From Saudis at Selfridges to Ashley at Aldi – My hopes & fears ahead of 2020/21

Well here we are again. Another transfer window, another feeling of exhaustion and resignation. What should be a time for excitement and change has taking on a whole new meaning for Newcastle fans. While we cast an envious eye at clubs in and around us making, or at least trying to make ambitious signings, we once again appear set to do the bare minimum. Not improve on what we have, not move forward, but merely plug holes, tick boxes and make up numbers.

The collapse of the takeover by Amanda Staveley’s Saudi funded consortium has, for the second summer running, left us shattered. It’s turned from heartache, to anger, then there was a brief flutter of hope that it could be resurrected, then once more back to apathy. In truth, it was almost nice to feel an extreme emotion again. This summer’s window takes on an even bleaker outlook than last years. After the collapse of the proposed BZG takeover last year, we still went and signed a £40m striker, and a £20m winger. That will not be the case this summer.

Last year, on purely financial terms, we thought we’d be shopping at Harrods, and had to make do with Marks and Spencers. This year’s proposed fun trip out to Harrods has been firmly urinated on from a great height, and instead turned into scouring the discount basket in Farmfoods.

Anyway, we are where we are. The opinions that Mike Ashley isn’t a willing seller are no longer valid, he wants out. Lee Charnley expected to be out of a job, and let’s be honest, so to did Steve Bruce. We find ourselves set to operate with a disinterested owner, a chief executive who does the job of 3-4 people and isn’t good at any of them, and a manager who faces the season of his life, make no mistake about that. It’s time for Steve Bruce to step up and prove the doubters (of which I am one) wrong.

All his bluster about the disrespectful speculation over his job, all his postering that Ashley is supportive to his needs, and the claims that he can move us forward need to be backed up by action. He needs help off the pitch from those high up to make the most desperately needed signing this football club can possibly make this summer, that being a new striker. The importance of this can’t be overstated.

It isn’t just goals Bruce needs to convince Ashley and Charnley to give him, it’s the art of all round centre forward play that the team is chronically lacking, such was Joelinton’s ineffectiveness last term.

We need someone, maybe anyone up front. Wether it be an old school target man, or a modern false number 9, or some one who can play off the shoulder of the last defender.

We need a presence up front who can run channels, hold the ball up, drag defenders out of position, make space for runners, press high up and win free kicks. These are all the vital components, as well as of course goals, that the team has been missing since Rondon left. The baffling thing, is these fundamentals should be understandable to the hierarchy of any club, except they are apparently not to the powers that don’t even want to be anymore at Newcastle United.

In a logical world with logical ownership, the club would spend the majority of the budget on a striker, but that logic is a luxury we don’t have, and we face a nervous wait to the end of the transfer window to see if Ashley finally realises what he didn’t twice before. That a few extra million quid spent in the transfer window, can save him a hundred odd million that relegation through ineptitude and frugality could again cost.

We will start this season with Joelinton, Carroll and Gayle for certain, while it’s rumoured Muto is being touted around to free up a space. This essentially only leaves room for one incoming. striker.

Gayle can score goals if he gets the service, but as I was writing this article, I received a notification saying the injury he sustained in last night’s 3-0 pre-season win over Crewe is probably going to rule him out of the first few games of the season. Carroll also scored a sumptuous goal last night and is talking the talk about his fitness levels, but that’s all been heard before, more than once. He will get injuries this season, as sure as night follows day. As for Joelinton…..who knows.

Is it too much to ask for us to sign a striker who is PL savvy? There have been names linked that would be perfect. Chris Wood from Burnley would be an outstanding signing, not the sexiest name for some fans I know but he’s an excellent Premier League striker. Michy Batshuayi is available for loan from Chelsea, and Tammy Abraham could be too. Both are victims of Timo Werner’s arrival and need games with a summer international tournament ahead. Callum Wilson is looking to leave relegated Bournemouth, although his injury record is a worry and he’d probably be pricey. Josh King is another. There are options out there, and teams we should be at least competing with will probably sign better strikers than us, that’s the most frustrating part.

