TheBrownBottle

I'm fucking owa the moon about this bloke being DoF (or Sporting Director), this is the first time in all these decades where it feels like the club is actually trying to appoint competent people at all levels of the club (not just as managers). The club has been blighted throughout most of its history by a general lack of professionalism at all levels - we'd sometimes have good managers, but it always felt like they'd be undermined by other parts of the club. Sub-par medical depts, training facilities, academies, boards etc. Badly run football clubs don't tend to win anything - and NUFC has never been particularly well run. I can't see this club being anything but well-run going forwards - and that's more exciting than any superstar centre forward signing to me - we've seen plenty of those; far more great no 9s than trophies. This guy - and the appointments to come - will make us a proper, professional football club. Geed up.

There is precedence for us - Guivarc'h promised to sign during the '98 World Cup, and he did. Hopefully, the comparisons would end there

Also, given BDB has played LB in the past, I imagine he'd comfortably sit on the left of a back three if Howe chooses to occasionally play that way

BDB is the perfect squad centre half - he's decent in his position, and he's obviously like a pig in shite being back at his boyhood club. Every minute played will be like a dream for the lad; and given what's happening, if he sees his time out he might just win a medal too. I completely understand why Howe would want to improve on BDB - but BDB will be here next season, which cannot be guaranteed for Clark, Fernandez or Lascelles

I've found myself shouting 'why don't you put something on the end of it' plenty of times when watching Chris Wood not connecting with crosses

A Dan, a Canada Sorry, can't stop thinking about palindromes after that thread on here the other day

Hope it's better than our last DoF's first interview to the press on talkSHITE. Yohan Kebab, Ben Afree etc

Fucking hell, that's more like an Italian Kim Wilde with proper '80s synth than the usual Whistle Posse Eurodance pish. Don't get me wrong, it is still utterly unlistenable, but at least it is different

Likewise mate - I was utterly shite with money until my mid-20s. Got hit constantly with bank charges - shithouse trick to hammer the poor. The 40m did include the fine - but 30m wages against 12m turnover - and the biggest loss in the division by a mile - tells you that they gambled. And won, tbf

I said you sunderland lot are little slugs, little slugs with no personalities just jealous that we're better at everything than you

Not looking to downplay it - hope that was clear

Well, yes I am saying otherwise - do you think that a 40m loss at a football club is the result of paying tea ladies and stewards too much? Bournemouth's wage bill was huge for the time - over 30m - Howe didn't spend much at all on transfers. Again, that doesn't detract from the achievement - just as spending 90m in January doesn't detract from the phenomenal job he's done at NUFC. The always excellent Swiss Ramble explains it far better than I can: https://swissramble.blogspot.com/2016/05/bournemouth-welcome-to-pleasuredome.html

If Howe eventually wins the League or the European Cup, I'll be campaigning for more than a statue - I want there to be an entire suburb named after him. Maybe rename Arthur's Hill as Howechester or something. I genuinely believe he's going to be the man who breaks the duck. First time in two decades I've felt comfortable even imagining that. I could easily see him being here as long as a Wenger or Ferguson, before getting the England job at 60 for the last few years of his career. Hope so, anyway.

They made a loss of nearly 40m in their promotion season - and bear in mind that this was nearly a decade ago. Like I said, a fortune. At the time, clubs in the second division were allowed losses of 6m per season.

Eddie Howe is an excellent football manager - but context is required re getting Bournemouth into the PL. Yes, Bournemouth is an oversized Tory retirement village with zero history of footballing success - but Howe's Bournemouth spent a FORTUNE getting promoted. It wasn't a plucky underdog story - they were fined millions by the Football League for their sizeable breach of financial fair play rules. Of course, this doesn't detract from Howe's ability - look at how much Bruce spunked in the second division at Villa to finish lower midtable - but Bournemouth's rise wasn't a Wimbledon-esque fairytale. Their billionaire owner chucked a lot of money in to get that promotion.

Don't get me wrong, there's nowt I'd like to see more than the club throwing serious cash at a player with the potential of Osimhen - he's got everything you'd need to be a top-class centre forward. I just think players like him are likely to be a season or so down the track

I just think that people are reading to much into all of this. Fun88 looks nailed on for next season - and as I've pointed out earlier, a new sponsor would be unlikely to bring in much extra cash and I'd be willing to bet that Ashley didn't insert a break clause, so chucking Fun88 might cost more than the difference the new sponsor might bring in

Yeah, if I was to bet on it, I'd think the club would rebuild with good footballers in every position before going down the one- or two-marquee signings each summer route. Can't see us chucking 85m at a transfer fee until we're truly strengthened across the board

Because Castore are incompetent?

Likewise - I don't see us dropping 50m+ on a centre forward when so many positions need recruits. GK, LB, CB, RW etc.

David Bowie's 'Good evening Newcastle' at Roker is of course hilarious because it sums up just how the rest of the country thinks of them. A kind of half-awareness of a place near Newcastle; or is it a part of Newcastle? Who knows. Who the fuck cares. Sheeran is a tiresome lickspittle, though.

That one is my pet peeve, not too fussed about reusing songs. Also, singing at it New Monkey 200bpm speed. Rant awa

If we're doing palindromes, what about the one who got away? Not sure if trialists count, but Massimo Oddo (yes, that one) was at NUFC on trial a couple of decades back. Had a canny career afterwards, so I understand

It’s bold of the club to go for them, but I think you’re spot on re the club’s attractiveness at present. We’ll hear lots of young talent not being ‘sold’ on the ‘project’ in the next year or two. It won’t be that they don’t believe we’ll make it eventually - it is because they need to develop and progress their career now. If I pretend I’m not a Geordie and (stretching it now) pretend I’m a pro footballer being offered a contract by NUFC and one by AC Milan, there’s no way I do anything but sign for Milan - unless the NUFC offer absolutely blows it out of the water. But the club are (sensibly) not looking to destroy the wage structure - so that’s a no-go

It’s entertainingly childish, a bit of fun. Like football itself is meant to be