Football 2026-27

[charlierc]

23 hours ago, pink_triangle said:

Wrexham are the only team in the 92 yet to make a signing, maybe waiting for this guy from Newcastle to turn up and uncover some South American gems!

Tbf you beat Man United in pre-season. That's gotta count for something.

 

Yes, Man United's key players are probably still all on post-World Cup breaks and contained a few players who they'll probably sell before the window is up. But you know - gotta start some place somewhere.

[charlierc]

On 23/07/2026 at 16:14, thetime said:

Villa keep signing these utd or ex utd players, baffles me. 

I'm more baffled what their financial parameters are for this window. They've been fined a few times by UEFA, are said to be skirting very close to the limit on financial rules in this window and yet still seem all-in on some big expensive deals.

 

But I guess its a contrast to us, where while I like the look of some of the players we're signing, it's very much an all-in bet on youth.

[charlierc]

On 23/07/2026 at 13:44, lost said:

 

I would think it would be to have a say in future tv/streaming deals. I believe Man Utd and Liverpool have certain veto's that the other clubs don't have so it would make sense to target one of these.

Tbf it seems like its more of a maybe than a definitive yes that this ex-QPR guy has got Bezos on board.

 

My interpretation from reading bits and bobs is that it sounds like Bezos has wanted in on sport investment for a while, clearly seems bored now he's no longer involved in the day-to-day running of Amazon, and probably sees some way to profit from TV and merch sales. Though I think there could be questions on a conflict of interest if this is to leverage Amazon Prime paying a premium for PL TV rights... admittedly we seem to be living in an age where conflicts of interest matter a lot less than they should.

 

Maybe its also a f**k you to Elon Musk after his dad said he wanted his son to buy Liverpool but the idea didn't go anywhere.

[lost]

22 minutes ago, charlierc said:

 Though I think there could be questions on a conflict of interest if this is to leverage Amazon Prime paying a premium for PL TV rights... admittedly we seem to be living in an age where conflicts of interest matter a lot less than they should.

 

Seem to remember when the sky backed premier league was formed. Spurs chairman Alan Sugar had the deciding vote on it going ahead. Amstrad (Sugars company) then won the contract to build the next gen of sky boxes.

[kaosmark2]

47 minutes ago, charlierc said:

But I guess its a contrast to us, where while I like the look of some of the players we're signing, it's very much an all-in bet on youth.

I'd like us to someone experienced as our RB or GK. I'm happy with our signings but I think we need a leader in defense that isn't Burn.

[charlierc]

11 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

I'd like us to someone experienced as our RB or GK. I'm happy with our signings but I think we need a leader in defense that isn't Burn.

If Bruno goes I would want to see us go all-in on signing a big name midfielder that can lead the way and be someone for our 2 new young midfield recruits to lean on. But yes, with Trippier gone and Livramento's fitness unreliable, we do need an extra body at full-back and I gather its on the shortlist. And like you say, a successor for Pope as its probably too soon for Jaouen to be thrown in.

[charlierc]

11 hours ago, lost said:

 

Seem to remember when the sky backed premier league was formed. Spurs chairman Alan Sugar had the deciding vote on it going ahead. Amstrad (Sugars company) then won the contract to build the next gen of sky boxes.

Sugar definitely had an outsize role in it, yes - not so much in the concept of the Premier League existing though, which was already decided, but in picking the broadcaster. Story is that when they were going to have their big meeting to decide the broadcaster, they were going to go with Sky, ITV then made a huge bid that was swaying everyone else so Sugar's call to Sky was to go massive. So yes, I'm aware that's a conflict of interest. He himself said in a TV documentary he offered to recuse himself from the vote but was told it was fine.

 

The dig about conflicts of interest seemingly not mattering like they used to was more about contemporary American politics seemingly being just one massive conflict of interest. But you know. Different argument for a different day.

[Neil]

I see psg want £145m for barcola, surely there's a cheaper pepsi version?

No one wants the barcola they want the real thing.

[charlierc]

Athletic and BBC reporting that Eddie Howe has resigned... That's far from ideal timing. 

[Ben7amin_]

6 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Athletic and BBC reporting that Eddie Howe has resigned... That's far from ideal timing. 

 

Yeah that was a shock. 

 

Expect a statement is incoming 

[balti-pie]

Hmm, bloody hell, right now? Already having a replacement lined up is quite the look for the board, i would presume he'd got wind of that and said sod this lads, i'm off 

[lost]

Had to look the guy up. Got Red Bull Salzburg in the knock out stages of the champs league. 

[kaosmark2]

39 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

Hmm, bloody hell, right now? Already having a replacement lined up is quite the look for the board, i would presume he'd got wind of that and said sod this lads, i'm off 

Word I'm reading is that Howe told the board 2-3 weeks ago but agreed to stay on until a replacement was found.

