Football 2025-26

[thetime]

40 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

Dorgu out for three months, following him running into a rich vein of form and scoring a belter at the goons the other day - now from a purely selfish (irish) point of view im a little bit glad, because he's Denmark's best player at the mo and i dont want to face him in the world cup playoffs. Bad karma, i know, but priorities. Got to beat the Czechs first, mind  

 

He will be back in 4. 

[balti-pie]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

He will be back in 4. 

Fine, if thats only for Man United - not fussed by what they do. Just get him to pull out of the march internationals! 

[thetime]

19 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

Fine, if thats only for Man United - not fussed by what they do. Just get him to pull out of the march internationals! 

 

I wished all utd players pulled out of internationals. 

Edited January 27 by thetime

[kaosmark2]

5 hours ago, charlierc said:

I'd forgotten that our wage budget was that down the order tbf, though makes sense as I'm pretty sure we spend less on wages than the rich 6 & Aston Villa. 

 

Gordon is just baffling this season, like he's only there for the games that aren't in the Premier League and of late seemed to be actively slowing down our attacks.  Though yes I agree our compromised preseason with late window recruitment and Isak didn't help. 

2-3 years ago it was just below West Ham, and I imagine it's gone above but yeah, it's a point to emphasise.

 

4 hours ago, thetime said:

Over achieving is some what simplistic, more to do with other clubs under achieving. 

 

Utd down to 5th on the table, will go further down once casemiro and if Bruno leaves. Apart from City I don't see clubs going for the massive wages in the 350k-500k area anytime soon. 

Well it's both isn't it? Others are screwing up but we're doing well enough to take advantage.

[thetime]

36 minutes ago, kaosmark2 said:

 

 

Well it's both isn't it? 

 

Certainly and it all depends what criteria you are going by. One part is wages, another is net spend. Which is as relevant to wages, if a team is under/over achieving. Especially when payments are hidden to keep to a wages structure, also the other little rules going on. 

 

On net spend over the last 5 years, Newcastle are 5th. Which is perhaps more where you are as a club. Occasionally you will get higher, Occasionally lower. Depending on how under achieving other sides are. 

 

For me I don't think Newcastle are over achieving, they are about where they should be on outlay on transfers. If they were not getting 4th-7th, the project would need changing. 

Edited January 27 by thetime

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, kaosmark2 said:

2-3 years ago it was just below West Ham, and I imagine it's gone above but yeah, it's a point to emphasise.

 

Well it's both isn't it? Others are screwing up but we're doing well enough to take advantage.

I guess you get that interpretation in 2015/16 - it's one thing all the big 6 had off seasons at once, it's another that Leicester got everything right to get in there. 

 

Maybe there'll be a real "what the f**k happened" feeling when Leicester fans reflect on the ten year anniversary of that triumph later this year given they look like nailed on to stay in the Championship, or worse if a rumoured points deduction is carried out. 

[lost]

Squad Cost Ratio replacing FFP next season I think? I havent a clue which clubs that will favour, rumours Man Utd were one of the clubs voting against. 

[kaosmark2]

2 hours ago, thetime said:

Certainly and it all depends what criteria you are going by. One part is wages, another is net spend. Which is as relevant to wages, if a team is under/over achieving. Especially when payments are hidden to keep to a wages structure, also the other little rules going on. 

 

On net spend over the last 5 years, Newcastle are 5th. Which is perhaps more where you are as a club. Occasionally you will get higher, Occasionally lower. Depending on how under achieving other sides are. 

 

For me I don't think Newcastle are over achieving, they are about where they should be on outlay on transfers. If they were not getting 4th-7th, the project would need changing. 

Oh yeah, given that we are doing big transfer fees and the struggles of Man U/Spurs we should be reaching into that top 6/7. I do still think every season we qualify for the CL is a season we're over-achieving. 

[kaosmark2]

43 minutes ago, lost said:

Squad Cost Ratio replacing FFP next season I think? I havent a clue which clubs that will favour, rumours Man Utd were one of the clubs voting against. 

Isn't it replacing PSR but not FFP? I'm pretty sure it only replaces one and I think it's PSR.

 

I think it favours us tbh, and I imagine Spurs? Probably the Bournemouth/Brighton types as well. I think it's probably most brutal for Villa, and with Man U's high wages rumours of them voting against wouldn't surprise. I don't really want to have to care about the details but I suspect there'll be enough articles around that I grasp the gist.

[Neil]

What's happened to the man utd fans? Anyone else noticed how quiet they've been since man utd turned to sh*t? guess it's cos they're glory hunters.

And what happened to Liverpool waoking the prem this season.

[Comfy Bean]

On 18/01/2026 at 21:58, Punksnotdead said:

Honestly feeling a lot more confident that Scotland can get at least a draw against Morocco - as long as we can beat Haiti we should get through the group.

