The Fish

I'd maybe give a 1yr extension so that we've got an experienced body in midfield, but he shouldn't be in the 1st team, barring injuries. He did have a good tail end of last season, but he's not repeated it, and he's only going to get older and slower.

Absolutely idiotic "strategy" by the living. Surely you set up with the cavalry on the flanks to harrass the legions of undead to force them to bunch up. You certainly don't send them all rushing forward into the darkness with no support whatsoever. As the Dothraki nibble away at the sides of the advancing army, lob big blazing balls of burny stuff into that congested centre from the catapults (THAT YOU DON'T position ahead of the trenches!). Why didn't they have big pools of oil/tar set ablaze to slow down the zombies, or force them into bottlenecks? Why didn't they use the dragons to set the front of the undead army on fire, and give a bit of illumination to the battle field? It's not like anyone but the Night King (and maybe his generals) have those Dragon-killer spears. Even if you have one do a pass while the other looks out for the undead dragon. Mind you, the NK was tactically stupid as well. Why does he need to be there for 99% of the battle? If his sole aim is to kill Bran, why didn't he a) fly his dragon into the garden, dismount, let his dragon deal with the Cockless Allen and his mates while he kills Bran or, 2) let his undead horde kill everyone in the castle and watch from afar, then when that's done, stroll into the garden and kill Bran or iii) direct his entire force to the garden and overwhelm any defenders there then casually kill Bran. Can't be much of a force left to face Cersei. Most if not all of the Dothraki are gone. Same for the Unsullied, Wildlings, and Northmen. Maybe there won't be another big fuck off battle and it'll all be politicking? Which makes Tyrion, Sansa and Varys much more useful.

@Monkeys Fist You're a good man. What bellend would put spoilers out? Oh ay, Ant would. Gemmil's still not forgiven him for ruining the Shield.

The news of the undead army's advance would reach KL way before they did, giving both the North and the South enough time to mobilise their troops and allow them to surround the undead army with Dragons and Plot-Armour clad folks on one side of them, and Dragonfire-spewing Mad Queen's on the other. Tactically, it's stupid.

The Dead walking past Winterfell to Kings Landing doesn't make sense because; they're already at Winterfell, why would they allow themselves to face enemies from both sides? their whole thing has been to sweep south, swelling their numbers as they go

I think they'll repel the army of the undead by killing the majority of the White Walkers and thus flipping the switch that controls much of the horde or injuring the Night King who will flee back North. Then some of the living will stay to go after Cersei and the others will go North to end the Night King forever.

Aside from the identical wins, draws, points, goals etc. the story of the season has played out very similarly; Shoddy start, disappointing performances from previously impressive players, surprising performance from central midfielder who was much derided earlier on, Perez' goal scoring run, January transfers turning the season around. Just odd isn't it. I regret typing this out more than you regret reading it.

Aye, and it's missing the point that having facilities that are fit for purpose aren't a luxury, they're a fucking necessity.

Don't think that's ever been in question. He obviously wants to stay, and if we had an owner with a modicum of ambition, this wouldn't have been an issue at all. We've got the money to pay competitive wages, we've got the money to pay competitive fees, we've got the manager (and renown) to attract the standard of player that would command that kind of outlay. What's the prize money difference between the league positions? About £2m? So finish 7th instead of 17th gets you about £20m. Tv fees were £12.3m plus 'being on tv loads' money for about £1m a pop after the first 10 featured games. I'm sure we've been on the tv more times than any club outside the top 6. That's another £17m or so. Naturally if we were competing for cups instead of abandoning them asap, we'd get tv money for those as well. Sponsors would be more willing to tolerate a light association with Sports Direct if Newcastle were a progressive, ambitious brand. I'm all for running the club's finances well, but it's a football club. As with all clubs, ambition is it's raison d'etre. Stagnant clubs will hemorrhage fans, sponsors, and league position. You have to be wilfully ignorant to not see this. Speculation from a sound financial footing is the best way to improve fortunes on and off the pitch.

Would have been good for him to finish the season with a goal or two under his belt, but we're mathematically safe, so

Aye, and if we sold Gayle to WBA for £16m to pay for Rondon, Charnley and Ashley wouldn't include the money saved on DG's wages in the pot for Benitez.

What the fuck? Fuck you you fucking fucker.

Morrison scores from that corner I think Cardiff could have held on. Yet again Warnock ruins football for everyone.

Steady on.

That was a nailed on penalty to be fair. Salah was theatrical, but he was being wrestled by the Cardiff lad.

Thing is, if he got £50m plus whatever he makes from player sales, that's enough to get Newcastle United a consistent top 10 side and challenge in the cups etc. I just do not believe that he'd actually get that much, and he wouldn't have free reign to sign whoever he wants with that £50m. Say we sold Shelvey, Hayden & Murphy. What would we get? £30-40m? £90m is plenty on transfer fees. But I doubt Benitez would get the £50m, I'm convinced that £50m would include wages, agent fees and the like and I am convinced that wouldn't be allocated immediately so we'd get the same situation we saw with Almiron where we have to wait until deadline day in January for the deal to be finalised.

Fuck me, Morrison wants shooting with shit. Watches the corner all the way, then stoops too early and the ball goes off his back for a goal kick!

Aye, I did. Fuck sake. I'm an albatross.

No way Cardiff can hang on for another 40 minutes, can they?

There's surely a couple that have done enough at a promotion chasing team to get the attention of teams in the Championship? Surely? That said, they're not saleable assets in the same strata as Pickford, or... well, you get the point. Their best player went to Bordeaux for buttons, I can't imagine Honeyman or whomever pulling in the £18m they'd need to break even. Staying down in League One would put off investors that have enough capital to assure them of promotion to the 2nd tier (still funny), so cost -cutting measures will inevitably follow. Scouting, coaching, medical staff will be let go. Which of their high earners are coming to the end of their contracts? Because no fucker is going to pay money for Cattermole, and certainly not match his current wages. Of course, if they have to release/sell a load of playing staff, that's another unsettled season of 'rebuilding'.

Spider Man; Into the Spiderverse. Stunning, absolutely brilliant.

Is there still a EFL highlight show? Is it on Channel 5?

6 pointer for Cardiff and Brighton next.

I made an error in my typing. It is a typing error. It's a typo. But it is vital that we resolve this.

How old will Cattermole be when he leads their team out in the Checkatrade Trophy against Sheffield Utd's U21s next season?