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didn't realise @Renton was a jock

Where the fuck have you bunch of clowns got the idea that I was suggesting the both work together in a managerial/team capacity. It's like talking to a room full of CTs sometimes.

In a strange way I won't really mind if the takeover doesn't happen. I've spent far too much of my life obsessing over this bloody team, and I felt really liberated after Rafa left and I found I didn't actually care anymore. I've already found myself checking for takeover updates and actually knowing the upcoming fixtures recently, I will no doubt be fully sucked back in if the takeover happens. I'm not sure I want to be

Can you imagine if we’d brought in a 59 year old Italian manger who’d spent most of his entire career bouncing between the bottom half of Serie A and Serie B? He’d be laughed out of the place already.

Didn’t he only actually pay about £5 million for them though, with the rest coming from the parachute payments?

1. That’s mental for a League One club. 2. Lol @ them being up for grabs for less than our biggest flop.

@sammynb "Agonisingly close, yet also frustratingly far away. That magical 46-point mark is still within sight. Newcastle United are three points short of that magnificent milestone. True, that has been the case for the past 10 days but three successive defeats and a ballooning injury list have seen a tantalising tally which, at one stage, looked inevitable appear eminently unattainable. But, in their remaining fixtures at Brighton and Hove Albion and at home against Liverpool, the champions, Newcastle must accrue those final three points. Otherwise, this season has been an indisputable write-off. That is how it has been portrayed by some, at least. For reasons passing comprehension, the “success” or otherwise of Newcastle’s entire campaign is dependent upon them reaching that target. Why an arbitrary 46 points, I hear you ask? Well, because that is one more than last season’s tally under Rafa Benitez. So, as well as facing the other 19 Premier League teams this season, Steve Bruce’s Newcastle are also, in the eyes of some, fighting against the 2018-19 incarnation of themselves. This is, of course, ludicrous. Even if Newcastle as a club does so often appear to be wrestling with itself, the barometer for progress should not be a painstaking comparison between the current and former managers. The debate that has raged about whether Bruce’s Newcastle are better than Benitez’s Newcastle has become as tedious as it is pointless. It is almost as wearisome as the interminable takeover saga, which continues to leave the club in damaging stasis. There is no Bruce vs Benitez. There is no Newcastle United Mk. 2019-20 vs Newcastle United Mk. 2018-19. Or at least there shouldn’t be. It isn’t, and shouldn’t be, that superficial. It is Newcastle United against the rest of the league, most specifically those teams immediately above and below them — just as it was last season and is during every campaign. But that is not been how it has been presented in some quarters, by those pundits, including Sam Allardyce, Chris Sutton and Jamie Redknapp, who seem determined to compare them at every possible juncture. This season-long debate was frustrating to begin with and, as it has continued across the course of a campaign that has lasted almost a year, it has become thoroughly exasperating. Does it really matter if Newcastle finish with 43 points? Or 46 points? Or 49 points? Other than a few million in prize money here and there, it is almost utterly meaningless. Will this season really be viewed as a success or a failure depending on whether Newcastle better last season’s points tally or position? No, it will not and it should not. For a start, it is a completely false economy. Points are compared between seasons but they are only one measure — and, to be perfectly honest, they are a fairly poor one at that. In 2001-02, when Newcastle finished fourth under Sir Bobby Robson and qualified for the Champions League, they accrued 71 points. The following season, they picked up two fewer, with 69, yet they finished a position higher in third. So which was the better campaign? When Newcastle finished fifth in 2003-04, they did so with just 56 points. But, under Alan Pardew, they ended the 2011-12 season nine points better off with 65 points — yet that still only saw them finish fifth. This season, Liverpool could end with fewer than the 97 points they reached when they finished second last year. But this time, they have won the title at a canter. It is impossible to solely use points alone as a metric to contrast one campaign against another. It is, to an extent, irrational and even counterproductive. Now, this is certainly not intended to denigrate anyone at the club who uses an increased points haul — or a desire to better last season — as internal motivation. Far from it. That is exactly what should happen. Every club, and members of staff within them, should strive for constant self-improvement. Newcastle are coming towards the end of their third season back in the Premier League and so they should, in theory, be better than last year and the year before that. But this is not a normal club. The Mike Ashley regime have never given off the impression that they themselves hold such aspirations of advancement. Survival seems to suffice, even if they have failed even to achieve that twice. However, the coaching staff and the players certainly do want to progress. Bruce himself reiterated again this week that his goal is to “take the club forward” and that is what now needs to happen. Bruce, his coaching staff and players deserve credit for comfortably keeping a team many feared would be relegation fodder in the Premier League. It was chaotic at Newcastle last summer once Benitez departed and he was followed by Salomon Rondon and Ayoze Perez, who between them, scored 54.8 per cent of Newcastle’s 42 Premier League goals in 2018-19. And, although £65 million was spent on four permanent signings, £40 million of that was lavished on Joelinton, a forward whose head coach even admits feels “more comfortable” out wide and is “not a natural goalscorer”. The only recruit made over the past 12 months who has undoubtedly improved the starting XI is Allan Saint-Maximin, who has injected pace, excitement and, recently, end product into this Newcastle side. It has been anything but aesthetically pleasing — for most of the season, the football has been painful on the eyes — but the ends have, to an extent, justified the means. Belatedly, Bruce has even tried to evolve Newcastle’s style. In the deflating context of what Newcastle have become under Ashley, that warrants recognition. That does not mean this season has been a “success”, just as last year was not a “success” and nor, particularly, was the 10th-placed finish in 2017-18, either. In fact, Newcastle, who are 13th with 43 points after a 3-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur which left them with an injury-ravaged squad and two fixtures merely left to fulfil, are pretty much on course to finish off what will be yet another indifferent season under a regime that appears content with mediocrity. Across the 10 full Premier League campaigns throughout Ashley tenure, Newcastle’s average finishing position is 12.9th in the table, with 44.3 points. A middle-of-the-road return for what, under Ashley, has become a middle-of-the-road, survival-will-do football club. Some fans have even come to ask the question of: “What is the purpose of Newcastle United under Mike Ashley?” If 46 points this season really is the zenith that it has been portrayed, then Newcastle United really are going through an existential crisis." Chris 'I survived Ryder' Waugh.

