WillDanceForChocolate

Told you he was good. I'm so pleased to see him add a piece of major silverware to his record. It's so well deserved. You must all be having an absolute blast this week. Enjoy!

I try to be even handed and not wear cherry-tinted specs all the time when talking about one of our matches but I'll be honest, I'm going to have to come back in a day or two to give our view things after what took place in injury time. I'm seething. Actually, way beyond that. Two absolute travesty of decisions. And anyone that tries to defend them, take off your equivalent of those specs...

Yes please. It might even get one or two of our crowd worked up enough to take the Werthers Original out of their mouth so they can mumble something mildly impolite at him.

Another interesting one. Given the Howe connection, I have a suspicion there was some massaging of the fixture computer results to make this our first home match of the season since it's the game where we'll be celebrating 125 years since we were founded. The precursor to the club is even older but that's the official date for this version. I doubt it will change anything that happens on the pitch but for those who are travelling, there might be a few extra things going on given our American owner's love of the razzle-dazzle. I wouldn't read too much into our first match since we fielded an odd line up due to illness in the camp and no fit or available senior striker. I suspect we'll be a bit more orthodox on Sunday. If we do play like we did against Forest you'll obliterate us but I think and hope we'll be a very different proposition. I don't have any insight on Evanilson apart from his signing feeling about as out there as a Brazilian international striker playing in the English leagues in the 1980s before the Sky money arrived. Not impossible, just highly unlikely. Incidentally, why did you sell Mirandinha? His goal record for you looks alright according to the stats. If you're going to target something then just aim to bang in loads of crosses. Our keeper looked very shaky on them most of last season and that continued on Saturday. There's some deal in the works for us to get Mamardashvili on loan but that may come to nothing since we're only the third party in a deal between Liverpool and Valencia. How's the feeling about Howe these days? And do you think there is any truth in the rumours linking him with the England job? Got to be honest, if he did take the job it would be a huge source of pride given his connections to my club. I think I read something about him having less allies in the board room because Staveley and someone else had left. Media nonsense or something in that? Let's hope for a good match either way. Both teams like to attack so it should be entertaining at the very least. If it now turns out to be a boring 0-0 you can blame me.

Small stadium that comes in close to the pitch but not a small pitch. The pitch dimensions are 105 x 68m, exactly the same as most other Premier League stadiums including yours.

Yes, 20% on the profit. After all the addons were activated Solanke's final cost was about £24m so Liverpool will get about £8m.

No matter how many times it gets said, it still isn't true. Just because other clubs report a pretendance based on tickets sold and we report on an attendance of... people that actually attended (crazy idea, I know) that doesn't mean tickets were available. Pretty much hasn't been a home match ticket that has gone unsold for over a decade now. There are plenty of people who want to go but are locked out due to the points system. Hence the plans for a new stadium. If they weren't selling out the old one, why on earth would they be building a bigger new one?

Make that +++ rather than just +. There's no way we'd sell him in January for anything less than something ridiculous. You're talking £80m at least plus incentives on top. And no, I'm not saying that's what he's worth or what someone would pay. I'm saying that's what it would take to make the owner consider cashing in. 1. He's absolutely integral to our play. Everything revolves around the workrate he has up front but we have on backup option. Moore is the only other specialist striker on the books and he's a completely different type of striker that doesn't fit the system the manager wants to play. In fact, there seems a very high probability Moore is off to a Championship club this window. If we'd sold Solanke, we'd face going into the second half of the season with a completely new strike force, all recruited in January, which may not fire. If anything, this window will be about shipping Moore out and bringing in an alternate to Solanke. Selling Solanke now would hobble the team. 2. Finding suitable options that are also well priced in the January window isn't easy. 3. Solanke has only recently signed a contract extension so there's no pressure on us to cash in. If he carries his form on and someone tries in the summer that might be a different story but it would take the kind of money nobody is going to pay to get our attention in this window. That said, I'd imagine it's simply a lazy media link because of the Eddie connection.

That's a horrendous run you've been on. All I'll say is what I've said before which is Howe can be a streaky manager at times. His teams seem to put together these runs of terrible results when nothing goes right but then it suddenly clicks and they rattle off ten wins in eleven, or something similar. If the owners have patience, I think you'll see something similar and, with no European football to worry about, I expect a charge toward the Champions League places. Whether you reach them or not I couldn't say for certain, but I'd be surprised if you didn't. On the Howe front, once this period is over he needs to take control of this situation and solve it. You can afford to have these on and off runs when you're building a club up but pretty soon the expectation will be titles for you and this will be his downfall if he can't finally crack it. I hope he can. It is a strange phenomenon though. For those that missed it last season: https://newcastle-online.org/topic/36984-eddie-howe/page/898/#comment-7478998 It's all going to work out!

66 games it took for the penalty to finally arrive. Not sure how many touches on the box it is since we've played several more matches since it was generated, but the chart still doesn't change as we'd had zero when it was put together. If you like a flutter, stick a quid on us getting a penalty in our next few matches. I think now the dam has burst, there will be a flood of them.