Just booked up for friendly at Everton’s new ground. Anyone been ? Looks decent 👌 

[kaosmark2]

17 hours ago, Neil said:

What's happened to the man utd fans? Anyone else noticed how quiet they've been since man utd turned to sh*t? guess it's cos they're glory hunters.

And what happened to Liverpool waoking the prem this season.

Same as it ever was. Man U and Liverpool fans both very quiet this season (apart from thetime and a little bit skip)

[thetime]

1 hour ago, kaosmark2 said:

Same as it ever was. Man U and Liverpool fans both very quiet this season (apart from thetime and a little bit skip)

 

To be fair you were the only Newcastle fan on here, before the dirty money came in. 

 

 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, thetime said:

 

To be fair you were the only Newcastle fan on here, before the dirty money came in. 

 

 

Tbf this had me doubting myself if I was posting on here pre-takeover. Apparently I was in our last season before the takeover. 

 

I do miss the fact it was easier to get tickets before the takeover happened tbf. 

[kaosmark2]

2 hours ago, thetime said:

To be fair you were the only Newcastle fan on here, before the dirty money came in. 

Also a smaller club with fewer fans nationally.

[charlierc]

22 hours ago, Neil said:

What's happened to the man utd fans? Anyone else noticed how quiet they've been since man utd turned to sh*t? guess it's cos they're glory hunters.

And what happened to Liverpool waoking the prem this season.

Depends where you go. I guarantee on other corners of the Internet, you don't have to wait long before finding a Man Utd fan disaffected with all the rakes they've stepped on post-Fergie.

 

Liverpool, as I think I've said before on here, got their rebuild wrong, though I don't think even they expected this slump where getting into next season's Champions League now feels like the limit of their ambitions was the consequence of that.

Edited January 28 by charlierc

[thetime]

30 minutes ago, charlierc said:

 

 

Liverpool, as I think I've said before on here, got their rebuild wrong, though I don't think even they expected this slump where getting into next season's Champions League now feels like the limit of their ambitions was the consequence of that.

 

Thats the main priority to the majority of clubs. Not City and maybe Arsenal who are 5+ years trying to win it. The rest champions league football is the priority. Previous 3 seasons Liverpool have fished 1st, 3rd and 5th and fully expect them to finish around the 3rd - 5th position. 

 

Its only really Villa and Utd over achieving, thats stopped that. No one expected Villa to be 3rd after getting 6 points in 6 league games start of the season. Likewise no one expected utd to be 4th after 23 games, after finishing 15th last season and sacking there manager. 

 

Only really Chelsea are where you would see them at the start, around the 4th - 6th position. 

[Skip997]

Liverpool ain't getting into the CL next season. 

[thetime]

Just now, Skip997 said:

Liverpool ain't getting into the CL next season. 

 

You really think Villa, Utd and Chelsea will finish above you? Utd especially, could go tits up at any time.

[charlierc]

24 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

You really think Villa, Utd and Chelsea will finish above you? Utd especially, could go tits up at any time.

Villa looked nailed on for top 3 imo. It could blow up, sure, but I feel like they really have to go some to not get it from here.

 

5th will probably be enough to get Champions League again, but figuring out who of Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea, hell, possibly everyone down to about Brighton in 12th might go on the run that gets those Champs Leage places (or indeed the ones behind for Europa/Conference) is a head-scratcher. There's just a much of a muchness and a lot of teams that seem likely to win one week then trip up the next.

[thetime]

7 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Villa looked nailed on for top 3 imo. It could blow up, sure, but I feel like they really have to go some to not get it from here.

 

5th will probably be enough to get Champions League again, but figuring out who of Liverpool, Man Utd, Chelsea, hell, possibly everyone down to about Brighton in 12th might go on the run that gets those Champs Leage places (or indeed the ones behind for Europa/Conference) is a head-scratcher. There's just a much of a muchness and a lot of teams that seem likely to win one week then trip up the next.

 

Can only see 1 of the current 6 dropping out. Which it really should only be Utd, due to the character of the team. Certainty don't see any of the teams below getting top 5. 

 

 

[charlierc]

Well... Monaco or Qarabag in a playoff it is. Ah well. Would've been nice to win in Paris and avenge that one from 2 years ago but hey ho. 

 

Props to the Benfica keeper for the injury time goal to put Benfica into the knockouts. Impressive moment. 

[Skip997]

Last night was both brilliant and annoying from a Liverpool fan perspective. Why can't they do that in the PL? 

[thetime]

49 minutes ago, Skip997 said:

Last night was both brilliant and annoying from a Liverpool fan perspective. Why can't they do that in the PL? 

 

I would hazard a wild guess, that the Azerbaijan premier league is not very good. 

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, Skip997 said:

Last night was both brilliant and annoying from a Liverpool fan perspective. Why can't they do that in the PL? 

 

45 minutes ago, thetime said:

 

I would hazard a wild guess, that the Azerbaijan premier league is not very good. 

Last night was both good and annoying from a Newcastle fan perspective, why can't they do that in the PL?