A huge win for Newcastle United and a dream Premier League debut for Matty Longstaff, who inspired us to our first three points of the season at St James’ Park with a second half winner in front of the Gallowgate!
It was an intriguing and fresh line up picked by Steve Bruce today, full of pace with Saint-Maximin and Yedlin returning, and of course Matty Longstaff making his debut alongside his brother in central midfield – and they were all brilliant.
I’ve knocked Bruce – and rightly so at times – but his tactics were much better today. We looked very hard to break down at the back (albeit against a VERY poor Man Utd side), competed much better in midfield and had more purpose about us on the counter-attack, with Saint-Maximin’s return playing a huge part in that.
It was nearly a blistering start, Saint Maximin put Almiron in but he couldn’t get the ball across onto his left foot and his right foot cross was intercepted. The energy and commitment levels from the players were a far cry from last week and Saint Maximin has the crowd on their feet every time he got the ball, despite a lack of end product at times.
There was also nearly a wonderful moment when Matty Longstaff hit the bar with a brilliant 25 yard half volley. Ultimately though the same problems in attack existed with clear cut chances few and far between and in truth, we never looked like creating anything against the poorest Manchester United team in my lifetime. Despite them having just over 70% of the ball in the first half we were the better team and were unlucky to not be winning at half time, despite Maguire missing an absolute sitter on the stroke of half time.
The second half started without quite the same gusto from us, with Manchester United seemingly having much more time on the ball. Carroll came on for Joelinton on 56 mins after another ineffective and frustrating appearance from the Brazilian, who in fairness was suffering from a back injury.
Then a moment that will live long in the memory…
Jetro Willems broke free down the left, and just when it looked like the attack would break down, he rolled the ball back to Matty Longstaff who struck a brilliant low drive into the bottom corner.
It lifted the roof off the stadium and injected energy and belief at a time when Man Utd were starting to get a grip on proceedings.
It was a relatively comfortable ending to the game in fairness, with Man Utd failing to break down our stubborn defence.
A brilliant win that takes us up into 16th. Bring on Chelsea!
Well done NUFC and Matty Longstaff.
Should be an uncomfortable international break for OGS and Silva. Everton are in the relegation zone after all the money they have spent FFS.
The question for both is who would take on these teams. It is not that they are underachieving, it is that they have bought some very **** players.
If you were Max Allegri would you want to ruin your reputation at a team where the best player is a spoilt brat who wants away? They play Liverpool next week and I am not sure if any of their players would get into that team. Not McGuire, not Pogba. What is Marcus Rashford now? I seriously think I have seen Donkeylu play better than he did today.
I have nothing against the blue bindippers, just pointing out that they are 18th. Spurs and Man U on the other hand I would like to see midtable at best.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Three points which was needed badly. Doesn’t change my opinion. We will still really struggle to score but we beat bad side thankfully because we didn’t concede.
Absolutely delighted for Matty Longstaff. What a feeling that must be.
Stuart79(Quote)
I think I have to go back to Tiote scoring against Arsenal for a feeling like the final whistle today.
It wasn’t the greatest game or performance, but seeing the Longstaff boys smiling and celebrating and their interview after the game – just brilliant!!!.
What a cracking pair they are. Forget Shelvey – it’s those 2 Bruce needs to build the team around.
I’m not thrilled with Almiron, but I’m in too much of a good mood for that tonight.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – I don’t think the pressure is on OGS until maybe next season – he gets this season free I reckon.
They basically wanted rid of the bad apples and he only got half the job done in the summer.
I think they still want rid of players like Shaw, Pogba, Fred, Lingard, Martial – and then replace them of course – along with getting players in for those who left in the summer.
I think OGS gets a bit of a free pass – top 6 (maybe even 10) this season while they clear the decks.
However Silva and Poch may not be shown the same patience – Silva in particular. Poch had some success last season that might buy him time. But Silva is most at risk I reckon.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Brilliant result. Missed the match in real time as I had a work event but recorded it and just watched. So chuffed for young Matty, but what a player st maximin is… great game.
Dubai Toon(Quote)
Sharpy: Jlingz has a contact offer on the table and Martial got a new deal last year. They are also talking about a new deal for Pogba but that is probably just so they can inflate his transfer fee. Shaw was their player of the year last year and they see him as a mainstay of their defense along with Wan Bassaka and McGuire.
Sorry to tell you are wrong on who they want to dump.
I think OGS might, MIGHT get the January transfer window. Depends on what replacement is available . If Allegri would take the job he would be sacked tomorrow.
I think Ole is on about a 3 year contract at 3-4 million a year so he would actually be quite cheap to sack in the scheme of top 6 PL managers. About the same as Bruce, in fact.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Liverpool could be a turning point. Lose by more than 2 goals at home and I think there will be calls for his head. Not from Rio and the class of 92 because they would look like utter fools after lobbying so hard to get him. Secretly, I think they are regretting every word they said/wrote in that regard.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We had so little to cheer until today that I had to content myself with the misery of Spurs and Man U. It was getting a bit depressing writing about NUFC. But there may be some light at the send of the tunnel with Matty and St Max looking good and Sean L and Hayden being good players as well.
Too soon to get excited and as Stuart says – who will score the goals?
Get Dummett on the pitch and it will be 4 Geordies sometimes. Of course then The Chronic would do yet another interview with John Hall and talk about 11 Geordies AGAIN.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
As I said earlier did the boycotters leave their principles at the turnstiles today? There were over 51,000 there.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – oh don’t be sorry mate. I’m thoroughly enjoying watching the downfall of the great Man Utd and their entitlement to success and a top 4 finish.
If they are players they want to keep (and I’d still question Pogba. I think they want rid but don’t want to upset his fans) I think they continue to struggle. I think they will go through decades of ‘under achieving’ like Liverpool. They may well get back, but it won’t be any time soon and certainly not under Ole.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Such a nice sight to see the brothers in the post match sky interview, their parents must be bursting with pride.
Matty was awesome today, could of had two but for the bar
kimtoon(Quote)
(not getting ahead of myself) but it looked like a very ginger lad who could spray the ball about and shoot from distance had switched teams. If he adds mistiming a few tackles to his arsenal we could have the next Paul Scholes. Then Man U would he after him as well.
Man U have too much money to spend a lot of time in the wilderness. They need to appoint a good Manager and take some (all) of the power from Woodward.
Remember the year before Pep arrived t City all of the papers were saying the squad were too old. That changed completely in 2 years so it is not impossible if you have the money. Same with Klopp. I read something yesterday where they showed the 1st Liverpool team he ever put out. I will find it and put in on here to show how quickly things can change.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Klopp’s first game in charge of Liverpool was October 17, 2015. They played Spurs that day. Both have gone on have a very good 4 years but one of them has totally changed their team and the other seems in need of a refresh. See if you can see which is which:
Mignolet
Clyne
Skrtel
Sakho
Moreno
Leiva
Can
Milner
Lallana
Coutinho
Origi
AGAINST
Lloris
Walker
Alderweldereid
Vertinghen
Rose
Dembele
Alli
Lamela
Erikson
Chadli
Kane
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I reckon Spurs need at least 5 new starters to get anywhere near the top 4 and Levy doesn’t have the money to buy them unless he sells Kane. Lloris, Alderweldereid, Vertonghen, Erikson, Rose, Dier, Winks, Sissoko and Aurier are either out of contract or not good enough.
Poch has had them overachieving but has run them into the ground.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I watched the game again and Man U were terrible. We should have won by more. They had one decent chance in the game. The commentators were going on about the players they had missing, but who! Pogba plays 1 good game in 3. Martial is a busted flush. Jose wouldn’t play Shaw because he was too fat. Wan Bassaka is 19. Lindelof, give me a break.
The fact is they do not have very good players. What has happened to Rashford? Their best player this season has been James and he was shyte. McTomanay, big deal. He wouldn’t even get in the Wolves or Leicester teams. And that leaves their next big thing Greenwood. But he is only 18 and was anonymous when he came on.
Our debutant looked the best player on the pitch and Schar and St Max were better than any of the Man U players.
When they showed the teams, I wondered if I would jinx us to say it was the worst Man U team I had ever seen. I think Sharpy said as much. What were they doing selling Lukaku and loaning Sanchez who was bad for them but you never know.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I forgot JLingz. Commentors said they had 5 missing that would have played in that team. They forgot to say the were not much better than those that were playing, if they are at all. It is not like they were missing Salah and Aguero. It was JLingz etc. FFS
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I did say as much as soon as I saw the team sheet yesterday – and i obviously stand by it.
But, I take nothing away from our lads yesterday. You’re dead right, it could have and should have been more than 1-0 and Almiron had 2 very good chances to get off the mark (along with a 3rd half chance).
As bad as Man Utd’s team was, it was still Man Utd at home after a 5-0 thrashing off Leicester and a lot of pressure on the players.
It was a big call to put Matty Longstaff in, and one I don’t think Rafa would have made with Shelvey and Ki available. It was risky when you don’t know which Man Utd midfield he’d face – but when I saw the team sheet, I immediately fancied the Longstaff brothers to boss it.
Those 2 lads should be what we are building around in the coming years.
Sharpy17(Quote)
ime still very open to giving Almiron more time talent does not go overnight imo he will come good given time i wouldnt like to play against his skill and pace,just needs one to go in even from his backside,when he runs at defence the space he leaves behind him needs to be used not just stand and stare at him as some are doing
icedog(Quote)
Ice – I want to, I really want him to come good coz I think a confident in form Almiron would to us what maybe Zaha is it Palace.
His work again yesterday was really good. He started the move for our goal by chasing the clearance and making an excellent pass to the Saint to drive the move forward.
But, Saint played him in early in the first half. Saint dribbled from the half way line to the edge of the box and played Mig in on the right – Mig took a touch which was too heavy and he narrowed his angle but also gave the defender time to get a block in. He should have hit it first time – he may not have scored but he had a far better chance than taking that extra touch.
His second big opportunity was a great ball over the top from Sean Longstaff – it doesn’t get much better than that.
He was also played through in the 2nd half – it was a half chance but he should have at least been testing the keeper.
He’s had numerous chances like that both last season and again already this season – and he’s not taking them.
For all his hard work, his offensive stats are very poor. If it was Gayle or Murphy or Joselu we’d be jumping all over them. I’m not saying we should do that, but he should be as accountable as anyone else.
We keep saying we don’t know where the goals are coming from – well he’s getting chances and not taking them – for me that’s a problem.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy it could be worse,we could have had Fred,bloody 52 mil for a guy that cannot control a ball
icedog(Quote)
Ice – he was awful wasn’t he ?.
It sums Man Utd up though. I’m more than happy to watch their downfall because they really kicked off the over inflation of fees and agent fees for players.
The money they have spent on bang average players over the years now comes back to bite them.
Fred was horrible and if Pogba was in there too – that’s around £140m in just those 2 alone – and the Longstaff boys would still have bossed it.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I thought Williems and Yedlin were excellent as wing backs yesterday as well. They were dangerous going forward and tucked in when needed.
I’ve been really impressed with Williems since he’s came in.
Sharpy17(Quote)
top player imo now hes very the bad injurys hes had at his last club,he was getting watched by some top clubs before his injurys we got him in under the radar,get him signed up,hope club have got that agreement in his loan spell
icedog(Quote)
Ice – I hope so mate, I imagine it would be a fairly reasonable fee as well as like you say, his previous injuries made him surplus to Frankfurt.
Sharpy17(Quote)
When we were guessing the team that might play against Man Utd and wondering if Matty Longstaff might play – I posted they may well play him in a hope Man Utd might buy one Longstaff (Sean) and take the other half price ??♂️.
Well forget that!!!. Those stupid deluded fecks can whistle. The Longstaff boys are ours!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
NUFC do have a buyout for Willems. I think it is 10 million euros which is nothing in this silly money market of 180 million for Pogba.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Bruce is going to be spoilt for choice soon. He has Lejeune coming back to add to Dummett and Fernandez. Then with Yedlin back he will also have Ritchie. Two more games to look at Matty Longstaff and then Hayden returns. Bruce could even tinker with his 3 in the middle again. I think Hayden has played well and that will be a good problem. Then there is big Andy who is regaining fitness and Gayle, who I think will get a few goals.
Hopefully Joelinton will get more space with St Max and Almiron. Sharpy said Almiron could be our Zaha but from yesterday St Max looked more like him. Needs to learn how to dive in the box and then Joelinton can get a few penalties and pad his stats.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – Max is our new Tino mate. Nobody has a clue what he’s gonna do but god it’s great to watch. He’s a toon player if ever there was one!!.
I think Max is just raw talent, where Almiron is a more intelligent player – that’s not an insult to Max in any way – or it’s certainly not meant to be anyway.
Like I say, I’d love if we had a confident, in form Almiron in the team alongside Max. If we can get our front 3 firing we definitely stand a chance – I’m just not sure Bruce is the man that can get them going
Sharpy17(Quote)
I would like to see Gayle in the team with all of this pace and direct play in the team.
His conversion rate isn’t great in the PL – certainly not as good as his Championship return.
But with Williems & Yedlin attacking from wide, the Longstaffs playing balls forward and Max and Miggy – could that be what Gayle needs.
But if I’m being brutally honest – Joelinton, Carroll, Gayle – im not convinced any get more or maybe even 10 goals a season.
Sharpy17(Quote)
De Gea is not even a top 5 goalie in the PL. He has no spring. He saves everything with his feet and what is the point of a goalie who doesn’t use his hands. He was beaten by that Longstaff shot that hit the bar. It was either great judgement or he doesn’t have the spring to get to it. He was like a falling tree for our goal. Some keepers would have got to that, but his dive was a token effort as it went past. Watch him, he does that a lot.
He is great with his feet though, which does make him a top half PL goalie. But highest paid in the world. You are joking aren’t you Ed Woodward!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Looks like Sean Longstaff is regaining his fitness and Matty had a great debut. Stay tuned for some NUFC idiots to say Hayden is out now. What is wrong with having 3 in-form central mids even if you have to leave one out or rotate? It is a long time since we had that problem. It has usually been about how to cover up for 1 or all of their deficiencies.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sharpy – Joelinton is looking more of a dud with every game he plays. He’s way behind Carroll and Gayle (and I’m not great fans of either). There’s no way he cost £40m. Whoever agreed to that should be sacked.
Agree with you on Willems too. He’s a really powerful guy.
Best thing about yesterday though wasn’t just Matty. Sean was finally back to his best after some iffy performances. A midfield with heart and talent – who’d have believed that during the Leicester game.
georgio(Quote)
For once I think the international break has come at a good time for us. We don’t have that many going on their travels and it will give a few players another 2 weeks to get fit – Gayle, Carroll, Ritchie, Lejeune, Shelvey. All are potential starters or at least can come off the bench.
Also, Chelsea seem in good form so hopefully all of their players having other coaches in their ears will disrupt this.
Obviously Bruce has not turned a corner and his record shows he is not good enough long-term, but it will be good to not have so much negativity around the place. A loss yesterday and I think there would be trending Bruceout hashtags.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Nobody has mentioned Willems’ twinkle toes in the Man U box before laying on that pass for Matty. That was a really nice bit of skill that went unnoticed after the debut goal.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Georgio – I want to be careful with my judgement of Joelinton. I agree he is not suited to the role he’s being asked to play for us at the moment. He needs someone along side him I think – a poacher. A pacy little forward to play off him and be greedy for goals.
