TheBrownBottle

The league is less competitive today than ever - Man City just became the first club to win four in a row.

Aye, that’s fair enough. Genuinely wasn’t sure

They’re English football’s most successful club - and Klopp’s trophy haul with them can be counted on one hand. He’d be a legend on Tyneside - but he’s not a Ferguson or a Wenger, nor is he a Shankly or a Paisley

Genuine question - does Klopp class as a legend at Liverpool?

Yeah, the owners are definitely part of it - but if Leeds or Sheff Wed were re-established, then their support would ultimately be pushing for improvement - and any half decent owner would understand that the potential is there.

Yeah, that makes it even more unlikely. It wouldn't be close to PL standards either way - everything would need work.

Can't help but wonder if the traditional lower league clubs were replaced with traditional top flight clubs (Leeds, Derby, Sheff Wed, West Brom ... even the mackems and smoggies) whether the cartel would get their way as easily. The 'happy to be here club' are a nightmare for this stuff.

I went and bought the maroon training top for the gym - first piece of official club stuff since 1999

Agreed - the East Stand can't be pushed any further back realistically, and whacking an extra tier on the Gallowgate would (if it is feasible with the Metro station) cost a hefty nine-figure sum for an extra c.8,000 of the cheapest seats in the ground. It isn't cost-efficient. The council / freeman have to do exactly what you've said - and Dolly and her weirdo 'Friends of the Moor' can get fucked.

Gateshead holds fewer than 12,000 people. There is zero chance of the club building a new ground on the existing site.

We can rule the mackems out - so are we off to Edinburgh or Leeds?

Makes sense

Who are we groundsharing with when this happens, though? The site is too access-restrictive to allow for serious redevelopment (as in a new ground)

While I think 9th is unlikely, where are we banking 200-300m from? Given next season sees increased PSR screws, 9th would be borderline disastrous

Ah for fuck's sake man. The cup draws this club gets ...

I don’t think he would have walked into any line-up from the age of 27 - that injury at Everton was the end of him as a genuinely world-class centre forward. He was still a better forward than Cole, Yorke or Sheringham, mind.

He’s obviously available, yet the only suitor is a mediocre MLS side - I’m not sure we would be getting much more for him tbh. I like Almiron - I think he comes across as a good pro, and always puts in a shift. I also don’t think he has ever been a particularly good footballer - his output has been ludicrously bad, especially outside of his purple patch - Howe extracted the most you’ll ever get from his talents, but it was an error not to try to sell him in the summer of 2023 when a PL club might have mistaken a mediocre player who was benefitting from excellent coaching, for an excellent player

Dyer wasn’t that much of a mystery mind - wasted talent on the pitch, absolute wanker off it

Absolutely nowt from local hack gobshites then? When Ornstein reported the initial bid they all started blathering about it - I’ve seen nothing since the third bid was rejected.

Yep - he didn’t try while he was at NUFC

Shearer turned Man Utd to stay with us? Don't remember this at all tbh. I remember him being linked to Liverpool, and then Aston Villa when Gullit was in charge.

Always thought the 'PL greatest' stuff is contrived bollocks, and had a lot to do with Sky inventing football. Shearer's record is incredible in any context - below is the true all time top-flight goalscorers list. To be fifth on that (and second on the post-war list) is remarkable. It is also a reminder that Harry Kane had a considerable amount of ground to catch-up, and players to overhaul ...

Yep - I would think that Man City and Real Madrid are pretty much the only two clubs on the planet where their best players are unlikely to be sold - and even then, it is at a push

Oh yes there was

Calvin Stengs-Charlotte sounds like he went to Eton