Polarboy

I don't know if I'd say it's good news. Lampard was nothing special at Derby, but then again look how far they've fallen now, so perhaps he did a better job than it seemed. At the very least the name recognition of Lampard and Gerrard should motivate a number of players in each respective squad. They could easily get a bit of a new manager bounce.

They do have a better squad and currently double our points, so in one respect Howe to us is more of a risk, but without having read all the media surrounding Gerrard to Villa, I'm sure they've licked his arse raw in comparison to the Howe appointment. Edit. The difference of course is that Gerrard probably plays golf with half the pundits, played in a team with them etc. Howe by comparison seemingly keeps his private life very private.

I see he's moving the family up after Christmas, so that's good. Commuting between Newcastle and the South coast wouldn't really be workable or desirable logistically even if he wanted to of course.

The worst thing about it is that a lot of, if not most, of those journalists are only asking that question as box ticking exercise to cover their own backs. It's a pantomime.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but did Pep, Tuchel, and any other Chelsea manager during the Abramovic era, and Bruno Lange, Santo ever get asked if they were comfortable about where the financing of the club came from. If journalists asked the same questions of everyone it would be one thing, but they clearly don't.

Ake is at Man City, so they might actually loan him to us, given we're pariahs in arms.

According to some reports Emenalo isn't as nailed on as some have suggested, and that Edwards from Liverpool may still be in the mix. If that's the case whoever we get will be elite to say that least. The man who took Salah from Basel, or the man who signed him from Roma. Seems like Emenalo has the edge for that particular find. But yeah, I'd be ecstatic either way.

Didn't Bruce, after being criticised for going on holiday to Portugal during the previous international break, defend himself by saying, ah sure there was only a few of lads about because of the internationals, not like I could do much even if I was there.

Imagine the players actually making space for themselves to receive the ball, and in better areas. That's what Howe seemed to be trying to get across to them. The team is so static and disjointed, that if they can take in and reproduce his instruction in games, it's going to make us look like an actual coherent unit.

Joelinton unsurprisingly has a look of utter bewilderment on his face as Howe is giving out instruction. In fairness to him maybe his English still isn't great.

If there was ever a perfect example of how shite Bruce is, it's fans getting excited over a manager turning up relatively early to start work 🤣 As Jones said you can't do the job part time, eh Brucie.

Him and monkey hands Keys would get on well then. What a pair of fucking cunts.

As I think I've said already, his calm demeanor in interviews is apparently very different to what he's like in private when he isn't happy. Apparently he tore strips off Jack Wilshire when he was at Bournemouth for constantly giving the ball away in a match.

Bruce was of the post modern extraction when it came to tactics 😉

Howe has all the potential in the world in terms of an up and coming coach, but it will be a case of wait and see in terms of how much he absorbed from the likes of Simone, the Rayo Manager, Klopp, and Klopp's technical director Edwards. Reportedly he went on a bit of a footballing pilgrimage during his time out of management and met with the aforementioned to pick their brains. To have that sort of drive for self improvement is a very good quality. Not to take it back to Bruce all the time now he's gone, but can imagine him even contemplating trying to improve his coaching skills. We of course know from various comments from people that he hasn't moved with the times at all for about 20 years or more.

In fairness to Carr, if we'd bought players like Aubameyang etc. when he recommended them we'd have had a very decent team. But of course Fatley pretty much always went for the cheaper option.

Who was tweeting this about the Steve's?

😨 Not the Steve's!!! Well at least Eddie, should he arrive tomorrow, knock wood, will be bringing a Stephen with him in Stephen Purches.

Well he certainly had a preference for Ake when he was at Bournemouth, who of course is very calm on the ball and can play it out. Or at least he can when on form. He's been a bit patchy for Man City.

I had a look and the rules are a bit confusing, but you can loan a maximum of four players throughout a full season, but you can't have more than one from the same premier league club, and you can only register two at a time. So effectively we'd only be able to sign two players on loan in January. So yeah, we'd definitely need to persuade players like a Lingard and Tarkowski, that kind of level, to come on a permanent, then perhaps allow them a relegation clause in their contracts.

You can have 200m, but if the high value players don't want to come, at least on a permanent transfer, it's not much use. As some have said we're far more likely to loan players in January, with perhaps an option to buy if we stay up. Not many high level players are going to want to come if there's still a sniff of relegation about us, which there almost certainly still will be in January. Having said that If we get a decent DOF, I'm sure there will be a few interesting loan options given our resources when it will come to agents fees and player wages.

30m is a joke for someone who's barely played in about four years.

Is that a joke? I ask because there's banter from Liverpool fans that they want Howe to spunk 75m on Origi given he wasted 35m on Solanke and Ibe when he was at Bournemouth. In fairness he is a decent player, but 15, 20m is the limit I'd pay for him.