I don’t want this to come across as a negative, anti-Bruce article, but there are some sad truths and worrying facts that can’t be ignored as we head into next season, so let’s stick to those facts.

In the season Steve Bruce has been in charge of Newcastle United, we won less points, scored less goals, conceded more goals, had less possession, had more injuries, and our goalkeeper made approximately 30% more saves, than the team he inherited had in the season before. We have also only won 4 games of the last 20, two of which were against 10 men. Last season, only 6 of our 38 league goals were scored by strikers, with 12 coming from our defenders. This is not only a freak anomaly, but it’s also completely unsustainable going forward. As is the fact we were regularly outplayed by and lost a lot points to teams in the bottom half, yet had some stirring “backs to the wall” wins against the big guns. Those wins against Chelsea and Man United were amazing moments, but we simply can’t rely on them again next season while teams in the bottom six outplay us and take 3-4 points off us.

Not all of these negative facts I’ve pointed out are all down to Bruce, but a lot of them are.

There are some reasons to be positive of course. We have a very good goalkeeper, an excellent captain, some very good defenders, and of course we have Saint Maximin and Almiron, who coincidentally are two players who would benefit immensely from a new striker.

At the time of writing this we have signed Jeff Hendrick who is a good player, an excellent free transfer (if there is such a thing), and an improvement on the departing, and ultimately pointless Nabil Bentaleb. The other two January loan signings were of course Danny Rose and Valentino Lazaro. While the lack of game time, and subsequent loss of Lazaro is a missed opportunity in my humble opinion, Rose’s departure is offset by the return from injury of the ever dependable Paul Dummett. Also at the time of writing this, we’ve made a £4m bid to sign the highly rated Greek international left back Dimitrios Giannoulis from PAOK. Now my knowledge of Greek football is minimal at best, but this lad currently starts ahead of Liverpool’s new £11m signing Kostas Tsimikas for Greece, so let’s give the lad a chance if that one is completed.

We need a lot of ducks to align in a row for next season to not be potentially disastrous (the takeover has exhausted that expression by the way).

We need Saint Maximin and Almiron to improve on their 4 PL goals apiece from last term. We need Shelvey to replicate his 6 goals at least. We need the centre backs to continue chipping in admirably, and Dubravka to be Dubravka. We also need Gayle and Carroll to contribute when fit, Ritchie to (literally) kick people’s backsides when people lose their man, and Joelinton to resemble a footballer. Sean Longstaff could also replicate the form that made him a £50m target for Man United, and not be the lethargic lost puppy he was last season.

We’re going to also need, and will definitely get, that undoubted team spirit, professionalism and togetherness that this squad has in abundance. We can only hope and pray that Bruce and Ashley match up to them.

HTL.

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143 thoughts on “From Saudis at Selfridges to Ashley at Aldi – My hopes & fears ahead of 2020/21

  1. Listened to Wraith and Pals and he still seems to think there is something “going on in the background” with a takeover. He might as well join The Chronicle.

    1. The Saudi takeover is dead. They told us it is FFS.

    2. Even if Stavely still wants it the PL would demand arbitration which is a deal killer for the Saudis.

    3. We might get relegated so the Saudis may as well wait for a cheaper deal at this point because they wont have enough time to put the structures in place to GUARANTEE safety.

    4. The other mooted deals were just a load of boll@cks. As soon as Chopra put his name to that BN Group nonsense you knew it was ****.

    I just cant believe Wraith is still acting like this is alive. He also had an MP on tonight and they act like we wont enter the season with freebies, loans and swaps. They must have been on another planet for the last month.

    Sorry for the ranting. It is just so clear nowt is happening.

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  2. Supposedly Darlow had a nightmare against Boro. He is ****. I said it before the game and I have said it many times before. Deer in the headlights inspiring no confidence in any defender.

    It is all well and good coming out after the fact to say he is shyte but I have said it for years and made a prediction that we are in real trouble relying on him. I would rather have Timmy-the-hoof back if it was an either/or. **** I would have Jordan Mackem or Joe Hart before Darlow. Not sure if I would take Kepa like, that might be a bridge too far.