He’s been compared to Firmino, but the reason Firmino looks so good is coz he has Salah AND Mane either side of him – TWO pacy little goal hungry forwards either side of him.
Joelinton can’t perform the role of Rondon so will look poor compared to him. Is he worth £40m? – I could think of better ways to spend £40m based on what we needed. But I do think he’s a decent player.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Was really impressed with St Max, his dribbling stats will be something else end of the season if he stays fit, and Willems looked very good too.
I’m not yeddys biggest fan as you know but he had a very good game yesterday, even Almiron who is driving me bonkers with his misses worked tirelessly all game. He creates so much space for others and was involved in the build up to our goal with a peachy pass to St Max which led to him putting Matty in.
Dubravka was assured in his catching and Schar was outstanding again as well.
Thought Sean looked fitter and sharper and looks alongside Matty as i suspected he would. Bruce needs some credit for yesterday, got his tactics right and was brave to start Matty and brought AC on a bit earlier which unsettled Man u just as they were gaining traction, good game management, credit where it’s due.
Whatever our thoughts on Bruce, he’s our manager and we need to get behind him now, until such time that it becomes clear he has to go . Hopefully if we can get Gayle fitter he can yet play a big role up front .
Almiron needs a goal badly but once it comes i’ve a feeling he’ll fly.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim – I give Bruce credit, and I’m really pleased for him actually – his 400th PL game as manager and his very first win over Man Utd after 20yrs of trying.
I don’t dislike the bloke at all, and like his honesty in interviews.
Yesterday was a great result and good performance – but we have Chelsea away next. It’s not a game I expect to win – I expect NUFC will likely loose more than they win. But what I want for Bruce is more consistent performances.
I’ll accept that he’s had numerous players out injured so far this season. He’s getting them back now.
I don’t want to see any more performances like Norwich or Leicester again – those performances are totally unacceptable & Bruce has 2 in 8 games now.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Leicester didn’t really go pear shaped until the sending off. That has happened numerous times to all clubs. I didn’t want to say that before because I would have been slaughtered for sticking up for Bruce. I said when we got Bruce that he is top 5 Championship and bottom 5 PL. I still think that.
I think our squad is better than bottom 5 PL so there is hope. That is not just because we beat a bad Man U. It is more about seeing the potential in St Max and the Longstaffs and already knowing that Almiron will eventually get assists and maybe even a few goals. We have decent defenders as well and Hayden was valued at 15-20 million at the end of last year and has been one of our better players in some bad performances.
Atsu, Shelvey and Carroll are good subs. The recent stats show they should not be starting. Even big Andy whose goals have not been there in the last few years through injuries and loss of pace. He can serve a purpose though.
Gayle is the wild card as I think with a bit of luck he could get a goal every 3 games which would actually be better than Perez and Rondon.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I said when Bruce took over, he can’t really loose. Everyone expect him to fail, so if he does it doesn’t really impact his reputation – how do you manage NUFC with everything else going on?! – Ashley, protests etc.
But he keeps us up and it would be seen as a huge success all things considered.
Leicester went horrifically wrong mate & Bruce should get it for that – BUT – so should the players!! and in particular Lascelles as his captaincy was non existent with the players capitulating around him.
Not good enough.
I disagree about Shelvey mate. He’d be one I’d sell. I don’t rate him and the Longstaff boys showed yesterday they can pass it every bit as good as he can – but have so much more to go with it. Shelvey is a one trick pony we no longer need.
Agree about Atsu and Carroll though.
Buy Williems and I think our defence is sorted. We need another CM, a right winger and a goal poaching forward.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: at this point I would sell Shelvey as well. You have to set up the team for him and Bruce has given up on that (so did Rafa). We are short in midfield and if you can protect Jonjo he does offer something. He did well when Diame was the destroyer and laid it off to him but that only really worked well in 1 out of 3 games. But a win every 3 games keeps you up. A point a game gets you 38 and that is almost guaranteed survival.
