Polarboy

Well Burn is supposedly very comfortable on the ball, so he might think on balance that Burn and Lascelles make the better partnership, even if Lascelles doesn't have the ball carrying and passing abilities of Schar.

Apparently even though he's a giant Burn isn't all the dominant or impressive in the air. Lascelles has been found wanting a few times this season in challenging for headers in the box, but he's still better than Schar in the air. So given the aforementioned and the fact that Lascelles is the captain I'd be very surprised if Howe didn't start him along with Burn.

The Everton squad when Rafa went in there was completely unbalanced with at least one or two mercenaries. He was then asked to make silk purse out of a sow's ear with little to no transfer funds given Everton are fucked in terms of FFP. Add to that the fact that he was met with hostility before he even set foot inside the front door of the club. Conversely he would have known what thin margins he was dealing with before he took the job, but he backed himself which is laudable in many respects.

I think I've said it before but I can't think of anything funnier than Lampard taking Everton down this season. I don't even have that much hate for him, he seems affable enough, but the media reaction would be priceless. They'd paint the Everton owner as the next Hitler in order to deflect any blame from Lampard. In fairness the Everton owner is atrocious, at least in the sense that he hasn't got a fucking clue what he's doing.

Newcastle 'weighing up enormous £116m bid for Napoli duo' including one Man Utd target | Football | Sport | Express.co.uk

Seen Waugh and Culkin say we're likely to go back in for Etikite, and of course Botman has hinted he'd like to come in the summer. Maybe It would be one or the other between Nunez and Etikite, but maybe not. Etikite, Nunez and Botman would be a very nice start to the summer transfer window. Of course there's the small matter of staying in the league for any of this to be feasible 😓

There's something seriously wrong at Everton apart from the fact that they've been unfortunate with injuries this year. So I would hope that it will take more than Van de Beek, Alli and Fat Frank being at the club for a week to sort it. A nervy 2-1 win is what I'm going for.

I fucking hate twitter and all the shite that comes with it, not least the dumbing down and social medification of journalism, but plums like the one above getting their comeuppance is pretty satisfying. Having said that I'd rather people didn't lose their jobs so readily, where an apology and perhaps a suspension would be sufficient.

Coaches' Voice | Bruno Guimarães: Premier League Player Watch (coachesvoice.com)

The addition of Guimaraes may make Willock's involvement in the side more likely in that attacking midfielder role behind Wood. Willock hasn't looked fully fit all season. There was that fairly persistent toe injury, so perhaps that somewhat explains why he's been off the pace.

I'm going to stick my neck on the line and say that ASM, Wood, Fraser, and Willock will all have 7 or more goal involvements between now and the end of the season. And obviously Wilson should get his customary 1 in 2 when he's back. As far as Willock goes it will depend on whether Howe seen enough against Leeds to start him regularly. It will be interesting to see what line up and formation we have with all the new players in. The addition of Guimaraes could possibly allow Howe to be more adventurous.

Oh right. Yeah that makes sense given that South America were having internationals, which usually means Oceania are having ones as well.

He was noticeably better against Leeds I think. Hopefully this trip away will have allowed him to settle in fully, and Trippier etc have been practicing finding his head in the box and getting to know where he likes the ball played in general. If Guimaraes is half the player he looks, and lets be honest even if he is it might take him time to adjust, then that extra control in midfield should allow us to create chances more consistently.

I think people are being a bit harsh on Wood. We'd be absolutely fucked if we didn't have someone to lead the line at the minute.

Man U were taking the piss with the relegation clause etc., but surely the Greenwood situation has influenced their decision to keep Lingard at least somewhat. I suppose we won't know until we see if Lingard gets any game time.

Dan Burn: “I’m buzzing to be here. I never thought I’d be in this position so to be a Newcastle player and to be around St. James’ Park, it’s something I’ve dreamt of since I was a kid. “I can’t wait to step out in the shirt and to see what it feels like. “From sitting in the East Stand as a kid to now, it’s crazy. I’m excited to get started.” Eddie Howe: “I’m delighted to bring Dan back to the North East. “He knows exactly what it means to represent this club and he will be a big presence for us on and off the pitch. “We have been very keen to add competition defensively and Dan fits the profile we have been looking for. “He is naturally left-footed, which provides further balance to our backline, and he will be a great addition to the group.”

I'm not pissing the bed anymore based on our transfers, but I can see a time where I question if a damp patch is sweat or piss.

NUFC “candidates” to land midfield beast | FootballFanCast.com According to Sky Sports we're trying to sort a free transfer for the end of the season for Florian Grillitsch a defensive mid off Hoffenheim. By all accounts he's a beast per his stats.

Douglas implying that Zapata is a no go at this stage, which seems logical with only a few hours to go. So either we get a last minute loan from a PL team or it looks like we're done, but in fairness who would we get in those circumstances who would be decent. Would love a last minute shock of course. Can't see us beating Everton to Alli.

Ibangyamam is surely worth a punt at this stage if his move to Barca is off.

If Hope is correct it would seem the 'ammers have no chance of getting Lingard, so if it's just us and them who are serious for him then it would appear that Lingard will either stay or come to us.

A little dribble of piss ran down my leg when I seen that fake Romano tweet Gemmill, thanks a lot 😂

Well there goes my theory 😂 I honestly think that's a bizarre move from Manure. He could easily be the difference between them or West Ham getting the final Champions League spot. Oh well, if we have other targets we could have a very interesting end to the window.

They are for this season at least on the basis of the table and general form. The 'ammers getting Lingard could conceivably have a big influence on their final position, if he were to reproduce the same form as he did for them last time.

He could prefer West Ham all he wants, but the chances that Manure would let him go to a direct rival for top four seems slim.