Rayvin

Agree with this. I think people are panicking a bit too much off the back of some snippets in the media. Also worth remembering that the media fully expect the whole Rafa project to fall apart because at Newcastle, that's how it always go. It's a safe bet for them to write the sorts of things they have done. Doesn't mean it's written in the stars though. Every direct quote from Rafa though shows little more than a general frustration with the situation concerning transfers. Add to that the fact that I read somewhere that he'd never walked away from a post before, I don't think we have to worry too much. I also don't understand why so many people think we're going to struggle to avoid the drop. The team we have may not be as 'high quality' as the one that got relegated, but they're harder working and with a better attitude. At the lower end of the PL, that stuff matters.

As opposed to the invisible kind? Visible Panties Network is definitely what I'm going to call it next time someone asks me what it means though

FWIW Wolfy, if you had spent a significant amount of time in the politics threads over the past couple of years, you would see frequent arguments and debates about everything from terrorism to governance to economics to media coverage. It's a wonder Gloom even still speaks to me at this point So we're not all here just slapping each other on the back and agreeing with the consensus. I've had my views changed by discussions with people on here before, and I've seen it happen to other people too. As far as the internet goes, this is a pretty open minded forum.

Do you mean a proxy server for masking online activities or a VPN for connecting to a network inside a business or something like that? If the latter you can set it up through Windows normally. If the former (which I assume) then I'll send you the link to the guys I use when I get home. Costs $36/year.

I think the lowest grade club in the PL with a manager equivalent to or better than Rafa, is Liverpool. The only thing I think might make us appealing to another manager post-Rafa, is that they'd come into the job knowing that some solid foundations had been laid by someone who knew what they were doing. But I think it's highly unlikely we'd get anyone anywhere near as good. This could be our last chance to make something of ourselves for the next 10 years or so.

I know what you mean, she writes like a local journo rather than a national one. Having said that, the 13th prediction is apparently the consensus across the Guardian staff as a whole.

Agreed, but we don't know much about him really so it's too early to say if he's a problem. Clutching at straws, I know.

The Guardian predicts we'll come 13th, which sounds slightly optimistic to me, but not too far off. Granted, it's reliant on Rafa hanging about, but I'm not convinced that he's on the cusp of leaving at this point so I think we can afford to be cautiously optimistic. Unless we lose all our games before the transfer window closes. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/aug/08/premier-league-2017-18-preview-newcastle-united

Still don't see why so many people think we're going to struggle even with the current squad. We're not going to be challenging at the top end of the table but ffs, we're good enough to end up around 15th or so, certainly with Rafa at the helm. He doesn't seem to be indicating he's leaving here either. Really not sure what to take from that statement. Actually sounds like he's planning to handle the season ahead with what he's got, which sounds like encouraging to me. You sure he isn't just managing expectations here?

Me too. Not going to predict a loss on our first game of the season even if it is on the cards. 2-1 for me as well.

Some journo said it at the time but then later admitted he made it up.

For how you've managed to convince yourself that the conventionally received reality of the world isn't the actual reality, because there is insufficient provable evidence - and then at the same time come up with your own theories which rely on even less provable evidence. It's a logically flawed position. If you were being intellectually honest about this you would have to concede that the position with the most evidence supporting it (until you come up with any evidence of your own theories whatsoever, that would be our position), is the one you should claim to be closest to the truth, even if you think it's not the whole truth. At the end of the day, we have photos, videos, eye witness accounts, the lot. You can claim they're false all you want, but you've got nowhere near the same body of evidence supporting your own views, and only speculation and conjecture to discredit ours. No hard evidence. As such, we try to find answers to why you wilfully ignore this. Because it isn't based on intellectual honesty or logical thought patterns.

We're just striving for answers and trying to keep an open mind about the options Wolfy. Lot of free thinkers on here after all.

Actually he's got the racial stereotyping correct. It's the Japanese who struggle with their "L"s. My complaint was always that people were applying it to the Chinese who have no such problem I think my point was lost amid the clamour to take the piss though

What a waste. If he could just be arsed to put some effort in he could have had a good career. At least he's getting what he deserves.

Aye but only PSG are crackers enough to think that hes worth £200m. He's done it for the money.

We'll be fine man... We added pace which means we're going down the counterattack route, which is Rafa's specialty. It's not going to be pretty but we'll be fine.

Desperate

My girlfriend was peering over my shoulder when I opened that and now thinks this place is full of deviant perverts. At least now she knows the truth.

I'm on a train and have literally nothing better to do

Aye this is where it all falls down for Wolfy. It's not that he has "out there" ideas so much as he can't offer any evidence in support of this global conspiracy, any motive, or how they've managed to cover it up to so long. I think I said last time that the only way such a thing could work would be if you literally had all scientists and researchers indoctrinated into a higher subgroup of humanity whose job it was to pull the wool over the eyes of everyone else. And even then there's no reason why this should be the case.

Why would Japan, a country which as a core component in its national character prioritises pride and honour, go along with pretending that they'd been nuked? After fighting a 4 year war with the country who benefited most from the nuking as well. I wonder actually if Wolfy needs this global conspiracy to be true because the realisation that no one is at the wheel is a really scary one.

I actually still think Moyes would have been fine for us, and i would now go so far as to say that even Benitez wouldn't have saved Sunderland last season.

Aye but if we can see out this season then we should be able to pay the going rate. Hopefully Rafa is aware of this.