TheBrownBottle

Coutinho hasn’t played consistently well for years now. He hasn’t pulled up any trees at Villa either. All credit to the bloke for wanting to play rather than just coining it for Barca B - but I’m not convinced it’s the coup that some want it to be. If the lad was even close to where he was, he’s not having to take 70% paycuts to join mid table sides.

Yeah, he’s very easy to listen to - a quality shared by all my favourite NUFC managers. Being a competent communicator helps the man in that position for me. Keegan, Robson, Hughton, Benitez, Howe - I was always happy to hear them talk.

I haven’t bought tf since it came back in print - does it still claim to be a ‘left-leaning’ fanzine? Or did that FT feature bring any lip service to that notion to an end?

That’s a good point, like. Still, if the club sign it off, it would be an unusually cack-handed bit of PR - which they’ve been pretty good at so far.

He’d be a decent signing for the Smoggies imho - he’s not quite PL class, but he’s a very good second tier keeper

I'll generally try avoid the Saudi stuff re Newcastle, as many get themselves wound up by those who have questions re the whole thing, though 'people not caring what happens over there' is quite a value judgement (as a member of Amnesty I can assure that some of us actually do give a shit) - but do you actually think that you need Christianity / religion to form the basis for morality? That's an odd point of view.

I'm assuming for the lap of honour at the end. Not everyone stays, of course - but it would be great if there's a proper display at the end. Really looking forward to WF's efforts vs Arsenal

I trust the gaffer will be having a glass tonight now the maths are in - and then back to thinking about the Arsenal game as soon as he’s necked it. Irrespective of money spent, this club was destined for the drop before he came in. We all know that - bollocks to know-nowt pundits. Whatever happens from here on in, it’ll always be remembered that it was built upon his achievement this season. And I’m also over the moon to write that, if what is coming over the next few years happens as we think it does, we’ll get to bore future generations of NUFC supporters about what it was like to be worried about relegation. Can’t wait - I’m a naturally cantankerous bastard at the best of times. Cheers!

It’s a type of weighted statistical analysis to determine which country’s teams have performed best in a season in terms of European competition. They do it for world rankings too. So each team gets points for wins, getting to qf, sf, final, winning the trophy etc.

I didn’t say he was shite, I just don’t think he was the world’s greatest player at that time. And by turning up, I don’t mean in tournaments - I mean in decisive matches. Zidane’s greatest moments came in finals. As I said, I’m expecting to be in a minority of one. I’ll never understand people chucking out ad hominems because someone has a different view on a footballer.

Mildly irritated that the Castore deal hasn’t been ripped up and a more lucrative one agreed in its place. I had thought the idea was to increase commercial revenues.

Tbf, we were the first team to finish 2nd and qualify without winning it. And the first to finish 4th and qualify without winning it. Could be a hat trick … … yeah, unlikely. Never know though.

Remember when he was better than Rafa because of Wales at the Euros? I do, but they don't, funnily enough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4fzeK3SQa4

I love the fact that I'm shaking my head at every one except the one I mentioned - eye of the beholder and all that

I'm probably going to attract some right pelters here - and it isn't the intent - but Ronaldinho firmly sits in that 'good player but not great' for me. Flat-track bully who never grabbed hold of any 'big' games that I saw. Genuinely world class players do - Maradona, Messi, Zidane, C Ronaldo, real Ronaldo, van Basten etc etc - had some of their best games in the biggest matches. I'd second some of the bigger names listed here *cough Totti cough* but I think I've likely expressed an unpopular enough one!

They'll go up, but their presence in the Third Division has provided non-stop laughter for me. Fuck knows why Netflix paid Chappelle and Gervais so much for some nondescript stand-up; Sunderland Til I Die is still the funniest thing I've seen on telly for years. Better than its prequel, Premier Passions, though to be fair watching Peter Reid swear at shite sunderland players will always be entertaining. Always worth remembering that being in the Second Division still represents failure, not success - and given the parlous state of their finances, relegation will remain their most likely exit route from that division. Fulham's wage bill alone is like six times sunderland's turnover ...

Was just thinking of him - though I suspect it was just that one game (tbf, from memory he had a few canny games vs us. Including our first 0-0 in something like 70-odd games)

Not the worst player I’ve ever seen, but Pahars scored in something like five or six consecutive games against us for Southampton and looked like a world-beater, despite being the most Southampton-y player ever (mediocre but not useless, scented blood vs Newcastle)

Mick Harford scored a lot of winners & equalisers against us, despite being a useless Mackem pile of shite

David Speedie (c***)

10th (or above) next season, with not a single thought at any point re relegation, would represent proper progress for me. A decent cup run would also be great, as it would start to kill off some of the worst memories of a decade and a half of deliberate no-shows in the cups - but it wouldn’t be something that I’d judge the season on.

It’s a reminder of just how well Howe has done to get the results he has out of this group of players. It also shows you just how much they’ve played out of their skins - but the Spurs and Man City away games (and Liverpool at home if we’re being honest should’ve been a similar score line) are evidence that we’re light years away at present in terms of quality.

I think Wood has served his purpose well enough - he added a bit of experience and strength up top. He’s far from a great finisher, but I think he is a better CF than Gayle, and his contribution in keeping us up shouldn’t be over- nor underplayed. £25m was a lot of money for him, but he’s helped keep us up. If we can get close to half back in the summer then it was a decent deal for me.

Trippier is the only defender at the club who’d be part of any remotely ambitious set-up medium-term; but we’re a long way from being competitive Dubravka, Burn, Targett, and Schaar are bottom-half of PL quality (though much better than relegation fodder). I’d hope to have them all replaced/sitting as squad players within 12-18 months if we’re going anywhere. Personally I think Dubravka’s replacing is more urgent than others may think - his distribution is woeful and invites pressure, and his decision-making is questionable. He also has at least one clanger per game in him. A better quality keeper would be a priority for me - though if the reports on the budget are accurate, that might be tricky as it wouldn’t be as great a need as the forward positions. A top notch defensive midfielder wouldn’t go amiss either - though I do think DM is now Joelinton’s best position (the talk of him being a ‘number 8’ worries me - the lad is hopeless in attacking positions; but he’s strong and tenacious and decent technically, and pretty good at reading the game - what you’d want from a DM).