Dr Gloom

i just opened the botman thread thinking it was the isak one and saw the news about his him being out for 8 weeks due to a procedure to remove fluid from his knee

Careful. The club’s stasi roam this forum

it looks absolutely mental - can't wait. one of the few places in the world where speaking english presents no advantage whatsoever. the jet lag will be brutal, but stepping into a completely alien world probably takes the edge off. there is so much mad shit to do out there. i'm hoping to see a sumo wrestling match at some point

and Kid Dynamite

just booked a holiday to japan this summer. haven't done a long haul holiday for about six years. can't wait. my kids, who are both massive anime/manga fans, are even more excited. we were weighing up california but honestly, fuck going to the states again anytime soon

tournament soundtrack: brothers in arms by dire straits

hope it went as well as these things can mate. how did the wee man's perm go down?

i'm sure there were conversations going on and approaches made, maybe they tried. i dunno. but the messaging throughout the window from the club was they weren't looking to bring anyone in, which was always a gamble after getting rid of two players. i think they rolled the dice on the squad making it through till the end of the season.

Miggy and Kelly were both on decent wages. I find it hard to believe we didn't have the PSR headroom to bring in a couple of loans for half a season on similar or slightly higher wages - if that is the case the system is even more fucked than i thought. Whether there were any players available of sufficient quality that might have helped plugged the gaps is another matter, but it's hard to think there was no one of a similar level. We're talking about squad players to help in the event of the sort of injury/suspension crisis we're currently navigating. It is a numbers game. Now we're dipping into the rotation options to start games, we no longer have many sub/rotation options.

aye, increasingly looking like a free hit as someone else said. the unusually long gap between the semi and the final has fucked us. if it had been a couple of weeks later before our form nosedived and all the injuries and suspensions kicked in i would have been more optimistic. mind, as long as isak is fit we have a chance. he loves scoring agains them. and surely the players have to get up for this game.

pulled my calf playing 5 a side last week. thought nothing of it as i was able to walk around and load bear without too much discomfort so carried on walking to work. fast forward 7 days and i'm hobbling - am now wfh with a comedy inflated calf and ankle with savage bruising. pass the codeine

i don't think you are. time is not being kind to the barnes signing - looks increasingly like an opportunistic signing rather than one the squad needed. but tbf to the club it's a rare one since the takeoever that hasn't worked out

yeah. perhaps not. or they have rolled the dice on a smaller squad getting through until the end of the season. with this being newcastle, this sort of injury/suspension crisis at a crucial moment in the season should have always been priced in. good things don't happen to us

aye, exactly. cue gemill wading in to tell us off for questioning the decisions made by the club's directors.

i have no issue with them selling kelly and miggy to comply with psr - we got good fees for two squad players. but why not bring in a couple of loans to plug the gaps? villa did it and are reaping the rewards.

they were shit last night, but that might be partially because psg were so good. on that evidence psg would storm the "great league in the world™"

nor would he come here without champions league football. that ship has sailed. psr means we need to sign players on their way up, not established CL players from the likes of barca. our summer window hinges on 5 o'clock shadow man identifying some gems

Actually, I heard he is out for the final but the knee surgery bit is news. Who is reporting that? This is just unbelievably bad luck, to lose three crucial first team players the week before the final.

I guess we can’t rule anything out

Though I know this will bruise his ego and he loves a vendetta so who the fuck knows