TheBrownBottle

Given, Dyer, Solano, Speed, Shearer were all already at the club and first teamers when Robson arrived. The transformational signings were Robert and Bellamy - they completely changed how we played, suddenly we could stretch teams on the flanks, and Bellamy and Dyer supplied pace almost as inside forwards, freeing up room from a massively slowed-down Shearer. With Speed in there too, we often had six players capable of scoring goals in attack - we steamrolled a lot of teams. We did though spend an awful lot of money on mediocre players, or at least players who were unlucky with injuries. Woodgate made our very average back line look temporarily good - he was an unbelievable centre half, still unmatched in B&W for me.

This is definitely a better side - Robson’s centre halves weren’t great. Remember when he paid ten times as much for Bramble as Arsenal did for Toure in 2002? I do.

Robson took quite a lot longer to turn the team round than Howe has - and if Howe qualified for the CL for me he’s surpassed him immediately. Robson had a squad of (in relative terms) better players, and took two seasons - and a fair bit of cash - to get them above mid table. NUFC were already one of the richest clubs in world football when he took over, and there wasn’t a gamut of rich and powerful clubs to get past at that time. Robson was clearly more charismatic than Howe, but that isn’t too important for me. I enjoyed Robson’s time here, but unlike Keegan - who truly did perform something of a miracle - he just did a very good job for most of it. I still find the presence of his statue a bit puzzling tbh.

The quality of Italian football has taken a serious dip over the last decade or so … but the spectacle and atmosphere is still mint

1+8 lads and lasses … 1+8. All because the real Ronaldo took the 9 shirt off him Also, don’t know if it’s been mentioned - how nice does that Inter top look without a sponsor ruining it?

Did a quick check - PL-era only: West Ham were the last team to go down with 40+ points - 42 points in 02/03 - which is also a record for a PL 38 game season The mackems (96-97) and Bolton (97-98) both went down with 40 points in 38 game seasons. The record points tally (PL only) for relegation is 49 - Palace in 92/93

I think they might have went down with the highest points tally for a 38-game season - but I'm sure the mackems went down with 40 points in a season. There probably were others - though relegation with 40 points is a rarity

I was just thinking of that - but the problem is that Johnson, Cole, Carrick, Defore etc were talented kids; this Leicester side aren't that; Barnes, Maddison and Tielemans are 25, 26 and 26 respectively. Mind you that West Ham side might be one of the best sides relegated - from memory their points tally wasn't atrocious either.

I'll second that one. I reckon the lad can handle the rough stuff.

Great stuff. And (almost) all the comments below the tweet aren't depressing ... which feels like a bonus

Longstaff's absence has illustrated two things: first, how vital he is to the way we play (as a player he's obviously not in Bruno's class - few are - but his tidiness on the ball and engine are first class); and second, why the McTominay links were so strong for so long. I can 100% see why Howe would be interested in a player like McTominay to provide direct competition for Longstaff - we're going to need two players for each position who can play Howe-ball. And I'm also aware that some will be reading that last sentence and somewhat disagree

Great news. The women's game was treated criminally for the majority of footballing history - and of course Mike Ashley's NUFC kept that inglorious tradition going far too long into the 21st century.

I was at the 4-1 away and the O'Brien FK 2-1 to complete 11 in a row - and they don't for me

That’s fair enough - that’s your experience and I’m not going to knock it. Don’t get me wrong, every goal I’ve seen at Joker / SOS scored by NUFC resulted in going crackers. But for me, I can’t be arsed with the anxiety and stress - nothing is truly gained from it. And their continued failure is so much funnier than a derby success twice a year - you know it’s eating them up every day being stuck down there when NUFC goes from strength to strength. I’d be perfectly happy to draw the in a cup at some point and watch them given a good old thrashing though.

Balls to that. Keep them down there forever as far as I'm concerned. Winning doesn't mean that much and losing is a fucking nightmare. I'm far happier laughing at the daft twats' plight.

All miserable experiences in the lead up the week before, with of course relief flooding in after them. I can't say I list any game vs the mackems in my top 20 matches for NUFC. Bald men fighting over a comb is what many of them have been.

I’m racking my brains for derbies that were fun … and I’m finding none of them. Even when we’ve won handily. They’re fucking miserable experiences.

I’ve said it before, but they got off lightly in the 90s. Plenty of Mags wrote them off and looked for new rivalries elsewhere; they were insignificant and the piss-taking was minimised. The Ashley era was a reminder not to be so soft - so I say fuck ‘em; I want to laugh at their failures from now until the day I die. The fewm from Wearside is all the greater if they’re floundering around the lower leagues and we’re galavanting on European adventures and competing for silver pots. No-one of a B&W persuasion should ever feel anything but a desire to see them fail again and again and again. They would want the same for us - rightly so, too.

I wouldn’t want to highlight Cloughie’s issues. I know someone who is an alchoholic and it is no laughing matter - particularly for his wife.

I felt terrible for laughing at that. I still did though. Like a drain.

Cracking goal that

If he joined he’d be our sixth-best midfielder - he’d need to be on bargain wages and fee. Soton I reckon will want a few bob and so will he.

Chelsea used to do that with Lampard - you’d definitely play to the lad’s strengths and also limit exposure to his weaknesses

JWP is a beans on toast midfielder but the lad can hit a dead ball If the laws of the game ever change to a gridiron type arrangement he’d be canny to bring on for set plays - and then immediately sub back off because then you’d have JWP playing in midfield

I’d definitely fancy the Mackems to go through vs Luton. Then it’s either their real derby, or the Jimmy Hill Memorial Cup Final