Until the cheating stops, we can’t plan for the future. We’ll develop the likes of Steur and Toure and have them ripped away.
We either need to pour massive resource into challenging the corrupt system we operate in or accept that we are currently 2.0 and in 2/3years time when our best players have peaked, accept we’ll lose them and move onto 3.0.
It’s disgusting. It’s unfair.
Don’t blame the board for not operating as we’d hope in an environment which is unacceptable in any other business.
Enjoyed it though, Paul.
Move closer - love it (didn’t want to leave you hanging…..)
Some good points Paul but too pessimistic. For example we had an excellent MFer lined up in Manzambi. He went for a CL club as did others.
That said I'm not happy. We seem to have Dedič over the line but Hojbjerg doesn't fancy us either. Would you?
Let's judge them at the end of the window.
Mark's right ✅️ we need to take on the cartel 6. There's 20 votes in the PL and how the other 13 put up with it is beyond me. We need to court their support AND challenge them legally.
Good point about Woltemade: I hadn’t considered whether a fellow-German coach might be the key to unlocking his abilities. I do hope so: he seems like a genuinely nice guy, and it’s a mystery about what happened to his promising goal-scoring form beyond the start of last season.
I've read this being said by quite a few people and I confess it made me smile. It feels intuitively right, but when you think about it, why should being from the same country make him any more able to work effectively with a specific player? If that's the case, then what about all the non-German players?
Sometimes things can get a bit lost in translation when it comes to nuance, metaphor, colloquialisms etc. so a common first language might just make a wee bit of a difference. And they may also share some common reference points about the German game (I’ve absolutely no idea what I’m talking about at this point…) Perhaps just a bit of wishful thinking on my part, for his sake as well the club’s.
I'd be worried about putting Woltemade on the field as anything but a centre forward but unfortunately he doesn't seem to want to play there, despite being a genuinely good finisher. For me he is just too lightweight and immobile to play anywhere else and leaves it feeling like we are playing with 10 (or maybe 10.5) men.
It’s really not good Kenny, is it? He clearly seemed to be a better player when he joined the club and in his first few games for us. What’s happened to him…?
This is such an awful read. I mean you've done really well in fitting in as many long words as you can, but the level of pessimism is just drowning the entire article.
Maybe, just maybe, the professionals at nufc know better than you. Maybe the young players will be decent. Maybe the new manager is more effective than a tired, one tactic Eddie Howe. Maybe selling 3 good players who didn't really perform last year for huge fees is good business. It's certainly not similar to last year's transfer window like you've suggested.
Ultimately I'm just not sure why you'd bother being a fan of the team if you want to have an attitude like this. It must be so tiring.
You say this like anyone had a choice... "Ultimately I'm just not sure why you'd bother being a fan of the team if you want to have an attitude like this"
Couldn't agree more. Supporting NUFC is bloody exhausting, but it's certainly not a matter of choice. The pain and misery is what makes the (occasional) joy all the more pleasurable.
I'm not saying not to be a fan! The only thing we can control is how we react to a situation. In this case you can respond with extreme negativity or you could, perhaps, try being an actual fan and see the positives. Maybe even give them a chance and see how they get on this season.
Being a fan is not about being optimistic. It's about supporting the team. The worst thing our fan base can be this season is overly optimistic and expect results. We need to turn up and make SJP a bear pit as we scrap for every possible point. We're in serious trouble with this squad.
I made this comment on another thread but cut and pasted here as it seems more appropriate:
Like everyone I’m furious with the way the club are so incompetent at managing the process of buying and selling players
All they ever do is leave themselves in a position of weakness and open to exploitation … as if we need to ,just look at the debacle of last season … knowing Isak had bailed out ,failing to maximise the opportunity to take the money early and buy in replacements …. And we do exactly the same again with Bruno , it was fing obvious he wanted to go , a replacement should’ve been lined up well before he went … same with other positions … now we are left scrambling around in the cess pit of football agents and associated spivs trying to attract players past their sell by date who it would appear dont really want to join us … other than for a last big payday
I’m no expert in football management , but at least I admit it , but I am confident that between several of us we could do better than the clowns who are managing the team now and making us the laughing stock of football
I accept the money from sales has been good but not to have replacements set up is complete mismanagement of the highest order
We are being held hostage and end up panic buying at prices way above actual value … be honest .. Waltemade ??!! ….Wisa ???!!!…. Elanga??!!
I read a comment in the Athletic praising Wilson for being a genius in getting Anderson so cheaply and off loading Elanga at such a high price …. That to me says more about the dunderheads at NUFC in not seeing the value in their young player and even if forced to sell not having a clause in place to recover some of his value ( he’s now one of the 11 most expensive players ever in world football !) is utter negligence.
I’m not neutral about Howe either …. He knew very well the direction of travel … why leave it so late to resign ? If he cared he should’ve done the right thing and gone at the end of last season … or should’ve been sacked and replacement brought in early …. Now we’ve got 6 days before Liverpool game ….
The club has been run for generation by bell ends who don’t give flying F what we think .
