Dman

Cork and brownhill looking like Pirlo & zidane against our 2 in there. Very poor.

Tbf I don’t think it is because of Ramadan, I did say that, sport science is at a place where they can probably mitigate the effects of the fast and it doesn’t seem to effect any other players. That being said, i find it baffling that clubs just accept that they could miss out on a top 4 or title / relegation due to it.

The same Maternity, which is a reduced wage? Yeah kinda the same I guess. Although women don’t usually have roles which their absence could lead to relegation and millions of lost revenue.

If he can’t perform to the required level, because of, let’s be Frank, personal choice, Then we shouldn’t be paying him the same as when he can.

Doubtful, but if it is, it’s a fucking joke we are letting a multi million pound assets and one of our best players, detriment his performance due to fasting.

I think it was a huge job. He basically has changed the full playing style and had a group of players who’s confidence was lower than a snakes belly. The money they’ve spent cannot be ignored, clearly. However, he’s done a great job there. Spunking money doesn’t guarantee success, just look at United & Everton.

St Mary’s is the 3rd largest stadium in the competition. They’ve got games at training / academy grounds ffs. The peak of women’s football in Europe, that says all you need to know about the interest in women’s football.

Who doesn’t credit that? You’re talking crap. as a side note, have we improved since that initial bounce? 3 years on, I don’t think so. We’re still massively inconsistent. Capable of being very good or total shite. We’ve taken a few pastings in that time as well.

To be fair, 99% of the population aren’t in the slightest bit bothered about women’s football. Im sure if people were, then they would have a rivalry, as such.

Agreed, over 3/4 of the squad is the same as it was under Bruce who had about 5 points. Its Twar who’s basically saying that they’re only doing well because of money, so basically, 1 player. Personally, I think they’ve brought pretty well and he’s done a great job at transforming their style and gelling the team together. Huge Credit deserved.

Twar clearly didn’t rate Tripper or Wood that highly, he was still tipping Newcastle to go down 10 days after Wood signed 😂 And we’ve got ‘mid table’ Perrud, ‘Incredible talent’ Salisu, ‘£60m rated’ JWP, + his known thoughts on Adams, Tino and KWP, better squad than villa etc., yet we’re orver achieving and lucky to stay up…

The point I’m trying to make is, if Bruno, valued at £35m, is the reason they are now averaging 2.1 PPG, then why are we only averaging 1.2 PPG when we have a player who (plays in the same position), is apparently worth double that? I use Bruno as an example because the others are very comparable in terms of L4L quality and ones that I think 90% on here wouldn’t have been overly excited about if we’d signed (tripper aside who has been injured).

If we’re going to link player value to quality, you rated JWP at about £60m, almost double that of Bruno, yet we haven’t seen the dramatic improvement this season. Tripper has been injured for most of the time he’s been there, so I’ll ignore him, but had you been asked in December if you’d swap Wood for Adams or Salisu or Burn, then I almost certainly suspect you would say no. Everton have one of the most expensive squads outside the top 6, yet despite Rafa the great doing a brilliant job at the start of the season, they still find themselves in a relegation battle. Yes Newcastle have spent, massively overspent on some pretty average players imo, but Howe deserves credit for improving the style and picking up results in the process.

Another win for Newcastle. The turnaround since Howe came in has been staggering, not just in results but style as well. I think he’s won something like 35 point. When he came in, they genuinely looked like relegation fodder, now I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re top 10.

I heard from someone well placed in the club, that at the time of VVD being offered about to Liverpool / City etc. he was also offered to United and they turned their nose up. Didn’t think he was good enough. I think that sums up how poorly United have brought over the past few years.

Not many I’d take from any of them, but Watford have a few exciting attacking players. I suspect they would be out of our reach, but I wonder if we could use A Armstrong as part of the deal to make it more affordable. proven championship striker so would be ideal for a relegated side.

Oh I don’t disagree. The miserable weather and the fact we seemingly never get a result there, or at least in the times I’ve been, have made it a pretty miserable hunting ground from personal experience.

I think Ralph is his own worse enemy. As Dan sheldon said on TSP a few weeks back, when he has time to think (I.e international break) we need to worry, as he starts to tinker and over think. Ive always said he’s a good training ground manager and a decent ‘coach’, but tactically not great. Yesterday, we went back to basics and like magic, it worked. That being said, Arsenal weren’t great and on another coulda/shoulda won.. but you need to ride your luck against the better teams. Re Broja, I think most can see what influence he has on us. He’s a top quality player and even when not scoring, he’s still contributing to style and giving us a genuine threat in behind. He struggles when teams sit deep and prevent any space for him to run in to. If we had the quality in midfield, this wouldn’t matter so much, but we don’t.

Having been to Burnley a few times, I’d find it hard to get the enthusiasm to go for a ‘6 pointer’ on a Saturday, let alone a Thursday night. There and Stoke seem to be the coldest, most miserable grounds in the country… I guess that’s just the soft southerner in me.

I’m just here to call out the bullshit buddy. He just says a lot of it. Live by the sword and all that. Act like a know it all, expect to be shot down when proven you don’t.

I thought the exact same. He’s a better version of Stephens. He’s got a decent range of passing as well.

He epitomises everything we need at the moment and miss when he’s not in the side. Technically he’s probably not the best player, but he has guts, determination and fight. And to think, Mr stat man wrote him off after watching the highlights of a bad game on YouTube….

When the manager learns from mistakes and changes his style 😉

Not pretty, rode our luck at times, but done exactly what we needed to do and had the fight to do so. Fair play, good win.

Done exactly what was needed today. Credit where it’s due. Please just find some consistency.