Football 2024/25

[The Nal]

Theyve actually managed to make more of a shambles of VAR

[Neil]

on the bench for ipswitch today is C Chaplin! 😛 
C. Chaplin
C. Chaplin

,

C. Chaplin

[charlierc]

4 hours ago, Neil said:

on the bench for ipswitch today is C Chaplin! 😛 
C. Chaplin
C. Chaplin

,

C. Chaplin

Bench? I thought he started.

[charlierc]

Oh good. Half an hour into the new season and we have a player sent off after being provoked by an opponent. Maybe I should go back to complaining about transfers instead.

[Neil]

5 hours ago, charlierc said:

Bench? I thought he started.

might be due to the time i looked, he was defo listed as a sub where i saw his name.

[charlierc]

13 hours ago, Neil said:

might be due to the time i looked, he was defo listed as a sub where i saw his name.

Played the first 65 minutes, but time says you posted just after the starting line-ups were posted so would've been a starter.

[charlierc]

18 hours ago, charlierc said:

Oh good. Half an hour into the new season and we have a player sent off after being provoked by an opponent. Maybe I should go back to complaining about transfers instead.

Huh. 10 men, we only needed 10 men.

 

Still don't understand what the f**k Brereton-Diaz was doing shoving Schar in the first place. I'm not defending Schar's response because it was dumb.

[Neil]

19 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Played the first 65 minutes, but time says you posted just after the starting line-ups were posted so would've been a starter.

bbc page had him listed as a sub.

[kaosmark2]

4 hours ago, charlierc said:

Huh. 10 men, we only needed 10 men.

 

Still don't understand what the f**k Brereton-Diaz was doing shoving Schar in the first place. I'm not defending Schar's response because it was dumb.

My feeling is a few years ago that would've been 2 yellows, and by the laws now it should probably be 2 reds.

[charlierc]

19 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

My feeling is a few years ago that would've been 2 yellows, and by the laws now it should probably be 2 reds.

Back in 2012, Pepe Reina got sent off for a similarly venomous "butt" on James Perch during a Newcastle v Liverpool game.

 

But I do think BBD was lucky to avoid a red card for his part too. It was also something that Dan Burn felt the need to wait for him in what is a cramped player's tunnel at SJP for a little argument, something Diaz's team-mate Jan Bednarek felt the need to get involved with.

[pink_triangle]

I dont really get the Felix to Chelsea deal. I don’t really understand the Chelsea strategy full stop. I assume Boehly has business acumen and some level of success in US sport, but that definitely hasn’t applied to Chelsea.

[charlierc]

10 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

I dont really get the Felix to Chelsea deal. I don’t really understand the Chelsea strategy full stop. I assume Boehly has business acumen and some level of success in US sport, but that definitely hasn’t applied to Chelsea.

At this point I don't think anyone gets what the hell Chelsea are doing at all. 

 

Raheem Sterling may have been unusual in having a public representative complaining but freezing out him, Chilwell, Lukaku, Chukwuemeka, Gallagher, Chalobah, Kepa and Broja while also somehow making Enzo Fernandez captain less than a month after he had to apologise for singing a racist song about the French team, some of whom are his team-mates, hints to a raft of wild decisions.

 

It's why I don't think they'll finish in the top 7 this season. Just too much chaos potential and signs it could all implode, to say nothing of whacking out £1bn+ in 3 years only to have no real convincing goalkeeper or centre forward.

[kaosmark2]

4 hours ago, charlierc said:

At this point I don't think anyone gets what the hell Chelsea are doing at all. 

 

Raheem Sterling may have been unusual in having a public representative complaining but freezing out him, Chilwell, Lukaku, Chukwuemeka, Gallagher, Chalobah, Kepa and Broja while also somehow making Enzo Fernandez captain less than a month after he had to apologise for singing a racist song about the French team, some of whom are his team-mates, hints to a raft of wild decisions.

 

It's why I don't think they'll finish in the top 7 this season. Just too much chaos potential and signs it could all implode, to say nothing of whacking out £1bn+ in 3 years only to have no real convincing goalkeeper or centre forward.

I think it's literally that Boehly hears about a new signing and goes "lets make it happen" then tries to do weird complicated sh*t to stay within financial rules.