Because we don't get penalties. It's in the official Premier League handbook. 63 matches since our last penalty now. This was before the Palace and Man Utd victories, and note that even if we get a penalty that graph doesn't change as it the moment we still haven't had one:

Enjoying the ride? I told you Howe wasn't your average manager, not only in ability but also in how he conducts himself. Hope you're having fun with him in charge.

It wasn't. We were missing the three players who would be the first choice to play the three centre midfield positions when everyone is fit. In fact, I thought you were going to tear through us when I saw who he had gone with but it worked for today. You did look knackered though. Most definitely. The international break has come at a good time for you.

I'll take it. Best performance of the season from us but admittedly against a team who appeared to be running on empty. I wouldn't worry on your front, Eddie will get it right in the end. He's one of those annoying lifelong learners who keep improving themselves when they experience new things. The kind of person that makes me look bad in my job because I'm a lazy sod. As long as your ownership stay firmly behind him then the curve should continue upwards over time. We were pretty desperate for the points so thanks for that. For what it's worth, we started the season with ten or eleven injuries so I feel your pain. And the depths of your squad are definitely superior to the depths of ours. Now we have most, but not all, of those players back hopefully today can act as a launchpad as we go into some easier fixtures.

Lots of interesting thoughts, seems like he isn't that rated by many on here. For what it's worth, he'd only be picking up a pay packet with us as well. He won't be anywhere near challenging Neto for the number one spot, he made such an impact last season after displacing Travers that he finished the season as captain. He'll be at best backup and may be even third choice which is why the £5m fee made no sense. If it's about £1m then maybe, since Travers looks set to move on to the Championship. I'm hoping he goes on loan for a year rather than a permanent deal, which would have this making more sense. In 12 months Rudolph is out of contract so Travers would return as our number two and Darlow then be number three.

Genuinely no clue. When I see Gerrard on the bookie list I want to cry. Hopefully it's Potter or maybe Knutsen.

From the outside looks like madness and all that's wrong with modern football. From where I sit, it was the right call. He did well but also got a bit lucky. Needs to learn his trade lower down as was making some awful tactical blunders and was very defensive first in his approach. Nothing against him, I wish him all the best and hope he gets another Premier League crack when he's a bit more experienced. Meanwhile, the owner has put himself in the firing line of the media who were (incorrectly) saying O'Neil could have been manager of the year. So he has to make the right appointment so he doesn't attract column inches talking about his lack of football knowledge. It's going to be interesting!

Thanks! He's committed to continuing the infrastructure developments and trying to get the next stage of the new stadium project underway which will be brilliant. Obviously it will take years to complete but things are really moving on it again. We've turned away a generation of fans with no tickets available for the last nine years so to make room for them will be good for the future prospects of the club. I expect we'll see some players coming in but not sure it will be that noticeable when put against the budgets of the other teams in the league. Still not convinced on O'Neil although there have been some improvements. Time will tell I guess. I am looking forward to next season already though. I hate not having football to watch during the summer!

I knew Eddie had it in him. I never understood why a bigger club hadn't taken him on before because he tried to be ambitious in his football even within the limitations of our budget. Something you would think would be welcomed further up the table and the reason why a manager like Dyche will always only get jobs at struggling teams. He improved so many players with us and you only have to look at how many actually went on to better things after they left us, very few, to see he his influence drags up players to more than they thought they could be. The way people would go on about Jordon Ibe was weird, like there isn't a manager that hasn't made transfer mistakes and ignored the multitude of successful signings. Even then, I think Ibe's well documented problems outside of football show it wasn't a lack of ability that held him back. Anyway, you took the plunge on Howe and it's paid off. Congratulations to you all! Normally, I never watch European football as it's just a boring playground reserved for a few clubs that have done everything they can to pull up the drawbridge and ensure they get to keep even more of the money in football to themselves. However, I might make an exception next season as I'm interested to see how Eddie gets on. He deserves a crack at it and I think with Champions League as an incentive, he might make some really interesting signings this summer.

