Championship Planning

[Optimistic Nut]

Agreed, I like that. Guessing it's very rare mind.

[Deputy Dawg UK]

If Villa sort themselves out, it might be like the 06-07 Serie B, where you had Juventus, Napoli and Genoa take the top spots.    Just not fair on the other teams.

 

Who's the 3rd team?

 

Just meant automatic promotion really - Serie B has a rule where if the 3rd place team are 10+ points ahead of 4th place, then they don't bother with the playoffs, which happened with Genoa.

Really good rule

Tell that to Brighton fans !

[Troll]

Agreed, I like that. Guessing it's very rare mind.

 

I've just checked and it would only have applied once in the Premier League era, when West Ham came 3rd in 2012.  Looks like it's only happened once in Serie B in the same time period.

[nortoon]

Desperate to keep Townsend and Lascelles, hopefully the rumored 8m Townsend clause is bullshit.

 

Would like to see Anita, Tiote, Mbemba, Aarons stay. I also think Sissoko would be a beast but I doubt he will stay even if Rafa does.

 

I think there is a chance Thauvin might do good from a year in the championship under an actual manager. Might actually become something and pay back some of that transfer fee eventually, he was very highly rated a couple of years ago. Only other thing we can do is offload him for a pittance of what we paid.

 

I like Janmaat and he seems to care, but I just don't think he is a very good player. Defensively suspect and makes stupid decisions on the field, not very quick either. Getting game time for Holland can do wonders for your reputation. Sell him and play Anita RB.

 

Wijnaldum can rot in hell. 11 Prem goals will hopefully give us back what we paid. He will be a great player for a team providing they don't get in the shit.

 

Would try to offload Shelvey, Colback, Colo, Riviere, and Gouffran (dream on).

 

Hopefully Rafa will get someone to play next to Tiote in midfield who can actually pass the ball and not be a bystander in other areas. A quick striker would be welcome as well. I'd keep Dummett/Haidara and get a new LB after promotion.

 

[sbnufc]

Aston Villa getting taken over. Talk of Di Matteo as manager.

 

Think Rafa has the edge over him like, well, I know he does. Interested to see who our rivals will be.

 

Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia has agreed to buy relegated Aston Villa for £60m.

 

The deal, which is subject to Football League approval, will see Xia take 100% ownership, says BBC Sport's Pat Murphy.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36327300

 

Aston Villa football club costs less than a top player ffs

[Guest ConnyBongo]

Watched the play offs between sheff wed and brighton the other night, thought that lewis dunk looked decent... can anyone shed light on him? could form a future partnership with lacelles

[toontownman]

We've been scouting dunk longer than kuyt. I'd absolutely take him and agger and keep chancel and lascelles. Would be a very solid pool of experience and promise.

[huss9]

even if the townsend clause is true, he would have to want to leave. think some reassurance from Woy about his England squad place would help him stay.

[Mick]

even if the townsend clause is true, he would have to want to leave. think some reassurance from Woy about his England squad place would help him stay.

 

His Dad was on the radio on Monday and basically said that he's loving it here and staying.

[Mikky]

[Kaizero]

Unprecedented coverage on NBC here via a brilliant app and every match on tv in hd for the premier league, stuck with Pardew, Carver, and McClaren and watch us lose ever week like over 100x like some f***ing fool.

 

Get relegated, potentially hire Rafa, now stressing the f*** out over BeIN's American coverage. f*** sake.

 

Any likelihood of you coming over?

 

Yeah, as long as we hire Rafa I'll plan a trip after the schedule comes out for either this calendar year or the next. Will take a Friday and Monday off from work and make the trip over. My dream of coming to SJP could finally happen.

 

Let me know in advance and I'll make a trip at the same time.

[Deuce]

 

The guy arguing about Hatem

[Bimpy474]

Pardew - Stalin 

[sbnufc]

Krul

Anita - Mbemba - Lascelles - Dummett

Shelvey - Colback

Townsend - Ayoze - Aarons

Mitro

 

Darlow, Sterry, Taylor , Haidara, Toney, Armstrong

 

Even without any transfers in, and the obvious leaving we should piss the league next season. If Mbabu signs and Taylor gets the 1 year extension I assume he will we're almost defence heavy all of a sudden. Ideally need some CM's & ST's

[Yorkie]

Quite good, that one.

[Kanji]

Quite good, that one.

 

That one was funny as hell.

[vasleskins]

Rafa staying will not change the fact that we need to decrease the wage bill quite dramatic to be financial healthy. With the TV-money gone and match day revenues unlikely to increase we need to save money somewhere. Sure Ashley might allow us to have negative result for a year or so but there is no way he will sanction an unhealthy wage bill for next year. Ashley will still be Ashley. Financial rules for Football League is also strict when it comes to spending.

 

The biggest problem is that the squad is big and loaded with non-saleable players. Gouffran, Saivet, Thuavin, Haidara, De Jong, Riviere, Cisse, Good, Vuckic, Bigirimana and Sammy, can anyone see us getting more then a couple millions quids for any of them?