 

I know some of it is that the new manager doesn't think he suits the playstyle he wants, but getting rid of Gallagher seems batshit to me. I also really hate the "academy players count as pure profit for sustainability" rule, as it actually incentivizes selling them off instead of nurturing talent to play. Amidst a host of terrible rules that happen in modern football, I think it's right up there as one of the worst around.

[charlierc]

20 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

I think it's literally that Boehly hears about a new signing and goes "lets make it happen" then tries to do weird complicated sh*t to stay within financial rules.

 

I know some of it is that the new manager doesn't think he suits the playstyle he wants, but getting rid of Gallagher seems batshit to me. I also really hate the "academy players count as pure profit for sustainability" rule, as it actually incentivizes selling them off instead of nurturing talent to play. Amidst a host of terrible rules that happen in modern football, I think it's right up there as one of the worst around.

The fact that Villa, Everton and Chelsea spent the week leading up to 30th June overpaying for each other's academy talent to help one another meet FFP/PSR was ridiculous, and indeed Newcastle joining in with Elliot Anderson isn't helping. But that seems to be the way that PSR/FFP has gone from a well-meaning concept to a total f**king mess.

 

Chelsea is it's own animal with all the strange archaic routes they're taking to be FFP compliant. Apparently the Premier League are investigating them for selling their women's team to themselves, which is a new one.

[charlierc]

Few intriguing bits yesterday. Brilliant save by Raya to deny Watkins as Arsenal won, Man Utd's defending for Brighton's winner was a real "Yikes" moment, Pickford seems to have been dragged down to Everton's level judging by his goof for Spurs' second goal, Ipswich leading at the Etihad was a genuinely impressive two minutes before goalbot Haaland got warmed up and the summer break really came at a bad time for Crystal Palace.

[charlierc]

Hmmm... maybe Chelsea scoring six yesterday hints they are less sh*t than I thought. Or it hints that Wolves could be in trouble given they seem to have weakened their defence from last season.

 

Newcastle's game mystified me. Baffled why it took us 60 minutes to get going or why we didn't think to start Willock and Barnes and play Gordon as an actual winger than in a 4-4-2, but then further confused as to why Joelinton didn't get sent off for rugby tackling the Bournemouth keeper. And that's to say nothing of what would've been a stoppage time Bournemouth winner being disallowed for a very draconian interpretation of handball that nobody on our side appealed for.

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Hmmm... maybe Chelsea scoring six yesterday hints they are less sh*t than I thought. Or it hints that Wolves could be in trouble given they seem to have weakened their defence from last season.

 

Newcastle's game mystified me. Baffled why it took us 60 minutes to get going or why we didn't think to start Willock and Barnes and play Gordon as an actual winger than in a 4-4-2, but then further confused as to why Joelinton didn't get sent off for rugby tackling the Bournemouth keeper. And that's to say nothing of what would've been a stoppage time Bournemouth winner being disallowed for a very draconian interpretation of handball that nobody on our side appealed for.

I think the thing with Chelsea is that they've got the capacity to smash teams, but a fractured dressing room, inexperienced players, and the club being a mess means they've got a lot of slip ups in them. Yes they put a lot past a tired and unimpressive Wolves defense, but they've still conceded 4 goals in 2 games. 

 

Wrt our game, I wonder a little if Howe is playing politics. Starting Murphy further back as a pointed "look, we need another winger" move. He works hard and deserves minutes, but I also think he's the example of an unglamourous player with a fairly low ceiling that most would accept you wouldn't want starting until it gets to rotation season. Maybe I'm overly cynical.

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

I think the thing with Chelsea is that they've got the capacity to smash teams, but a fractured dressing room, inexperienced players, and the club being a mess means they've got a lot of slip ups in them. Yes they put a lot past a tired and unimpressive Wolves defense, but they've still conceded 4 goals in 2 games. 

 

Wrt our game, I wonder a little if Howe is playing politics. Starting Murphy further back as a pointed "look, we need another winger" move. He works hard and deserves minutes, but I also think he's the example of an unglamourous player with a fairly low ceiling that most would accept you wouldn't want starting until it gets to rotation season. Maybe I'm overly cynical.

I guess with Chelsea we'll need more study. Somewhere between Man City and Wolves isn't exactly representative given Man City were good out the box at Stamford Bridge while Wolves really fell off after a good first half.

