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Infinitely Content

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  1. I can certainly understand the frustrations this season, frustrations which I'm sure are shared by Howe himself. It's quite alright to have reservations about certain decisions a manager makes - that will be the case across almost all clubs and their supporters. However what we achieved last season was remarkable given the resources Howe and his team had to work with, and this season some terrible luck and some fine margins have truly been the difference. It has saw a regression in terms of consistency and performance that was likely inevitable anyway given we only lost 5 games last season. It is very difficult as fans not privy to certain information, nor having the football knowledge to truly understand the fine margins in football, but I'm quite sure it's not as simple as Hall over Burn, or Anderson over Longstaff. Those fine margins are sometimes not tactical or personnel based, but hidden factors that are unmeasurable. It's a shame that there's an apparent growing section of our supporters waiting to pounce and call for the head of a man who has achieved so much with this team already and absolutely deserves our unwavering support at least going into next season. Howe has been very sensitive in harnessing the potential power and influence of our home support - he 'gets' what it is to be Newcastle manager, and I find it disappointing and frustrating that some are failing to see that's something worth getting behind (at least for now, given the circumstances).
  2. Azeris won't be happy with BArmenia rescuing it in Karabakh.
  3. Nice insight, I've a close friend who grew up in Ramsbottom and went to Woodhey High School in the same year as Trippier. As he doesn't follow football much, he wasn't aware of just how far Trippier had gone in the game until tuning into the 2018 world cup out of interest for a cultural event; only to see his old adversary bend one into the top corner. He was delighted for him. Trippier is a gem for Newcastle, irreplaceable really. Bruno is clearly the icon or star of this team, but I believe Trippier will be remembered as the talismanic figure who ushered in the new era should Newcastle go on to further success.
  4. I hope we're looking at Murillo from Forest, he's quality.
  5. I think they ditched the new round crest and reverted back to the old a couple of weeks into the season.
  6. By happenstance, I was at the under-21 tournament in Kutaisi, Georgia in the summer. After an unwelcome confrontation with a rather unpleasant middle aged Chelsea drunk, I settled down to watch the England - Portugal match. Emile Smith-Rowe, Cole Palmer, Levi Colwill, Curtis Jones and Noni Madueke were present that day, however to my eye it was clear that they were two players on the pitch a level above the others, Anthony Gordon and Pedro Neto. I left the ground that evening excited and optimistic about what was to come from Gordon, he seemed to be playing with a maturity and proficiency that I hadn't seen yet for Newcastle or Everton. It's safe to say he's already surpassed any of the high hopes I had; I thought he could be an important player for Newcastle, now I believe he could go on to be one of the best wingers in the Premier League. A huge credit to himself and to our coaching team.
  7. That Longstaff run shall be forever named The Parisian Boulevard.
  8. Offering multiple examples from one match does not justify saying a player is comprehensively not good enough when he's shown very promising qualities in many more matches over the last year or so. I'd certainly favour the larger sample size. To say we aim to be an elite football club and then say he is not at that level is a ridiculous statement. Of course he's not elite, neither are many of our players, but that does not mean they're comprehensively not good enough.
  9. Dear me. I think the onus is on you by way of making such a conclusive statement as this rather than on others to disprove you. Anderson didn't have a great game today, but has more than held his own in numerous games this season and Eddie Howe has been full of praise for him. He came on against PSG just a few days ago and caused them problems with his clearly excellent technical ability. To say he is comprehensively not good enough is madness.
  10. I would be absolutely elated with a win today, perhaps even more so than usual. I think it could hardly be overstated just how impressive it would be for the team to recover and refocus from the euphoria of Wednesday night and go away in the league to an in-form team and win. Where last season there was frequent mention of the team being perhaps distracted by the league cup and our league form suffering as a consequence, a win today would represent yet another shift in this team's mentality and resolve. The kind of mental toughness and resolve that see teams lift major trophies in fact.