 

Honestly, I don't think Howe got sufficient rest after the pneumonia 15m ago. Having to do everything while managing the Isak saga was too much.

 

I wish this had been agreed in the "summit" in late May though. He could have got the send off he deserves and had it reek less.

 

Dunno how to feel about this Jaissle guy. Some RB Salzburg achievements and supposedly a Rangnick disciple is a bit more promising than "manager from Saudi" which led me to an initial panic. I guess we've just got to hope that this is an actually seriously done appointment and not a Rosenior situation.

Edited yesterday at 09:18 by kaosmark2

[thetime]

Can't blame Howe, selling your best players with more probably on the way out.

 

Seems a big risk, getting a guy in from Saudi who has only managed in Austria in Europe. Could be inspired, or could be Newcastle's ultimate downfall. 

[lost]

I think he also brought on a few youngsters and made them saleable assets in Austria (Sesko, Adeyemi etc..)  I guess it depends what the owners long term plan is.

 

They've pulled out of the golf but still seem to be spending big on the Saudi league. They could be giving up due to FFP, I think the boat sailed on taking a mid-table club and making them world class about 5 years ago. Man City and Chelsea were the last ones through before the ladder was pulled up.

[charlierc]

3 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Word I'm reading is that Howe told the board 2-3 weeks ago but agreed to stay on until a replacement was found.

 

Honestly, I don't think Howe got sufficient rest after the pneumonia 15m ago. Having to do everything while managing the Isak saga was too much.

 

I wish this had been agreed in the "summit" in late May though. He could have got the send off he deserves and had it reek less.

 

Dunno how to feel about this Jaissle guy. Some RB Salzburg achievements and supposedly a Rangnick disciple is a bit more promising than "manager from Saudi" which led me to an initial panic. I guess we've just got to hope that this is an actually seriously done appointment and not a Rosenior situation.

Certainly, it's possible the dysfunction has made this coming. I seem to recall hearing Howe was unhappy in the summer of 2024 after Staveley left and then-new DoF Paul Mitchell slagged off his transfers. But I do agree since the pneumonia hospitalisation, the Isak mess, having to get Howe to do recruitment, Mitchell resigning just before the summer window opened last year, the fact it took forever to replace a CEO diagnosed with cancer and all the rest of it that it was a lot even before the overwhelming amount of matches last season.

 

Agreed though that this move should really have been reached in April/May. I kind of expected it then tbh as I thought Howe looked wiped out near the end of last season and there was the precedent that Howe said he felt he should've left Bournemouth a year earlier than he did. The timing is unquestionably awful - we'd have had more freedom in May to pick a replacement and sign players rather than giving a new manager 4 players they may have objected to. 

[charlierc]

55 minutes ago, thetime said:

Can't blame Howe, selling your best players with more probably on the way out.

 

Seems a big risk, getting a guy in from Saudi who has only managed in Austria in Europe. Could be inspired, or could be Newcastle's ultimate downfall. 

There's a lot of questions on the Saudi project imo. Part of that is influenced by botched projects in other areas like LIV golf, but October marks 5 years since the takeover and the new training ground has taken forever, they still seem unsure on whether to replace SJP and they just seem a bit meeker on trying to keep players compared to, say, Marinakis, or perhaps meeker on trying to press the margins on UEFAs financial rules a la Chelsea or Aston Villa. 

 

I don't necessarily think we'll go down in this upcoming season but there's a lot of high risk moves being taken here. All feels like it's been one wrong move after another since winning the Carabao. 

[kaosmark2]

5 hours ago, charlierc said:

I don't necessarily think we'll go down in this upcoming season but there's a lot of high risk moves being taken here. All feels like it's been one wrong move after another since winning the Carabao. 

It's not like there's recent precedent for a high-spending club focusing on buying 18-21 yo players from the German and Dutch leagues changing manager and then getting in a relegation battle and scraping into an ugly 17th place finish.

Edited 21 hours ago by kaosmark2

[charlierc]

3 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

It's not like there's recent precedent for a high-spending club focusing on buying 18-21 yo players from the German and Dutch leagues changing manager and then getting in a relegation battle and scraping into an ugly 17th place finish.

Point taken. 

 

Certainly, if Bruno goes, to say nothing of further rumours Joelinton or Willock or both could be off, it's not going to help. There's definitely a lot of flux in the air right now. 

[kaosmark2]

25 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Point taken. 

 

Certainly, if Bruno goes, to say nothing of further rumours Joelinton or Willock or both could be off, it's not going to help. There's definitely a lot of flux in the air right now. 

I don't actually think we'll go down, but the comparison does amuse me in a morbid way.

[The Nal]

RIP