Pablo

And also dreaming of a free transfer or 2 senior pro to add leadership and resilience, and squad depth.

It all feels kind of boring at the moment with few reports. I’m hopeful that means nothing is being leaked and we will just quietly go about our business without it being played out via twitter and other awful media. keep hoping to wake up to an out of the blue report that we have signed some extremely highly rated 19-23 year old.

Thank for the compliment 😂

Whilst he’s had his ups and downs, he has been a major part of our success over the past few seasons and is extremely difficult to replace. I hope he goes on to have a brilliant career, and looks back on his time here fondly. Anthony Gordon is an example of Newcastle getting recruitment and selling right in order to grow the club. This is a clear pathway for emerging talent to follow.

Maybe we do if we want shot of the players who aren’t 100% committed to the club. We are losing / have lost some very good pros recently, Laschelles, Trippier, Kraft etc. no point forcing anyone to stay who doesn’t really really really want to be here.

Wouldnt be opposed to Nunez, or Nicolas Jackson, at the right price and salary. They have the game to thrive in our system. We have so much work to do, we need to be creative and opportunistic.

Liverpool under Klopp had a similar season and then pushed on again. They also had immense quality up front. Next season will be better.

He’s not deadwood. He has had injury issues. He’s a solid pro, very effective on the left and can do a job in the middle. Find me a free transfer who can do the same job at a similar age pls. The cost of extending is less than free contracts or replacements. Football finance 101.

This. I doubt we get a decent fee though. I’d be tempted to offer an extension, protect his value etc. but not sure if he would do it, as I’d be looking to keep pay similar and have him as a rotation option.

30m for him in this market is a mental take. I need a nap

Pope at his best a few seasons ago is the best keeper I’ve seen at the club. If Pope was in Keegans side, we win the league. Hes declined though and the kicking is a liability. It’s sad to see, and I don’t think he starts for many premier league clubs these days. I strongly believe that if we had signed Trafford we would be comfortably sat in 6th place. The gk department is a mess, and from what I’ve read that is on Paul Mitchell. feel sorry for all involved, Pope for trying his best but it not being good enough and the impact on his legacy here, Ramsdale as he is no where near what’s needed, and Eddie as this situation is putting his job in real jeapardy. it’s critical we buy a top class gk in the summer. It’s the most or second most important position in the team. Striker is the other.

Bayern looking to lowball, with Newcastle online ready to sell important players under value. Newcastle (online) to continue to overpay out of desperation for incomings. Can’t wait for this summer…

Propaganda is ffp bought in to stop clubs overspending. Stops Newcastle, Everton, Forest and Villa competing. Cartel reality, financial positions of Chelsea, Man U and Tottenham doesn’t matter and they can continue running at massive losses with crazy debt.

Good post. With Bruno in the middle, Longstaff in the right sided 8 and trippier behind him, it would probably look better. Generally when Elanga gets the ball he’s isolated, and only looks effective when he can run in behind. Without players around him and obvious passing lanes you can predict when the ball will be turned over.

Bayern are notoriously cheap, so not expecting a big or possibly even a fair fee. However, I’d be investigating if they have young and or fringe players who would suit us and look for something of a part ex. Always said we should have been taking Gravenberch off them before the bin dippers did.

I think he will have a good career whether he stays or goes. I also think he will have a poor end to the season. With a possible big move and a world cup on the horizon I just don’t see him focussed or willing to go for 50/50s. He’s actually more likely to get injured backing out of challenges and being halfhearted, which will ruin his possible move. get the maximum money possible and reinvest and go again. Let’s not talk down the price of every player we sell.

70m plus Kane might work.

Tonali is out of form, but a world class water carrier. There’s a serious risk he and other players will be hounded out for below their value, and then go on to win everything at a much bigger club than Newcastle. Tonali won’t play make, but he will win the ball and give it to someone better. He will have 4 better passing lanes than we currently offer, and look amazing in a coherent team. Why is everything so binary. Everyone is either the best in the world or utter garbage. There’s a lot in between these 2 metrics which is constantly overlooked.

Finally, we must have lost 15 points from individual player errors this season, and poor refereeing. I really don’t see how that is Eddie Howe fault, he must be tearing his heart out. A different manager in the dug out can’t do anything about the constant clangers.

Genuinely, I’m staggered by some takes I’ve read in recent weeks but more so in the last day. I’ll be honest, I’m fed up of this season and of Eddie’s continuing plan A. It’s a total disaster and we have taken a big step backwards in footballing terms. But, I’m not really surprised about what’s happening on the pitch. I remember commenting last season that we were a mid table team with an elite striker. There has been little between us and the Brightons and Bournmouths of the league for 2 seasons now, and this season it’s levelled out a bit. We have a small underperformance this year, compared to the heights of the past few seasons overperformance. Our squad is stale, and a number of our players seem to have downed tools. I think the Isak sale and the way we couldn’t attract our top targets last season has resulted in the players realising we aren’t a Chelsea or Man City project. I strongly suspect a number of players have had their heads turned and are looking for an escape route in the summer. Looking at the recent performances of a couple of our star players, Gordon and Tino in particular aren’t at the races, making mistakes not putting in 100%. An eye on the World Cup and a summer move. With their levels dropping it affects other players. I wouldn’t be surprised if the dressing room is somewhat split. We might say players don’t care, but they do. It’s their life, reputation, finances and career. FFP, SCR whatever you want to call it has done its job. We haven’t had a normal or decent transfer window since Dan Ashworth left. That’s damning on everyone at the club. From Junior Scout to owner. We need 2 players in every transfer window to keep it fresh and provide growth. The past summer business was an unmitigated disaster, and it’s tough to come back from it, but we can. Ramsey will come good, Elanga has a chance still. I’m worried about the striker situation though and that’s going to need a bit of luck. I was worried with every signing we made, as I have wanted more technical players through the team, but we have what we have. the squad building has been horrible, we basically need a new 11 as we need to cover every position as players who should have been traded 2 or 3 years ago remain on our books with little value. The director of football position has caused this, and I admit Eddie is probably somewhat at fault. We needed to trade Joelinton 2 or 3 summers ago, same with Joe Willock, Emile Kraft and others. This summer is an opportunity to have a lot of turnover and get some money for players who don’t have a long term future at the club. But this means we face at least one if not 2 more seasons of transition. The bed setters and the social media darlings need to accept we may stand still before we move forwards again. it’s going to hurt, but Sunderland are likely going to finish above us this season. It’s a blip, form is temporary but class is permanent. Personally I don’t care, I look at the bigger picture and where we are still heading, albeit much more slowly than I hoped. Spurs getting relegated could be massive for us, as having 5 teams above us in the pecking order rather than 6 is a massive boost. The Chelsea situation is dire and they can be reigned in with good club management. The commercial income situation continues to improve. for me it’s of paramount importance that we remain a stable club. Swapping managers may provide short term impetus, but long term it’s unlikely we can attract a better manager than Eddie. The clubs stated goal is now for 2030 so I’m willing to give it a bit longer, get behind them all, and I am confident that we will continue a slow but steady trajectory upwards. I’m not a happy clapper, never have been, but unless we can attract Pep or Emery in the summer I’m not prepared to give up what we’ve got. Eddie is a club legend and deserves my support for the 26/27 season.

One thing I would really like is access to a database of players contract lengths and salaries. There is so much misinformation in the media. For the foreseeable future it’s going to be tough to get established players on good contracts, and I’d rather focus my wish list on players we can afford within our wage structure. I also think we need to pay our squad players a little less to give more wriggle room for key player salaries.

Agree entirely, Rico Lewis just seems to be one of those cartel players who comes in does a job and appears better than he is cos of the quality around him. Gets instant media attention and national team recognition then moves to a mid table team and struggles.

Oh, yes I am totally thinking of Nico O’Reilly… haha. So everything I said is true and Nico O Reilly would be the one I want

Sorry but what exactly is wrong with Rico Lewis. He has always looked a cracking player the times I have watched him. He’s big and strong and physically excellent, coming through at Man City he has technical ability and covers pretty much every position on the pitch. He’s young and I think he has enough ability to perform in either a physical or technical team. He would be one of the first players I would target as I think his profile is tailor made for us.

Agree he is awesome, he’s a dirty sod though. Plays on the edge and seems to get away with it. Many will disagree but Reece James would be close to the best player in the league if it wasn’t for injuries.