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  3. Olly Mate, you should just read what I say. It was obvious Dwight and Dubs would be out until Christmas. Said it 2 days ago. Read between the lines of NUFC messages.

    I cant think of a good thing to say about NUFC at the moment. Normally a few things get on my nerves like Ryder or thinking about Ugly John but EVERYTHING is getting me down about NUFC at the moment. Wraith wouldnt bother me usually but that lot on his channel pretending the takeover still has legs is insulting to any person with a brain.

    Between as$inine takeover talk, Trump and Covid I think I may as well switch the TV off completely and come back same time next year (when we will probably be relegated 🙂 )

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  4. AND… I have a trip planned in a month. Guess where to? Oregon. Only 2 nights in Portland though where you have people protesting (and yes looting) and on the other side you have armed private militia with fckn machine guns. Will have to make sure the hotel is away from this mayhem. Not stopping me going though as I have friends to meet and I am spending 5 days driving along one of the most beautiful roads in the world – Highway 101. It is a bit like a longer and cliffier version of the Northumberland Coastal Route.

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  5. georgio: going to Columbia River Gorge as well. And Seattle. 10 days to get away from this nonsense. Hopefully I will still have my sanity 🙂 If we dont have a bloody striker I think I will have lost it 🙂

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  6. Transfer speculation. My estimate of the chances of getting these players?

    Jamal Lewis – 1%

    Holding – 40%, but only because **** really dont want him.

    Callum Wilson – 20%. So expensive and West Ham or Villa would be favourites. Ritchie might be our joker in the pack, but I doubt it.

    Ryan Fraser – 50% coz he is free. If we got him it would allow Ritchie to go the other way and might boost our chances for Wilson.

    WE WILL GET SOMEONE THE JOURNOS HAVENT SEEN ON THE HORIZON.

    We need a real backup goalie whose name is not Karl Darlow to cover for Dubs.

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  7. Keith Downie
    @SkySports_Keith
    Newcastle have held talks with free agent Ryan Fraser, however the two parties have yet to come to an agreement over wages #NUFC

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  8. just reading an article in Gazette after the takeover collapsed, and it’s clear Ashley could well of scuppered the deal even without the PL messing around.

    Ashley, meanwhile, asked for different commercial terms following the expiry of the SPA, according to a high-placed PIF source.

    This move “didn’t help the situation”, according to the source, though approval remained the biggest issue. PIF weren’t prepared to change the terms of the agreement, but there was still a belief that things with Ashley could have been satisfactorily resolved.

    So there was a sticking point between PIF and Ashley.

    I firmly believe that his messing about mid sale in any takeover will scupper any takeover, he can’t help himself, he just has to get that little bit more. Why do that when the deal was so protracted and on a knife edge anyway?
    Maybe he actually doesn’t want to sell at all.
    It mentions changes to the commercial terms, was he asking to keep control of merch sales like at Rangers perhaps ?

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  9. so we cannot sign Holding until we ship some out and off the wage bill whats new
    strange Bruce hasnt been seen for nine days?? to talk to the press

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  10. icedog:
    so we cannot signHolding until we ship some out and off the wage bill whats new
    strange Bruce hasnt been seen for nine days?? to talk to the press

    Ice, it will always be this way, everything takes forever and often we lose a target from dithering. I just long for an owner who does things properly and in a timely manner. It’s so unfair on the manager to give him signings so late, no time to bed them in before season and sets us at a disadvantage from the get go.

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  11. Top 6 are signing some big players, and Everton are getting in on the action as well now.
    Leicester have at least £50m to spend off Chilwell.

    We are scrimping on Frasers wages and selling to loan ???‍♂️

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  12. Kinell. Just realised I’ve been posting nonsense on the wrong blog for the last fortnight.

    Greetings to Kimtoon, Sharpy, Icedog, Eric Sykes and any others still posting on here from the good ol’ days anyway. And of course, a special shout out to all those still wet behind the ears.

