Newcastle’s games have been fun to watch this season, whether you are live streaming on Ladbrokes or elsewhere online, and today’s game was a perfect example of it.
A much-improved second half performance, a solid defensive display and another St James’ Park brace from Callum Wilson helped us to a well deserved 2-1 win over Everton today!
A depleted yet high-flying Toffees side created a nervy final five minutes via a late goal from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, however we come away worthy winners in the end – and it’s not often we’ve been able to say that under Steve Bruce!
He deserves credit today for getting it right and setting us up well, with the victory moving us 10 points clear of the drop zone, just two points from 2nd and into the top 10.
Steve Bruce stuck with a 5-3-1-1 and named only one change from the side that excruciatingly scrapped for a point against Wolves a week ago.
Sean Longstaff replaced Ryan Fraser as part of a three-man midfield featuring himself, Hendrick and Almiron, with ASM in a free role and Wilson up top.
Jamaal Lascelles passed a late fitness test to continue at the heart of our five-man defence, while Jacob Murphy started for the second Premier League game in a row – again in his new role as an attacking wing-back.
As we knew they would, Everton fielded a weekend team with Rodriguez, Digne, Coleman and Richarlison all out, while out of form Jordan Pickford was dropped to the bench after a string of poor performances.
All things considered, I was feeling pretty optimistic ahead of kick-off!
It was a cagey opening to the game with neither team looking as if they were in any sort of rhythm. We had some decent spells of possession, but our attacking play was laboured in what was a slow and uneventful start to proceedings.
We attempted to play out from the back in the opening exchanges and a few bits of dodgy distribution from Karl Darlow could’ve cost us if it wasn’t for Everton’s inability to pounce on his mistake or a strong challenge or two from Federico Fernandez.
We then opted to go back to a long-ball approach as our midfield struggled to find ASM – which predictably failed as it meant that Callum Wilson was forced to feed off scraps against two big centre-backs.
To my surprise, a brilliant piece of attacking football and the moment of the first half presented us with a chance that we really should’ve given us the lead on the half hour mark.
Miguel Almiron got the ball in his own half and drove down the left-hand side, bursting past Andre Gomes and Allan before playing in Callum Wilson down the left. He then burst inside and slid an inch perfect ball into the path of Allan Saint-Maximin who had the goal at his mercy with only the keeper to beat. Unfortunately, his tame effort was comfortably saved by Olsen and the moment of the half soon passed us by.
The half-time whistle blew and we went into the break 0-0. A solid defensive display, but one brilliant counter-attack side it was tough to watch and pretty flat. Fortunately, Everton were just as bad and the game was still there for the taking.
On a slightly more positive note, I was impressed by three individual performances. Miguel Almiron was a nuisance at both ends, Callum Wilson looked lively and full of energy (despite his lack of service) and Fernandez came up trumps with a string of important blocks and tackles.
The second-half started slowly, but the game exploded into life – at least in an attacking sense – in the 54th minute.
We won a corner which Callum Wilson got on the end of ahead of Andre Gomes – who was really slow to react. The Portuguese midfielder left in a trailing leg which brought down Wilson, and the referee awarded us with a penalty!
Wilson was made to wait for what felt like an age due to a VAR check, but he once again exerted nerves of steel as he calmly slotted the ball into the net past the helpless Olsen. 1-0!
It could’ve been two just moments after. Some brilliant play between Murphy and Wilson resulted in Sean Longstaff getting the ball no more than 10 yards out from goal. He then struck a fierce effort at goal and I was left scratching my head after it was astoundingly saved by Olsen.
Longstaff really deserved a goal this afternoon. He seemed sharp, covered ground well, his passing was crisp and he looked as though he’d got his confidence back!
Everton began to grow into the game and soon after *that* Longstaff chance, Gylfi Sigurdsson whipped a brilliant ball into the box which met the head of the lethal Calvert-Lewin. Luckily, his header was straight at Darlow who easily saved.
Saint-Maximin looked affected by an earlier knock so Bruce chose to replace him with Ryan Fraser – who made an immediate impact.
Jamal Lewis collected the ball in his own half and instantly curled a perfectly weighted ball down the line and around the Everton defence – putting Ryan Fraser in on goal. The Scotsman beat Mina for pace, drove into the box and his deflected cross found Callum Wilson at the back-post, who only had to tap the ball home!
2-0 and that’s already Callum Wilson’s sixth goal in just seven games this season. What did he tell us? Wilson and Fraser = goals!
We looked set to cruise to a comfortable victory, but just after six minutes of added time were signalled, we unforgivably gave Everton the chance to steal a point.
Iwobi drilled the ball across the face of goal towards Calvert-Lewin, who easily drifted in between Lascelles and Fernandez before poking the ball past Darlow. A nervy few minutes remained!
Karl Darlow had a heroic few minutes as the pressure built. He excellently tipped a looping Bernard cross over the bar, and then excellently claimed the final corner of the game to secure the three points!
It wasn’t always pretty, but we defended well, caused problems on the counter and played some decent football in the second half – a nervy end but a brilliant three points in a game that saw this 5-3-1-1 system show signs of real potential after that decent point but drab display at Molineux.
We were solid defensively – looking MUCH better than the side who shipped four to Man Utd a few weeks ago – the wing-backs were really effective at both ends, Federico Fernandez was rock solid, Miguel Almiron a constant livewire and Sean Longstaff much improved in midfield.
Most importantly, however, we’ve finally got a new talisman in Wilson. He’s going to be so important for us throughout this season and is already proving what a brilliant piece of business he’ll be for Bruce. He just always looks like scoring and is a constant pest up top.
Bring on Southampton next Friday!
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Stu – half a dozen?!. I reckon that’s a good cross section then ??♂️.
Seriously, you kick off we are back in a lockdown, yet any time someone points out where the government have failed you jump to their defensive.
Sky News reported today that over 7000 people who tested positive were given the wrong dates to isolate – I’m not sure if that counts as the media finding a few – but it’s certainly a few more than your half dozen – and that’s not even scratching the surface.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I reckon Bruce will start with the same formation and possibly even the same team. The only possible changes would be to rest St Max, and it would be a rest as he has had the living daylights kicked out of him. And maybe swap Hayden for Hendrick but I think that is unlikely as Bruce was still talking about Isaac feeling his hamstring and talking about recovery from soft tissue injuries.
If we stick with this formation then the front players need to get used to rotation. Wilson starts every game, but it is then 2 from 3 with Miggy, St Max and Fraser. That’s unless Miggy becomes a full time midfielder which is a possibility.
We have a lot of options now with Dummett, Clark, Matty, Sean, Manquillo, Yedlin, Krafth, Carroll and Fraser all fit.
There is no reason to be scared of Southampton without Ings. Just dont give away stupid free kicks. Thank God Jack Colback left 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And how come we are now getting penalties? You would think we are Man U or Crystal Palace.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
This election is not going to be fun. Looks like a dead heat which means lawyers and another month of this. Not sure if I can take it on top of Corona Virus. We are not in total lockdown but they have close bars, restaurants and even museums and some banks.
Should never discount the stupidity of the American people. This is as close as Brexit by the looks of it.
Whatever the result, my view of Trump will not change. He is a clown with the vocabulary of a 5 year old. How this is even close I do not know.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
It’s over 80% of the people I know have been tested. You’d think if it was so horrendous as you seem to think that just the people I know who have been tested would have shown up wouldn’t you? I guess the point I’m making is that mine isn’t a made up figure – it’s fact.
7,000 out of 500,000 is 1.4%. I guess you want 100%. Good luck with that. You hold the government to unbelievably high standards. I don’t know on what basis.
Stuart79(Quote)
Serious question for Eric. If Trump is a racist how has he won the state with the biggest Latino population for the last two elections?
Stuart79(Quote)
Too close to call in the US election. What a shock. The liberal media and pollsters got it totally wrong yet again. Why are UK media so wrong about the US? They literally think it’s all about NY, San Fran, LA or Seattle.
Let’s wait and see BLM start the demos and violence if Trump wins. This is a organisations that’s gone from a worthy and honourable cause to just left wing anarchists.
Stuart79(Quote)
Trump claiming victory is just idiotic too. He really has no filter but he’s playing to his supporters and he clearly has more than many think.
Maybe, just maybe Trump is a good representation of the US people? Hard to stomach for some…
Stuart79(Quote)
You mean Texas or Florida?
Texas is a starnge place as I am sure you know and it is ex-Cubans in FL. I am not an expert on this stuff, I just know I think Trump is dangerous and all of the other things I called him.
I actually thought he would win the last election. It was the Hilary factor and the fact the the Brexit polls were so wrong.
I thought removing the hatred of Hilary would give Biden a path to victory but again the polls were wrong. They had it like 54-44 Biden. That is inexcusable. There metrics are off somewhere and they should all be sacked.
Still too close to call but it is leaning slightly Trumps way.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
The Republicans thought they would lose otherwise they would not have pushed through the Supreme Court nominee. If Trump wins we will be exactly where we were before this 2 years of nonsense began because it looks like the Senate will not flip.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Trump truly is a egomaniac. not sure how he can call it his win with outstanding votes. If he loses he won’t go quietly that’s for sure.
kimtoon(Quote)
Kimtoon: they will ask for a recount in at least 4 states so be prepared to see this on your news for the next 2 weeks at least. Then there will probably be a legal challenge.
Trunp wants votes cast on or before yesterday to not be valid because they werent COUNTED on election day. It has never worked like that. They count them until they are done counting the pile. Sometimes it can take a couple of days. Votes from the military overseas often arrive up to a week later.
It is Trump that wants to steal this election by throwing out legal votes and overturning the democratic process. But some of his cronies and sycophants will back him whatever nonsense he spews.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stewie: as of 11.10am central time it looks like Biden is the winner even in the electoral college. There will be a challenge and Trump will lie about what votes are valid. That is up to the states though as the election is not overseen by the federal government but by State Attorney Generals and election commissioners. It is all a bit arcane and stupid. The whole thing I mean. Biden is ahead by 3 million in the popular vote but so was Clinton.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Biden will probably be declared the winner tomorrow and that’s when the protests might start and they might be in the streets and not just the courts.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Back to football because the US election will drag on and on.
Ings is having surgery so is out, as are a number of other starters for S’ton. I have no doubt that Bruce will stick with the same system as S’ton play the high press. I also think he will kick the St Max/Fraser can down the road and start St Max and see how he does.
There will be opportunities for both either through injuries, or a change in formation. That does not necessarily mean going away from wingbacks. Maybe we could play only 2 central mids. We have to take a good look at how Miggy does there and perhaps it could be him with Hayden or Longstaff. And we also have to see how Sean does. He has really only had 1 decent game since he returned from injury so we have to see if he is back to the player who started so well. Even then, didnt he only play like 12 games?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
This is not returning to the US election, just making a little joke.
What will be resolved 1st the US election or NUFC takeover?
Demba Ba just scored against Man U. I didnt know he was still playing.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Florian Lejeune has said Bruce played him 4times in 11 games ater coming back from injury which was too much wasnt given time to get right,Bruce has given him away3 PL clubs now want to sign him hes been motm twice in his last two games,not the first time Bruce has players not fit
icedog(Quote)
I wonder where this anti-competition lawsuit will go. It is brought by independent NUFC fans who have hired a lawyer. Ashley supposedly implicitly backs it although is not providing money. I think it is a tribunal but I am not sure what they can prove. Masters and Co have probably had enough time to scrub their e-mails and you know they will have because they had a dossier on the big 6 power grab before a meeting with the full 20 teams and bare faced lied that they didnt know the details.
So what can this tribunal look at? The evidence provided by PIF that they were not run by Bin Salmon? I think that is true as he has a lot more on his plate but he does do the hiring and firing on investment managers.
Will they let in evidence that Spurs and Liverpool tried to block the takeover? I am pretty sure they did but I bet it has been scrubbed.
Then there is the collusion of the big 6 with Masters and Co. That is pretty much out in the open now but I bet they say they cannot consider it because it is not directly relevant and was after the fact.
All the circumstantial evidence leads to the PL blocking the takeover but unless there is a smoking gun/email trail I doubt they can prove it.
I think it will be a good start but it will take the threat of court from Ashley’s lawyers for this to get anywhere. Will the PL really want their corruption exposed in open court? A closed tribunal will probably go nowhere, although there may be minutes for lawyers to review later. I think there were in Keegan’s constructive dismissal tribunal against Ashley.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Trump campaign files lawsuit in Michigan
The state is yet to declare, with ballots still being counted.
