certain Botman and Longstaff will start. I know why alot think it'll be Burn and Schar and I understand the reasons of loyalty and those players having earned it, however its obvious from what I've watched we are markedly better with Botman in the team. Better chance of winning with him in the team, that needs to come before anything else unfortunately for Burn. As for the midfield, Longstaff is the better option right now and even though Willock is getting back to his best Longstaff is so much more solid and I think retains possession alot better. The rest of the team picks itself. Pope Tripp - Schar - Botman - Targett Longstaff - Bruno - Joelinton Almiron - Wilson - ASM

5 subs and a good cup run will see him get a decent amount of game time. As others have said training under Howe and with Bruno etc is huge. No reason for him to leave in January either, the schedule before December and all through January will be hectic, especially if we progress in both cups.

Deary me, that individual needs banning from Twitter for offensive language.

Or Mouthino for that matter? And that's a serious suggestion.

Just saw this, don't know if it's been posted before. That's an incredibly impressive statistic and one I had no idea about. Even more impressive that its over 4yrs.