    Have my doubts on Callum Wilson anyway. Overpriced. Has a few England caps. Fantastic! Looks like another sicknote to me.

    It’s constantly 1 step forward 1 step back with this club since Ashley.

    Mitrovic and Perez out, Joelinton in. Least we brought in some wingers. RESULT!

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  13. Rod, I have huge concerns over Wilson’s long term fitness. Both his knees have suffered ruptured ACL and he has had a third recent knee injury so obviously problems there.
    Would rather we went for Watkins like Sharpy suggested or anyone who can stay out the treatment room.

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  14. Me too Kim. Ashley will always go for cheapies though. Buy **** that was once good, at a knockdown price, or invest in a wounded animal. I don’t care who we sign over the next month, such is my apathy, but a natural centre forward who at least understands the game would be nice.

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  15. According to the BBC, Villa are hoping to sign Callum Wilson for 20 million. I think that is out of our price range as nobody knows if we even have a budget. Even with Ritchie as part-ex we would be stretched. Ritchie is 31 and probably worth about 5 mil to a Championship club. But they are all skint, apart from Bournemouth.

    Ritchie has been brilliant in The Championship but is too slow to be a winger in the PL. I think he was Championship player of the season for Bmth. I think I would sell him and give the money to Fraser as a signing bonus.

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  16. Fraser is supposedly interested in Arsenal. Is he good enough for Arsenal? They already have Aubamayang and Lacazette who they tend not to know where to play. Wingers 1 week, forwards the next. Does Fraser really want to sit on the Arsenal bench?

    But, why would any decent player join NUFC at the moment? Bruce isnt exactly the biggest draw and Fatty has checked out. If we dont get a couple of wins in the 1st 5 games this could turn very ugly.

    The Chronic quoted a survey on fan optimism for the current season and guess who came dead last? 2nd bottom was Palace and I think they are certs for relegation. They are the new Sunderland, **** squad and somehow survived under Mr Roy but it cannot continue. There again, that is what we were last season and Mr Roy is a better manager than Brucie. So maybe we are the new Sunderland?!

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  17. It is pretty obvious that the cupboard is almost bare for transfers. Our turnover/revenue will take a big hit because there is no way we will have a full ground anytime this season and that not only affects ticket sales but concessions. Plus Sky etc have decided (rightly) that we are too boring to show live. That is worth over 1 mil a game.

    Then there is the supposed budget amount. 35 million is a totally made up figure. There is no evidence anywhere that this was a real number, but has been repeated so often that a majority of fans and even journos accept it.

    And the supposed deposit for the takeover. This was widely said to be 17 million but there was never any evidence of this. Just bandied about so often that it was accepted. Now, I have seen in a couple of places that the real number is closer to 8 mil. Who knows which is true. But you get what I am saying, these numbers are just repeated so often that they become accepted with absolutely no evidence of a source.

    So, if we have to sell to buy who do we have to sell?

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  18. Who we can sell?

    Toney – Peterboro have said there was a 30% sell on clause so I believe it. That’s 3 mil.

    Atsu – no other PL club would take him and few Championship clubs could afford him. Might get like 2 mil from Turkey or somewhere.

    Schar – I reckon we could get what we paid although he is injured. I think that was like 5 mil. Not sure if that is enough as he is a better player than he has looked recently. Been Bruced.

    Lejeune – who would buy a player who has been out for the majority of the last 2 years? I think he will regain some form and is worth keeping.

    Yedlin – doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest.

    Saivet – no interest from anywhere.

    Ritchie – a decent backup at best but worth 5 mil to a Championship team. I wouldnt sell without a replacement though.

    That’s it, there’s nobody else. So, we can probably bring in MAX 15 million.

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  19. Eric I’m confused tbh. Didn’t Ashley loan Amanda the £17M to use as a deposit against her Barclays court case ?
    He’s only holding his own cash if so, she will ofcourse have to pay it eventually whether she wins or not.

