Newcastle 2-1 Southampton: More blood & guts sends Bruce’s Mags into the top 10

Another huge win for Bruce’s battling Mags, with second half goals from Jonjo Shelvey and Federico Fernandez seeing us come from behind to secure a massive win over Southampton at St James’ Park.

To say it wasn’t pretty at times would’ve been an understatement, but that can take nothing away from the guts, bottle and dogged determination this side continue to show.

The first half was pretty dismal from a Newcastle United perspective (not that it matters now!), with us giving the 42,000 crowd so little to shout about.

Against a team that do not have better footballers than us, the game plan was one of just allowing the opposition the ball and expecting to keep them out and get something out of it. This mentality of doing just enough is always going to catch up with us sometime, but clearly not today!

The first 45 minutes today was woeful. Willems had his worst game in a Newcastle shirt, Joelinton, Almiron and Shelvey were awful, the lack of ability to play out from the back was painfully obvious again and yet again Dubravka was the only reason we weren’t losing at half time.

Despite us coming out of the blocks quickly, the second 45 took a turn for the worse early on when Danny Ings put Southampton 1-0 up.

We improved a little, there was a ripple of encouragement from the the crowd and then, it happened.

Yet again Bruce brought on Andy Carroll. Need a goal, put Carroll on. Need to defend, put Carroll on. Worried about climate change, put Carroll on. Could you be entitled to compensation? Put Carroll on.

Then, if aiming for Andy Carroll from a set piece doesn’t work, get Carroll to cross it back into the middle brilliantly and we score. Shelvey’s header was outstanding, it was 1-1 and out of nowhere, we were back in it.

Southampton threatened, with us never looking totally secure at the back, but with Carroll causing havoc, Shelvey picking up the pace and Saint-Maximin given a free role, we suddenly had a few outlets. Then, a moment I wasn’t expecting to see all afternoon based on our performance suddenly arrived..

I stared in disbelief for a nanosecond, before jumping higher than a man of my age and physical prowess should be able to when Fede Fernandez pounced, turning in the loose ball after a great effort from Sean Longstaff.

2-1. Get in! Not sure how but get in!

The result was slightly dampened by Allan Saint-Maximin going off with a serious looking hamstring injury right at the end, meaning he is almost certain to miss the trip to Turf Moor.

Nevertheless, the win means we’re up to 10th, have taken 7 points in the last 8 days and are now 2 points behind 5th – and SEVEN clear of the drop zone all of a sudden.

Southampton will be kicking themselves, mind. I wanted to gouge my own eyes out for 89 minutes of that match. Yet somehow Steve Bruce’s black and white army just keep on picking up points!

Three more at Burnley next weekend? At this rate, why not!

111 thoughts on “Newcastle 2-1 Southampton: More blood & guts sends Bruce’s Mags into the top 10

  1. We are now 43 league places above the Mackems. I wonder if they still love chancer Donald who was going to take them to the promised land.

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  2. Olly – you presented the new link by saying ‘not pretty, but another 3 points’ (or words similar to that) – I fancy that might be the story of this season.

    Dubravka was on top form earlier on again with 2 fine saves from Redmond – they go in and it could have been a very different story.

    I liked our first goal coz Andy went chasing it and put a really good cross in – Shelvey, who played the initial pass over Carroll, had made his way into the box to head it – but there were numbers in the box.

    The 2nd was good following in from Longstaffs effort – good finish from a centre half … but then they are more clinical than our forwards, so maybe not

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  3. Eric Sykes:
    Sharpy: I think Burnley have a worse squad than Watford.

    Eric – Burnley was the other team I had in mind, but I think their stability as a club may just see them through. I know they got smashed yesterday, but usually they are better defensively than that.
    But they could prove me wrong.

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  4. B’mth was another. Ake got injured yesterday and they already have a lot of injuries.
    They could also loose Eddy Howe in the managerial Merry-go-round which would be a real blow to them.

    They have good players, but a lot of injuries, which could drag them into it.

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  5. Not sure a big club would take a risk on Howe. He has been fantastic for B’mth but I think he left for Burnley or somewhere like that and got them relegated.

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  6. I will bring it back to Bruce. Bear with me. If anybody said any of the clubs you mention would be relegated you would say it’s Norwich or it’s Watford. It couldn’t go on forever, they were punching above their weight anyway.

