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Exactly and that is how The Sky 6 can screw us with PSR and squad cost ratios.

That was my thought, I think he would have gone for cheaper, less proven players which may have been more realistic.

I wonder whether the players we have been targeting this summer are the same ones that Mitchell had planned to target…

The PSR limits have been held for years but transfer fees for average to good players are going through the roof as are the wages for the best players. Therefore the money that can be invested by PIF goes a lot less far now than it did three years ago. The only clubs that can really invest now are the Sky 6 who much greater revenues than all other teams, And now these teams are starting to collect players as investments thus reducing the supply of good players and pushing fees up even higher. And even if the PSR limit ratio is raised the squad-cost ratio hampers ambitious clubs like us too. Eddie has done a remarkable job but from a financial perspective the winning of the League Cup, for example, was virtually worthless. I think the prize money was less than a million. And even the financial side of the CL is skewed against us by the coefficients. Football is being ruined as a sport by greed.

One thing Howe has achieved with his interview is to draw attention away from our performance today. Maybe he knew we weren’t ready so decided to create some different headlines! In Eddie we trust (to not always tell the truth). I do not believe this of course.

It seems that football is to a massive degree now “controlled” by the TV companies who are providing the major income. They make their money from world wide audiences for matches. It is in their interests therefore that the clubs with the largest worldwide fan bases are the most successful and have the best players. Mike Ashley’s reign meant we lost the chance to be one of those clubs and it is hard to see how we ever can be with PSR and APT in place. We simply cannot compete on wages or fees with the Sky 6 aand this leads inevitably to this sort of situation with players like Isak.

Interesting that in the interview on the club site he still maintains that the reason Isak wasn’t there was simply because they were managing his minutes, ie the pre-match story. whatever the situation this needs to be brought to a head very quickly so if we need a replacement we can start on that otherwise there will be nobody decent left who is willing to come. Man U are allegedly already considering Sesko.

I can’t understand why some people have criticised him. I have been watching Newcastle for 50-odd years and don’t remember another youngster who is so calm and collected on the ball and so often makes the right decisions. Some people have suggested he plays it too safe at times, but I am willing to bet he is simply following Howe’s instructions. And he has shown examples of great vision and long-passing ability as well as a decent shot. Hopefully he will get a decent amount of game time this season

Liverpool might have no intention of signing him and are just trying to drive his price up.

Seung-Soo’s Toon’s Everybody knows it Seung-Soo’s Toon’s Every geordie knows one (song sung blue tune)