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  20. Kimtoon: I havent followed the money trail with Stavely that closely. Just noticed that 17 million deposit bandied about everywhere and then suddenly out of the blue I saw something saying it was 8 or 9 mil. There just seems a pattern that numbers are made up and people just accept what is said.

    40 mil for Joelinton. How can that be possible?

    A takeover bid led by Chopra coming up with 285 million? Boll@cks.

    This Mauriss wanting to pay 350 million?

    35 million transfer budget?

    It just all sounds made up!!! NUFC and their journo pals are The Ministry of MIS-information.

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  21. I mean. The Joelinton fee is just beyond credibility. He had spent time in the Austrian league on loan – 15 goals in 60 games- before spending a few months in The Bundesliga and scoring 7 goals in 29. He wasnt even capped above the U17 level for Brazil, and even then only 4 times.

    I just dont believe his fee and the more media shyte I see the less I believe.

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  22. Eric Sykes:
    I mean. The Joelinton fee is just beyond credibility. He had spent time in the Austrian league on loan – 15 goals in 60 games- before spending a few months in The Bundesliga and scoring 7 goals in 29. He wasnt even capped above the U17 level for Brazil, and even then only 4 times.

    I just dont believe his fee and the more media shyte I see the less I believe.

    Fishy as hell that transfer, no doubt about it. Rafa knew it too i reckon and wanted nowt to do with it.

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  23. If we get Fraser to add to Hendrick that is good business. We know what else we need so hopefully any other money generated will be saved for that. Sure we have holes in the squad but these are PL players so it is a start.

    I really believe that there are next to no internal funds except for from sales. You just have to look at the books from the past to know we will be at about break even this year and Ashley has said he is not putting in any more money.

    We desperately need a loan of a goalie so WHEN, NOT IF, Darlow screws up we will have a real backup and not someone from Motherwell.

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  24. And… Put Dummett as a centre half and buy a left back. Paul is our best defender and how many years have we heard that his best position will be CH in the future? He is 28 FFS, the time is now.

    I dont mind Fernandez but he is TOO safety first giving away a ton of corners.

    And I am not sure Brucie knows how to play with a ballplaying CH. Strange that, as he has seen the Man U teams that Lord Ferg put together and they had that.

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  25. Looks like Richard Masters is a bit of a f-up in other areas of PL business. They just had to cancel a 564 million pound Chinese TV deal which The Guardian say will be a blow to club finances. Who gave this guy a job? He was a PR (BS) guy.

    The deal was with PP Sports and their chairman is Wang Dong. I am not making this up. You can read the article in The Guardian.

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  26. another PL masterstroke. They’re obviously a very well run organisation!

    These deals in progress are typical of NUFC. Fraser (does he always look half asleep), Wilson (no better than Gayle and just as injury prone) and some random left back. Real squad improvements, even if they do happen.

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  27. And to think the Saudi’s offered to buy the TV rights to show PL in their Kingdom, that’s cash the PL could use right now.
    Idiots.

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  28. Pressure from MP’s to show games whilst fans can’t get in also being put on PL.
    Not a word from PL in response, law unto themselves.
    Without the fans their product is nothing, they’d do well to remember that.

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  29. Fraser is keen to move to NUFC (how many players can you say that about) and he’s a free agent – yet we still can’t get a deal done quickly!!.

    On the flip side, Chelsea having already spent a fortune go and throw another £80m at a player.

    People raved about Frank giving youth a chance and bringing throw young English players – let’s see just how many get a run out this season.

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  30. That XG stat that Josh Barron writes about is scary. We are bottom in all 5 leagues. Worse than the 15 relegated teams. It only backs up what we saw with our own eyes. I boils my p!ss all of the journos and pundits saying what a great job Bruce did but we saw it, game after game with the famed 9-0-1 system. We even played that against the likes of Norwich or Watford, it wasnt just the top 6. Then Bruce changes the system and we have a couple of good games but come back down to earth with a thump in the final 5 games.

    I still have no idea how we stayed up.

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  31. This is getting depressing now. Dummett seems to be injury prone so we definitely need a left back. The problem is that it looks like it is sell to buy and who wants our outcasts? Wilson is out of our league I think and would be mad to come to this shambles anyway.

