500bhp

Exactly. The agent represents the player not the other was round. IMO every single comment that comes from an agent has been agreed with the player. The player is the paymaster and boss man, and the agent follows his instructions.

Yes, without a doubt the best day I've ever experienced being at a NUFC match. The tears at FT were unbelievable. Taking in what had just happened and thinking about all those people we've lost who never experienced us winning something. The feeling that day at Wembley will never be repeated no matter what we win in years to come. I'm so privileged that I was there to see it on that wonderful day 🖤🤍

That's probably all true and I bet we knew month's earlier that Isak wanted out. Wouldn't be surprised if we knew before the season ended. Also wouldn't be surprised if Howe wanted him sold in June and he was let down by the owners who publicly said he wasn't for sale, and that's what fucked up our window. If any of that's true, then Howe was let down by the way the owners mismanaged the Isak saga.

Is Tel not just another version of Osula, never payed him much attention before. As we often go back to previous targets wonder when the Jackson rumours will restart.

Next week if they push up with their CBs sitting about 10 meters from our 18 yard box which they often do at home (so I've been told) we can really hit them on the break with Gordon, Elanga and Barnes up top. That's my hope and we must take those chances because we will get them.

In all seriousness he's already worth >£100m. A good WC and he'll become the most sought after player in PL. Got to get him onto a new contract as the highest earner, and a release clause around £150m. I guess he'll not sign a new deal without the release clause.

Started in last 16 versus Barcelona and scored against Liverpool and Man United. His value has instantly gone from £30m to £45m for this summer.

The CL brand and sponsors must be protected. Its fucking more corrupt than the PL. The likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Munich, Liverpool, etc have to go through to the later ko stages as that's what the UEFA brand needs. Can't have the likes of Newcastle knocking out the teams that the sponsors throw loads of money at. For reference see us away at PSG in 2023.

Did anyone else in the stadium notice the ref when the 4 minutes were up? Barca were on the attack which they got the pen from, and the ref was in the centre circle jogging slowly as he was taking a message into his headphones. Lasted about 5 seconds but he was being told something. I jokingly said to the lads around me, he's been told to keep playing until they score, then guess what happened next.....

3.44 days is ridiculous. I've mentioned it loads on here but when we play the mackems a fortnight today, we'll have played something like 16 more games than them!

Solanke, another signing from a relegated club 😀

Yes, I get that. The silver lining being that no cup fixtures means we have one game per week for the first time since September so in theory we should end the season very strongly 🤞

Yeah, we just said exactly the same in the pub earlier. When we play the mackems we'll likely be out the CL as well as the FA cup and no European football next season. So it's imperative that we beat them. Lose and the crowd will definitely turn. But I'm confident that Eddie and his team will beat those fuckers.

On the metro coming back from the match. Not read all 42 pages of comments but fucking hell, we've been unlucky with the draws this season in the FA cup. Three ties all against PL teams, including those 3rd and 2nd when we played them - Mackems play the team about 70th in the league pyramid for fucks sake. The team is shattered and running on fumes. Eddie is doing the best he can under the circumstances and we've still got the chance to progress in the CL. Its been a fucking brutal season in terms of number of games played.

I've said it before but by the time we play the Mackems we will have played something like 16 more games than them.

I'm sure it was 3 minutes on the board in the first half? And we played 10.

Yes, plus we did have debt. It was c£130m of loans due to MA personally. Its still classed as debt/liabilities on the balance sheet, even if its owed to a related party.

Yes he did and was limping very heavily when running to the huddle of players. He could barely walk, just cramp hopefully.

Yes, there's no way that ref last night would have given a second yellow to the likes of Salah, Haaland, Rice, etc in that same situation.

Yes great news. So who is the key player who's already agreed a summer move to a London club? Gordon maybe. Better not be Hall.

Tomorrow night is very important but its the PL home game after that where things could get nasty! Lose that, especially if we're out of both cups by then, and I feel large sections of the crowd will turn. The atmosphere in the stadium against Brentford and Everton at full time wasn't nice, people were arguing when leaving and some were still all the way down to the Haymarket. As a club we should be past, 'lose to Mackems home and away and the manager goes', but the mood will change if that happens. Easy to remedy though, just smash the fuckers on the 22nd 😀.

Exactly, this point is missed by so many. The NUFC board has publicly stated via the CEO that it wants us competing for the CL and PL by 2030 i.e. four years from now. From their point of view is there anything on Howe's CV to suggest he'll deliver this? Can he successfully juggle PL and Europe? Has he challenged for league titles before? Will they be happy with mid table this season, or even bottom half? Are out tactics agile enough to play against different formations? Doesn't matter what us gobshites on here think, we dont set the strategy or vision for NUFC or hire/fire managers. If the board are really serious about those 2030 ambitions I wouldn't be surprised if Howe goes end of May. FWIW I'm still Howe In as at today, and I voted as still behind him but with reservations in the poll at the top.

Its been a few years and my memory of it is fading, and there are people on here with more knowledge of other PL teams than me, but it does feel a bit like Bournemouth all over again. I remember watching that Howe team when they got promoted to the PL and they were great to watch. Full of energy, intensity and attacking. Remember watching them tear us apart at SJP under Maclaren. Then they made some poor transfers and faded, all the intensity was gone and they went backwards very quickly. Even a Bruce team won 4-1 at their place. We've gone backwards this season, but the important question is whether Howe has it in him to turn it around. Is he still up for that challenge. Plus whether the board still believe in him. He's publicly doubting himself in interviews and some of his answers such as 'I've no idea' don't sound good. He also looks shattered and not as confident as a few years ago. He's what, third longest serving PL manager? Maybe both parties will decide a change is needed.

I think too many people blame PSR without looking at the bigger picture or from the players perspective. If the wages were broadly similar would you sign for us last summer over, Liverpool, just won the PL. Chelsea, just won the Club World Cup. Man Utd, possibly the biggest club in the world. Man City, best English club of the last decade. And that's just the sporting side. You can also live in the best parts of West London or Cheshire. Our rivals above all have a pedigree of consistently winning trophies in the last decade and are international brands. With hindsight I think we aimed too high last summer with our targets. Then were used to flush out other interested parties. We need to aim at the level below like we did in 2022 and 2023. We need to do to the likes of Brighton, Villa, Brentford etc what those clubs did to us. Of course PSR does have an impact. But we could have paid Isak £250k if we really wanted to. There was enough PSR headroom to do that, especially with the new contract being spread over 5 more years for amortisation.

It feels like you only ever need to watch the first 5 minutes of our games to know the what the outcome will be. When we start at full throttle like Spurs away you know it'll be a good day. When we start like yesterday you know it'll be shit. Said to the lad next to me 5 minutes in, that we'll not win today. We were so passive from ko and when we do that we never seem able to step up the intensity.