WilliamPS

Two bits:

1) Howe will be happy when he’s given top players to work with. That’s on Mitchell to deliver

2) Not every like in the interview is a dig/attack on someone, be that Ashworth, Staveley, Howe, Palace, most of it is just answers to questions. You can read far too much into these things 

10 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

“We didn’t have the sales window we thought we would have – and we have to look at that strategy as well, was that right, it was all aligned with the head coach. We have a lot to look at.”

Im not sure how to read this, whether he means (or the paper has misprinted) “was it all aligned with the head coach”

As that would make sense to me, for example the interest in Miggy, the talk about Trippier, based on Howes comments Howe didn’t want either going and they were put up for sale, plus the Gordon business. 
 

If the lesson here is Howe has to be happy with the sales plan I’m all for it.

Lascelles did a great job

stepping up last season until his injury and has shown a great attitude. If he’s happy to stay as a squad player there’s no good reason to move on.

The idea he’s terrible is based on performances pre takeover and is a tired outdated view.

Id expect a CB to come in on big money and then Burn, Schar and Lascelles to all get offered extensions. I wouldn’t be surprised if Schar turned down staying as a backup though, if he’s no longer first choice he might prefer to move on. If so it means going for two new CBs, something ideally avoided. We shall see.

I’d imagine a lot of international fans of the PL actively avoided Newcastle games in the prior years, so some sort of increase in interest makes sense, and may have had a lag as viewers probably didn’t tune in right from the start of the 22/23 season 

For example internationally Newcastle Spurs probably had many more viewers than Chelsea Palace, two years ago maybe it’s the other way round

2 minutes ago, timeEd32 said:

 

At some point you'd think the PL (both the member clubs and actual leaders/employees) would like to stop spending most of their time talking about financial regulation and lawsuits.

 

But in reality the thing that will likely break it all down is Man United and a couple others complaining enough that they can't compete with the top European sides.

 

 

As the rules are being aligned with UEFA rules this won’t happen. 
 

What will be bittersweet is Liverpool, Spurs and Man Utd will find they are in the same boat in the CL as Newcastle int the PL, as Real Madrid (& Barca if they sort their act) have such a massive advantage

40 minutes ago, Stifler said:

Incidentally, I think it’s the sponsors themselves who should take action.

 

I have said this before, but let’s say I’m a multi-millionaire/billionaire. I want to sponsor NUFC, either on the shirt or by other sponsorship. Let’s say I want to give them £50m for it. I pay more than another company because I have an emotional connection to the club. That little bit more could see us achieve our targets, or exceed them, and in my view that’s my money well spent.

Imagine if the Premier League said no, but I could sponsor Liverpool in the same manner for £50m. Well no, that’s not money well spent in my opinion. How come I can sponsor 1 club and give them an advantage, but not another, or the team who I support?

This wouldn’t work, as sponsors can give whatever money they want, they are not restricted. Just the Clubs can’t use it in their PSR calculations.

The sponsorship rule definitely has its weak points and City seem to think it can be challenged though 

Tbh I’m not surprised Ashley said that, he hired a lapdog and wasn’t going to take it yapping at him.

3 minutes ago, macphisto said:

Liverpool was not organic growth, yes they traded well in recent years to get over the line and win European Cups and the League but they never went more than a few years without winning a trophy, appearing in cup finals or Champions League football. 

 

Due to their history since Shankley they have world wide support and significant commercial income; they didn't go from mid table or lower obscurity like the journey we have to make. There was even talk on here, when discussing FFP, that Liverpool's position is down to the money the Moore family initially put into Liverpool in the 70's.

 

What did Spurs win during that period? At best you could say it allowed them to hang onto the coattails of the top 5 with a few Champions League campaigns. That's not the stated aims of our owners. Were Spurs ever serious contenders for the title during that time? 

 

 

 

 

 

Spurs should have won the PL the year Leicester did, they bottled it. But I think that was the year they were definite contenders 

Overly pessimistic IMO, and I also think we should be seeing regular European football. Missed out this season only by the finest of margins and unusual circumstances. Without European games a finish of 5th place or so is totally achievable even with the financial constraints. The team has the 7th biggest budget, and 7th usually gets Europe. The gap to the teams above has already been massively reduced - which also means the gap to the teams below has also increased 

This summer city had the Alvarez cash but presumably couldn’t find a player that matched the profile they wanted, but generally Man City’s PSR issues come from their enormous salaries.

Talk Haaland gets 375k (19m per year) on basic but bonuses can bump that to 800k (40m per year). In his salary alone it’s a PSR cost way more than Isak and Bruno combined. 
 

Then also have KDB allegedly on 400k pw, and I’d imagine Ederson, Walker, Stones, Rhodri, Foden, Grealish, Gundogan, Bernardo Silva etc etc are all on north of 150k pw.
 

It all adds up and means their ability to pay multiple big transfer fees is quite limited. 

4 hours ago, Displayname said:

Murphy has also played RB on desperate occasions. Not optimal by any means, but its not like we are fucked if Trippier leaves.

Lol

You can’t say we aren’t fucked on the basis Murphy can play there. Trying to get CL football with Murphy as the RB would be a disaster.