The Trump campaign has claimed it was not given “meaningful access to numerous counting locations to observe the opening of ballots and the counting process”.
The campaign is now trying to “halt counting”.
And so it begins 🙄 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin’s chief election official, has been asked about Trump’s comments about states like hers “finding Biden votes everywhere”.
As she detailed the counting process, she said: “There’s no opportunity to add additional votes to the tally.
“It’s insulting to our local election officials to say yesterday’s election was anything but an incredible success that was a result of years of preparation and meticulously, carefully, following the law.”
Biden is reported to have won Wisconsin by 20,697 votes. No official announcement has been made, but the Wisconsin Republican Party is already calling for a recount.
kimtoon(Quote)
Sad news about John Sessions, funny guy, brilliant in who’s line is it anyway ? back in the day.
67 no age really. RIP
kimtoon(Quote)
? love it.
Anyway, you’d have been pleased with Theresa May today mate. She was asking the the government – her bosses, realise the figures for the cost of COVID like you’ve been asking for – I wonder if they will?!
Sharpy17(Quote)
Wow! Rudy Guilliani, now saying there’s voter fraud! That’s interesting as he was popular during 9/11 and even more popular when he took down the mafia in NYC! He has respect and he thinks voter fraud…
Stuart79(Quote)
Maybe, just maybe there is voter fraud? Is it outrageous… ? I will reserve judgement until all evidence is put out there.
Stuart79(Quote)
The Feds dont run the election, the States do. The Republicans had state reps overseeing the counting. He is clutching at straws but has stacked the Federal Supreme Court so who knows!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stu – is he the one that’s just been caught out by Sacha Baron Cohen?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stuart: Rudi and the America’s Mayor thing was pure self promotion. He saw an opportunity to benefit from a tradgedy to promote his own ambition to be President. That is not only my opinion.
He is also not part of the Government, he is Trump’s PERSONAL attorney. He has no say in Govt matters, or shouldnt have (but as with everything Trump blurs the lines and the wimps in the Replican party follow along like sheep – see also Ivanka, Jared and Don, Jr who have more say than elected officials). It may as well be Trump’s dentist calling it fraud for the legal ground it stands on.
Surprised Rudy is showing his face after Borat. If you havent seen it, I am sure it is on Youtube. He is currently a laughing stock. Literally.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I will answer that – YES. But he has had other indiscretions and is a total t!t.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Guilliani also put in place the stop and search law in NYC. It meant the police could stop and search you for any reason they wanted. They didnt need a legitimate suspicion. Of course, when they looked at who this affected they were mainly black. It wasnt tourists from Iowa in Times Square.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I have lived in the USA for 30 years so know quite a bit about the politics and indeed Trump. I am not a news junkie but I do follow politics.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I see Demba Ba scored and was MOTM against Man Utd tonight.
Good for him – he had a horrific injury, but got through it and had a great night tonight.
I was a big fan of his when he was with us, so pleased to see he’s still going strong.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric – I know it’s a comedy movie designed to show these people up, but I found it really uncomfortable to watch. As far as he was concerned she was a 15yr old girl – and while nowt actually happened, he was quick to follow her in that bedroom & tapping her on the hip as she asked for her number and address or whatever it was … it was horrible.
But it’s the type of behaviour Trump would be very familiar with id imagine so they’d just be comparing notes.
Sharpy17(Quote)
I watched the Man U game and it was school boy stuff. They had a corner and all of the Man U players pushed up leaving Demba Ba on the half way line by himself. Great to see him score at 35 and it makes me remember that the reason he left us was a clause in his contract. I think it was Harry Redknapp who made the world aware of it.
It ended 2-1 but Trump is asking for a recount.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
What’s you’re point?
Stuart79(Quote)
And?
Stuart79(Quote)
What’s will Biden have achieved? He won’t win the senate.. Have people voted for him on the basis of “he’s not Trump”?
He’s no chance. He won’t have the Senate and he won’t have people – god help USA
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart: the president has veto power over bills from the Senate. There will be a very fine margin anyway in the Senate (52-48 or 51-49), and on some issues there are independent thinkers like John McCain on healthcare. The VP can also break a Senate tie, and that will be Kamala Harris.