The best you can say for Bruce is that he’s utterly mediocre. It’s hardly a vindication for Bruce’s supporters that he’s taken us from a mediocre position last year to a mediocre position this year. His record shows that’s all he’s capable of at his best. At his worst he will get us relegated. Unless you think we don’t deserve any better then I don’t know why anyone would want another year of Bruce.

Howard Jones used to manage 360 degrees of synthesisers

I’ve never quite understood this stance- the overwhelming evidence shows that English managers are shite. Obviously there are exceptions, but I think I’m right in saying the last English gaffer to win the title was Howard Wilkinson

There might be an undercurrent of jingoism about this ‘Bruce is better than Benitez’ patter. It’s been a constant theme with pundits that you should give British managers preference, especially with the England job. Worked well with Allardyce.

It can't be a coincidence that the ISC has just announced that the Russia report will be released within the week and so far today we've heard that: - Russia tried to intervene in the general election - Russia is trying to fuck with our search for a vaccine Owt else lads?

It was so-so. "Shades of Ryder, there! Absolutely jumping in Thomson house! Meat and drink for Chris Waugh! Wibble."

He’s a bit of a Netto Caulkin, like.

It’s a little known historical fact that Hitler only invaded Poland to test his eyesight.

And Ugly Mackems

Keegan walking into a room with the targeted player and his agent, NUFC tracksuit on and just starting to talk about juggernauts or massive ships steaming past small boats etc. Five mins and big funds later and he'd be walking out the room with a big net over his shoulder and an entangled M'bappe not knowing what hit him.

Would anyone really mind if we banned fish?

Fuck off

Don’t think I’ll bother, cheers Wolfy II Jerry Falwell had a large part in its production, so it’s not exactly “balanced” “The video was characterized by The Washington Post as a "bizarre and unsubstantiated documentary."[2] The New York Times reported that it was a poorly documented "hodgepodge of sometimes-crazed charges."[3] The producers were criticized after it came to light that a number of the people in the documentary had been paid to appear. The director admitted the payments but denied he had instructed any paid participants to say anything that was false.[1] The movie helped perpetuate a conspiracy theory known as the "Clinton Body Count" about a list of associates Clinton was purported to have had killed. The Los Angeles Timesreported that Larry Nichols, who appears throughout the film and is the primary source for a number of the murder and mysterious death claims, was fired from his Arkansas state government job and once admitted to an Associated Press reporter to being motivated by spite.[4] The fact checking site TruthOrFiction.com states that "There is no credible evidence that any of the deaths is related or can be attributed to Bill Clinton".[5] To promote the film, Falwell aired an interview with Matrisciana, who was silhouetted to conceal his identity as he pretended to be a journalist who was afraid for his life.[1]Matrisciana later acknowledged that he was not in any danger, but that the interview was staged for dramatic effect at Falwell's suggestion.[1]” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clinton_Chronicles

Catts fer me like.

Fucking bastids, the lot of you. So the incidence rate is currently 0.02% (95% CI 0.01 to 0.005%) per week. Probably less, that data is nearly 2 weeks old. In crude terms, at the present rate of infection an individual will contract it in about 96 years on average, I think, if rates stay the same. I fancy the odds on there being a working vaccine before then. Big unknown is what happens in winter. Key point that people like CT miss of course is this is all down to the social interventions taken already and ongoing. It's amazing how many people don't understand this.

I think the shining light in this patter from pundits is that most people completely ignore them and get some scran/have a shite when they’re speaking anyway.

Cheers HMHM.

And you can fuck off back off to your shed anarl hairy palms.

I tell you what though, shades of carver and pardew teams in the goals going in and the manner of them. It's almost as if the longer the side don't have Benitez on their case, the more calamitous the goals?

Did you forget we had a £40m player on the bench last night?

I wonder who kept banging about having more points than last season as a benchmark...

Like clockwork.… Fuck off.

Bruce has worked a miracle considering the shit Rafa left him with.

Pack of cowards.

Well it’s definitely not anything to do with not being as well drilled defensively

You could do with having him out there if you have the quality elsewhere to maintain posession and to make something of the chances he'll create.

Nurse!

His response to True Faith taking the piss out of him “not watching” any match we get hammered in

Ahem, cough.....'Pimms drinking' shithouse if you please?

Kamala Harris, pictured here last year with her daughter...

What a tragic weapon that man is

Why is Phil Foden buying houses for Mark Campbell’s mother?

Fuck off you twat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shut up man, it'll be a huge paradigm shift to have an old white man in charge of things.

Ambassador is pretty much a pointless position though you do wonder if Keegan could speak to transfer targets, there aren't too many better at selling the club than him. And I'm not a fan of managers moving to DoF and I can't imagine any manager worth their salt would be too happy about it either.

Yeah, they do some really nice gear: