Erikse

Apart from rotation and injuries inside the squad, it's a bit difficult to fit Gordon into our team as a striker or nr. 8. I'm hoping that he will shine as a winger, because that's what we need. But ofcourse, having the ability to do a job in several positions is very nice.

Imagine Joelinton, Bruno and Tonali ganging up on you.. With Dan Burn as their backup.

Sign them up!

Just like Joelinton and Bruno

I think the "struggle" he has had this year has humbled him a bit. I feel like he had a bit of an attitude when coming in, which has been fading away, and hes determined to work hard to deserve his spot in the team. The attitude is something that gets better with age and experience.

Maybe some brazilian team? Don't know where in Brazil the best Brazilian players are from.

I just see so much potensial in Willock.. The guy is still young. Was a great attacking threat with his pace. Had some nice assists too. If he gets his shooting sorted, he will be massive.

Shame I edited before you posted the reply. You misquoted me?

That would be really good. Not as high as ealier reports I believe?

Wait.. Why do we keep talking about breaking the wage ceiling? Didn't we already do that with Tonali now?

Yes, but I was talking about which player that Howe prefers on the left. It seems to be Joelinton as long as we have a strong midfield available.

I still wonder if big Joe will play on the left next season. My guess is that he will, unless Gordon plays much better or we sign a left winger (latter is unlikely). I guess ASM could be in that mix aswell? Not sure if Howe rates him as much as big Joe on the wing though.

Harrymoon

Some players are allways injured though. As for Trippier and Isak they had not been out for this long for a very long time. The Ben Arfa one was also a crazy one.. Just very unlucky these ones. With some players we would've been lucky if they didn't get injured shortly after arrival.

We have a history of having some of our most exciting signings get injured shortly after arrival. Ben Arfa, Trippier, Isak.. I'm sure that I'm forgetting someone. Lets hope it doesn't happen again.

Good thing he doesn't need to have the best fitness out of all players in the squad. Shelvey was just lazy, and didn't have the best attitude for improvement. Also he was 29 when Howe came.

Fitness can surely be improved. We all remember what happened to the squad the first 6 months. He seemed dedicated to improve in that last interview, which is the most important.

I'm sure Newcastle talked to the player before signing him, about his motivations and such..? If this was true I doubt that Newcastle would follow through with all that money. We only want players who are fully commited.

We've been underrated ever since the takeover. Jan 2022 we we're going down and appointed the wrong manager. June 2022 we were just a temporary form team and wouldn't get top 6 next season. January 2023 we were going to drop out of the top 4 eventually. Next season they don't think we have a chance of getting top 4. If we get it, hopefully they've finally learnt their lesson..

I wonder how Tonali compares vs Nick Pope.. I don't think Tonali has ever made a save in his life. Waste of money.

How do you define overpay? What's the appropriate price for such players? The market sets the price.. You could argue that no player is worth that price, nomatter what. Yet all the big clubs keep paying that and even more. That's just how you become a top team these days.. By overpaying for that little extra.

Especially considering that Paqueta went for €70m in the summer.. It's even more crazy to think that we were in the relegation zone and that everyone expected us to overpay for players.. I knew it seemed like a fantastic signing at the time, but like you, I realise more and more with time just how special it was. Brighton does it sometimes, but other than that, it's a rare case. Botman was also an amazing deal, but still not as crazy as the Bruno one.

I think it's very difficult to get players of Brunos level for €40 mill these days. If we keep looking for those kind of signings, it may just be nothing until the end of the window, and then we have to panic if we want key players. I still can't believe how good our first window was.. We hit the jackpot that january. Can't repeat it every window.

Joelinton is a decent CM, but currently i feel he lacks a bit at CDM. To me it looks like he's not really used to that position. I'm sure he could be trained to be an excellent CDM aswell though, if needed. This guy keeps evolving!