There are also Presidential executive orders where he can implement his own plans without a bill from congress. Trump has done it many times. You underestimate the power of the presidency. If Trump has shown us anything it is that you can govern from the top down in today’s America.
You also underestimate the bully pulpit. The President has the country’s ear. He makes the state of the union speech. He meets with foreign leaders. He hold press conferences in the oval office. He has daily press briefings. He has the high profile, not no-name senators.
Mitch McConnell is leader of the Senate and you are (un)lucky) if you see a 30 second sound bite from him once a week. What I am saying is that the President has a lot of direct as well as indirect and PR power.
I would stick with UK politics if I were you.
I have also been watching Rudi for 30 years as he is one of the most high profile politicians in the country. I wont say I know as much as a New Yorker but Rudi is a publicity hound so I know his (corrupt) views.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
This is also the same old Trump non-logic. He was asking for states to stop the count of legally cast votes. He even asked Michigan to stop where he was BEHIND. So he would have lost…
The reason the count is going on for so long is that that the judges wouldnt allow them to open the envelopes until election day. They were sitting in boxes and there is a backlog. These are legal votes on official govt forms submitted BEFORE election day. Trump is trying to have them thrown out.
If that is not undemocratic and the action of a dictator, despot and autocrat then I dont know what is. Putin would be proud.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
More on the Senate, Stuart. I am not sure you know the way it works. If you are up for reelection you have to go through a primary election where someone can be put on the ballot ahead of a sitting senator. There are at least 2 senators who were bullied into not voting their conscience on a number of issues because of this and because they knew Trump and his attack dogs would go after them. Freed of this, I am certain they would vote with the Democrats on things like a national COVID plan, infrastructure spending and emergency spending to help the unemployed. This COVID is not going away and you cannot have millions of people homeless which is what will happen without help.
Once Trump the Bully is gone, things will change although he will leave a legacy because he has stacked the supreme court so there might be 20 million without health insurance in a month and no legal abortion even for rape or incest.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
? chill out scrappy do, it’s a question not a point ?
Sharpy17(Quote)
It was a pointless question then…
Eric, I’ll predict Biden is about as effective as Obama who was basically a youth club leader and achieved virtually nothing. Won’t help that he won’t see out his full term.
Stuart79(Quote)
Some of these states are ridiculously close. Just a few thousand votes in it. How bad must Biden be if he can’t win comprehensively against a odd ball like Trump?
It really is a bizarre situation and I can’t believe out of 300m people these are the best two they have.
Stuart79(Quote)
Obama got the world out of the banking crisis created by greed and the Clinton and Bush deregulation. He saved General Motors that Republicans wanted to let go bust. He created many wildlife refuges and new parks. How about health insurance for 40 million Americans who were previously uninsured. Maybe people dont know that there really isnt an NHS over here until you are over 65 and that before Obama Care if you had had previously something like cancer the insurance companies would turn you down. And many more achievements which actually would have been more if Republicans had not blocked him at every turn.
So, not a lot Stuart. But it doesnt fit your Tory narrative so it is like it never happened.
I am keeping an eye on this election and it is coming down to Georgia and Arizona. The Arizona vote is so close because the hispanics turned out in such numbers for Biden. Told you earlier, the ethic groups are really complicated over here. Trump won FL because he scared the ex-Cubans into thinking Biden is a socialist.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Tell me about it. I think Trump is certifiably crazy.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Was watching a bit of Peston last night, Biden seems to be very well respected and generally seen as the man to bring a very divided USA together again.
Stu, Biden has the most votes of any presidential candidate in history , not bad for someone who can’t win comprehensively .
kimtoon(Quote)
Stuart: this is not over yet either. It is tilting towards biden but as of 3am Thurs there still could be a surprise. I am off to bed. Been watching too much of this, Hopefully there will be a result when I wake up in about 5 hrs. AZ is counting through the night.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Kimtoon, the electoral college is just such a stupid and arbitrary system it is so hard to fathom. I actually have no idea how they assign the votes to each state. The Senate is even crazier where Montana with 400k people gets the same representation as California with 34 million.
They say it is a great democracy, but it is stuck in a time warp from more than 200 years ago.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
And so would Stu. That’s the type of leader he admits to being impressed by.
Brisvegas(Quote)
Trump without a doubt is on the spectrum, zero empathy and no filter .
