Polarboy

As I said he has a style of play and tactics that don't really change regardless of whether he's even at Real. That you have amazing attacking players that will score hatful's against inferior opposition isn't in question. But if we are talking fantasy football here I want us to eventually be one of the top sides in Europe, and to use an attacking style ala Liverpool, Man City, Barca, Real etc. It should also be noted that the top players at Real weren't all that pleased with Rafa's tactics. If we want to sell a project to top players the playing style of the coach will be at least one of the considerations for them.

It's not an insult, it's a statement of fact. I'm not doubting Rafa's passion for the game, the man's clearly obsessed, but he is 60. The facts are that he will start to slow down in the next five to ten years, and the Newcastle job is a top to bottom rebuild. I'd just be more confident that Pochettino would be ready, willing and able to tear into the project over the long term. Again I wouldn't be unhappy if Rafa was given the job, or doubt that he'd do an extremely solid job of putting the foundations in place.

I'm not using pragmatism as a slur, and I didn't say that it can't win major honours, I just left a question mark beside it. And I left a question mark beside it because football moves on. The way to win a league now, is not the same as it was in the 90's or even early 2000's. I just personally prefer a more front footed football philosophy that includes a bit of possession play.

Mate you did a fair bit of searching for what is a very tepid criticism/concern in comparison to my recent comments. I almost wrote the same thing about his tenure at Spurs being hampered by Levy's penny pinching in both comments. It even states in that guardian article from earlier that he was told he'd have to do things on a budget when he was given the Spurs job, because of the new stadium build. The comment was also in the context of if we're going for the best, as in Allegri, Favre, Nagelsmann etc. So it was really a case of being hypercritical for the case of comparison to his elite level manager contemporaries.

Rafa has never changed his counter attacking style of football, even when he was at Real. In fact that was one of the reasons he lost that job as far as I remember. The players at Real weren't happy with his tactics. The difference is that when he's been at clubs with a lot of money and or great players, once they get to the attacking third the skill of those quality attacking players takes over. The question is can that counter attacking, pragmatic style still win you major honours in the era of Guardiola and Klopp. Edit. I should say that he hasn't fundamentally changed his football philosophy. I'm sure he's made tweaks here and there, and for specific games.

It wouldn't just be a pay-check to Pochettino either. He's wildly ambitious, and passionate about football in general. The pros of taking the job with us is that while we are far behind the top six, it won't take as long to catch up as it would have, given that FFP should be relaxed, player fees and wages should decrease somewhat, and we'll have much more cash than most clubs in normal circumstances, let alone in the aftermath of this pandemic. With that all said, depending on what sort of project is being sold to him, he may be in the position to completely create the club in his footballing image with almost total carte blance. That should be a very attractive prospect for him, and again not just the chance of a big pay-check.

Ossie Ardiles has said that Pochettino taking the Newcastle job is a firm possibility, and that he's been spoken to by officials from the new owners. https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/news/mauricio-pochettino-to-newcastle-confirmed-18301133

Rafa bought some great attacking players for Napoli, but they were still a pragmatic side on the whole. It was the same at Liverpool. Gerrard and Torres ripped up the league at certain points, but they still had that pragmatic base. Benitez has never once been thought of as an attack minded coach. Mostly though I'm more worried about it not working out a second time. I wouldn't be unhappy if Rafa was rehired to be clear, but my preference is obvious.

Dear "Rafa" You were great, but going home again rarely works out. I want a young, hungry manager with a point to prove, and progressive style of football over your pragmatism.

Fraud? Do you even watch football mate? You don't get to the Champions League final, and consistently qualify for it, if you are a fraud. And as far as I can see the major reason things went stale for him at Spurs, and he didn't quite win a major trophy, was because of Levy's penny pinching. And in the article you linked it points out that Pochettino was being scouted for the Real job as far back as his Espanyol days, and he's currently still seemingly well thought of by the big clubs around Europe. So I think I'll trust my eyes in terms of the football Spurs played, the level he built them up to, and the opinion of world class football professionals, over yourself. No offence

Video of Poch on Sky. He seems very open to coming to us. The interviewer was clearly trying to steer it that way when he asked if he'd manage a team outside the top six, and Poch most definitely didn't rule it out. https://www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/teams/newcastle-united/11993069/poch-happy-in-london