Wondering if Wilson has interpreted his new brief as being entirely finding young players to sell on at a profit and has forgotten the bit about needing to put a competitive team on the field.
What a load of nonsense ., perhaps if you followed Newcastle you will realise we lost 3 players and so far have recruited 7 made £250 million to reinvest in players who though young have all experienced European club football and several starred at the World Cup ..oh and got a young manager who just won back to back Asian champions leagues and won Two league titles in Austria .. it’s tiring reading the wash rinse repeat from the lane media then once indoctrinated revue it’s in blogs .. newcastle will be fine .,
Thanks for reading and commenting, Mike. I don't personally agree with all of Paul's piece but I don't think he's been indoctrinated by the media, nor that his views come from anywhere but a sincere and genuine support for NUFC.
Hmmm. I trust you’ve watched us over a long period?! This pre season smacks of several in the past. It’s ok bringing in money & 7 new players but, bearing in mind their age & lack of experience of English football, it’s a gamble of the highest order not to bring in a couple of more experienced players. That might yet happen but it would be nice to feel more confident about it
What are the scouting network at our club up to? There seems to have been no plan on replacing Bruno. Since Manzambi turned us down there seems to be have a void in finding a 2nd choice. We now have a manager who seems to favour 4-2-3-1 but we have nobody capable of playing the 10 role & don't seem to be looking for anyone who can. If we stay up it'll be an achievement at this rate.
I read every response and enjoyed the perspectives. Good discussion.
Mine? To my untrained eyes the backline looks to be coming together. The front line shows some sign of life. They have some speed they need some lethality. Midfield? We'll need to get better.
Where do the goals come from. Same question as last year.
I tend to think your three options of what Newcastle 2.0 might become are probably all correct! It would be nice to feel more optimistic but I’ve been in school discos & then nightclubs when ‘Move Closer’ & ‘Careless Whisper’ have been played back to back & gone home on my own, so optimism isn’t a natural reaction!…
Admirable you even took this slot Paul. Because nothing at all is worth writing about, until around 7pm next Sunday.
We’re not sure if we’re shit or not. We might still be uncertain a week today, who knows…
We’re already blaming the easy targets for the whole shitshow anyway: The Management, whoever they are.
All we can do now is wait. Maybe Osula, Woltemade, Elanga et al have been totally transformed in the close-season. Maybe the new signings will turn out to be shiny diamonds. We might as well believe…
Until the cheating stops, we can’t plan for the future. We’ll develop the likes of Steur and Toure and have them ripped away.
We either need to pour massive resource into challenging the corrupt system we operate in or accept that we are currently 2.0 and in 2/3years time when our best players have peaked, accept we’ll lose them and move onto 3.0.
It’s disgusting. It’s unfair.
Don’t blame the board for not operating as we’d hope in an environment which is unacceptable in any other business.
Enjoyed it though, Paul.
Move closer - love it (didn’t want to leave you hanging…..)
Some good points Paul but too pessimistic. For example we had an excellent MFer lined up in Manzambi. He went for a CL club as did others.
That said I'm not happy. We seem to have Dedič over the line but Hojbjerg doesn't fancy us either. Would you?
Let's judge them at the end of the window.
Mark's right ✅️ we need to take on the cartel 6. There's 20 votes in the PL and how the other 13 put up with it is beyond me. We need to court their support AND challenge them legally.
As ever we live in hope.
Howay the rebuilding lads.
Good point about Woltemade: I hadn’t considered whether a fellow-German coach might be the key to unlocking his abilities. I do hope so: he seems like a genuinely nice guy, and it’s a mystery about what happened to his promising goal-scoring form beyond the start of last season.
I've read this being said by quite a few people and I confess it made me smile. It feels intuitively right, but when you think about it, why should being from the same country make him any more able to work effectively with a specific player? If that's the case, then what about all the non-German players?
Sometimes things can get a bit lost in translation when it comes to nuance, metaphor, colloquialisms etc. so a common first language might just make a wee bit of a difference. And they may also share some common reference points about the German game (I’ve absolutely no idea what I’m talking about at this point…) Perhaps just a bit of wishful thinking on my part, for his sake as well the club’s.
He seems to get worse with every game Fraser. I don't think jaissle was too impressed with him yesterday either.
I'd be worried about putting Woltemade on the field as anything but a centre forward but unfortunately he doesn't seem to want to play there, despite being a genuinely good finisher. For me he is just too lightweight and immobile to play anywhere else and leaves it feeling like we are playing with 10 (or maybe 10.5) men.
It’s really not good Kenny, is it? He clearly seemed to be a better player when he joined the club and in his first few games for us. What’s happened to him…?
This is such an awful read. I mean you've done really well in fitting in as many long words as you can, but the level of pessimism is just drowning the entire article.
Maybe, just maybe, the professionals at nufc know better than you. Maybe the young players will be decent. Maybe the new manager is more effective than a tired, one tactic Eddie Howe. Maybe selling 3 good players who didn't really perform last year for huge fees is good business. It's certainly not similar to last year's transfer window like you've suggested.
Ultimately I'm just not sure why you'd bother being a fan of the team if you want to have an attitude like this. It must be so tiring.
