Alex

You’ll be lucky to make the playoffs 👍🏻

I know what you’re saying but objectively we’re a work in progress. Howe took the decision to sort the defence first and that’s why we are where we are imo. That said, given the chance we have for a CL spot, I would go all out to get Maddison here at this point.

Be good if Brighton drop points today. I feel like they’re as big a threat as anyone in terms of top 4

Your obsession with him is almost as weird as he is

He looks nails like

I’m convinced he’s not all there

He started slow against Saunders, got too far behind on the scorecards and couldn’t do enough later on to turn it around. It was his first proper test too and Saunders was way more experienced.

The plot thickens

That’s what started the conversation again. For some reason thebrokendoll has been gone through the purgatory of listening to it

Bad news I’m afraid, they’ve employed essembee as a scout

Fish plumbago-ing new depths

I feel for him and I’m happy to see him go. Good lad, not good enough of a player. I think he’s better than he’s showed recently but his confidence seems shot. That aside he’s still not good enough

Still? After all this time?

Aye. His reaction said it all

He didn’t buy an iron

Well the other 2 Brits and Tsitsipas (off the top of my head) would be favourites in a match. Australian is so gruelling (even by Grand Slam standards) it’s going to be tough going all the way given his age and injury issues. Would love to get wrong though. And while there is a definite changing of the guard in men’s tennis, none of the young pretenders have really properly stepped up yet

Can’t see it happening like. It would be amazing though

He’s had an incredible career like. 3 grand slams in singles and two Olympic titles in an era where he’s played alongside 3 of the top 5 of all time, who’ve hoovered up 60 odd grand slams between them ( and counting). Like Meenzer says you have to admire how he keeps going. He’s such a unit he’s inevitably picked up injuries and there’s nothing he’s got to prove but he’s still got that never say die attitude

Murray won. 7-5 in the fifth set

Looked almost British during that rally

Ahh, beaten to it

Wearside Jack on there?

Well people from Newcastle are referred to as Novocastrians of course but Geordie is far more common. As has been pointed out it used to apply more widely - to people from Tyneside, Wearside and Northumberland and Durham to a lesser extent. But it’s never not been a description of Newcastle folk for as long as anyone can remember. I realise you’re aware of this of course. It’s like the Civil War thing where they also talk about a rivalry from a time when Sunderland didn’t exist

Apart from anything, why the fuck would we steal anything from them? We’ve got our own nationally and internationally recognised identity. They had to run a poll to decide what their own nickname should be and couldn’t even think of an original name for their flat pack stadium

not sure where to start with that. Novocastrian is just a made up name using the latin words for ‘new’ and ‘castle’. I don’t think Novus Castra was ever the name of the settlement (although I could be wrong). As for the rugby team, that’s bollocks too. The Newcastle Falcons were formerly Gosforth (then Newcastle Gosforth iirc). The name change coming after SJH backed the club and rugby Union became professional and they moved from their original base near the Great North Road. Novocastrians still exists. Their ground is next to the ministry at Longbenton. I think they were originally founded as a team for old boys from the RGS. They literally just make any old shit up, don’t they?