TheBrownBottle

If Rangers and Celtic entered the PL they’d have the same issues as us - they would struggle to make up the financial ground on the ‘Big Six’. They are nowhere near as big globally as Man Utd, Liverpool or Chelsea. I know they think they are, but they don’t have anything like that worldwide reach. To get it, they’d need many years of success in the PL and in Europe. The ‘social media’ followers thing is always interesting - Leicester are obviously there as a hangover from their surprise title win (people tend not to ‘unfollow’), but Rangers and Celtic have followings about the size of Burnley. A few decades ago they were undoubtedly in any conversation re ‘big clubs’ in British terms. Now they have neither the reach nor visibility of Bournemouth. Sure, joining a hypothetical British PL would give them a boost - but there’s nothing to suggest they’d outperform Everton or Villa or Leeds. If anything, the sad act glory seekers in their support would disappear - as would the even sadder ‘second club’ brigade from south of the border. It would be interesting to see just how deep the support is, shorn of success for an extended period.

Haven’t listened to that for yonks!

Agreed - Man City, Bayern and Real have CFs; Liverpool, Chelsea, Man Utd, and Arsenal wouldn’t have the FFP headroom; Juve, AC Milan, Inter, Barcelona and Man Utd don’t have the money. The odd one out is PSG - not sure if that would appeal to Isak.

Having said that, my suspicion would be that he could end up in a destination which never gets mentioned - he gets sold in the next couple of years to a PIF Saudi club for an insane amount of cash, and earns himself a million a week tax-free. Funny how this one never gets mentioned in the press - but I reckon there’s more chance of that than him joining fucking Arsenal.

No - if he goes, it is for a transformative fee to one of the world’s genuinely biggest clubs. And if he stays - we’ve got one of the best forwards on the planet.

While nothing will ever beat Taylor Parkes’s review of Tim Lovejoy’s book for WSC, any Steve Bruce book review citing quotes will run it close

I posted the video he did in Byker and Walker earlier today in one of the Chat threads. It is truly bleak stuff - Hendon doesn't look any worse tbh.

As a former proud owner of the Steve Barnes trilogy, I'd say I'd recommend them. Problem is, they go for a bastard fortune on ebay these days, which is a shame, and also means I regret the fact that I lent them out to my mates a couple of decades ago and have no idea where they ended up. I'd have been rich if I'd kept them.

Fucking hell, looks like another thing we'll have to apologise to Ireland about. At least most of the previous sins were before my time.

I'm still embarrassed that he's associated with the club at all, and I was at the time he was here.

Can't understand him with that thick Scouse accent. I'm convinced that the worst Liverpool fans are sad-sack glory-seeking wankers like the home counties twat in the video.

I’m not convinced we’ll be in a title race next season - and we don’t know how long three of the Sky Six will remain broken. I can’t see Man City remaining this way, too. We’re at least four first-teamers away from that at the moment (GK, at least one CB, CM, RW) - not allowing for any departures.

We were going down in 21/22 without Howe & the buyout, deffo

I still find it incredible that anyone actually watches the qualifiers at this point. There is zero peril. It must be a couple of decades since the last time they were interesting - and further bloating of the WC to 48 teams renders the whole spectacle pointless.

You still can Mike. Have a pop at the nice cunts - go for it!

She wanted Emery from memory - who was spooked when she leaked the story early to the press. Had she not done that, it would've been Emery as NUFC manager. She did state that Howe was PIF's preferred candidate.

I'll readily put up that I was of those doubting over the last few months if he was ultimately the man to take the next step - he didn't have the 'trophies in the bank' as proof. That doubt is gone - he out-tic-tacked Slot and Liverpool. I love that he laid out our opener by instructing corners to be hit deep to counter Liverpool's zonal marking. You don't win major finals against the best there is if you're not capable of competing with the elite. Howe proved what he is last weekend - no further questions from me, your honour. I believe he'll win other tin pots for us - but even if he doesn't, I'll be the first to chip in towards an Eddie Howe statue outside the ground when he eventually goes (if crowdfunding is needed). I'm not even sure how it is possible to show appreciation for someone who has delivered the only thing you've dreamed of since you were six and only got to see in your forties?

100% - this is NUFC not even stretching to its full potential. It is not the result of obscene amounts being poured in - it as a condemnation of the Ashley era as much as owt else

Honestly, I've softened with age, but it as long as it's all well-natured piss-taking, nee bother for me Agreed - it is bad crack tbh

I'm actually alright with the daft mackem cunt doing that tbf. It is obviously just a piss take, and I'm not sure it is justified to lock someone up or expect that their head should be kicked off for what is an obvious joke. And we won, so fuck him

Not like a mackem to take a shit in a stadium and need emergency bog roll ... Oh.

Livramento was my MOTM in the LC Final, but I wouldn't have picked him for England either - his form was poor prior to that game. Keep putting in performances like last week and he'll back in - which more importantly would mean he's playing well for us.

Honestly mate I suspect we're on the same side of the argument on this stuff - I agree with everything you've written. The issue for me is more reacting to Squire's cartoon with a 'where's the cartoon on Israel'. Israel doesn't own NUFC - so I'm not going to be hypervigilant on it. I'm no Zionist.

‘There is [sic] three NE teams’ Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool United. He’s right.

Remind me again of where Musk got the money to buy out Twitter, and to fill that platform with bile and poison while undermining western democracy? If that circle could be squared then it could be further evidence of cuntitude. The ‘Hjalmar Schacht defence’