Anyone who thinks victims of rape and incest should be made to go through with the resulting pregnancies is callous beyond belief. I know it’s not the child’s fault but how does a mother explain about their father in later years ? And every time the mother looks at that child the mix of emotions would be terrible and potentially damaging to them both. She could put the child up for adoption but it solves nothing as that child will face a future where it knows it’s mum gave it away because daddy was a rapist. Awful just awful .
kimtoon(Quote)
???
Stuart79(Quote)
Men and twisted women telling other women what to do with THEIR bodies, it’s a choice for the individual as to what they can or cannot bear.
kimtoon(Quote)
Trump too has increased his votes since last time. I don’t think you can class it as comprehensive when there’s less than 1% in it in regards to some states.
But I agree with Eric. It’s a rather odd way of going about things. Bit like our system. Theresa May’s Conservative party got more than a million more votes than Corbyn’s Labour Party yet couldn’t get a majority.
Democracy is in the spotlight at the moment. Have democratic countries handled the COVID situation well? Not sure about that one. It’s also looking dodgy in the US at the moment too…
It’s the best way but it’s certainly not faultless.
Stuart79(Quote)
I generally agree, Kim. A bit like assisted suicide. Who are politicians to tell people what they can and can’t do with their own bodies. However I respect their opinions on the subject as more often than not it’s based on their religious beliefs. I’m an atheist but their views must be respected however much I disagree.
Stuart79(Quote)
I mean, can you imagine that Burnley got 2 MPs and the whole of Greater London also only got 2 MPs? That’s basically how the US Senate works.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stuart: you have been here many times I think. There are many of these religious types telling people what to do with their bodies and preaching about other peoples’ sexuality. Trump’s legacy if he loses will be the supreme court and I dont even think he cares about the issues he has set things in motion to overturn. It was more a means to an end to get other things he wanted done by appeasing the religious zealots. Now everybody in America will have to live with it as abortion will be driven to the backstreets or like Ireland used to be when you had women in convents or going to the UK for it.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Yes, Eric. The US has more than it’s fair share of religious odd balls. A few episodes of Louis Theroux shows you that… It’s the same with guns in my opinion. They cling to their rights like they cling to religion. Regardless of how times have changed they don’t change with them.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart: Many people are shocked over here if I tell them I do not believe in God. You should look up Sam Harris on Youtube or he has a book called The End of Faith.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
We will see how this turns out with the ability of gun nuts to openly carry AK47s on the street. They have them outside the poll counting office in AZ tonight. How crazy is that!!!! I was in Oregon last month and didnt go to Portland specifically because some of those crazies had been on the streets threatening people and with this election they were getting even more worked up. They had set up roadblocks, enforced with automatic weapons, to check drivers licenses to see if you were from out of state. They were scared of looters with the wildfires. It is illegal but they still did it. P!ssed me off as I had arranged to meet a couple of friends there so their so-called archaic gun rights had impinged on my private rights.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Did anybody really think that NUFC players would be called up to the England squad?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Southgate says “nobody seriously challenging Pickford”. Has he watched him play!!! Ancelotti dropped him. He may be back but one more mistake and he will be on the bench at Everton for good.
This tells me we are going nowhere with Southgate. We have a very talented squad that is very young. We should be preparing for the next world cup when a lot of them will be in their prime but this Manager will waste it. My hope is that we go out of the Euros in the group stage because the WC is the bigger prize and Southgate will bottle it against the 1st good team we play.
I dont think we will win the WC, that just doesnt happen for England but we actually could put up a good showing with a decent Manager. And not just beating up on the **** teams either and getting everybody prematurely excited like last time.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I think I am going to go for a win against Southampton. I am not getting giddy after one decent performance, but we have been playing decent against Saints recently after them being a bit of a bogey team. Them missing Ings is the main difference. They will probably play Shane Long who has a great work rate but doesnt score. They are also missing other players.
I am hoping that a settled structure to our team will help us push on as the players get more used to it. I have said on here before that it is utter tripe that the players know Rafa’s system because a lot of our players were not even here under Rafa.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
NEW THREAD
https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2020/11/05/southampton-a-predicted-line-ups-pre-match-thoughts-team-news/
Match preview for tomorrow!
Olly Hawkins(Quote)