 

Sell: Janmaat (6-10 m£), Wijnaldum (14-16 m£), Sissoko (7-13 m£), Townsend (8 m£) Krul (2-4 m£). Would keep Townsend but if the clause exist it would be criminal for some of the PL clubs not to activate it. Krul only have one year left on the contract and we can’t afford to have three senior keepers. Janmaat, Wijnaldum and Sissoko will attract other clubs, prices will be sky high this summer so they are available for a healthy amount.

 

Loan out: Thuavin, Saivet, Haidara. As we will have problems to sell certain players, I think we will use loans in a couple of cases to decrease wages. Also from an accounting perspective it would be crazy to sell the likes of Thuavin and Saivet now as it will trigger a large accounting loss. Teams in France will take all of these on loan.

 

Get rid of in any possible way: Coloccini, Cisse, Tiote. Neither of these should come close to the rebuild that Rafa will start. High wages and do not contribute enough.

 

Leaves us with a squad of:

GK: Elliot, Darlow, Woodman

DEF: Dummet, Mbemba, Lascelles, Good, Sterry, Mbabu, Taylor (if new contract)

MID: Aarons, Anita, Colback, Gouffran, Shelvey, De Jong, Perez, Vuckic, Bigirimana, Sammy

FW: Mitrovic, Riviere, Armstrong, Toney,

 

A couple of the 11 players that leaves in the scenario above will be kept but then we need to make sure that none of Mbemba, Lascelles, Perez or Mitrovic leaves instead. Hopefully Rafa will be given some money to spend on defenders and a striker, although I have a hard time to see that he will have more then 15-20 m£ to spend, even if we sell a couple of big players.

 

Out of the squad remaining I don’t think any of Good, Vuckic, Bigirimana or Sammy will have any impact in the future. Taylor given an new contract as we are short at the back. Should be a cheep option for experience. Gouffran and De Jong stays as I don’t think anyone will buy them. 

 

It will be a though year in the Championship. Even with Rafa in charge.

[Lush Vlad]

Yeah, first one I have laughed at in a long time.  Was struggling to hold it together, watching it at my desk

[James]

We should be able to get at least £8m for Krul he is a Euro Class keeper.

[vasleskins]

We should be able to get at least £8m for Krul he is a Euro Class keeper.

 

Final year of his contract, that will decrease his value in the market

[Winn]

We actually have a young squad.  I would like to see the majority of our players under 25 years old start next year.  Its pleasing to see the majority of this lineup would also be English.  Armstrong, Aarons, Shelvey, Townsend, Colback, Dummet, Lascelles, Darlow etc.

If Rafa does stay we have hope and I know he can get the best out of these players.  I also trust him to get rid of the deadwood and bring in better players even during our stay in the Championship.

If Rafa doesnt stay then next year will be a disaster.

 

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

Krul has been out for a season with a serious injury, is in the last year of his contract and wasn't in great form before his injury. No way would NUFC get £8m for him.

 

Players will definitely leave. Players who have said they will stay may still leave. Players in the last year of their contract won't want to leave. Most of them won't get Premiership wages elsewhere. They'll be difficult to move on. No relegation clauses adds to the problem.

 

Rafa won't be able to get rid of the dead wood if they don't want to leave. Gouffran, Riviere and the like haven't played but they know they'll never get these wages again. Unless they give up money for the chance to play elsewhere we're stuck with them.

[Jayson]

Could do with sorting the usual issues

 

http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i/?img=/soccernet/design05/images/2016/0518/injury1_800x450.jpg&w=738&site=espnfc

[steve_69]

Is Dr Death still at the club? Can imagine Rafa knows a few decent physios with low cholesterol that he might fancy bringing in

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

Article about injuries yesterday: -

 

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastles-awful-injury-record-alarming-11346971

 

Newcastle's awful injury record: The alarming statistics and the radical changes which could occur

09:00, 18 MAY 2016 UPDATED 10:11, 18 MAY 2016

BY CHRIS WAUGH

Newcastle United's injury problems have affected the club for years - NUFC Writer Chris Waugh investigates why their record is so bad

 

Newcastle United and chronic injury problems appear to go hand in hand.

 

It is a major issue which has affected the club for at least a decade; managers have promised to solve it, but all have so far failed to do so.

 

This season the Magpies have lost a Premier League-high 2,288 days to injury, with 48 separate ailments.

 

And that is just the very headline statistic, it does not begin to deal with the issues which are festering below.

 

Steve McClaren promised upon taking charge last June, as well as during the season itself, that the alarming injury situation would be addressed, yet here we are a year on and still the problem remains as concerning as it was previously.

 

It is something the club know must be improved, and key changes could be in the pipeline.

 

So just how bad is the injury situation? And what can be done to resolve it?

 

Here, thanks to data provided by premierinjuries.com analyst Ben Dinnery, we investigate:

 

How bad has the injury situation been this year?

In a word: appalling.

 

United lost a collective 2,288 days to injury this season - the highest in the top flight.

