Kooiman

I'm aware. If the club thought so highly of him why not move sooner?

Bobby Clark heading to Derby. Probably best for his career at this stage. Would love to have him here, but it might be way too soon given how poor he was in Austria.

Exactly. A byproduct of the club's success is that we've shown ourselves to be very good talent spotters. I firmly believe that's why several clubs have gazumped us to players this season. Either you believe they snuck in after the fact, or we also happen to be on the trail of some brilliant talent. Either way it shows how well we're doing. It hasn't felt more pronounced than with Sesko. Man Utd had all summer to move for him. As soon as Newcastle start sniffing Man Utd are on the scene. We talk a lot about the evolution of the club and a path forward, but this for me is the hardest obstacle. We're going to miss out on good players that would do a lot here because of money and other trappings. That will change in time, I hope, but it's going to be frustrating. This whole project is building up a football club in a way no Premier League team has had to in modern times.

Palace aren't daft, they can't afford to lose him for nothing in 12 months time. They're likely to take a hit if they have to drop into the Conference League vs. Europa League and even if you take out Chelsea's sell-on it's still a healthy profit for them and that's a big part of their model.

It's rich people throwing money at each other like we would snow in the playground. Laugh and have fun. It won't change the outcome.

The duality of Isak for me when I watched him in person is that it feels like there's long periods of the game where he's not that involved in the team's build up. At the same time, he could pick it up and commit 3-4 men with a dribble or a piece of skill that I don't see your typical striker performing. The primary skill needed to replace Isak is penalty area IQ for me. Given his record before us that may be something Eddie coached into him, I don't know, but his ability to be where the ball landed was very impressive. Folk talk about the Liverpool goal loads and it was very impressive, but so many of his goals last season were balls squared to him or peeling off a defender.

Yes and no. At worst, they made promises without fully understanding the board game they were stepping into. I also think it’s unrealistic to expect any club to keep hold of all its top players. As long as clubs like Real Madrid exist, there will always be players who fancy a new challenge. The core issue, though, is that we’re still playing catch-up to the top clubs. The days of overhauling a squad by signing 6-12 players in a single window are over. For us, this is a three-pronged evolution. 1. Revenue Growth We’re still dwarfed by the big boys when it comes to revenue—whether that’s from competitions, player sales, or commercial deals. To bridge that gap, we need to keep scaling up and showing we can be “that club.” The rulings on third-party deals will either help or hinder us as time goes on. Manchester United have a noodle sponsor. We’ll need one too. It feels like we’ve made progress commercially, but there’s still a long road ahead. 2. The Playing Squad The squad we inherited at takeover had very few, if any, sellable assets. We were forced into paying a premium on some deals just to stay in the league, and to the club’s credit, most of those players have proved to be solid investments. It’s easy to forget, but before we sold Anderson and Minteh, we were seriously entertaining offers for Anthony Gordon. We don’t have a deep pool of high-value assets we can sell without weakening ourselves. We're building the plane as we fly it, which means sometimes the squad is growing at a faster rate than the infrastructure around it. That’ll smooth out in time, especially as we look abroad for players like the young Korean lad we’ve just signed. Minteh wasn’t necessarily part of that blueprint, but players like him will be. 3. The Academy The academy is a potential cheat code for us. Under Mike Ashley, we lost several promising prospects—probably costing us £10-20m in potential sales. Since then, it looks like we’ve massively ramped up academy scouting and recruitment. Whether any of those players will break through is anyone’s guess, but it’s the first serious step towards building an elite academy. This region is packed with talent. If we can establish ourselves as the destination for local prospects, it changes the equation. Look at clubs like Liverpool—selling Quansah for £30m creates a ripple effect. If we can start to replicate that, even on a smaller scale, it’ll massively improve our ability to retain our best players down the line.

Feverishly awaiting confirmation that teams in black and white start one goal down.

It's a tad amusing and illustrative of the window that the iPaper has a piece on why Newcastle remain hopeful, and linked within that is a piece on the 'fresh boost' Man Utd have received regarding Benjamin Sesko. You'd have more luck playing Russian Roueltte with a harpoon gun.

I can't blame Brentford at all. They've lost a leading striker, a key central midfielder, starting goalkeeper, and their head coach. Wissa leaving is another blow to continuity. I'm not sure who they're going to get though. This is kind of the problem with how the transfer window has played out. Every club's done their business in the middle of the high street. Any player that Brentford want is going to have a tax on because they know 30-40m is waiting for them.

