TheBrownBottle

I saw an interview with Bruno the other day with him talking about being knackered and playing through injuries. Not Howe’s fault - a lot of this is the remaining hangover of the previous ownership - and I completely agree, it’s something which it is reasonable to expect to be fixed if we sign three or four good players in the summer

I didn’t realise that - that needs work next season

Yes, there’s nothing I’d like to see more than arguably the world’s best centre forward moved out of position

The lad is out of form, and I’m sure he’ll be better again next season - but he’s never looked remotely like a good finisher to me. He’s not an ‘elite’ player, but you don’t need XI elite players to be challenging at the top end of the table. He’s a really good footballer though and an obvious asset to the club. I’d like to see Barnes back at LW vs Everton tbh.

‘She’s a lesbian, lads’

Ex-footballers owning pubs in retirement feels like it’s from a different era - it seemed to most players’ retirement plan at one time

We can still finish 7th mathetically, so unless Man City win the cup then we're not quite there just yet

He wasn't as gifted as Beardsley for me, though he runs him close. There was no conspiracy against him, mind - that he didn't become one of the world's great players is down to him and his attitude. HBA should've been a generational great - but he wasn't; he had moments where his obvious talent was apparent.

I'm not feeling the 'stress' or 'pressure' like. Being in Europe is fucking great, regardless of compeition. Qualifying for the UEFA Cup or the Conference League is not failure. And while I think we will make the CL, I'd rather we didn't view finishing outside the top five as failure

TBF I can remember ALS during that period - and I'll grudgingly say that ALS was always a good fanzine - and fuck me, you'd think that us finishing 11th and them finishing 7th in consecutive seasons was like Hartlepool beating Barcelona; they never understood that they supposedly viewed us as equals, yet went on as if finishing above us was miraculous They're confused, and have always been like that

Fucking hell That is the saddest thing the daft cunts have ever done as far as I'm concerned. And there's some serious competition

Tell me that's not real

Cole's finishing - outside of a purple patch for us - wasn't up there with the best. If he was playing today, he'd be nowhere near one of the top clubs. English football was - with the best will in the world - shite in the '90s. I can remember it - I was there.

I did And if a CF of Wilson's class played for Man Utd in the late 90s, you'd have won more than one European Cup

Better than Cole or Ferdinand for me, given just how shite English football was in the mid-90s compared to today. Wilson is a better finisher than both of them. All opinions, of course

He was a superb centre forward. Ridiculously underrated by the footballing punditry

He was superb when he was fit - I'd honestly rank him behind Shearer and Isak, but pretty much no-one else - including Cole, Ferdinand, Ba, etc. Absolutely lethal and a great all-round CF - but injuries hampered him - tbf, if they hadn't, Wilson plays for a better club than Ashley's NUFC. I wish him all the best when he goes, and he'll always have my appreciation and respect - but I can't pretend it means anything when a player leaves if that is what is best for the club. Players usually become stalwarts only if they've been good enough - we owe them nowt, they owe us nowt.

Wilson is one of the best no.9s I've seen in B&W before the injuries kicked in fully ... but I'm sorry, I also can't pretend I give a shite. I have no real emotional attachment to players - at least no more than any other humans - I don't know them personally. I hope they're happy etc like I would anyone else - but they're perfect strangers to me. The shirt and the club is what counts, not the bloke temporarily wearing it - the Tommy Dockerty line about strips on a washing line applies to most football fans I reckon. I've little sentiment for players being sold or leaving the club in any real sense - that's what football is. The club is what counts.

I loved Gayle's callout of Bruce, and the useless fat cunt's spitting of dummy as a result. Gayle hardly has the reputation of being difficult, so it just further exposed what Bruce is

Lads, I can’t fathom this - Top Gun was shite, but Top Gun 2 was well put together shite. Hoy it on in a properly kitted out cinema room with a good sound system and it’s a cracking two hours of unadulterated nonsense

You never know, it might not - a victory vs Arsenal and it’s all over bar the shouting (though I know you mean mathematically it isn’t)

I just hope Howe plays a key role in who comes in - I know that in the modern game, DoF (or whatever their title) fulfil that role, but Howe’s signings have been incredibly successful - Brian Clough once talked about transfer policy being about successes outweighing failures. I can’t imagine that there are many managers with Howe’s ‘hit rate’ re successes - I can only really think of Targett’s permanent move (he was a success on loan) as being a definite ‘miss’ to date.

We’ve all done it a on a Sunday afternoon - though I admit that my run arounds at RB for the likes of Stocksfield may not be totally comparable to playing RB in the PL

He did indeed not sure he’d make today mind, though that man was a sublime talent