1881

Artem Dovbyk??? https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/36506605/newcastle-alexander-isak-liverpool-artem-dovbyk-roma-woltemade/

Martinez just happens to be the only other player of significant value who is linked to the same agency as Isak.

Oh, Woltemade He’s really got some tricks Oh, Woltemade He’s f*****g six foot six Oh, Woltemade I want a silly tache too.

Just to confirm the situation regarding season ticket holders reselling their tickets. When you do this the club take over the re-selling and if a sale occurs then you simply (and reasonably) get back 1/19 of your season ticket cost. However the club resell at the price they want and it is they that get the additional profit and not the season ticket holder.

Also they will support the clubs with the biggest global fanbases because that means extra clicks and followers and therefore more money for them and/or the company they work for.

Really believe that the club needs to put out a statement that we will no longer be answering any questions on the Isak situation at press conferences or in interviews. Eddie is being subjected to a half-hour interrogation before every match and being asked to comment on how he, Isak, the rest of the players, the fans and the Board might be feeling. That is dangerous ground when the topic is so emotive. It is not in the club’s interest and merely feeds the media frenzy which simply exacerbates the issue. And if he stays this is just going to carry on until he leaves and beyond. He is doing a great diplomatic job but is still feeding the stories which will be used by the media to support their narratives. Such will be the case with the “news” that he was made aware of Isak’s concerns before the season ended. Liverpool must be loving all the noise being created as it unsettles Isak more, adds to any divisions at Newcastle (players, fans etc) and potentially reduces isak’s value.

The unambitious clubs were happy as they still had enough flexibility to buy a decent level of player to ensure they remained better than promoted sides. However even average PL players are going for extortionate fees these days making it harder to buy enough decent quality players. Meanwhile promoted teams with a relatively low cost base are taking the risk of spending significantly. It worked for Forest and may work for Sunderland this year. This could lead to more of the unambitious clubs getting sucked into relegation battles and therefore wanting the PSR limits increasing or regulations loosening.

It is becoming apparent now that many clubs are starting to struggle with the impact of PSR in restricting spending. This is inevitable at the moment as fees and wages (of top players) have risen massively but the PSR limit has remained unchanged. The best players are being picked off by the “sky 6” and clubs are/will struggle to afford to replace them. Older players of the rest of the clubs have little or no resale value but still need replacing adding to the pressure. And of course the sky 6 again have the advantage of being able to sell their older players to Saudi thus fuelling the issue even more. The one hope is that some of the teams who previously voted with the sky 6 as they were just happy to maintain the status quo will now feel much more in danger of relegation. We have already seen Glasner, Santos, Silva and others raise their concerns about their own squads.

For lazier people like me here’s an article in English featuring our new set piece coach. https://footballindenmark.com/blog/inswingers-screens-amp-coffee-machines-inside-the-minds-of-fc-midtjyllands-set-piece-gurus

Superb post in every way - one of the most galling things about this whole sorry tale is the way Ornstein et al are stating information clearly from the agent as the facts and no-one challenges it or asks for the source of the info. The Ornstein interview is incredible how he states them as facts despite admitting what he previously said and also casually dropping in without any emphasis at all that Newcastle do not agree with this narrative. So he is effectively taking the agent’s word over Newcastle’s. Incredible and blatant bias.

If there is any truth in the suggestion that the current situation is that Isak has been told he will have to stay unless Liverpool are willing to pay an amount that is acceptable to us then I would presume that there is a time limit on this to prevent a “too late” offer. The fact that Howe does not believe he can be re-integrated at the present time suggests that the situation is not fully resolved and supports this narrative.

I would have thought that the main reason Eddie does not want him involved in the team training is that they will be working on tactics and team play and as long as there is any possibility of him leaving for Liverpool it would be mad to have him involved particularly as we play Liverpool so soon.

Another thing that is screwing us is that with fees and wages going up at an ever increasing rate and the PSR limit being held the “value” of the PSR allowance is lessening all the time. It’s like prices going up but your wage being static.

That is my concern too - if they believe we have to sell they will almost certainly not raise their offer and may lower it. Isak only wants to join them allegedly so they don’t need to worry about competition at this point

I think I’ll just have to change the habit of a lifetime and share your optimism!

I explained it badly. Just meant if we have decided it is best for us if Isak goes but the scousers are only prepared to offer £120m then an extra £30m from PIF for Nunez might get them to give us more. Would only work if we got on well with them which we clearly don’t so it is an irrelevant thought. Ideal scenario is obviously for Isak to stay.

I am just a worrier but also think if Isak has made it clear he does not want to stay and Eddie has sanctioned it we need as much money as possible off Liverpool. I have supported the club since the late sixties and can assure you I am a Newcastle supporter. Just used to being let down!

It will all depend where we stand with PSR. If we are still under then we can hold out, if not then we may have to accept a lower offer.

Possibly the case and in an ideal world perhaps PIF are giving them additional money for Nunez to pass on to us. Unfortunately this seems too unlikely.

We would not want to be trying to sell in June again to satisfy PSR, that did not work out well last time.

I hope you are correct and it is binding!

Liverpool are the only bidders and we need the money (if it goes through) which weakens our position considerably

Liverpool will know we need to sell so they will probably just offer the same as they did before - we are taking a huge risk.

In the unlikely event this happens I sincerely hope we can still afford a Wilson replacement, defender and midfielder without the money for Isak. If it goes through I would expect Liverpool to either wait until nearer the end of the transfer window to do anything or provide the same low bid as before. It is inevitable they will assume we have to sell Isak to keep within the PSR limits. if we do need the Isak money then it is going to be a huge risk as to whether Liverpool are prepared to increase their bid.

Not that we need any proof of media bias but the BBC have been doing one of their live trackers this morning where they invite comments and obviously it was about Isak. I noticed the comment were nearly all from a Liverpool perspective so I sent through 3 separate, perfectly reasonable, comments of my own. They were all ignored of course and a quick count shows about 20 comments from a Liverpool perspective and about 2 Newcastle ones and these are both quite trite.