Ellis H

Mitchell would be ideal if he’s happy being a squad player. Assuming Trippier is off we’d have Targett, Krafth and Burn as backup full back options but their contracts expire next summer (according to nufc.com). He’d replace Targett and Krafth immediately, meaning we can try to sell them now.

Funny how he’s coming crawling back now we’ve won something. Pathetic. ONLY pulled his hamstring? Shows how little he cares. I’ve always respected that he’s kept his distance, not wanting to overshadow the manager the way Alex Ferguson often does. He might feel more comfortable now Howe’s fully embedded in our hearts and there’ll be no talk of him “coming for Howe’s job” just because he’s at a game.

“Former Magpies striker Michael Chopra said this week that some senior players have told him they do not know their jobs on the pitch. But he came out fighting on Friday, and took aim for Chopra in particular. “I'm not taking notice of someone who's played 20 games and scored one goal here,' said Bruce. 'Someone with a bit of credence, I can understand. When it's complete lies, that's when it’s disappointing. I would expect him to be ignored. Who is he? It's absolute lies and we all know why he's on the radio. Newcastle legend who played 20 times for the club… Jesus. If it's Alan Shearer ? Bring it on. 'I'm just surprised that people pay any attention to him.”

The article is in the comments.

This is a satisfying watch. Also shows his record vs the top 6 at the time was played 63 and won 2. (it’s not clear but Collymore says “Phil” Dummett said something wasn’t right)

I remember watching a few episodes of Big Brother when Ron Atkinson went in. He wasn’t there for long but he hated it and wanted to leave but knew if he voluntarily left he’d not get his fee. This is what he said to Les Battersby about it “I’d be very happy to pack my bags and go. I know this ain’t my scene. I'm having to keep a lid on a lot of things. In the immortal words of Steve Bruce, you've just got to grin and bank it.” We obviously already knew his eventual payoff is more important than things like pride or self respect but it’s nice to know he’s very open about it away from the cameras.

"One of the most gifted players I've ever played with," admitted Meyler, the Cork native remaining on good terms with the former French international despite their disappointing spell as teammates. "But when we had to report for training by 10:00 am, Hatem would turn up at 9:59:59 am. You had to be out on the pitch and ready to go by 10:25 am and Hatem would stroll out at 10:24:59 am. "He wouldn't tie his boots, he'd saunter around training but this boy was so gifted." "You had the likes of myself, [Paul] McShane, [Stephen] Quinn and we were there every day grafting and putting in as much effort as we could," he recalled, "and he would just toss sessions off completely. "But when we would walk out towards training he would be like, 'I'm going to nutmeg you, you and you today,' and he could take the ball and just go past five or six, take it around the 'keeper and have an empty net but take the ball back to go around a defender again. "I'm looking at myself then and it is frustrating, because I looked at it as if he was wasting his talent... If I had his ability and my mentality I'd be at Real Madrid." For manager Steve Bruce and Ben Arfa's teammates, it all came to a head when Hull took on Manchester United with the French midfielder starting in midfield. "The manager took Hatem off after about 35, 40 minutes," Meyler explained, "and at half-time he got the stats that Allan McGregor who was in goals for us had run more than Hatem Ben Arfa in the first-half. "I remember Steve Bruce blew a gasket and went off at him, but Hatem just sat there laughing at him." A season that would see Hull City relegated to the Championship, Meyler admitted that Ben Arfa's approach served to ultimately frustrate his teammates also. "On a Monday morning training session," he remembered, "[I was among] the lads who hadn't played and we were going through our paces getting a full workout. "Something just cracked between myself and Stephen Quinn and we lost it. The issue was raised and Hatem was eventually told he wasn't wanted anymore. "You can't let [problems like that] exist in a changing room." I try to defend him whenever possible but this probably sums it up and Pardew has said similar. He had a very unique time growing up which probably didn’t help his mental development. https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/newcastle-hatem-ben-arfa-says-3310117

“A few years ago now, a well known London-based scribe hosted a party. The guest list varied from friends and family to work colleagues and a few folk he knew from the world of football. It was a pretty big house and one room was cornered off to the bemusement of most of the revellers. It transpires that this was the VIP area. At a house party. Alan Pardew then manager of West Ham United, was the only person sitting in it.”

Any ex-footballer or manager with a brain should know that being complementary about your former team and fans is just about the most low effort/high reward thing you can do. You don’t even have to mean it, you just have to say a few bland platitudes and you’ll be forgiven for anything in some people’s eyes.

We desperately need to get the GK/CB right because that’s where we’re failing in the league. Scoring isn’t normally a problem but a better defence could turn some defeats into draws which would have us nearer Arsenal this season. They’ve only won 2 more games than we have (played 1 more) but we’ve lost 9 to their 3. We’ve also conceded more than Everton and Palace. In 22/23 we drew 14 and lost 5 and in 23/24 we drew 6 and lost 14. Currently it’s drawn 5 and lost 9.

The clubs that could afford him had the chance to sign him last summer but they didn’t and not much has changed since. He’ll still be here in September.

Love how his voice breaks when he tries to talk to Shearer at 2:00. Like a lovestruck young boy.

Charge £10 a ticket and sign Yamal with the money.

I’ve been full on mainlining these kind of videos since Sunday. He couldn’t be more likeable.

15k turned up to look at Michael Owen pretending to be happy so this could be in the millions, if not billions.

Doesn’t feel like that long ago where I hated almost everything and everybody to do with this club and was wanting them to lose games because I wanted them all to suffer. It’s not all down to Howe, but he’s the ongoing catalyst that Keegan was in 1992. It’s a complete 180 in terms of culture and expectations which shows what we could have possibly been doing for the last 20 years if the club had chosen to and yes, it was a choice. Days like yesterday were always possible but we had people actively deciding against it and openly saying having ambition is too risky. “Thank God we’re not in Europe again”.

You can see how they’d be in big trouble next year if Salah, Trent and Van Dijk all leave. They’d be going for free as well so no money coming in to replace them.

One recurring theme in the behind the scenes type videos is that he’s an absolute nightmare but in a lovable young brother way.

The Conference is the one West Ham won while finishing 14th and Chelsea are the big favourites this year despite mostly playing a second string team. Should be an easy way to never have to mention the Fairs Cup win again.

Can picture Guehi carving religious graffiti onto the trophy with a penknife. Weird how he hasn’t written anything on his captains armband since.

Newcastle-Brentford Leicester-Newcastle Newcastle-Man Utd Newcastle-Crystal Palace Aston Villa-Newcastle Newcastle-Ipswich Brighton-Newcastle Newcastle-Chelsea Arsenal-Newcastle Newcastle-Everton The fixtures are certainly there for 4th/5th. Plenty of teams will be on the beach or playing for nothing.

Hope we continue with that corner routine. Even if he gets fully marked it’ll leave room for others. He also scored a header for Yeovil in a playoff game at Wembley years ago. Must mean he’s scoring for England next week.

Keegan entirely regenerating the club from almost bottom of division 1 to being 12 points clear in the PL in only a few years is so hard to beat as an achievement but I think Howe will smash Keegan to bits long term. He’s certainly standing on the shoulders of Keegan though and we can’t forget it.

He’s just done something every single one of us have dreamt of, scoring a winner for Newcastle in a cup final. I hope he fully understands what that means.