STM

Well, I suppose from that point of view, it comes down to excuses and how far someone allows themselves to get caught up in whatever problem life throws at them. After all, football doesn't come first over mental health etc. My instinctive/cynical side will always think that we hear their sob story or excuses after they've thrown it all away. I suppose that's what truly makes someone great in whatever they do. They make the sacrifices, they ride the storms, they persevere.

Palace won't be easy. If we play like we did at Fulham, we could have a hill to climb. I'm sure we can/will get something but it's far from a banker.

Well OK, let me correct myself. It doesn't baffle me at all. But as you say, some people have all the natural talent in the world and don't make the most of it. I won't have any sympathy for Rashford. He isn't prioritising his football and his performances have suffered.

I won't be doing any silly Barnes/ASM comparisons. What matters to me is that Barnes is class. Let's look after him, give him rests when needed and he will get us 15 goals next year. I was actually thinking about this today. If we keep the front 3 fit for 2/3 of the season, they will probably get north of 50 goals.

Made this point the other week. He's in the sweet spot for selling. He's not crucial to our success, like a Bruno etc but he's actually a player other clubs would look at and is worth some money. I could see a scenario where a Fulham, West Ham, Brighton would look at Willock for around the 25m mark and think it's a good deal and for that money... with our FFP needs... it would be hard to turn down. Before anyone jumps on my back, I like Willock, I'd be sad to see him go but that's life. We are also fairly stacked in midfield.

Always baffles me how many talented footballers just throw their careers away from just not having the right attitude. Compare the talent of Rashford and James Milner for example, compared to their fortunes. Jordan Henderson, like him or not, is a great example of what limited footballers can do with the correct attitude. Rashford can be filed under Dele Alli, Oxlade-Chamberlain etc, for now at least, but a certain Ross Barkley has shown that there is time to resurrect a career. Man Uniteds next manager is crucial for Rashford, sadly for him, the best manager for Rashfords career is representing Newcastle United.

Genuinely pleased we've taken this decision. Would rather have 100% Willock next season.

I disagree or at least partially. We won't get much money for Wilson but i could see us getting 10/12m which is very little for a buying club but actually quite significant for us. As I've said before, when fit, Wilson guarantees goals and while his fitness is an issue, it's absolutely a gamble worth taking especially if you are a club battling survival. A striker who gets double figures, even with injuries, can keep you in the league. A club like Fulham or West Ham, would be a good fit but I wouldn't be surprised to see him at Leicester or somewhere. That's before the Saudi clubs take an interest.

Joao Pedro would have been a perfect understudy for Isak.

I hope you aren't our next director of football. I've seen nothing from our club that suggests we take "punts" or do anything other than invest in quality young players.

Keep Wilson, sign an absolute baller of a RW, that frees up Gordon to play CF if we need him.

CB. We score goals under Howe. We have 2 CBs out with an ACL and Schar is no spring chicken. Schar + New CB then New CB + Botman for the future.

Alot of this window is going to come down to circumstance, again. For example, is someone like Eze being courted by big clubs? If the likes of City and Liverpool aren't interested, it opens the door for someone like us or Spurs (I only say this because we aren't in a position to compete wage wise). So we may have a list of half a dozen players of this calibre, Eze, MGW, Onana etc. What will happen is, we will see where the bigger sharks are moving and absolutely avoid getting involved. We won't bother getting into a war with Chelsea, who will just offer double what we do, for example. We move onto other targets. It's a little different in the foreign market because we can be the big sharks, look at how we beat Milan to Botman or even how we stole their future star. Its going to be really interesting. What I will say is that every window we surpass my expectation by signing at least one superstar... Bruno, Botman, Isak, Tonali.... and I've got an erection thinking of where we go next.

Anyone else really enjoying their footy at the moment and more over really enjoying Newcastle. It's dawned on me that this is as bad as its going to get under Howe. We've had the worst cup draws and the worst injury crisis I've ever seen and as far as I can tell we are going to be playing European football at a canter. In the summer, the squad will improve, maybe just a little, maybe alot but we will get another couple of quality players in, Tonali back and all things being equal, a much more favourable schedule and treatment table. I'd be flabbergasted if next year we don't get top 6. There's also the added bonus that Liverpool will be in transition (Klopp, Salah and VVD perhaps leaving), Man United will either still have egg head or they too will be in transition, Spurs will have the demands of 2 games a week (and we saw how shite they can be), as will Villa. Next year is all set up to be a cracking year and I for one can't wait for it.

Merson saying that if Villa had won more games they'd be higher in the league. Really Paul, please do explain?