He's done well but let's remember this is a season like no other at the bottom of the Premier League. Never before have we seen so many sackings and I'm not sure the last time the battle included that many teams so close together for so long. Steve Bruce kept you up but I'm pretty sure he wasn't too rated here. Ok, O'Neil isn't Bruce but even though Gary has done brilliantly to keep us up there are still major issues. After the awful run, he must have accepted he had to evolve tactically because things started to change. He still sometimes has the habit of drawing up the drawbridge on 60 minutes to an excessive extent if we have a goal lead but not as badly as before where all forward running ambition was abandoned and we simply invited the other team to camp in our box. So he is learning, but that's part of the issue. He's making the mistakes rookie managers make in one of the toughest leagues in the world where the opposition are usually ruthless. The chaos at the bottom has helped him massively there. Let's take a situation that a manager can influence more than almost any other on a pitch. Set pieces. It's a situation where he can set the roles and organise them. We've let in something like five more than any other Premier League team from set pieces this season. Nothing has changed in how we approach it all season, even though we let in two more a week ago against West Ham. In the win against Spurs, before our injury time winner they had a simple chance from a corner to score and win it but Richarlison fluffed it. That for me rings massive alarm bells that a manager has failed so badly at one of the few situations where he can almost directly control his players. In another season, let in five more from set pieces than any other team and you're relegated. That's some of the bad. As for the good, well he seems to be incredible at motivating the players. He also seems to be able to get the players to draw a line under bad results and move on quickly which is a great skill to have in our position. After being dogmatic about things for a long time, he's become more adaptable tactically and so is learning. He has finally accepted sometimes we need to attack teams and can't always be on the defensive which is a relief. The question is, will he learn quickly enough for next season when I'd guess things won't be as messy near the bottom? My suspicion is no he won't but I'd obviously be happy if he surprised me. I'm often wrong about things in football and so will have no issue with saying I called it badly in twelve months if he's still in place and we're safe again. As for those saying that he should get Manager of the Season, they're pretty laughable. He's done well after a terrible start, but set against a division that has set fire to itself in the bottom half.

It's a genuinely weird habit. I can imagine it drives Howe up the wall as in logical terms it's inexplicable really. Still, you're in the good part now.

I love how a fan of a club like Newcastle go around talking about another team being no marks or no history. History may be written by the victors, but it needs the other side for it to be worth writing about. A history in the lower leagues has just as much soap opera and stories to tell as one of regular failure for multiple generations near the top. The stories may not be as well known outside the supporters of that team, but they exist and in this case go all the way back to 1899. I really hope you're not going to go down the Man City fans route now the money has arrived. They used to be a decent lot. You were, and I hope mostly still are, a fan base that respected other clubs, no matter their level, and with whom it was always worth a beer and good football chat without the entitlement you get with supporters of certain other clubs getting in the way. As for the tip, I get that it's a horrible journey. Same goes in both directions. However, if the dates are good then visiting Newcastle is a good weekend away, and the same can be said for Bournemouth for your fans, albeit in a slightly different way. Very different places, both worth a weekend.

Thanks for that today, much appreciated that you returned the favour of yesterday. Told you Howe would turn it around. Today was the first in his traditional run of good results that follows a poor run.

Fear not! Looks like Howe hasn't quite managed to kick the streaky habit. In our League 1 promotion season (12/13) we got near the top of the table (from the relegation zone when he took over), then promptly lost five on the trot before going on a winning run again. Then in our Championship promotion season (14/15), we went top and then suddenly went five matches without a win only to turn it around again. There are examples from other seasons as well. Given how it works, expect to go on a winning run shortly and drag yourselves back into the top four. Good luck!

Actually it's the same. He downed tools for the entire last season with us as he wanted to move on. The summer prior there had been rumours Arsenal were after him as he was, I think, second top in the Premier League assist stats for the season before. We wouldn't sell though. Don't get stuck on the contract thing, that isn't why he is so disliked at Bournemouth. It's what went during the season prior to the covid break that upset us after he didn't get his move. He blatantly wasn't trying, and was only interested in avoiding injury so he could get a bumper contract when he moved on after it expired. He even admitted it in an interview that he hadn't been trying. Unfortunately, due to an injury crisis, we were forced to play him. His lack of trying backfired though as he went from having interest from a club in the top six to signing for a club who were at the time battling near the bottom. That's two years and a lifetime ago in supporting Newcastle when you look at how things have changed. Eddie had invested a huge amount of time in helping him develop up until that point. Not just on the coaching field during the day, he took him for 121 dinners, got him to change his eating habits etc. Also changed his build and got him to bulk up so he was more robust and able to ride tackles. He arrived with us very slight but lightning quick so defenders often picked up yellows trying to tackle him. As we went up the leagues though, the defenders were better so he needed some strength to go with his speed. So I can imagine there was a feeling of betrayal over that from Howe. I thought he'd moved past it but it's starting to look like it was a temporary thing until he didn't need him anymore. I don't hate Fraser as a person as there's no point in that, but I've rarely disliked someone as much as a footballer. What's really stupid is if he gave his all in that final season then nobody would have begrudged him the move and he would have been welcomed back with open arms. He had talked about retiring to the area at one point, but not sure I'd recommend that anymore. Nathan Ake got a fulsome round of applause from the home crowd when subbed off last week for Man City. However, even though he knew Man City were after him, Ake was throwing himself in full blood in the last games of that season for us. I still remember him going almost beyond full stretch to win a ball in what looked like a challenge that would kill his hamstring and possibly cost him his move. That's all Fraser needed to do. Commit on the pitch and he could have walked away. He chose not to. So this is classic Ryan. Stops trying when he isn't getting what he wants.