    Now to Brucie. The clubs he managed before us were all punching above their weight except Villa. And where are they now? Wigan? Birmingham? Hull? Mackems?

    I didn’t want him as manager but when the stats crowd come out and say he had the worst winning percentage of PL managers who managed more than 300 games that is twisting the facts. There were many with worse records, they just didn’t stay around long enough.

    Bruce Managed **** clubs and that is why his long term stats are bad.

    Maybe that is his level, we will see…

    I would actually like him to prove the stats clowns wrong.

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  7. Eric – for me all Bruce has to do is keep us up this season for him to have succeeded.
    There was so much doubt and negativity around him and the club at the start of the season. Bookies had us as one of the favourites as did so many of the pundits.

    Having 22 points from 16 games is a huge success imo and if he keeps us up, he will have done an amazing job – especially as his forward players haven’t really turned up yet.

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  8. Sharpy mate, I was on Ed’s for about a month a couple of months ago. it was a nightmare with their negativity. Stopped even reading anything on there now. They hated me 🙂 It got to the point where I would just go on to wind a couple of the stupidest ones up. But that also got boring 🙂

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  9. Sharpy17:
    Eric – for me all Bruce has to do is keep us up this season for him to have succeeded.
    There was so much doubt and negativity around him and the club at the start of the season.Bookies had us as one of the favourites as did so many of the pundits.

    Having 22 points from 16 games is a huge success imo and if he keeps us up, he will have done an amazing job – especially as his forward players haven’t really turned up yet.

    When Bruce was appointed I was looking at survival as our goal. I have said quite a few times that I think he is a top 5 Championship Manager and bottom 5 PL Manager.

    I hope he proves me wrong. We have a mid-table squad so I hope that is where we will be.

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  10. I was no fan of Rafa and I was disappointed when we hired Bruce to replace him.
    Bruce is doing ok up to now as I expected we would be in the bottom 5 throughout the season.
    What is concerning me is that having dropped Joelinton for our win at Sheffield , Bruce started him in our game today. He was abysmal yet again and our win was largely due to his substitution on the hour mark.
    Is Bruce being made to play Joelinton because of the ridiculous amount of money we paid for him?

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  11. sidekick:
    Iwas no fan of Rafa and I was disappointed when we hired Bruce to replace him.
    Bruce is doing ok up to now as I expected we would be in the bottom 5 throughout the season.
    What is concerning me is that having dropped Joelinton for our win at Sheffield ,Bruce started him in our game today. He was abysmal yet again and our win was largely due to his substitution on the hour mark.
    Is Bruce being made to play Joelinton because of the ridiculous amount of money we paid for him?

    Sidekick – Joelinton has created the most chances for us so far this season. He’s doing a job, is just not the one befitting the position he’s being asked to play. It’s clear he’s not an out n out CF – but we don’t seem to have one of those at the moment as Carroll clearly can’t play that many games.
    I think it’s more there is no better option over his fee just now. We need a CF and right winger as priority imo.

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  12. I see Rafa is on Monday night football tomorrow night (Sky) – WHU v Gunners … he is probably on the short list for both clubs at the mo

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  13. Great win. Another below average performance but a win and I suppose that’s where we are at the moment.

    Not a coincidence that Shelvey is scoring and he has started to get forward more and got into the box instead of trying the Hollywood passes all the time. Wonder if it’s because he wants a new contract…

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  14. There is something very fishy going on with the Mackems as well. The Donald chancer has mortgaged the farm to the Yank Hedge Funders for about 20 cents on the dollar. They really are fcked.

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  15. Clark and Dummett are good defenders but both tend to lump the ball forward, pass it sideways or back to Dubravka. Think we need to get Lejeune back.

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  16. Groucho – I’m happiest when defenders defend mate and I think that’s the job of defenders like Clark, Dummett and Lascelles – Fernandez, Schar and Lejeune all seem a bit more comfortable on the ball.
    Sometimes the best option is just to put your foot through it and clear your lines.
    But one improvement that could be made is – if you have to do that, identify an area of the pitch for the defenders to aim for – and have 1 or 2 forwards in that same area waiting to compete for the ball.
    I agree with you that it’s a bit aimless at the mo and results in the just coming straight back at them.

