Keegans Export

Seeing Trippier back in the squad makes me think that, while on the whole reducing the age profile of the squad is the right thing to do, we would benefit from some experience being added to the squad. We've got enough high-value players that may well leave in the next 12-24 months that we don't have to exclusively target players who we hope will increase in value and having one or two who have been around the block at the highest level (like Trippier was back in 2022) could really help when the pressure is on eg. Closing a game down or a high-profile European knock out game

Not using it as a stick to beat members with and I'm not sure how you got that from what I wrote. It merely suggests that demand is not outstripping supply as much as some have suggested if as soon as a minor inconvenience appears (today the cold weather, I saw a late KO time mentioned earlier in the season) then the supply seems to be sufficient.

We definitely need an 80k stadium though...🙄

I was going to type a reply myself but this is basically exactly how I feel. I assumed that the moves we'd made in the summer was to allow us to play the high-tempo style that served us well as Plan A previously (which I thought was a fairly good idea) but I'm not even sure what Plan A is now, never mind Plan B, Plan C...

Was just reading there, they are the last team to beat Man City in the first game of the calendar year, back in 2012

There was a key line in the latest Luke Edwards transfer piece; Assuming that means post-Isak sale, it gives an indication as to what the expectations were/are. Seeing as we're very much in touching distance of 8th, look likely to progress to the CL playoffs and are in another cup semi, I'd say he's still a long way from walking on thin ice. Arguments about the ambitions of targeting top 8 finishes can happen on a different thread...

We obviously didn't splash out on a colour printer when we sent our ideas over to Adidas

Would have been nice to put in a great performance and win but really we just needed three points and we've done it. Some favourable fixtures coming up so we have a chance to gradually grown in confidence and show some up-tick in performances too.

So frustrating. I see people say "He's not telling them to sit back" well, that's what they're doing so either that's the instruction or the entire team is ignoring whatever they're being told to do

Hopkinson will be as good as he's allowed to be. If he's given autonomy and PIF just sign the cheques he seems like he could be perfect for us. On the other hand if everything he wants to do is delayed (or prevented) by having to go through layers of Saudi bureaucracy then it doesn't really matter how qualified he is for the job. Staveley's passion for the club was a huge positive obviously but her main gift seems to have been her ability to say "Trust me bro" to PIF and have them just go along with it.

I don't think PIF buy us without Staveley. My feeling has always been that it was her vision, she presented it to PIF and they went along with it.

I mean there must be something between elite players and spending £100m on Elanga & Ramsey?

For the record, I'm not one of those calling for him to be sacked but this is such a poor defence. If Howe walked today, I don't know who I'd want to replace him because my knowledge outside the PL is massively limited. Fortunately we have a team of directors who are handsomely remunerated to make those decisions. It's no different to questioning underperforming players - do I know who we could replace Elanga with? Nope. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't trust our scouts to identify someone I'd previously never heard of because that's their job. If your question was a more general one than a defence of Howe then fair enough 👍🏻

If the plan was to change to a possession based side we did we sign Ramsey and Elanga? Completely disjointed strategy and if we'd had a DOF at the time I'd assume he had intentionally stitched Howe up.

Remind me...?

I'm not a gambling man but it feels like betting on us to lose away from home is a licence to print money. We just aren't a good team any more. We'll have good spells, good games occasionally, but we are an average team playing predominantly average football.

They own the club and if that is their analysis then fair enough. This season has been disappointing so far but there's no denying there's been a hell of a lot more good than bad over the past four years and if the best we can do is competing for European qualification and being competitive in the domestic cups then I'm absolutely fine with that. However all I would ask is, and I really can't stress this enough... STOP PUBLICLY SAYING YOU WANT TO BE THE BEST CLUB IN THE WORLD It either makes you look ignorant or like you're taking fans for idiots.

The hospitality is where the money is really. Obviously with a bigger stadium there'll be more general tickets available but I expect there'll be a substantial increase in hospitality, especially at the very top end.

A loan with an obligation might work quite well for us. Our PSR position for 25/26 is strong due to the Isak sale so we can push any income into 26/27.

I'd 100% take Europa League if you offered me it now. Could go down the places if one of the top 4/5 win the FA Cup - maybe 7th?

He definitely seems to be reaching for his ankle at about the 16sec mark

That stake in Newcastle Airport has been sold to Spanish investors Source

Well it was going to be getting a CF on the pitch. Then it was getting Tino and Hall back. So I guess yeah, Wissa is the next logical choice 🤷🏻‍♂️

Just to be clear, I don't want him sacked. But I always think it's a daft riposte to just say "Well who would you replace him with?" because it's not my job to work that out. We pay executives vast sums of money to answer these questions. I have very little knowledge of football outside of the PL and I had never heard of Glasner, Iraola, Frank before they came to the Premier League. People like Klopp, Slot and Amorim barely registered until they were heavily linked to Liverpool and Man Utd. Just because I (or others) can't reel off three or four names doesn't mean those people don't exist.

That's what I assumed our plan was and once the dust had settled on the Isak carry on I was quite optimistic. We had, in theory, the ability to replace 5 of the front 6 once the energy levels started to drop. We were a little short at RB/LB but if we were winning the ball high up the field we wouldn't be relying as much on the full backs being a regular part of our build-up play. The signings of Elanga and especially Ramsey did make some sense. Just run teams into the ground like we did in 22/23 and tried to do in 23/24 before the lack of squad depth killed us. The fact that we barely seem to press at all, even with a deeper squad than we've had for years, is baffling.