Rayvin

Good luck to the lad. Tried his best at all times - limited player, sure, but one who really encapsulated the effort and intensity of Howe's team.

Fulham looked decent at shuttling the ball upfield but otherwise fairly toothless against Man Utd. We need to win this one.

Even last year tbh - Spurs are suffering through a Europe induced injury crisis same as we were. Howe had us finishing 7th despite that. Spurs are currently 15th.

I stuck this one to see if you were being uncharitable. You were not It's like watching Sunday League.

The article was open for me when I linked it, guess they've worked out how to freely advertise

Fair, given the FT has also run with this about how much Trump likes Starmer https://www.ft.com/content/ed30f4b2-65db-4b0f-aa75-af345c1de6d0 I'm mostly just amusing myself at this point tbh, I really think we fell into a hell dimension some years back, none of this can possibly be real

Reeves planning to cut sickness benefits in weeks, having identified that they're being used by "people who are too lazy to work" and it's not her/the state's problem. This is presumably a sickness benefit situation that survived 14 years of the Tories because cutting it would be too extreme even for them. Maybe I'm being uncharitable with that though?

Trump administration calling for regime change in the UK now, Starmer the new pet hate figure Apparently discussing the viability of crashing our economy to force it. https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/news-analysis/trump-starmer-regime-change-special-relationship-b2685927.html It's a good thing we're still part of EU or we'd really be in trouble We're fucked

Congrats mate, that is great news. Really happy for you both!

Fostered some lively debate

Howe of course did manage to take us from the brink of relegation from the PL to top 4 in the following season with largely the same group of players - and I'll plead ignorance to the 80s as I wasn't alive for half of it. I'm not really saying Howe is a club legend or anything here mind, so I'm not comparing him to Keegan on that front. But as a manager, I (and others) have actually said this a few times and general sentiment has been supportive, hence my comment. Fair enough though, doesn't speak for everyone I loved Keegan too btw, I'm not really laying waste to him with the statement - just observing that Howe has genuinely been that good for us that I think he warrants inclusion in the same breath personally in terms of his actual abilities as a manager. Not what he has achieved, per se.

Both good points and I agree, but just want to add that the reason people think he's being led astray here is because when he first came into the public consciousness he wasn't like this. He did for instance sign up for his daughter's surgery in transitioning. For someone as gaffe prone as he seems to be, he had never previously made the sort of insane right wing comments that we've been seeing from him in the past 4-5 years. So while yes, all of the above is true and is good evidence that he is exactly what we see him as - I don't think it had to be this way. I think his childlike emotional intelligence has been fully led astray by the same online right wing bullshit that perverts the minds of young men. The difference being that with his wealth, he can view himself as a hero in all of this - which he seems to find intoxicating. For all his wealth, he had no sense of purpose or belonging before this. Now, he is a champion of the common man (in his own head at least). He is a fascist. But he's not, for my money, a man with a plan. He's just being used.

Has Bannon been jettisoned? He seems very much back in the mix to me, albeit in an unofficial capacity.

He is this. But if the people he wants approval from are soft fascists/fascist leaning, then by serving their whims he becomes a fascist by default.

The general sentiment is that Howe is the best manager we've had in the PL era. I don't think we could go and replace him very easily at all. He's a hands on coach who brings the best out of his players, and is smart enough to tweak and develop tactical systems to suit our abilities. He understands the city and fanbase well, speaks eloquently and doesn't get drawn into any of the petty bullshit that other managers seem to. In my view, Howe is more or less carrying the club on his own at the moment. Lemme put it this way, I wouldn't swap him for Pep. And I think Pep is the better manager from a footballing standpoint.

I supported the ban on r/NUFC actually, but I think here people can do their own thing That's an @Andrew call rather than mine.

This is true, felt like someone at the club woke up and thought "fuck me, we're not compliant" 2 days before the deadline.

I've put that down to Man Utd being a trainwreck of a club more than him. Like I'm not defending him at all, the guy is every bit the snake people are claiming... just thought he actually did pretty well at the same time. Which is a shame. Unless of course this is true, which would make me feel more confident. But then who is behind it?

I may be in a minority in this but I remain a bit gutted about Ashworth. He may be a cunt but he's clearly a very talented one who has brought in some great players for us in the short time he was here. Real loss that one.

I'm not saying they're losing interest tbh, just that we're not exactly their only iron in the fire. Their strategic objectives for the club will be more or less what they always were, but the fact that they've kept Howe around rather than going for a heavy hitter with more reputation is a pretty clear signal to me that they are tolerant of this being a gradual build project. For my two cents the club -appears- to be a little directionless now considering boardroom departures and Eales' situation. I'm sure it's not, and I'm sure we get clarity and executive direction back soon... but still, we're not giving out the vibe of a club that is determined to push forward at all costs. Instead I think Howe is carrying the executive team atm to some extent.

The issue though is how much they really care about us at the heart of all this? They have the world cup, they've got high profile players going to Saudi.. I feel like any genuine desire to push us forward into the grey areas would have to come from internal leadership at the club and be signed off by the Saudis, rather than pushed by them. I think they're good owners from a purely football POV, but I'm not sure how big a deal we really are for them in the end.

Yeah fair enough. Actually on a separate note, I read something in the Athletic a little while ago which suggested that City were scoring fewer goals as a team now than they were before they had Haaland. I know that's not a perfect science with all the other variables in play, but is that something that any City fans are saying at all, or just media noise?

Aside from this point about the players needing to move on for their own career... is it not also true that, whisper it, we might need them to move on in order to develop within PSR? Developing players, something Howe is very good at, and selling them on in order to restart the cycle, is probably the only way we can realistically move ourselves to the level we need to be at. Which depressingly feels like the Ashley model all over again, but at least with this lot the aim is to improve rather than stand still. I mean I think that's the reality for all clubs bar those at the absolute pinnacle of the game, frankly.

I really enjoyed your game last night for the spectacle - I don't think PSG are suddenly a better team, just once their tails were up they really went for you. But equally I was bemused by the amount of times Ederson was putting you under pressure by misplacing passes or choosing the wrong options. I think you're just having a wobble this season, and I'm sure you'll be back on it once that wobble has been adjusted for. I am a bit uncertain what the Pep free future looks like for you though, when he does move on.

Bravely said and true. In reality we know next to nothing about their circumstances and frankly all the drama really does seem to be about ASM/Gordon. I mean that's a really narrow line of fire for a supposed wum. Still do feel LTA could -also- rise above it though - would be nice if we could get back to just banter style comments even if we do disagree. Once this one is sorted Gemmill, why don't you have a crack at the middle east?