 

Newcastle have had a curious one really. I saw us play a 4-4-2 with Gordon as a striker in the first half alongside Isak and it really didn't work, and indeed I felt the shape is why we conceded the goal because Joelinton had to come inside but got crowded out with no out-ball on the left hand side. Murphy, I don't mind, but a club with aspirations we have feels like they'd have him as a Plan B or C at best. It's not for nothing that RW was listed alongside CB as our main targets, which becomes trickier if we do wind up splashing on Guehi this week.

[kaosmark2]

16 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I guess with Chelsea we'll need more study. Somewhere between Man City and Wolves isn't exactly representative given Man City were good out the box at Stamford Bridge while Wolves really fell off after a good first half.

 

Newcastle have had a curious one really. I saw us play a 4-4-2 with Gordon as a striker in the first half alongside Isak and it really didn't work, and indeed I felt the shape is why we conceded the goal because Joelinton had to come inside but got crowded out with no out-ball on the left hand side. Murphy, I don't mind, but a club with aspirations we have feels like they'd have him as a Plan B or C at best. It's not for nothing that RW was listed alongside CB as our main targets, which becomes trickier if we do wind up splashing on Guehi this week.

I mostly just think Chelsea will win a lot of games they're expected to win, draw or lose a lot of games they're expected to lose, and have a few absolute mares where they do something stupid. With 8 teams thinking they want to get top 4 I just think there's too much disharmony in that squad for them to have a chance of succeeding.

 

I agree that Murphy's fine. I don't really like criticising him because he works hard, he's got pace, and he does create actual threats going forward sometimes. We've had plenty of worse wide players over the years and I don't really want him to leave. I suspect one of him or Almiron go to make space for another winger, and I'm not insanely fussed as to which. I think Almiron has more of a goal threat but Murphy is better at the defensive work (not that Almiron isn't willing, just Murphy's better at it). Barnes is a good player but I do wonder about his injury record and with Gordon looking like he'll play centrally sometimes we definitely need another option unless somehow Barnes and Wilson both stay fit all season.

 

Guehi is an interesting one. £65m feels like a lot, but take off the English premium and £40m-ish seems not unreasonable for someone his age and experience. I don't really feel like I've got a fair grasp on transfer prices any more, but when I break it down it doesn't seem insane. 

 

Have there been any RWs we've been actively linked to this week? I heard bits of gossip earlier in the window but nothing for a while.

[charlierc]

44 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

I agree that Murphy's fine. I don't really like criticising him because he works hard, he's got pace, and he does create actual threats going forward sometimes. We've had plenty of worse wide players over the years and I don't really want him to leave. I suspect one of him or Almiron go to make space for another winger, and I'm not insanely fussed as to which. I think Almiron has more of a goal threat but Murphy is better at the defensive work (not that Almiron isn't willing, just Murphy's better at it). Barnes is a good player but I do wonder about his injury record and with Gordon looking like he'll play centrally sometimes we definitely need another option unless somehow Barnes and Wilson both stay fit all season.

 

Guehi is an interesting one. £65m feels like a lot, but take off the English premium and £40m-ish seems not unreasonable for someone his age and experience. I don't really feel like I've got a fair grasp on transfer prices any more, but when I break it down it doesn't seem insane. 

 

Have there been any RWs we've been actively linked to this week? I heard bits of gossip earlier in the window but nothing for a while.

The midfield and attack has been really quiet for potential incomings - most rumours around Newcastle have primarily been about defenders, whether it's Guehi, Chalobah, Gomez, etc. Schar getting sent off and having to play Krafth and Burn as a pretty ropey CB pairing against Bournemouth certainly hints that without Botman, we could use an extra body back there.

 

Longstaff is the person that seems to get the big kicking from fans as being perceived as useless, which I often think is harsh but in retrospect making him play a whole season last year injured was a really poor idea. Hopefully Tonali, whose ban expires this week, won't take too long to get restarted. I know Almiron has had a few links out - Saudi and MLS were both linked as potential destinations but neither came to pass, and he now seems to have fallen out of favour after his purple patch in the season before last.