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  17. It really was a spirited and battling performance. I’d take a win any old how but we were awful for the first 45. I don’t ever want see Joelinton again. He’s totally useless £40m or not! Carroll and Gayle both offer so much more but we really need a better CF even if they come from non league.

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  18. I would take a fast young CF from non league football. There will be a few like Vardy out there.
    I think Ashley was feeling the pressure from some fans to show some ambition and break our long standing transfer fee record.
    That sent him off to the big boys transfer market to do some horse trading. The dealers saw him coming and sold him a thoroughbred for £40m , but when he put him out in the field thousands of people were asking why he had bought a donkey.
    I doubt that Ashley will repeat that mistake so I do not think he will ever go back to that market.

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  19. Eric
    What makes you think something fishy is going on with the mackems.?
    Is it because two board members have already resigned this season?
    Sharpy was concerned about being wound up by his Mackem workmates over NUFC supposed unsportsmanship.
    The way things are going it could be Sunderland getting wound up in the not too distant future.

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  20. Since appointing their new manager the Mackems have won 1 , drawn 1 , and lost 4 of their league games.
    They have succeeded in getting knocked out of the EFL cup in the group stages and exited the FA cup in the first round.
    Phil Parkinson is getting my vote for division three manager of the year.

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  21. Sidekick – I do fear the Mackems are going the way of Bolton – and I use the word fear consciously.
    I wish them no success in footballing terms at all – but to see them fold as a club – no, id hate to see that for any club.

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  22. Sidekick: It is this deal with the US Hedge Funders that makes me worry for the Mackems. It is basically a loan that if not paid back will have them own the club. for about a 10 million outlay.

    I have said on here from the start that Stewart Donald is a charlatan and a chancer. He was the only one willing to give Ellis Short the remaining parachute payments. The papers often quote that he paid 40 million for the club but that is not true as he owed Short money. From what I have read, he paid about 6 mil.

    Donald also ran a non-league club into the ground so he has previous, as the C@ckerneys would say.

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  23. Eric – I know this is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I think that is exactly the type of buyer Ashley is trying to avoid selling us to.
    I know it’s well thought he’s a greedy ******* wanting all of the money up front – and there may be an aspect of that too. But Staveley didn’t have the money nor did Kenyon – and anyone looking to buy a club in instalments doesn’t strike me as someone who can afford to grow a football club.

    Now excuse me, I’m off to find my tin hat.

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  24. Sharpy, I doubt you will get any flak on here. Troy Stavers with his wind uppery is gone and the Aussies with their constant negativity also.

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  25. There now seems to be unrest in Mackemland. They loved Stewart Donald but now seem to be seeing through the charade. A bit slow on the uptake, these folk from Sunderland!

    There is no money in the 3rd Division so if they don’t get out of it they are Stewart Donald Ducked. A chancer who had them come and redo the seats for the price of a Pepsi and a packet of crisps. If they couldn’t see he was a con-man then, then perhaps there is no hope for them.

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  26. I don’t think Ashley is a chancer like Donald. I think he got into NUFC for some legitimate business reasons and to have a bit of fun with his vast newfound wealth after floating Sports Direct. He has done some things that he thought would make him popular with NUFC fans like hiring Keegan and Shearer. But he has also had some incredibly bad advice from the likes of Wise, Jiminez and Lame-****. His mistakes, but not of the epic proportion that is going on at Sunderland. And he did try to rectify his mistakes.

    Sharpy, do you have an extra tin hat in the cupboard.

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  27. Can we manage to lose on Monday Night Football even though we are not playing?

    We always lose on Monday nights.

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  28. And we have Danny Higgenbottom who doesn’t have a clue what he is talking about. Just spouts meaningless shyte. Could compete with Phil Neville in that regard.

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  29. I see the club have announced current season tickets can have a second half season ticket for FREE! Why don’t they just run the club like a real football team instead of a advertising hoarding for Sports Direct… They wouldn’t have to give freebies away then. Start with buying better players who can actually pass the ball and score a goal while playing attractive football. They could also build a new training ground to show the fans they’re serious about having a successful team.

