Geordie

I'm genuinely not trying to be argumentative, but that's just not the case. Howe's first full season, yeah we leant into the dark arts, but we hadn't the squad to pass the ball around. You have to remember that not 6 months prior we were dead certs for relegation. Hell, we're still fielding players from our time in the Championship. We rarely time waste now, it's only when we're up against a much better side, or we're a man down. Which is true for most clubs in the league. I think we weren't really at it on Saturday and you were. Sloppy in possession and, after the sending off, little to no interest in attacking. Like you said, the red card killed the game as a spectacle and it all became a bit of a grind. I'm confident we'll not play like that against Bournemouth and, with more of our squad back (and maybe an addition or two), we'll be pushing for European football come May. Good luck for the rest of the season.

We play a hybrid 4-5-1/4-3-3. With Gordon and Murphy pushing up when we're in attack, or when the press is triggered. We often let teams that favour a certain style attack for a bit, waiting for them to blow themselves out a little. Then we'll become more positive and aggressive as the game goes on. Had we not had a man sent off, we'd have been able to press you higher up the pitch more regularly, as is our usual pattern. Most newly promoted sides will come flying out of the blocks in their first game back. Makes sense to wait it out and rely on your defence, instead of expending a lot of energy in the early stages of the first game. We were wasteful in possession early on, I'm putting that down to rustiness/weariness. Especially for Gordon, and Bruno.

To be fair, we were down to 10 men.

Back and not on the wind up or owt. Thought you played well before the red card, while we were taking time to get our rhythm. Then the red card changed everything. We had to basically camp in, surrender possession and hope to pick you off on the counter, or something. You had your chances , but just couldn't seem to take them. Quite a lot of your attacks seemed to fizzle out. On the red... Look, I get that I'm biased but at the time and on watching the clips, it looks to me like Diaz barrels Schar over, Schar gets up and shoves him, then both players push their heads forward and Diaz goes down like he's been shot. Is that worthy of a red card? I don't think it should be, no. It's not violent, or anything more than handbags. But that's not the law. By the letter of the law I think both should have been sent off, but with Diaz's theatrics that was never going to happen. Schar is stupid, Diaz is sly. I expect we'll appeal. Either way it ended any real concerted attacking intent from us. It's 3pts I wasn't expecting after Schar lost his rag, so I can't complain. Might accelerate a couple of new transfer deals too I genuinely hope all those that made the long, long, very long trip up enjoyed it as much as they could.

You're a 5 minute walk away from four really good bars; Bodega, The Forth Hotel, The Town Wall and Tilleys. Decent coffee at Pink Lane Coffee as well.

It's a nightmare, I know. Comes down tot he bones of the stadium being such that we can't safely accommodate away fans near to the pitch. There are discussions about expanding SJP or relocating, but nothing is concrete yet. There are lifts that you could use, but I dunno if I'd fancy the wait. Stock up on Sausage rolls to fuel your ascent?

Anyone heading up needs pub or food advice, let me know. Away fans welcome in every pub as long as they're not acting up. We're still missing Botman and Lascelles, and that naughty Tonali won't be available until the 28th. However there remains a lot of confidence on Tyneside. We've won 3 of the last 4 opening day fixtures.