Viana

No such thing as a bad Champions League draw. Embrace the big away days, make SJP look special, and just enjoy it.

You'd be mad to try and guess Southgate's approach. Very scattergun.

I can't help but feel like FFP is broken if it makes more sense to sell promising young players to fund shiny new things.

I don't know any of the True Faith people personally, but when I have listened I feel it falls into the trap of many podcasts, which is presuming a podcast is just have a chat and hit record. It leaves the whole thing feeling a bit empty and like a string of adjectives thrown together. There's more nuance to it than that. In my opinion, a good podcast looks like a natural conversation because of how much work goes on behind the curtain to orchestrate that in a way so that it glides between prepared and spontaneous, with the chemistry generated by continuity of panel another factor (none of the big pods have this anymore). It also requires a degree of self-sacrifice from your host/guest to not make it about them. You need a keen eye on when to let the conversation flow and when to move on. I've not tried many of the ones you mention as enjoying, so will definitely load them up. I will also echo what @Wullie says below. It's become formulaic. The journalists aren't truly plugged into a lot of the lesser clubs so they tend to regurgitate the same talking points. That's how the narrative becomes reinforced, and in reality, you can't provide ample context or even alternative viewpoints in those little three or four minute blocks. Cutting a 20-25 minute chat down is hard for an editor, but also a disservice to your audience, and running a 2 hour plus podcast every week probably won't deliver the listen time the money men want. I debated whether different formats would work, or if doing a bi-weekly deep dive pod on one team's situation alongside your standard pre and post game ones would work, but I'm not sure. They're trying to appeal to the broadest audience by covering all the teams, but by doing that they're kind of covering none of them adequately. The fact that the Guardian and Totally Football know they're too big to fail means there's also no incentive to change. The Ramble's approach to European coverage is nice, I just don't know if you'd get that to work for the Premier League. If you have planned to discuss Bournemouth and Iraola's exciting tactical approach and then Liverpool blitz Man Utd 7-0 again you're going to abandon that first pod instantly.

I’d say he’s comparable to Pau Torres. He’s very good on the ball, but his physicality is lacking and that’s always going to be a problem in the Premier League.

I also think Saudi - whether it’s a PIF club or not - can’t be bothered with the scrutiny. It was a fight to justify ASM for 23m, so how are you even trying to price Bruno or someone of his ilk?

Ex-refs as pundits is a terrible idea. It totally undermines the current officials. Being a ref is not an exact science. You laws are set in stone but the situations you apply them to are nuanced and don’t overlap exactly. Having some whopper like Clattenburg disagreeing is just rage bait. It’s embarrassing to see Liverpool fans argue this. He literally told the fourth official to fuck off, and their manager doubled down after the fact. God some of their fans are insufferable.

He didn’t really stand out when I saw him last year but the Stats Lads seem to love him.

I was bored waiting for my wife to finish up in the gym and did some digging. The lad on Twitter cited the 1913 PSV forum as his source. A check on there took me to a thread on Bakayoko specifically. A poster by the name of Armada appears to have a reputation for delivering good info without overstretching. Armada posted a story from GiveMeSport that claims a £30m bid is being weighed up: https://www.givemesport.com/newcastle-interested-in-signing-very-highly-rated-30m-star-at-st-james-park/ It’s unclear if he’s just sharing news or is tipping them off.

Coxy is a good lad and a tidy player actually. He absolutely pulls no punches with colleagues though which amuses me. You’re right it’s a better listen because there’s insight. The Guardian one lately has felt like listening to four improv comics trying new bits of material at the same time. I also wish we had a Newcastle podcast with a bit of sophistication. I don’t need numbers rammed down my throat, but even just a bit of proper discourse about the club and the matches outside of “he was shite” or “how good is he?” I know that means more pre-production and likely more left on the cutting room floor, but I really feel there’s a space for a curated Newcastle fan media platform. Podcasts on classic games, interviews with former players. Just something substantial.

