The Fish

He'd have to be Van Dijk at Southampton quality for us to be talking about £70m being anything but an overspend. I was fine, even positive, on the move at the rumoured £60m fee. But I'll freely admit that was as much out of desperation for a signing, as it was an evaluation of his quality. Calafiori, Yoro, De Ligt, Adarabioyo, Max Kilman all moved for less than Guehi's reported valuation, this window.

Had Guehi moved for £70m to Liverpool or Man City, that's one thing. But nobody else seems interested at that price, so why should we pay it? Especially as it's not like the kid is the new Maldini or owt. He's top half of the PL standard, but he's not better than Botman who is much more highly rated and who we got for 1/2 the price.

You'd assume he'd be on lower wages too.

Joiner is coming today. Ya bum.

You 'gotta' double check your fucking attitude. I create these things out of the clear blue sky, package and present them, and this is the thanks I get? Go find a video of a heavily bandaged man pirouetting to no avail and get to waving at the little boatman, you pervert.

Good catch. Something's fucked in the logic. Let me check. Edit - Turns out it was pulling from the wrong table.

And the estimated wages

That will be tied up with the rumours about the England job.

Put it this way, if we can get a Gordon/Barnes standard player ont he right flank, we're immeasurably more dangerous going forward. And with worse players than we have now, we had the joint meanest defence in the league 2 seasons ago. I think a coach can have more impact on a defensive unit, bringing them up to a higher standard than they naturally are. More impact than the same coach can have at the top end of the pitch where natural talent makes more of a difference. I'm not explaining myself well, I know. But a €60-70m attacker makes more of a difference to our ambitions, than a €60-70m defender would.

Botman should be back December/January, so we've 4 players for 2 positions. Plus any kids that are able to step up, there were a couple of U21s who got minutes at the back in preseason.

His cost is because we gave him a new contract which amortises the remainder of his value over the length of his new contract. e.g. bought in 2019 for €43m on a 6 yr deal. That's €7.2m a year for until 2025. However he signed a 4 yr contract extension in 2024. So 43.3-(5x7.2) = 7.2 remaining of his amortised transfer fee 7.2/4 = 1.8 a year until 2028

They're going to milk that for all it's worth.

Maybe a layby?

PSR commitment for the next 6 years. Committed to €105m for the next 2 years. The hope is we give Gordon, Isak, Tonali contract extensions to reduce the amount we're committed to spending each year. Maybe Barnes too. Obviously this doesn't account for the amount we're paying in wages on the likes of Fraser, Hayden, Lewis etc. There's a lot of shit that we really need off our books. A lot of Shit.

Is it just English you can't understand, or is it any language?

I have no idea what thread you're reading tbd...

He's great as an attacking threat but Newcastle United need more defensive contributions from their players. Thanks for playing though.

No it fucking wouldn't you wet whimpering queef. Ticks enough of the performance analysis boxes (technical, loads of stamina, presses well) ✅ has the potential to improve ✅ is within PSR wriggle room ✅ expects reasonable wages ✅ who plays in a style that dovetails with the team ✅ has the right personality to mesh with the squad ✅ and experience of Premier League preferrable 🚫

You can't constrain a talent like Shane to something as pedestrian as positions, or roles or tactics.

Rotherham could do with some cash, maybe we get back Shane Ferguson?

I wouldn't mind that so much. But I guess my point is that he's not a long term answer.

It's not just about upgrading Murphy though, is it? Yes, we could sign Sterling or whomever. But that'll leave us in a wage problem, and we'll have to replace Sterling soon enough. The pool we're fishing in is small. We need a player who; Ticks enough of the performance analysis boxes (technical, loads of stamina, presses well) has the potential to improve is within PSR wriggle room expects reasonable wages who plays in a style that dovetails with the team has the right personality to mesh with the squad and experience of Premier League preferrable Now, within these parameters, drop a list of available, affordable, appropriate players would you please?