    I also wonder if the holdup with Fraser is that he wants a relegation clause? We have a history of allowing Agents to dictate terms – Demba Ba, Andros Townsend, Moreno who played for Spain tonight.

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  32. Rapidly going off the idea of Fraser. It’s telling that he told Steve he wants to join us because he’s closer to family in Scotland. You should choose a club because you want to play for them not because you’re near to your family. And still not comfy with what he did to B/mouth during their hour of need tbh.
    Good player, **** attitude imo .

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  33. That’s right on both counts Kim. Something strange about the lad.

    See the PL have performed wonders in China again. No wonder they didn’t want to upset Qatar over our deal.

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  34. How many swap deals do you see in the PL? The only one I can think of is Sanchez to Man U and how did that work out. Villa are bidding cash. What would you take?

    The complications of Ritchie plus cash to Bmth make it extremely unlikely with a rival bid out there. You have the complication of whether Matt wants to go back down the Champioship and also his PL level contract.

    The journos just throw this out there and never seem to look into the details. They never do any analysis. Ryder talks about the VIlla bid today and that is all he says.

    And this is without asking whether Wilson really wants to join NUFC in the state we are in. He must see that we are spending little and we are Managed by Steve Bruce.

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  35. georgio:
    That’s right on both counts Kim. Something strange about the lad.

    See the PL have performed wonders in China again. No wonder they didn’t want to upset Qatar over our deal.

    Interesting thought georgio. I hadnt thought of that. They just lost a 564 million deal and probably knew this was happening when the NUFC test was happening. Would they risk another half a billion from Qatar especially as their product is way overpriced at the moment and Qatar are not getting what they paid for. If China can do this without consequence then why not Qatar who can blame the Saudis and piracy.

    I know the PL could sue, but in what jurisdiction and that would take years. Meanwhile the money will not be coming in.

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  36. Fraser didnt do anything wrong at Bournemouth. He wouldnt sign a contract so eddie howe said he wont be playing again coz he only wants ppl who wants to play for them

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  37. kimtoon:
    Rapidly going off the idea of Fraser. It’s telling that he told Steve he wants to join us because he’s closer to family in Scotland. You should choose a club because you want to play for them not because you’re near to your family.And still not comfy with what he did to B/mouth during their hour of need tbh.
    Good player, **** attitude imo .

    Kim – Bmth **** on the lad, can’t blame him really.
    As for joining a club coz you want to play for them – careful what you wish for!!. It’s a long time since we signed anyone who WANTED to play for us.
    Plenty of players prefer to stay South so whatever his reason for moving North – I’m happy to have him – and, if he’s more settled being closer to his family, then hopefully he’ll be a happier and play better – if that makes sense.

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  38. Fraser isn’t my concern. It’s the lack of a forward and LB that bothers me – apparently Dummett limped off against Boro – hopefully precautionary but if he gets injured then we have no back up LB coz Bruce doesn’t want to even look at Lazaar

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  39. Sharpy, he’s a good player, i won’t argue about that like.
    All the reports i saw said he refused to play, but i don’t know the in’s and outs of it . Can’t understand that B/mouth cra pping on him hasn’t been reported more widely like they did with saying he refused to play.

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  40. NUFC 360
    @NUFC360
    ·
    28m
    BREAKING: A deal for #nufc to sign Sassuolo left back Rogerio for €14m is “almost done.” [DiMarzio]

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  41. Luke Edwards is saying that Fraser is in Newcastle not just to talk to Bruce but to have a medical. That’s good news as he is a good player. Obviously not match fit but neither are Dummett, Muto, Joelinton and Hendrick.

    It would also be good news to spend on a left back because it would show we have a budget after all.

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  42. Also read in The Chronic that if we get Fraser we would be open to loaning Jacob Murphy to Sheff Wed. That makes no sense as he only has a year on his contract. If he is not wanted wouldnt we take whatever we can get at this point rather than let him go for nothing. Or even keep him as back up? Play him in the cups? He was a disappointment but far from the worst player I have seen at NUFC. ***Cough*** Amdy Faye.

