Keegans Export

I've seen this argument made a lot over the past year or so and in my opinion it makes no sense. So we hold off on a potentially lucrative sponsorship deal in the hope that something changes to allow an even more lucrative one? Let's say we miss out on CL football next season. It'll be at least in part due to lack of squad depth and it'll cost us probably £30-40m+ (someone can probably come up with a more accurate figure). That decision to turn down a £10m/year sponsorship in the hopes of it being a £20m/year deal in the future doesn't seem so smart then does it? As far as waiting for the Man City case - if the PSR stuff gets thrown out then it won't matter what deals are signed at the time, the gloves will be off and (if the owners want to) the money will flow uninhibited.

More than that imo. We need options in the middle and a viable alternative to Isak. Look at Villa's subs today - Ramsey, Onana, Malen and Rashford - versus our own. Our starting XI in my opinion is better than any XI they could put out, but we've had to keep flogging the same 11 plus Gordon three times in a week. One additional attacker doesn't substantially change that.

I think today has shown that while we may be one or two away from having a top quality side, we are still a long way from having a top quality squad. Obviously I have no idea what our budget is but we have to stretch it as far as we can. I don't want to see us spend £60m on a marquee RW and still have to look to the likes of Longstaff, Wilson and Krafth on the bench if a game isn't going our way.

They've been coming fourth in a three-horse race for automatic promotion for weeks really. A crazy run of good or bad form could have maybe moved them up or down a place but that's always been unlikely.

I was definitely wavering, perhaps leaning towards Europa but that was mostly based on winning the elusive first trophy. Now we've done that I'm 100% in the Champions League camp.

I think that was in part due to the way they segregated the away fans

I honestly wouldn't have an issue if the attitude was "Well, he'd be better than the guy we have now" and if the choice is a club owned by Ashley or no club at all then give me the fat cockney. Fair enough. The problem is the re-writing history of both Ashley as an owner and the expectations of the fan base before/during his time here. Uneducated, unresearched garbage on both fronts.

No, you're right, his wealth alone isn't enough to drive them to the top of the Championship. However, with enough desire, some substantial, well-targeted investment, and hiring experienced staff in key positions he could.... yeah, they'll be down there forever

Unbelievable how that "Newcastle fans expect to be challenging for the title every year" myth still gets an airing. We don't expect to win the title now and our owners are worth more than most countries 😂

So now I have to search for both "Genk strikers to Premier League" and "Mary Elizabeth Winstead" I don't know ball or totty 😢

If either of those (Barnes's second & Bruno's) had been Murphy he would have passed it, nailed on

Hopefully it's just the club taking every available precaution. Stick him in the Nuffield for a bit, back good as new before too long. I can't think of anyone on the planet less suited to a prolonged hospital stay mind

Like I say, he's an excellent player but would I spend that money on someone specifically to rotate with our current midfield 3 or cover Isak? No I wouldn't, I'd want someone who (injuries aside) is going to start 30+ games. If I'm after someone to support the midfield three (which I hope we will be) I don't want to spend that much money, likewise if I'm looking for someone to backup Isak.

I just think it would be daft to spend £60m+ on a player to either break up our current midfield three, backup Isak or play out of position on the right. It feels like the sort of move Man Utd or Chelsea would make - signing a really good player (and he is undeniably a very good player) without a really clear idea of how to use him.

I'm not 100% sure on Cunha. Obviously he's a class player but I keep thinking: 1. Why bring in someone like Mitchell if we're just going to end up targeting players anyone on this board could identify as a good player? 2. Why spend a huge chunk of our budget on a player who doesn't actually play very often in the position we need? I appreciate the need for flexibility but surely we'll target a RW who can cover elsewhere rather than sign a #10 and stick him on the right?

Fair enough! Did you say they were doing photos/promo stuff this week?

So the "leak" is just an early design rather than the one they've gone with?

Yeah sorry, I meant £6m/year more than DCL on a "free" Obviously I'm just using Delap as an example to show that from a PSR perspective there isn't all that much difference between "free" and £20-30m as long as you target the right player.

It's never free though. If it's true that he's on £100k at Everton, that'll be £5m+ plus whatever signing fee he gets. And at 28yo there's little chance we make much of that back if we sell him. Compare that to someone like Delap, yeah he's going to cost £30m but that's only an extra £6m/year (compared to DCL) and plenty of opportunity to develop into a player worth twice what you've paid for him.

They'll get an extra strong slap on the wrist. In the form of a very affordable fine. 100% true

If he's got the legs to pull it off then I say all power to him

I daren't ask what the "attachable" seagull attaches to...

No love for Villa whatsoever but it's no coincidence that their attempt to disrupt the "big 6" has hit all the same snags we have. The main difference is that they've managed to make multiple big sales over the past few years and as a result have more squad depth than we do but the principle is the same - not allowed to spend the money to compete effectively on multiple fronts. They spent the money last summer to try it and they've done a pretty good job but now they're going to have the vultures circling as soon as the transfer window opens. They've also got Disasi, Rashford and Asensio on loan, I don't know how many of those are locked-in transfers for 1st July but they could be looking at starting next season with a weaker squad than they end this one.

I'd rather put the £25m towards CB/RW/FW and roll with Pope and Dubravka for another year. I'm sure there's a transformational keeper out there, someone who isn't going to need replacing for ages, for £20-30m, but I don't think Ramsdale would be that.

So the Premier League allowed them to count the Women's team and hotel sales as income therefore no punishment. UEFA aren't letting them count it as income but are just going to issue a fine?