TheBrownBottle

Not in my view - his best season was 22/23 when he played the majority of his games at LW

Just my opinion of course, but Longstaff doesn't offer a great deal less in midfield. He's not as good defensively, but his passing and goalscoring record is better

He just isn't a midfielder. I never said he wasn't a good player. I doubt Isak would be much good at left back, or Bruno at centre forward Joelinton looks really good to me at LW, with someone like Willock behind him in midfield. He uses his power and pace to cause defences trouble - and his touch can be excellent

Newcastle city limits - which rules out Wallsend or Gateshead. The closer to the city centre the better.

No-one is spending a couple of hundred million minimum to build a 40k temporary stadium which would see two seasons usage at the most. Not going to happen in a million years Gateshead is a separate town - it is Newcastle United tbf.

The lad absolutely grafts his bollocks off, no doubt about that

Yep - I was anticipating that we would cash in on Joelinton over the last 12 months - I don't think we'd necessarily get our original money back, but in terms of his amortised fee it would have been a significant gain. He's not as good as the other two LW options, and the only midfielder he's better than is Longstaff - and I'd say that's fine margins. In an ideal world, this wouldn't even need to be considered. He's not a midfielder full stop, for me

Case for the prosecution your honour … https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46057167.amp

I still love the gadgie, I love the fact he went from being possibly the worst centre forward we’ve ever had (on a pound for pound basis - and I do mean £££) to beloved fan favourite, feted by pundits and capped by Brazil But he’s a long way short of being a good PL midfielder

LW or nowt for me. He’s not a midfielder, he’s nowhere near strong enough technically, and he’s a walking red card at this point.

Never looked like one to me - those clips that did the rounds at the time didn’t help.

Fucking awful news, wish him well

The PL really is shit at reading the room tbf - and it is absolutely suggestive of the arrogance they have and the contempt in which they hold everyone else The complete lack of transparency in what is the national sport is a disgrace

😄👍

I reckon if I was an international NUFC fan I’d be even more fucked off that she’s their rep.

I agree - but those FAB should be about supporter experience etc. It is too small and unrepresentative to be giving opinions on stadiums etc.

I reckon it pretty much should be the criteria. I haven’t been in years - I wouldn’t be anything like as presumptuous enough to apply to be on it. Those who’ve committed the hard cash and hours should have the loudest voices - even if that means the likes of Darren Curry …

Backpeddling is the best exercise football hacks get these days He’s taken the cancelled Friday rules change vote as proof of Man City winning. But it is just as likely that a cancelled vote on rule changes has occurred because there’s no reason to vote on changing them 2 + 2 = 3,152,362

Yeah I enjoy trundling along to their games. The Champions League win remains an unbelievable achievement

Chelsea next round? Fucking hell man.

Aye, agreed. WSW play home games at Parramatta’s shiny new ground (a stone’s throw from the Olympic Stadium, as well) and that’s usually pretty empty. I’ve seen football and both rugby codes at the Allianz (or at least in its old form - before some of the shady shite which saw it demolished and replaced with a new stadium which was the same size when there was nothing wrong with the old one), and yep that’s the same.

It’s on the list and won’t register with many, but the Sydney derbies I’ve been to were actually canny good (and passionate) experiences. The first one was at Sydney FC and the Western Wanderers away end genuinely took me by surprise. It has a bit too much ‘organised fun’ element (though I think they think it is intimidating- in reality organised chants always look forced to me), but it was impressively loud (example below):

Agreed - the numbers don’t amount to much, even if you host two or three big concerts in the summer. Spurs also don’t make crazy money from the NFL games (I don’t understand why so many think this is a massive revenue earner - the ground holds the same number, you can check out the ticket prices, and Spurs don’t receive 100% of that income, unlike PL games) - the thing people are missing is that Spurs make nearly £1m per match on food and drink. Which is logical, given that it works out as less than £20 per head. The problem for NUFC is that the ground is located where it is, and culturally the fans do what they always do - which is to enjoy the watering holes in the city before trundling up to the match. I’d be no different, mind. But from the club’s perspective, the ground’s location is actually has a massive retardant effect on match day revenues. So they’d need to be smart to have any chance of catching up.

I disagree tbh - I think this was always the intent, though I don’t doubt that without the restrictions it would have been quicker. We’re an investment and always were - it’s why they bought NUFC and not MUFC. They were never going to plough in piles of cash without thinking - KSA is a nation-state, not a rump city-state with vast natural resources like Abu Dhabi or even Qatar. The only vanity projects PIF invest in are within KSA, for the direct benefit of KSA. Hoying money at a remote part of the UK with no return on investment would simply be a waste of money for them.

Why would it need to be a loan? And a cheap one at that? They either invest or they don’t. The club doesn’t need to be landed with debt to do it - the value is added to the club’s value. Interest payments are part of FFP - infrastructure costs are not. Besides, riba - usury - is forbidden in Sharia. I wouldn’t expect our owners to start charging the club interest on a loan …