It would be amazing if Sean Longstaff gets back to last years form and that wasn’t a one off for Matty. I think Hayden has proved himself now as a PL player. So for a total of 3 million we might have a decent midfield. Compare that to Fred at 50 million.
Not getting ahead of myself, I hope.
There is a good interview about the Longstaffs with Mathew Hardy on The Times podcast. It is called The Game and is free to listen to.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And Sharpy: the other thing about Shelvey is that his skills are redundant for NUFC if Schar, Lejuene and Longstaff the elder play. That is without Longstaff the younger who has only played 1 game but looked the most accurate of any of them with a long pass. Small sample size though 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Hayden is an excellent player. He had a brain fart and the only part of that tackle that was red was the follow through – whether that was frustration or revenge for an earlier challenge I don’t know. But he has been one of our best players since coming in last season and is generally a consistent 7/10.
He and Sean would still be my pairing this season with Matty on the bench to gain more experience – I think he could be a great impact sub – much more effective than Shelvey.
I do think we need an enforcer as well though. I think we miss a Tiote/Diame option for our midfield.
Hayden is very good defensively, but we need a big physical presence to turn to sometimes too.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Cheers ERIC
Iceedog(Quote)
Enforcer; Thomas Soucek Czech international
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/tomas-soucek/profil/spieler/283628
PremAndUp(Quote)
Prem – ive not seen or heard of this lad, but he’s in our age and price range if that link is anything to go by – and 3 goals and an assist in 10 suggests he’s a bit more than just an enforcer.
I would love to bring Townsend back for the right wing. Him one side with Saint the other side would be great to watch. I know he hasn’t been prolific at Palace, but the Townsend we had would be a great addition to the squad.
A midfield enforcer, right winger and goal poacher and I’d be pretty happy with the squad.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Striker Donyell Malen
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/donyell-malen/profil/spieler/326029
Right Wing Calvin Stengs
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/calvin-stengs/profil/spieler/409344
PremAndUp(Quote)
Prem – are you Graham Carr in disguise or something?? ??
Sharpy17(Quote)
More Dennis Wise 😀
PremAndUp(Quote)
I have youtube videos as well
PremAndUp(Quote)
You are Dennis Wise!! ????
Sharpy17(Quote)
Why was Dummett dropped? Was a numbers game where Bruce wanted to make changes and couldn’t drop our captain or Schar who has probably been our best player.
Would be nice to have 4 Geordies on the pitch together and I am pretty sure the Longstaffs will start the next 2 games and Carroll will come on off the bench at some point.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Not sure if Joelinton is a target man. He is not Rondon anyway, and seems to like it played more into his feet. The key is to not isolate him though as at the moment he always seems to have 2 men on him. That means the midfield needs to push up a bit more and Almiron and St Max need to occupy the opposition defenders to give Joe more time.
He has the physique to hold the ball up or lay it off but there has to be someone there to lay it off to and he can’t have 2 men to beat every time. When he starts any dribbles he is always running into 2 men, often beating the first but then losing out.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
David Squires Guardian Cartoon. The getting sacked and Longstaff edition:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2019/oct/08/david-squires-on-premier-league-managers
Eric Sykes(Quote)
https://youtu.be/LMbXcuqQFpQ
These are the 2 most likeable lads in football I reckon. No stupid street talk or egos, just genuinely decent lads
Sharpy17(Quote)
There is just too much “chatter’ for GBC (Gone By Christmas) to keep his job much longer. It is like with the intelligence services when they say there is internet and phone “chatter” before a major incident. It has been turned up to 11 with OGS. The only thing saving him is Ed Woodward might have to be pushed further upstairs and he wouldn’t like that. And, of course, whether Max Allegri would take the job. If he would he would be GBT (Gone By Tomorrow).
But, if not Max then who? There really aren’t that many other permanent candidates. It is almost like us FFS when we ended up with Bruce by default.
