TheBrownBottle

Yeah, Man Utd and Chelsea winning Euro tournaments and finishing outside the top four would mean 4th misses out

Portsmouth 1992 Man Utd 1996 Southampton 2023 Hard to separate them, tbh. I actually think the chronological order is probably the correct one

If I’m selecting the XI, I’ve got ASM in place of Longstaff, with Joe dropping back into LCM offering that cover to ASM. Not sure I risk Isak if he’s not 100%, though if he is he starts. I won’t argue with Howe’s choice though

You’ve brought Cole into it! And at no. 2. I won’t write any more as I don’t want to fall out ?

Isn’t he not back to full training atm? Can’t imagine Howe would risk him. Can’t wait for him to be fully up and running. That lad just looks a complete natural.

Wilson > Ba for me too; Ba was a cracking forward too mind. Love all three tbh. Totally understand your take on Ferdinand ?

We’ll have to agree to disagree on Ferdinand vs Wilson lads and lasses. This isn’t to knock Sir Les, I just think a fit Wilson is his equal. I can’t prove that, of course.

They’ve spent the last 18 months telling themselves this is Man City Mk II and we’re going to spend billions. The walls of reality are crashing in hard. The rest of us who expected competence and considered investment are thoroughly enjoying it all.

I think a fit Wilson is a dead heat with a fit Ferdinand. Shearer - no comparison, of course. But I think Callum is up there with Sir Les when firing. Also worth remembering that Ferdinand, like Wilson this season, was also shite after Xmas that year edit: English football was utter shite in ‘96, which is a big, big difference. There’s no way anyone can argue it was a good league at that point; performances in Europe were at their nadir that year

It only fucks us over if an English team also wins the UEFA Cup. The rules are a maximum of five teams; winners of the European Cup and UEFA Cup qualify for the CL groups automatically. If two English teams win the big two UEFA tournaments, the 4th place team misses out

Lee would play ahead of Longstaff; Beardsley would fit in either of the wide forward positions (Beardsley was a pressing forward before pressing was a thing)

Ah telt yez it would be controversial Nope, nope and nope for me. Ginola wouldn’t fit this side; I’m unconvinced that Ferdinand is better than Isak or Wilson (as in Ferdinand dropped into the PL of 2023 wouldn’t have a better goal record than Wilson as a ratio); Botman and Schar are leaps and bounds better than Albert for me.

I’ve never done so, but I suspect I might if we win this thing. I’ve no idea what I’ll feel like tbh

Controversial opinion time: this current side beats the KK one, and does so comfortably. The KK one was stronger relative to the rest of the PL of its day, but you’re currently watching a better side. English football is so much better today quality-wise than it was in 1996. In terms of the KK side in Feb ‘96, Beardsley and Lee are the only two who would likely start for me.

It would still be a massive surprise if anyone else comes in - certainly for big money. They won’t want this year to be a running a loss due to the three-year-spread which FFP is based upon. We’re already likely to be creaking at the edges. Wait til the summer, with the vastly increased revenues and sponsorship deals, and go from there. This has been a good window to me if business is done

And how many of those would most consider a success? I’d say Joao Felix, Coutinho, Lukaku and Pogba definitely weren’t; and Grealish and Dembele don’t look worth the money.

Or, of course, why Twitter is worth avoiding 100% of the time. Weird entitled twats being wound up by professional sad cases

The ‘why are we getting players from the Championship’ brigade out in full force I take it? ‘Just go and get Maddison for £80m’ etc. Thick as pig shit that lot, not even worth interacting with them.

Yeah, completely agree. Spurs for the first decade and a half also looked like the other member of the ‘Big 5’ who looked like they’d shot themselves in the foot, being a consistently mediocre mid table side. The 2010s turned that round for them.

I suspect some of it also comes from having been in the top division for so long, it engenders a greater sense of entitlement. Everton are a big club, and have an impressive history, but their history since the late 80s more closely resembles Southampton or Coventry’s long unbroken runs in the top flight; and they’ve had some very near escapes. A few years in the lower tiers would likely fix some of those issues.

Shoulder-shrug news if it happens - I’ve never rated him particularly highly, and he’s on serious wedge. There are very few players who’ve been involved in the relegation of NUFC that I feel misty-eyed about - and I think he spent the vast majority of his time at NUFC being lazy and half-arsed, tempered by short spells with Benitez and Howe. Best of luck to him elsewhere if he goes - wonder how many more we can ship off to Forest?

Brucebean

There isn’t one in mine - my NUFC memories stretch back to the ‘80s, and I don’t think we’ve had a better RB in that time.

100%. He honestly thinks he’s out there telling brave truths in a jokey manner, the Bill Hicks of North East football hacks. I saw this tweet from him on here: https://twitter.com/LukeEdwardsTele/status/1619416589711073281?cxt=HHwWgoDT0d2zqfksAAAA and my only reaction was a head shake and thinking ‘you sad cunt’. Honestly, someone who knows him should just tell him to get off Twitter, or just use it to post links to his articles.