You say this like anyone had a choice... "Ultimately I'm just not sure why you'd bother being a fan of the team if you want to have an attitude like this"
Couldn't agree more. Supporting NUFC is bloody exhausting, but it's certainly not a matter of choice. The pain and misery is what makes the (occasional) joy all the more pleasurable.
I'm not saying not to be a fan! The only thing we can control is how we react to a situation. In this case you can respond with extreme negativity or you could, perhaps, try being an actual fan and see the positives. Maybe even give them a chance and see how they get on this season.
Being a fan is not about being optimistic. It's about supporting the team. The worst thing our fan base can be this season is overly optimistic and expect results. We need to turn up and make SJP a bear pit as we scrap for every possible point. We're in serious trouble with this squad.
Each to their own mate. I genuinely can't understand why anyone would approach supporting their club in this way but everyone is different.
I made this comment on another thread but cut and pasted here as it seems more appropriate:
Like everyone I’m furious with the way the club are so incompetent at managing the process of buying and selling players
All they ever do is leave themselves in a position of weakness and open to exploitation … as if we need to ,just look at the debacle of last season … knowing Isak had bailed out ,failing to maximise the opportunity to take the money early and buy in replacements …. And we do exactly the same again with Bruno , it was fing obvious he wanted to go , a replacement should’ve been lined up well before he went … same with other positions … now we are left scrambling around in the cess pit of football agents and associated spivs trying to attract players past their sell by date who it would appear dont really want to join us … other than for a last big payday
I’m no expert in football management , but at least I admit it , but I am confident that between several of us we could do better than the clowns who are managing the team now and making us the laughing stock of football
I accept the money from sales has been good but not to have replacements set up is complete mismanagement of the highest order
We are being held hostage and end up panic buying at prices way above actual value … be honest .. Waltemade ??!! ….Wisa ???!!!…. Elanga??!!
I read a comment in the Athletic praising Wilson for being a genius in getting Anderson so cheaply and off loading Elanga at such a high price …. That to me says more about the dunderheads at NUFC in not seeing the value in their young player and even if forced to sell not having a clause in place to recover some of his value ( he’s now one of the 11 most expensive players ever in world football !) is utter negligence.
I’m not neutral about Howe either …. He knew very well the direction of travel … why leave it so late to resign ? If he cared he should’ve done the right thing and gone at the end of last season … or should’ve been sacked and replacement brought in early …. Now we’ve got 6 days before Liverpool game ….
The club has been run for generation by bell ends who don’t give flying F what we think .
Wondering if Wilson has interpreted his new brief as being entirely finding young players to sell on at a profit and has forgotten the bit about needing to put a competitive team on the field.
What a load of nonsense ., perhaps if you followed Newcastle you will realise we lost 3 players and so far have recruited 7 made £250 million to reinvest in players who though young have all experienced European club football and several starred at the World Cup ..oh and got a young manager who just won back to back Asian champions leagues and won Two league titles in Austria .. it’s tiring reading the wash rinse repeat from the lane media then once indoctrinated revue it’s in blogs .. newcastle will be fine .,
Thanks for reading and commenting, Mike. I don't personally agree with all of Paul's piece but I don't think he's been indoctrinated by the media, nor that his views come from anywhere but a sincere and genuine support for NUFC.
‘Newcastle will be fine’….
Hmmm. I trust you’ve watched us over a long period?! This pre season smacks of several in the past. It’s ok bringing in money & 7 new players but, bearing in mind their age & lack of experience of English football, it’s a gamble of the highest order not to bring in a couple of more experienced players. That might yet happen but it would be nice to feel more confident about it
What are the scouting network at our club up to? There seems to have been no plan on replacing Bruno. Since Manzambi turned us down there seems to be have a void in finding a 2nd choice. We now have a manager who seems to favour 4-2-3-1 but we have nobody capable of playing the 10 role & don't seem to be looking for anyone who can. If we stay up it'll be an achievement at this rate.
I read every response and enjoyed the perspectives. Good discussion.
Mine? To my untrained eyes the backline looks to be coming together. The front line shows some sign of life. They have some speed they need some lethality. Midfield? We'll need to get better.
Where do the goals come from. Same question as last year.
I tend to think your three options of what Newcastle 2.0 might become are probably all correct! It would be nice to feel more optimistic but I’ve been in school discos & then nightclubs when ‘Move Closer’ & ‘Careless Whisper’ have been played back to back & gone home on my own, so optimism isn’t a natural reaction!…
🥲
I think these two points must be linked... lack of forward planning... and ... Eddie Howe had lost his mojo
Admirable you even took this slot Paul. Because nothing at all is worth writing about, until around 7pm next Sunday.
We’re not sure if we’re shit or not. We might still be uncertain a week today, who knows…
We’re already blaming the easy targets for the whole shitshow anyway: The Management, whoever they are.
All we can do now is wait. Maybe Osula, Woltemade, Elanga et al have been totally transformed in the close-season. Maybe the new signings will turn out to be shiny diamonds. We might as well believe…
Don’t you think?..