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  43. kimtoon:
    Sharpy, he’s a good player, i won’t argue about that like.
    All the reports i saw said he refused to play, but i don’t know the in’s and outs of it . Can’t understandthat B/mouth cra pping on him hasn’t been reported more widely like they did with saying he refused to play.

    Kim – his contract expired and wasn’t getting extended – if he played and got injured then he’s in a dangerous place as a free agent. When you think about the lay off they had, it’s entirely possible he could have got a muscle injury with the pace he plays with.

    In terms of sh!tting on him, it wouldn’t have been reported on as such. Basically he was playing and doing well for them – the Howe went and spent a small fortune on Jordan Ibe and Fraser was pushed out without Howe speaking with him – he doesn’t have to I suppose but, then when Ibe didn’t work out he put Fraser back in and he was working hard and playing pretty well again. But then Howe went and loaned Harry Wilson and put him straight in – again with any discussion with Fraser – again he doesn’t have to I suppose. But his attitude was more, I gave for the club when I was in contract and got little back – so why would I risk an injury and move to another club?!.

    Fair enough I think. Howe didn’t really want him during the season – and I assume Harry Wilson didn’t extend his loan period to help Bmth out ??‍♂️. Their loss looks to be our gain hopefully.

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  44. kimtoon:
    NUFC 360
    @NUFC360
    ·
    28m
    BREAKING: A deal for #nufc to sign Sassuolo left back Rogerio for €14m is “almost done.” [DiMarzio]

    Never heard of him Kim, but we need a LB and around £12m sounds about right. Another player that will likely take time to come in and settle – maybe another Brazilian would be good for Joelinton ????‍♂️.

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  45. I’ve had a quick look at Rogerio on YouTube – which I know doesn’t give a full picture (but I suspect is NUFCs main scouting tool).
    Looks full of pace and very offensive – but not a tackle made in over 9mins over footage. He may be very good defensively too but ??‍♂️.

    I think the full back behind ASM needs to be defence first LB though.

    I saw something suggesting we d been offered Bertrand Traore as well – can play up front but seems more suited to the right flank – a lot like ASM. Could be a loan to buy move ??.

    I wouldn’t mind Callum Wilson coming in if we got Traore on loan as well like.

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  46. Olly: great article from a year ago about Joelinton. I am sure I read it at the time but had forgotten about it. He describes exactly in every detail what we have seen and he said it before Joe had kicked a ball for us. That is important to me. Reporting after the fact is pretty useless and that is what most journos do. I think you were the only one who looked into what type of player we had actually bought.

    There were a few glimmers of hope in there which are that the Bundesliga journalist thought he might take a year to settle and also described his best position. Play him there Brucie.

    Looks like the journalist thought Joe might end up being middling at best in the PL so there is also a downside to the article. From what we have seen, even in his best position he is a bench player.

    There is just no way we paid 40 mil for this guy. Charley and journos just love to include add-ons and even salary in a fee. It happens all of the time especially in the tabloids. And then The Chronic pick up on the story/figure and quote it ad-infinitum until the fan base believe it without questioning anything. Anybody reading anything I say will know this is a pet peeve of mine.

    I think what I am saying is that lazy journalism is a pet peeve of mine. Oh, and them just making stuff up 🙂

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  47. The Hoffenheim guy, noticed my pet peeve – poor technique. I’ve never seen the lad hit the ball cleanly. Brazilian? There’s better brazilians in the Faroe Islands.

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  48. georgio:
    The Hoffenheim guy, noticed my pet peeve – poor technique. I’ve never seen the lad hit the ball cleanly. Brazilian? There’s better brazilians in the Faroe Islands.

    A 40 million (ha, not true) Joselu. But I do believe we probably spent 20 mil plus add-ons because that was how much Rafa said was too much and wouldnt approve it. I know I am being a bit of a contradiction believing the Rafa story, but that sounds real. 40 mil sounds made up.