[kaosmark2]

32 minutes ago, charlierc said:

The midfield and attack has been really quiet for potential incomings - most rumours around Newcastle have primarily been about defenders, whether it's Guehi, Chalobah, Gomez, etc. Schar getting sent off and having to play Krafth and Burn as a pretty ropey CB pairing against Bournemouth certainly hints that without Botman, we could use an extra body back there.

 

Longstaff is the person that seems to get the big kicking from fans as being perceived as useless, which I often think is harsh but in retrospect making him play a whole season last year injured was a really poor idea. Hopefully Tonali, whose ban expires this week, won't take too long to get restarted. I know Almiron has had a few links out - Saudi and MLS were both linked as potential destinations but neither came to pass, and he now seems to have fallen out of favour after his purple patch in the season before last.

Agreed on CB. I think it's correct that that's the priority, but just one person in attack would be good.

 

I think Longstaff is decent, but he's much much better in a 4-3-3. He does a lot of unseen work of cycling play and moving to be in position to block passes, but I think he struggles when he's in a central pairing. He hasn't got the creative passing range of Willock who I think fans want to see more of, but I think his off-the-ball work is pretty respectable and I can see why he gets picked more often. Playing 3/5 with Bruno/Tonali/Joelinton/Willock/Longstaff feels like a decent set of midfield options to me. He's the least glamourous name amongst them and probably the least threatening going forward but I think he does a respectable job. Willock looks a lot lot better on highlights and has more memorable moments, but I think has issues when getting pressed heavily.

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Agreed on CB. I think it's correct that that's the priority, but just one person in attack would be good.

 

I think Longstaff is decent, but he's much much better in a 4-3-3. He does a lot of unseen work of cycling play and moving to be in position to block passes, but I think he struggles when he's in a central pairing. He hasn't got the creative passing range of Willock who I think fans want to see more of, but I think his off-the-ball work is pretty respectable and I can see why he gets picked more often. Playing 3/5 with Bruno/Tonali/Joelinton/Willock/Longstaff feels like a decent set of midfield options to me. He's the least glamourous name amongst them and probably the least threatening going forward but I think he does a respectable job. Willock looks a lot lot better on highlights and has more memorable moments, but I think has issues when getting pressed heavily.

These things are easier if we didn't have FFP/PSR to worry about clearly, given this is a time where genuine top end PL-level talent is about £30m+. But we are going to have to fork out something given the CB and RW issues. Ideally I'd have wanted to sell Callum Wilson and bring in another striker but him being injured again probably undercut sale attempts.

 

I think Longstaff gets an unfair amount of stick from some of our supporters but do agree 4-4-2 didn't really work for him yesterday. Making him play the whole of last season having not really recovered from an injury picked up near the end of the previous one didn't help. I like Willock but he didn't seem that sharp last year due to his own problems, and ofc losing Miley before this season started to a long-term injury hasn't helped.

[kaosmark2]

3 minutes ago, charlierc said:

These things are easier if we didn't have FFP/PSR to worry about clearly, given this is a time where genuine top end PL-level talent is about £30m+. But we are going to have to fork out something given the CB and RW issues. Ideally I'd have wanted to sell Callum Wilson and bring in another striker but him being injured again probably undercut sale attempts.

 

I think Longstaff gets an unfair amount of stick from some of our supporters but do agree 4-4-2 didn't really work for him yesterday. Making him play the whole of last season having not really recovered from an injury picked up near the end of the previous one didn't help. I like Willock but he didn't seem that sharp last year due to his own problems, and ofc losing Miley before this season started to a long-term injury hasn't helped.

Yeah. It feels so silly to be hunting around chasing a RW after selling Minteh just to comply with PSR. Probably spending more than we sold Minteh for but to do the financial trickery.

 

Willock has injury issues and I think he's not great off the ball or being pressed heavily. I think over the course of a game Longstaff contributes more but Willock has moments that make him look unplayable. Both are decent and I think it's kinda harsh when fans give them too much stick, but it's well publicised that we're not really after another CM and prioritising other positions and I don't think any sane fan thinks that's wrong.

[thetime]

Newcastle dressing room pictures incoming ..

[charlierc]

18 minutes ago, thetime said:

Newcastle dressing room pictures incoming ..

#traditions

 

For once I'd like to just score a few easy early goals then coast to the end, especially as a difficult game against Spurs is incoming on Sunday and I suspect they won't be as awful as they have been on our last 2 trips to SJP. But it is what it is.