TheBrownBottle

Totally agree with its grazing use rather than what it should be - wooded park land. I would never want to see it have housing or owt slapped on it, though - let alone a football stadium. Castle Leazes would be fine - not the Moor

Bruno isn’t ’too good for us’. No player is. I think he’s the most likely of our ‘crown jewels’ to leave in the summer - due to age and the fact he’s been here a little longer than the others (admittedly not by much). If he does, I hope it’s abroad and for a massive sum of money. If he stays; excellent, we’ve still got a top notch midfielder that we don’t need to replace. Getting overly attached to individual players isn’t a good idea in football - all that really counts is whether or not the club is just going to pour the profits into the owner’s pockets or reinvest it. As long as it’s the latter, I tend not to worry too much about it.

This in bucketloads. I miss the noise and roar before a game, before the ‘Flashing Blade’ was shouting ‘make some noise’ or Barry in the Box and his Dire Straits obsession. The current man in the box seems no less shite.

Fuck it, a ridiculously improbable 2-0 to NUFC, let’s bastard go for it

Because football has pyramid structure, and if you don’t have other clubs to play against you don’t have a business? Also, we benefitted from this not so long ago. Like Brexit, it would hurt us more than it would hurt them. They did manage to survive after banning English clubs for half a decade - but English football took over two decades to get back to where it was before the ban.

It’s a perfect comparison; we scored 86 league goals that season I was being deliberately hyperbolic - I don’t for a second believe that the rate we’re conceding at will continue. But it does put into stark contrast the rate at which we’re conceding vs what we were conceding

We’ve conceded 34 in the last 14 games. For context, if we continued at that pace for the rest of the season, it would be the worst we’ve had in the top flight since 60/61 - when we were relegated (and about half of those seasons were 42 game seasons). It is hard to imagine that pace will continue when Pope returns, but still - it’s a horrendous record of late.

Nah, it was definitely the result of some top notch coaching. The question of whether or not Howe can take us to the next level remains an open one, but it’s very unfair I think to suggest that Howe simply had a ‘new manager bounce’.

I don’t acknowledge the existence of ‘MK Dons’. AFC Wimbledon - quite correctly - list the 1988 FA Cup in their honours roll. ‘MK Dons’ don’t.

We know what they are; they’ve been around for two years at this point. The PL has effectively ratified UEFA’s FFP regs. It doesn’t need any further explanation - how it works is established: https://www.uefa.com/returntoplay/news/0274-14da0ce4535d-fa5b130ae9b6-1000--explainer-uefa-s-new-financial-sustainability-regulations/

You’re right, but it’s not just the ‘Sky Six’ and FFP. It’s permanently imbalanced the entire pyramid. Bournemouth and Palace now have incomes which absolutely dwarf Leeds and Sheff Wed and Sunderland - that didn’t used to happen. The gulfs between every strata are ridiculous

Football’s been broken from the moment the FA allowed shareholders to take profits. Newcastle United shouldn’t need rich foreign owners to compete - it should only need to be well-run. I’m pining for a world which no longer exists, of course - and I’m not a conservative or backward looking person by nature - but Sky and the international broadcast deals have absolutely knackered the balance of English football. It’s now a closed shop.

He does - our commercials were above Spurs and Man City when he took over. He absolutely fucked this club, possibly permanently given this latest FFP stitch-up

no, I’m never going to criticising anyone going to the match mate - it’s in your blood. I still watch it and want us to win. I could just about (hypocritically!) put up with the current ownership if when they left we were transformed. If we’re just agreeing to be limited in this way, then I don’t see why our city and club should be tied to them with no gain.

No point in a Faustian pact if you get no benefit from it. I’d happily not have the club linked to the current 80% owners

Agreed. The new rules effectively stop owner-investment altogether. Up to them now - either shit or get off the pot. Frankly, if we’re to be the upper mid table club I’d be happier doing that with other owners …

They’d end up kb’ing that for related party income. They’ve shown no inkling so far to do anything about the rules in place - in fact, we seem to be voting for them

It’s either or at this point. Starting to suspect some very big statements have been made with very little substance to them.

This isn’t shackles-off. This is shackles-on even harder than they were before

95% of PL clubs voted in favour of more stringent FFP I wouldn’t be holding my breath for any legal challenges, folks

We’ve averaged one point per game over the last fourteen games. It is potential relegation form.

Yeah, I’m scratching my head about it as well. Howe has a reputation for being meticulous; you’d think that there would be a change to account for Dubravka in nets.

Nee idea. We got Bruno, Botman and Isak in as a mid table or relegation threatened club.

I’m not convinced that BDB is shit, mind. Pope’s absence is a massive factor in how the back line is performing; Botman’s clear non-recovery from injury is another. That does leave the question about what we’re doing about it, though.

I honestly believe that if our current placing was the result of consistent performances throughout the season, there would be fewer grumbles. The problem is that we’ve been in relegation form for the last third of the season - and the green shoots of recovery weren’t there today.