TheBrownBottle

Honestly, fuck me ragged, what has the man been watching. He should at least give the press pause for thought before their inevitable xenophobic attacks after next summer's failure

The one that sticks in my head is John Beresford vs Turkey (I think). Just because I was a kid.

Jordan Henderson? I revoke my previous comments. Useless cunt.

Tuchel making me glad I voted remain, before fleeing into self-imposed exile

Sorry to bother a sick person - but how are the rankings looking so far based on the players rated to date?

I think I might be one of Murphy’s biggest defenders on N-O - but he’s still a D for me on the basis of how the rankings work. I’ll happily state that as a pro and as a bloke he’s an A, mind - and it is all credit to him and Howe just how well he’s performed in this side. He’s a PL quality player, but only as a squad member

100% mate - you still have to spend it wisely, and Howe mostly did; he has a better transfer success rate than any previous NUFC manager IMO. Just trying to be fair to previous managers - and I’m thinking of the likes of Rafa rather than Bruce (edit: though oddly enough it could be argued that Bruce’s transfers weren’t all that terrible in the long run - and Rafa made some right bollocks-ups! )

It’s all context, of course - other managers haven’t exactly had the budget either. But my view remains that (for me) Howe performed a borderline miracle in 21/22, did a superb job in 22/23, did a good job in 23/24, and has done a very good job this season (with caveats around some of the performances early on and recently). We’re 6th and in a cup final - we have to be happy with that is my view (I always get really fucked off when we lose in the FA Cup, so I was annoyed the other week) - the league is so tight that this time next month we could easily be 3rd, or we could be in 10th. I can’t understand any calls for his head tbh - the bloke clearly has a lot of ‘credit in the bank’. When things were looking grim earlier in the season, I was posting in this thread that if it carried on until the end of the season that might be as far as he goes. Barring a major drop in form, we should be ok - and if we win on Sunday, I frankly don’t give two hoots what happens until May. The man will be able to coast on it for some time for me

Don’t get me wrong - playing a beautiful attacking style and blowing Liverpool off the park wouldn’t meet with any complaints from me. But an 90th minute calamitous OG by their keeper to win it after we’ve spent the previous 89 having 20% possession and zero shots on goals would meet with no complaints from me either

Dolly’s Friends of Leazes Park looks like they’ll get their signatures from their previous sources:

England’s Big Dan Burn I think Tuchel is actually trying to make me watch an England qualifier for the first time in about a decade

Apropos of nothing, I hear we’ve got a cup final this weekend?

We’ll know where the new stadium is, what it looks like and what its capacity is soon enough. Most construction documentation is commercial-in-confidence, and I seriously doubt the local football hacks have the contacts in the civils & construction industry at consultancies involved (given that this is high-level optioneering, it won’t have seen too many eyes), nor high enough up at the club (ie at PIF) to know what is coming. It’s all just paper talk for now - ie complete bollocks, and the ITKs talk even more bollocks.

I actually wish they’d stop banging on about history and how long it’s been - Bruno’s comments re the final being a distraction were a concern not an inspiration. Successful clubs and teams don’t overegg this stuff - it is applying additional pressure which doesn’t need to exist.

Yep - I can still remember the ‘Shearer cost the same as your ground’ crack.

‘After decades of underinvestment’. You’d think the Tory cunt would have a modicum of self awareness

Commercial revenue = club merchandise, secondary uses of the stadium and sponsorships. There is no ‘super secret strategy’. You flog more gear, hoy on other stuff at your ground and get more commercial partners onboard, and that’s that. To do it, you need a larger fanbase, a bigger and better stadium, and success on the pitch to persuade multiple bidders to become your official dildo suppliers. Tale as old as time

Mike Ashley’s vision finally realised!

If uses part of the current footprint, I propose we call the new stadium ‘St James’ Park’.

‘I’m just reporting what I hear, that’s the job’, or however the cunt excuses that shite

Can a hole sink into a hole? I feel like it’s a question only Bertram Russell could answer

This shite always goes up before a big match for us. Bollocks to it - go and win it and shut the fuckers up, Eddie. There’s a statue in it for you if you do

Yep. ‘Supporting’ players isn’t sticking anonymous posts on an internet forum. I’ve never seen how that qualifies as ‘support’. Anyone giving the lad grief at the match, away from the pitch or on social media deserves criticism - it doesn’t help. But if the player decides to search for a Newcastle supporter’s online forum, then searches for his own name, I’m not sure he should be too surprised that he might find some criticism. But he’d have to seek it out in the first place.

Pope is a D for me these days. Was a comfortable C

Because Duran’s team didn’t have a cup final a fortnight later. Gordon’s did.