Supposedly a few of the premier league teams are in talks to maybe use cardboard cut out fans, to make the empty stadiums look a bit less stark when football resumes. I see they've gone a different way than FC Seoul who used sex dolls

That gif reminds me of the time a mate of mine was on a dance floor and pointed at a girl, pointed at himself, and did a little hand shuffle thing in an attempt to entice her over. Suffice it to say that she wasn't having it

McClaren told talkSPORT: "He's done a good job. He's stabilised them. He's got them playing a system which is not attractive, but has got them results with limited resources. He's in the driving seat to say right, put me in front of these new owners and I'm going to sell a dream and a vision for this football club for the next five years. This is what's been going on, this is what I've seen can improve. These are the players that can improve us, what budget have we got? "He's in the driving seat and I would say what a fantastic opportunity Steve Bruce has got now." The Magpies sit 13th in the Premier League table - eight points clear of the relegation zone - but have faced criticism for their style of play and troubles in front of goal. McClaren feels sympathy for the current Magpies' head coach - citing his own short-lived spell in charge which led to United's relegation in 2016 - and believes a takeover could see a return to the entertaining football he believes fans crave. The former United boss added: "I've been there with no strikers, and it's a struggle and it's hard week in, week out. It's hard to manage in that climate. If I've got a new owner coming it with money, all of a sudden I'm so excited about the future, and I've got to sell that vision to the new owners. I want this, I want that, I want to fill the stadium. To do that, we've got to put players on the park who can entertain that crowd because that's what Newcastle is. Ginola, Asprilla - that's the kind of football team that they want, and they haven't had it for years and years because of budget resources not being there. If they've got the budget - wow, what that club can do. It must be exciting and Steve must be looking forward to it." Delusional doesn't quite cover it for McClaren. Then again he likely couldn't have survived brollygate and generally being thought of as a plonker if he wasn't delusional.

According to the article we have to wait until the 1st of June for the official, official announcement We've waited this long I suppose, still fucking annoying though.

His entire thesis on us hinges on taking a handful of shitty twitter responses to and about Khashoggi's wife. Twitter journalism at it worst. He even tried to be clever by including the poll result from the supporters trust, with regard to whether we wanted the takeover to happen or not, straight after, thereby implying that what a handful of people say on twitter, is a comparatively accurate representation of fan opinion as a whole.

Yeah but.... 1979 And I prefer the artwork for the MCATIS t-shirt over the uninspired red star and band name for the Siamese Dream t-shirt. But agreed on Siamese Dream being a more coherent, less indulgent album.

Not sure who I'm supposed to root for. Being a music purist to the point you have to call someone out on TV is wank, and so is being a poser who wears band t shirts for fashion without having a love for said band. It's a bit like atheists who bang on about being an atheist so much it becomes a dogmatic religion to them, i.e. it sours what may be an entirely reasonable viewpoint. This reminds me that I ordered a Smashing Pumpkins, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness t shirt recently. I'll definitely be refreshing my memory on that album, apart from the obvious Tonight, Tonight, so I don't get caught out In fairness I've recently been listening to Siamese Dream.

It started when I was 12, so it was grand for a few years when at the time I was still amazed that a vaguely attractive female was interested in football, and Tim Lovejoy's sense of humour seemed cutting edge

Bullard looks like he should have been an extra on Confessions of a Window Cleaner. Him and that guy who presents Soccer AM are twats who've failed to realise that 90's lad culture died a long time ago.

I bow to you lad's Bernard knowledge/banter. I can barely remember what happened last week let alone 15, 20 years ago

Was that just for the French pun, or do you have knowledge of him making predictions and being wrong?

Oliver Bernard reckons a reliable source/sauce has told him that the takeover is happening today. Don't recall Bernard making any predictions before, or what sort of record he has of being full of shite, or not.

At present the gutter press are somehow trying to place the blame on the Saudi's potentially taking over on us the fans, then the Saudi's, the UK government third, Ashley a far fourth, and then maybe the premier league get a mention. So until they make a decision it isn't anything for them in terms of negativity from the press. The only negativity they are getting about prolonging the process is from Newcastle fans. The press can't be like, I can't believe the premier league did this, when they haven't even made an official decision.

You could say that, but then again having us in the back pages constantly takes a bit of pressure off them with regard to project restart for the league. We're already seeing players kick up a fuss, which is justified in some respects, so again for the takeover to still be happening gives them a little cover from all the spotlight being on that.