benjii

If we had a couple of people who could head the ball we'd be great.

Smallbone is class and we have plenty if good forward options at this level. Just need some aerial power.

Drinking in Walkabout in Cardiff before a match there. Police decided to send a bus to escort all the Saints fans to the ground. For some reason, a big chant of "No surrender to the IRA" commenced. I joined in as it seemed funny. That's it.

I think Charles needs to come in at CM. Should give us a bit more defending set pieces (and attacking them). My friend is a Norwich fan and reckons they will probably sit quite deep so hopefully we can get a hold on the game. Other than that, I would say last Friday's team picks itself, with the only question marks being Adams/Adam Armstrong and Edozie/SAA/Stu Armstrong.

They would be fine if we had Pelle up top and Wanyama at centre mid. But we don't have anyone in the team who is genuinely good in the air. [Caveat: haven't really seen enough of Charles to know.] Most teams will have several players better in the air than any of ours. Means we will be vulnerable at set pieces. If we add height somewhere else then they might be fine but I think we should be trying to find a big bugger that's good on the ball (maybe easier said than done).

Not as fit as Nathan Jones was.

Yes. Even if we're going to have very high possession all the time, we can't afford to leak goals from corners and free kicks launched into the box. Even Man City, the possession masters, have a decent aerial capability. Two good centre backs, often a nominal centre back at left back, Rodri (who si very dangerous in the air) and then Haaland as well. We could really use a midfielder or striker with aerial power to help the CBs at set pieces.

If we're being greedy, then the areas where we are currently lacking are: - proper competition at GK - aerial ability at defensive set pieces Other than that, the squad is fine as it stands. I'm not sure we'll do anything much at GK so, really, I think it's just a case of replacing any of the important leavers and, ideally, taking into account aerial attributes as part of that process. When ABK goes we should sign a centre back that is very good in the air. Obviously we'll be looking for one that can pass but I think the Stephens/Bednarek combo will leak goals and we don't have any real height in CM or up front. Likewise, if Adams goes, it would be good to sign a striker with some physicality. I guess if JWP goes then Smallbone might play further forwards (although we saw Stuart Armstrong being very effective in that role) with Charles at deeper midfield, and that will give the XI a bit more aerial strength.

Last night we had 15 minutes of additional time in a match that wasn't particularly incident-packed and only had one or two moderate injury stoppages. I completely agree with clamping down on time wasting, but I didn't really see any of that going on. There were also 8 yellow cards in a game which, again, wasn't particularly rough or ill-tempered. I'm totally on board with the yellow card issued to Armstrong. It's been a real peeve of mine for a long time - if your team has conceded a set piece, you should touch the ball. But, if we're looking at 8 yellow cards and 15 minutes of additional time in a one-sided and fairly uneventful game then we're going to see plenty of matches where the referee has a huge influence on the outcome. It will be interesting to see if they keep this up or if it will be like that time referees started giving penalties for pulling in the box at corners for about a month, then stopped.

He's cheesed off.

Why is there an estate agent in the picture?

China already did that.

You make a fair point. Americans are notorious for not getting involved in racial politics.

Not sure why George Burley didn't go with this. His players out of position could have wandered into their position. P.s. Edozie and Tella are well offside.

"Moroni" - lol. This board has got in your head!

At the end of the day, if we hadn't got relegated and he hadn't got a long term injury he could be looking at his second big season in PL and we'd be selling him next summer for 50mill or something. But we did and he did so we aren't. Doesn't mean the initial deal was bad.

It's a one hour flight to Riyadh. Not really a practical option unless you play for a team in Khobar/Damman, which is not where the major teams are. It would also go down badly with the PR associated with attracting high-profile players, if they lived in a different country. Furthermore, that wouldnt work well from a visa perspective. Riyadh is landlocked and I was talking about Riyadh, which is where some of the main teams are. Neom would claim to be anything but an "urban area" - its the size of Belgium. But it's at least 10 years until any sizable population lives there (if ever). No doubt the country is modernising and in ten or fifteen years parts of it might be the new Dubai/Hong Kong/Singapore etc but, as you say, its not there yet and I agree with the cabin fever point.

Just got back from Riyadh. Didn't see a single Newcastle shirt, for what it's worth! It's OK but really the only reason to live there is the money. There isn't much to do and it's landlocked and surrounded by desert so you can't even buy somewhere sweet with sea view or beach access or anything like that (as opposed to UAE, Bahrain, Qatar). This is one of the reasons why the Saudis are spending a huge amount of money developing tourism in the west of the country, along the Red Sea coast. You can obviously live in a plush hotel suite or in a bug house in a western compound, where you would have golf, a gym and a swimming pool. But other than that and the cinema, that's pretty much your leisure options, right there. There are plenty of nice restaurants but obviously you won't be pairing your fillet with a nice red wine. This is precisely why people go there for mega money for a year or two. Zero income tax, inflated wages and a boring but comfortable life. It's also very safe as long as you behave. Saudis are, generally, very friendly and hospitable people when you meet them. It wouldn't be particularly unusual for a Saudi to invite someone that they've met once or twice for business to their house for dinner, for example. So, it's not a hardship to live there, but if you're already extremely wealthy and not a Muslim then you'd almost certainly enjoy living in Europe more! I can understand middling Premier League players going there for a year or two. I can't for the life of me understand why Ronaldo bothered though.

Donuts.

Watch out, Hypo has been on the Peterson again.

El Nino did flow.

JWP a way better performer than Pulisic though? He's been generally shite.

Perraud, Manning, Tino, KWP, Bree.... No doubt we've got the best full backs in the league (at least for now....).

Magnificent. No idea what you're talking about.

I find his Welsh accent very soothing. I think there would definitely be such a thing as "too Welsh" for a newsreader but I've always found his voice to be very pleasant. I have nothing further to add.