Holden McGroin

that’s what a new contract does.

Players tend to play out of their skin leading up to improved contract then inevitably drop off. He is obviously doing it the other way around. Hopefully.

I don’t think there is much chance of dropping Big Joe for this one. He’ll want an all action display from him.

that would be the dream but we have more chance of winning it if we spawn a few cup draws and then have a one off match v big hitter in the final.

This seasons cup is mental. Almost all the big hitters are still in it because of that European bollocks which basically separated them last round. We’ve got very little chance.

Chelsea at home in League Cup. if we get past Wimbledon.

Surely we’ll get a windfall from the cup tie moving to our place so £15k is a pittance.

I think Almiron would thrive down that side

BigPMitch81 later goes on to say:

Nailed on defeat.

I remember we went toe-to-toe with them in the draw but I don't remember bossing the midfield last time. I thought they completely dominated us but we were electric on the break.

Why has he been in London for 4 days? Its a 3 or 4 hr journey

Big Mitch: "I really wanted one but only offered 750 baht"

Within about 3 sips of his pint you know he'd be telling filthy, inappropriate stories about his business trips abroad. Basically an old, balding version of Jay from the Inbetweeners.

Last season the players were goosed from about December onwards so we barely saw any suffocating of teams after Man Utd/Chelsea (h) fixtures. I can understand the philosophy slightly changing to be a more possession based team to counteract injuries from burnout but we aren't good enough to keep the ball. Whether thats coaching or just players im not sure. Maybe a bit of both.

Hippo heed reckons he was only in 2 or 3 weeks. before Ashley bought it. Looking at the dates: Fat Sam was appointed 15th May Fat Mike bought the club on 23rd May Sounds like Sir John did royally fuck Shepherd (and the club) by letting him appoint a manager days before he sold his shares.

Dr Gloom is the new Anthony Gordon. Half arsed performance.

Can’t see anything other than a drubbing on current form. Id say success is 2 shots on goal and +25% possession.

I think he'd happily chuck Longstaff back in if Tonali (or whoever) isn't playing well. Bruno is captain and also our best player (IMO) so dropping him would be pretty significant move by Howe. I think Tonali could play that role if he got injured though. They don't look "Howe fit" to me. I think thats the main problem.

It would have been nice to get a win because we aren't getting anything from Man City on Saturday. 2 Losses in a row incoming.

Every team has a few undroppable players. Ironically where there is the most competition (midfield) is where we are struggling this season. We've lost the ability to press and also to keep possession. We are conceding far too many shots. We are basically Man Utd from last season and are somehow only in 6th off the back of individual moments getting us points. NUFC.COM said we are a mid-table team on this showing and I tend to agree with that.

I just listened to him on a podcast with him (Undr the Cosh). Reflecting on his time at Newcastle he basically said: - Shephard appointed him and had given a substantial amount of money to get into Europe that season. - He had Modric etc on the list but Ashley took over within a couple of weeks of his appointment and then he had to get Alan Smith and load of cheap/freebies instead - He doesn’t blame Ashley for anything - Sir John Hall totally blindsided Shephard by selling shares (even though he always promised Freddy first refusal) - He said Shephard was devastated - He doesn’t really take any responsibility for anything that happened here. He later goes onto show he is a complete dinosaur by not understating how sideways passes or the benefits from playing out from the back helps.

Normally you’d point the finger at the manager when performances suddenly drop off a cliff but I’m not sure it’s the case here.

I think he should go for it. If he wins he is immediately a world champion again. It’s much better than fighting a few jobbers on the way to another title chance somewhere down the line. If he doesn’t win then he was one massive last pay deal. I can’t see him winning though. He is done.