The garden is obviously not rosey at the moment, and it’s so frustrating that we were on the cusp of something really good – only to have it torn away by Ashley.
How much of that is connected to the takeover (yeah, remember that?! – that’s gone very quiet hasn’t it?!). I suspect it was a clash of pigheadedness between Ashley and Rafa personally.
I’m confident Ashley will spend. He did with McClaren, and I think he will again – certainly on forwards. That doesn’t make our summer a sudden success, but, I’m pretty sure we’ll see a fair few come in between now and August 8th.
What I’m sick of hearing though is this ‘lack of quality’! – this is from FANS. Well, some fans.
Our ‘lack of quality’ finished 10th and 13th – it’s time to stop giving all the credit to Rafa. We have premier league quality players in our squad.
Why wouldn’t Bruce take the job?!. All he has to do is keep us in the Premier League – that’s the level of ambition from the current owner. Sad for us, but hardly bad working conditions for a new manager.
So I put myself in Brucey’s shoes for a minute – the remit – to keep NUFC up with £90m to spend.
If he fails, well everyone expected it anyway – and it hardly dents his reputation. What does he have to do to succeed … and so my post goes.
Norwich and Sheffield Utd – if I’m a betting man, they take 2 of the 3 relegation positions.
Brighton – have a new (bang average) manager. Have lost the odd key player (Dunk leaving would be a killer blow) and have not yet strengthened.
Aston Villa – didn’t look too convincing in the Championship last season. Yes they are spending, but so did Fulham last season (no guarantees) and the players they are buying have little to no Premier League experience (nor do a lot of their existing players).
Crystal Palace – Hodgson is my bet for first top flight manager sacked. Yet to really strengthen and looks very likely they loose their star man (Zaha) before the season starts – and that’s coming after Wan-Bisaka left for Man Utd.
I think Saints, West Ham and Burnley are also teams that could go either way too, especially when the latter could lose key man Tarkowski to Leicester.
So, there are plenty of teams fighting to avoid that 3rd spot – we only have to do better than 1 of them?
I’m confident we WILL stay in the Premier League this season. But, for as long as Mike Ashley remains, there is another relegation looming.
As fans, all we can do is hope Ashley is gone before that happens because, as much as I HATE Mike Ashley, I can never wish for our club to implode the way the Mackems have – even if it would hit his back pocket and give him ‘what he deserves’.
Well I’m not sure we discussed that headline ? but thanks anyway ??
Sharpy17(Quote)
£90m to spend. What a joke. Do you think for one second MA will spend anywhere near that? We need 2 strikers, 2 fullbacks and a midfielder- minimum. But now we read we’re selling Gayle and getting a poor quality centre half from Burnley. That’ll be 6 centre backs then!! Relegation certs!
TT(Quote)
He spent £83m for McClaren.
It’s unlikely he’ll spend as much as £91m but not out of the question.
I think we need 2 forwards, a LB, midfielder and winger.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Unpopular opinion number 2. I don’t hate Ashley. I hate Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and their ilk. That’s really important. They cause real damage. Ashley is the owner of a football club. He does not run the country or the World. Owners of clubs are rich guys who need vanity projects. I believe MA bought the Toon hoping for glory. He got a head ache. Most of his managers were poor, Chris Hughton excepted. If he wanted failure why appoint Rafa? I think he’d like to sell but won’t give the club away. Despite the stuff about MAs meanness Rafa built a decent squad from the players available. Fans easily forget players have to want to come. The top ones won’t as they want super money AND European competition. Its a vicious circle. Rafa could not break out of it. He also had his team play boring football. I suspect he wanted to go. He would have got money to strengthen the squad from the players available. Even he, with a bigger budget would not have got the world’s best.
So now we have Steve Bruce, a decent bloke and an experienced coach. He has already got a better squad than he has ever had before. I wish him luck.
In case anyone is wondering I am a season ticket holder and a life time fan. I like match day. I am disappointed when they lose but get over it by the time I am home.
John Charlton(Quote)
The problem with this article and what Ashley has turned us into is that the author of this and other fans are now happy to just avoid relegation every season and have no ambition. Exactly what Ashley wants and is getting!
John(Quote)
John – I fear those f@ckers mate. They have the ability to start wars and destroy Countries – including their own. I hate them too, but fear would be the first word that comes to mind with them.
Sharpy17(Quote)
John – as the author I can tell you you’re wrong mate.
I even say in the article that we were on the cusp of something great – of course that’s what I want for the club I want.
I was offering my thoughts as to why Bruce would take the job – and in doing so, what would be seen as success for him.
It’s not the measure of my ambition, but the reality of the situation under Ashley. I can’t hope the club implodes just so it teaches him a lesson – coz then WE suffer the most.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I also hope that we will avoid relegation and that we have decent players. Our defence conceeded 48 goals last season the best outside the top 10. They are all still here and might even be strengthened with Sterry and a new LB. Our midfield has only lost Diame, although Hayden might leave. We definately need a new midfielder. Upfront we have lost Rondon and Perez, bothe need replacing. Joelinton and a n other . We basically can be as good as last season and as Sharpy says, we are better than several of the others. To do more we need a takeover.
PremAndUp(Quote)
90 million transfer kitty is pie in the sky thinking Ashley paid 90 million for HOF and that’s sinking faster than the Titanic so 90 million will plug gap in his finances
The Fat man will not sell until all assets have been stripped and we are in liquidation
Steve(Quote)
Our defence has been threatened by Sterry, who could not even get a game for Crewe Alexandra 😕
Steve ‘Loyalty’ Cabbage Heed Bruce is a decent bloke – must have been an Owl saying that 😡
Then we get Trump, Boris, forgetting Kim, Putin, Corbyn and The Ayotallah……… 😯 and at least Mike’s not as bad as them 😀
There’ll be plenty of Happy Meals sold in the stadium, by the sounds of it 😉
Toontaff(Quote)
Threatened ~ strengthened………though autocorrect may be right 💡
Toontaff(Quote)
I think the truth always lies somewhere in between. We could still lose Schar and/LeJeune. We could lose Dubravka. The management of the team is not as good as it was previously so points we picked up last season we may not do so in similar situations this coming season. That said, if we can keep the keeper and 3 regular CBs (Lascelles, LeJeune and Schar), if Ritchie can keep going at WB and we can strengthen with at least 1 other WB at the back then that is a platform. We then need Joelinton + 3 more attacking players (whether that be strikers or wingers depending upon the system played). Anybody else that then leaves (e.g. Hayden) needs replacing – seems difficult to see that happening at this point. I think the concern at the moment is about where the attacking threat comes from (they seem to be addressing this???) but then depth. You need to have at least 18 players that you are comfortable with playing as injuries, suspensions and form peaks and troughs will happen. You can buy a striker for £36m who then struggles to get going and gets injured for 6 weeks. Some form of backup is required.
I do still feel as though Ashley is asset stripping though. I was speaking with someone the other day and saying that £30m for Perez is unbelievable as he isn’t a £30m player. You see the rumours about Longstaff that just won’t quite be put to bed and then Gayle. Still feels like he is trying to recoup as much money as possible as there might still be a takeover (although the possibility of this is greatly diminished at this point).
Also I agree that Sheff Utd are likely to finish bottom. I then think Villa might start well but will fade and possible finish 19th. I think Norwich will stay up. So you have to be better than somebody else to stay up. That should not be the end of our ambitions but with the asset stripping and the systemic under investment that is the best we can hope for.
Alex(Quote)