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  49. There have been some almighty busts. Accounting for football inflation I would say these are worse than Joelinton (mainly because I dont believe the 40 mil figure).

    Slimani to Leicester for 30 mil

    Drinkwater to Chelsea for 35 mil

    Benteke to Palace for 30 mil

    And the biggest of them all – Kepa to Chelsea for 80 mil.

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  50. Gilly Toon:
    Seems we have a bid accepted for Jamal Lewis at Norwich… will we bring in 2 left backs (Rogerio too)?

    Gilly – Im not sure if we get 2 – personally I’d sooner that money go towards a better forward.

    But of the 2 I really hope we opt for Jamal Lewis. I know Norwich struggled last season, but I was really impressed with their young full backs – Max Aaron’s at RB as well.

    It’s the forward situation that still worries me. I think a fit Callum Wilson is a very good player. But you can’t pin all of your hopes on him getting the goals based on his injury record.
    I’m fine with him coming in as he’s more likely to get goals over Carroll or Gayle when fit – as long as he’s not the only forward coming in.

    If what we are left with is Gayle, Carroll, Wilson and Joelinton as our forward option – then I think we struggle to get those goals to keep us out of trouble. I still don’t see many goals behind those forward players either.

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  51. So according to reports both Fraser and Callum Wilson WANT to come to NUFC – we want to sign them ??. Fraser is a free agent and Wilson is at a club that will need to balance books ??.

    Am I over simplifying things here?! – what the hell is taking so long to get those deals done???

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  52. What I would say though is, if come the end of the window we have signed Hendrick, Fraser, Wilson and Lewis – that would be a far better window than I expected & we would have 4 very decent players – all with PL experience.

    I would like another forward added to that list – even if it’s a loanee. But I think that may depend on squad space and who we can get rid of to create that space.
    I imagine there will be players there to loan – Chelsea and Liverpool could likely have a few along with a few foreign ones.

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  53. Sharpy17:
    What I would say though is, if come the end of the window we have signed Hendrick, Fraser, Wilson and Lewis – that would be a far better window than I expected & we would have 4 very decent players – all with PL experience.

    I would like another forward added to that list – even if it’s a loanee.But I think that may depend on squad space and who we can get rid of to create that space.
    I imagine there will be players there to loan – Chelsea and Liverpool could likely have a few along with a few foreign ones.

    Agree Sharpy, mate. I do like Wilson, but we need a proven, fit, goal scorer! I can’t believe (well, maybe I can) we are not putting more effort into this area… ?

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  54. Gilly Toon: Agree Sharpy, mate. I do like Wilson, but we need a proven, fit, goal scorer! I can’t believe (well, maybe I can) we are not putting more effort into this area…

    Gilly – maybe we are?!. I find it difficult to believe based on previous windows – but look at the situation with the LBs.
    If we were to believe everything the likes of Keith Downie is fed, we’d be signing that young Greek lad – he’s the only one that’s really been mentioned in the last few weeks.

    Yet yesterday we had a bid accepted for Rogerio who id not seen mentioned until yesterday. Then today – Jamal Lewis comes into the equation after a bid was accepted. He’d loosely been mentioned but quickly dismissed.

    These goons that stand outside training grounds or stadiums making out they are in the know – they know what the clubs feed them, and they’ll feed them as many red hearings as they can.

    That said, I don’t for one second thing we are secretly working on the Messi deal like ?

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  55. Are we better loaning and developing someone like Rhian Brewster who is highly unlikely to leave Lpool for a price we could ever afford – or would we be better loaning someone like Batshuyi or Bertand Traore who we are far more likely to be able to negotiate an option to buy price for?!.

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  56. Gilly Toon: I can see yet another season of struggling against relegation… the joys of being a toon fan…

    If we can add the 4 mentioned to what we already have, and maybe loan another forward, I see us having a similar season in terms of finishing positions.

    I’d love for the footy to be a bit more enjoyable to watch though ??

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  57. dont take notice of friendly mean nowt although nice to win,L/pool beaten two nil at home by Blackpool,are they going to have bad season i doubt it very much

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