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  30. I don’t see anything wrong with rewarding season ticket holders with an extra ticket. I am sick of the moaning minnies at the supporters groups anyway. The empty seats are never mentioned on Sky, or very briefly. I have seen so much worse than the current situation at NUFC in my 40 odd years of following us.

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  31. If folk want to have a moan then look at Coventry who were in the 1st division for like 40 years. Or Stoke. Or Bolton. Or Wigan. Or Sunderland. Or Blackpool. Or Blackburn.

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  32. The supporters groups talk out of both sides of their mouths. One minute being proud of the fantastic away support and anybody that says nice things about the Geordie faithful. And the next calling for a boycott.

    Home or away is the same to me. I am a NUFC supporter and the contrived boycott explanations of the “supporters” groups make no sense to me.

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  33. Are West Ham in trouble? I will repeat that Declan Rice is the most overrated player in world football.

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  34. I mean. There is all the Rafa love but who gave the go ahead to hire him (perhaps in desperation) and who signed his pay cheques? Ashley has made some bad mistakes and got some incredibly bad advice but this boycott stuff is nonsense.

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  35. I was accused on Ed’s of being a shill for the Fat Man 🙂 I am pretty sure that anybody that has ever read anything I have said on here will know I am not. I think I was accused of being a PAID shill.

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  36. Eric, it’s desperate that we are actually having to give tickets away. If this was Sunderland we’d be slaughtering them. The fact we’re having to do this shows how bad things are.

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  37. Stuart: the Mackems couldn’t fill their ground because of apathy and a bad team, an incredibly bad economy in Sunderland and general Mackemness.

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  38. The ticket giveaway has Keith Bishop written all over it. The Fat Lad would have had to give the OK so maybe the boycotters are getting to them a tiny bit.

    I have always been 100% against the boycott as I thought it would not have any effect and Ashley would sell when he wanted and to whom he wanted. Maybe I am only 99% against now.

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  39. Eric Sykes:
    Stuart: the Mackems couldn’t fill their ground because of apathy and a bad team, an incredibly bad economy in Sunderland and general Mackemness.

    Apathy and a feeling of general malaise is the reason why we can’t fill our ground. People are also sick and tired of being mugged off from an owner who doesn’t give a single **** about the club as long as it’s in the PL and showing his SD signs off. It’s not a football club to him, it’s an advertising vehicle.

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  40. And many other clubs now who have failed.

    Wigan
    Sunderland
    Bolton
    Blackpool
    Blackburn
    Coventry

    Need I go on?

    But I am a paid Ashley shill 🙂

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  41. A lot of Man U luurve going on now in the papers and on TV. You just have to light the touch paper and they will go on a super best-club-in the world, spirit of ’99 fest.

    They will never get anywhere with Solskjaer or however you spell it.

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  42. its getting to jabba so he gives tickets away i would love for fans not to take him up on free tickets that would really pee him off but some peoples greed they will take them mores the pity

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  43. I’d rather the club offer these tickets up to kids who wouldn’t ordinarily be able to get to games – families living in poverty or families with kids battling illnesses.

    I get the protests, but I still love SJP and the atmosphere of match days. I first experienced it as an 8yr old – pre Keegan (first time round) when the club and ownership was worse than today and you could pay on the day.

    I fell in love with NUFC that day and would love every kid in Newcastle to have the opportunity experience that.

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  44. Very noble, Sharpy. Good idea. But it doesn’t matter how you cut it and who you give them to, Newcastle United are now having to give FREE season tickets away to try and fill the ground. There’s a bigger picture and it’s one of complete and utter shambolic running if the club over 12 years. Chickens are coming home to roost.

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  45. Charnley doing the PR rounds today. Classic quote “ “We supported him in the summer with what we did in bringing players into the team.” Really? Did he have a say on any players? They were already lined up weren’t they?

    Forget this nonsense about freebie tickets. It’s a sticking plaster. Show us you want to improve. Go and buy a striker in January and then build a new stadium. Everything else is bluster.

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  46. Where would you like them to build a new ground Stuart. Part of what people like about SJP is the location.

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  47. It is not like we could move out of SJP and build a new ground like Spurs did. They moved to Wembley. Where would we move to? The Stadium of Shyte. That would go down well 🙂

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  48. Glass half full or half empty at the moment Stuart. I am glass half full, even with Nickson because Joelinton is still a kid really and getting used to a new City.