 

To put that into context, that is the equivalent of six years and three months.

 

That is more than seven times the number of days champions Leicester City lost, more than four times Norwich City lost, and more than double Sunderland - who pipped United to survival - lost.

 

Liverpool in second lost 484 fewer days than the Magpies at 1,804, which in itself is alarming.

 

Newcastle also recorded the second-highest number of individual injuries this season with 48; only Manchester City, who have a significantly larger squad, suffered more with 51.

 

Leicester suffered only 12 injuries throughout the entire season, Norwich just 20 and, though Sunderland were hit by 41, their days lost were also significantly lower.

 

On average, an injury saw a Newcastle player sidelined for 48 days in 2015-16.

 

Is that not just unlucky though?

In some ways it is. The long-term injuries suffered by Rob Elliot and Tim Krul in particular were just sheer bad luck.

 

Both of those were freak injuries suffered on international duty and had nothing to do with the club.

 

Quite a significant portion of the injuries will also have been down to ill fortune.

 

Yet United’s problems also consisted of a concerning number of soft-tissue injuries.

 

Ultimately, these are muscular injuries such as a pulled groin, a thigh strain or a hamstring tear.

 

“These injuries are the so-called ‘avoidable’ ones,” Ben explains.

 

“In some cases players may have been rushed back, or simply the treatment they received in the first place - or even their original conditioning - was not correct.”

 

Of the 2,288 days Newcastle lost in all to injuries, 1,329 - or 58 per cent - of those were due to soft-tissue ailments.

 

That is the equivalent of more than three-and-a-half years lost to injury.

 

Again, that is the highest in the Premier League by a country mile; no other side lost more than 1,000 days to soft-tissue injuries.

 

Fabricio Coloccini was out for 86 days in all, Steven Taylor for 319 and Paul Dummett 133 - but it was a problem which afflicted the entire Newcastle squad.

 

Tottenham Hotspur lost a league-low 98 days to soft-tissue problems, while Sunderland only lost 289 and Norwich 100.

 

Man City, second behind Newcastle, still lost more than a year-and-a-half less to soft-tissue injuries than the Magpies at 815 days.

 

“It is quite a startling statistic - Man City have suffered more injuries, but have had their players on the treatment table for significantly less time,” Ben adds.

 

“That in itself tells a story.”

 

Newcastle suffered 29 soft-tissue injuries in all, second only to Man City (29).

 

On average, a soft-tissue injury sidelined a Magpies player for 46 days this season as well.

 

Sunderland only lost 17 players to soft-tissue injuries, while Norwich lost only six.

 

And this is not just a one-season problem.

 

“Consistently, Newcastle are always there or thereabouts at the top of the injury table,” Ben adds.

 

“This is not just a one off by any stretch of the imagination.

 

“If the Magpies had not been relegated for the 2009-10 season, Newcastle would have suffered the most injuries and most days lost over past few years - and that includes when you factor in Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere’s injury problems, which skews the Arsenal data hugely anyway.”

 

So what is being done about it?

It is 11 years since Graeme Souness shifted the players from the first-team training ground on to the Academy pitches and refused to let them do sessions in the indoor ‘barn’ in a move he believed would solve Newcastle’s injury problems.

 

The then-United boss insisted the first-team pitches were causing his squad to become inflicted by a greater number of soft-tissue injuries.

 

Just about every single Magpies manager since Souness – including McClaren – have promised to address the problem, making drastic changes similar to those of the Scot, to little obvious material success.

 

McClaren promised a tangible improvement, but if anything the situation actually deteriorated further last season.

 

Benitez though has only subtle alterations in the short term, but he is expected to undergo a radical review over the summer.

 

Asked about United’s appalling injury record in March, Benitez explained: “Sometimes it happens – obviously we have the information from the staff, the technical staff, the information from the medical staff, we have information from the players.

 

“We have this situation to analyse what is going on, but we must try to do things simply and not try to change everything.

 

“Just change little things that maybe can make the difference and be careful.

 

“So we were doing a training session (for one of the) other sessions in the gym, little things to try and prevent injuries.

 

“But you cannot do too much in a short space of time.”

 

That was when Benitez had just 10 games to save Newcastle; now he is potentially planning on staying at the club, meaning significant changes should occur on his watch.

 

Are changes afoot?

Privately, it is understood that United accept the way the entire medical department operates needs a drastic overhaul.

 

Changes have already been touted behind the scenes, and new faces could well be drafted in over the coming months to try and finally get to the bottom of a problem which has festered across numerous managerial regimes over a number of years.

 

It is believed a new doctor and other medical-department staff at the very least have been targeted - with further changes also potentially in the pipeline, such as to the infrastructure, the way United train, and how the players are conditioned.

 

To their credit, the club’s hierarchy are understood to accept that a radical overhaul is needed and that things are simply not working as they should.

 

But that has been the case for more than a decade now, and previous alterations have not pay dividends.

 

Another restructure is needed - and, if Benitez stays, you can guarantee it will be looked at once more.