If they get beat by the Red Bindipppers even the fans will want him gone but he may get a reprieve because there is no-one else. The class of 92 haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory in the Management arena. Carrick? Just sits there stoic and motionless.
Their squad is not as **** as Ole is making it look. It is probably 7th.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I have been saying for ages that the Mackems were close to administration. Chancer Donald only got the club because he was the only one willing to give Ellis Short the remaining parachute payments. He has a terrible record in football ownership as well where he sank a lot of money into a non-league club and lost it all. He simply doesn’t have the resources to bail the Mackems out. If this takeover really has collapsed then it is promotion or bust – literally.
I don’t expect people to read everything I write on here but I have wondered out load and many times how the Mackems could not see through this Chancer’s façade. They viewed him as a white knight when he was more like the black knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Have since read the reports in The Chronic and it looks like the takeover is in real trouble if not completely dead. Seems like an Ashley situation when the “investors” did their due diligence they found some discrepancies and the risk was more than the reward with the winners being the current owners.
Looks like the Mackems are Stewart Donald Ducked.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I think they were prepared to write this season off as a clear out and rebuild.
They knew you can’t make wholesaled changes like they have and still compete for trophies and Europe.
They knew no manager with a reputation in the game would want that on their CV and so turned to a man who would happy oversee things during that time, and a man the fans wouldn’t turn on.
The trouble is they got rid of all of their experienced forwards without bringing in their replacements and assumed that Martial and Rashford were good enough. That Greenwood is being used as much as he is just shows how bad the situation has got.
I think what they are trying to do is probably right, but they are managing to make harder work of it than it should be.
I expect they will still finish top 6-10 which for Man Utd is a bad season. IF they get the players in they want for the rebuild, then they might get away with it. But if not, this could be a disastrous season and a real set back.
Get the players in and managers like Allegri, Poch and Zidane will be lining up in the summer. Don’t and they will be looking at the likes of Marco Silva, Brendan Rogers and managers of that calibre.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy: I think they will sack OGS. All that is stopping them is that Ed will look bad again and might fear for his own job. We will see who is right!
They also only gave him 3 years at 3 mil which is nothing for Man U. Someone better than OGS will be willing to take them on, but it is a very difficult situation because they really should sign Allegri.
Turning into a decent week with a win and the Mackem situation.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
My guess is that Woodward will fly to Florida during the international break. I reckon OGS gets 3 games unless they are absolutely tonked by the Scousers when he might be sacked the next day. Apart from Liverpool they have easy games coming up.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Jeremy Corbyn is a complete ***** but I love the fact he’s got the club hot under the collar. It’s hilarious ?
Stuart79(Quote)
Our international call-ups are not that taxing for once. Yedlin has to go to N America but that is Cuba and Toronto so pretty much a holiday for him. Atsu to Africa for only 1 game. The rest, and there aren’t that many, are all in Europe.
Bruce will have most of his first choice players together bar Schar and Almiron.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric – I think they were ready for a poorer than usual season – but not as bad as it’s started. It’s not just the results, it’s the performances – and if they don’t improve he will be replaced – they’d have to coz the players they’d want to attract will never come the way they are playing right now – nor will the managers.
Sharpy17(Quote)
When I saw our fixtures and new manager I thought a point a game from the 1st 10 would be doing well. We can still get there. Chelsea are doing well but there could be a blip there. Abraham has 8 goals and Mount 4. If they continue at this rate they will be the new Drogba and Lampard. How likely is that? Wolves were under a bit of pressure until this recent upturn. We should have beat them at their place last year if not for a bad ref decision.
Just glad we’re not in this break 2nd bottom and miserable. Can now laugh at Man U and Mackems and not feel I am totally defecting from our plight.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Back to the Mackems because it is quite funny what Donald is saying. He is saying HE has not changed his price so nothing has changed. That is not the point you moron. The Yanks looked at the books and THEY decided it was not worth it. Of course there still could be a deal but it doesn’t look likely.