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  49. B minus for Brucie.

    C for Joelinton because they are trying to make him a centre forward when he has never played centre forward. And they gave him the number 9 shirt. So no pressure there.

    Better get used to Joe. He has a contract until 2025!!!!!!!

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  50. And the players are wearing shorts a size smaller now. It is like TV ads where they put the pitch men in jackets that are 2 sizes too small now and they couldn’t even fasten them up in real life. And 3 inches too short. Or rugby where they may as well just spray paint their tops in whatever colour their side used to play in.

    Springbocs. Green, and how about an angry birds logo as your sleeve ad?

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  51. Charnley also saying competition in every position of the squad. Is he living in cloud cuckoo land? What competition does Joelinton have? If he did have any he would’ve have been able to stay in the team after scoring one goal in 16 games as a £40m striker.

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  52. Stu – Andy Carroll and Dwight Gayle would be seen as his competition wouldn’t they?!.
    Not sure who’s competing for the right wing like, or at LB if Williems got injured.

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  53. A striker who is always injured and a striker who doesn’t score any PL goals. He has an interesting definition of competition, Sharpy. We have genuine competition in central defence. That’s about it.

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  54. Free tickets then, wow. There was a time there was a massive waiting list for a season tickets , sadly that will never happen now unless our owner has some sort of epiphany . 🙄

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  55. Very surprised that they are giving free tickets.
    They used to sell half season tickets which I believe sold well as Christmas presents.
    Mike Ashley possibly pointing out to the boycott fans who did not renew their season tickets that he does not need season ticket revenue.

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  56. Sidekick: the boycotters don’t understand the maths now for a club like Newcastle. The money is in TV and commercial and not season tickets. Different for the London Clubs who charge a fortune. And NUFC still have a core of die hard fans who will buy tickets.

    But if Ashley gives 10,000 tickets away for a half season that is 2 million quid. About what he paid Colback and Saivet for the half season to sit on their arses doing nowt.

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  57. I know I am in a tiny minority on social media who don’t think Ashley is the devil. He has made many mistakes though. And I have a tendency to go the opposite way of Richard Keys so I do have to question my own opinions sometimes – I mean, if Keys thinks it is right and I also think it is, then maybe I am wrong 🙂

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  58. Back to Keys. It is farcical how bad his and Gray’s show is. Their guests are has-beens and never-weres. And I have said this before, but also John Cross, Arsenal sycophant of The Daily Mirror for 15 minutes a show who points his laptop camera up his own nose. Do they not have producers or video assistants to tell them that is not a good look. It happens week after week.

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  59. So here we have it. Election Day:

    Fatty Flouncy Boris who is turning into his Dad.

    Albert Steptoe

    Posh boy Nige who pretends he is a man of the people.

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  60. I think I can vote but I gave up on that after Blare (Blair) and Thatcher Wannabe May. After being back for a couple of weeks, what I would really like to do is line them all up against a wall and shoot them.

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  61. We cannot possibly let Steptoe in with his anti Semitic mates. His policies will mean business’ cut jobs to maintain profits and move overseas to reduce their tax liability. It’s also pretty clear if you want to borrow so much money your exposure gets higher and the risk to the lender gets higher so your interest rates go higher. That doesn’t just effect government. It will be everyone with a mortgage.

    Good luck.

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  62. ??‍♂️ Mop top is nee prospect either, it’s a scary day for Britain today.

    I’m hiding behind the sofa all day today me ?

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  63. If labour do get in and try to deliver on their promises their new slogan will be “poverty for the many , not the few.”
    I would confidently predict a big cut to the amount you can earn before tax and a huge hike in income tax payable by even the lowest earners.
    Then, to compound the misery , like the previous labour governments under Wilson and then Blair, the pound will be devalued, making everything we buy twice as expensive.
    Hope I am wrong but I have lived through all this before and history has a tendency to repeat.

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  64. He’s preferable to the Marxist. Least worst option. God knows how we ended up voting for the least worst.

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  65. Georgio – trust only seems to be a issue for Johnson. Why does everyone forget that Corbyn has been the biggest anti EU politician in the country for 40 years and then a sniff of power and he turns into a remainer. Hardly honourable and honest I’d say. That’s the biggest the lie in political history right there!

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