Had to go a long way to find a team that hadn’t seen him play 

42 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

 

Always seeing a goal, winning most home games and every game being competitive has made going to games such a great experience, and for me is one reason match going fans are not as neurotic as internet fans.

It was so depressing treking up so SJP to get battered by someone like Brighton, sneak wins against shit teams and get pulverised by the top teams

10 minutes ago, enthusiast said:

Seedorf did a couple of years at Botafogo - presumably cos he was married to a Brazilian at the time, possibly also cos he's got family in Suriname which ain't close but is at least on the same continent.

Seedorf, Kazim Richards and Lewis, one of these is not like the others!

I’m staggered but thrilled for him. Hope he has a lovely time over there.
 

Also delighted there’ll be no risk of him in a black and white shirt again.

4 hours ago, Armchair Pundit said:

Seeing Mitchell and Eales sitting there in the stands with the chairman, reminded me a bit of Llambias and Wise sitting with Ashley a few years back...

Except for absolutely everything?

The club has a chairman trying to pump as much cash as allowable in, and two execs whose job is to build a title contending club? I.e the total fucking opposite to the Ashley years?

4 minutes ago, Yorkie said:

 

Too right! It doesn't bear thinking about the discourse had we lost that, but as it happens we've given ourselves a brilliant foundation for the first half of the season. Two weeks now with positive energy; get over the funk of the window, get into better physical nick, Schar and Wilson available. 

Next two games are wolves and Fulham away. Tricky but very winnable, as both are average sides but at home, take 4 or 6 points from those and SJP will be a cauldron for the Man City game. This is how great seasons start…

-Unbeaten, two home wins and one away draw

-Into next round of cup

-Gordon, Isak and Barnes have all opened their accounts 

-Tonali being reintegrated 

-Got through Schars ban unscathed.

Its a good start to the season!

2 hours ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Slight correction - Newcastle didn't have a benefactor owner in the 90s.  We paid for that - the issue is that the expansion of interest in the PL has meant that clubs' turnovers have increased exponentially.  Back then, money on the gate and shirt sales were enough to make us the second richest club in the country.

In the end the Halls took a lot out, but without the upfront investment (that is now banned) none of it would have been possible.

I was there in the promotion season, there wasn’t even stands at the gallogate and leazes, the revenue must have been abysmal. None of the signings would have been possible. Yes the Halls did the float and took a load out, but that was much later, it would never have got off the ground

Issue with FFP reform is it doesn’t just protect the clubs at the very top. It also protects clubs who are quite happy to sit in the bottom half of the PL as it prevents well funded challengers from the championship. Look at Forest, an ambitious owner willing to spend and its points deductions for them. The fairytale has been cancelled 

What Newcastle did in the 90s, Fulham in the 2000s, Brighton, Leicester etc etc all now banned. The benefactor owner is outlawed. There are a few clubs who will appreciated the promoted clubs having one hand tied behind their backs and continue to support it.

Tonali is clearly the better player but Howes judgement is Tonali isn’t ready possibly mentally, possibly physically to start - that’s ok with me. He will be after the international break I’m sure. Today I hope we see a 30 minute appearance. 
 

Trippier and Tonali refreshing the right hand side after 60-70minutes is a real opportunity 

He was the worst full back defensively I’ve ever seen play for Newcastle, and there’s a lot of company there. Positionally awful.

It was the 0-3 loss at home to Brighton in 2020 were he got rinsed over and over. Probably didn’t help that ASM was the left winger so not much cover, but it was clear he couldn’t defend. He wasn’t dropped, he kept his place in the team

13 minutes ago, TheBrownBottle said:

Definitely.  Latter stage Ashley contracts were fantastically stupid - handing out six and seven year deals on PL wages to complete mediocrities was absolutely nuts.  We're still living with the consequences of Ashley's stupidity.

 

But there are more saleable assets who've we've failed to 'recycle'.  We seem to cling to players rather than cashing in at peak value - this includes some players who many wouldn't be necessarily happy about losing, but with PSR regs would have made perfect sense.

I’d cut them a break on sales. For me, Anderson was a good sale, as was ASM, good players but not what the team needed or quite at the level needed. Shelvey and Wood were also moved on for decent fees.
 

But beyond those I’m not sure there’s many players who are both sellable and non-core to the team. Players like Miggy and Wilson get mentioned but I just don’t think anyone has credibly came in for them. There’s Willock, but his injury record might be off putting. Lascelles may have gone if he wasn’t injured.

The squad had such a bad age profile when the takeover went through, the players left behind were not just not good enough they were also old. 

If Barnes isn’t RW I’d prefer Miggy to Murphy and use Trips/Tino for the width. I’d go Trips as I think the team needs his on pitch leadership, especially the back four.
 

I think we’ll see Longstaff starting with Tonali off the bench, but if Tonali is ready I’d stick him in, Howe will have taken a view there.

These Mitchell / Howe conspiracy theories are mental. 

Mitchell hasn’t arrived and thought “what I’d really like as the sporting director of this club is a dreadful run of results, which will screw hopes of Europe and lead to star players leaving, so I can sack the manager and get someone else in”

I guarantee he hopes beyond hope Howe delivers CL football again. That would make his life much easier. If he wants his own people he can do that anyway next summer