  11. I hold Sven Botman in high regard and believe he has the potential to go on and perhaps even surpass Fabian Schar in coming years. However, when I read and hear across football analysis channels and platforms the uniform and often sole praise for Sven Botman in regards to our defensive exploits, I immediately know they haven't truly been watching and they're just repeating what the other platforms and channels' 'experts' are saying. I have seldom known a player so outstanding to go so under the radar as is the case with Fabian Schar. Exceptional footballer.
  12. A different time and a different team, but at the beginning of the 2002-03 season, a season which has many parallels to our current one having finished 4th the prior year, and being presented with a difficult set of opening fixtures; we began with a comprehensive win at home, before failing to win in the next 5 games. Bobby Robson, addressing the team’s form, said: “The fact that we finished 4th the year before meant that we knew we had a good side, it was just getting it together and we needed perhaps a bit more time. So I wasn’t too worried about it, I knew the staff was quality and it would be okay." Recalling that season, and how it unfolded after the difficult start can offer us much reassurance. As fans, myself included, we can sometimes get too enmeshed in over-scrutinising perceived defects in the team’s performances, drawing broad conclusions to what are marginal factors. Despite the fact we’re not being swept away by teams and have been relatively competitive in most of our fixtures, we’re looking for the team’s identity we became so accustomed to last season, and we draw the conclusion that our identity has become entirely dismantled and we’re a long way off from where we should be. Sir Bobby’s quote above calmly suggests that with a good team and good staff, which we all know we currently have, you’re never too far away. It’s the story of Edgar Allan Poe’s Purloined Letter; in that perhaps the solution is not to tear the room apart in search of the answer, but is instead found in the most subtle and unquantifiable of places. A shift from within the team, that we as on-looking fans searching for an answer in all of our analysis can not perceive or understand. For me this is the magic of football, as much as many like to believe, it is not just a scientific game of numbers and tactics, those are the basics which any professional team have in their grasp. The turning of the tide of a team’s fortunes and performance is often found those subtle places, invisible to the eye. I feel confident that many of us will be looking back at the start of this season in a few months time thinking to ourselves "why was I so doubtful of this team?" and “what was I so worried about?”
  13. If there was even the faintest possibility of signing Declan Rice, I'd argue he would be worth the negation of other areas we're looking to strengthen; particularly if it meant not necessarily failing to fulfil those roles, but perhaps bringing in more economical targets. I believe Rice is one of the best in his position in world football, and would certainly match or succeed Bruno as our best player. I also think there's something unique we could offer him that perhaps the likes of Manchester City or Chelsea could not. I think those clubs would buy Rice for a narrow range of specific attributes he possesses and happens to be 'world class' in (which is to say his defensive abilities), however, I believe he contains the potential to be a truly complete midfielder, excelling in all areas of the game and all phases of play in a similar vein to Yaya Toure. I think if he is to leave West Ham, we would be able, potentially uniquely, to offer him the ability and the freedom to express and further develop that part of his game.
  14. Most ordinary matches I've attended feel more like a large group of individuals having separate experiences in a shared environment, lost in thought and their own observations of the events taking place on the pitch. However some games, like Arsenal last season, it felt like St James' was breathing as one collective body, that every person in the stadium was taken up out of themselves and became moving parts in something far greater. I think it's interesting to talk about particular circumstances of why that can happen, and certain things will be contributing factors; but my sense is that it's ultimately unknowable and is something that sweeps through the streets and terraces prior to and during the game like a powerful invisible tide that you can't help but be carried by. It's beautiful, and is the best thing about this sport in my opinion.
  15. I don't think Henderson is a bad goalkeeper but I'm glad we've steered clear of that transfer. In fact I'm a little bemused at some of the goalkeepers we've been linked with - none of which seem to me to represent substantial upgrades on Dubravka; who despite his occasional flaws and shortcomings is certainly up to the mark. The goalkeeper position would remain relatively far down the list of areas to address for us in my opinion.
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