The Fish

In all the positions that need addressing I think attacking midfield is a ways down the list of priorities. I think we should sort central midfielder (someone to play a defensive role in there) first and foremost. Another Striker would take the pressure off Wilson a bit. I definitely think additions to the backline would help (Tarkowski). But in attacking midfield we have ASM, Almiron, Fraserr, Joelinton (I know, I know), Willock, plus S.Longstaff if needs be. That's before addressing the fact that as ewerk says, Barkley isn't up to much.

I think having Al-Ramayan actually in the country and face to face with the other owners should speed things up a lot. I think if they'd announced Jones would takeover as Interim Head Coach they could have fired Bruce the day after the takeover. But the more it drags on the more blunt Damacles sword looks above his head. We all know he's going to be fired at some point in the near future, so dithering on that front doesn't look like they're taking their time to get shit sorted, it looks like they don't know what to do. Jones can look after the squad while the DoF is appointed, then if the senior backroom staff are in place and suddenly the right man becomes available remove Jones as interim and install the new man. Hopefully in time for the January window to be fully exploited. The longer this drags on the worse the atmosphere in the stadia and on the training ground will become.

Shelvey should be peddled as soon as possible. Gayle too. And whoever is leaking the stories to Hope.

In my defense, I'm very distracted.

Think this defense would be alright with a decent coach. They were before.

The coward.

Suck ma plums Captain Floppycock.

Last season included 2 long winless runs (7 and 9 games) and we finished on 45pts. This current squad of players is capable of midtable. We'll be getting a new manager soon and he will, at the very least, get this group of players performing at their level. We'll be strengthening in January so jokers like Shelvey will be pushed out of the lineup. All these things combined means we'll be fine.

Just read that review. The reviewer appears to have not got the joke, at all. Seems like he was expecting an actual crime story. Which is stupid, given the title.

What industry are you in?

That was two thousand years ago man.

Guess I'm special then.

Well, Fergus Craig, my mate from the podcast who's also an actual writer and actor and that, aye. I'd say on his list of achievements, being my mate and doing a podcast would be pretty low down. Mind, I get an acknowledgement in the book, so maybe being my mate is something he's proud of.

I wonder if, in addition to wanting the full pay out, the 1,000th game milestone is in his thinking. He's a Newcastle fan and in years to come he can say that he got to his 1k game as manager of his boyhood club in the Premier League. Probably not, but honestly I've not eaten today so I'm a bit airheaded.

Once upon a crime - Fergus Craig. It's a bit of a laugh.

There's a little more to it than that like. By associating themselves with a global brand like the Premier League they're going to enjoy any reflected glory. Mansour's done it with City. We're all aware of the human rights violations happening in KSA because they've been spoken about so much recently, but off the top of your head can you name those in the Emirates? Also, you'll have seen people on twitter with Saudi flags, Arabic text, you'll have seen a handful of daft lads dressed up with headscarves and the like. It's insidious and pervasive.

Also Zen the last few times we came close but survived. Because I'm Zen and don't get piss all over my sheets.

2 different things there. Bruce should be binned off asap. Bruce being in charge for the Spurs game doesn't affect our chances of survival imo

To be fair, whoever picked the team, it's going to lose on Saturday. No Wilson = No win.

Wykiki is pissing his pants. "Do we have enough time?", "Is that not too late?", "Don't PANIC!!" The rest of you lot should be more like me. Zen motherfuckers, zen.

You've gone from 2 weeks to 10 weeks.

What? No, not my point at all. It was that we've plenty of time and there's no need to be wetting the bed or owt. We've 31 games to get those points and we've managed to get to c45pts after a shocking start before under Steve Bruce and Benitez with worse squads than we'll likely have by the end of the January window this season. I 100% think we should bin off Bruce, but more and more reports seem to be suggesting he won't be binned before the Spurs game, which I think is a huge misstep.

November is 2 weeks away and if, say, we have the type of Sporting Director we've been linked with, I'd expect an uptick in performance even without a permanent manger in place. These aren't bean counters, these are coaches who've stepped back to take a broader view of the development of players and the club. Rangnick, for example, is perfectly capable of overseeing coaching while helping the club find the right man. I repeat, we had 2 runs of 7+ games without a win, under Steve Bruce, and we still ended up on 45pts which is more than enough to survive. We'll be fine.