The Fish

I won't be as clued up on Felix as Diego, but I think he plays more like a left sided attacking midfielder/forward. He'd be like an improvement on ASM. If he was available and if he wanted to join us and if we could afford him, it's easy to make a case for signing him. But purely in terms of what the squad needs right now, I'm not sure left sided attack is where we're weak. That said, Maddison is a right sided attack and with Almiron playing the way he is, I'm not sure that's a weakness either. Both are improvements, both have bags of potential, both will likely move to elite clubs very soon. Might be a case of striking while the iron is hot.

In a thread where whataboutery is absolutely not going to be tolerated a mackem has just replied to a post saying that Racism is a bigger issue than a mid-season friendly in the middle east by asking if the poster thinks paedophilia is ok?

Didn't even realise they deleted that. What a bunch of fannies.

Didn't take long, same here.

A 'Staff Member' Where. To. Start.

Oh no, it's become self aware!

Wouldn't want a ban for whataboutery now, would I?

Bored bored bored.

Top right has 100% just dropped a rip snorter of a fart.

Missed it in it's entirety, don't suppose any of you lurkers know if there's a highlight package doing the rounds on the world wide web?

I'm endlessly keen to learn, unlike some other people I won't mention.

Why, is your vision based on movement?

I did not know that. Crack on, dear boy.

Yes. I wouldn't listen to a new Gary Glitter song either.

Isn't Franco a big ol' sex pest?

Going Pro, or selling out? You Decide!

It's a matter of trust.

That's bullshit for geography nerds. DON'T PATRONISE ME!

For the longest time I thought their insanity was confined to the dozen or so people who keep the NUFC thread at the top of the first page. But scanning through some of the other threads there's just varieties of insanity on show throughout. The fetishisation of the hooligan culture of the 80s, the thinly veiled misogyny and bigotry, the revisionism of their distant and near history. There's plenty of examples of chumming up to other fanbases until some link to Newcastle is found, or that team defeats Sunderland. You might think that RTG is just standard for online football communities, but I've been on plenty of message boards for other clubs and honestly, it's only really Everton that really rival it for nonsense.

I'm not patronising you, I'm condescending to you. I'm not annoyed, not really. I enjoy a tete a tete. Also, as an aside, the only thing I remember from geography is how an oxbow lake is formed.

I think you focus too much on the individual. xG is better for team analysis. Also, a high xG without context isn't the be all and end all, better when you compare it to goals scored or league average or whatever. Saying Mbappe has a high xG isn't saying he's necessarily a good striker, just that he gets a lot of good opportunities. If he's scored 30 goals from 18.674 xG then that's really impressive, if he's scored 5, it's less so.

Concise, but not comprehensive or clear. e.g. " to levels scarcely hard to believe," if something is scarcely hard to believe, that means it's fairly easy to believe? It doesn't tell me formation, shape, or style. The only things I can take from that is that the players create and use space, also they run around a lot. C- Needs to show working out.

Craig, Sorry but that's bollocks. I've tried to find out what they don't understand and then explain it, but for some it's not about misunderstanding, it's that they don't like it. Similar but not the same as your position. You think stats should only be used to provide support to a narrative (which roughly aligns with my view), they think they're bollocks. I've no issue with your position, I do have an issue with people dismissing the value of statistical analysis. It's a huge part of football now, from elite clubs all the way down to commentary. To dismiss it, or call it bollocks is folly.