Incredibly poor form from Luton.

Came in to post this. It’s possibly some of Clery’s finest work and does a great job of explaining what Howe’s next step is in evolving the team. We can’t rely solely on wide players to offer width, especially when we know the opponent intends to sit deep. It’s one thing for the two 8’s to drift out wide and create triangles (Bruno is class at this), we also need our fullbacks to offer varied support. The good news is; I think Howe knew this and that’s why we’ve pushed hard for two young fullbacks that like to get forward and contribute in the final third. It would have been a bold move, but if you drop Lewis Hall in there for Burn at half time or on the hour mark and let Trippier sit as part of the three man defence instead of Burn I think you get that second goal.

Gazzaschicken:

Jesus. £50m feels a lot, but he also stacks up quite similarly to Anthony Gordon in terms of goal return and skillset. If it's £50m in guaranteed money that's a rough deal though.

Yep. I like him a lot. Good bloke, highly intelligent, but they need mobility to kill transitions. Amrabat looked like that guy but they don’t seem interested. I don’t know who does their recruitment (one for @Froggy to answer) but their moves don’t appear to have much joined up thinking. It’s very odd to me.

Man Utd don’t need Hojbjerg.

We basically battered Villa then seemed meek against a genuine threat. If they return to even just the same speed and level as against Villa - regardless of result - I’ll be happy.

I can’t find the alleged footage anywhere?

Reading posts here from those in attendance it didn't sound like the TV did things a disservice. The last competitive game I was at was against Man Utd, Christmas 2021. It was bouncing from start to finish. Part of me feels like we need to get back to that mindset. It will sound twee, but when the stadium and the players are in unison it's one of the toughest places to go. It's all well and good waving flags before kick off, and for big Champions League games, but watching the games I've felt sometimes we dip off when it goes a bit quiet. Sometimes we have to give them a gee up when heads drop or shoulders slump. That's what it means to be the 12th man. We shouldn't be waiting for them. We were often talked about as being a great set of fans when stuff was going poorly, it should be even easier now.

It's definitely an issue, I'd want more clean sheets, but the truth is we play an aggressive style that relies heavily on the back four winning their individual battles over being a compact unit. For the most part they do a good job of limiting chances and ultimately goals conceded. With all that said, it does concern me how little we have in the way of recovery pace. That was all Darwin Nunez had today if we're being frank. He was able to run in behind twice. Once he got a lucky bounce, and the second time Burn wasn't able to keep up with him. Lewis Hall and Livramento will offer us a different profile at fullback, someone that can dribble and cross and be a genuine threat with recovery pace, but I do worry a bit for Schar. He's great at a lot of things, but his game has never been about physical prowess. It's why I think we likely go in for a CB on loan before the window shuts.

It did surprise me we didn’t see any of the one twos we’d heard so much about.

It is hard to see what the plan is with KLD outside of sign young players and hope it goes well. I'm not sure how achievable it is to just hang about the Championship either given how competitive it is. It's early doors still but Bellingham is looking like the jewel in the crown, so it'll be interesting to see if he keeps this up in 12-18 months time.

But he did score though mate I know the point you're making, but in the Premier League, especially at the top level, it's not about what might have happened. I love Miggy, but Gordon's on a goal and an assist and overall has been involved in a lot of best moments in these first few games. We're moving away from the days of Ashley whereby the squad was small and we had to embrace the lads faults because it was all about stopping up. We've got huge aspirations and every place higher in the league earns us more dosh and opens up more opportunities for the club. It's not like say Wilson where he's begging Barnes to play him in. Miggy had three big chances. One was an outrageous save, but the other two have to be seen as poor finishes in the cold light of day.

We're going for a CB if anyone I think. Losing Botman today was a reminder of how vital he is (first goal aside lol). Edit: Just watched a highlight reel of him and christ on a bike if he doesn't feel like someone describing Saint-Maximin with a dash less flair.