I think the fundamental difference here Mr Frog is that the evaluations encompass last season too, which was a particular nadir for your club. Last season goals were an issue. After the relegated teams only Everton scored fewer than yourselves which is quite damning given how poor their forward options have been (Iliman Ndiaye aside). The problem is, your defensive numbers weren't markedly better than the teams around you. I don't think this is a case of pushing one lever and watching the wheels turn. I can see the new attackers having some impact, such as catching teams on the break and making you more of a threat in transition, but those games at Old Trafford where you need to control things may still be your undoing. The squad also still looks bloated to me. If you end up getting Sesko, what becomes of Zirkzee and Mount? No one seems to want Hojlund. Is more trust about to be handed to the local lads like Mainoo and Collyer? Are they ready for that? It's a lot of uncertainty. I saw you linked to Morten Hjulmand but that felt like lazy reporting. I don't think one player fixes this, but at the same time I see it as odd that there's a clear priority issue that needs fixing and it's being disregarded.

Was he not pushed to the club by an agent under Rafa? I don't even think we 'found' him.

Number 3 and black boots. What a combo. Nothing against anyone that deputized, but having him back is a huge plus.

In watching them at the summer series I'm surprised they view Benjamin Sesko as any kind of priority. Their central midfield options are by far the bigger weakness. They might as well stick with Cunha, Diallo, and Mbeumo as a three. Manuel Ugarte looks slower than a week in jail. I will never understand what they saw in him to think he'd be a good signing. He was decidedly average for PSG and looked miles off it in the Champions League at St James' Park. The defence also looks painfully disorganized. It's mad how consistently they look undone by a direct ball.

I loaded up one of his highlight reels and he moves a lot like Shola when he put a bit of muscle on.

What's that? Al-Hilal want him for 15m?

I love him and he hope he smashes it at West Ham. He came here when there wasn't much to shout about or look forward to and gave us a dash of joy and a bit of self-confidence. It was great to see a player come here and want the number 9 shirt and almost chase that responsibility and pressure to be the star striker. It saddens me he couldn't avoid the injury, but thems the breaks. I'm pleased he got to experience the Champions League and also leave with a winners medal given he was a vital reason the club stopped up and was able to be bought in the first place. As the club's aspirations continue to grow I don't imagine I'll feel much of a bond with the super star players we sign, but Wilson was one of those 'in the trenches' types that I loved. Fingers crossed he starts the season with a goal or two.

Came here to post that exact story. It would seem the other clubs are starting to realize that this was never about Newcastle spoiling the league with Saudi money, it was about pulling up the ladder.

I think the whole football reportage on Twitter might have jumped the shark this summer. I know times change, but I think I preferred the days of a radio update or a small blurb on nufc.com—even a yellow ticker update on Sky Sports when they had video of a medical or a plane landing. I don't think straining over every fiber of a deal is worth it when you know it's all access journalism or client journalism masquerading as story telling. It's the methadone approach to fandom. I think cold turkey is the way. I'll wait for a title change here or a notification from the club app going forward.

Liverpool once again being VERY respectful with this press briefing.

Refusing to play means the clock is ticking on his time here. Either he goes now or he goes next summer, he's not stopping any longer. If it's next summer, he'll need to score goals. If he does that no one will give a fuck for the most part.

Fair play, he looks genuinely delighted to be here and that's always nice.

Our new data lad supposedly suggested Hojlund to Atalanta. I think with him it's a great reminder of how important context is in these situations. Just over 1 in 3 isn't terrible for Atalanta because they paid €17 million. 1 in 3 for is terrible for Man Utd because they paid £64 million. He was a 20 year old when he signed. He also went 9 games without scoring in Serie A during a period that saw him put on the bench. Given Atalanta switched systems a fair bit that season it's bordering on impossible to figure out which best suited him. Sometimes he was playing in a front two, other times he was part of a 3-4-3. I can't even fathom how they justified spending so much. It was impossible to predict his ceiling, and yet they paid out like he was one of the most exciting strikers in Europe. If they'd given it 12 months they could have easily gone back with a similar bid had his goal record got better. I find it's often impatience that forces bad transfers. I won't profess to have seen loads of him at Atalanta (I gave up my season ticket the year before), but what bits I saw screamed of a young player with some interesting qualities but it was clear he hadn't quite figured out how to apply it effectively and consistently. I don't disagree with Alan Shearer's assessment that he's damaged goods, because I think several seasons getting pelters every week will damage anyone's confidence.

Source aside, that would be huge for them. I'm not convinced they let Sesko, Simons and this lad go in the same window though. It also pushes Isidor and Mayenda down the pecking order which may not go down well. I also think they need some defenders. They'd already lost arguably their best one in Mephem.

I was a big fan when he arrived as it felt like the kind of signing the club needed in the wake of having so many wasters. I think for the fee we paid it has to be seen as fairly good business. He wasn't flash, but he played an important role in getting us back up and then keeping us in the division. He had to navigate some really tough things in his personal life while here, and yet I never got the sense he gave less than his all when on the pitch. His goal against Chelsea was massive for us and I hope wherever he lands next he finds success.