Ellis H

He’s genuinely not far off the best we’ve ever had at this point.

Literally unstoppable. He’s adding millions onto Isak’s valuation.

I really, really love how much of an enigma he is both on and off the pitch. Nobody even knowing if he has retired is so him.

6 points off 18th at the minute.

As expensive as he’d be, Mbuemo would pay for himself over time. He personally could be the difference between Champions League and Europa League this year. Dibling would be a wait and see for a presumably not too dissimilar fee.

3 wins in the league since 1st October for Bruce and now 10 points off relegation.

“Since the start of last season, Alexander Isak has scored 34 Premier League goals. Only Erling Haaland (43) & Mohamed Salah (35) have managed more” Haaland - 4,345 minutes, 48.2 games Salah - 4,114 minutes, 45.7 games Isak - 3,718 minutes, 41.3 games.

He was really attacking the ball from offensive corners and free kicks. Should be good for a few goals in the next few months.

Now 11 points clear of Tottenham and 15 clear of Man Utd. Next games… Liverpool vs Man Utd Arsenal vs Tottenham Newcastle vs Wolves We should be almost guaranteed to finish above them if these games go as expected.

11 in the league.

7 points off relegation on January 1st with Liverpool away next.

When we beat Tottenham we’ll be 11 points clear of them and Man Utd losing to Liverpool would put us 13 clear of them. 2 European rivals eliminated by 5th January. We’d absolutely not be in such a great position if he’d been sacked a month ago.

There’s far too many clips of Onana passing the ball directly to the opposition on the edge of the box and failing to save basic shots. Wolves scored directly from a corner today if anyone hasn’t seen it. Pope has his flaws but he unquestionably gains us many points a season.

For almost all of the last 2 decades we’d have desperately and pathetically defended that early goal and probably lost 3-1. Now, Howe will be lying awake tonight gutted we didn’t get the 5 or 6 we fully deserved. 2 extremely winnable games against top 6 rivals next to set us up perfectly for the second half of the season.

We could be 10 points off the top on Christmas Day with a semi final coming up. Don’t think a single one of us would have deemed that even slightly realistic in pre-season. The reality is obviously more nuanced but plenty of reasons to be very optimistic about the second half of the season.

Any talk of going backwards makes me remember we were bottom of the league and 5 points off safety when he took over in late November. We didn’t win any of the first 14 games but won 12 of the last 18 to finish 11th. Since that season we’ve finished 4th with a cup final appearance, 8 points off 4th (and a cup final upset away from Europe) and are now 5 points off 4th and in the Semi Finals of the cup. He’s consistently got us challenging for the top 4 and trophies with a top 8 squad. What could he do with a top 6 squad? Or even a top 4 one? I hope we get to find out.

Assuming he’s in some way available, last night showed why we should push the boat out for Mbeumo. He wasn’t on the pitch long and created 2 huge chances out of nothing in a team that hadn’t looked interested all game. That, and giving us a good hiding in the away game, was a brilliant audition. He’d cost a lot but would be worth his weight in gold in this team.

“We didn’t have Rodri” again no doubt.

The point we got off Palace looking a good one now. They’re doing really well against the top 10.

Not sure what he did but it’s officially 5 yellow cards so he’s definitely out. “His suspension leaves Town with only one recognised striker for next week's Newcastle clash - Ali Al-Hamadi, who was playing in League Two at the start of 2024.”

You’re right. Just looked and would never have guessed he’d played that much.

https://www.nufc.com/html/2020-21html/2020-12-22brentford-a.html Almost exactly 4 years ago. It’s easy to moan about things now but never forget what it was like. Some good Bruce quotes in there for the connoisseurs.

They drew 2-2 last week with Brighton tbf. Maybe we made them look bad?

Yeah, I was thinking about those reliable, fringe type players like Watson, Sellars, Fox, Gillespie etc. He’ll be on stage at the Tyne Theatre in 30 years telling stories about this period.

Assuming a similar trajectory, Osula will be Isak’s replacement next season.