Nine

He’s limited in games with lots of quick transitions, mentally and technically not quick enough in these situations. In games which we apply sustained pressure and see lots of the ball he’s more than decent enough though. But I’ll say it again, he’s been carrying an injury for ages now. It’s clear as day to me.

He does try the young, look at Miley. He sees these players day in day out in training, if someone doesn’t get minutes during games when we have a massive injury list then it’s because they arnt ready for them.

Joe White has played 10 PL minutes in his career

While that is true, Burn is not in the position he has trained in for 18+ months and Hall is a bit of a wildcard. Not to mention the midfield 3 in front of them is not capable of our ideal physical output to cover.. I just get the feeling there will be a lack of cohesion tonight.

Our back line is a bit concerning, I hope Hall puts in a good performance because I feel that he tends to lack positionally and over commits at times and there’s just not enough pace across the 4 to dig us out a hole if a mistake is made.

Pope has been our most damaging injury in terms of how negatively it has impacted our system, management will have a better idea than us on how he is recovering and the long term chances of re occurrence. While it would be nice to have a keeper who is better with their feet, Pope plays the SK role so consistently well that it makes upgrading the position probably not enough of a priority that we’d make that move this summer or next. With the double ACL at CB it will have shifted our original summer priorities, not that I think a new number 1 would have been near the top of that list anyway. Then again, a lot of our business is us acting on the opportunity of potential value so never say never if the right deal becomes available. But like I was saying, it’s gotta come down to confidence in a full recovery and minimal chances of him going down with that again.. shoulder injuries like that can be a brutal for a keepers longevity.

Dished out 5-1 at home, RTG will be comedy tonight

This 4 CB era always make for an entertaining game when the top sides play each other..

That take deep and ball through to Barnes was a thing of beauty, he’s ice cold

Player availability is far to inconsistent to make any reasonable aim for a league finish imo, I think form will just continue as it is for the most part.

Fatawu is pure raw physical and some technical ability but he doesn’t have it mentally, not sure he will fully adapt to the game in this country

fair enough, but that is your own perception of the subject. I personally don’t get that emotionally attached to players (not saying you do), because its a long road ahead and they will come and go. We should all keep an open mind about trading players. Like I said it also opens up future positive discussion, as it’s just as important to me how we reinvest big money and move forward as it is to retain our best players. Sometimes you can’t do both.

It’s realism imo, I’m not sure how we can convince ourselves otherwise. Bruno would get into Man City’s team and he’s a near perfect fit for Pep, if they come in for him he will go. The simple equation of money and trophies is all any player aspires to achieve, they can offer what we can’t for a few years at least.. we know he appears to like it here but he’d settle in pretty quickly a few miles down the road as well. We are seasons away from being able to confidently retain players like Bruno during the summer window. And this isn’t negative, if he goes he goes for huge money that will open up alot of opportunities.. we have generally invested well.

Leicester lucky to not give away a pen, would have been var’d in the PL

And just to make the point, if we had a ‘good’ season this year the same players linked away would have still been linked away and would be just as likely to move. We are early enough in our transition as a club that league finishes and qualifying for Europe are not as essential as some make out at this stage, it’s important to zoom out sometimes and realise that our top players will be tempted by established CL clubs regardless. People will always get emotional when there’s a chance our best players are leaving and context is always lost.

Hopefully they don’t chuck the book fully, dare I say if he was English this wouldn’t be extended Then again it will come down to the specifics of the case, if he was betting on himself/us it won’t look good for him

I think his personal reasons for moving from Atleti to a relegation threatened Newcastle would suggest he won’t be moving abroad again at this stage in his career

Fair enough, he’s done well when called upon and won’t be to difficult to replace. Good luck to him.

Mourinho at this stage in his career would be a pretty solid fit all for the England job, and his style on the pitch suits international tournaments well. He wouldn’t be working with players day in day out either so you might squeeze a bit more longevity out of him as well

Nothing to be surprised about

It’s likely Bruno, Longstaff or Willock will go down before the end of the season to as they will be required to start and play 70/80+ most games now, this season is just fucked.

‘Score tonight lad and my fully stamped Dixys loyalty card will be waiting for ya’

That clip means nothing either way

Gutted for him, I hope his potential can still be realised after such a strong start last season.

Keep hearing this Fatawu is a rough diamond, and seeing this he’s far too raw to be consistently effective at this level yet. He favours those left angles but every touch is heavy when he’s trying to get there and doesn’t release the ball in time, very naive challenge to give away that pen to.