They really needed promotion last year. They are a 3rd Division club where their outlay is higher than their income. Probably by quite a bit as they were having to give away tickets in the PL so god knows what their gate money is now. I looked it up when they were relegated and I think the TV money in League 1 is 300k. That’s per season!!!!!
They really are Stewart Donald Ducked if the Yanks have pulled out.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I don’t understand sacking Jack Ross.
I also don’t understand why the Yanks would pay for the Mackems when the Transfer Window is closed and they could just wait until January and see where things stand. Chancer Donald says he will have news at the weekend.
I still don’t understand why you would appoint OGS in March when you have him under contract until the end of the season just because the class of 92 and Rio Ferdinand say you should.
Phil Neville will fail as England Women’s manager. He commentates over here sometimes and is an idiot. How does he keep getting jobs because his brother is a decent pundit (even though he should be banned from Man U games).
There is so much young talent coming through on the England men’s side I am not sure even Southgate can fck it up.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Why was Dummett dropped? The only reason I can think of is that Bruce considers him a part-time centre half and Clark full-time. It sort of makes a bit of sense as Clark would be there full time in training and Dummett has spent many years figuring out the left back position. Pretty unlucky for Paul though as he has been one of our better players over the past 3 seasons and he is also under threat as a wing back.
So how many centre halfs do we have now. By my count 6: Dummett, Clark, Schar, Lejeune, Lascelles, Fernandez.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The excuses that Man U have an injury crisis and that’s the only reason we beat them are pathetic. We have our own injury crisis and were forced to play a 19 year old debutant and 3 players coming back from long term major injuries – Sean L, Carroll and Yedlin.
The press even question that the likes of Lindelof, Martial (as a number 9) and Jlingz should be in the team and we all know Pogba turns up 1 in 3 games. How can you have an injury crisis if they are not good enough for Man U in the first place?
They will roll out the same excuse at Liverpool, but their full squad would likely get tonked. Could see a draw on raw emotion and one last gasp to save Ole but I highly doubt it. Last nail in the coffin is more likely.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Is this the way management is supposed to work? You have a player underachieving and in a huff, Martial, so you give him a pay rise. You have a player who tells the press he wants out, Pogba, so you offer him a pay rise. You have players distracted by social media and fashion lines, Rashford and JLingz, so you give them a pay rise. No wonder they are in such a mess. And that’s probably the tip of the iceberg of what is going on there.
That’s me done with Man U now. We played them a couple of days ago so they have been on my mind.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Screw it, one more. The media act like the summer transfer business was a success for Ole, like he picked the players. It has been 8 games FFS. Did he really have any say in signing a 20 year old from Swansea. Did he even know who James was? And Yes, McGuire was under the radar so much that their cross city rivals were also willing to bid around 60 mil. Great scouting there as well. And Wan Bassaka, only the most touted young full back in the league.
It really is a joke that Ole is getting credit for recruiting these players. May as well say Bruce recruited our summer signings. He gave them a rubber stamp AFTER they signed which is not really a rubber stamp at all. And saying these 3 are OGS signings is ludicrous.
Sorry, I will stop now. But I do tangentially bring most of what I say back to NUFC 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I haven’t been keeping up with politics and between Brexit and Trump have been actively ignoring it. However, having seen the spat with Corbin and Ashley it got me wondering when Albert Steptoe became leader of the Labour Party. I am sure others have mentioned it, but maybe he should have a shave to look less like the elder Steptoe or a homeless man.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Love the idea of a homeless man becoming Prime Minister and closing down Eton!
georgio(Quote)
I thought I was alone on here georgio. International breaks are so boring I just put up a stream of consciousness to maybe keep things ticking over. Don’t even know who England are playing.
I might watch the US just to see how **** they really are now. They used to be OK with the likes of Dempsey and Donovan and now they lose to Jamaica, population 12.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
England are playing? When? What for?
georgio(Quote)
Nice to see the war of the wags filling in some press time while the utter boredom of the international break puts us all in a coma.
kimtoon(Quote)