S-Clarke

Yeah, he's another one. Around the same time as McCarthy. Dan Sheldon confirmed it in one of the live chat 'blogs' he does on The Athletic. It's really bizarre why we haven't actually put it out there, I can't quite think of any reason at all why we'd want to hold that news back. Unless we've made a massive error and are paying them both £150k per week on 7 year deals, so we don't want to tell anyone.

Newcastle do need a number 1. Dubravka isn't up to it really. That'll probably be a summer signing for them though. GK is a big signing for us though, getting it right can totally transform a side. The impact Martinez had at villa is testament to that.

Utd didn't look like they had any idea, no pattern to their play, no general direction in what they were trying to do. Rudderless probably describes that. Villa should have got at least 1 goal without a doubt, they were much better and much more inventive in the attacking third. Not sure what's happened to Rashford, it's not a recent thing either, he's been off it for about 2 years now. Not sure if injuries have ruined his mobility or something, but he's pretty much a pub player out there at the moment. Sad to see, he had so much potential.

Generally I thought he was absolutely horrific though, even when we were against 10. Nothing has really changed in his game, attributes such as pace and power but no touch or refinement. He might end up getting a few goals in the Championship over the course of his career, but I think he's pretty crap and another player we probably held onto a little bit too long.

From what I've seen of him, I'm not sure he's got the attitude or character I'd really want here. You've got to look at yourself as a player when two managers don't include you in a side which is crying out for quality in CM. He's got more ability than McTominay or Fred, so there's something else at play with Van De Beek.

To be fair to Man City they do use their academy, even in the days of the squad they have you still have players like Foden, Mcatee, Delap, Palmer etc all being given opportunities - so a young player is going to see a pathway at Man City. Chelsea is a different matter, they have too many players and they have hoovered up too much academy talent from all over the world. Go to Chelsea and end up being loaned out for a decade of your career. Getting Simeu and Tino is an example that their stockpiling has gone a bit wrong. We've probably got a chance of getting Broja for those reasons as well.

I'd find it odd if we signed a RB, certainly permanently. We just find ourselves in an incredibly unlucky situation, we are pretty well stocked now yet we've still been struck down at full back. Adding another one to the mix just adds bloat to the squad and wage bill. My opinion is that we just suck up the next week or two and come out of the other side.

Newcastle about to splurge a £35m package on a striker. From the outside, it seems an incredibly steep package for a 19 year old kid who plays for Reims, not really a name. Hugo Ekitike. 8 goals in 19 games this season. The players current value on transfermarkt, which is often a fair guide, is around the £5m mark.

Absolutley deserves credit, maybe one of the last real contributions he has for us. But he changed the game when he came on, doing exactly what you need an attacker to do when you're down to 10 men.

He never learns though does he, how many times is he caught out in that position with the same movement from an opposition player? I think he's garbage to be honest, certainly hope our takeover will mean we can bin players like him off.

Yep, that was the right sub at the right time I thought. Made a huge difference, as Armstrong was struggling.

Nigel had a background in physio which helped his judgement in that sense, you'd hope our physio's would be a bit stronger with Ralph if there was wear and tear showing up with Tino.

A really good FA Cup day today, lots of good games and some cracking results. Kidderminster beating Reading was a massive upset, I hope they get a big tie in the next round.

Can't disagree, I think we ran the poor kid into the ground to be honest.

Fairly sure it counts. A booking wouldn't have gone towards a yellow accumulation, but the fact he got a red will mean the suspension will go over to all comps.

He's a bit of a terrier type, but there's no real quality in there is there. Some of his attempts to provide attacking width were beyond embarrassing. That is crucial in our set up, you need to be able to provide a threat. He looks hopeless in that part of the game. Defensively a little dodgy as well, but as I said he's a bit of a terrier and isn't afraid to get into oppo faces.

You can't make it up can you. Strengthen at full back, get great cover at RB. Then when you need the depth, 4 of your full backs are out. What are the chances. No Tino, KWP suspended, Valery suspended, Small COVID. So, through an amazing turn of bad luck we are going to have to shoe-horn a position in a very, very important game. Not great at all.

Hard to read a great deal into the game, at about 20 mins it was a doddle. It was going to be an utter stroll. Then Valery does what Valery does, and why he'll never be a decent player. Lost count of the amount of times I've seen him done in the same way and the same position, the guy doesn't learn. It was a weird game from that point on. We lost our midfield as JWP had to slip into RB, and we also lost our balance as we had no real right wing back presence so we lost our ability to switch it. It became a very niggly game where Swansea had a lot of the ball but to be fair they didn't really do a great deal with it, it was fairly comfortable for us in the main. Arguably, even with 10 min, we should have gone 2, 3-0 up with the chances we had (Notably Stephens). The main take away from that game is the character, one negative put against this team for so many years, but we showed it today. We didn't play well, it was very disjointed, we had so many bad things go our way (red card, equaliser, going behind) but we still fought to win it. Got to credit us for that, and credit to Long who came on and arguably changed the game. That's the impact you need for your subs when you're down to 10 men, he stretched the game.

Hard game to judge him on really, he wasn't through the middle and we were 10 men. But he really hasn't impressed me in the slightest over the last 6 months, looks like a complete lower league player out of his depth. No refinement in his game what so ever.

Stephens was one of the 'never announced' extensions, I think - along with McCarthy - he is contracted until 2024. No idea why the club haven't announced it, not a scooby.

I think the main crux is that only Newcastle have the ability, to in effect, build an entirely new team. They could then face us with 4 or 5 star players who would immediately lift them above our available quality. That seems slightly unfair given the team we would have faced had the fixture gone ahead at the time it was supposed to. That's the fear I think most have. An extremely winnable game a week or so ago, could turn into an impossible task in a few weeks due to their investment.

Exactly that, and it will be so refreshing to be able to operate with flexibility - that's all I ever wanted. I didn't want Countinho, Bale or £30m cb's etc. I was simply fed up with having to wait until we pocketed the change from Matt Targets deal before we could go and do x and y etc. I guess it depends what you consider to be a shoestring budget, but I can see us operating in the 10-15m bracket without having to sell first - that is a refreshing change and will allow us to grow rather than stand still.

I don't know where you've got that from? What comments were made? It's clear that we're not going to make big money signings. If anything he fits the setup more than anyone else would, I don't see anything has changed.

Signings like that in the winter window never make sense, lots of expense for what is probably going to be 6 months. I doubt Villa will be able to sign him perm. I also don't understand the priority - they've already got Emil Buendua who they spent £40m on in the summer, very similar player who operates in the same space. They've also got Leon Bailey to provide the winger type width. Really odd move for Villa, not sure they needed him. I don't think he's going to make much difference.

Coutinho has had a tough time at Barca, he hasn't had a single good game there. Barca has been a bit bat shit crazy though, similar could be said of Dembele who was a phenomenal player at Dortmund. The main question marks over Coutinho is that he also went on loan to Bayern and failed equally as badly there. I see this deal similar to that of James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale, lots of fan fare but neither did anything of note.